Jimmy and John used to be neighbors in LA and spent a lot of time pranking each other. John takes the audience through some of their best pranks from years past, and then surprises Jimmy with a new prank.
Why Buying Instruments from a Music Store Will Always Trump Buying Online
The age of the internet has turned shopping into a quite a different experience than it was in the past. Just a few decades ago, you had to get into your car and drive all the way into town or to the mall to pick up anything you needed.
Now most of our shopping can be done in front of our computers or even from our smartphones. In some places, you can even get your groceries delivered after a few clicks on a website. Talk about convenience!
However, convenience often comes at the loss of a few key aspects of the shopping experience. When buying instruments or other musical equipment, it is still in your best interest to go to directly to the store rather than browsing online. When you buy or browse in-store, you get these benefits:
The Personal Touch
One of the best and most helpful aspects of going to a music store can be interacting with the staff. Most of the time, the people who work at a music store are very knowledgeable in their field.
These people have a passion for the products they sell, and if the store specializes in one type of product or instrument, such as pianos or drums, that means their knowledge is specifically related to those products.
Most people who work in a music store are musicians themselves in some capacity, whether casual songwriters or retired professionals or somewhere in between.
A lot of stores offer music lessons in the instruments they sell, and more often than not the person selling you that guitar can also teach you how to play it.
By visiting an actual brick-and-mortar location, you get a personalized shopping experience. One example of a store staffed by musicians is the Drum Center of Portsmouth, where you can visit their store and receive an improved and personalized experience as opposed to just ordering products online.
Guidance for First Time Buyers
Going to the store as opposed to shopping online is especially important if you are purchasing instruments for the first time and do not know much about the product.
Some websites will show customer reviews for their products, but a paragraph or two written by a disgruntled customer simply does not match the feedback you can get from talking to a professional.
Music store associates can guide you to the right products based on your individual skill level or experience. They can offer their personal experiences with the instruments you’re looking for.
They can tell you the difference between an eight piece and a six piece drumset. Or maybe they’ll share with you how they bought that guitar last year and the whammy bar broke within a month. They can show you how to tune, care for, and maintain your new instruments.
Sure, it can be nice to order a new banjo while sitting at your desk at home, but you won’t know anything about the product until it gets to you, and by then it can be too late.
If you take the time to go to a store and discuss your needs with a professional, you can walk out with your new equipment, knowing you got exactly what you were looking for.
You Can’t Try Out Instruments Online
Anyone who has purchased musical instruments already knows how fun it can be to go into a music store and try out all the instruments on display. Ever heard of the phrase “happier than a kid in a candy shop?” That kid has nothing on a musician in a music shop.
If certain guitar or drum set catches your eye online, the best you can do is look at a few pictures, or maybe you can watch a few videos of other people playing it.
If you walk into the store, you can feel the instrument in your hands before you purchase it. You can experience the sound for yourself. This can be essential in figuring out which one is best for you.
How to Transfer Music from Computer to iPhone XS (Max) using iTunes
If you want to transfer music from iTunes to iPhone XS (Max), there’s some information that you need to have. In this article, we’ll show you how to transfer music from computer to iPhone using a number of different methods, both with and without iTunes.
Do you have music in your iTunes library that you want to transfer to your new iPhone XS (Max)? There are a number of different methods by which to transfer music from iTunes to iPhone XS, however, some of those methods can be complicated and risky as well. If you want to transfer to new iPhone, we’ll show you how to transfer music from computer to iPhone using a number of different methods.
Part 1: How to Transfer Music from Computer to iPhone XS (Max) using iTunes
Method 1: Sync music from iTunes to iPhone XS (Max) Directly
- Launch the latest updated iTunes in your computer and connect your iPhone to the computer via a USB cable.
If you don’t currently have music in your iTunes library, you need to import them. Click on File > Add File to Library. You’ll be able to select songs from your computer and add them to the library.
3. Select your iPhone from the Devices category and then click on the ‘Music’ option.
4. Click on ‘Sync Music’ and select the type, genre, artists, or albums to transfer to new iPhone. You can also select the music files specifically.
5. Click on the ‘Apply’ button to start transferring music from iTunes to iPhone XS (Max).
Method 2: Sync music from iTunes to iPhone XS (Max) Manually
- Launch the latest updated iTunes in your computer and connect your iPhone to the computer via a USB cable.
2. Select your iPhone from the ‘Device’ button.
3. Click on ‘Manually manage music and videos’.
4. From the left-hand panel, select the ‘Music’ option and then manually drag and drop files from your computer to iTunes.
Drawbacks of using iTunes:
- The process is complicated and often confusing. Trying to sync a large number of files is also extremely slow and frustrating, and it may also lead to a crash.
- Sometimes, when you try to transfer music from iTunes to iPhone, all your iPhone’s current music gets replaced by the new music. As such, you’ll get the new music, but you’ll lose all the music you currently held in your iPhone.
- This method is prone to flashing an error that says ‘iPhone could not sync because the connection to the iPhone was reset’. In addition to this, you can receive a number of different errors if your data cable is slightly disconnected, if your iPhone is locked, or for other reasons.
- iTunes takes up a lot of energy so your computer’s processes slow down while you’re transferring.
Part 2: How to Transfer Music from Computer to iPhone XS (Max) without iTunes
If you want to avoid all of the problems and hassles associated with using iTunes, you can transfer music from computer to iPhone XS (Max) without iTunes using dr.fone – Transfer. This is an extremely efficient method that leads to no data loss and it takes only a few seconds. dr.fone – Transfer is a toolkit that’s been rolled out by the world’s leading technology enterprise Wondershare. As such, it’s completely reliable to use.
Transfer music from computer to iPhone XS (Max) without iTunes.
- Can transfer music from computer to iPhone easily.
- Can also manage and export/import the music file.
- In addition to music, can also transfer photos, contacts, SMS, and other data.
- Works with iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, or iPhone XR and all other iPhone models.
- Works with all iOS versions and all Windows and Mac OS versions.
- Also compatible with Android devices.
- Extremely high data transfer speed.
How to Transfer Music from Computer to iPhone XS (Max) using dr.fone – Transfer:
- Download and install dr.fone toolkit and then launch it.
2. Select the ‘Transfer’ option from the main menu and then connect your iPhone to the computer using a data cable.
3. Wait for dr.fone to detect your iPhone and then click on the ‘Transfer iTunes Media to Device’ option.
4. dr.fone will scan all of the media files in your iTunes and then you’ll find them listed out. Select the music files you want to transfer and then click on ‘Transfer’.
Conclusion
In this article, we’ve shown you how to transfer music from computer to iPhone using iTunes and using dr.fone. As you’ve probably already read, using iTunes directly posits a lot of disadvantages, some of which can lead to errors and the complete deletion of your iPhone library. As such, our personal recommendation is to use dr.fone – Transfer as all your music files (both in your iTunes and iPhone) remain completely secure. Furthermore, it’s user-friendly, efficient, and transfers music files a lot faster than iTunes.
If you have any other questions about how to transfer music from computer to iPhone, feel free to let us know.
Best Made and Wilco teamed up for a Box Set. But not just your usual collection. This one is stunning.
Best Made and Wilco teamed up for a Box Set. But not just your usual collection, this is an unprecedented and exclusive collaboration box set, made in an extremely limited quantity for die-hard fans. Each of the band’s 10 studio albums are included in vinyl format, individually signed by frontman Jeff Tweedy. In true Best Made fashion, the collection is presented in an album crate inspired by their Audubon toolbox and built in our axe workshop from fir ply, hand-finished with marine spar varnish.
The pricetag? $1,198 and you can get them here.
Sodajerker Podcast on Songwriting: Nile Rodgers
Sodajerker’s Simon and Brian fulfil another lifelong dream as they sit down with the legendary songwriter, producer and guitarist Nile Rodgers at Abbey Road Studios. In this detailed conversation, Nile discusses songs from his new album It’s About Time, breaks down his approach to the guitar, and reveals the DHM (deep hidden meaning) behind hits for Chic, Sister Sledge, Diana Ross and David Bowie.
STRAY CATS Mark Their 40th Anniversary With New Album and Tour in 2019
STRAY CATS will mark their 40th anniversary in 2019 with a new album and tour. Brian Setzer, Lee Rocker and Slim Jim Phantom–original founding members of the acclaimed American rock and roll trio–are heading into a studio in Nashville to record their first new album in 25 years.
Set to be released on Surfdog Records, the album will be produced by Peter Collins (Rush, Bon Jovi, The Brian Setzer Orchestra) and engineered by Vance Powell (Jack White, Chris Stapleton, Arctic Monkeys). Stay tuned for more details and an official release date.
STRAY CATS, the band that put Rockabilly music back on the record charts in the early ’80s, scored several big hits on both sides of the Atlantic thanks to a striking visual 1950’s style brought “up to date” with exaggerated pompadours and colorful tattoos and as well as genuine musical chops that evoked the best players of rockabilly’s original heyday. Formed by guitarist/vocalist Brian Setzer, upright bass player Lee Rocker and drummer Slim Jim Phantom in the Long Island town of Massapequa, NY, in 1979, the trio shared a love for Rockabilly music and after banging around New York and Philadelphia for a few months, in the summer of 1980, they were persuaded by a mutual friend to hop a plane to London where a rockabilly revival movement was just beginning to emerge. Their massive hits and videos include “Runaway Boys,” “Rock This Town,” “Stray Cat Strut” “(She’s) Sexy + 17,” and “I Won’t Stand in Your Way.”
The iconic group, known for their high-energy performances are also mapping out plans for a tour, with dates TBA. STRAY CATS in 2018 marked their first North American shows in 10 years, with four concerts including sold-out headlining shows at Viva Las Vegas and the Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa, CA (August 16 and 17) before wildly enthusiastic audiences.
“Forty years ago, us three teenagers started a little band to play a musical style that had long since passed, and most folks had never heard of, this Rockabilly music. Forty years later we stand together and still get that same thrill and exhilaration from the music. That feeling is what makes the fireworks go off and the sparks fly. It makes the world go around.” –Brian Setzer
“Making a new Stray Cats album for 2019 in Nashville seems like the exact right thing, right time, right place, and right band for the gig! We have an album’s worth of new songs that are classic rockabilly while keeping the music and style current and fresh, like always. In other words…A Stray Cats album.” –Slim Jim Phantom
“They say history repeats itself and I now know that’s true. 40 years after Brian, Jim and I formed the Stray Cats, we are back! I’m so excited to be in the studio with my brothers. I can tell you that this will be the best Stray Cats album we have ever made. The time is right, the songs are great and we’re ready to rock.” –Lee Rocker
Kathleen Hanna Launches TEES 4 TOGO T-Shirt Line featuring Carrie Brownstein, Patton Oswalt, Joan Jett, Chuck D and more
Today, Kathleen Hanna launches TEES 4 TOGO, a brand new, star-studded line of T-shirts designed by — and portraying designs of — Hanna and her friends. 100% of the profits go to Peace Sisters, a Pasadena-based non-profit that financially assists to fund local girls’ school tuition costs in Dapaong, Togo West Africa, the hometown of current Pasadena resident and Peace Sisters founder, Tina Kampor. Each shirt is cozy, colorful, sweatshop-free, and costs $40 each—the amount it costs for a girl to attend school in Togo for an entire year, including books.
In Togo, Hanna points out, people usually don’t have enough money to send their children to school, especially if they have boys and girls at home. “People often decide to spend their money on the boys. When Tina was an educator in Togo she saw so many girls’ dreams fall by the wayside. She came to California determined to change that.”
For her birthday last November, Hanna organized a Peace Sisters gofundme, which raised almost $9,000. Hanna also began throwing fundraisers at her home, was named a Peace Sisters ambassador and regularly attends board meetings with Kampor, learning how each dollar the group earns is spent. Feeling bolstered by the team’s professionalism and attention to detail, she decided to do more. That’s when Hanna got the idea for TEES 4 TOGO.
TEES 4 TOGO emulates Kampor’s own donations to her home country. “Tina came to Pasadena from Togo, got her nursing certificate, and started sending girls through school. First she sent two girls through school. The next year she sent five. Before she started Peace Sisters as a non profit in 2016, she had already sent 130 girls to school with her own money.”
TEES 4 TOGO is consistent with Hanna’s renowned feminist and DIY philosophies. Through it all, Hanna has worked to address and facilitate conversations around inclusivity, equal opportunity, sexism, and breaking societal expectations. “We’re not gonna have equality in the world if we don’t hear African women’s voices,” Hanna says. “And we’re not gonna hear women’s voices if they have no education. Another part of this is Trump saying Africa is a shithole. How can I respond to that as a citizen? How can I do something positive in light of that? I found an organization run by somebody who grew up in West Africa, who flies money back to the school every year, and has already been doing it for 15 years. This is my opportunity to be an ally to her already successful project.”
Kampor brought three things to the girls in Togo on her recent April 2018 trip: money for girls’ tuition, solar lamps, and her own vivacious spirit. With TEES 4 TOGO, Hanna hopes to continue Kampor’s work by giving West African girls an opportunity for education, which, she argues, is more vital than ever today. TEES 4 TOGO is just the beginning. Hanna says: “Eventually the dream is to send all the girls to college, and help with housing needs, which may start happening as early as this November, depending on how many shirts I can sell!”
15 TEES 4 TOGO designs:
— Sleater-Kinney performer and actress Carrie Brownstein (drawn by Kim Gordon)
— Comedian Patton Oswalt (drawn by writer and performer Sam McPheeters)
— Joan Jett (drawn by artist Sarah Larnach)
— Beastie Boy and Hanna’s husband Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz (drawn by musician Seth Bogart)
— Public Enemy rapper, author and producer Chuck D (drawn by political artist Adee Roberson)
— Sociopolitical comedian W.Kamau Bell (drawn by musician by Eric Adams)
— Musician & Hanna’s former Le Tigre bandmate JD Samson (drawn by Kathleen Hanna)
— Body/Head and Sonic Youth musician Kim Gordon (drawn by Ooga Booga artist Steve Dore)
— Actor and comedian Kristen Schaal (drawn by Coleman Fitzgerald)
— Grimes (drawn by artist Maddy Mathews)
— Author, artist, performer and actor Justin Vivian Bond (drawn by illustrator Greg Kozatek)
— Author and musician Brontez Purnell (drawn by illustrator Janelle Hessig)
— Actor and comedian Hari Kondabolu (drawn by Bill Thelan)
— Writer and director Jill Soloway (drawn by artist Hannah Lucy)
— Bikini Kill, Le Tigre and The Julie Ruin musician, activist & actor Kathleen Hanna (drawn by Charlotte Farmer, Jhonny Russell, Katie Edmunds & Jess Marshall)
Will It Marshmallow? Taste Test With … Marshmello!
Marshmello’s here to help answer the age old question: Will It Marshmallow?