We were thinking over the holiday season that there are so many bands, dj’s, and artists out there that don’t have an outlet for their music. Of course that’s the reasoning behind Music-Is-Life.com. So we wanted to start an ongoing series this month that helps others get known, seen and experienced. We have been developing such a following on Myspace and Facebook that we realized these artists aren’t known except for maybe their online profiles.

Here’s how we want to help. This series will give personal reviews of websites, technology, tools, items and ideas which can be used to develop a more global presence for our faithful fans and artists needing to be seen. Some of the parts will, of course, be well known (some can say overused and played out), and others not so much. All we know is that utilizing all the tools available to you will be better than just using some.

Here’s where you might ask, “What’s the difference in this series and your other series about Band and DJ goodness’s?” Well this series specifically talks about getting into the public eye, being in the public eye and becoming part of the global music conscious and the other series talks about goodies that make the job easier. See there is a difference and we want to bring it all to you!

So stay tuned!

And as always feel free to post comments about what might have helped you too!

Back to helping our fellow DJ’s out there and everywhere, we wanted to share a gem of a place for getting all the DJ gear you could ever want. There is a place in Portland Oregon (as well as in the online world) where you can get everything from a Pioneer CDJ-2000 CD/MP3/USB Multi Player to a Numark NS7 Pro DJ Software Control System to even a Full Mobile Pro DJ Set-up. Speakers, Mixers, Turntables, Subs, and everything else a DJ needs is here under one roof. The name, Platinum Records might have fooled you in the past because one would think it’s a record shop. But no, Music-Is-Life has personally purchased gear from this store. So not only can you get the latest 12”, you can get the platter to play it on, the mixer to cut it with and the speakers to bump up the volume.

One of the things that we find interesting, is that you have a DJ Quotes page which actually lists some quotes from local and not so local DJ’s that frequent Platinum. One such quote is by The Egyptian Lover… that’s right… that Egyptian Lover. It goes on to say “”Platinum Records is a rare record store that I Love because it still sells records. Keeping it Old School just like me. Always so many choices and hard to find vinyl. It’s a Dream come true every time you walk through the door. I wish there was one in every city in the world.” Straight from the mouth of a master.
Well like most times, we need to have an artist play us out. Here is one of our favorite Egyptian Lover songs. Enjoy!

With all those aspiring DJ’s out there, we knew that multiple options needed to be used to be a true MixMaster. So we reached into our little bag of tricks to bring you another wonderful mixing tool. While those out there using Looplabs.com will notice that most of the sound effects are dub beats (who who doesn’t like dub right??!!) , that isn’t the end all, be all in DJing beats, sounds and grooves. One thing that we also wanted to share was a tool that DJ’s can actually use in the field. VitrualDJ software will do just that. All that is needed is the software, the computer to run it on and of course, miles of files of music. We personally have used VirtualDJ at a club here in Portland. (For those of you in the know, it was called Booty).

What makes VirtualDJ so powerful is that it can be used on both major platforms, Mac and PC, and still perform like a champ. For example, since no 2 DJ’s are the same (yea don’t imitate others), VirtualDJ can be tailored to each specific quirk, idiosyncrasy and desire on the fly. VirtualDJ features
• One-click beat matching and synchronization
• Automatic beat-matched crossfading
• On-the-fly automatic BPM calculation
• Automatic pitch matching
• Automatic level matching
• Automatic beat matching
• Effect Plug-ins
• Video Mixing
• And of course FULL KARAOKE SUPPORT!!!!! (gotta love that for house parties)

Please take a look at this page on their site, Version 6 it’s way too much information to post here but it includes not only what I’ve mentioned, but also way more features like MusicGroups, NetSearch (which streams a song off the internet to use!!) and even the Timecode Engine which gives the real feel of Vinyl. VirtualDJ works just like mixing on a record (for those of us that remember them).

Lastly we suggest downloading the demo. Click This –> Demo If you are a currently a pro DJ, an aspiring MixMaster or just someone that wants to rock a basement party, give Virtual DJ a twirl!

If you are feeling spry, jump on these images to be taken to locales on the site.

So to take a different approach to what’s out there, We wanted to help out all the aspiring Mixologists, Mixmasters, and Mixoholics out there. One of the best locations to get the goodness is Looplabs.com . Basically “Looplabs is the web’s premiere online music mixing application and platform.” And that’s not just from us, that’s straight from their “about” section. So how could the best premier online music mixing application not be great, right? And take it from us, it does rock. We encountered Looplabs back in the day before they helped launch the BacardiDJ program, before they helps Sony PSP users remixalize in game soundtracks, and even before they were used to create Lebron’s ESPN highlight reels. So take it from us, from using Looplabs for YEARS, we can say that you should try it.

With just a few simple steps you will be mixing like a pro. There are over 800 preloaded sounds that will help you on that dub journey of greatness. I mean the steps are like childs play.
1. You create your mixes by dragging and dropping the sounds
2. You determine the length of the effect, short or long on the different channels
3. You listen as you are doing this
4. You save your masterpiece
5. You share your work with your friends!
This link Looplabs Remixer takes you to a video that shows it all!

Now you might be wondering why we suggest Looplabs, well here are some but not all of the highlights of using this rocking tool.
• multi-channel mixing (up to 32 channels)
• MP3 sampling / triggering / remixing
• audio recording capabilities (client-side)
• sequencing / song composing
• output audio to WAV/MP3 files
• ring tone creation and output
• video mixing capabilities and integration
• multiuser, collaborative music environments
• stereo-effects processing
• drum and rhythm pattern machine
• MP3 mixing / crossfading
• Social network integration
• crossplatform (MAC|PC)

Some of the best and well known awards have been given to this project, check it out!
Webby Award – Best Music Website
Macromedia Site of The Day
South by SouthWest – Best Audio Site
Flash Forward – Best Original Audio
Flash In The Can – Best Audio Application
Communication Arts – Best Entertainment
Ultrashock Award
Featured on TechTV
Steve Jobs premiering Safari using Looplabs
Cre@te Online – Bacardi DJ Article
Taschen – Music Sites