For the last three years, I have posted my New Year’s Resolutions on this blog in an effort to follow through on some of them. I’m not sure why people have New Years’ resolutions, but I continue the tradition anyway. I rarely follow through on all of them, but I keep thinking that if I post them in a public forum, I will be somewhat more likely to try a little harder.

Here is my list of 10 Resolutions for 2010. They really haven’t changes all that much from years past.

1. Spend more time with my family.
2. The computer and cell phone stays off during family time.
3. Travel a bit less.
4. Follow through on all of the exciting projects that I am currently working on.
5. Exercise more. I am totally out of shape. My Wii Fit age is 49. I’ll try to get that down to 39 before I turn 40.
6. Take some business and management courses in an effort to make SoundTree as successful as possible.
7. Promote my new YouTube book that I co-wrote with Tom Rudolph.
8. Read as many fiction books as possible - I need a little escape from reality now and then. My new Kindle should help out with that.
9. Stress less and always remain positive.
10. Lose all of the weight I have put on over the past two years. Eating out on the road can do some serious damage.

I wish you and your family a prosperous, healthy, and Happy 2010!

One of the great new products to be released by Korg recently is the new Wavedrum Dynamic Percussion Synthesizer, the follow-up to the amazing original Wavedrum from Korg released in 1994. This new edition is incredibly affordable, portable, and full of terrific synthesized percussion sounds from Korg. Here are some specifics on the features:

- 100 Preset sounds, with 100 more slots for user programmable sounds - including many world percussion instruments
- 100 Loop phrases
- PCM + DSP Synthesis for a truly “live” feel
- On board Reverb & Delay
- No MIDI connection
- Performance set-ups for quick program changes
- Rim has a complete set of programs - the entire instrument makes music
- No batteries - only DV 9V plug (included)
- Output: L, R ¼” unbalanced
- Phones: Stereo mini phone jack
- AUX IN: Stereo mini phone jack

The best part of the new Wavedrum is the price: only $599.00. It is the perfect accessory to an existing drum kit or a stand-alone performance instrument. Some wondered why there was no MIDI capability built in to the unit, but in my opinion it would negate the incredible playability of the PCM sounds which wouldn’t translate well as a controller. As an example, when you rub your fingers over the head, you hear it - how do you convert that to MIDI? I have had a Wavedrum in my basement for the past 3 weeks, and I simply cannot stop playing it. It wants you to play it. I would strongly recommend checking out the video posted above, and adding a Wavedrum to your band instrumentation - especially in the pit for a marching band - or even setting up a Wavedrum lab! Be sure to call your SoundTree representative to see how you can get your Wavedrum today!

I welcome your questions and comments.

Avid has announced the launch of the much anticipated student version of Sibelius 6 this week. This software is he perfect solution for those music educators who would like to use Sibelius with their students in a music technology or computer lab, but don’t have the budget to get it on every computer. Perfect for use with elementary and middle school students, the student version of Sibelius has always had some powerful features that give students a lot of room for creativity. With the release last summer of Sibelius 6, many educators have been waiting for Sibelius to upgrade the student version to take advantage of the incredible new features in Sibelius 6, most notably the Magnetic Layout feature. Here is what you get with the student version:

• Up to 12 staves
• Input notes via mouse, MIDI or computer keyboard
• Play back, transpose and print scores
• Exchange files with full Sibelius
• Export MIDI files
• Panorama view for flowing creativity
• Write for Video
• Easily add lyrics, titles, other text and graphics
• 250+ musical ideas covering all genres
• Open MusicXML and MIDI files
• Share and sell scores worldwide on SibeliusMusic.com
• Email your score instantly from inside the software

With all of those features, you can certainly get by though you miss out on some of the other great features of Sibelius 6, including the Classroom Control feature, which I believe is one of the best new features of Sibelius 6. Another disadvantage of the student version is that you cannot get a discounted upgrade from the student version to the full version, so if you are planning on eventually getting the full version for each of your students, you might be better off saving up to get a site license, which can offer a very affordable option. Sibelius Student is really intended for students (as the title implies), so it is a great gift to an aspiring composer who’d like to use Sibelius at home.

The suggested retail price on Sibelius 6 Student Version is $99.00. If you want to upgrade from a previous version of Sibelius Student, your price is only $39.00. If you are interested in getting a quote for competitive educational pricing on these products, just contact your local SoundTree representative. If you’d like to take Sibelius 6 Student Version for a test drive, simply download the demo - something that Sibelius has not offered in the past.

I first heard of a program called MYNA at the CMS/ATMI Technology Preconference this past October in Portland, OR. Ray Riley showed MYNA as a part of his presentation on Cloud Computing. I was completely floored by what I saw, and I thought that you might be interested in seeing this incredible application.

If you visit www.aviary.com, you’ll find quite a few free productivity applications for graphics - including an image editor, color editor, and more. But at the bottom of the list, on the left hand side, you’ll see a little button called “Audio Editor“. Click on it, and meet MYNA - a robust sequencing program, complete with royalty-free loops and a powerful audio editor. If you’ve been using Audacity for the past few years, MYNA is the perfect next step.

Here are some of the features of MYNA:

- Import audio for editing. Supported formats include .wav, .aiff, .mp3, .wma, .m4a, and .ogg
- Record audio into MYNA using an audio interface or a built-in microphone. This process is a little cumbersome, as you cannot record while the rest of the tracks are playing back. Best to use a metronome when recording in your audio.
- Import and utilize copyright- and royalty-free loops from the QuantumTracks library
- Track automation, and full pan/mute/solo features
- Mixdown to a variety of file formats
- Share your creations with other MYNA users, including social networking features

While MYNA is not quite GarageBand, it is quite close. You cannot record MIDI instruments (yet) and the live recording work-around is cumbersome. But if you are looking for an amazing cross-platform music creation tool for your students, MYNA is perfect. It serves as a great entry point to music composition, and is a great stepping stone into more well-known sequencing software titles like Cakewalk, Ableton LIVE, Mixcraft, ProTools, Logic, Reason, and more. I strongly recommend checking out MYNA and using it with your students. I would recommend middle school and up for student use.

Have you already used MYNA? How about with your students? I’d love to hear what you’re doing.