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Brad Delp Remembered

Boston lead singer Brad Delp passed away this week.  My brother Rich met Brad and had him and his fellow band members autograph a CD for me – a real treasure.

Boston was my first "favorite" band, and I was lucky enough to see them on their third stage tour at the Worcester Centrum in August of 1987.  (The band sold out ten dates in Worcester!) 

Boston had the best selling debut album with over 17 million copies sold until another Boston-based band, New Kids on the Block, assumed that distinction.

I also had the pleasure of working with Jim Masdea (Boston’s original drummer who played on “More than a Feeling and performed with the band on the Third Stage tour) when I was a sound engineer for Showtime Sound in Westport, MA in the early 90’s.  One of my most memorable experiences was providing sound reinforcement for a boxing-match at the New Bedford armory with Jim.

Brad’s last performance as the lead singer for Boston was on Nov.13.2006 at Boston Symphony Hall in a concert honoring Doug Flutie.

My brother Rich (right) and friends pose with Brad (2nd from right).  

Second Wind Tracks

I have finally gotten around to ripping and posting some tracks I've recorded over the years.  This music was recorded in 1994 by a bluegrasss band from New Hampshire named "Second Wind".  (Not to be confused with the group from PA.)

We recorded it in my friend Larry's studio (East Coast Digital - which I helped design) in Tyngsboro, MA with a Neumann U87 and a few Beyerdynamic microphones with a Mackie 8-bus console, 16-Bit ADAT's and Genelec 1031a monitors.

We mixed it down and did some editing and mastering on ProTools.

If you would like to download any of the mp3 files, click on the button to the right of the track name.

Internet Guitar Hero

If you read this blog, you already know that I'm a big fan of YouTube.  This video of a kid in his bedroom shredding Pachelbel's Canon is what I think the Internet is all about...

Ripping MP3's

If you have audio CD's (which you do have) and an internet-connected PC (um - you definitely have one of these), then it is time to start 'ripping' your CD collection to your hard drive.  Yes, I'm talking to you avó! (grandma!)

No longer a pass-time limited to teens, 'ripping' is the process of taking the huge, inefficient digital files off of music CD's and making a small (compressed to about 1/6th the size) copy of the file playable on your computer.  "Windows Media Player" will load hundreds or thousands of songs and play them in sequence or randomly.  The Apple iPod, and dozens of devices like it are MP3 players.  You can have thousands of songs with your in a rechargeable device which at the moment is 1/4 the size of a CD player.  You can put over 100 songs on one CD which you can play on MP3 CD players which are becoming more common these days.

If you're still not convinced, here are a few reasons why you want to start ripping music: