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Memes

Christopher’s Memes: WOLFCANO – Sharknado Sequel

Just when you thought you survived SHARKNADO, a new terror has come to drown Los Angeles in fiery toothsome horror. Down from the hills and into the sky, FUR WILL FLY! Beware the fire dripping monsters of WOLFCANO!

Simmons: WOLFCANO
A pack of wolves seeking shelter from the heat follow a lost cave unearthed from a recent earthquake. Little do they know the shelter from the heat takes them deep underground to a dormant volcano, and with a follow up quake the volcano erupts sending the wolves and a firestorm over southern California.

Helicopter pilots and tanker trucks must swerve or explode when the flaming furballs start raining from the sky.

You’ll howl, you’ll cry, you’ll see wolves fly.

Directed by veteran Hollywood director Alan Smithee this fur-fest will thrill and delight the most jaded moviegoers. A rousing sacore by the infamous band See You Next Wednesday, will have you on the edge of your seat, and features the love ballad, “If only wolf boy would save me.”

CAN YOU SURVIVE THE WOLFCANO?

 
(*THIS IS NOT A REAL MOVIE: in case you hadn’t figured that out by now.) 😉

 
Image and text Copr. © 2013 by Christopher Simmons, from an original idea. First published on Ga-Ga .com – all commercial and reprint rights reserved beyond the normal use of memes. Publication on any website, particularly “meme curation” sites must include link back to this page/site on ChristopherSimmons.com for proper attribution.

Categories
Memes

Christopher’s Memes: I Ate the Bones … McCoy?!

I Ate the Bones?! Some people think “Bones” is ‘finger lickin good’ but I’m sure he’d rather not be eaten by hungry KFC customers! #iatethebones indeed.

Simmons MEME: I Ate the Bones?

Now in two types of white meat: classic DeForest Kelly flavor or new spicier Karl Urban flavor. Only available with Bones. Contrary to any TV commercials you may have seen, “Bones-less” is not available for this special meaty offer.

About this MEME: Inspired by the 2013 “I ate the Bones” TV commercials from KFC. (With apologies to both the late Mr. Gene Roddenberry and DeForest Kelly.)

VIDEO – KFC “I Ate The Bones” (YouTube):
https://youtu.be/hGlzhPVMAsg

 

TERMS OF USE: From an original idea by Christopher L. Simmons, Copr. © 2013 by Christopher Laird Simmons – all rights reserved. Fair use: rights granted to share and enjoy, however sites which repost memes as their main endeavor must clearly retain attribution and a link back to this “original” birthplace for the meme: https://christophersimmons.com/christophers-memes-i-ate-the-bones-mccoy/ . Use of the image created in Photoshop by Simmons to create further derivative works is prohibited without proper attribution of the original artist.

Categories
Memes

Christopher’s Memes: Bing it On – The (Chandler) Bing Challenge

BING IT ON! “Bing” vs “Google.” Some say the Microsoft ‘Bing Challenge’ is rigged. Well, obviously Chandler Bing is better looking than Google when you do a side by side comparison of the two. It’s simply no contest.

Simmons: Bing it On

Inspired by the “Bing it On” advertising campaign 2013 by Microsoft.

VIDEO “Bing Challenge” (YouTube):

 

TERMS OF USE: From an original idea by Christopher L. Simmons, Copr. © 2013 by Christopher Laird Simmons – all rights reserved. Fair use: rights granted to share and enjoy, however sites which repost memes as their main endeavor must clearly retain attribution and a link back to this “original” birthplace for the meme on ChristopherSimmons.com . Use of the image created in Photoshop by Simmons to create further derivative works is prohibited without proper attribution of the original artist. Christopher Simmons is an award-winning graphic designer, digital artist, photographer, Photoshop “guru” and marketing expert.

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Company Announcements Press Releases

Neotrope announces 2012 NonProfit PR Grant Recipients

NEOTROPELOS ANGELES, Calif., Feb. 29, 2012 — Neotrope(R), a public relations, advertising and marketing firm established in 1983, today announced the recipients of the NonProfit PR Grant Program for 2012. This year’s 10 recipients, selected from over 300 applicants, will receive approximately $50,000 total in pro bono services. Originally launched in 2000, the Neotrope PR Grants program has helped raise awareness for worthwhile causes all over the U.S. by providing public relations, news dissemination and online marketing, donated by Neotrope’s accredited staff.

“We’ve very happy to again be able to offer this program to charitable causes that are doing good,” said Neotrope CEO, Christopher Simmons; a member of PRSA and ASCAP. “This year we have again a very diverse selection of 501(c)3 charities with whom we will be working. We’re honored to be able to do our small part in helping raise their awareness to the public, supporters, potential sponsors, and of course the media.”

Neotrope launched its NonProfit PR Grant Program (www.send2press.com/non-profit) in 2000 and has provided discounted or free services to non-profits for almost 30 years. Neotrope’s Send2Press(R) Newswire service provides the news dissemination component of the grants program for getting press releases in front of interested media. Online marketing across the Neotrope News Network will also help reach up to 10 million eyeballs per month via banner advertising, included in this year’s grant.

Past recipients of the NonProfit PR Grant Program include Children Awaiting Parents, Girls Write Now, Paws of Life Foundation, Special Equestrians, The Bob Moog Foundation, The Starlight Children’s Foundation, The Native Voices Foundation, World Savvy, and many others.

2012 NON-PROFIT PR GRANT RECIPIENTS:

1) The Story Project (www.StoryProject.org) uses entertainment-arts curriculum to engage under-served and at-risk middle-school students through digital, media-based projects that educate, empower and inspire. Every production addresses conflict resolution and current issues students face on a daily basis while building literacy, communication, problem solving and teamwork skills that end in a tangible result. TSP works with students at their school over the duration of 12-14 weeks during their regularly scheduled school day for approximately 2 hours once a week to see a project from inception through delivery. We use teachers employed through our organization and professionals from the entertainment community who participate as mentors. Students hear others’ stories and learn to find and share their own.

2) The mission of the Pacific Pinball Museum (www.pacificpinball.org) is “To inspire an interest in science, art and history through pinball and to preserve and promote this important part of American culture.” We do this by: Maintaining and operating a Museum to display a large quantity of playable machines from all eras of pinball in an educational and entertaining manner. In addition to producing the world’s largest Pinball Event, the Pacific Pinball Exposition, we provide classes on the science of pinball, electricity and magnetism, art and history to local schools and visitors. We are a small group of dedicated individuals that are passionate about pinball and our desire to share it with the world. We are becoming the “Smithsonian of Pinball.”

3) Camp Blue Skies Foundation (www.campblueskies.org) provides week-long residential camps for adults with developmental disabilities. Camp Blue Skies fills a gap for a population that has few recreational opportunities offered to them once they are out of the school system. The camp experience has a profound impact and life changing effect on not only campers, but caregivers, counselors and volunteers. Camp sessions are currently offered in NC and GA. Over 150 adults with intellectual challenges have been served to date and 180 loyal volunteers have committed their personal time to assist at camp. “Our vision is to continue to develop and improve the programs we offer and broaden the population we serve by offering more sessions throughout the southeast region and hopefully beyond in the future.”

4) Move For Hunger (www.moveforhunger.org) is a non-profit organization that works with moving companies across the country to pick up unwanted, unopened food from those who are relocating and deliver it to local food banks across the country. Many people throw out a good deal of “stuff” when they move. Unfortunately, a lot of this “stuff” is food that could be delivered to a family in need rather than thrown away. “That’s where we come in: our movers offer to pick up unwanted, non-perishable food items during the moving process and deliver it to local food banks. To date we are working with over 200 moving companies in 37 states. Together we have collected 400,000 lbs. of food for food banks across America.”

5) Fresh Start Surgical Gifts (www.freshstart.org) transforms the lives of disadvantaged infants, children, and teens with physical deformities caused by birth defects, accidents, abuse, or disease through the gift of reconstructive surgery and related healthcare services. The Surgery Weekend Program is Fresh Start’s largest project of each year, with six weekends of intensive reconstructive surgery as well as frequent dental clinics, laser treatments, and speech therapy services. Fresh Start’s Surgery Weekend Program provides access to comprehensive, free healthcare for low-income, uninsured, and underinsured children suffering from physical deformities and other conditions. Throughout the interim between these intensive marathon Surgery Weekends, Fresh Start also hosts speech therapy clinics, dental clinics, and laser treatments to ensure a comprehensive treatment plan for each patient.

6) CITYarts, Inc. (www.cityarts.org) empowers children and youth by bringing them together with professional artists to create public art that addresses civic and social issues, impacts lives, and transforms their communities. Thinking globally and acting locally, CITYarts’ projects build bridges of cultural understanding, giving youth the opportunity to take an active role in shaping their own future. Since 1968, CITYarts has created over 284 projects that have transformed communities and impacted over 100,000 kids, collaborated with more than 500 artists, partnered with over 1,500 sponsors, and engaged over 500,000 volunteers in the process. CITYarts’ projects frequently foster community revitalization by galvanizing businesses, schools, and community organizations into developing youth programs and constructing playgrounds and gardens.

7) Launched in 2000, WEST: Women Entrepreneurs in Science and Technology (www.westorg.org), provides a forum for women in science, engineering and technology industries to develop their careers and leadership through networking and information sharing. Uniquely tied to this highly educated, influential community, the WEST leadership has long provided a supportive environment for early, mid and senior career women in these vital sectors, allowing them an exceptional opportunity to acquire the skills necessary to become business leaders in their fields. “Our goal is to improve the leadership status of women in science, engineering and technology by inspiring them to achieve success in their organizations and create a positive impact in their communities.” WEST offers a rich and thriving community that provides support, guidance, and professional development for professionals in science, engineering and technology.

8) Cave Canem Foundation, Inc. (www.cavecanempoets.org) was founded in 1996 by poets Toi Derricotte and Cornelius Eady to remedy the under-representation and isolation experienced by African American poets in writing workshops and MFA programs, Cave Canem is a home for the many voices of African American poetry and is committed to cultivating the artistic and professional growth of African American poets. Awards garnered by Cave Canem fellows include the Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Award; the Whiting Writers’ Award; the NAACP Image Award; the Laughlin Award from the Academy of American Poets; National Poetry Series Selection; the Cave Canem Poetry Prize; and the Ruth Lilly Fellowship, among many others. Fellows have 170+ books in print across several genres and have gained significant footholds in academic positions across the country. Faculty member Elizabeth Alexander was named Inaugural Poet for President Obama in 2008; in faculty members Terrance Hayes and Nikky Finney won the National Book Award for Poetry in 2010 and 2011, respectively.

9) Canine Assisted Therapy (www.catdogs.org), or C.A.T., was formed to provide qualified, dependable and caring pet therapy teams to those who need comfort, companionship or the unconditional love of a dog. Specially trained teams support medical staff to promote healing. “We seek to provide superior education and support to volunteers and the facilities we serve. Our continuing education programs are open to volunteers of any pet therapy organization, for we wish to enhance the entire pet therapy community with our efforts. We provide guidance to healthcare and educational entities to implement or improve therapy animal programs within their facilities.” C.A.T. services are provided free of charge, with the highest level of professionalism and organization, and we satisfy HIPAA requirements. As a non-profit entity, we recruit and utilize volunteers to serve Florida communities. C.A.T. pet therapy volunteer corps provide both animal-assisted activities (AAA) and animal-assisted therapy (AAT).

10) Center for Student Opportunity (www.csopportunity.org) is empowering underserved, first-generation college students to and through college by providing critical information, guidance, scholarships, and ongoing support. With offices in Bethesda, Maryland and Orange County, California, CSO’s programs and resources reach nationally. They include Opportunity Scholars, supporting students across the country who aspire to be the first in their family to attend college through the college search and selection process; www.CSOCollegeCenter.org, a free online college search tool to research and connect with colleges and universities that serve and support under-served, first-generation college students; and COLLEGE ACCESS & OPPORTUNITY GUIDE, a unique college guidebook designed to help underserved, first-generation college students make their college dreams a reality. Scholarship students use our website as bloggers to diary their college experiences and offer advice to college-bound students on preparing for college.

ABOUT NEOTROPE:

Since 1983, Neotrope (www.neotrope.com) has been helping small-to-medium businesses, non-profits, and entertainment companies establish their brand and grow revenue. Neotrope was an Inc. 5000 listed company in 2009. The Neotrope(R) team is led by Christopher Laird Simmons, an award-winning designer, photographer, musician, journalist, and digital artist. He is a member of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), and ASCAP. Simmons has been widely interviewed in print and broadcast, and has written for numerous national print publications. Other team members include accredited public relations professionals, working journalists and SEO experts.

Neotrope(R) is a registered trademark and service mark in the U.S. and Europe. Send2Press(R) is a U.S. registered trademark of Neotrope. All other trademarks acknowledged.

Categories
Company Announcements Press Releases

Neotrope Extends Deadline for 2012 Non-Profit PR Grants Program

LOS ANGELES, Calif., Jan. 11, 2012 — Neotrope, a California-based brand identity, internet marketing, and PR firm established in 1983, today announced an extension on the deadline for its 2012 PR Grant program for nonprofit orgs to January 31.

The company also recently announced it had expanded the deliverables of its 2012 Non-Profit PR Grants Program. All recipients of the 2012 program will now also receive up to $2,500 in additional services – specifically free online text and banner advertising on Neotrope(R) News Network sites – in addition to the news dissemination services portion of the grant. This brings the dollar value of the grant to each chosen recipient to $5,000, or $50,000 total value in donated services for 2012.

“Since several grant publications and sites didn’t get to mentioning our program until the first week of the new year, we decided to extend the application deadline from January 15th to the 31st,” said Neotrope founder and CEO, Christopher Laird Simmons. “We started this program more than 10 years ago, and we’re very glad to be able to continue helping worthy non-profit groups raise their awareness.”

Neotrope launched its Non-Profit PR Grant Program in 2000 and has provided discounted or free services to non-profits for almost 30 years. Neotrope’s Send2Press(R) Newswire service provides the news dissemination component of the grants program for getting press releases in front of interested media.

Past recipients of the Non-Profit PR Grant Program include Children Awaiting Parents, Girls Write Now, Paws of Life Foundation, Special Equestrians, The Bob Moog Foundation, The Starlight Children’s Foundation, The Native Voices Foundation, World Savvy, and many others.

How to Apply for 2012 Grant Program:

Non-profit organizations may apply through January 31, 2012. Organizations will be selected by Feb. 6, 2012, and the amount donated to each selected non-profit will vary, but total value approximately $5,000 per recipient (note, this is not a cash grant). Two of the grants will be provided to California-based non-profits, who will receive additional promotional assistance through California Newswire(R).

The 2012 Neotrope PR Grant application for U.S.-based IRS recognized 501(c)(3) charitable non-profits can be found at: http://www.Send2Press.com/non-profit/index.shtml .

About Neotrope:

Since 1983, Neotrope (www.neotrope.com) has been helping small-to-medium businesses, non-profits, and entertainment companies establish their brand and grow revenue. Neotrope was an Inc. 5000 listed company in 2009. The Neotrope(R) team is led by Christopher Laird Simmons, an award-winning designer, photographer, musician and digital artist. He is a member of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), and ASCAP. Simmons has been widely interviewed in print and broadcast, and has written for numerous national print publications. Other team members include accredited public relations professionals, working journalists and SEO experts.

Neotrope(R) is a registered trademark and service mark in the U.S. and Europe.

– 300dpi logo download for media: Send2Press.com/mediaboom/11-1116-neotrope_300dpi.jpg

NEWS SOURCE: Neotrope

Send2Press(R) Newswire is the originating wire service for this story, issued on behalf of the news source.

Categories
Company Announcements Press Releases

Non-Profit PR Grants Program expanded to $50K for 2012, now includes Internet Marketing Campaign for Grant Recipients

TORRANCE, Calif., Dec. 19, 2011 — Neotrope, a California based brand identity, internet marketing, and PR firm established in 1983, today announced it has expanded the deliverables of its 2012 Non-Profit PR Grants Program. All recipients of the 2012 program will now also receive up to $2,500 in additional services; specifically free online text and banner advertising on Neotrope(R) News Network sites. This brings the dollar value of the grant to each chosen recipient to $5,000, or $50,000 total value in donated services for 2012.

“We’re again donating $25,000 in free public relations and newswire services to worthy non-profit and charitable organizations to celebrate our 29th anniversary,” said Neotrope founder and CEO, Christopher Laird Simmons. “With this expansion, we’ve now added $25,000 in online marketing services to the program for the first time. This new component gives the grant recipients far more visibility online by running their advertising in ROS campaigns on our news network; we will even create banners for the recipients if they don’t already have them.”

The Neotrope News Network includes news and entertainment portals like eNewsChannels.com. CaliforniaNewswire.com, MusicIndustryNewswire.com and many others, generating up to 10 million page views per month. The Neotrope News Network is being completely “rebooted” in 2012, and existing sites are being upgraded for a Q1/2012 brand re-launch, and integration of the PR grant recipient advertising is being integrated from the ground up during the redesign process.

Neotrope previously donated services as part of its Non-Profit PR Grants Program in 2011, 2009, 2005 and 2000. In 2010, Neotrope “adopted” various charities in lieu of providing the PR Grant program, and has provided discounted or free services to various non-profits for almost 30 years. Neotrope’s Send2Press(R) Newswire service provides the online news dissemination component of the grants program for getting press releases in front of interested media.

Past recipients of the Non-Profit PR Grant Program include Children Awaiting Parents, Girls Write Now, Paws of Life Foundation, Special Equestrians, The Bob Moog Foundation, The Starlight Children’s Foundation, The Native Voices Foundation, World Savvy, and many others.

“Neotrope has played an important role in our success in the last couple years,” said Dana Mortenson, Executive Director, World Savvy. “The Neotrope PR Service Grant in 2009 was tremendously helpful in a critical year of our growth. With Neotrope’s help spreading the word for our youth engagement programs, we were able to engage more than 6,000 youth and 1,100 educators in our programs during the 2009-2010 school year.”

“Neotrope has done more to raise our profile than we could have ever imagined, and we thoroughly enjoyed working with them,” said Tammy Westney, Executive Director, Special Equestrians.

How to Apply for 2012 Grant Program:

Non-profit organizations may apply online through January 15, 2012. Organizations will be selected by January 30, 2012, and the amount donated to each selected non-profit will vary, but typically $2,500 in PR services per recipient plus the additional online marketing/advertising component (total value approximately $5,000 per recipient; this is not a cash grant). Two of the grants will be provided to California-based non-profits, who will receive additional promotional assistance through California Newswire(R). Additionally, all 501(c)(3) organizations automatically qualify for a 15% service discount.

The 2012 Neotrope PR Grant application for U.S. based IRS recognized 501(c)3 charitable non-profits can be found at http://www.Send2Press.com/non-profit/index.shtml .

About Neotrope:

Since 1983, Neotrope (www.neotrope.com) has been helping small-to-medium businesses, non-profits, and entertainment companies establish their brand and grow revenue. Neotrope was an Inc. 5000 listed company in 2009. The Neotrope(R) marketing team includes Christopher Laird Simmons, who is an award-winning designer, photographer, musician and digital artist. He is a member of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), and ASCAP. Simmons has been widely interviewed by publications as diverse as Entrepreneur, Chicago Post Tribune, Medical Office Front Desk Pro, Monster.com, Nutraceuticals World, PCWorld, Produce Merchandising, and TrendWatch. He has written for a number of national print publications including Digital Imaging, Print on Demand Business, the Graphic Artists Guild newsletter, and he sold his first article in 1984 to Polyphony (now Electronic Musician). Other team members include accredited public relations professionals, working journalists and SEO experts.

About Send2Press Newswire:

Send2Press(R) offers best-in-class affordable Direct-to-Editors(TM) news distribution and alternative placement of news content to improve its “persistence” versus the traditional one-shot approach. In addition to sending news directly to working journalists, print and broadcast media, Send2Press places news into social networks and deep into search engines using proprietary ContextEngine(TM) press release optimization technology developed in 1997. Originally launched as MindsetNetwire in 1997 exclusively for Neotrope’s corporate clients, the service became Send2Press in 2000. Send2Press is unique because it was the first wire service with staff entirely comprised of accredited public relations professionals, published authors, working journalists, and marketing experts.

Neotrope(R) is a registered trademark and service mark in the U.S. and Europe. Send2Press and California Newswire are registered service marks of Neotrope. All rights reserved.

Additional background information:

2012 NonProfit PR Grants Announcement:
http://send2pressnewswire.com/2011/11/15/s2p5475_210056.php .

2011 PR Grants Announcement:
http://send2pressnewswire.com/2011/01/07/s2p4053_125309.php .

2009 PR Grants Recipient announcement:
https://www.send2press.com/newswire/2008-12-1212-001.shtml .

2009 PR Grants announcement:
https://www.send2press.com/newswire/2008-10-1001-001.shtml .

2005 PR Grants announcement:
https://www.send2press.com/newswire/2005-01-0128-002.shtml .

2000 PR Grants announcement:
https://neotrope.com/text/news_PR_00-0802.shtml .

Additional news about non-profit organizations, causes, and corporate social responsibility:
http://send2pressnewswire.com/news/nonprofit-newswire .

– 300dpi logo for media: Send2Press.com/mediaboom/11-1116-neotrope_300dpi.jpg

NEWS SOURCE: Neotrope

Send2Press(R) Newswire is the originating wire service for this story, issued on behalf of the news source.

Categories
Company Announcements Press Releases

Los Angeles PR Firm Again Donates Services to Worthy Causes: Non-Profit PR Grants Program for 2012 announced by Neotrope

LOS ANGELES, Calif., Nov. 15, 2011 — Neotrope(R), a brand identity, public relations, and marketing firm established Jan. 1983, announces its latest Non-Profit PR Grants Program for 2012. The firm is again donating $25,000 in free public relations and newswire services to worthy non-profit and charitable organizations to celebrate its 29th anniversary.

“The U.S. economy the past two years had been hard on small business, and even harder on small charities and non-profits. This PR Grant program is our way of supporting some of the numerous smaller organizations we feel need ongoing help to ‘get the word out’ about their worthwhile efforts,” said Neotrope CEO and co-founder, Christopher Simmons. “We’ve been very helpful to numerous organizations to increase visibility both online and off, and hope to continue this program into the future.”

Neotrope previously donated services as part of its Non-Profit PR Grants Program in 2011, 2009, 2005 and 2000. In 2010, Neotrope “adopted” various charities in lieu of providing the PR Grant program, and has provided discounted or free services to various non-profits for almost 30 years. Past recipients of the PR grant program include Children Awaiting Parents, Girls Write Now, Paws of Life Foundation, Special Equestrians, The Bob Moog Foundation, The Starlight Children’s Foundation, The Native Voices Foundation, World Savvy, and many others.

Neotrope, and its service division Send2Press Newswire (www.Send2Press.com), have also sponsored art benefits contributing to aid efforts for the homeless in Chicago, groups providing environmentally sustainable housing in areas of the world where disaster has left people without adequate shelter; and to orgs who raise money for AIDS orphans.

How to Apply for 2012 Grant Program:

Non-profit organizations may apply starting November 15, 2011 through January 15, 2012. Organizations will be selected by January 30, 2012, and the amount donated to each selected non-profit will vary, but typically $2500 in services per recipient (this is not a cash grant). Three of the grants will be provided to California-based non-profits, who will receive additional promotional assistance through California Newswire(R). Additionally, all 501(c)(3) organizations automatically qualify for a 15% service discount.

The 2012 Neotrope PR Grant application can be found at http://www.Send2Press.com/non-profit/index.shtml .

About Neotrope:

Since 1983, Neotrope (www.neotrope.com) has been helping small-to-medium businesses, non-profits, and entertainment companies establish their brand and grow revenue. Neotrope was an Inc. 5000 listed company in 2009. The Neotrope(R) marketing team includes Christopher Laird Simmons, who is an award-winning designer, photographer, musician and digital artist. He is a member of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), and ASCAP. Simmons has been widely interviewed by publications as diverse as Entrepreneur, Chicago Post Tribune, PCWorld, Monster.com, and TrendWatch. Other team members include accredited public relations professionals, working journalists and broadcast veterans.

About Send2Press Newswire:

Send2Press(R) offers best-in-class affordable Direct-to-Editors(TM) news distribution and alternative placement of news content to improve its “persistence” versus the traditional one-shot approach. In addition to sending news directly to working journalists, print and broadcast media, Send2Press places news into social networks and deep into search engines using proprietary ContextEngine(TM) press release optimization technology developed in 1997. Originally launched as MindsetNetwire in 1997 exclusively for Neotrope’s corporate clients, the service became Send2Press in 2000. Send2Press is unique because it was the first wire service with staff entirely comprised of accredited public relations professionals, published authors, working journalists, and marketing experts.

Neotrope(R) is a registered trademark and service mark in the U.S. and Europe. Send2Press and California Newswire are registered service marks of Neotrope. All rights reserved.

– Additional news about non-profit organizations, causes, and corporate social responsibility: http://send2pressnewswire.com/news/nonprofit-newswire .

– 300dpi logo for media: Send2Press.com/mediaboom/11-1116-neotrope_300dpi.jpg

NEWS SOURCE: NEOTROPE

Send2Press(R) Newswire is the originating wire service for this story, issued on behalf of the news source.

Categories
Company Announcements Press Releases

Neotrope Helps Small Businesses Balance Their PR Budget, Rolls Back Pricing to 2008 Levels

LOS ANGELES, Calif., July 29, 2011 — Neotrope is helping to ensure small businesses can manage their budgets and not cross their own debt ceiling when doing PR and promotion, by rolling back service pricing on Send2Press(R) Newswire press release writing and targeted news distribution packages to 2008 levels.

“Many of our clients had great growth in the period of 2005-2008, and then when the economy tanked in 2009 and 2010, promotional budgets got constrained, and some companies had to abandon marketing and PR altogether,” said Neotrope CEO, Christopher Laird Simmons; a member of PRSA and ASCAP. “This year we’ve heard from a lot of companies coming back from the brink, and they have asked for discounts or considerations, and we have rolled back our service plan pricing where possible to accommodate our clients.”

Most Send2Press service plan pricing has been reduced back to 2008 levels, which amounts to an immediate 10 to 20% price “roll back” effective August 1, 2011, on most services. The roll-back soft launched the last week of July, and already most customers have responded favorably.

“Many marketing firms and news services arbitrarily raise their rates each year, and we followed suit this year after holding the line for many years; as it turned out, that wasn’t what our customers needed at the exact moment their budgets again allowed for marketing campaigns,” said Simmons. “This roll-back program will help those clients bring their businesses back up to speed without having to face their own debt crises like the U.S. is experiencing right now.”

About Neotrope:

Since 1983 Neotrope(R) has delivered services to raise organization awareness including brand identity, marketing, public relations (PR), and SEO services. Neotrope is also an entertainment publishing company involved in books, music, software, and online portals. The company pioneered the concept of search optimization of press release content back in 1997. Neotrope was an Inc. 5000 company in 2009. More information: www.Neotrope.com .

About Send2Press:

Send2Press(R) (a service of Neotrope) offers best-in-class affordable Direct-to-Editors(TM) news distribution to working print and broadcast media, online and social media, and deep into search engines using proprietary Neotrope ContextEngine(TM) technology. Send2Press is unique because it was the first newswire service with staff entirely comprised of accredited public relations professionals, published authors, working journalists, and marketing experts. Learn more about Send2Press at www.Send2Press.com .

Neotrope is a registered trademark and service mark in the U.S. and Europe; all rights reserved.

NEWS SOURCE: Neotrope

Send2Press(R) Newswire is the originating wire service for this story, issued on behalf of the news source.

Categories
Articles Books and Publishing Film and TV Reviews

REVIEW: Buffy the Vampire Slayer ‘Season 8 Motion Comic’

As a long time Buffy The Vampire Slayer fan, I tried reading the original “Buffy” comic book when it hit the stands a few years back, but couldn’t get past the “lifeless” version of Buffy sans the original actors, fun music, and dramatic moments.

Buffy series 8 motion comic
Even though I read a lot of comic books in my youth, the last graphic novel I read was the Frank Miller “Batman/The Dark Knight,” and the only anime I’ve been able to stomach in the past decade would be “Death Note.” When surfing the iTunes store on my iPad couple of months back, I saw the season was available as a “motion comic,” and decided to buy the “season.” I’ve been watching them as released in my “subscription,” and just finished the final episodes this past weekend while on the treadmill (iPad is great for this).

Buffy Season 8Well, it’s not as good as the show, by any stretch of the imagination, and die-hard fans might be insulted by calling this the never to be seen 8th “real” season of the TV series about a teen girl inducted by the Watchers to save humanity from all sorts of evil, but first and foremost those pesky kung-fu capable vampires.

Hard to believe Buffy is thirty (if you count back to the original movie, prior to the series) this month. Wow. I was in my late teens way back when. I won’t bore you with a history of the show, or the actors, or how great the show truly was. Both Buffy and Angel were a bright (or dark) spot on TV when everything else was sitcoms or stale dramas.

For the motion comics, overall my feelings are a bit mixed. I was kind of happy to see Buffy in action, but lamenting the lack of carryover from the show beyond the use of familiar characters, both good and bad. Many of the choices for stories don’t seem to be plausible in the context of the brilliant way the TV show was plotted for the whole season with little nuggets dropped in the first episodes that would blossom into major plot points as the season progressed. This was the right way to do TV, not the “make it up as we go” process used on LOST.

I liked the “episodes” written or storied by Josh Whedon, the actual creator of Buffy, but a few of the motion comic episodes (issues) had some pretty whacky stuff and I’ll try not to throw in many spoilers here, but Dawn being stuck as a giant and fighting a mecha-Godzilla-inspired robot clone, is perhaps a bit beyond anything we’d see on the TV series.

The voice acting is pretty good, and the music is a superb mix of the original series music and other elements. I was actually impressed by the way the motion comic stories were brought to life with clever use of animating the panels, animating pieces of the comic book artwork, and 3-D “particle effects” for things like fire. Sound effects (foley) work helps to make it seem like a radio broadcast with video, and since this was my first foray into any “motion comics,” I actually found it entertaining.

I thought Zander was pretty well done, but his character was often the comic relief in the original series. The villains chew scenery in typical comic book form, but some of the glue of dramatic scenes is lost in favor of the comic book genre’s panel format. Still, the digital artists have done an amazing job of bringing flat art to life, and this works very well for the most part, except in some instances where a small panel was missing detail in the faces.

It works well on the iPad, but not sure I’d find this as watchable on a big-screen TV, although I might try that. If you tend to work and watch TV as a background entertainment versus sitting in rapt attention over each moment in time (as I did rewatching the entire Buffy and Angel series last year again), it would be perfect for the audio performances.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Okay, a couple of spoilers. Buffy has a lesbian relationship, Amy comes back to wreak havoc, and Faith gets her bad girl groove on. Dracula makes an appearance, ninjas make an appearance, and one long-time nemesis of Buffy and Giles bites the big one.

“Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8 Motion Comic” is available on iTunes, Amazon on demand, Blu-ray/DVD combo. Run Time: 275 minutes.

Overall, it’s a charming alternate universe kind of re-visit to the Buffyverse, but falls way short of truly being a new season of the show I loved so much. Still, if you’ve been craving something to sink your teeth into and couldn’t quite wrap your claws around the static comics, the “motion comic” is worth a look. ‘Nuff said.

 
VIDEO TRAILER FOR “SEASON 9” FOLLOW-ON MOTION COMIC: (Darkhorse)


Article is Copr. © 2011 by Christopher Simmons. All rights reserved. No fee or compensation was paid to the author for composition of this article. Article originally appeared on CitizenWire.com and a version appeared on Ga-Ga .com / Musewire .com before permanent placement on ChristopherSimmons.com.

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Articles Music and Recording Reviews

REVIEW: Music Computing StudioBLADE Keyboard Production Station

REVIEW: While the concept of a music keyboard with a computer inside isn’t entirely new, the folks at Austin, Texas start-up Music Computing think they might have invented the new sweet spot in bridging the gap between the notebook and controller crowd and the people who won’t use anything other than a Yamaha Motif or Roland Fantom-style workstation keyboard.

Company founder and CEO Victor Wong is no stranger to computers and music having been the former CEO of Open Labs, as well as having had numerous stints at tech companies including an authorized Macintosh clone company, and value added resellers (VARs). For the new company, his team has addressed a number of shortcomings with other PC-based music products out there, a couple of which include price and portability.

Having owned quite a few PC powered systems myself, including a Muse Receptor, two Open Labs NeKo models (TSE and XXL), a Korg Oasys, and even a Hartman Neuron, I seem to fit into the target audience for this kind of thing, and sure enough, I was one of the first folks to order one of Music Computing’s new keyboards (customer #8).

So what is it?
The new StudioBLADE line of “keyboard production stations” follows somewhat in the footsteps of what competitor Open Labs has been doing for a while now with their NeKo and MiKo systems, but ironically tries to be more “open” in their approach to design and physical construction. They are smaller, more compact, and weigh less than either a NeKo, or even a Yamaha Motif XF6, thanks to lightweight aluminum, and not over-complicating the internals.

Powered by Microsoft Windows 7 64-bit, the StudioBLADE comes pre-installed with the Presonus Studio One DAW application (full version, with mastering support), as well as a couple of proprietary VST instruments. First, SonicSource emulates the sound library you might find in a modern ROMpler, but with 8GB of sounds (more than 8x the sample data what comes with a Motif, by the way) as well as TriggerGrid, which is a drag-and-drop drum and sampler sound environment that works with the built-in grid control surface.

Out of the box, the StudioBLADE 61 is a shiny and surprisingly compact keyboard roughly 36-inches long, 18-inches deep and about 4-inches thick when the 10-inch USB-powered touch panel is not deployed. The unit is compact enough to fit on a classic Ultimate Support Apex stand (using the longer support bars for depth).

In addition to the 61-key synth action keyboard (made by M-Audio), the top area contains one of the most diverse control surface set-ups this side of a couple of Novation controllers having intimate relations. Specifically, there are nine vertical rows, each with a long-throw fader, two light-up push buttons, and four rotary knobs (see photos). An 88-key version is also available with the same action (not a graded, hammer-action full piano keybed).

The rotary knobs light up as you turn them, and work almost identically to the Livid Instruments OHM and CODE controllers. I would go so far as to speculate (due to the shared locale of Austin, and identical feel) that Livid might be providing parts to Music Computing for their controllers, but the company would not confirm this. In any case the controllers all feel solid and well built, and feel the same as my buddy’s OHM64, which is to say they feel really good.

To the right of this is an 8×8 grid of lighted pads, which can either be used for triggering samples like an MPC or loops in Ableton Live fashion. There is also a set of bank buttons (more on that in a minute), transport buttons, and a rotary push selector knob. All this is well organized to be easily at hand for live control, and breaks with the “screen in middle” ergonomics of most other workstations. Having the control sections side by side, versus on either end, does seem to make sense when you actually use them.

I particularly like the bank buttons, which will be familiar with anyone who ever used an Akai MPC with banks for sounds (A, B, C, D). Same idea. Except what’s wicked cool here is that you could have bank A be your DAW control to setup a mix in a live setup, such as levels for mics or a guitar direct input, then while performing jump between bank B for your Ableton control, while perhaps jump to Bank C where the faders become drawbars for your virtual Hammond B3, and maybe jump to bank D for controlling external lighting. Lots of possibilities there and first time I’ve seen that on any controller keyboard.

In my case I put a 23-inch Acer touch panel display behind the StudioBLADE and this proves an ideal setup with Windows 7 where I don’t need to use the mouse for many things. The built-in touch panel setup in Windows 7 took literally one minute and didn’t interfere with the 10-inch display (see photos).

In Studio One, the on-screen faders snap to the location of the non-motorized faders on the control surface, and while motorized faders might be nice, keep in mind the Euphonix control surface I have for my Mac cost $2500, or about the same price as the base model StudioBLADE.

Additionally there is a quite snazzy machined aluminum master volume control knob along with keyboard octave up/down buttons and the typical pitch bend and modulation wheels. These wheels snap back a little slower than the Fatar-type wheels, but still work well. A wireless RF keyboard and mouse is also included.

Pricing starts at $2599 “well equipped” for a Core2 Duo base configuration and $2799 for a Core i5 base configuration with 4GB of RAM and one hard drive. Upgrades include more audio ins/outs (not needed for many folks working inside the box only), and a larger or second hard drive. You can upgrade the HD yourself later if you wish by simply unscrewing some machine screws for an access panel on the bottom which is a mounting plate for up to two hard drives.

Sound sculpting with the ‘blade
One mis-informed forum troll posted something the other day about how the Music Computing units only had open source sound tools and you’d need to buy stuff to actually use it. Well, I’m here to say that is nonsense from somebody who cannot read or research what he was talking about before opening his big yap. In fact, the version of the Presonus Studio One which is pre-installed and configured is not a cheap open source or “bundled” app found everywhere, but a $400 commercial “pro” level application. It even supports the latest VST 3.1 format, can take ReWire connections, and comes with a host of proprietary virtual instruments, FX plug-ins, and pro level mastering tools. It supports delay compensation, time stretching, and all the things that the “big boys” promote as must-have features.

Studio One includes: Impact, a sample trigger/drum instrument; Mojito, an analog-modeling subtractive synth; Presence, a sample player; and SampleOne, a full-featured sampler to create your own instruments with. A really gigantic overview of Studio One can be found on the Presonus website, here: http://www.presonus.com/products/SoftwareDetail.aspx?SoftwareId=11 .

Worth noting is the fact that you can launch the DAW as either a 32-bit or 64-bit host, for compatibility with older plug-ins that won’t load in a fully 64-bit DAW host. One touch buttons on the touch screen lead to either version, depending on your needs.

Additionally, it’s worth noting that Music Computing’s in-house sound instrument, SonicSource, is apparently based on the mature and highly regarded Wusik platform, and specifically the EVE variant. The EVE (ne SonicSource) plug-in is a true VST so will work with any DAW or plug-in host you choose to use on the StudioBLADE. Wusikstation and its engine is a great choice as it is well supported, and many sound companies use the platform to develop their own commercial instruments by custom “skinning” the core product, and adding their own sample libraries. Basically, this means you’re not getting a “beta” product from Music Computing, cooked up in a month or two, but something which has many years of popular support and proven usability.

SonicSource is nice because it immediately through the GUI supports layering up to three sounds from the fairly large initial library (8GB), and according to the company, they also include the raw samples (sample waveforms) to create your own patches. This is not very common, with the possible exception of my Korg Triton Extreme, which also offers this capability. Most instrument makers create patches from the raw sounds, which you can manipulate using the sculpting tools (ADSR, filter cutoff, etc.), and then you can create layers/splits as multis or combis. Few give you access to the raw samples to go back and create your own base “patches” from (this may be an inherent capability of all Wusik based instruments that don’t copy-protect the waves, but I didn’t look into that for this review). Put another way, this means you could create a much larger personal sound library if you wanted to spend the time to build the patches from scratch yourself, resulting in an almost unlimited number of sound variations.

Bundled apps with my unit include NI Guitar Rig LE, and Toontrack EZDrummer Lite, for some additional noise making capabilities. As always, check the Music Computing site prior to purchase for what is included with the system today.

In the box
I was quite happy to see a full printed manual in the box which has setup information, the full manual for the Presonus hardware and Studio One software, as well as the first how-to guides for the Music Computing applications like TriggerGrid, SonicSource and GeoMIDI.

A restore DVD is provided and the Windows license sticker is on the bottom of the case. Also in the shipping box are the external power supply, order receipt, a quick start sheet, license and serial number info for the installed software, box with wireless keyboard and mouse, and mine had a QC checklist for the system assembly.

Under the Hood
As far as audio I/O and CPU power, I opted for the Intel Core i5 650 processor with 8GB of DDR3 RAM, and two 1TB Western Digital hard drives, plus the Presonus Firestudio Mobile interface with 24/96 support. This provides 2 XLR (or 1/4-inch) TRS combo inputs with switchable phantom power and gain control, plus 6 balanced 1/4-inch outputs, S/PDIF I/O, MIDI I/O, plus one direct keyboard MIDI out. On the right side is an internal DVD/CD burner.

Inside the case, the layout of the CPU module, audio modules, I/O, hard drives and cabling is very clean and neat, and the efficient design shows clever use of the off the shelf hardware with some custom I/O. Contrast this with the inside of a NeKo or MiKo which have numerous proprietary circuit boards which would become problematic if Open Labs disappeared one day. The nice thing about looking at the inside of the StudioBLADE is that it’s much like an older car, you can actually figure out what’s going on, and if for some reason Music Computing went into the great long night, it’s actually plausible this gear would live on including replacing the entire CPU module with later and greater computer power. That’s all aces in my book.


I’ve been using Windows 7 64-bit for a while now for my personal workstation in my office, and can honestly say it’s the best operating system Microsoft has ever made. If you ever lamented why your PC couldn’t work as well as your Mac, Windows 7 really is that good. With a modern multi-core processor, and the fast operating system and modern RAM, these things really scream.

I haven’t used the DAW software (Studio One) included with the StudioBLADE much, but so far it seems robust and I quite like the selection of plug-ins. It’s really a surprising system, and feels very much like a good alternative to Logic or Pro Tools, and there are some quite good tutorial and demo videos on YouTube to show off what it can do. This is a pro application, which becomes apparent when you see all it can do. The Music Computing site doesn’t really do Studio One justice in showcasing the software beyond the bullet points, but the Presonus website has more in-depth feature information to review in advance of making a purchase.

The control surfaces are already pre-set to work with Studio One, but the built-in GeoMIDI controller mapping software would allow you to fairly easily map faders and controllers to any other DAW.

I loaded Cakewalk Sonar on the StudioBLADE, and it worked very well which would be expected since Sonar Producer Edition has been 64-bit capable for quite some time. Presumably the new version of Pro Tools 9 should work just as well, since Avid branded hardware is no longer a requirement (an iLok dongle still is, however).

I tested a few of my favorite Windows apps including Brainspawn Forte, EMU’s Emulator X3, and Sonic Projects’ superb Oberheim virtual instrument clone, OP-X. A couple of hiccups with Forte wanting to run as administrator, and X3 trying to find its own sample library, but these are typical of any virtual instrument. In fact, you will always have a few things in Windows 7 to address with some apps that may require changing the way they launch, or how they write to hard drives other than the boot drive, but it’s a do it once, never again type of thing.

Music Computing’s SonicSource VST loaded right into Forte and once I selected the correct audio routing (outs 3 and 4 go to headphones, and 1 and 2 to the speakers), was playing in moments with no hiccups. SonicSource has a fairly respectable selection of bass, keyboard, and real instruments (horns, etc.), and does provide a great starting point to make music without buying anything else.

If you have a lot of older Windows XP era 32-bit VSTs you want to keep using, you should look into possibly using Cakewalk Sonar, as they have one of the most robust “bit bridge” systems to run 32-bit plug-ins inside a 64-bit DAW.

I had no trouble running a number of Windows 7 updates, although it did choke on a .NET update, which I had the same issue with on another machine (it won’t update the NET 3.5 framework, and actually it’s up to version 4 now). Check with support, but often one needs to fully uninstall the NET elements, then simply install version 4. And then let Windows install any of the older versions if actually needed. (Again: check with MC tech support if this happens to you for proper fix.)

There will always be those who say it’s cheaper to buy a MIDI controller keyboard, and a notebook, and hook those together, but that has a lot of trade-offs in data storage, video connectivity, and audio quality. The StudioBLADE is a compelling argument for having it all in one box that you can actually pick up and carry (less than 25 lbs.). Even with a good Gator ATA case, you’d still be under 30 lbs.

This can also become a dream system for somebody who has in the back of their mind “I wish I had a keyboard to control just Omnisphere.”

Around the back
I’ve always liked the Presonus FireWire modules, and they have the best headphone monitoring I’ve ever had on an audio interface. The only downside here is that the headphone volume control is on the back panel, and the top master volume doesn’t manage that, only the speaker outs; but this can be good in situations where you want or need different control of those elements. You can get the full specs on the Presonus site, and naturally this works very well with the Studio One DAW software.

I like the one master MIDI out which is useful if you need to control something like a Dave Smith Tetra or send data to a MPC without attaching the little I/O dongle for the additional MIDI I/O.

There are plenty of USB ports (7 USB 2.0), and my unit adds the two FireWire ports. Both a DVI and HDMI output provide a lot of flexibility for connecting up to two additional displays. One network Ethernet connection is included. I was very happy to see that an eSATA port is included as this is the simple way to connect a mirrored RAID array, or even a removable drive system for saving projects on external drives versus the internal disks. eSATA lets you use external drives which are just as fast as if they were internal units, since it’s the same connection speed (much faster than USB or FireWire).

As noted previously, an access panel on bottom allows you to update your hard drive, pull for back-up, etc. New units now shipping also include a second access panel to swap out the entire CPU “module” if needed.

Also worth noting is the stylish back-lit Music Computing cut-out logo that glows with the same bluish light as the control surface.

Impressions and use
After playing with the StudioBLADE a couple of weeks, I have to say I’m fairly impressed. It’s quiet when running aside from occasional hard drive clicks/clacks (normal). The touch panel seemed too small when I got it, but found that it’s the right size to get started, and with the larger 23-inch touch panel (see photos) in use at same time, the small display is ideal for a virtual instrument, or even quick launch buttons for your most used apps.

It looks very much at home next to my aluminum Macs in the studio, and somehow seems “right sized” for what it is designed to do. Initially I wasn’t sure of the keyboard action, as the majority of my keyboards have a Fatar action and this uses the latest semi-weighted synth-action waterfall keys from M-Audio. It gives the unit a more premium look with the full-front keys and it’s very playable.

I think this type of keyboard “production station” is clearly the wave of the future, as it no longer makes sense to have fixed-in-place ROM based systems that can’t grow as you do. The ability to use the DAW that fits your needs, and not a limited built-in sequencer/recorder, not being limited by storage or memory, or the sounds that fit in the user patch space, is transformational.

With some virtual analogs, using SHARC processors, and software like Access Music does with the Virus Ti, allows the product to evolve and add features, but that is a more focused product. With a workstation, you need to be able to make it work with your, well, work. If you’re doing scoring for film or games, you might need to use Adobe Premiere or Sony Vegas, and try loading those into your Roland Fantom (hint: you can’t!).

I’ve had a few minor quibbles like the external power supply brick “hanging” in space when plugged into the keyboard on a stand, and my personal sense that the power jack could too easily be knocked out which could be bad during a Windows update. I added a little self-adhesive hook to help hold one end of the cable before it gets to the power input jack, that way if tripped over that hook would catch the stress, and then added a shelf below the keyboard on the Apex stand to put both the power brick and QWERTY keyboard on. I’d also likely consider spraying the anodized aluminum back with a clear coat if I were touring, otherwise scratches will likely ensue.

The keyboard action is a matter of taste, as with all keyboards, but I did find the keys on the StudioBLADE (apparently from the M-Audio Keystation “es” series) not as well “sculpted” as those on some of my other synths. Particularly the edges of the key-ends are not as well “rounded” as on, oh, say my Kurzweil, or my Waldorf Q. I “pinched” myself a couple of times playing chords, and while it’s something I could get used to, I prefer the Fatar keybed used on many of the top synth brands and also Novation controllers to the M-Audio “es” series. If you tend to be more of a “poker” than a “player” you will not notice this. It’s a very minor and perceptual thing, so you likely won’t notice it. On the other hand, the benefit of using this key setup is that OS drivers are maintained by Avid and are not dependent on custom code or a circuit board, and easy to fix/replace.

On my Apex stand, the audio out jacks are right in the middle where the stand is, so I had to get two “L” adapters for balanced cables to route the cables sideways ($10 total cost). I’m also using an Azio USB Wi-Fi adapter to access my secure wireless network ($15). The only glitch of any kind I had with an interface was the USB port connected to the flip-up touch panel. I have a super high speed OCZ 16GB USB media key, and that caused a power error when I left it attached for an hour. Plugging into any of the back panel ports had no such issue. This is actually a common issue (I have same issue with my Mac wired keyboard I use with my Windows workstation … the hub on the keyboard doesn’t provide enough power). Upshot is that a small 1GB USB memory stick shouldn’t be an issue, the big ones with built-in LEDs and super high speed like my OCZ Rally unit should plug into the back.

Being in the first group of customers there were some minor production issues like a screw too long, or the FireWire cable rubbing against back of pitch wheel (easily fixed), and my unit doesn’t have the snazzy second access port on the bottom panel to easily swap memory or replace the entire CPU “module” on the road, but these are works in progress and all the units shipping today incorporate a number of production and finishing touches that the first dozen didn’t have. There was a driver issue with the pitch wheel sometimes sending a CC volume value, and the day after I reported it as a “possible” issue, they sent me a new driver file to install and that fixed it.

Tech support has been great in very fast follow up. I’ve gotten follow up phone calls, and e-mails to ensure everything was working well, and the issue was resolved. This is phenomenal support, and bodes well for the company’s rapport with future customers. I’ve also been given the option to send the unit back if I want to get the back panel retrofitted, and they provided some bonus stuff for me due to the initial glitches that more than made up for any headaches.

And finally
So far, I’m really happy with the StudioBLADE, as it provides me with an easy to use, yet powerful solution for keeping my Windows-based instruments (OP-X doesn’t run on Mac, so can’t use it in Logic Pro, for example, nor does Emulator X3), and is something I would feel comfortable taking to a friend’s house to jam, without having to deal with tangle of wires, interfaces, notebook, and the like (which I also have, and did that once, then never again!). I’ve barely scratched the surface (no pun intended) of what I can do with this, but I look forward to making my ultimate Omnisphere workstation, among other things.

To learn more about the Music Computing StudioBLADE and related products, visit: http://www.musiccomputing.com/ .


Article is Copr. © 2011 by Christopher Laird Simmons – all rights reserved. Article originally appeared on MusicIndustryNewswire.com.