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MUSIC APP – Coach’s Eye: An App for Musicians Too! by Jonathan Moody
MUSIC APP – Coach’s Eye: An App for Musicians Too! by Jonathan Moody… I am a big fan of my iPhone, I’ll admit it. There are a lot of reasons why I sing its accolades but generally speaking, I am excited with what mobile technology (as a whole) has done for the musician. I have all of my iProducts full of audio recording apps, sheet music apps, tuning apps, and a bunch of synth apps which annoy my wife to no end. It’s safe to say that I’m always looking at what new things are coming out that I can snatch up for a buck and make my gigging life easier.
Enter Coach’s Eye, by Techsmith. Initially geared towards athletes, this app is designed for the coach to help train and improve their athletes by something we’ve secretly wanted for years; the instant replay. By using the camera, coaches can tape an athlete’s movement, and replay it back, notating and making comments over it. From there, you can immediately share it with the athlete, thus making more powerful corrections (because you can actually SEE what you’re doing) as well as saving it and uploading it to them via a number of options.
Imagine what we, as musicians, could do with the Coach’s Eye program.
Much like athletes, what musicians strive to perfect is proper technique. In a private lesson setting, using Coach’s Eye in the same intended manner would be easy to implement and yield immediate results, keeping the student from becoming frustrated and allowing the teacher to provide feedback that the student can see. And by sharing the video (either on the Coach’s Eye site or one of their other options), you could provide the student with a reference to review while they are practicing at home.
This works in the opposite way as well. Using the front camera on your iDevice (it’s a universal app that looks great on the ‘phone or ‘pad), you can record yourself practicing, working on a tough challenge and use Coach’s Eye to go back and assess how you did, using the flywheel in the program to slow down sections, repeat them and make notes to allow for greater learning. Better still is that you can save the initial video, share it with other people who have CE who can then import it into the program and give you feedback via long distance.
So practical application aside, how does Coach’s Eye work?
Simply put, very well. Within five minutes, I had a video recorded in the app and was ready to go back over it and add annotations. There is a tutorial available in the beginning of the app as well as some great stuff in the internet but seriously, the program is extremely simple and intuitive to use so I’d almost recommend you jump right in and
have some fun.
Because sound is so imperative to us musicians, I talked with the staff of Coach’s Eye, and bounced some ideas back and forth on how we could achieve audio quality that matched the video. With some ideas in hand, we met up and recorded a quick video to help you hear the differences that can be had with the right adaptor.
Coach’s Eye by Techsmith is an extremely easy-to-use app that provides a lot more than what you’d expect from the $4.99 pricetag. Combine that with some of the best, most exciting customer service that I’ve ever dealt with (in phone and in person), and it’s a completely awesome experience, all around. Initially only available for iDevices, it has just recently been released on the Android platform to world-wide acclaim.
Visit for more information on the MUSIC APP, Coach’s Eye
Bass Player Health
Preparing for Performance with Dr. Randy Kertz
Preparing for Performance…
This month we discuss how to prepare for a performance and easy strategies that go a long way.
Dr. Randall Kertz is the author of The Bassist’s Complete Guide to Injury Management, Prevention and Better Health. Click here to get your copy today!
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Gear Reviews
The Frank Brocklehurst 6-String Fretless Bass Build
A few months ago, my Ken Bebensee 6-string fretted bass needed some TLC. You know, the one rocking those Pink Neon strings! I scoured my Connecticut neighborhood for a top-notch luthier and got pointed to Frank Brocklehurst, F Brock Music. He swung by my place, scooped up the bass, and boom, returned it the next day, good as new. Not only that, he showed up with a custom 5-string fretted bass that blew me away. I couldn’t resist asking if he could whip up a 6-string fretless for me.
Alright, let’s break down the process here. We’ve got our raw materials: Mahogany, Maple, and Holly. Fun fact – the Mahogany and Maple have been chilling in the wood vault for a solid 13 years. Frank is serious about his wood; they buy it, stash it away, and keep an eye on it to make sure it’s stable.
First up, they’re tackling the Mahogany. Frank glues it together, then lets it sit for a few days to let everything settle and the glue to fully dry. After that, it’s onto the thickness planer and sander to get it nice and flat for the CNC machine. The CNC machine’s the real star here – it’s gonna carve out the body chambers and volume control cavity like a pro.
While the Mahogany’s doing its thing, Frank goes onto the neck core. Three pieces of quartersawn maple are coming together for this bad boy. Quartersawn means the grain’s going vertical. He is also sneaking in some graphite rods under the fingerboard for stability and to avoid any dead spots. The truss rod is going to be two-way adjustable, and the CNC machine’s doing its magic to make sure everything’s just right.
Now, onto the design phase. Frank uses CAD software to plan out the body shape, neck pocket, chambering, and those cool f-holes. I had this idea for trapezoid F-holes, just to do something different. The CAD software also helps us map out the neck shape, graphite channels, and truss-rod channel with pinpoint accuracy.
Once everything’s planned out, it’s CNC time again. Frank cuts out the body outline, neck pocket, and the trapezoid F-holes. Then it’s a mix of hand sanding and power tools to get that neck just how we like it. Oh, and those f holes? We’re going for trapezoids of different sizes – gotta keep things interesting.
Next step: gluing that neck into the pocket with some old-school hide glue. It’s got great tonal transfer and can be taken apart later if needed. Then it’s onto hand-carving that neck-body transition.
For the custom-made bridge, Frank uses brass for definition and Ebony for tonal transfer and that warm, woody sound.
BTW, for tunes, Frank went with Hipshot Ultralights with a D Tuner on the low B. This way I can drop to a low A which is a wonderful tone particularly if you are doing any demolition around your house!
Now it’s time for the side dots. Typically, on most basses, these dots sit right in the middle of the frets. But with this bass, they’re placed around the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, and 12th frets.
Frank’s got his pickup hookup. Since the pickup he was building wasn’t ready, he popped in a Nordstrand blade to give it a whirl.
It sounded good, but I was itching for that single-coil vibe! And speaking of pickups, Frank showed me the Holly cover he was cutting to match, along with all the pink wire – talk about attention to detail!
A couple of things, while it is important for me to go passive, it is equally important for me to just go with a volume knob. Tone knobs are really just low-pass filters and the less in the way of a pure sound for me, the better.
Finally, it’s string time! As usual, I went for the DR Pink Neon strings. Hey, I even have matching pink Cons…Both low tops and high!
Once we’ve got everything tuned up and settled, we’ll give it a day or two and then tweak that truss rod as needed. And voila, we’ve got ourselves a custom-made bass ready to rock and roll.
I want to thank Frank Brocklehurst for creating this 6 string beast for me.
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Bass Videos
Interview With Bassist Erick “Jesus” Coomes
Bassist Erick “Jesus” Coomes…
It is always great to meet a super busy bassist who simply exudes a love for music and his instrument. Erick “Jesus” Coomes fits this description exactly. Hailing from Southern California, “Jesus” co-founded and plays bass for Lettuce and has found his groove playing with numerous other musicians.
Join us as we hear of his musical journey, how he gets his sound, his ongoing projects, and his plans for the future.
Photo, Bob Forte
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Visit Online
www.lettucefunk.com
IG @jesuscsuperstar
FB@jesuscoomes
FB @lettucefunk
Bass Videos
Working-Class Zeros: Episode #2 – Financial Elements of Working Musicians
Working-Class Zeros: Episode #2 – Financial Elements of Working Musicians
“These stories from the front are with real-life, day-to-day musicians who deal with work life and gigging and how they make it work out. Each month, topics may include… the kind of gigs you get, the money, dealing with less-than-ideal rooms, as well as the gear you need to get the job done… and the list goes on from there.” – Steve the Bass Guy and Shawn Cav
Preparing for Performance with Dr. Randy Kertz
Interview With Bassist Erick “Jesus” Coomes
Working-Class Zeros: Episode #2 – Financial Elements of Working Musicians
Tour Touch Base (Bass) with Ian Allison
