spotlight on...saintess larnia

Saintess Larnia is new to the live music scene on SL.  She is a British musician who will captivate you by the very first note with her strong, powerful, yet emotional voice. She delivers awesome and moving acoustic covers. She is poised to make a huge splash in SL with her dynamic sound.   She has been singing all her life and is inspired by the likes of Eva Cassidy, Crowded House, Heart, and K T Tunstall.  


Interview:

SANDY:Where are you from?
SAINTESS: I'm from the United Kingdom.



SANDY:How long have you been playing music?
SAINTESS:I have been singing seriously for about 15 yrs. It all started singing along to Madonna in my teenage years.



SANDY:Let's start spending some words about SL :how did you discover SL? what brought you inworld?
SAINTESS:I discovered Second Life through a couple of musician friends of mine Lexie Luan & Blindboink Parham  that were already performing many shows. They helped me get set up and I began doing some open mics and speaking to venue owners and quickly I was up and running as a performer.



SANDY:Did you ever think to use your real name for what you usually do in Second Life?
SAINTESS: think right now it suits me to be Saintess Larnia as I used to sing on another chat program with the name Saintess and I am making connections here on SL from people that knew me on there too.



SANDY:Can you describe your experience in SL:what did you like to do when you were not playing?did you like to go to live music events or to art exibits?

SAINTESS:When not performing I love to listen to other musicians and of course go shopping! I remember trying to rez my guitar and it ended up stabbing me through the stomach and my hair was flying beside me. I was giggling for quite a while about that.


SANDY:What has influenced you to get your to where you are today musically?
SAINTESS:I spent time listening to other live musicians and that inspired me to learn the guitar and they all helped me along the way.

SANDY:Do you think SL could  be a valid showcase for your RL works?
SAINTESSI think Second Life is perfect for promotion of RL albums because  the people listening are real fans in either world.I have written my first song called ‘Faded’ which has been really exciting for me as it has inspired me to write further. I wrote ‘Faded’  about a situation where someone’s personality is affected by another and how they feel themselves fading away.


SANDY:How would you describe your style?
SAINTESSI would say I have an original style and like to put my own twist into songs with power yet add delicateness. I play acoustic guitar and I feel this brings out extra creativity in me.


SANDY:Which are the sources of your inspiration?

SAINTESS: Many artists have influenced me but Eric Clapton & Serena Ryder are the main ones that really taught me about music and imaginative songwriting.
. I will be recording my first song shortly.



SANDY:Do you use other kind of digital promotions?
SAINTESSWhen I record my first single I hope to make it available to purchase through the main online music download websites.



SANDY:Where do you see yourself a year from now:will Second Life still exist?
A year from now I hope to have a first album and lots of original material to share. Second Life will exist and the live music scene will be stronger than ever.

Samples of my music can be found at www.myspace.com/saintesslarnia

---

sound & dintorni in second life

La musica in SL e' affascinante ma talvolta puo essere frustrante quando l'artista si trova di fronte ai problemi tecnici : la qualità del suono è senza dubbio il primo obiettivo di tutti i musicisti e di questo argomento vogliamo parlare pensando di fare una cosa gradita ai tanti musicisti RL che sarebbero interessati ad iniziare una carriera in SL ma anche perche' no a chi in SL gia' ha iniziato a fare i suoi primi concerti.
Innanzitutto bisogna sfatare la convinzione che per avere un buon  setup sia indispensabile disporre di un budget molto elevato ...si può ottenere una buona qualita'del suono con costi del tutto accessibili!

QUALITA' DELLA CONNESSIONE
Naturalmente dobbiamo iniziare parlando dello streaming: affinche' siano raggiunti buoni livelli qualitativi l'encoding dello streaming deve essere di 128kbps 44.1 KHz Stereo: tuttavia a volte emergono incompatibilita' con la reale connessione di cui il musicista dispone, ecco perche' bisogna essere assolutamente sicuri della reale banda di upload di cui si dispone.Ecco qui di seguito i rapporti ideali fra la ampiezza della banda e l'encoding:
128 Kbps Upload Bandwidth = Encoding 64 Kbps
256 Kbps Upload Bandwidth = Encoding 96 Kbps
512 Kbps Upload Bandwidth = Encoding 128 Kbps
Disponendo di tali valori non  si incontreranno i tipici problemi come la perdita del segnale:in ogni caso si consiglia sempre di fare un soundcheck prima del concerto sia perchè non tutti i server di broadcasting sono uguali fra loro e sia perche' la distanza fisica dalla locazione del server puo causare problemi: non dimentichiamo che sulla piattaforma virtuale di SL si verifica spesso che l'esibizione di un artista avvenga in un altro continente rispetto a quello in cui il suo segnale viene trasmesso!

QUALITA' DEL SUONO
La qualita' del suono  naturalmente si puo' perfezionare facendo ricorso alla giusta tecnologia:come abbiamo detto questo non significa affatto sobbarcarsi costi eccessivi, e se l'artista dispone gia' di un project studio sicuramente non incontrera' alcun problema.
Un  setup semplice ma efficace si puo ottenere con una scheda audio professionale o semiprofessionale esterna (USB o firewire non importa). Questo elemento e' davvero molto importante per cui il suggerimento, nel caso in cui si faccia uso di una scheda audio standard on board e' quello di cambiarla: decisamente tale scheda non e'fatta per essere usata per produzioni musicali!
Comunque se ne possono trovare di ottime sul mercato, semi professionali, a meno di 100$. Un suggerimento può essere quello di disporre inoltre di un mixer tradizionale (o meglio ancora un mixer con interfaccia audio ed effetti on boards se non volete spendere poi capitali in effetti esterni!) con il quale gestire gli ingressi esterni.
 
Ingressi Esterni
Un esempio tipico di setup può essere:
- un ingresso determinato dall'uscita dell'effetto rack della chitarra (o basso o altro strumento),
- un ingresso determinato dall'uscita del pre microfonico (o anche dal microfono stesso);
- un ingresso determinato dall'uscita delle tastiere;
Con questos setup si ha un solo segnale input sul software del mixer della scheda audio: è preferibile usare il mixer come superfice di controllo nelle performances live in sl in quanto è molto più semplice gestire i livelli agendo direttamente sui controlli tipo volume, equalizzazione, livello di input, ecc..
Con un  mixer  esterno(da 200$ a 800$ per restare in una fascia diciamo a budget controllato) si possono aggiungere strumenti esterni facilmente controllabili con un unica interfaccia hardware.
Naturalmente controllate sempre i cavi di ingresso (suggerisco di utilizzarne di buona qualità) che in genere sono sempre la causa di fastidiosi rumori di fondo.

Mixing ingressi esterni e fonti interneL'utilizzo di tracks registrate rende possibile suonare da casa propria come se si avesse a disposizine una intera  band , facendo la felicita' dei propri vicini!
Si puo usare un sequencer (Cubase, Sonar, Fruityloops etc), ma anche utilizzare track già registrate in formato wav/mp3 files. Un sequencer da l'opportunita' di cambiare qualcosa nella  performance in real time, aggiungendo magari qualche effetto VST. In questo modo avrete un mix tra sorgenti esterne suonate o cantate live ed una base avanzata pre-registrata (naturalmente anche quella suonata precedentemente).
Nell'utilizzo di tracce preregistrate è preferibile usare  la minore compressione possibile perchè il broacasting prevede già un ulteriore encoding e questo non fa che incidere sulla qualità generale del suono con classici effetti quali perdita della dinamica, minori sfumature nel range di frequenze udibili ed in generale un certo livello di compressione sonora.

A questo punto potete cominciare a diffondere la vostra musica in SL (e nel web) in diretta, comodamente da casa vostra!
Buon divertimento!

Sandy's Mood

One of the major stake that indie musicians have to deal with on the web is visibility. Web brings up a lot of opportunities for indies musicians, but as a matter of fact, we daily experiment that the web brings anonymity at first.

How can a musician can be visible when lost among thousand of others in huge musician directories ? How can he or she put up a social network which works, when thousand of others musicians are harassing the members of places like myspace ?

And if we try to watch things on the public point of view : How can people make a difference between real indie musicians, those who are mature enough in their art, and "bathroom singers" when anyone can register anywhere as an artist ?

- A good way to get more visibility is to gather in a group of high quality artists, give a name to that group, so that people can be sure that they will get something good when they will listen or buy some music of a musician refering to that named group.

- The high level of quality of the group has to be preserved, so we need to have simple and clear rules for attendance and acceptation of new artists in the group.

- Online live music is still an unknown territory whose best pionners are already involved in Second Life. At the same time, on line live music can surely be a good strategy to get some visibility on the web, on virtual worlds like SL, but also on other places, using web tv, as well as web radios, and other media that we dont know yet.

- Virtual worlds are also good places to experiment new relationships between artists and public, and to find out new ways to build social networks that really works.

- We have to use the best of the new technologies and put up some tools that will be helpfull for each artist joining the group. Those tools have to use the latest features of web 2, rss automatic feedings for exemple, so that we can interconnect what each one is already doing on his or her side, instead of trying to do doing something new, which would be too much time consuming. Thoses tools could be : a weblog, a webradio, a tvchannel, a 3D place in SL, and so on ...

spotlight on Sonorous Break

 Fife based band, Sonorous Breaks rock hard enough to please, with melodic female vocals adding depth and meaning to well crafted, catchy originals to their own take on well known covers. Andrea, originally from California, provides a much needed feminine touch to Sonorous Breaks in the male dominated scene.

Sonorous Breaks are Andrea (Violet Whybrow) who plays ,as she says, her “vocal awesomeness”, Martin (Biggus Asbrink)at the drums , Dale (Chupacabra Beaumont) who plays just bass(even if he’d like to learn the trumpet though),Angus (Geo Yohogania) plays mainly guitar but dabble on the keyboard, (“II would say drums -he says-but my band members would debate that “)
 
They play in SL for the love of music, just for tips...respecting maybe the pristine sense of SL as the perfect place to create and  share creativity with others.

Andrea only is from Petaluma California, while the others band members come come directly from Sunny Fife in Sunny Scotland .

They’ve been involved in music from different time:Andrea has been playing music for 25 years,Martin almost 7 years Angus about 18 years, while Dale got his bass for Christmas 2002, but he never really started 'playing' music until 2004.

They describe their style basically as a sort of grunge rock with a bit of metal melody and madness mashed together:definitely their sound is just energetic and lively,not too flashy, but at the same time a little unique.

Since I’m always very interested in the process of musical creation Ia   asked them  how long does it take to write a song or piece of music.
“It depends,-Andrea says- sometimes it ‘s fast and some take months and some songs evolve over time.” Dale instead just  usually needs about 30 minutes to create a new song, even if of course it takes longer to perfect it though”

“It all depends on how inspired I am or how we feel.-Angus says -I can have an idea for a whole song just pop into my head and that's it but some take a little more development with help from the guys when its just an idea for a riff”.

Angus thinks of himself as being a good but not great songwriter,although he’s versatile ,as he was classically trained, so he finds he can switch styles of playing very easy. He’s quite proud to be  one of those rare breeds of rock musician that can actually read music!

Except Dale, who just writes music (“ I wouldn't be trusted to write lyrics!”) the others band members are equally involved both in doing lyrics and music

Then I asked which acts have most inspired them.
“As a child Madonna -Andrea says-as I got older I would say the Black Crowes, Hole and Nine Inch Nails.”

Without any false modesty Martin says “Me personally(he laughs) but also Foo Fighters, Tool, 36 Crazyfists, Rage Against the Machine”.

Dale has been inspired by Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave but soon he learned to play bass and develop his style by listening to them.

Angus says:” The Black Crowes, is my favourite band ever, but also Rage Against the Machine, Skunk Anansie, Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Faith No More, 80's/ 90's cock rock ...oh and not forgetting the musical powerhouse Britney Spears!!! (he says laughing)”

 
For these guys everything can be a source of inspiration and ideas for songs or pieces of music just come up with things, their lyrics come from experiences and other peoples stories.

Angus says :”Anywhere really can inspire me:I could be doing the most mundane thing and an idea just pops in there and I've gotta go get something down before I forget it. Most of the time I find things just happen when I'm just messing around on my guitar and Annie says she likes what I did....then I have to work out what that actually was “

For Dale everything starts from the music “ I usually just try to work around the guitar..”:”Playing gigs and seeing people enjoying our music inspires  to play more..Angus got his inspiration from his mood and Dale  says:”My source of inspiration are...peanuts. I suffer as Charlie Brown suffers!”he jokes



Definitely they influence each other as a band, “When it works it’s magic and everyone can feel it in the room.
they play together because they feel a sort of urgency that shows through Angus words:”i have  a need to play. If I'm not in a band making and playing musical I get a bit stir crazy!!! I just need to do it.

Then i asked which song would they most like to have written, Andrea chooses Evenflow by pearl jam its song perfection!! Martin: Everlong - Foo Fighters.
Dale’s choice is  Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 14, also known as the Moonlight Sonata. (I wish I wrote that.he says)
Angus: Ooh this is a tough one but probably "Groove is in the Heart" by Deelite, I love that song it makes me happy lol Shocking choice as it's not a rock song but hey it's my song yo!!!!

Then we started  spending some words about SL first I asked them how did they discover it.

Andrea is the one who first discovered it off a music forum and then she introduced  this amazing virtual stage to the others band members and shelped her band mates to create their avatar as well.

What basically  brought them inworld has been their urge to do music on another platform.The idea of live musicians playing in virtual clubs intrigued them all so they had to check it out.



When they are not on stage they love exploring all around SL:
Andrea is a model, a designer,  a  builder and she wrote for a magazine and fashion stuff all as my r

Angus tends to go see other musicians play and that's about it.
“Concerts mainly or any cool sims that people suggest to me, I like well built and creative things.-he says”


All the Sonorous Break agree that SL can be a valid showcase for their oRL works    because of its worldwide audience!!
“It's a good promotion tool for people to listen to your music all round the world. an-Martin says-and to top it off its free to do that!”
“It has potential... -adds Dale-people have shown an interest, so if we work hard I think it can be.
Angus: Absolutely. It's an outlet to a worldwide audience and we tend to get more attending our SL shows than RL ones l”
The main reason by the way is just that they have a lot  fun and they like to let people hear theirmusic,.”Of course Anrdrea says-if we can gain anything from it,that would be awesome. AySorry for the cliché”




Finally my last question:”Where do you see yourself a year from now:will Second Life still exist?”
“Second Life will still exist and we will conquer the world!!!-Andrea says and Martin: I “hope the band will be more established in real life and in second life. Yeah i think it will till be around as more people hear about it everyday.”
Dale adds“Definitely! I think we'll still be playing on Second Life - maybe even more often. The more we play, the more people will hear us. The more people that hear us, the more fans we'll acquire! And the more we play, the more fun we'll have. “
Angus ends our conversation with a personal wish!”A year from now we will rule the world playing mariachi music and SL will still exist!!!”

Kris Electricteeth

                   
       Kris è stato in RL il leader, chitarrista e voce solista delle bands  Columbia, The Vypers e The Moxxie Bros Blooz Band.   
Guardatevelo un po’ qui

    Ora Kris si esibisce dal vivo  in Secondlife- e non usa niente di pre registrato, non usa cantare sulle backing tracks, non fa karaoke- ma si esibisce totalmente e realmente   live!

    Allora venite ad ascoltare la voce baritonale  smart e sexy di Kris che fluttua su un riff boogie blues  o  fatevi colpire al cuore attraverso il vostro pc da una delle sue intense ballate ...   



                   
       Kris is the former RL leader/singer/guitarist for Columbia, The Vypers and The Moxxie Bros Blooz Band.  Hear Kris on Youtube:

    Now Kris performs live in Secondlife- not prerecorded live, not live against backing tracks, not karaoke- but actually live!

    So come out and hear Kris's 'smexy' baritone floating over a boogie blues riff, or feel a heartfelt ballad pull your heart right through your computer.

 

steely decosta

 



 STEELY DECOSTA ... è un cantante e chitarrista di Louisville,Kentucky, affacciatosi da poco nella comunità virtuale di SL ha portato inworld un sound molto originale. Steely ha una voce che cattura impregnata di tutto lo charme del sud degli USA e dai toni dolci. La sua chitarra Variax a 6 corde permette 25 differenti effetti di chitarra e rende possibile ascoltare varie chitarre dal suono cristallino da cui scaturisce un suono originale che porta la firma di Steely.
Abituato a calcare i palchi e a suonare in vari club in RL ha ormai maturato una setlist molto ampia che comprende U2, Ben Harper,Amos Lee, gli Eagles,Joe Cocker,Eric Clapton .


STEELY DECOSTA ... SINGER/GUITARIST FROM  LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY... NEW TO SL LIVE MUSIC AND BRINGING US A SOUND UNIQUE TO OUR SL MUSIC SCENE. STEELY  HAS A CAPTIVATING VOICE STYLED IN SOUTHERN CHARM AND SUGARED TONE!  HIS LINE SIX VARIAX GUITAR ALLOWS 25 DIFFERENT GUITAR EFFECTS AND YOU HEAR THE DIFFERENT "GUITARS" CRYSTAL CLEAR WHICH MAKES FOR  A UNIQUE SOUND AND SIGNATURE TO STEELY.  PLAYING MANY CLUBS AND EVENTS IN RL STEELY BRINGS A RANGE OF SONGS TO US SUCH AS U2, BEN HARPER, AMOS LEE, EAGLES,  JOE COCKER, LOGGINS AND MESSINA .   INFLUENCES CREDITED TO STEELY DAN, STEVIE RAY VAUGHN, ERIC CLAPTON AND TOO MANY TO NAME. 
 

chapman zane

Non è mai “solo un altro concerto come tanti” quando  Chapman suona!
Con il suo sacco di juta pieno di canzoni,Chap si puo’ definire un  “ trovatore.” davvero completo!

Mentre viaggia nella ristretta sfera di Second Life, Chap realiza una  ricca miscela di musica acustica che spazia da ballate tessute di  rustiche melodie  ad un folk rock stridente sino alla più recente contemporanea Red Dirt music. La voce di Chap si fonde con il suo peculiare modo di suonare la chitarra in cui si può riconoscere tanto un aspro ed essenziale stile flat picking  tanto un più elegante e raffinato  finger picking che vi farà godere  un’esperienza musicale davvero unica  e non paragonabile ad altre in tuttaSecond Life.

Chapman è davvero un numero uno quanto a repertorio:infatti unisce ad una eccezionale riserva di covers anche tante canzoni originali di cui scrive musica e parole!  

Ha pubblicato il suo primo  album 'Moonbow River'nel 2008 e attualmente è 'in combutta col   Frog's Studio per scrivere un nuovo album.
Sul palco, , Chap intreccia insieme sia i suoi pezzi originali che le covers reinterpretate in modo personale  ricamando le sue storie ed i suoi racconti lungo il suo tessuto musicale.
Davvero non è mai “solo un altro concerto come tanti” quando  Chapman suona!


It's "never just another show" when Chapman plays! With a gunny sack chock full of song, Chap is the consummate troubadour. As he travels the inner sphere of Second Life, Chap blends a mellow concoction of acoustic music ranging from rustic old timey mountain melodies to jangly folk rock to the latest in Red Dirt music. Chap's voice converges with his blistering mountain style flat picking and graceful finger picking to bring you a musical experience unlike any other in Second Life.

Not to be outdone by a unique cache of cover songs, Chap writes his own music and lyrics as well. He released his first album, 'Other Side Of My Heart' in 2008 and is currently in cahoots with Frog's Studio writing a new album, 'Moonbow River'. On stage, though, Chap weaves his original songs and cover tunes together all the while embroidering his stories and tales into his musical fabric. It truly is "never just another show" when Chap is playing!

blueron clyburn

Ok... you found Blueron Clyburn here on SL. Well, Blue didn't pop out of the blue.. Forty years of journeyman musicianship backs up this SL avi.

A journey that has taken him from Buffalo NY where he formed his first group around a folk, early jazz and blues tradition. Blue, then known as Ron, accompanied himself acoustic guitar.

A journey that took him to Boston, MA to study piano at New England Conservatory.

Blue spent a lot of years on the road honing his playing and singing in front of audiences all across the eastern United States from New England. to New Orleans. From the gulf coast of Florida to Dusseldorf, Germany audiences have been captivated by his very personal approach to each song he sings.

Since the 1980s, Blue has lived in and around New York City, playing regularly at The Bitter End, and Kenny's Castaways as well as many others venues ranging from CBGB's to the Blue Note.

Now you can hear for yourself, live on Second Life, just what all the fuss is about. Put on your ears and smile. Blueron is playing tonight!

Blue’s vocal & instrumental style is informed by jazz, blues, rock,and classic R&B.



Ok... ecco Blueron Clyburn qui in SL. Ma Blue non salta fuori dal nulla . Quaranta anni di vita on the road da musicista sono alle spalle di questo avatar di SL!.

Un viaggio che lo ha portato a Buffalo NY dove ha formato il suo primo gruppo che suonava  folk, early jazz e blues tradizionale.
Blue, allora conosciuto come Ron, si accompagnava con la sua chitarra acustica.


Un viaggio che lo ha portato a Boston, MA a studiare pianoforte  nel Conservatorio del New England.

Blue ha trascorso tanti anni  on the road levigando la sua maniera di suonare e di cantare di fronte ad un pubblico lungo tutta la costa orientale degli  States dal New England a New Orleans. Dalla Florida a Dusseldorf, anche in Germania il pubblico è stato catturato dal suo approccio personale ad ognuna delle canzoni che canta

Fino dal 1980, Blue has vissuto a New York City, suonando regolarmente al The Bitter End, ed al Kenny's Castaways o in altri club dal   CBGB's al Blue Note.

Adesso si puo ascoltare Blueron dal vivo in  Second Life..jazz, blues, rock,and classic R&B.