Press Release - AVID Re-lists on NASDAQ

Avid (OTC: AVID) today announced that it has received approval to list its common stock on The NASDAQ Stock Market, LLC effective with the open of trading on Monday, December 8, 2014.  The Company will continue to trade under the symbol AVID.

“We are pleased that Avid stock will once again trade on the NASDAQ,” said John Frederick, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial and Administrative Officer of Avid. “We believe this milestone offers current and future Avid shareholders an exciting opportunity to share in the success of our business through improved access to our common stock. We look forward to generating sustainable, profitable growth as we continue to execute on our plan to unlock the full potential of Avid.”

Forward-Looking Statements

The information provided in this press release includes forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including statements about our anticipated plans, objectives, expectations and intentions. Such statements include, without limitation, statements regarding our recently filed financial statements or other information included herein based upon or otherwise incorporating judgments or estimates, including statements herein relating to future performance such as our future adjusted EBITDA, earnings, bookings, free cash flow, payments for restatement-related expenses; our future strategy and business plans; and our anticipated timing for filing our future quarterly reports. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations as of the date of this release and subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Unknown risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to the effect on our sales, operations and financial performance resulting from the identified material weaknesses in our internal control of financial reporting; the delisting of our stock from NASDAQ; the previously disclosed ongoing SEC and Department of Justice inquiries; pending litigation, including the previously disclosed class action and possibility of further legal proceedings adverse to our Company resulting from the restatement or related matters; the costs associated with the restatement; our liquidity; our ability to execute our strategic plan and meet customer needs; our ability to produce innovative products in response to changing market demand, particularly in the media industry; our ability to successfully accomplish our product development plans; competitive factors; history of losses; fluctuations in our revenue, based on, among other things, our performance in particular geographies or markets, fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates and seasonal factors; adverse changes in economic conditions; and variances in our backlog and the realization thereof. Moreover, the business may be adversely affected by future legislative, regulatory or tax changes as well as other economic, business and/or competitive factors. The risks included above are not exhaustive. Other factors that could adversely affect our business and prospects are described in our filings with the SEC. We expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Press Release - Hal Leonard Publishes The iPad in the Music Studio

Hal Leonard Publishes The iPad in the Music Studio Connecting Your iPad to Mics, Mixers, Instruments, Computers, and More! Montclair, NJ - December 2, 2014 - The iPad in the Music Studio is the second of two iPad-related publications by the authors Thomas Rudolph and Vincent Leonard.  This new book is designed to increase the spontaneity and creativity of musical productions by opening up the world of the iPad to musicians, recordists, and DJs. The iPad in the Music Studio focuses on the iPad's connectivity to the professional, project, and home music studios. The authors take the reader on a tour of the latest iPad-related music hardware and software on the market. The clever use of QR codes throughout the book quickly links to demo videos of the products covered, turning the book into a multimedia experience. The iPad in the Music Studio looks at: Hardware to link microphones and instruments for live multi-track recording Controlling desktop software with the iPad Using the iPad and iPhone with mixers The iPad and Guitar EFX software and hardware DJ equipment and apps Using the iPad to publish and distribute your music on social media This book is a step-by-step guide through the most popular and productive apps for the iPad 2, third- or fourth-generation iPad, or iPad mini running the latest versions of the iOS. Written by two experienced authors of music technology textbooks, training, and courses, the book also provides guidance on the best apps for music and how to apply them when creating and recording music. About the Authors: Thomas Rudolph is an educator, performer, composer, and author of several music-related books. He develops and teaches courses for the Berklee College of Music online school, Central Connecticut State, and Villanova University. Rudolph is co-founder of TI:ME (Technology in Music Education) and his articles have appeared in the Music Educators Journal, the Instrumentalist, and Downbeat Magazine. He lives in Philadelphia. Vincent Leonard is coauthor of Recording in a Digital World, Finale: An Easy Guide to Music Notation, and Sibelius: A Comprehensive Guide to Music Notation. His works as a producer and composer have premiered nationally and internationally, and he is widely known as a copyist and arranger, having worked with Peter Nero, the Philly Pops Orchestra, Doc Severinsen, the London Symphony Orchestra, and more. He lives in Philadelphia. The iPad in the Music Studio $19.99 (US) Inventory #HL 00119488 ISBN: 9781480343177 Width: 8.5" Length: 11.0" 244 pages

Britney Spears no Autotune: Why to believe the producer William Orbit

So, if you haven't heard the Britney Spears song "Alien" with no "autotune" its worth a google, but it's been a bit tough to find since the label has been systematically removing them.

Here is Britney's producer's response to the leak.

William Orbit

""

Dearest Music Lovers, I have heard that Britney vocal link that everybody’s been discussing. It has been impossible not to as there have been many comments directing my attention to it. [I won’t re-posting it here]. I'd like to affirm that ANY singer when first at the mic at the start of a long session can make a multitude of vocalisations in order to get warmed up.

Warming up is essential if you’re a pro, as it is with a runner doing stretches, and it takes a while to do properly. I’ve heard all manner of sounds emitted during warmups. The point is that it is not supposed to be shared with millions of listeners.

A generous singer will put something down the mic to help the engineer get their systems warmed up and at the right level, maybe whilst having a cup of herb tea and checking through lyrics before the session really kicks off. It’s not expected to be a ‘take’.

I think that 99% of you reading this will totally understand.

Whomever put this on the internet must have done so in a spirit of unkindness, but it can in no way detract from the fact that Britney is and always will be beyond Stellar! She is magnificent! And that’s that.

Sincerely, William"""

Now that we have that out of the way, let's really understand what happened. THIS IS JUST A RAW VOCAL SCRATCH TRACK to get timing and system levels. This is not real, nor Brittany's real take. 

Two pieces of evidence point to this: 

1) The background music is not produced at all. In fact, it sounds like 1987 Casio midi instruments. This is because it is JUST a scratch track. There is no polishing of the background instruments. If this was meant to be a final take, then they would have the background instruments more polished so that Britney could convey more emotion in the take. 

2) There is clearly no emotion in the take itself. Emotion is a bit tougher to pick up. You can detect it with variations in a performer's melody lines. There will be more energy during important words and during the chorus. This "leak"obviously lacking energy which again points to it being a starting point in the process. 

So people ask me "why was this even recorded then if it was a practice take"?

With the advent of digital recording, we as recording engineers tend to RECORD EVERYTHING because now we have the space to. We would do this with tape but it was really expensive to use tape media and not very practical to record an entire 8 hour session and then go back and re-edit it just to find the correct parts. Now with computer recording, we have almost unlimited space with unlimited ability to document our session. So we record practice takes, because sometimes, just sometimes... we get that magic moment that goes on the record. This can also lead to mistakes like putting the wrong take on the rough mix or having the wrong material "leak out" to the media. 

I want to ask this however, when you are at this stage of the recording process, only 3-5 people have access to the recording session files... The engineer, the producer, the assistant engineer (protools operator), the artist and maybe the publicist... so who leaked this? 

It's Ok... The Audio Engineer is Still Relivent

   
A new post by Fast Company posted that the Music Industry is about to be turned on it's head again due to a new software by LANDR is about to hit the market offering automated mastering.

"LANDR is a new service that's likely to rattle some cages by providing recording mastering online and automatically. Traditionally, mastering is a skilled task performed by a recording engineer, but LANDR uses a sophisticated learning algorithm in order to eliminate the manual, human-powered work." 

     Let's take a small history trip back to the year 1996. ProTools free offered a full DAW for free with 4 channels of recording and mixing. In the 2000's, Sonar, Cakewalk, ProTools all offered limited editions which allowed for 24 track recording under $5000. In this day in age, Garageband is now a valid DAW.

     Today, the audio engineer/producer's roll is still important, but it has evolved since then. That's the beauty of our art. We change and mold according to the needs of the market and industry. 30 years ago, it was valid to just be a studio engineer, now you must be a studio engineer, field engineer, producer, composer, mastering engineer, broadcast engineer and roady all in one gig. This isn't a bad thing, but it is hard work. It requires you to possibly be a freelance engineer and contract income from multiple sources, but it's still possible to make a living in this field. What we have over the machines is the ability to network and communicate effectively with the artists to draw out the best emotional performance possible.

     So with this said, LANDR is not a bad thing, as everything depends on which perspective you choose view it at. We now have more tools at our disposal. One thing that is not disposable is the well trained engineer. As software is making the process more automated, it only re-enforces the need to have well trained people to operate the software to make it sound "professional".