To finalize the evening, the wonderful woman who started the whole thing, Ms. Maureen Droney from the P&E Wing. and formerly of Mix. Maureen?

Thanks to Graham and Billy Bob for sharing their behind the scenes look into how they created some really wonderful music. Great music is about communication and these two were a perfect example of the magic that can happen when people let themselves be open to emotion and turn it into music. And good lyrics, too!

Toss to Zoe, who is always a wonderful hostess.

Well, this is my first blog so what do you do on these things? I guess say thanks to Denise Latscha and Steve Pitzel from Intel, along with producer Rory Kaplan, and Maureen Droney from NARAS, letting us at the Studio at the Palms share in their wonderful event. Go out and buy the Intel Mac!

We’re here with Mike Clink, who just came off the Grammy-nominated Sarah Kelly project. Mike, what did you learn with Sarah?

I learn something every day I walk into the studio. The mantra for this record was, “record no song before it’s time”. In the past I’ve been pressured to start a record before the material was ready. This time the writing process took longer than the making of the record and the pay off was big. The lyrics and melodys were developed and fine-tuned sometimes 4 times to make sure that both Sarah and I felt they did justice to the song. Then we made sure the vocal delivery matched the content of the lyrics. Sarah is an amazing singer and performer and it was my pleasure to work with her.

Nathaniel, things got a little animated on that panel today, but hell, you put you and George to the M together, what should we expect?

yeah, it seems that the changes in the way we live our lives in this fast paced world has had a profound effect on the way we listen to music. That is something we need to be aware of. We can’t make the music buisness the way it was. People have less and less time, and they won’t spent the little they have listening to music the way they used to. We need to understand the world we live in and have realistic expectatons of out listeners/buyers. At the same time we need make the best art we can. I don’t think anyone has the answer to how to do that in out current industry climate, but it sure does make for a good row.

Y’all know Billy Gibbons, so I’ll just step out of the way…Billy?

Wha’s goin’ on yall…??? BFG, here, just sayin’ “HEY!” and , “Have Mercy!”…

Happy to be ‘ In-da-House’ wit’ da Mix crewe, BBT [Billy Bob Thornton], the essential elements of funk de musique]…!!! … et all …!!! What say…?

By the way, the real deal is something to tip in on… “ZOE’s PLACE”.. And.. you can … well shut the screen onto hybernate and drag on to Vegas.. LasVegas, that is… Let’s let Mr. Tom Take a moment to let you all get real on the real deal… Come On..!!!

Tommy, you’re at the forefront of this whole consumer meets pro thing, what with video games live and all. what brings you to both ces and aes?

I’ve been coming to CES since 1990 and being in the video game industry its always cool to see all the latest technology. I spoke on a couple of panels this year. One video game panel and the other with NARAS/GRAMMY’s on the future of music and technology.

I was happy to find out today that the TEC awards has now officially added a video game category!! So thank you to all the people at Mix & the TEC awards who helped to make that possible!!

2007 is going to be a really great year for video games… with things like the XBOX 360 & the PS3 you’ll actually be able to experience “convergence” as opposed to just hearing about it.

Rock on!

Tommy Tallarico

Hello, Allen. Just what the hell are you doing at a consumer audio show?

I’m a big consumer, Tom. I love to eat, so Vegas is my kinda town. I’m here with Paul Robichoun, who had the number one restaurant in Europe until he disappeared about six years ago and resurfaced in Vegas. Jamine was the place in Paris. Plus, Graham was my neighbor, so it’s fun to see him. and nathaniel kunkel, of course, worked with george a while back and is now his own engineer. really great. So it’s like a family reunion. And oh yeah, Billy Bob worked out of Ocean Way Nashville. Music is his joy. It’s a small circle and it’s great to be here.

Just got back from the live room, where Graham Nash made a nice presentation about the ways you can approach creating music. Turns out that Intel put him together with Billy Bob, drove him out to the house, and Graham said, Let’s just start! Billy Bob played him a lullaby, that he wrote for his daughter, then a song called purple passion. Graham and Billy Bob then just went in and worked, jamming, not changing the original demo. Right now, about 100 people are packed into two control rooms, listening to the 5.1 playback mixed by Jim Mitchell and Nathaniel Kunkel. I’ll have to get a separate listen later. It’s packed here.

Hell, in da house we have Billy Gibbons, Allen Sides, George Massenburg, Leslie Ann Jones, Frank Filipetti, EveAnna Manley, the good folks at Shure, Phil Wagner, Hank Neuberger, Steve Smith, Skunk Baxter…all right, I’m tired of name dropping. More to come…

Walter Schofield just dropped in. He’s here at CES with the Mark Levinson divisioin of the Harman Group. Walter, what ya been up to?

I’m taking in this incredible studio here at the Palms and enjoying incredible food, drink and the most intersting conversation from these industry luminaries here at the studio. Because Mark Levinson manufactures the finest consumer home audio and video components, it is extremely important that we pay attention to the quality at the beginning of the recording chain. Based on what I have taken in here at the studio, I can feel the quality and care that goes into the recording process here.

I’m here with Bob Ludwig, mastering engineer par excellence and owner of Gateway Mastering in Portland, Maine. Earlier tonight, Bob hosted an animated panel hosted by the P&E Wing on what it will take to get consumers to appreciate…and purchase…hi-def, 5.1 sound. Bob? What did you learn?

Thanks, Tom!

Right now I’m at the Palm Studios managed by Zoe Thrall who is a dear friend of mine. I used to work with Zoe when she was working with Little Steven and Bruce Springsteen. Then Zoe took over managing the Hit Factory and did a brilliant job.

So our Recording Academy Panel today was an investigation of the question: Music has the power to heal, to raise goosebumps on your arm, and even to make you cry. While of course one can get a great experience listening on the poorest gear, we feel that listeners would get more thrills and get a more accurate picture of what the artist and producers REALLY want you to hear if you listen on higher-end equipment. Then there is the issue of education. Most kids today don’t hear non-amplified instruments very often. Most of what they hear are mp3 files on mediocre earbuds. How do we sonically educate people to know what really good sound IS? Do we take some trucks around the country and do a road-show?

We had a lot of very cool panelists who raised lots of good questions. We probably raised more questions than we answered but it really gave everyone food for thought.