Music – Ciaran Laval

June 2, 2015

Exploring The Dirty Grind And Jasmine’s Hollow

Second Life is at its heart a social platform and that means engaging in social activities such as lively debates, the arts, music and more. Fortunately The Destination Guide has a section to help us find music and from there I decided to head off to The Dirty Grind overlooking Jasmine’s Hollow.

There I found a delightful steampunk inspired sim that ticks a long very nicely, this may be in a large part due to the cogs and clocks that are scattered around the location.

The Dirty Grind describes itself as an Independent Artist Community. When you land there a notecard is offered, which provides some information on the region. There’s also a website and from there we learn :

Open to the public 24/7! The Dirty Grind™ is a steampunk™ haven for music and visual art. Come for over 30 hours of eclectic live professional recording artists that span from heavy metal and rock to folk and jazz and explore the venue’s many surprises and games. Enjoy our family of musicians featured on our 24 hr radio station, Radio Grind™ and explore our artists and buy their work at Radio Grind presents…

They also offer in Jasmine’s Hollow shop and home rentals as well as having options to hold events or rent gallery space. Independent musicians are not the only artists here, there are quite a few independent artists displaying their wares.

Bear in mind though that this is a moderate rated region so you are likely to be chased out of town if you want to commercially run anything adult. This isn’t a place for overtly adult activities and they make this clear in their information.

Continue reading “Exploring The Dirty Grind And Jasmine’s Hollow”

September 4, 2014

Singer Songwriter Matthew Broyles Second Life Use Case On The Virtual Stage Trumps Sterotypes

The Fort Worth Weekly isn’t a publication I generally read. This is no disrespect to the publication, it’s just that it’s not on my radar. However this week’s edition has caught my eye because it has a feature about Matthew Broyles, a singer songwriter who performs in Second Life : Second Life’s a Stage. The tag line is also eye catching : Real-world performers are making real-world money in virtual reality.

The article makes one or two faux pas’ in the eyes of some parts of the Second Life community, the first is with calling Second Life a game :

Broyles and the virtual concertgoers are part of an elaborate computer game. In Second Life, their avatars are human-looking, and they interact across detailed replicas of real-world places like New York City and Chicago. Unlike most computer games, which emphasize fantasy universes and defeating opponents, Second Life is for folks seeking to re-create everyday experiences via virtual reality, including music concerts.

Personally I think people take the “Second Life is not a game” meme a bit too literally and it’s really not worth getting your knickers in a twist over, but hey that’s me. The more important part of that quote is pointing out that Second Life allows people to re-create everyday experiences via virtual reality, including music concerts. That’s the beauty of a user created virtual world.

The second part where the article rubs people up the wrong way is actually based on a quote from Matthew Broyles and again I don’t think this is worth getting your knickers in a twist over :

Broyles, who also performs in the hillbilly hip-hop outfit Shotgun Friday, said most of his friends dismiss his virtual pursuit as frivolous, but he’s quick to remind them that behind every “pixel person” is a real person.

“A lot of them are shut-ins, disabled, or otherwise unable to leave the house and see gigs,” Broyles said. “So I’m performing for people who aren’t ordinarily able to see shows. I find they are more appreciative than some bar crowds who are there to drink and make out.”

Really, all we’re seeing there is that Matthew points out there is a real person behind the avatar and that some people who enjoy the virtual world experience would struggle to see gigs outside of a virtual world due to personal circumstances. Again this is one of the beauties of virtual worlds. One use case cited for the more immersive future is the ability to see music concerts from remote locations. Obviously the idea is for the attendance to be far larger than Second Life can manage, but Second Life is already delivering this use case.

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April 11, 2013April 11, 2013

Official Music And Film Streams Aren’t Quite Ready For Virtual World Deals

The Linden Dollar is in many ways ahead of its time, it’s a micro transaction medium that allows people in Second Life to purchase goods and services without having to signup to a new provider everytime they want new goods and services and of course those micro transactions mean people can spend pennies electronically, something the wider Internet is crying out for, particularly in the newspaper industry.

However due to its nature of being a license to use, rather than a real currency, it hasn’t gained the traction it could. Which brings me to broadcasting. We have in Second Life, Second Life broadcasters. People will setup their own shoutcast stream, play music, provide televisions that show inworld shows, but why don’t we have film direct from a film company or music from an authorised radio station? There’s scope here for companies to not only delve into new areas but certainly in terms of film, there’s opportunity for those companies to bring machinima to an audience outside Second Life.

Fandor are a company whom broadcast films, they have a subscription based model but unlike some of the larger companies, they look for films the mainstream companies won’t, from their blurb:

“At Fandor we believe our job is to connect amazing films with audiences who will love them. Most of our films fall outside mainstream channels and we love that, because there are plenty of places to watch those films online. We specialize in shorts, independents, film festivals favorites, classics and international films.”

Many Machinima films are shorts and they most certainly fall outside mainstream channels. Fandor are also San Frnacisco based and have at some point, maybe still at this point, employed an ex Linden. There’s potential here but I suspect the mechanics aren’t quite right for them to make a deal with Linden Lab to allow their films to be shown in Second Life, although getting films made in Second Life to Fandor may be less of a challenge, it might just not appeal. However going forward I think this is the sort of strategic alliance that does have potential.

Continue reading “Official Music And Film Streams Aren’t Quite Ready For Virtual World Deals”

February 1, 2011February 8, 2011

bFlat Unplugged

I had the opportunity to sit down and chat with bFlat Unplugged at Route 13, for a candid talk about his presence in SL. A Blues/Jazz performer, whom I first saw perform in this YouTube video then live at “Sweet Whispers”, which is quickly becoming the most happening venue in SL.

I asked bFlat when he first knew he had THAT talent…where he could take his voice and make women weak in the knees. (Ladies, just listen once and you will understand what I mean.) He has that deep, earthy resonounce, that is sultry and whispery soft all at the same time, kind of voice that makes women melt just to listen to, add that to music and, well……yes you’ve got it.. He has a unique talent of bringing Soulful blues and that hint of New Orleans jazz together and just makes you want to get up off your chair and move your feet!

bFlat actually Dj’d for a short time, in 1st life where he learned voice control techniques to help his voice “presence” be known. Other than singing in the shower, along with the radio, or humming, he didn’t actually start to sing live until around 1995, where he was encouraged by a friend, singer / musician / songwriter, Phyllis Lanier, to get up on onstage at several of her shows to sing live, in Biloxi, MS. THAT was the beginning of his singing career. In 1996, he had his 1st exposure to karaoke, and in 1998 after moving to Arizona, he started singing regularly in karaoke bars.

He got his first computer in the year 2000, and was introduced to virtual singing in 2003-2004 on MIRC…where some friends heard him and introduced him to PalTalk………where some friends heard him and introduced him to (lucky for us) SecondLife. Continue reading “bFlat Unplugged”