New In The Pipeline: February 28, 2018

I have new production music items now waiting in curation at Pond5.

The first new item is yet another intro for my collection of podcast music intros. This one is called "Retro Horn Band Intro." I created and uploaded four versions: a full (30-second), shorter (14--second), outro (4-second), and a looped version. This would be a great high-energy music choice to intro your comedy or topical podcast, broadcast or vlog. Check it out:



The second item in the pipeline is a plaintive music background I call "Wistful Reverie." It's very sad and mournful, but also has a warmth and sweetness to it.



Check back here and on my Twitter feed for updates as to if and when both these items are available to license.

What's Happening: Week of February 26, 2018

This week, I have a new landing page for my podcast intro music collection, and a tweak to my home page.

This weekend, I created and uploaded a 90 second YouTube video that includes brief excerpts from my podcast intro music collection.

I also put together a fairly simple web page: http://thisbrucesmith.com/podcast-intro-music.html (careful, it opens in a new tab). The page embeds the YouTube video with a brief description and a call to action (CTA) button. The button takes you to my collection page on Pond5, where podcasters (and/or their producers) can browse to their heart's content and maybe find something they like.

I also created a custom short link through my bit.ly account and use that to link both from the low bar on the YouTube page and from the CTA button. It's http://bit.ly/podintromusic. If all goes well, I'll be able to see what sites (my website, YouTube, or someplace else) refers hits to my collection. I hope this all works out, and if it does I'll let you know.

Now to the tweak of my home page. If you've observed me at any length (and that might be a little creepy so maybe it's best you didn't), you know I have a very set routine for doing my updates (almost always on Sunday nights). Usually I update my home page (http://thisbrucesmith.com) first with my featured royalty-free item of the week. Then I tweet the clip and update my Twitter profile. Since it's almost always from Pond5, I've been using Pond5's Flash-based audio player to make things simple. However, I've suddenly noticed that Google Chrome's new security no longer loves the embedded Flash player.

Furthermore, just in the last few days I noticed that the sites I run (my music site and some others) have been seeing secure (SSL) traffic. I went to https://thisbrucesmith.com and sure enough Chrome said it was secure, which floored me. The only thing that came across as not secure was -- you guessed it -- the Pond5 Flash player.

Now, I don't know if the fact that all of the sudden my site can handle encrypted traffic is a snafu. If it's not, though, I don't want anything on there that a browser might see as unsafe if I can help it. So, I've decided to try updating my Twitter account first, then embedding my Tweet on my web site.

Unfortunately, that doesn't work here, since Blogger doesn't seem to love the Twitter script. So, I'll just keep tweaking.

That's what I know for this week. For those who didn't resort to "TL;DR" thanks for sticking around

What's Happening: Week of February 19, 2018

Here in the States it's Presidents' Day weekend. This means that students, government employees, bankers and some other folks get Monday off. For the rest of us, it's business as usual.

The big news for me is that the Aquarian Eyes EP is now available.

As I've described elsewhere, Aquarian Eyes is an EP with four tracks. Most of it is electronic/downtempo/chill. However, one track ("Soaring Spirit") is more of a mellow instrumental pop tune that features some live in the studio classical guitar by yours truly. Check my home page http://thisbrucesmith.com for an embedded preview video, plus links to download or stream the EP from iTunes, Google Play or Amazon. I hope you'll check it out.

My featured royalty-free stock music item this week is Corporate Podcast Intro 7 (Full). This is a terrific choice to set a professional tone for business, news or current events podcasts. This bright, uplifting :30 opener is great for other kinds of productions or presentations as well. It's also available in a shorter :14 version, a looped version and a :06 logo/ident version.

I have one item in the stock music pipeline at the moment. I call it "Wonder of Discovery." Think of the kinds of cinematic/symphonic music you hear behind science or nature documentaries and you'll have a good idea where I'm going with this one. I hope to be able to share this one with you soon.

I hope your week, whether short or not, is a happy and productive one.

What's Happening: Week of February 12, 2018

An eventful week coming up, so let's get right to it.

First, Valentine's Day is Wednesday. If you're still looking for music for that romantic video project, check out some of the options in my my romantic music collection. From sultry to silly, there's something in there for you.

Friday, I'll be releasing my Aquarian Eyes EP. You can preview it on YouTube.

My featured stock music this week is Epic Intro 1. It's pretty much self-explanatory. Big and attention-getting.

Meanwhile, I have two more items in the stock music pipeline. One is a simple, bright and uplifting corporate background. The other is a drone piece with overtones and washes.

That's it for now. I hope your week is happy and productive. Thanks for stopping by and for any other support you provide for my work. I'm very grateful. Take care and be well.

Aquarian Eyes Preview

I've just uploaded the preview video for the Aquarian Eyes EP. You can check it out now on YouTube.

What's Happening: Week of February 5, 2018

I'm in a low-key mood today, since most people in the States are focused on the Super Bowl. But I do have a couple of updates for those who come to the blog later in the week.

First, I have a couple of new stock music items in the pipeline, which I hope to get approved this week. One is a titled "Day of Reckoning." As you might guess, it's more of a dramatic musical backdrop. The full version builds tension gradually to a sort of anti-climax at the end. The looped version takes a :60 segment and lets you loop it underneath your scene. The second is another intro, based on "synthwave," which apparently is an actual thing. Basically, synthwave is updated 80's retro with better production values (that's what it sounds like to me, anyway). Assuming it receives approval it will be yet another addition to my podcast music collection of intros and loops at Pond5.

Speaking of intros, my featured stock music item this week is Inspiring Intro 1 (Full). It's a big opener for motivational and business-positive podcasts or presentations. It's also available in short (:14). and logo (:06) versions, which you can find in the collection I linked in the last paragraph. If you're looking for music to jump-start your audience, this may be just the thing.

Meanwhile, I'm now less than two weeks away from my self-imposed deadline to release the Aquarian Eyes EP. Unlike some of my other projects in the past, I'm taking a little extra time on this one in an attempt to master it as a single project, rather than a collection of tracks. I'm almost finished with that (meaning I'm very close to being happy with how they hang together), and from there want to come up with more of a cover than the single version at left.

Of the four tracks I'll be including in the EP, three ("Night Vision," the title track and "Mystic Jam") are all pretty much downtempo tracks with varying degrees of electronics. The fourth track, "Soaring Spirit," is one I've been sitting on for awhile. It's more of an instrumental pop ballad, and maybe one I'm more emotionally attached to than I should be. C'est la vie. It is, after all, my vanity press in the end.

On my Spotify artist page I'm now featuring the album Mira by Trio Caliente. They are a DC-based group, and one of the founding members is Michael Bard, a talented guitarist and family friend from my hometown of Dayton, Ohio. In addition to being a talented player, Michael is also a fine teacher; one of his notable students is former U. S. Senator, Secretary of State and presidential candidate John Kerry. I hope you'll stop by my page to check them out.

And with that, I'll run along. I hope you have an excellent week, and thank you for stopping by.