I know that many of you, like me, are passionately reconnecting with music later in life. It’s easy to “get the bug” when you consider the extraordinary possibilities afforded by modern technology. Chances are you love gadgets, but once you put your toe in these waters, you’ll quickly be overwhelmed by the plethora of choices. And, unfortunately, the “wanna-be” nimrods that comprise the sales staff in most equipment retailers are part of the problem, not part of the solution.

Before you know it, you are “collecting stuff” because new gear is cool, and does for you what a closet full of designer shoes does for the female species. Perhaps it is no coincidence that one of the most vibrant and useful online music technology communities is aptly named: GearSlutz.com! Many of its members, myself included, affectionately confess to having dealt with chronic GAS: Gear Acquisition Syndrome. Without intention, you can easily become a Gear Slut – but this is a slippery slope.

Here’s some additional food for thought from Carl Beatty, a veteran engineer and Professor of Production and Engineering at Berklee College of Music on this topic.

At the risk of being rhetorical, we must remind ourselves that technology doesn’t help us write a better tune; and the more “moving parts” you have in your studio, the more you have to learn and maintain. You’ll end up spending loads of time (and money) learning the ins and outs of gear, and less time making music. This is not to understate the importance of gear, but rather emphasize a going in perspective that “less is more”.

The height of cultivation always runs to simplicity – Bruce Lee

I place a high premium on my time and the results I get from whatever I choose to pursue. From this, I’ve become a strong believer in the application of Pareto’s Law, better known as the “80-20 principal”. The law essentially states that 80% of our desired results come from 20% of what we do. It directly refutes the conventional wisdom of “the more you put in the more you get out”. This is a subject in and of its own, but its applicability to my journey has been invaluable. The bottom line is that you’ll get much better results, with much less effort, by using more of the few things that matter, and much less of the many things that don’t.

Berlin based SoundCloud.com provides a fantastic online service aimed at reducing the headaches of “track sharing” – something that virtually everyone involved with music production experiences.   I was fortunate to participate in the beta program and provided a review a few months back.   I received quite a few emails requesting more information and moreover “invitations” as the service was (then) provided on a by invitation only basis.

Good news!  SoundCloud has officially launched and, as suspected, they are providing a combination of free and tiered fee-based options.

SoundCloud: The Tour from SoundCloud on Vimeo.

The pro accounts appear to be way to go despite having a monthly fee ranging from 9 to 59 euros.  The service level is tied to the number of tracks (uploaded) per month.  I rather like this approach vs. something that would limit the amount of aggregate storage.

I’ve been extremely satisified with this service and have every intention of continuing with it.  At first glance the monthly fees may seem excessive for what can seemingly be accomplished with “FTP”, but if you value your time, you’ll quickly discover that SoundCloud is not only a faster and more secure way to share files, but moreover a vastly superior way to Collaborate with your clients and/or fellow musicians.  My recommendation is to sign up for the free trial – I suspect that many of you will arrive at the same conclusion: this is a no brainer!

In the words of Leonardo da Vinci, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”.

That’s the thought that came to mind after experiencing SoundCloud.com, a new site for people who create music and need an easy and effective way to either send, receive, and review tracks.  SoundCloud solves the problem of distributing your tracks to people of interest and provides a powerful collaboration environment that sets SoundCloud apart from other “hosting sites”.   Rather than sending bulky audio files by email, or having people download from FTP, your audience can review your tracks inside of SoundCloud, but even better, you can embed SoundCloud into your own web site (as I’ve done below)!

First, you upload your tracks in virtually any format and resolution.  SoundCloud converts your audio files into “wave forms” that are displayed inside their player tool.   You have the option of making each of your tracks public or private as well as downloadable (or streaming only).  You can also create “set lists” to group multiple tracks into a single player – very useful for reviewing multiple takes… You can also use SoundCloud to receive tracks from other people, regardless of whether they are a subscriber through a handy “drop box” feature – notice the widget I’ve installed on my Sidebar (to the right)…

Send me your track

But for me, the coolest thing is the ability to embed the SoundCloud player just like the example below.   So rather than uploading my “work in progress” audio files onto my blog, I can instead provide the SoundCloud player to my fellow musicians and listeners and consolidate all of my reviews!  Did I mention it’s also very fast?

The above example illustrates a “timed comment” I’ve inserted into Worship.  This is especially powerful because your reviewers can visually place their comments precisely where they apply inside your tune WITHOUT HAVING TO START/STOP THE PLAYER TO NOTE THE TRACK POSITION.   This is extremely useful if you collaborate with other musicians, and virtually eliminates the need for producing “song charts” to describe what’s going on where!

Very cool and a definite time saver!

I’m not quite sure how SoundCloud intends to commercialize their offering.  My guess is they will provide some base services for free, but with some limitations.   For now, SoundCloud accounts are by invitation only, but the vetting process appears fairly straight forward.  I was emailed an invitation approximately 2 weeks after making my request.

SoundCloud is still in their early days, but they clearly address a fundamental pain point for collaborating music professionals!  Thus, another example of how Web 2.0 continues to change (and improve) the way we work!