Melodyne Plugin… and my head explodes…

Posted by Evan at 2:12 pm

A friend recently sent me a link to the video file below. It’s called the Melodyne Plugin and it’s from a company called Celemony and it’s amazing. Tuning enhancement is something that’s been around for some time, but this is something I never thought would be possible.

I purchased the current version of their plugin for my Logic Express setup and I plan on upgrading to 2.0 (the first version to include their Direct Note Access technology) when it’s released this fall.

Celemony Melodyne Direct Note Access

Enjoy!

Unseen: The One

Posted by Evan at 2:15 pm

I play guitar and sing background vocals for a group called Unseen. The other members of the group include Jason Allen on bass, Jeremy Hendricks on drums and Mitchell Agee on vocals. We just had our 3rd practice this last Sunday and things are starting to come together very nicely. So far we’ve been learning some songs I’ve written over the last few years, which is very humbling. Here is a video from our last practice playing a song called “The One”. It’s a little heard to hear some of the parts but oh well. I’d love your comments and feedback! I’ve also included the lyrics below.

The One

Words and music by Evan Agee

I see you as the night turns to day
The sun begins to shine, forgetting all the troubles of yesterday
I see you and the clouds roll away
The sky bares its blue, for you

You’re nothing like my mother and you’re nothing like my friends
and you’re nothing like the woman like the woman I thought I would be with
and you’re nothing like the girls that I’m always chasing after
oh you’re nothing, nothing but the one.

I had heard when I found the girl for me
love would take control and guide us to our destiny
I had heard everyone has someone
one that’s meant to be for you

You’re nothing like my mother and you’re nothing like my friends
and you’re nothing like the woman like the woman I thought I would be with
and you’re nothing like the girls that I’m always chasing after
oh you’re nothing, nothing but the one.

Remembering Holy Week

Posted by Evan at 8:27 am

This is Holy Week. The week in history when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey to hordes of people shouting “Hosanna!”. The very same people that, less than a week later, would be shouting “Crucify Him!” before governor Pilate; as they knew it was unlawful for them to kill Jesus under Jewish law, they wanted Pilate to do it instead.

Thursday (Maundy Thursday) is a commemoration of the Last Supper of Christ and his disciples, their taking of the passover meal. This is also the night when Jesus was betrayed and arrested to be taken before the chief priests and the elders of the people where he was mocked, spat upon, beaten and condemned by false testimony.

Good Friday is the day Jesus bore the full weight of our sin as he was severely beaten and eventually surrendered His life on the cross. One can only marvel at His willingness to suffer through the events of Good Friday knowing that He had every right and Power to condemn the very men that beat Him. How wonderful is He who was willing to suffer so much for the forgiveness of our sins. Then, once it was all accomplished through His death on the cross, He was buried.

Easter is the time when we celebrate the revelation of His power over even death. Just as He had predicted, three days after he was killed He rose from the tomb.

Matthew 28:5-7
5The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

This Holy Week it’s important that we remember that this isn’t just a story told with the intent of passing along a greater truth. This is truth, this is history and this was God’s plan for saving all of us. For just as Romans 5:18 says “Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.” I pray that you’ve accepted the sacrifice Christ made for you.

Getting into podcasting!

Posted by Evan at 7:45 pm

For almost a year I’ve had a seldom updated Vidcast, the EvanAgee.com Vidcast. It has been mostly a video diary series but I’m hoping to change that soon to include videos related to the things that I’m interested in such as web development/design, graphic design, photography, music, etc. It’s now on iTunes so if you’d like to subscribe I’d greatly appreciate it.

The church I attend, First Baptist Church of Richmond Indiana is also now podcasting! We finally got a new computer in our sound booth (a 20″ iMac) so now we’re recording the services digitally and releasing the sermon portion of the service online. You can check that out on iTunes as well. I’m really enjoying working on our church’s podcast, not something I get to do often.

For work I’ve been getting into some video-related work as well. We’re adding a component for uploading video that will subsequently be streamed via our video streaming server. It’s something that’s hard to troubleshoot and requires a bit of time but it’s great fun.

Some other great news is that the band I played with a couple of years back, Unseen, is reforming with a slightly altered lineup. This time around we’re playing mostly original music that I’ve written and we’re in the process of writing more. My brother Mitchell is going to be our vocalist so I’m really excited about that. He can sing well and it’ll be great to have a chance to spend more time together.

New guitar: Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster

Posted by Evan at 8:18 am

So I got my taxes all paid yesterday and ended up owing much less than I had anticipated. With the extra money I had saved up Kristen and I decided to pay a few things off and I was able to purchase a new guitar for myself. So we packed up and headed to the Indianapolis Guitar Center.

I played a lot of guitars. The poor guy that just happened to ask us if we needed any help was up and down their guitar fetching ladder all night long. I played several American made Fender Strats including the Eric Johnson signature model and a new 2008 American Standard. I also played several Gibson Les Pauls including one of the beautiful blonde standards with a natural finish and a similar-looking Les Paul Studio. I even tried an SG Standard. However, all of the Gibson guitars felt almost identical to my Gibson Explorer and therefore wouldn’t offer me the tonal variety that I was looking for, so no Gibson for me today thanks.

The salesman asked me if I had ever played a PRS (Paul Reed Smith) and I haven’t. I had always assumed that they were essentially the same as a Gibson in terms of tone and playability but he insisted that they were built to be a best-of-both-worlds combination of a Gibson and a Fender, so I gave them a shot. The first one I played felt amazing. I was extremely close to choosing that guitar over all of the others I had played. It was extremely pricey but just barely under my limit. So I was down to three guitars, an American Deluxe Strat with a maple fretboard, an American Deluxe Strat with a rosewood fretboard and this PRS Custom 22 in a beautiful ruby finish. I sat them all in a row, ready to try them all again and see which felt and sounded the best. In the end the Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster with the rosewood fretboard won out over all of them, beating even the $2900 PRS. I had chosen my new guitar.

My wife, being the wonderful lady that she is, decided to also let me get a new amp also since I had chosen a guitar that was relatively inexpensive (compared to the Les Pauls and PRSs that I had played). I was looking for something with great tone, hopefully tube powered and with a few simple onboard effects so I could get by without my Line 6 Pod Pro if I didn’t want to cart my entire rig around to every practice. He recommended the Line 6/Bogner Spider Valve 112. I tried it and it is AMAZING! This thing has the best clean tone that I’ve ever been able to produce. I’ve owned a Marshall Valvestate 2×12 for the last 15 years and this amp really puts it to shame. I can get the full gamut of tones out of this small amp and it’s all tube!

I haven’t had much time to play with the guitar and amp yet, but I plan on fixing that soon.