Search found 32 matches

by PhilShapiro
Fri Apr 07, 2006 2:27 pm
Forum: DJ Skillz
Topic: DJing Pet Peeves
Replies: 54
Views: 51623

dj-wise, my biggest pet peeve is any talking at all, except to announce jams, bands, etc. Talking about the next song you're about to play is a waste of time for the dancers, IMO. Although nobody around here does that, I've just seen it at exchanges/camps/competitions. music-wise, what I can't stand...
by PhilShapiro
Sun Nov 27, 2005 9:43 pm
Forum: Tech Talk
Topic: advice for buying sound equipment
Replies: 38
Views: 39137

Well, I've heard the Mackie SRM450s and I agree that they sound good. But they also cost at least twice as much for the same setup as the P-250. Regarding the equipment hauling aspect, I agree that the Passport shape and handle can be a hassle. But at least with the Passports you don't need to make ...
by PhilShapiro
Wed Nov 23, 2005 12:58 pm
Forum: Tech Talk
Topic: advice for buying sound equipment
Replies: 38
Views: 39137

There are at least two dances here in Boston that have been going on for a long time that use the P250 as their PA system, and as far as I can tell it works fine. It might "suck" for different kinds of recordings but noone here seems to mind much. It's also used for outdoor dances and it w...
by PhilShapiro
Thu Oct 06, 2005 12:51 pm
Forum: Swinging Music
Topic: Swing/Jazz Music for Critical Listening
Replies: 17
Views: 13117

The last time I was in a high-end audio shop I heard a recording of Limehouse Blues that had an amazing sound. It was a live recording from a jazz club that, to my ears, sounded like you were right in the room. It's not big band at all, more like Modern Jazz Quartet, but it might work for you. The a...
by PhilShapiro
Mon Dec 01, 2003 8:54 pm
Forum: Swinging Music
Topic: Lionel Hampton on drums
Replies: 5
Views: 5427

'77 Vintage, on the French Black & Blue Records label, has Lionel playing vibes, drums and piano, and singing too (although not all on the same song :)). It's a pretty good CD, I especially like the version of "Birth Of The Blues" on it, but it was recorded in 1977 and has a pretty mod...
by PhilShapiro
Tue Sep 09, 2003 11:51 am
Forum: Technical Questions
Topic: Using "Watch This Forum"
Replies: 0
Views: 24425

Using "Watch This Forum"

At Jesse's suggestion I've started using the "Watch This Forum" feature. So far it seems like it's working pretty well. However I have a few questions/comments about the feature: - right now the reply-to header for these emails is always jesse@swingdjs.com. This is OK but it would be much ...
by PhilShapiro
Fri Aug 22, 2003 2:14 pm
Forum: Swinging Music
Topic: New Alternate Clothing Store
Replies: 5
Views: 6174

A t-shirt I wear somtimes while dj'ing:

http://www.nowandzen.com/canttouchthis.html

they have a few other dj-related shirts

http://www.nowandzen.com/dj.html
by PhilShapiro
Thu Jun 26, 2003 12:06 pm
Forum: Swinging Music
Topic: Albums You Wish You Never Bought
Replies: 78
Views: 50578

One CD I picked up that was a real letdown was Frankie Laine's "Jazz Spectacular".

Image

Everything's great until his singing starts ... (shudder)
by PhilShapiro
Wed May 07, 2003 9:13 am
Forum: Tech Talk
Topic: Laptop DJing
Replies: 647
Views: 521782

Toon Town Dave wrote:Personally I'm a UNIX fan and wish there was more/better multimedia software available for it in the pro-sumer range. I could then take advantage of good software and commodity hardware.
Although Apple doesn't market it this way, Mac OS X is UNIX.
by PhilShapiro
Mon Apr 28, 2003 10:42 am
Forum: DJ Skillz
Topic: How do you organize your Music?
Replies: 40
Views: 34954

I DJ off of CDs and my mp3 player. My CDs are somewhat "organized" by artist, but I often pull out both the liner notes and CD while DJ'ing and put the CD back in somewhere else. Sometimes when I'm scanning through the book I pick out stuff I want to play and just put it down on the table....
by PhilShapiro
Mon Apr 28, 2003 9:36 am
Forum: Swinging Music
Topic: Songs from Chicago, That Thing You Do and other soundtracks
Replies: 11
Views: 10476

I too use "Kansas City" and "Swing Kids".

Another soundtrack I occasionally use is "Bridges of Madison County", It's got a good version of It's a Wonderful World performed by Irene Kral and Junior Mance.

-phil
by PhilShapiro
Thu Apr 10, 2003 1:54 pm
Forum: Swinging Music
Topic: New Music
Replies: 5
Views: 6494

After seeing these guys in concert last Saturday I picked this one up. A good sound overall, and a very nice version of "The Comeback". The band is "Kendrick Oliver New Life Jazz Orchestra" with singer Monica Lynk. http://www.sphereentertainment.net/images/cd_sample.gif There are...
by PhilShapiro
Mon Mar 03, 2003 4:25 pm
Forum: Swinging Music
Topic: Where to find clips of all songs, not just first five
Replies: 20
Views: 13460

www.cheap-cds.com has fewer sampled CDs overall, but for those it has, it typically has the whole CD. Plus they have .m3u (playlist) files for the CDs, so you can click on one link and hear the whole CD. www.towerrecords.com is also pretty good about getting most of the tracks for the CDs they have....
by PhilShapiro
Tue Feb 11, 2003 4:38 pm
Forum: Tech Talk
Topic: Portable HD MP3 Player
Replies: 49
Views: 42719

I have a PJB100 that I've had for over two years now. When I bought it, it had a 6G drive, now it has a 40G one. The firmware is good, sound quality is good, and the USB protocol it uses is open. On the downside it's a 3+ year old hardware platform. It's bigger than the ipod, and it only supports US...
by PhilShapiro
Tue Dec 10, 2002 10:54 am
Forum: Swinging Music
Topic: CDnow/Amazon
Replies: 12
Views: 15467

I rarely buy from half.com anymore, but their bare-bones search searches both artist and album title at the same time. Since they deal in used items, they list both in and out of print recordings. My usual mode is to search on allmusic.com first and everywhere else next, e.g. cheap-cds, amazon, etc....