<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6185611904624383754</id><updated>2011-11-27T16:53:04.119-08:00</updated><category term='gibson.'/><category term='Guitars'/><category term='Acoustic'/><category term='takamine'/><category term='Electric'/><category term='fender'/><title type='text'>Dear Dixie  (The Blog)</title><subtitle type='html'>A place where Artists and music hobbists can ask questions ,and Dixie will do her best to answer them.</subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://deardixie.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6185611904624383754/posts/default?max-results=100'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://deardixie.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><author><name>Dixie A. McCorkell</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/14649240858536293730</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='32' src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RUitVX9X6iU/SKh9hciFA0I/AAAAAAAAAAo/xqySq_7mn88/S220/dixie.jpg'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>5</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>100</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6185611904624383754.post-5159451896480064160</id><published>2008-11-28T18:18:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2008-11-28T18:20:07.430-08:00</updated><title type='text'>The Ultimate Band Shopfront</title><content type='html'>&lt;h3 class="post-title entry-title"&gt; &lt;a href="http://legendsinthemaking.blogspot.com/2008/11/ultimate-band-shopfront_28.html"&gt;The Ultimate Band Shopfront&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/h3&gt;   &lt;o:p&gt; &lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Hi all , your friendly neighborhood Ageing Rocker again, this week my review is not as usual a CD or Artist but a website that I personally perceive being of great use to Artist&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Indie or otherwise and irrespective of Genre. &lt;/span&gt;  &lt;p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;             &lt;/span&gt;Have you a CD or single’s even Mp3’s for sale ? Got merchandise you’d like to place before the public ? but wait , you don’t have a shopfront on your website , how remiss of you. LOL&lt;span style=""&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;Shop fronts and shopping carts are pretty plentiful on the net you got lots to choose from but do you know of one that allows you to sell your products and let you keep the profits ? Yes you read right sell your stuff and keep what you get. There has to be a catch I hear you say ? If there is folks I sure ain’t found it .&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;            &lt;/span&gt;The site in question is called myfavoriteband.com and it’s jam packed with features you’ll love, you can sell virtually anything here , CD’s, Mp3 Downloads, Shirts, Mugs, Hats heck whatever you got and it’s free if you wanna do all the work yourself like uploading your tracks . shipping your CD &amp;amp; merchandise if you do it all yourself it’s totally free with unlimited track and merchandise uploads heck they even make the preview clips of your tracks for you and you know what it looks great too. Everything is customizable to look like your site and you can even use their inline iframe system to incorporate the whole store right into your existing website. Ok you gotta be a little Computer savvy to do this but rocket science it ain’t.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;                  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt; &lt;/span&gt;But if you feel this is beyond you help is at hand for only a mere $12.99 a month myfavoriteband will do it all for you now that’s a deal.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;                   &lt;/span&gt;But don’t take my word for it go there check it out for yourself heck here’s a store I built for my stuff ( &lt;a href="http://www.tspmp3.com/derek/store.html"&gt;http://www.tspmp3.com/derek/store.html&lt;/a&gt; &lt;span style=""&gt; &lt;/span&gt;) and believe me I ain’t no computer genius LOL far from it .&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;                    &lt;/span&gt;From an Indie Artists point of view this website does what a lot of us have been looking for, for years they’ve only recently launched their services so I say go check it out &lt;span style=""&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.myfavoriteband.com/"&gt;http://www.myfavoriteband.com&lt;/a&gt; &lt;span style=""&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt; &lt;/span&gt;that’s my pick for the week guys and it don’t get any better .&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt; &lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;                  &lt;/span&gt;The Ageing Rocker&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,28,0" width="468" height="60"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;       &lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.myfavoriteband.com/banner/banner_mfb.swf?clickTag=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.myfavoriteband.com%2F%3Fstore%2Fhome%2F%26id_band%3D118" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;       &lt;param name="quality" value="high" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;       &lt;embed src="http://www.myfavoriteband.com/banner/banner_mfb.swf?clickTag=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.myfavoriteband.com%2F%3Fstore%2Fhome%2F%26id_band%3D118" quality="high" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="468" height="60" &gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;br /&gt;    &lt;/object&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6185611904624383754-5159451896480064160?l=deardixie.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://deardixie.blogspot.com/feeds/5159451896480064160/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=6185611904624383754&amp;postID=5159451896480064160' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6185611904624383754/posts/default/5159451896480064160'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6185611904624383754/posts/default/5159451896480064160'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://deardixie.blogspot.com/2008/11/ultimate-band-shopfront.html' title='The Ultimate Band Shopfront'/><author><name>Dixie A. McCorkell</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/14649240858536293730</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='32' src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RUitVX9X6iU/SKh9hciFA0I/AAAAAAAAAAo/xqySq_7mn88/S220/dixie.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6185611904624383754.post-1465416094929351706</id><published>2008-09-18T14:15:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-09-22T22:14:11.515-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Dear Dixie Replies</title><content type='html'>&lt;script src="http://www.gmodules.com/ig/ifr?url=http://www.google.com/coop/api/partner-pub-6124357402374297/cse/jrqswn97ces/gadget&amp;amp;synd=open&amp;amp;w=320&amp;amp;h=75&amp;amp;title=Unique+Music&amp;amp;border=%23ffffff%7C0px%2C1px+solid+%23ff9977%7C0px%2C1px+solid+%23ffddcc%7C0px%2C1px+solid+%23ff9977%7C0px%2C1px+solid+%23ffddcc%7C0px%2C1px+solid+%23ff9977&amp;amp;output=js"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;Dixie back to answer your questions that you may have about &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;the equipment and product side of being an independent artist.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;This week's question comes from an artist who's also a reader of my &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;blog: &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;"Dixie, just read your blog. I have a midi keyboard, although I am a &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;beginner on it. I also have &lt;a href="http://www.kqzyfj.com/click-3150146-10362375?sid=dd29&amp;amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.instrumentpro.com%2FP-DIDPTLEUG6%3Fsource%3DCJ&amp;amp;cjsku=DIDPTLEUG6%22%20target=%22_blank%22%20onmouseover=%22window.status=%27http://www.instrumentpro.com%27;return%20true;%22%20onmouseout=%22window.status=%27%20%27;return%20true;%22%3E%20Digidesign%20PTLEUG6%20ProTools%20LE%20UG%206.4%3C/a%3E"&gt;pro tools 7LE&lt;/a&gt;. What I am stuck on is creating &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;a midi"style" rhythm track, then getting into my pro tools. The way I have &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;been able to get it over is put on it on flash drive, but then I dont get &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;the sounds.(from the keyboard)I would like to be able to get the sounds of &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;the keyboard over to pro tools. I read in the manual that it is possible, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;but the manual isnt clear to me, how to go about it.. Thanks for any help...&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;Ed"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.anrdoezrs.net/q3122wktqks7B9D89CE798CAFA8H?sid=dd30" target="_blank" onmouseover="window.status='http://www.instrumentpro.com';return true;" onmouseout="window.status=' ';return true;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.ftjcfx.com/hl101r6Az42OSQUPQTVOQPTRWRPY" alt="Buy guitars at InstrumentPro.com" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;So basically the question becomes how to connect a MIDI keyboard to my &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;computer?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;Countless people are intimidated by even thinking about trying to connect&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;their MIDI instrument to their computer. (and the manuals ARE confusing).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;Take a few seconds to go through this checklist before you get started, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;because you'll need to make sure you have one or more of the following on &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;or in your computer:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;Parallel printer Port (almost all computers have one by default)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;A free serial port &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;A soundcard with a joystick port (such as a &lt;a href="http://www.anrdoezrs.net/ao104shqnhp486A569B465ACAE67?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pcuniverse.com%2Fproduct.asp%3Fpid%3D4586448&amp;amp;cjsku=S5606172%22%20target=%22_blank%22%20onmouseover=%22window.status=%27http://www.pcuniverse.com%27;return%20true;%22%20onmouseout=%22window.status=%27%20%27;return%20true;%22%3E%20Creative%20Sound%20Blaster%20X-Fi%20Titanium%20Fatal1ty%20Pro%20Series%20-%20Sound%20card%20-%2024-bit"&gt;Creative Labs SoundBlaste&lt;/a&gt;r &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;compatible with MPU-401 compatibility or similar card, in a PC)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;First (assuming you've already got a computer) you'll need a MIDI interface.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;This is a vital part to your MIDI setup, as it allows your MIDI instrument &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;to communicate with your computer. (Also, some interfaces have really cool &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;flashing lights, and they look neat when you use them in the dark LOL). My &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;suggestion for an inexpensive one would be a handly little interface found &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;in the &lt;a href="http://www.dpbolvw.net/ji98ft1zt0GKIMHILNGIHMLIQJK?sid=dd31&amp;amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.music123.com%2F-i1126257.Music123&amp;amp;cjsku=245505%22%20target=%22_blank%22%20onmouseover=%22window.status=%27http://www.music123.com%27;return%20true;%22%20onmouseout=%22window.status=%27%20%27;return%20true;%22%3E%20Lexicon%20Omega%20Desktop%20Recording%20Studio%20Standard"&gt;Lexicon Omega&lt;/a&gt; desktop recording studio.  Digital studios can be &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;pretty pricey but this little dream comes in at less than $200.  I won't go &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;into all the specifications here--which are as confusing as the manuals, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;but here's a description of what it can do:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;The Omega I/O mixer provides 8 inputs which are assignable in pairs to any &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;of 4 simultaneous record channels featuring ultra-transparent, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;high-resolution analog to digital converters to capture your performance &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;with pristine 24-bit quality. Two of the inputs feature extremely low-noise &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;dbx mic-preamps with 48 volt phantom power and TRS insert points. Four TRS &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;active balanced line inputs accept up to +22dBu signals to allow interfacing&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;to either unbalanced or professional high-output level balanced equipment. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;Included is an S/PDIF input combined with an additional DAC for zero-latency, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;direct monitoring of the S/PDIF source to allow simultaneous tracking of &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;analog and digital sources. A high-impedance instrument input is conveniently &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;accessible on the front panel. The Omega I/O mixer provides a peak indicator &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;for each analog input as well as an assignable bar graph meter for signal &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;level monitoring. By monitoring the signal at the A/D converters, it avoids &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;the problems with software-only level monitoring that can miss clipping and &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;ruin your track. The Omega I/O mixer also includes a fully opto-isolated &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;MIDI input to ensure that there is no annoying ground loop hum or MIDI &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;talk-through noise common with many I/O boxes and sound cards. MIDI output &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;has rock-solid synchronization to USB frame rate to support applications &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;requiring critical sync.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.anrdoezrs.net/bb110p-85-7NRPTOPSUNPOTSPXQR?sid=dd31&amp;amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.music123.com%2F-i1126257.Music123&amp;amp;cjsku=245505" target="_blank" onmouseover="window.status='http://www.music123.com';return true;" onmouseout="window.status=' ';return true;"&gt;&lt;img src="http://images.miretail.com/products/full/Lexicon/632866116342617698.jpg" alt="Lexicon Omega Desktop Recording Studio Standard" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.lduhtrp.net/1q98tkocig15372368132763B45" width="1" border="0" height="1" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;The Omega Includes&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;Pro Tracks Plus(TM) is an easy-to-use, comprehensive 32-track recording &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;suite that includes all the modules you need to track, edit, process, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;sequence and mix your masterpiece. Not only does it include intuitive &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;non-linear editing, plug-in support, and acidized looping features, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;it contains a full featured MIDI sequencer with outstanding event editing &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;and powerful automation features as well as soft synth support.  Since the &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;author of our question uses Protools LE (Light Edition), this is a more&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;powerful version of the same thing he already uses.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;Pantheon Reverb Plug In&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;Designed entirely by Lexicon engineers, the Pantheon reverb plug-in offers &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;35 factory presets featuring 6 reverb types (hall, chamber, plate, room, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;ambience and custom) controlled by an intuitive user interface with 16 &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;editable parameters. The Lexicon name is synonymous with 'the world's best &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;reverb'. Pantheon continues this legacy by bringing "that Lexicon sound" to &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;your projects. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;So check out the prices on Lexicon interfaces through my favorite online &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;equipment store at http://www.u-ni-que-music.com  Through them, you may be&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;able to find it even cheaper than the typical price I saw out there on the&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;net.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;Second, now that you know you'll need a midi interface, you'll need at &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;least 2 MIDI cables. These cables have 5-PIN male DIN connectors, and &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;they can be picked up at any music equipment shop, or &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;even bought online (check the same great store above) for less than $5.00 &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;a piece.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;Third, you'll need some sequencing software.  Since the Omega comes with&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;a sequencing software, our artist is set, but if you choose another interface&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;then you'll need to find a separate package for sequencing software.  The &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;prices of these software packages range from free to up to $1000 or more; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;the more expensive packages usually offering more advanced features for &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;professional use. Protools can be a bit hard to pick up, so for those&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;of you looking for a more "user friendly" suggestion, my suggestion would be&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.dpbolvw.net/6f102mu2-u1HLJNIJMOHJINMJRKL?sid=dd32&amp;amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.music123.com%2FCakewalk-SONAR-Power-Studio-250-241820-i1126115.Music123&amp;amp;cjsku=241820%22%20target=%22_blank%22%20onmouseover=%22window.status=%27http://www.music123.com%27;return%20true;%22%20onmouseout=%22window.status=%27%20%27;return%20true;%22%3E%20Cakewalk%20SONAR%20Power%20Studio%20250%20Standard"&gt;Cakewalk's Sonar sequencer software&lt;/a&gt;. Let me digress a bit and explain how&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;it works for those that are looking to get set up.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.dpbolvw.net/bg81js0ys-FJHLGHKMFHGLKHPIJ?sid=dd32&amp;amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.music123.com%2FCakewalk-SONAR-Power-Studio-250-241820-i1126115.Music123&amp;amp;cjsku=241820" target="_blank" onmouseover="window.status='http://www.music123.com';return true;" onmouseout="window.status=' ';return true;"&gt;&lt;img src="http://images.miretail.com/products/full/Cakewalk/632866115302787258.jpg" alt="Cakewalk SONAR Power Studio 250 Standard" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.awltovhc.com/4n98h48x20MQOSNORTMONSROWPQ" width="1" border="0" height="1" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;I've used Cakewalk in the past, although I've moved on over the years to &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;other sequencers as I've understood more about how they work.  Sonar 8 &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;has been released, but my last experience was with Sonar 7.  This bit is &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;a bit technical (for those geeks like me out there), so skip to the bottom &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;if you don't like a string of specification descriptions  LOL.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;Cakewalk products are always powered by the latest technology, and Sonar is&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;no exception.  SONAR takes full advantage of the power of your machine; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;it's a powerhouse on today's multi-core PCs and Intel-based Macs (using &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;Bootcamp). You can feel confident that you'll never be left behind, no &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;matter how technology changes. Cakewalk has been first to innovate on &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;Windows Vista, x64 processing multi-core and multi-processor support, and &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;64-bit double precision audio quality, and they incorporate it seamlessly &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;so all you need to think about is making music. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;Flexibility-wise, SONAR gives you the freedom to configure your studio to &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;meet your unique needs. It's compatible with your choice of WDM or ASIO &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;hardware from the stock sound card that ships with your PC all the way up &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;to an SSL AWS 900+ console. If you're switching to SONAR you can load &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;presets of keystrokes from your favorite applications and you can make &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;your own. It features the best support for control surfaces and MIDI &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;controllers, and you can expand your creative abilities with DSP cards, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;and third party VST, DirectX, and ReWire effects and instruments. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;Plus you can customize menus, toolbars, layouts, channel presets, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;track icons, color schemes, and more just the way you like it.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.tkqlhce.com/69117cy63y5LPNRMNQSLNMRSNSUR?sid=dd33" target="_blank" onmouseover="window.status='http://www.music123.com';return true;" onmouseout="window.status=' ';return true;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.ftjcfx.com/ms68iw-ousDHFJEFIKDFEJKFKMJ" alt="Recording and Live Sound Gear at Music123" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;Aside from what the software does, one of the best things about ANY &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;Cakewalk product, is it's support. SONAR is developed by musicians who &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;listen, understand, and respond to the discerning needs of their customers, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;including Grammy and Emmy winning producers, engineers, and composers. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;So when you use SONAR, you are getting a complete package that includes &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;regular updates, affordably priced upgrades (no leaving you in the dust as&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;technology changes), an unbeatable user forum (yes, you can actually ask questions&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;and get help!!), and the backing of world class customer service, and &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;support that has made Cakewalk the musician's favorite for over 20 years.  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;And like all good companies, they're so sure their product will sell itself,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;they have a free demo version on their site. And they give free lessons on &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;how to USE it on their site in video form.  Most people want to buy it once&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;they get the hang of the demo version, and of course WHERE do you buy it? &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;(and what's the bottom line Dixie)  Check out u-ni-que-music.com of course-- &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;they'll have sniffed out the bargains, but generally, it seems to come in &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;under $300.  So between the midi interface and the sequencing software, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;you can have a really classy set up for under $500.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.jdoqocy.com/t697nmvsmu9DBFABEG9BADIFDDA?sid=dd34" target="_blank" onmouseover="window.status='http://www.musiciansfriend.com';return true;" onmouseout="window.status=' ';return true;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.tqlkg.com/ro80o26v0zKOMQLMPRKMLOTQOOL" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;Now back to our interface and how to USE it.  You'll notice that your midi interface has &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;three spots for connectors on it. Also, if you've got access to a MIDI &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;keyboard, take a look at the backside of it. You'll notice that it has the &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;same funny looking 5 pin midi connector spots as your interface does. They &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;will usually be labeled as being MIDI THRU, MIDI IN, and MIDI OUT. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;What does each connector spot (port) do? Lets start with MIDI IN and &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;MIDI OUT. MIDI IN receives MIDI information, and MIDI OUT sends out &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;information. Think of it as an office mail system. Information that has &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;to go OUT of your office, gets put in the OUT pile for processing by a &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;secretary or assistant. Information being delivered to you (like your evil VISA bill or employee company expense report), will be placed into your &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;IN pile. The same process applies to your MIDI instrument and MIDI interface.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.dpbolvw.net/8066shqnhp486A569B465995979?sid=dd35" target="_blank" onmouseover="window.status='http://www.zzounds.com/';return true;" onmouseout="window.status=' ';return true;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.ftjcfx.com/kp97fz2rxvGKIMHILNGIHLLHLJL" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;The input port on both the interface and the instrument act as receiving &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;bins. Before your MIDI instrument can process the information sent to it &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;by the computer, it has to have this information sent in through its IN &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;port. When you want to communicate your performance to your computer from &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;your instrument, the computer must receive the information into its IN &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;port (the MIDI IN port on your interface). The output ports work in the &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;same way. Your instrument's MIDI OUT port sends OUT information to the &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;interface (your interface receives the data through it's MIDI IN port). &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;The interface's MIDI OUT port sends out information to your instrument &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;(your instrument receives the data through the MIDI IN port). The MIDI &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;THRU port is used for daisy chaining, or linking other midi devices on to &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;one another. To do this, run a cable from the MIDI THRU of your interface to the MIDI IN on your 2nd MIDI instrument. Note that when you play something on your primary MIDI instrument, the secondary MIDI instrument will mimic or echo it. In a nutshell, anything that is sent into the MIDI IN of a midi device is passed out through its MIDI THRU port.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.anrdoezrs.net/ao104cy63y5LPNRMNQSLNMQOMOVM?sid=dd36" target="_blank" onmouseover="window.status='http://www.instrumentpro.com';return true;" onmouseout="window.status=' ';return true;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.tqlkg.com/32100ltxlrpAECGBCFHACBFDBDKB" alt="Shop InstrumentPro for Musical Instruments." border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now, here's some step by step instructions on how you should connect your &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;keyboard to your interface, and your interface to your computer:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;Step 1: Configuring the MIDI interface&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;Follow the instructions by the manufacturer of your MIDI interface to hook &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;your MIDI interface up to your computer. Since all midi interfaces are &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;somewhat different, and some of them require you to install certain drivers etc, it's impossible to explain how to do that here, for every possible midi interface. If you bought a parallell port interface, hook it up toyour paralell port, if you bought a serial port interface, hook it up to the serial port, if you bought an interface that connects to the joystick port of your soundcard, hook that up accordingly. Make sure you follow the instructions and install any drivers that the manufacturer wants you to install. If you're installing a MIDI interface that hooks into your PC soundcards' joystick port (in Windows), consult your Windows help guide by clicking on your start menu, then click on the 'help icon' on how to set up a new MIDI device.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Step 2: Connecting things&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;Now its time to connect your MIDI instrument to your MIDI interface. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;Plug one of your MIDI cables into the MIDI OUT on your interface, and stick the other end of the cable into the MIDI IN on your MIDI instrument. Now,plug your 2nd cable into the MIDI IN of your interface, and plug the end of that cable into the MIDI OUT of your MIDI instrument. So, to recap; the MIDI IN on your interface goes to MIDI OUT on your keyboard. The MIDI OUT on your keyboard goes to the MIDI IN on your interface. If you've got LED indicator lights on your interface, play something on your keyboard - your MIDI input lights should flash. (If your interface has a power switch,don't forget to turn that on).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.dpbolvw.net/ph121uoxuowBFDHCDGIBDCGHHEHC?sid=dd37" target="_blank" onmouseover="window.status='http://www.guitarcenter.com';return true;" onmouseout="window.status=' ';return true;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.lduhtrp.net/6e108tkocig15372368132677472" alt="Screamin' web only deals at GuitarCenter.com" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;Step 3: Configuring the sequencer&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;Moving along, now we can get everything up and running with our sequencer. Getting your ports set up in the sequencer can be tricky, especially if you've never done it before, and if you're new to sequencing with MIDI. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Carefully read the documentation of your MIDI sequencer, and pay attention to anything regarding the selection of MIDI ports. Since most beginners will (and should) be using something easy like Cakewalk or similar, here's how you do it in that Cakewalk, as an example:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.dpbolvw.net/bd111mu2-u1HLJNIJMOHNILOKQL?sid=dd38" target="_blank" onmouseover="window.status='http://www.coffeecup.com/';return true;" onmouseout="window.status=' ';return true;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.ftjcfx.com/kl70z15u-yJNLPKLOQJPKNQMSN" alt="Click Here for CoffeeCup Website Design Software" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;On the top menu bar, click on tools, and then click on MIDI Devices. That'll bring up a window called "MIDI Ports". Now, you should see two columns, one that says MIDI INPUT, or Input Ports, and one that says MIDI OUTPUT, or Output Ports. Let's say you have a MIDI interface hooked in to your SoundBlaster's joystick port. You should highlight something similar to 'SB16 MIDI IN [330]' in the Input Ports Column. If you have a multi port MIDI interface, select all the ports that you want to have active. In your Output Ports column, make sure your 'SB16 MIDI OUT' port (or the port you want to use as your primary port; it's a good idea to select your primary port as your sound module/keyboard etc that you use most often, since it saves time if you're setting up new sequencers or simply loading in midi files to play back) is selected. Click on the button "Move selected devices to top", so your primary device is moved all the way to the top of the list.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.dpbolvw.net/5k117wktqks7B9D89CE798CHHE8B?sid=dd39" target="_blank" onmouseover="window.status='http://www.ourstage.com';return true;" onmouseout="window.status=' ';return true;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.lduhtrp.net/tc70ax0pvtEIGKFGJLEGFJOOLFI" alt="Free artist EPKs" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;What's the point of this? The device that's listed at the top of the list will be your default device, so every time you load up a MIDI file, or create a new sequence, this device will be automatically set to playback your MIDI. The device(s) listed below the primary device will be listed in that order when you go to select them in the sequence view. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;Now that you've got your ports selected, hit OK. You'll be back looking at the sequence view again. Create a new track by double clicking on one of the numbered rows. Your primary port should now be selected (if not, double click on it and change it, but note that this is JUST to designate the output port). &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.anrdoezrs.net/mk121cy63y5LPNRMNQSLNMQVONPT?sid=dd40" target="_blank" onmouseover="window.status='http://www.tunecore.com';return true;" onmouseout="window.status=' ';return true;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.tqlkg.com/n6122kpthnl6A8C78BD687BG98AE" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;Now you should be ready to record - do a test recording by pressing "R" on your computer keyboard. Play a few notes on your instrument, and when you're done, click on the 'stop' icon, or press your spacebar to stop recording. You can now playback what you've just sequenced, by clicking on the play icon (forward arrow) or hitting the spacebar.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;Congratulations! You've just made your first sequence! Now get crackin' on becoming a star. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Have a question you'd like to ask?  I'll do my best to answer them based&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;on my unique experience as artist, producer, label owner and disc jockey.  Send those questions to triplestrandprod@yahoo.com and let's make "Dear Dixie" fun and a great learning experience for all.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;Dixie McCorkell CMA/CCMA/ECMA&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;Triplestrand Productions&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;http://www.triplestrandproductions.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/Dixie/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-4.jpg" alt="" /&gt;&lt;img src="file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/Dixie/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-5.jpg" alt="" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.u-ni-que-music.com/"&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.u-ni-que-music.com/uniquebanner4.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6185611904624383754-1465416094929351706?l=deardixie.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://deardixie.blogspot.com/feeds/1465416094929351706/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=6185611904624383754&amp;postID=1465416094929351706' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6185611904624383754/posts/default/1465416094929351706'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6185611904624383754/posts/default/1465416094929351706'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://deardixie.blogspot.com/2008/09/dear-dixie-replies.html' title='Dear Dixie Replies'/><author><name>Dixie A. McCorkell</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/14649240858536293730</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='32' src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RUitVX9X6iU/SKh9hciFA0I/AAAAAAAAAAo/xqySq_7mn88/S220/dixie.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6185611904624383754.post-4487626661703211182</id><published>2008-09-11T14:15:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-09-11T15:08:59.707-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Acoustic'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Guitars'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Electric'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='takamine'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='gibson.'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='fender'/><title type='text'>What's your Favorite Brand Of Guitar "</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://www.tkqlhce.com/ht75lnwtnvAECGBCFHACBGBEKDC?sid=dd18" target="_blank" onmouseover="window.status='http://www.napster.com';return true;" onmouseout="window.status=' ';return true;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.tqlkg.com/r2122p59y31NRPTOPSUNPOTORXQP" alt="7-day Free trial of Napster!" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Dixie back to answer your questions that you may have about &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;the equipment and product side of being an independent artist.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Not many questions sent to me this week, so send them IN folks--give &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;me something hard to answer!!  This week's question asks something that&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;has been bantered around amongst guitarists it seems since the guitar was &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;first created: "What's your favorite brand of guitar?"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.dpbolvw.net/29102hz74z6MQOSNORTMONRORSUR?sid=dd19" target="_blank" onmouseover="window.status='http://www.real.com';return true;" onmouseout="window.status=' ';return true;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.lduhtrp.net/qb98fz2rxvGKIMHILNGIHLILMOL" alt="RealNetworks" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Hmm--it's hard to pick just one because it's usually a personal preferance &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;of the artist and the music and the sound they're trying to acheive.  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Let's start with &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.tkqlhce.com/in70tenkem1537236813265A859?sid=dd11" target="_blank" onmouseover="window.status='http://www.guitarcenter.com';return true;" onmouseout="window.status=' ';return true;"&gt;acoustic guitars&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Some artists swear by &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.u-ni-que-music.com/taylorguitars.html"&gt;Taylor guitars&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt; as the only acoustic guitar for them.  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Another artist across the room may sneer and say "Forget Taylor--you're not&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;somebody until you play a&lt;span style="text-decoration: underline;"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.kqzyfj.com/fc81ox52x4KOMQLMPRKMLPPUQRL?sid=dd12&amp;amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guitarcenter.com%2FMartin-LX1-Little-Martin-Acoustic-Guitar-514512-i1148317.gc&amp;amp;cjsku=514512" target="_blank" onmouseover="window.status='http://www.guitarcenter.com';return true;" onmouseout="window.status=' ';return true;"&gt;Martin&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;".  Yes people can be very snobbish about&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;their guitars lol.  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.u-ni-que-music.com/gibsonguitars.html"&gt;Gibson guitars&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt; get alot of followers as well for their &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;long history of quality instruments.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.jdoqocy.com/b8103hz74z6MQOSNORTMONSUUQUR?sid=dd20" target="_blank" onmouseover="window.status='http://www.americanmusical.com/';return true;" onmouseout="window.status=' ';return true;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.lduhtrp.net/ck77p59y31NRPTOPSUNPOTVVRVS" alt="American Musical Supply - your musical gear source" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;So what is MY favorite guitar?  Some of you won't be surprised, because you &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;see them in the hands of a lot of major artists these days, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.tkqlhce.com/a9103qgpmgo3759458A35488D9A4?sid=dd13&amp;amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guitarcenter.com%2FTakamine-G-Series-EG540SCBF-NEX-Cutaway-Acoustic-Electric-Guitar-516855-i1394008.gc&amp;amp;cjsku=516855_180" target="_blank" onmouseover="window.status='http://www.guitarcenter.com';return true;" onmouseout="window.status=' ';return true;"&gt;Takamine&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;.  The&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;quality of tone and the rich resonance you get from their guitars is second&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;to none in my opinion (but I think the guy with the Martin just scowled &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;at me LOL).  Not inexpensive, but not in the price range that Martins are &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;either (which sets you back quite a bit).  Just a good solid guitar that &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;will bring out the best in your music.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.jdoqocy.com/60106kjspjr6A8C78BD687B7FBGD?sid=dd21" target="_blank" onmouseover="window.status='http://www.hostgator.com';return true;" onmouseout="window.status=' ';return true;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.tqlkg.com/4k104qmqeki3759458A35484C8DA" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Now for &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.anrdoezrs.net/lh101biroiq597B67AC5769C7EFF?sid=dd14" target="_blank" onmouseover="window.status='http://www.instrumentpro.com';return true;" onmouseout="window.status=' ';return true;"&gt;electric guitars&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;, there's just as much fuss about them. You have your&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;fan for &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.kqzyfj.com/p670xdmjdl04261257021473486?sid=dd15&amp;amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.instrumentpro.com%2FP-YAMLJ6%3Fsource%3DCJ&amp;amp;cjsku=YAMLJ6" target="_blank" onmouseover="window.status='http://www.instrumentpro.com';return true;" onmouseout="window.status=' ';return true;"&gt;Yamaha guitars&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;--and all the hip shapes and colors they come it.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Another popular brand would be Peavey, another brand with a history of good &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;solid equipment.  But the king of electric guitars in my mind has to be&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;the &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.dpbolvw.net/pl75mu2-u1HLJNIJMOHJILOKLPN?sid=dd16&amp;amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.instrumentpro.com%2FP-FEN0950801%3Fsource%3DCJ&amp;amp;cjsku=FEN0950801" target="_blank" onmouseover="window.status='http://www.instrumentpro.com';return true;" onmouseout="window.status=' ';return true;"&gt;Fender&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;, expecially the ever popular (almost iconic) &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.anrdoezrs.net/n3115lnwtnvAECGBCFHACBEHDEIG?sid=dd17&amp;amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.instrumentpro.com%2FP-FEN0139410%3Fsource%3DCJ&amp;amp;cjsku=FEN0139410" target="_blank" onmouseover="window.status='http://www.instrumentpro.com';return true;" onmouseout="window.status=' ';return true;"&gt;Stratocaster&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Fender electric guitars as well as their acoustic models have graced the &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;stage with artists for decades, and most likely will for decades to come.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.anrdoezrs.net/7n65mu2-u1HLJNIJMOHJIMPINQM?sid=dd22" target="_blank" onmouseover="window.status='http://www.sitesell.com';return true;" onmouseout="window.status=' ';return true;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.ftjcfx.com/qc101drvjpn8CAE9ADF8A9DG9EHD" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;But there's a newcomer to the scene that's likely to give them ALL a run&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;for their money (and I mean money literally lol).  We all know that several&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;of the above makers have had their instruments copied by companies from the&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Asian, market--but as a whole, these instruments don't hold to the standards&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;of the masters, although they're a great deal cheaper.  However one Asian &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;company, Rogue, has come up with the best of both worlds for the artist.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Rogue is a company from Korea (I know, most artists will cringe at the very&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;idea) that makes both acoustic and electric instruments. The prices are&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;incredibly low for either type--so out of curiosity, I decided to see what&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;a $99 guitar could do.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.anrdoezrs.net/7i117biroiq597B67AC5769EB996?sid=dd23" target="_blank" onmouseover="window.status='http://www.musiciansfriend.com';return true;" onmouseout="window.status=' ';return true;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.awltovhc.com/ii115g04tzxIMKOJKNPIKJMROMMJ" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Expecting it to be the type of guitar one might give to a beginning guitar&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;player, I was pleasantly surprised.  In both the acoustic and electric models,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;the tone was far from the bright ringing that I expected, but warm and &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;expressive.  Definitely a beautiful and playable guitar at an amazing price,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;the Rogue line of guitars and other stringed instruments (dobros, mandolins,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;etc)will give you fine instruments for learning OR for recording at a price &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;that won't break the bank.  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;So check one out today and pick yourself up a great guitar for a fraction &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;of the price of the major brands. Any company that helps the independent &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;artist keep making their music without going into bankruptcy, has two thumbs&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;up from me.  You can find Rogue guitars as well as the other brands mentioned&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;in this blog on sale at all quality musical equipment stores but for the best &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;deals, check out my favorite at &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.u-ni-que-music.com/rogueguitars.html"&gt;Un-Ni-Que-Music.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.kqzyfj.com/pq80ox52x4KOMQLMPRKMLPOTQOS?sid=dd24" target="_blank" onmouseover="window.status='http://www.guitarcenter.com';return true;" onmouseout="window.status=' ';return true;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.tqlkg.com/jr75xjnbhf04261257021549648" alt="The Best Gear and the Best Deals- GuitarCenter.com" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Have a question you'd like to ask?  I'll do my best to answer them based &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;on my unique experience as artist, producer, label owner and disc jockey.  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Send those questions to &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a style="font-weight: bold;" href="mailto:triplestrandprod@yahoo.com"&gt;triplestrandprod@yahoo.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt; and &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;let's make "Dear Dixie" fun and a great learning experience &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;for all.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.dpbolvw.net/tf79xdmjdl04261257021565419?sid=dd25" target="_blank" onmouseover="window.status='http://www.napster.com';return true;" onmouseout="window.status=' ';return true;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.awltovhc.com/gh116c37w1-LPNRMNQSLNMQRQPMU" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6185611904624383754-4487626661703211182?l=deardixie.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://deardixie.blogspot.com/feeds/4487626661703211182/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=6185611904624383754&amp;postID=4487626661703211182' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6185611904624383754/posts/default/4487626661703211182'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6185611904624383754/posts/default/4487626661703211182'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://deardixie.blogspot.com/2008/09/whats-your-favorite-brand-of-guitar.html' title='What&apos;s your Favorite Brand Of Guitar &quot;'/><author><name>Dixie A. McCorkell</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/14649240858536293730</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='32' src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RUitVX9X6iU/SKh9hciFA0I/AAAAAAAAAAo/xqySq_7mn88/S220/dixie.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6185611904624383754.post-5628321003684281024</id><published>2008-09-06T15:31:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-09-06T16:41:53.898-07:00</updated><title type='text'>"After The Master "  Dear Dixie replies</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://www.kqzyfj.com/click-3150146-10468873?sid=dd05" target="_blank" onmouseover="window.status='http://cj.shop.com';return true;" onmouseout="window.status=' ';return true;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.awltovhc.com/image-3150146-10468873" width="234" height="60" alt="SHOP.COM" border="0"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Dixie back to answer your questions that you may have about &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;the equipment and product side of being an independent artist.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;The question which I'm going to answer this week came from a beginning&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;artist just starting to get into business he's got a master of a Cd &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;that he just recorded that he wants to send out to various contacts to&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;try to get more notice for his songs.  His question was "What are some names&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;of good quality blank Cds that I can duplicate my Cd onto?"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.jdoqocy.com/click-3150146-10376327?sid=dd06" target="_blank" onmouseover="window.status='http://www.instrumentpro.com';return true;" onmouseout="window.status=' ';return true;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.lduhtrp.net/image-3150146-10376327" width="468" height="60" alt="Shop InstrumentPro for Musical Instruments" border="0"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;In answer to this question, the first thing you need to decide is how you&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;want your Cd to look.  One of the latest fads in Cds is ones that look&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;like miniature vinyl records (very retro).  A good quality of Cdr that gives&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;this appearance yet still has top quality sound and the ability to print&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;directly to the disc with an inkjet printer (one that has a tray for printing&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;cds) would be the&lt;a href="http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-3150146-10575912?sid=dd01&amp;amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pcuniverse.com%2Fproduct.asp%3Fpid%3D2777830&amp;amp;cjsku=S1544507%22%20target=%22_top%22%3E%20Verbatim%20Digital%20Vinyl%20-%2025%20x%20CD-R%20-%20700%20MB%20%28%2080min%20%29%20-%20spindle%20-%20storage%20media"&gt; Verbatim Digital Vinyl&lt;/a&gt; 80-Minute Inkjet Printable CDR.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Combining a retro look with the rugged quality and high-performance of &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;today's CDR technology, Verbatim introduces Digital Vinyl CDR, a recordable &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;CD designed after the popular and groovy 45rpm record format. These &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;eye-catching discs are a great way to save delicate LP collections, burn &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;your personal music mixes, or make a standout business presentation. The &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;color-coded discs use&lt;a href="http://www.dpbolvw.net/click-3150146-10575912?sid=dd02&amp;amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pcuniverse.com%2Fproduct.asp%3Fpid%3D2858738&amp;amp;cjsku=S1749375%22%20target=%22_top%22%3E%20Verbatim%20Shiny%20Silver%20-%20100%20x%20CD-R%20-%20700%20MB%20%28%2080min%20%29%2052x%20-%20spindle%20-%20storage%20me"&gt; Verbatim's&lt;/a&gt; original Azo Blue technology for superior &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;audio writing performance on CD burners and broad read compatibility on car &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;CD players, home audio systems, and portable CD players. Digital Vinyl CDRs &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;are protected with a dual-layer anti-scratch coating that safeguards data &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;for years to come and are backed by Verbatim's Lifetime Warranty. So grab a &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;blast from the past: &lt;a href="http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-3150146-10575912?sid=dd03&amp;amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pcuniverse.com%2Fproduct.asp%3Fpid%3D2896460&amp;amp;cjsku=S1926312%22%20target=%22_top%22%3E%20Verbatim%20-%20100%20x%20CD-R%20-%20700%20MB%2052x%20-%20white%20-%20spindle%20-%20storage%20media"&gt;Verbatim Digital Vinyl CDR&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-3150146-10574349?sid=dd07" target="_blank" onmouseover="window.status='http://www.MusiciansHut.com';return true;" onmouseout="window.status=' ';return true;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.ftjcfx.com/image-3150146-10574349" width="468" height="60" alt="" border="0"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Want to buy the top of the line white inkjet-printable (great for mulitiple&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;color cds.  Then check out the Taiyo Yuden 52X Silver Spindle 100-Pack.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;The Taiyo Yuden 52X Silver Spindle 100-Pack gives you 100 CDRs from a &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;company with a reputation for some of the best quality, most reliable discs &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;available. Their CDRs out perform the competition in recording accuracy and &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;display superior durability in a wide variety of data and audio applications.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.kqzyfj.com/click-3150146-10492137?sid=dd08" target="_blank" onmouseover="window.status='http://www.tunecore.com';return true;" onmouseout="window.status=' ';return true;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.lduhtrp.net/image-3150146-10492137" width="468" height="60" alt="" border="0"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Or are you looking for cds to do your masters on (and of course the master has&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;to be best quality or everything that comes FROM that--no matter what you&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;want it to look like, will sound less than perfect.  For master quality cds,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;check out the &lt;a href="http://www.kqzyfj.com/click-3150146-10541923?sid=dd04&amp;amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.music123.com%2FApogee-CD-74-CDR-Gold-Over-Gold-100-Disc-Spindle-950051-i1162774.Music123&amp;amp;cjsku=950051%22%20target=%22_top%22%3E%20Apogee%20CD-74%20CDR%20Gold%20Over%20Gold%20100-Disc%20Spindle%20Standard"&gt;Apogee CD-74 CDR Gold Over Gold&lt;/a&gt; 100-Disc Spindle.  Apogee CD-Rs &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;are a premium quality product. They are optimized for multi-speed writing &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;and far exceed Orange Book specifications in terms of block error rates. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Gold Over Gold blank CDs feature a gold phthalocyanine dye layer and gold &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;reflective layer. Ideal for archiving and mastering.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.dpbolvw.net/click-3150146-10509163?sid=dd09" target="_blank" onmouseover="window.status='https://www.yousendit.com/signup.php?action=promo_display&amp;s=40112';return true;" onmouseout="window.status=' ';return true;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.ftjcfx.com/image-3150146-10509163" width="468" height="60" alt="" border="0"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Three applications, three different cds.  So decide what you need first then&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;check out the fabulous prices on these three cds at my favorite place to shop&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;for blank media (and being a record label owner and promoter to radio, I use&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;ALOT of them  LOL) which would be at &lt;a href="http://www.u-ni-que-music.com"&gt;http://www.u-ni-que-music.com&lt;/a&gt; a site &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;that posts all the best finds on what you need for your music.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.dpbolvw.net/click-3150146-10416493?sid=dd10" target="_blank" onmouseover="window.status='http://www.pcmall.com';return true;" onmouseout="window.status=' ';return true;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.ftjcfx.com/image-3150146-10416493" width="468" height="60" alt="Deal of the Week!" border="0"/&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Have a question you'd like to ask?  I'll do my best to answer them based &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;on my unique experience as artist, producer, label owner and disc jockey.  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Send those questions to &lt;a href="mailto:triplestrandprod@yahoo.com"&gt;triplestrandprod@yahoo.com&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;let's make "Dear Dixie" fun and a great learning experience &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;for all.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;   &lt;table width=468 height=60 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 background="http://www.cduniverse.com/banners/live/cdu/search/468x60_music01/468x60_music01.gif"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;        &lt;FORM action="http://www.cduniverse.com/sresult.asp?" method="GET"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;          &lt;tr&gt;&lt;br /&gt;            &lt;td align="right"&gt;&lt;table width=280 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2&gt;&lt;br /&gt;                &lt;tr&gt;&lt;br /&gt;                  &lt;td colspan=2&gt;&lt;INPUT type="text" name="HT_Search_Info" size=15 style="font-family:verdana; font-size:11px"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;      &lt;img src="http://www.cduniverse.com/images/spacer.gif" alt="CD Universe - Find New Release Music CDs by Music Artist, Studio Label or Music Album Title"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;                  &lt;/td&gt;&lt;br /&gt;                &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;br /&gt;                &lt;tr&gt;&lt;br /&gt;                  &lt;td width="89"&gt;&lt;SELECT name="HT_Search" size=1 style="font-family:verdana; font-size:11px"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;                      &lt;OPTION selected value="Artist"&gt;Artist&lt;/OPTION&gt;&lt;br /&gt;                      &lt;OPTION value="Title"&gt;Title&lt;/OPTION&gt;&lt;br /&gt;                      &lt;OPTION value="Song"&gt;Song&lt;/OPTION&gt;&lt;br /&gt;                      &lt;OPTION value="SoundTrack"&gt;Soundtrack&lt;/OPTION&gt;&lt;br /&gt;                      &lt;OPTION value="Label"&gt;Label&lt;/OPTION&gt;&lt;br /&gt;                    &lt;/SELECT&gt;&lt;br /&gt;                  &lt;/td&gt;&lt;br /&gt;                  &lt;td width="181"&gt;&lt;input type="image" name="GO" alt="GO" src="http://www.cduniverse.com/banners/live/cdu/search/468x60_music01/go.gif" border=0 value="Go Find It!"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;      &lt;input type="hidden" name="frm" value="lk_unique01"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;                  &lt;/td&gt;&lt;br /&gt;                &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;br /&gt;              &lt;/table&gt;&lt;br /&gt;            &lt;/td&gt;&lt;br /&gt;          &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;br /&gt;        &lt;/form&gt;&lt;br /&gt;      &lt;/table&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Dixie McCorkell CMA/CCMA/ECMA&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Triplestrand Productions&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.triplestrandproductions.com"&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;http://www.triplestrandproductions.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.cduniverse.com/default.asp?style=music&amp;frm=lk_unique01"&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.cduniverse.com/banners/live/cdu/468x60_music/468x60_music02.gif" width=468 height=60 border=0 alt="Buy Music CDs at CD Universe. Audio Samples and Reviews Available on Music New Releases"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6185611904624383754-5628321003684281024?l=deardixie.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://deardixie.blogspot.com/feeds/5628321003684281024/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=6185611904624383754&amp;postID=5628321003684281024' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6185611904624383754/posts/default/5628321003684281024'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6185611904624383754/posts/default/5628321003684281024'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://deardixie.blogspot.com/2008/09/after-master-dear-dixie-replies.html' title='&quot;After The Master &quot;  Dear Dixie replies'/><author><name>Dixie A. McCorkell</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/14649240858536293730</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='32' src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RUitVX9X6iU/SKh9hciFA0I/AAAAAAAAAAo/xqySq_7mn88/S220/dixie.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6185611904624383754.post-2634114871453734423</id><published>2008-08-28T21:33:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2008-08-29T19:50:12.531-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Dear Dixie  Introductions</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="text-align: left;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.jdoqocy.com/click-3137851-10562307" target="_top"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;embed wmode="transparent" src="http://www.zazzle.com/utl/getpanel?tl=My+Zazzle+Panel&amp;amp;at=238375435920886362&amp;amp;cn=238375435920886362&amp;amp;st=date_created" flashvars="feedId=0&amp;amp;path=http://www.zazzle.com/assets/swf/zp/skins" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="450" height="300"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.zazzle.com/"&gt;buy unique gifts&lt;/a&gt; at &lt;a href="http://www.zazzle.com/"&gt;Zazzle&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dixie McCorkell here, owner of &lt;a href="http://www.triplestrandproductions.com/"&gt;Triplestrand Productions&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;Triplestrand Productions is a record label and promotions&lt;br /&gt;company that I run.  I'm also an independent artist myself,&lt;br /&gt;as well as a dj for two syndicated shows called &lt;a href="http://www.tspcountryradio.com/"&gt;"Country&lt;br /&gt;Legends In The Makin&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.tspcountryradio.com/"&gt;g"&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="http://www.tspcountryradio.com/americana/index.html"&gt;"The Americana Collection".&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I've decided to start a blog that gives hints and tips for&lt;br /&gt;the independent artists out there starting out in the&lt;br /&gt;music industry.  It can be a pretty ugly mess to try to&lt;br /&gt;navigate through, so this column which I've decided to&lt;br /&gt;title "Dear Dixie" will be a place for artists to come and&lt;br /&gt;get the latest in advice on &lt;a href="http://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-3137851-10543684%22%20target=%22_top%22%3EMusic123.com"&gt;musical equipment&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://www.clixgalore.com/PSale.aspx?BID=28603&amp;amp;AfID=177261&amp;amp;AdID=4015&amp;amp;LP=www.shorelinemusic.com"&gt;musical&lt;br /&gt;software&lt;/a&gt; &lt;!-- Begin clixGalore Code--&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.clixgalore.com/PSale.aspx?BID=75960&amp;amp;AfID=177261&amp;amp;AdID=8794&amp;amp;LP=www.guitarlessonsonvideo.com" onmouseover="javascript:window.status='';return true;"&gt;your computer&lt;/a&gt;, home studios and the like. To&lt;br /&gt;make things a little different, I'm going to actually let&lt;br /&gt;independent artists email me questions about such things&lt;br /&gt;and I'll try to answer them here in my blog.  Thus the&lt;br /&gt;title, "Dear Dixie".  Just don't ask me questions about&lt;br /&gt;relationships (go to Dear Abby for that) or ettiquette (go&lt;br /&gt;to Miss Manners for those). If I don't know the answer,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;I'll research it for you and get your answer up for you if&lt;br /&gt;I can.  Just keep it narrowed down to product and equipment&lt;br /&gt;questions, the 'guts' of music making if you will. I'll&lt;br /&gt;give you some examples below, but for questions for future&lt;br /&gt;columns, direct your emails to &lt;a href="mailto:triplestrandprod@yahoo.com"&gt;triplestrandprod@yahoo.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;with the phrase "Dear Dixie blog" in the subject line.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So let's have some fun with this blog and perhaps we'll all&lt;br /&gt;learn some things in the journey&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;--yes, even me!  Now for&lt;br /&gt;that example.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;!-- Begin clixGalore Code--&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.clixgalore.com/PSale.aspx?BID=39105&amp;amp;AfID=177261&amp;amp;AdID=5355&amp;amp;LP=www.pocketsongs.com" onmouseover="javascript:window.status='';return true;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.is1.clixgalore.com/cgd.aspx?BID=39105&amp;amp;AfID=177261&amp;amp;AdID=5355" alt="Pocket Songs" border="0" width="468" height="60" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;!-- End clixGalore Code--&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I spend a great deal of time each day answering questions&lt;br /&gt;from the artists I promote to radio.  So I'm going to start&lt;br /&gt;out by answering a couple of the common questions I get from&lt;br /&gt;them to get the ball rolling.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"&gt;Question:  What keyboard do you use in your own studios?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Answer:  A couple of different types have been in use here,&lt;br /&gt;but I'm a fan of the &lt;a href="http://www.kqzyfj.com/click-3137851-10541923?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.music123.com%2FYamaha-PSR-E313-Portable-Keyboard-702175-i1177633.Music123&amp;amp;cjsku=702175%22%20target=%22_top%22%3E%20Yamaha%20PSR-E313%20Portable%20Keyboard%20Standard"&gt;Yamaha keyboards&lt;/a&gt; personally, for quality&lt;br /&gt;of sound and the realistic 'voices' that are included in&lt;br /&gt;them.  One of the latest Yamaha keyboards is the Yamaha&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.kqzyfj.com/click-3137851-10541923?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.music123.com%2FYamaha-PSR-S900-Arranger-Workstation-Keyboard-702675-i1276131.Music123&amp;amp;cjsku=702675%22%20target=%22_top%22%3E%20Yamaha%20PSR-S900%20Arranger%20Workstation%20Keyboard%20Standard"&gt;PSR-S900 Arranger Workstation Keyboard&lt;/a&gt;.  Good as a stage&lt;br /&gt;keyboard but fabulous when it comes to recording--even with&lt;br /&gt;your own home recorder. Even better, it has the capability&lt;br /&gt;to record straight into your computer in the event that you&lt;br /&gt;use computer ba&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RUitVX9X6iU/SLeMoW4nhUI/AAAAAAAAABE/CG7NB1iBlvQ/s1600-h/506196jpg.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 370px; height: 236px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RUitVX9X6iU/SLeMoW4nhUI/AAAAAAAAABE/CG7NB1iBlvQ/s320/506196jpg.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239811316434568514" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;sed recording software such as Pro Tools.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now let me explain a little of what makes this kitty purr !!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;23 Super Articulation Voices&lt;br /&gt;15 MegaVoices&lt;br /&gt;USB audio recording&lt;br /&gt;392 Voices + 19 Drum + 480 XG + 265 GM2 + 235 GS&lt;br /&gt;22 Sweet!, 26 Cool!, and 20 Live! Special Voices&lt;br /&gt;LAN Port for Internet Direct Connect&lt;br /&gt;3 part Vocal Harmony &amp;amp; video out for live performance or Karaoke&lt;br /&gt;Color LCD Screen displays lyrics, notation, chords and Text View&lt;br /&gt;Pitch Bend and Modulation Wheels for more expressive playing&lt;br /&gt;Optional hard drive recording at CD quality&lt;br /&gt;Organ Flutes Voice: 9 Virtual Drawbars use Modeling&lt;br /&gt;Technology&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now this keyboard won't be for everyone, because it's modeled&lt;br /&gt;more in keeping the composer in mind than the first time&lt;br /&gt;player. But it's flexibility and power as a workstation&lt;br /&gt;more than makes up for the initial learning curve to record&lt;br /&gt;on it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You can get good deals on almost ANY Yamaha keyboard or workstation&lt;br /&gt;(and alot of other great equipment) at my favorite online&lt;br /&gt;store for deals, which is&lt;a href="http://www.u-ni-que-music.com/"&gt; u-ni-que-music.com&lt;/a&gt;  I'll give&lt;br /&gt;them a plug here because they do such a good job at hunting&lt;br /&gt;down the best deals there are out there.  We all need a&lt;br /&gt;little extra cash right now--so why NOT grab the best deals?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;To follow that up, I frequently get asked for suggestions for&lt;br /&gt;recording software so that an artist can record to their&lt;br /&gt;computer.  Hands down winner on that would have to be&lt;a href="http://www.kqzyfj.com/click-3137851-10541923?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.music123.com%2FDigidesign-Pro-Tools-M-Powered-7-4-482147-i1394471.Music123&amp;amp;cjsku=482147%22%20target=%22_top%22%3E%20Digidesign%20Pro%20Tools%20M-Powered%207.4%20Standard"&gt; Pro Tools&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;by Digidesign.  The latest version of that would be their&lt;br /&gt;M-Powered 7.4  Same popular software that has been the industry&lt;br /&gt;standard for years but with more bells and whistles.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Digidesign has improved it's popular Pro Tools software including&lt;br /&gt;more support for M-Audio peripherals, enhanced HD integration,&lt;br /&gt;increased its flexibility with the new Elastic Time feature,&lt;br /&gt;a powerful real-time tempo manipulator, and more.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Change the tempo or timing of audio tracks on the fly by&lt;br /&gt;simply expanding or contracting regions.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Easily create loops from any audio file analyzed for tempo and transient&lt;br /&gt;information - even files from older library CDs that have&lt;br /&gt;multiple loops per cut.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Audition loops and audio files in sync with your session's&lt;br /&gt;current tempo with Context Preview.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Fine-tune regions with precision control over each&lt;br /&gt;individual beat using the warp track view and warp markers.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Quantize individual tracks or multitrack audio to the&lt;br /&gt;session grid or to extracted grooves while preserving the&lt;br /&gt;original timing offsets of each track.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Choose the best-sounding time-stretching algorithm from&lt;br /&gt;several choices on a per-track basis.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Adjust the Window and Decay parameter on each track to&lt;br /&gt;achieve the best results.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Make quick rhythmic fixes or creatively explore grooves&lt;br /&gt;and styles using Grid and Groove Quantize, which now&lt;br /&gt;works on MIDI and audio events in tandem.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ease your CPU processing load by rendering tracks using&lt;br /&gt;Render mode.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Use the Render and Commit option to work on Pro Tools 7.4&lt;br /&gt;sessions with earlier versions of Pro Tools (replaces all&lt;br /&gt;Elastic Time-enabled regions with rendered audio files).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Comes with Digidesign's Structure Free sample player&lt;br /&gt;which allows you to easily add a wide range of sounds&lt;br /&gt;to your sessions (it also comes with more than 885MB&lt;br /&gt;of high-quality samples).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Accepts MIDI controller data directly from ReWire&lt;br /&gt;applications for recording to a Pro Tools MIDI or&lt;br /&gt;Instrument track.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Supports Unicode characters throughout the application&lt;br /&gt;so you can label and edit text anywhere in Pro Tools&lt;br /&gt;in any language supported by Unicode, such as Japanese,&lt;br /&gt;French, Greek, Russian, and Hebrew.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Whew, guess you can see WHY they're the choice of the&lt;br /&gt;serious composer and producer.  Again, it's not for the&lt;br /&gt;beginner who is just jumping into recording their own&lt;br /&gt;music.  Again available at&lt;a href="http://www.u-ni-que-music.com/"&gt; u-ni-que-music.com&lt;/a&gt; for a very&lt;br /&gt;reasonable price for the top rated recording software in&lt;br /&gt;the industry.Digi Design at present have a home studio bundle&lt;br /&gt;that in my opinion is a real good buy it's their&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-3137851-10541923?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.music123.com%2FDigidesign-Pro-Tools-Personal-Studio-703188-i1393502.Music123&amp;amp;cjsku=703188%22%20target=%22_top%22%3E%20Digidesign%20Pro%20Tools%20Personal%20Studio%20Standard"&gt;Digidesign Personal Pro Tools Standard&lt;/a&gt; version.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;That gives you some idea of the type of questions&lt;br /&gt;"Dear Dixie" gets on a regular basis.  So ask your&lt;br /&gt;questions and I'll do my best to answer them based on&lt;br /&gt;my unique experience as artist, producer, label owner and&lt;br /&gt;disc jockey.  Send those questions to the previously&lt;br /&gt;noted email address, and let's make "Dear Dixie" fun and&lt;br /&gt;a great learning experience for all.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dixie McCorkell CMA/CCMA/ECMA&lt;br /&gt;Triplestrand Productions&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.triplestrandproductions.com/"&gt;http://www.triplestrandproductions.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.u-ni-que-music.com"&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.u-ni-que-music.com/uniquebanner.jpg" width="460" height="80" border="0"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6185611904624383754-2634114871453734423?l=deardixie.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://deardixie.blogspot.com/feeds/2634114871453734423/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=6185611904624383754&amp;postID=2634114871453734423' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6185611904624383754/posts/default/2634114871453734423'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6185611904624383754/posts/default/2634114871453734423'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://deardixie.blogspot.com/2008/08/dear-dixie-introductions.html' title='Dear Dixie  Introductions'/><author><name>Dixie A. McCorkell</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/14649240858536293730</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='32' src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RUitVX9X6iU/SKh9hciFA0I/AAAAAAAAAAo/xqySq_7mn88/S220/dixie.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RUitVX9X6iU/SLeMoW4nhUI/AAAAAAAAABE/CG7NB1iBlvQ/s72-c/506196jpg.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry></feed>
