If you haven't already, you should seriously check out www.pandora.com. It's an internet radio station that plays customized stations for you based on musical similarities.
I checked it out when it first started up, but never really did much. At the time it was a bit harder but they've got sponsors now and you can listen for free if you don't mind a few ads. (I'm personally in favor of ad sponsored stuff. Can we say “TV”?) I'll save the ad rant for another time though.
So anyways, I figured it was about time to check Pandora out again, and I wasn't disappointed. I really wanted to hear “Believe” by Cher, and created a radio station (it takes about 2 clicks to do) for that song and it started playing. The first song was “A Different Kind of Love Song” by Cher. Pandora can't play exact songs on request because of licensing, but I did get to hear what I wanted.
Anyways, in addition to my standard fare of Slayer, Iron Maiden, Jimi, Judas Priest, Korn, Tool, Metallica... (Are we seeing a pattern here?) I'm also a huge dance, rave, and techno fan. I just LOVE sound! (Check out Altern-8 and Infected Mushroom for some great stuff!)
So, I plugged “Believe” into Pandora and got “A Different Kind of Love Song” by Cher, which I loved. Most of the other songs it chose in that station I didn't care for too much, but they were all pretty well consistent and you can't fault them for that. They've done a great job.
I also created another two stations from an Iron Maiden tune and a Tool tune. They worked well and the stations played similar music. So there are some new bands that I need to check out now.
But I ended up buying a Cher double CD with “Believe”, “A Different Kind of Love Song”, and lots more stuff that I haven't had time to listen to yet.
Part of that was because I've been dying to know how they did the vocal effects on Believe for a very long time. So a few weeks ago I dropped Mike from The Project Studio Network an email that I'd like to know how that vocal effect was done. Well, they gave the answer the next show and I HAD to go back and check things out. Of course I've got it running through GDT to listen to the details easily :)
So there you have it. I'm out of Pandora's closet. I've bought a Cher CD~! :) Sue me!
But check out The Project Studio Network episode #21 for how they did the vocal effects that have become so popular now. Check the show notes for the link to the Sound On Sound article on it as well.
Peace, Love, and Eternal Grooviness!
Renegade