Check out the new Staff Picks published today.  Hey, this might be a first (a new low?) for Kompoz: two songs with a nun featured in the project art.  Tongue-and-cheek, everyone -- don't send me hate mail. 

The projects in this list are amazing.  I've said it before and I'll keep saying it as long as it's true -- the quality of the music being produced here at Kompoz (by regular people from all over the world!) just keeps getting better and better.  Congratulations to all.  Thanks for making Kompoz such an awesome experience.

Sharing your music (or any song) with the rest of the non-Kompoz world just got a little bit easier.  Check out the new one-click options for Facebook, Twitter, and E-mail. You'll find these on all Kompoz project and track pages.

To share a Kompoz project with your Facebook friends, just click the Facebook icon.  A Facebook window will appear.  Enter a comment and go! 

Sharing a Kompoz project with your Twitter followers is just as easy. Use the Twitter icon to share your tunes. By the way, did you know that you can also connect your Kompoz account with your Twitter account so that new tracks you add, and new projects you create will be automatically posted to Twitter?

Or use the e-mail option to send out e-mails directly to your friends.

If you're trying to put together a playlist that contains songs that are a similar speed, knowing the beats-per-minute of each song is immensely helpful.  BPM Analyzer from MixMeister that will analyze all of your MP3 tracks, and update the ID3 tags in them with exact BPM information. With that done, it's a simple matter of sorting your music library by the beats-per-minute field.

Now you can put together an upbeatplaylist full of fast songs, a mellow playlist with slower songs, or pretty much anything you desire.  It's great for working out or jogging, trying to find the perfect beat to keep your pace.

BPM Analyzer is a free application available for both Windows and Mac.

[Via DownloadSquad]

I got an e-mail from Scott letting me know that Kompoz is listed in this month's issue of WIRED Magazine. 

Check out page 60 for a feature titled "Top 10 Sites For Virtual Jam Sessions".  The author chose to list the sites alphabetically, so Kompoz appears third.  Of course, had the sites been ranked based on the talents of their members, Kompoz would be listed first.  Without a doubt.

Holy crap. Just holy crap.  I thoroughly enjoyed this. It addresses the issue being talked about in Rafs blog perfectly - and then a whole lot more. This is a must see - every single second of it.

Made in Austin no less. I love this town. The Steve Poltz story about Jewel is well known around here. He does a very entertaing version of "You Were Meant for Me"  that tells the story of how Jewel screwed him over.

Many thanks to Cory Frey (HiFiFrey) for sharing this with me. 

Back in April, I received an e-mail from Joud asking me if Kompoz would like to help faciliate an online collaboration CD project promoting peace.  Joud's organization, Jamming For Peace, is an international organization that aims to promote a cultural dialogue that facilitates peace and understanding through music. Their stated mission is to "brining together musicians from all over the world to collaborate to create a CD dedicated to spreading this message of humanity."

Joud has created a Kompoz Group to discuss the project.  If you're interested in getting involved, auditions are due before August 2009.  You can get more information on the Jamming For Peace Website, or post your questions on the Kompoz Group.  

So many great songs.  So much talent.  The submissions posted to the Joe Bonamassa contest represent a fabulous body of creativity, musicianship, and collaboration.

Picking one winning song from so many was extremely difficult.  Before I announce the top picks and the grand prize winner, I want to thank the judges, Joe Bonamassa, his manager Roy Weisman, and Matt Blackett of Guitar Player Magazine.  For the past two weeks, the four of us have been listening to the songs and selecting our favorites.  The winning song was e-mailed to me today by Roy, after hearing from Joe. 

First, in no particular order, here are the Top 12 songs (we had a hard to narrowing it to 10):

Rio Bravo - Bandido Bonamassa
http://kompoz.com/9524

Bonamasa Pickin Cotton contest song
http://kompoz.com/9460

Charlie Horse
http://kompoz.com/10184

Miami - Bonamassa Contest
http://kompoz.com/10154

Bonamassa Contest - Wrong Side Of The Tracks
http://kompoz.com/9777

Mudflappus Stomp - Bonomassa contest
http://kompoz.com/10167

Joe Bonamassa Contest tune
http://kompoz.com/9510

Funked Up Bonamassa (instrumental)
http://kompoz.com/10630

Joe Bonamassa hips his hop
http://kompoz.com/9772

Bonamassa Tribal Mix
http://kompoz.com/9593

BonaMassive (Joe Bonamassa Contest)
http://kompoz.com/9582

Get Up And Go (Joe Bonamassa Contest)
http://kompoz.com/9497

And the winner is... 

Line 6 and Planet Waves demonstrated an interesting iPhone App at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC).  "Rig Remote" gives guitarists the freedom to control Line 6 Variax digital modeling guitars and Vetta II digital modeling amplifiers with an iPhone or iPod Touch running the new OS 3.0. 

According to reports, the iPhone display and touch screen make it simple to scroll, choose and adjust models of amps, guitars, pickups, pickup placement, alternate tuning and more. Guitarists can easily save their favorite settings and apply them to any Variax guitar or Vetta II amplifier.

Check out the WWDC clips on Engadget.

I don't listen to radio much anymore.  Sometimes I'm forced to, like when I'm walking in a mall or department store.  This past weekend, I was caught in one of those giant malls, and I was subjected to the pop loop pumped through the ceiling speakers.  I noticed (because it's very obvious) the unmistakable and very artificial sound of Auto-Tune.  It seems that almost all pop music today is over using the technology, and -- to me -- it's getting very annoying.  Everyone's doing.  But does that make it right?

I don't have a problem with making minor and quick corrections in the studio, but that's not what's happening.  Today, too many "artists" are using the technology all of the time -- in the studio and even in concert.  Performance enhancement.  How is that any different than professional athletes shooting up with steroids?

I've covered Melodyne in other blog posts, and at the time I was impressed with the technology.  But I think it's being way overused in commercial music.  There is a very excellent article on msnbc on the topic.  What's your opinion?