There’s been a bunch of great little music related things that I thought you, my dear blog reader, would get a kick out of/find useful. Here goes:

10. Dan Phelps exploring solo guitar improvisation.

I had the chance to hear Dan create some of the most subtle, beautiful solo electric guitar work I’ve ever heard this last week. Check out his video about exploring sonic landscapes above.

9. I bought some Focal Alpha 65 speakers, and they rock.

After listening to dozens of monitors, I made the jump this last week and bought some Focal Alpha 65 studio monitors with a KRK sub. The Focal speakers are now allowing me to hear what a crappy mix engineer I’ve been in the past, and challenging me to up my mixes in the future. If you’re in the market for speakers, I can’t recommend these enough.

8. I am now the proud owner of a 1958 Hammond M3 organ.

I made my first jump into vintage keyboards this last week and purchased a vintage organ from a friend. I’m looking for a Leslie to round out the organ sound, but I’ve been having a blast this week playing Doors covers on the new instrument in the studio. As I start to get more comfortable with the instrument, I’m sure I’ll have thoughts about it that I’ll be exploring in the near future.

7. Sylvan Esso has a new song out, and it’s amazing.

Seriously, take the time to listen to this new music. The skill that they take in making just a few sounds fit perfectly blows my mind.

6. I spent some time this last weekend jamming with members of my former original pop/rock group, Watching Judas.

It’s so wonderful to explore sound with people you genuinely love, and we got to do it for about 2 hours in the studio over the weekend. If you want to see what my original writing sounds like, click here.

5. I started using the app Moment, and it’s helping to manage how much time I spend on my phone.

Like most smartphone users, I spend too much time on my device. Moment helps make you aware of how much time you spend by keeping track and sending you updates when you reach your self-set time limit. If you’re trying to curb your phone usage, this is a great (and free) way to get started.

4. I have a new MainStage pack up at my new MainStage patch site, www.patchfoundry.com.

It’s a vintage organ pack partially based on my experience of working with my Hammond organ. You can check it out here.

3. The recording studio is progressing well.

My brother and I built out the shell of the isolation room, and we’re in the sanding, acoustic treatment, and painting stage right now. I’ve already been recording in it, and even with bare walls it sounds great.

2. I have a www.soundbetter.com account.

If you’re looking to hire me for session work, there’s now an easy way to do it through Sound Better. Also, it’ll give you a chance to read all the nice things I paid people to say about me.

1. Logic Remote is the bomb.

I’ve been using Logic Remote with both MainStage and Logic Studio this week, and it’s worked like a champ when I need to adjust something in the other room. Here’s a link to a blog I wrote about it.