Jonathan Ramsey

Ardour - Open Source Recording Software

Over the weekend, I did much more cleaning and moving of stuff in our lower level. This included some rearrangement in the studio, as well. I’m not ashamed to post photos of the mess, but I’m afraid it would be confusing to anyone looking at photos of the studio to make out what’s in it! HA!

So, I’m hoping tonight will be a turning point for such, and I’ll post some photos of my studio. Maybe I’ll post one with the remaining rubbish showing, and some with it covered so the important bits are more obvious.

Writing continues, as well. I’ll likely include some songs written during the month of February. If I post scans of my drafts, it’ll become obvious that I really do write mostly whilst riding buses and trains.

Six More Days! Yea!

C’est moi, at Felix’s in Dogtown. It’s a small moment in Saint Louis Irish Music History, folks. Okay, it’s a song.

Check it out.

This Friday, join me as I host the opening of the Genre Wars 2009 Pre-Party at Felix’s in Dogtown. Don’t think “Battle of the Bands”, that well-worn elimination gimmick. In Genre Wars, bands of various genres –metal, blues, folk, Irish, Tuvan throat song, what have you- perform songs from outside their respective genres. The audience gets to vote for their favorites. It’s great fun, of course.

Felix’s is a great place, in one of Saint Louis’ most exciting neighborhoods. When I played there in May, I had a great time, and met a lot of nice people. While it hosts many rock bands, it’s also a very intimate setting, allowing a lot of great interaction between the artists and the audience. You’ll feel like you’re in your own private show. The staff is very friendly and helpful, and ready to take care of you, whether you need food or drink, or help getting a taxi.

Along with Dave Jordan, I’ll host beginning at 9PM, playing a few short sets. In between, Josh Timbrook (post-modern experimental folk), Dyadic Effect (experimental, instrumental rock), and Stupid Dreamer (4-piece rock) will perform their own sets. It’s sure to be great fun!

Genre Wars
Friday, 19 June 2009 9PM – 1AM
Felix’s
6335 Clayton Ave
St Louis, MO 63139
(314) 645-6565
Get directions

Be sure to join in on the comments. I want to know what you think. Have you been to Genre Wars? Do you already have an idea which band you think will do best?

Ten Mile House w/ Blue, Jonathan Ramsey, Brian Hoehn, and Double Take. A night of acoustic music.

This is

iPhones, iPods, Zunes, Archos, and the many other portable music and video players have lots of things in common. One of the hottest things, though, is earbuds. All of us who carry devices and their earbuds have the same problem, too. How do you safely store your earbuds.

DIY sites on the internet host thousands of tips on cheap, easy ways to stow those earbuds, but, invariably, the advice is bad. The most commonly touted “clever” solution I’ve seen is the old “wrap the cord around a credit card” trick. Please don’t wrap your cord around a credit card. A credit card is the worst thing to wrap your cords around. Any time you bend a cord, you put stress on those bend points. Doubling a cord back on itself around a credit card, a library card, or a piece of cardstock is a horrible idea. What happens when you repeatedly bend a paper clip back and forth? It wears out and breaks. It may take several times. It may take several hundred times, but that’s a shortened life for an earbud cord. Wrapping around your hand or your iPod itself is better, but it still puts stress on the cord. So, what do you do?

The best way to wrap a cord is in a circle, the bigger the radius the better. You could wrap some duct tape around a toilet paper tube, a short piece of PVC pipe, a 6oz water bottle.

If you don’t feel up to making your own, you can always purchase the ready made type. Some of these are merely cases, but you can neatly roll the cord up into a circle, and place it gently within.

Cable Turtle ($4.00 and up in different colors), iBeatle (how cute and only $6.49 at time of writing), and JLab JBuds Case (around $10 and several different colors). All available at Amazon.com.

Sometimes, though, I just roll up the cord and place it neatly into a freezer “zip” bag (Glad, ZipLock, Target, etc.)

Okay, here’s the real numero uno, the big cheese, the first one I did, a few days ago, and should have posted on Sunday.

Well, yeah. It’s a rough mix of “Mein Hut er hat einen Pickel”, a little “folk” tune that I’ve plagiarized a genuine folk tune to create.

Anywho, this is a little something that’s been bugging the dark places in my brain for a couple of years. It will have an animated video to go along with it.

Mein Hut er hat einen Pickel Play

Here is numero uno. Actually, it’s number two, but we’ll cover that later.

Where Are Connor’s Pants Play

Okay. I was going to announce this last week. As things often go, though, I got lost in my own chaos. The plan is that I will record a song each day in February 2009. I will then mix –at least roughly- such recorded song, convert to MP3, and post it to teh internets. As you can see, the finished product is yet unseen.

I do, in fact, now have songs in the can. I have, however, had a bit of trouble getting them converted to MP3 and uploaded. I need to fix a few things on my recording box regarding the conversion to MP3. This is what happens when you decide to reconfigure, and reinstall stuff right before a big project.

Anywho, I’ll get that squared away, and load the backlog of recordings to the site. So, watch for some free mp3 files to show up in posts here.

Cheers!

Buy Jonathan Ramsey At Cruisin’ Route 66

I had my new CD at the Kansas City Irish Fest, and was glad to see many of them find new homes. Thanks to all who came and got “At Cruisin’ Route 66“. It captures a bit of what my live show sounds like. Some songs that are also on my first recording are a bit faster than on the studio recording.

If you’ve not seen these, yet, check out all the Irish Music Goodness on its own page. I’ll have these at the table at my upcoming shows, plus it’s available at CD Baby (or will be in a couple days), or you can buy the MP3 Album.

I’ve added some new tees and stuff to my CafePress store. Check them out at Jonathan Ramsey Irish Music store.

If you don’t see what you want, send me a note, or a comment.