I would not be surprised if Apple sells 1 Million units alone or more in pre-orders on the new phone. For the first time that I can recall, the Apple store went down because it was being hit so hard by consumers who wanted to put them name in the pre-order hat. With many 1st generation iPhone users willing to now upgrade to the new device + the incentives that AT&T is giving to many iPhone 3G owners I expect the new phone will sell very quickly and will become very popular very fast. I think in this case, the “Gizmodo-gate” will help overall sales because people are aware of the phone at a much higher level than normal. It received A LOT of press, and because of that everyone has seen it already. The keynote even played on it a little bit at the announcement, which was the best thing for them to do. Although it wasn’t an intentional leak, I see it doing nothing but helping sales of the device at this point for the average consumer.

Every place that has the iPhone up for pre-order today has had problems. The AT&T internal servers have been going up and down, and because the Apple store accesses those servers to verify what price you will pay for the phone (either subsidized price, or unsubsidized, etc based on current contract, or contract renewal) they haven’t been able to have success either. This has left many people upset, but I suspect many of the vocally angry people are some of the more informed consumers, that feel they MUST have the pre-order in for the device as soon as humanly possible.

So, were you one of the ones that got booted out of either AT&T’s system or Apple when you tried to pre-order? If you got kicked out of pre-ordering, are you still going to buy the device as soon as you can get into the system? I hope that many people were ‘just talking’ and that they truly been’t going to change their mind on the device they were going to buy just because of a huge flood of interest in the device by others. Please let me know your thoughts!!

-Kyle

The way the competition will work:

All composers have been given from April 21st to May 14th to score a video (1 video; 2; 2 minute clips) downloadable from Vimeo.

Once submissions are received, TILT will do another blog posting with the entries and people will have until May 31st to cast their vote for which they like the best.

After all votes are received, the top 3 entries will be considered by the TILT team and someone will be selected an offered the opportunity to score the movie. The winner will be announced on June 3rd!
(paraphrased from TILT website)

Here is my entry!

Voting starts May 17th!

To say that I want this opportunity is an understatement. I know that I would do everything I can to give them what they are looking for to score their film, and I hope that I can at least make it to the top 3 so that I’m truly ‘in-the-running’. I’ve talked with Phil, and interacted with other members of the team, and they seem like a great group of motivated and talented people. To be able to work with them would be a great opportunity and a pleasure, and I’d love to be part of their creative team to help bring their vision to life. If you’d like more information about TILT, you can go the following places:

TILT Website
Twitter: Phil (director), King and Keck (writers), TILT on twitter

While working with Camden, the Director of Abandoned Allies, I realized that I really enjoy the process of creating music for someone else’s vision. It is a very different creative process than what I would normally do when just composing music for me and it is something I really enjoy. I’ve had nothing but a great experience working with Camden, and she has been a great motivator for me to move forward to look into other scoring opportunities. I’m still currently working on Abandoned Allies, and progress is being made as the film comes together and more research and interviews are added. I’m really happy to be part of Camden’s team, and as more happens with Abandoned Allies, I’ll post! I’m meeting with Camden on Thursday to see the movie where it stands now and to talk about musical needs. Thank you Camden for your support and faith in me as we work together, now and hopefully in the future!

If you like my entry, when the contest is open for voting, I ask that you please vote for me and my submission to get me in the top 3. Again, I’d love this opportunity to work with the TILT team, and I can’t do this by myself. I need the support from those who like my music and who want to see me succeed in this area of music composition. I’ll be posting updates here as I find out what is happening with the contest, and you can check out other samples of my work at my home page, kyleowen.com!

Thanks again,

Kyle

They interviewed me about Gazelle.com, which was a service that I used back in July of last year, and blogged about here. The post has gotten off and on traffic since I wrote it, but either way it was nice to be interviewed for something on the news. Next time I get interviewed I want to get interviewed about my music. I don’t know if it can/will happen, but it is still nice to dream.

Here is the video from the broadcast:

I have the option of “locking things down” and making all of my music and projects “paid only” but that doesn’t help spread the openess that music promotes. Realistically, I’m lucky if I have 1 or 2 fans of my music. Mainly because I haven’t put it out there for people to have access to it. I’m sure that as I put more and more of my music out there and expose myself to more people, I will eventually have 10 fans, and maybe even 100. I know that I’ll greatly appreciate anyone that says they like my music, and I’m willing to take criticism and feed back from those who don’t. I want to better myself as a composer, and one of the only ways I can do that is to get feedback from those who know about music and those who just enjoy listening to it.

Can a “freemium” (free content with an optional buy-in) business model work for a composer? I’m unsure if it really can. I think that I’d rather give my music away and find out where my fans are, and if they exist, rather than holding onto my music without anyone able to hear it. I think I have more to gain by giving it away, even if it comes down to just getting feedback. Yes, I’d love to make money off my music, but I don’t know if it is realistic to think that I ever will. One can always hope, but it isn’t something that I expect. I have invested a lot of time and money into my music education and experience and I hope that it translates in my final product, but I can’t make people decide that my music is ‘good’ or ‘respectable’. Ideally I’d give my music away, and then just give a way for people to donate to me if they wanted or felt my music was worth the money. That way it would be completely opt-in, and hopefully all parties would be happy.

I do have some larger goals that I still want to accomplish: Getting my music published, and getting a CD made (even if only digitally distributed). I feel they can both happen, it is just a matter of how. With everything digital now, it makes it much easier to distribute music (PDF, MP3s, etc) and I want to utilize it the way that ‘my audience’ wants. So I guess the best way for me to get my name out there will also still allow me the opportunities to accomplish those bigger goals. Realistically though, no matter what, I’d just be happy if people were playing my music and talking to me about it, outside of the small group of people that know about it.

I’m currently in the process of setting up my main domain, that will have samples of my music and information about my music and projects. I hope that this will become a good way for me to start interacting with people and to share my music with them. I plan on having samples, if not full piece downloads (PDF, MP3) for people to have and interact with. I just have to do some soul searching and decide how I want to peruse these goals while still keeping everything else going.

Any ideas or thoughts?? Please comment.

Thank you,

-Kyle

In many cases the music I write, writes itself. I do editing and I move things around. Once I got used to the process of composing it has become very natural to me. To write music for “someone else” is a different process. You cater to different needs and you have to try and be 100% objective and willing to make changes when the other people don’t like or agree with what you did. You have to be willing to change things you pour your heart into to make it work. A lot of give-and-take will be essential to a successful project. Fortunately I’m working with people who love what they do and are just happy to have me as part of the team.

Last night I gave the director/producer and music coordinator samples of my music and they listened to it as we spoke music. So much of last night was spent talking about the overall tone of the movie and the roles that the music needs to play in it. My biggest challenge will be taking music from the natives (in the movie) and using it as inspiration for some of the music I’ll be writing. I want to create music to honor them, not insult, so the way I write it will be done with as much research as I can beforehand to insure that tonally I’m where I need to be. This is a fun challenge in itself.

I’m nothing but excited for this project and I will be trying to document everything I can regarding my experience so that I can learn from
It more. I have software that I need to get comfortable with (outside of Sibelius) and it needs to become a tool and not an obstacle. On top of working on my Computer Certification I also have software I need to learn!!! Time to take my notes and start writing music.

-Kyle

The class is split into 3 section: Basic, intermediate, and advanced. You have to take each level and get instructor reccomendation to move forward. I hope and plan to get my first computer cert this year, even if it is only an A+. I will start working on the Microsoft certs after that and hopefully be able to decide what is the best option for me for working on a BS in Computer Science. I really miss school and I’m only willing to go back for a degree that is relevant to what type of career I want. I love music, but I don’t forsee me going back for a music degree anytime soon.

My class starts this Wednesday and it a 6 week class with 2 weeks “grace period” to finish the last assessment. I hope that the online format works with me and I’m able to do the hands on stuff correctly with the hardware I have on hand. If this works well for me, expect to see a review of the program with the pros and cons.

-Kyle

I recently got Sibelius 6, where previously I have been using Sibelius 3. It was a great gift from my partner, and it came with two trials of other music software that intigrate with it: PhotoScore and AudioScore. Photoscore is a program where you can scan your sheet music and it translates it into a file that can be imported into Sibelius. This allows opportunities for backup and easy editing and notes for a piece.

My goal: Backup my sheet music library in PDF, Sibelius, and MIDI format for personal use only.

Setup:
24″ iMac (Early 2009)
Canon Digital Camera (see Gdgt list)
Prizmo (Mac Application)
Photoscore Lite (demo version included with Sibelius 6)

I don’t currently own a scanner, and I didn’t want to get one for this purpose. I have a 12 MP digital camera that takes clear enough photos that I really don’t find it necessary to invest in a scanner that would take up much more room when I essentially could do the same thing with software. I started searching on the web, and I found a piece of software called Prizmo (for Mac). I decided to give it a try to see if it world work with Photoscore. I was unsure if it would, just because Photoscore has these requirements for it work with Mac scanning:

A scanner (probably connected to your computer via a USB, Printer or SCSI port), and installed Mac OS X TWAIN driver software (it is highly recommended you visit your scanner manufacturer’s website and download the latest version – also note that classic Mac OS TWAIN drivers will not work). You may need to contact your scanner manufacturer for information on installing a suitable TWAIN driver. If a Mac OS X TWAIN driver is not available for your scanner, you will need to scan using separate software, save suitable TIFF files, and open these in PhotoScore.

After doing some research to make sure that 1) TWAIN was built into OSX and 2) Making sure that I could export the right file type through Prizmo I got home and started playing with both programs to see how well it would work. Currently, I’m only using demo’s of both pieces of software, and once I get the money I will go ahead and buy the full versions of Photoscore and Audioscore (which I will dive more into later). Also, I will most likely be buying Prizmo, sooner rather than later, just because I can start taking the photos of my music now and then have it ready for Photoscore. Below is the differences between the Photoscore lite version (which I currently have installed) and the Ultimate Version (which I plan on buying):

Process:

1) Take a picture of the music with your digital camera.

2) Import into Prizmo, edit and rotate.

3) Export as PDF or TIFF. In this case, I’m exporting to TIFF because the demo only supports TIFF and the full version exports to PDF as well with text. Once I upgrade, I will export to PDF so that I can easily store and combine the PDFs.

4) Import music into Photoscore.

5) Export into Sibelius

6) Backup on harddrives and various places.

Note: The full version of Photoscore allows for text recognition, which means that I would not have to type and put all of that information in manually. Also, I use a sample of a simple score that will work, because obviously the full version can do a lot more than the lite version can. Once Prizmo is upgraded from the demo version, it will also allow for the image to be exported without the Prizmo watermark.

Links to mentioned software:

Sibelius 6
Prizmo
PhotoScore + AudioScore

Once I start the actual process and get it going, I will let you guys know how long it took (estimated) about about how much disk space it took to digitize my sheet music library. For me, currently, this was more of a proof of concept, and just solidified the fact that I don’t need to buy a scanner to do what I want to do!

Thanks for reading!

-Kyle

So…I believe it is important to start from the beginning:

What was my first exposure to computers?

I, like many born in the 80′s, have grown up with computers and have seen them evolve over time. Some of my first computer experiences are tied to my dad who was a geek at the time. He was always on the computer, and it often got him into trouble because internet connections were paid for by the minute. Also, because of where we lived it was a long distance call so it added up to a lot of money over time. Once there was a $500 phone bill that took several years to pay off, because of my dads love for technology and embracing ‘new things’. He didn’t do well in traditional school, because he was often bored. This was something I could relate to, although I did ‘alright’ in traditional school by at least graduating with Honors from high school and getting accepted to a great college. He taught me how to use DOS and how do perform functions that were relevant to me at the time. I found myself playing a lot of games, and I remember “Loom” and “Joost” more than anything else as my favorite games. I really do feel that my dad was a big part of why I discovered computers at an early age, and why I have always been intrigued by them growing up. Also, with him being gone (he left on his own will, he didn’t die), I think it is some way that I will always feel connected to him, even if we never truly have a relationship.

My first personal computer was a “Macintosh Classic” and it was given to me from my elementary school through the donated computer program that they had. We were just looking to get a computer in my hands, and it is what was given to me. To be completely honest, I didn’t really use it. I thought the OS was clunky and I really didn’t see any use for it at the time other than doing word processing. I can’t say that I did at a lot of word processing at the age of 10.

After that, I got my next computer through my moms work. They are a big company, so when they upgraded to new hardware, they sold the old hardware to employees for reactively cheap. It was a tower PC, that was pretty crappy, but I decided to take it and replace the components. I remember first upgrading the USB ports to USB 2.0 and then slowly replacing everything until it was a brand new computer. This was my first ‘hands on’ experience working with computers and taking them apart and putting them back together. I did some research at the time, but a lot of what I did was trial and error, and if it didn’t work when I put something in I just did everything I could do to finally get it to work. My mom is STILL using this computer. However, this is soon to change, because I finally got her used MacMini which will be her first Mac! I will blog about my experience teaching her Mac in the future! I don’t think she reads my blog, but if she does, I love you mom, and happy BDay and Christmas! .

That computer got me through high school and lasted through college. I did my first composition on that computer, and it is really crappy compared to my computer standards now, but it has been a beast. I got started on most computer information that way, and I may ask my mom if I can get it back at some point just to have and to store for sentimental reasons. Since college, I have had an iBook, a PowerBook G4 (FW 800) and now I’m on an iMac (current early 2009 Model). I have gone Mac, primarily because of the integration with media and the software that comes standard on every Mac. For my personal use, I couldn’t imagine anything else. I’m not a gamer, so it works for me. I will soon post a list of my favorite mac apps, and what I tend to use the most and for what purposes.

I think that my ‘journey’ into computers has been pretty normal. I don’t think that I did anything really geeky until the last 5 years of my life, when I really started to embrace technology a lot more. For me, it was a big emotional struggle to change my career focus. I was only focused on being a music teacher for so long, that I really didn’t consider anything else until I had made the move out of state and started to fend for myself. It was hard for me to admit that I had made a wrong decision, and that I perhaps made the wrong focus for so many years. I love music, and it will always be a big part of my life, but when I got to college and realize that I didn’t want to study it formally like that, and that I just wanted to experience it, it was hard to handle. I struggled with ‘my purpose’ for a long time, and it truly was something I thought about A LOT. Sometimes, I do think about it now, but I’m really happy having the opportunity to be involved in the music world, and for the most part, be well respected within the flute community. I’d like to focus more on composition again, but that will happen once I get things more inline. I will not even suggest that my time in the music world was a waste. It changed my life. Music was the first thing to save my life, and teach me the things that I needed to be successful in the world. I needed it a lot when I started it because I needed some outlet for creativity, and it was there. Music is a great combination of logic, emotional, and skill, and it is something that I will ALWAYS love strongly and want to be a strong part of my life now and in the future. I know, I’m rambling, but finally, you are getting me! I think eventually, there will be a good balance between my focus on technology and music, but right now, it is time that I focus on understanding technology more and more, and making sure that I can build the skills to start a career.

My current situation:

Although I have accomplished a lot up to this point, I am not currently happy with my work situation. I’m working a job, and that is all it is. Because of that, the need for me to get into my career path is much stronger. I’m tired of having a job that I don’t care about, in an industry that I really didn’t want to really be in, in the first place. I’m just happy that I have gained some corporate experience, and I’m sure that it will be valuable as I move forward.

I am considering going through the tradition education route to get certified to work in the technology industry; however, because of time, costs and lifestyle change, I have been looking into ‘non-standard’ routes for getting in. I have developed some contacts in the area that work in the tech industry, and they all work in different aspects of it. The people I know, range from network administration to programming and consultation. I’m sure there are more, but it is a pretty good basis to get opinion on when trying to get into the industry. They have all recommended that I get into the tech industry by getting certifications. “A degree will help you move up, but certifications will get you in the door and help get you the experience that you need to move up.” That is basically what was told to me by everyone I know, and I have to say that I agree. A degree came easily become obsolete, and certifications, if kept current, can be a lot more valuable over time. I do see the point of traditional education down the road, but right now, it isn’t my first option to try to get into the tech industry.

What are my current options?

1) Traditional school – Start working my way through an Associate of Applied Science in Computer Information Technology and then make sure to meet the requirements for the local program that offers a Bachelors of Science online (ECU does offer this) for those who have completed an AAS and have a CCNA certification. This is a possible option, down the road, but right now, it isn’t my priority.

2) Certifications – Gain knowledge and experience by proving myself and my ability by getting technology certifications and slowly get into the industry. Either I can study for them on my own, or consider technology certification programs that help you learn and understand the material for the tests.

These are the certs I’m interested in:

CompTIA A+; Diagnose and troubleshoot computer hardware. Including building and repairing computers. This is commonly known as the ‘entry level’ certification. There is the A+ essentials test, and then the 220-602 for specialization in customer focus, 220-603 for remote repair and customer support, and 220-604 is used for repair desk technicians. The A+ Essentials is required to be passed as well as one of the other specialized test to get the certification.

CompTIA Network+; Network troubleshooting and management.

CompTIA Linux+ ; Linux administration and functions.

MCDST - Microsoft Certified Desktop Support Technician (Install, configure, and manage Microsoft XP in the business environment)

MCTS – Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (Install, configure and manage Microsoft Vista in a business environment)

MCP – Microsoft Certified Professional (Install, configure, manage, and troubleshoot many kinds of network servers)

MCSA – Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator (Learn advanced server skill sets to manage and maintain a networked environment for small to large companies).

CCENT – Cisco Certified Entry Network Technician (Install, operate, and troubleshoot Cisco equipment in a business environment.

CCNA – Cisco Certified Network Associate

CCNP – Cisco Certified Network Professional

The bold and italic listed certifications are what I plan on focusing on right now. Currently, I’m working through the A+ certification book that I have so that I can take the test by the end of the year. I’m currently looking into a certification program to help me learn the information for some of the certifications that I would like to focus on. This would allow me to have an in class environment with hands on experience. As I work through each certification, I am going to be posting key points from each that I figure ‘everyone’ should know, or at least everyone who is interested in technology as career.

I hope to be a little more involved and writing a little more as I get things in line. Getting out of my current job, and into a job in the tech industry is really important to both my partner and I right now. I really look forward to growing into things, and seeing where my skills take me.

Bye for now!

-Kyle

Thank you,

Kyle

As the modern world changes more and more with the integration of the web into our daily lives, it also changes the way that we shop and look for things to buy. There are many options now, whereas before, going to a retail outlet was often the only real choice. As things continue to change, the retail outlet stores role in shopping is becoming very different from what it used to be. Now, many people go to retail outlets and get a hands on with a product, and then will go home and buy it online for cheaper, often times with free shipping depending on the retailer. The reasons I think that “Brick and mortar” retail outlets will fail in time are these:

2) In many cases, commission is a primary source of income for the sales people, and therefore they don’t often have the consumer in mind. Making the sales people focused on what brings in the highest margins and profit margins.

I realize that the biggest reason to go to a retail outlet is so that you can get an item immediately, but if you have the time and option to shop online and wait for the product even just enough time for it to ship, you can save a lot of money, and overall have a lot better shopping experience.

Some sites to check out for electronic bargains:

http://www.bensbargains.net – A site that updates often with new deals on consumer electronics.
http://www.newegg.com/ – A great place to buy computer upgrade parts and various computer components.
http://www.monoprice.com/ – A great place to buy cables for REALLY cheap. NEVER spend over $10 for a HDMI cable again!
http://www.amazon.com/ – You can find some great sales here on everything! Just look around.
http://www.buy.com/ – A great place to buy refurbs from companies that you know and trust.
http://www.pricegrabber.com/ – Find an item and it will compare prices from various online stores.
http://www.woot.com/ – a daily deal, but sometimes you can get a really awesome product at a great sale price.

I’m sure there are many more, but these are the ones that I check out on a regular basis. If you would like to suggest more, please comment and I will update my list!

Thanks, and please remember, this is just my opinion of these stores. I know many people that feel the same way, but people who don’t know why there are benefits to shop online, these are things to consider.

Best Always,

Kyle