YouTube and Photos

The Photos button now directs you to a slide show of photos. I will be adding more photos to this slide show in the near future. Hopefully it will give you something more to look at.

In addition to that there is a new link at the bottom of the page. For those of you using Internet Explorer, you will no longer see the "Looks best in Firefox" link. This has been replaced by the following youtube link, which will take you to my youtube page.


Currently on youtube I have a concert I did with a small group. I hope to have other short solo performances up in the coming months.

The return of the Blog...

I have received some great news in the very recent past and for that
reason the blog is returning to action. You may notice some
improvements about the blog. The main being that it now displays in
the main frame of my website. I am no longer kicking you to another
website to read my blog. I am happy to no longer be making you leave
my website. If you continue to read the blog you will notice many
other new and improved parts of the website. I was thinking that I
might need a bio page but I don't have that much to say about myself.
Thanks for listening. There is more to come.

~peace

New Buttons

If you have gone to my website in the past week, you may have noticed new and improved buttons. You also may have noticed a stylish, new favicon.If you haven't been to my website in the past week....shame on you, you are missing out.
The photos section has been replaced with a link to YouTube videos. Hopefully there will be more videos soon.
The Blog link no longer points to this blog as I am hoping to have a blog in the inner frame of my website. Whether I use this blog, or write my own blog code, I haven't decided yet.

Thanks for listening.

~peace

Full Concert on YouTube

Now, all of the songs from my senior recital are online and available for viewing on YouTube. Also the full length version of "Breathe Again," including bass solo, is available on Google Video. YouTube has a ten minute limit and the full version of that song is over twelve.
Check it out here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/officerockstar

Thanks for listening.
~Peace

New Link on Photos Page

I have changed the link on the photos page so that it will now take you to my YouTube profile. Just click on the star. The other two links on the page will still take you to two of the three available photo albums.
Now it just got easier to enjoy my videos on YouTube. You will still need to do a search for videos on Google.Video because they don't offer a profile page like YouTube does.
Thanks for listening.

~peace

New Song - Hold On to Forever

I have finally finished recording and mixing a new song. This is definitely my most computer intensive song yet. Hopefully you like it. Let me know what you think.

New Contact Page

Since I hadn't received an email from anyone via the contact page, I have decided to change it in hopes of getting your feedback. Go to www.jeremyblanchard.com and click on the letter icon to check it out.
There is now a form for you to fill out and send to me via the world wide web. I had tried this before but couldn't get to work right. I think I have it down now.
Since it is so easy to use, please feel free to comment on the music or the web page or anything and let me know if something needs fixing or if you have a good idea to improve the page or the music. Please, speak up and be heard.
Thanks for listening.

~peace

The War of Sound (syndicated)

A few weeks ago my friend Brook sent me a link about the war between sound quality and compression.
I thought this was really interesting and I shared with a few people. This morning I signed into Rhapsody and there was a rave review about a new(ish) R&B singer, Rihanna. I decided to give her a try. It sounds like her album is produced by Jay-Z, because he is on the first track and also some of the drum tracks and production sound like Jay-Z's other projects.
Anyway, to get to the point, I was listening and found that the sound, not the song, was very boring and uneventful. I then thought of the following video which Brook sent me. The short of it is that with compression all articulation and dynamic is covered over or removed from a track. I am listening to her album right now and it is putting my to sleep because there is no definition and no dynamic change.
Some of this is due to the nature of Rhapsody, but when I put on Vocal Sampling right after this Rihanna girl, the clarity is like stepping into the spotlight from the shadows. It makes the Rihanna album sound like it was recorded in Mono. Ahhhh, the joys of stereo recording, where have you gone in recent years?
This makes me think of some of the early stereo albums, by the Beatles or Cream or the like, the drums would be almost completely in one channel and the guitar all the way in the other. This was the record industry stretching its new found stereo wings. Now there is a counter-movement back towards the mono. I don't think this is the record companies' intent, but in the attempt to be more and more radio and instant gratification friendly the sound of many new mainstream records are so undynamic as to put my ear receptors into a state of uncaring numbness.
We need to come up with a name for the ruling record companies like Big Oil is for the large oil companies that run our government and economy. Maybe, Big Audio. Big........ I don't know. It needs to be something that oozes anti-establishment.
Ok enough blabber.... here is the video.

Finding Elbow Room

You may have noticed that I have been fairly dormant for the past month and a half or more. There are several reasons for this. The first is space or elbow room in the first and second teer priorities.
I recently purchased a new used motorcycle and it has been such an all-consuming headache for the past two months that I have had difficulty focusing. That is the first half of reason one. The second half of reason one is the GMAT. I am now in full swing of studying for the GMAT. For anyone who doesn't know what that is, imagine it is a big, fat, hairy monster who is very scary at first but doesn't turn out to be all that difficult to conquer, however this monster is very conniving and tricky.
The second reason is I have grown tired of the sound of my voice as it sounds recorded through my mic. A new mic is on my list of things I need to buy, along with 20 other things of about the same price range.
Thanks for listening.

~peace

This made me laugh so much, I couldn't keep it to myself.

I came across this perfect gem for yesteryear while listening some old mix CDs I made.
You may not find this as funny as I do, but I think is so tremendously funny that it makes me cry a little bit from laughing so hard.
You'll notice that I am a little bit more eager to play this song then the rest of the guys.
Just push the little play/pause button at the bottom of the tape.

This is Brook, Tyler, Chris and me playing above Brook's garage back in Nevada City.

Memory Lane and a Shout Out to the Three Sarahs.

On my way to the office today I threw in an Mp3 CD that I had made a while ago and the first album on the disc was Dave Mathews Under the Table and Dreaming circa 1994. At first I questioned whether I wanted to listen to this or not, because it is rather dated.
I quickly scrolled through the other albums and decided that I would listen to it after all. About 30 seconds into the first song a flood of memories spilled into the front of my mind.
I was 15 again, in the back of Sarah DeMyer's car heading down to San Fransisco to see 311 with Sarah Tendall and I am pretty sure Sarah Roselini was there too. This was an interesting time in my life and looking back I see how out of place I was in the back of that blue Honda Accord with three beautiful women who where 2 and 3 years older then me.

A few more details I remember are the dampness of the bay air. This caused the oppressive fog in the morning through which the sun victoriously broke through in the early afternoon. I remember how bad the opening band, Voodoo Glow Skulls, was. I remember not liking 311, ever. I remember being uncomfortable with the drug paraphernalia that was omnipresent at the show. I also remember having an uncomfortable crush on Sarah Tendall.
What is it about the middle teenage years, where everything is uncomfortable?
I also remember when Sarah D's car antenna broke in the car wash and I regret laughing at the time. I remember my long sleeve t-shirts, it may have been my Up To Here t-shirt, I remember my horrible plaid shorts from JCPenney's. I remember my long blond curly hair. I also may have been wearing my Tevas. I remember the clinking of the keys and change in the front hall at Sarah D's house off of Red Dog road. I think she also had deep reddish brown tile in her front hallway that shined with comfort and cleanness.

I am sure there are several reasons that these three wonderful girls befriended me at the time. We had many commonalities, mostly Chamber choir and Stew, my band at the time. That was a great band and probably the most fun I have had playing music ever. Thanks Trevor. Perhaps they were also taking me under their collective wings because of my brother passing away that same year. They could have also just liked me for who I was. For whatever reason or reasons they were my friends I am grateful to them.
Here's to the three Sarahs and here is to memories....... and here is to Dave Mathews. I thought I would throw him in there too.

Now I am off to try and find the three Sarahs on MySpace.

Object Write Much

I have started a new blog in hopes of motivating myself to object write. Currently I have only one other contributor to this blog. It is our own little object writing group, even though we are separated by an entire continent.
If any of you are songwriters and would like to join our object writing group and post to the blog please let me know and we can work something out.
It has only been going on for two weeks and I have been on vacation for one of those weeks so the blog is currently short.
The format is, one 10 minute write a week, with the subject being given by a group member at the beginning of the week and the object write being due on the following Sunday. That way there is no pressure to try and coordinate schedules.
The blog is objectwriting.blogspot.com. I do not plan on linking to this blog with the exception of this post, so it will be partially private.

Thanks for listening.

www.jeremyblanchard.com

New ReDesigned WebSite!

If you haven't yet been to my website, www.jeremyblanchard.com, you are missing out. It has been completely redone. The look and feel are completely different. Much darker, much more refined, much more professional. The navigation is new and improved. I am proud of it and very happy with it. It is much cleaner overall.
The biggest improvement is that my music plays continuously as you peruse your way through my pages. Another significant change is that my blog is now hosted on blogger.com and no longer on my own website.
I hope you enjoy the new site. Send me an email and tell me what you think. Just click on the little mail icon and your default email should open up.

~Peace

www.JeremyBlanchard.com

Office Rockstar Goes Back to School?!

Well, I have been reluctant to say so but I am considering going back to school. With serious support and nudging from my wife I am heavily leaning in the direction of a Master's degree. Currently I am investigating going for a dual degree, an MBA and an MS.  The MBA is certain but the focus of the MS isn't quite as clear. I would enjoy IT but not all schools offer this. That is why we are looking into Bentley. As you may or may not know Bentley costs just as much as Harvard, which is why we are also looking into Suffolk, UMass and BYU, all three of which if added together might be about the same cost as Bentley or North Eastern. I have decided that even though I hate money, I like having a large enough cushion of it to feel comfortable and buy things. I know that having a Business and IT degree will also help me in my music business.  If I only learned one thing about music, and songwriting especially, is that it is a business. A dirty, biased and cut-throat business, driven by profits, PR and more profits.
I don't know how many of you reading this have gone on to graduate studies (probably not many because I don't think many people read this.... Hi Mom!) but there is a lot of stuff that needs to happen a wicked long time before classes start. I believe this is especially true for me because I am headed in somewhat of a different direction then my undergraduate degree. I needed to start planning and preparing two years before I plan on attending. Sick!
If it is of any consolation the lead singer of Offspring (remember them) has a PhD in Biochemistry....... Strike that I just looked it up and apparently he is only a candidate for a PhD. But his name is still Dextor Holand which I think is simply a great name.
Here is to music and here is to making money with music, through going to business school to rub elbows and pick up tools to meet people and have them give me jobs and then buying a company so that it makes money for me so that I can write my music and be left alone and not have the MAN come and bother me.
Thanks for listening.

~peace

Bridges to Nowhere.

Once again I am having trouble with a bridge. I think I finally have the words how I want them and a cool melody to go with them but I am having a lot of trouble both finding the right chords, that fit with the song, and fitting it in the frame work. If any of you are masters of writing/building bridges please let me in on your secrets.
Thanks.