jam

Adventures in music analysis

Founded to two MIT Media Lab alums, The Echo Nest is focused on what it calls "music intelligence." The company is developing software technology that can analyze the sounds within music files, text within online articles and blog postings about music, and other online data (such as songs being downloaded in a particular week). It will then license this technology to developers--commercial and non-commercial--to help them create a whole new class of music software and Web applications.

It's possible to imagine hundreds of possibilities. A music company could build an application to identify current trends in order … Read more

How to survive the next-gen confab

There's no fighting it. Conference 2.0, as some have called it, is here to stay.

The term refers to tech confabs where audiences communicate about what they're witnessing via a vibrant backchannel on Twitter, blogs, IM, and other forms of live media.

But while this new form of conference interactivity--where audiences are using the online tools to demand to be heard--may best be known for ugly scenes at South by Southwest this year or at Gnomedex last year, there's no reason participants can't turn the emergence of this backchannel into something positive for everyone.

If … Read more

Culture jamming for the masses

On January 31, 2008, a video depicting hundreds of people standing perfectly still in New York's Grand Central Station was posted on YouTube. The video quickly became a phenomenon, and to date, nearly 9.5 million people have watched it.

Why, you ask? The standing still was actually part of an elaborate prank, pulled off by "agents" of a group called Improv Everywhere. The idea was that the hundreds of people would simultaneously "freeze" in the middle of Grand Central, with no warning nor explanation to those nearby, and stay that way, no matter what, … Read more

Widespread Panic, "Boom Boom Boom": Free MP3 of the Day

No one knew what would become of Panic after the tragic loss of guitarist Michael Houser in 2002, but the seminal Georgia jam act continues to offer excellent new material. "Free Somehow" showcases their classic mix of grizzled vocals, Southern rock grit, and jammy extrapolations.

Download free MP3 now!

Planjam does date planning/bachelor parties for nerds

If you've ever been put in charge of a guys night out, there's a new app for you. Personally I just go out and see what happens, but I know people who like to make itineraries, and they need tools. Planjam is such a tool.

The easiest way to describe it is like the Yellow Pages combined with Tripit's itinerary planner. All you have to do to create a plan is plug in your ZIP code, and pick from a selection of landmarks, restaurants, and local attractions that have been categorized by what scene you're into. … Read more

eJamming helps virtual bands meet online

Just as the Internet has changed the way geographically-dispersed knowledge workers can collaborate on a document, new technology on show at CES allows musicians from across the globe to collaborate in real-time over the network - creating a 'virtual' jam session.

The technology, patented by California and Florida-based start-up eJamming, was among several new collaborative tools demonstrated by Intel CEO Paul Otellini on stage at his CES keynote, with a little help from pop group Smashmouth.

I cornered eJamming chairman and president Alan Glueckman at the Showstoppers event later in the day to discuss how the technology works.

"We … Read more

The economy of DanceJam

DanceJam is a well-thought-through Web site about dance and dancing, surrounded by what looks to be a solid business plan. I tried out the still-closed beta and then got a run-through of the site and the business by the exec team, CEO Geoffrey Arone and CTO Anthony Young (co-founders of Flock), and Chief Strategy Officer MC Hammer (blog). That added a bit of novelty to the meeting.

The first pass on DanceJam is this: It's a site where people can upload videos of themselves dancing and see other dance videos as well. The site will host contests in various … Read more

Jay-Z's American Gangster: Where's the beats?

The much-anticipated release of Jay-Z's new album American Gangster was released this past Tuesday, and while I personally feel it's a better album than his previous effort Kingdom Come, I have to ask, "Who is responsible for picking these beats?" I'd say half of the tracks are worth listening to and the rest are in serious need of a remix. Hova's lyrics are solid as usual, which is expected, but his delivery is borderline annoying.

Jam on your cam with three other people using TJoon

Growing up, my musician brother started out experimenting with music using a four-track tape recorder that he used to blend together guitars, keyboards, and vocals--something that normally requires an entire band, or some advanced audio-mixing equipment. Tjoon is an interesting new Web service, aimed mostly at musicians, that attempts to do the same thing using Webcams. It splits up a video workspace into four quadrants, and lets you, or others, come together to record four 30 second clips, all within the same shot. Instead of trying to do this simultaneously, like eJamming (coverage), Tjoon is completely asynchronous, meaning you can … Read more

PeopleJam: Help us help you

PeopleJam is a place for people looking to give and receive advice on health, relationships, spirituality and finances to connect with each other.

The site launched Monday and is in open beta right now. The founders have culled more than 150 "experts"--meaning writers, motivational speakers, counselors, finance experts and more--to blog on these lifestyle topics. There are also "lifecoaches" who also contribute content, both videos and text-based.

The idea is that PeopleJam will be the destination for people who have specific questions to create a profile, find answers to questions and add their own posts … Read more