Joi Marshall: Life After Jade

The early 90s were the golden days of R&B music, with female groups dominating the charts. Between 1990 and 1993, the world was introduced to many hot new female groups including SWV, Xscape, and En Vogue.One of the groups that stood out from the rest was Jade, comprised of members Tonya Kelly, Joi Marshall and Di Reed. The girls had talent and enthusiasm, and upon the release of their debut album, Jade To The Max, a platinum selling album.In the girls' two album run, they scored many hits, with the group's biggest number, "Don't Walk Away" reaching #4 on the Hot 100 and going gold. Many people may also recognize the group for such popular songs as "Looking For Mr. Do Right," "One Woman," "5-4-3-2 (Yo! Time IS Up)" and "Every Day Of The Week."Mind, Body & SoulIn their two album career, Jade had a platinum album, 3 top 20 hits on the Hot 100, and 6 top 20 hits on the R&B charts.Unfortunately, the group called it quits after their album "Mind, Body & Song" in 1994, tired of their label's abuse and its mismanagement of their funds.I was able to get in touch with Joi, who kindly agreed to do an interview about her time in the group Jade, as well as to provide us with updates on the going-ons of the other girls.Since the group's split, Joi has written a book about the music industry. Titled "Answers to the 20 Most Asked Questions about the Music Business," the book is Joi's effort to prevent young artists from making the same mistakes that Jade had made.In addition, Joi has an album in the works, expected to come out later this year. Blending gospel and R&B, Joi will be blessing the world with her beautiful vocals once again. But don't take my word for it all, find out what Joi has to say about her and the other members experiences.Interview With Joi MarshallR&B Haven: Hi Joi, to get things started, can you give us a brief overview of what you're doing today in life after Jade?Joi Marshall: Well, I just signed a new deal with Amen Records/EMI Gospel for my Urban Inspirational/ R&G album "Testimony & Praise." It will be released on September 25th. and will be available everywhere.R&B Haven: Can you explain how this album came to be, and tell us a little about the direction you took on it?Joi Marshall: I got together with Kip Wilson of the Machine Productions here in California and wrote and produced songs for the album. I wanted th album to have an R&B feel to it, and since Kip worked with Jaheim and many others in the business, I checked out his tracks, loved them, and decided to record with him.R&B Haven: The album is interesting in its style, described as being a "Rhythm and Gospel" album. Do you see yourself ever returning to R&B music or do you plan on continuing with this style?Joi Marshall: Well, I love music that inspires, so whether it's R&B or R&G, as long as the words mean something to me and I can encourage someone, then that's what I'll go with.R&B Haven: I saw on your MySpace, that you also wrote a book about the music industry, titled "Answers to the 20 Most Asked Questions About the Music Business." Can you give us a brief explanation as to what motivated you to write this book? Do you have any suggestions to young artists looking to enter the business?Joi Marshall: As I stated in the intro of the book, selling millions of records and still owing the label a million dollars motivated me to write the book. I suggest that young people AND their parents read my book. It's easy to understand and it's written for artists by an artist, so I believe I have a better take on what effects us. I wish more parents would understand the business so that they can look out for their kids, even if they have no desire to manage them. They can at least have a productive conversation with them.R&B Haven: How do you feel the industry has changed since you entered it in the early 1990s? Do you think there's any room for girl/guy groups to make a presence in the industry today?Joi Marshall: I think that the business is better in that the internet allows people to have a career whether they have a deal or not. I believe there is room for anybody who is good and who has the right machine to push them.R&B Haven: Do you know what the other members of Jade are up to? Communicate at all?Joi Marshall: Yes, we communicate frequently. Tonya has an interior design firm and is doing quite well. She had a degree in interior and architectural design before she joined Jade, so she's happily working on her other love. Di is on the road with Rod Stewart singing in his band and she is working on a solo project.R&B Haven: And of course, I have to ask as many visitors would kill me if I didn't. Is there any chance that we might see a resurrection of Jade or to see you join another girl group?Joi Marshall: I would never join another group and there is always a chance that we will record again. We love each other and support each other. If the right situation comes about, there is always a possiblity.R&B Haven: Thanks a lot for your time Joi, I wish you the best of luck in all that you do.Joi Marshall: Thank you it was my pleasure.
Article Source: http://www.superfeature.com
Matthew Fyffe is the administrator and chief content provider for the R&B site, R&B Haven, a site which features over 200 90s R&B Artist Bios.

How Digital Signal and Radio Works. A look into Satellite Radio

A communication system based on satellites has the benefits of covering large areas on the earth which cannot be done with the terrestrial links. A satellite based radio can cover seas, deserts and the high mountains. The only need of these unapproachable areas is a receiving antenna and a receiving device. Another advantage is that the satellite based network incorporate higher data bit rates. Earlier terrestrial links were used for broadcasting amplitude and frequency modulated signals but now a day artificial satellites are being used. A radio satellite signal contains both the audio and video signals. The video signal contains the name of the song and the name singer. These two things are displayed on the receiving unit's LCD screen while is the song is being played. The benefit of this is that there is no interruption in between the songs. The listeners do not have to listen to the radio announcers for knowing the name of the movie and the singer. One feels as if he or she is listening to a compact disc of his or her own choice. Also the clarity of the sound is like that of a compact disc. There are many enhancements for the receiving unit which add to the pleasure of listening music like we can connect ear phones, amplifiers, sub woofers, woofers to our receiving unit. By connecting these gadgets we can convert our ordinary radio to a high tech home music system. Another benefit is that particular frequency channels are assigned to particular type of music. One does not have to wait for a song of his or her choice like a young school boy wants to hear latest songs of his choice while his grandfather want to listen to oldies. They do not have to wait on the same channel to hear the song of their particular choice. They can just flip to the channels of their choice by changing the frequency of the receiving unit. The broadcasting end of the satellite radio works in the same way as the old radio stations did. The analog music signals are converted to the digital pulse code stream by using pulse code modulation and the analog to digital converters. The output of analog to digital converter is fed to the pulse code modulator. The digitized signal undergoes compression to save the frequency channels that is the bandwidth so that more and more number of channels can be transmitted for the satisfaction and enjoyment of the customers. The compression of signals is done with the help of a compressor. Compressor is an electronic circuit. Along with compressor other electronic devices like filters, samplers, etc. are used for the best signal transmission and reception.
Article Source: http://www.superfeature.com
Tymon Hytem has worked in the electronics feild for the past 15 years. He enjoys helping people decide on electronic gadgets from finding the right phone for your business and can help you choose the perfect Background Music for your business needs.

The Many Different Faces of Radio Transmitters.

We have different types of radio transmitters and they can be classified according to the type of modulation used, according to the service involved.According to the type of modulation used radio transmitters can be further classified into three types namely Amplitude modulation, Frequency modulation and Pulse modulation techniques. In Amplitude modulation transmitters the modulating signals modulates the carrier. Such transmitters are used for the radio broadcast on long, medium and short waves, radio telephony on short waves, television picture broadcast on very short waves or ultra short waves. In a frequency modulation transmitter the signal voltage frequency modulates the carrier. Such transmitters are used for radio broadcast in the very high frequency and ultra high frequency range, television sound broadcast and radio communication. In a pulse modulation transmitter the signal voltage alters some characteristic of the pulses. These characteristics of the pulses altered on modulation may be pulse width, pulse position, pulse amplitude, pulse frequency or the pulse code.According to the type of service involved the radio transmitters can be classified differently like Radio broadcast transmitters. These transmitters are designed for transmitting speeches, talks, music, dramas, commentaries and news etc. for the information and recreation of people. The electromagnetic energy is so radiated from the transmitting antenna that the largest number of people may be able to receive the broadcast with the help their of radio receiver. These broadcast transmitters may be either amplitude modulated or frequency modulated. The amplitude modulated transmitters may be either amplitude modulated or frequency modulated. The amplitude modulated transmitters operate on long waves, medium waves and short waves and radiate carrier power as low as about one kilo watt and as high as one hundred kilo watt or more. The frequency modulated broadcast transmitters operate on very short waves or on ultra short waves and radiate carrier power of the order of one hundred kilo watts or so.The radio telephone transmitters are designed for transmitting telephone signals over long distance by radio means. A radio telephone transmitter uses certain special devices as volume compressors, privacy devices, peak limiters etc. The transmitting antenna is designed for beaming the electromagnetic energy into a narrow beam directed toward the distant receiving antenna. Smaller amount of power is thus required.A radio telegraph transmitter transmits telegraph signals from one radio station to another radio station. It may use either amplitude modulation or frequency modulation. When point to point radio communication is involved, the transmitting antennas are highly directive so that the electromagnetic energy is beamed into a narrow beam directed towards the receiving antenna at the receiving radio station. The television broadcast requires two transmitters one for transmission of picture and other for transmission of sound.
Article Source: http://www.superfeature.com
Tymon Hytem has worked in the electronics feild for the past 15 years. He enjoys helping people decide on electronic gadgets from finding the right phone for your business and can help you choose the perfect Background Music for your business needs.

Beginners guide to DJ'ing

When starting out as a DJ it’s a good idea to decide what type you’re going to be. There are two basic types:Mobile DJs for special eventsAnd DJs that work the club or bar sceneYou will need a larger cross section of music as a mobile DJ as you will be catering to the tastes of many mixed audiences. The cheapest way to find out whether DJ’ing is for you is to find a friend or local community centre that already has some equipment. This way you can save some money to spend on tunes which you will need in abundance to practice on. If you decide DJ’ing is for you, you will eventually need to get some equipment. You will need two record players (decks) or CD mixers designed for DJ’ing. Technics 1200/1210 are the industry standard for record decks and Numark CDN 88’s for CD mixing are also good. The difference between this equipment and the CD/record players you have at home is the built in pitch control. The pitch control allows you to change the speed of the music which you will later need for mixing.You will also need a mixer to change between tracks without gaps in the music.A mixer can be used in the two main forms of mixing songs either for ‘scratching’ when a record or on some high end CD mixers the CD is moved back and forth to manipulate the sound. Or beat matching when one song is layered across another at the same speed to produce a smooth track change. It’s likely that if you are just starting out your fist gigs will be in venues that don’t have much equipment. If you are going to be a mobile disco DJ you will need sound equipment and lighting. In most cases you will need to take all if not some of your equipment to the venue. For venues that do not have their own sound system you will need to take some proper mobile disco equipment including speakers and an amplifier. These can be hired but if you are going to make this a full time hobby or profession it’s cost effective to buy them instead. If you are lucky enough to find yourself DJ’ing in a night club with its own equipment it’s still a good idea to bring your own slip mats (these go on the record platform of the deck) and needles if using vinyl. If you are using someone else’s equipment it makes good sense to get there early to figure out how it works. You will also need a decent microphone as you may be expected to make announcements and a good set of headphones. The sealed back variety is preferred by DJs as they cut out all background noise. Whether you’re planning to make a living out of DJ’ing or just as a hobby the main thing is have fun and enjoy what you do.
Article Source: http://www.superfeature.com
Showtime Mobile Disco offering advice on how to book a mobile DJ, become a mobile DJ and plan a party.

Syd Barret

In August 2006 a sixty year old, bald, stocky bachelor with a face at once stern and sensitive died of diabetes. He was living on his own in his home-town: the genteel city of Cambridge, England, world widely known for its university, which, in the UK, is rivaled only by the equally venerable one in Oxford.His name was Syd Barret. Or was it? No. His name was Roger Keith Barret, known as Rog to the few people he bothered to see, mostly his family. Syd Barrett is the name the world will remember him by.He was a living legend. Now he is a dead legend.Let me outline the birth of this legend in a few words.Do you know the magnolia?What makes its beauty so special is not only its features, but also that it blooms very early, and very short. In those seminal years of pop/rock music, the mid sixties, Barrett’s songs and music shared the same properties. As founding father and undisputed leader of a band called Pink Floyd, Syd Barrett was a pivotal figure in the emerging psychedelic scene in London, and, via his records, the rest of the world.It was a time when the world, in the words of Keith Richards, suddenly turned from black and white into Technicolor. And Syd Barrett was a most colourful being indeed, to the ear, to the eye and to the mind in equal measures. Brought up quite liberally, with well to do parents, and a particularly doting mother, young Syd was as gifted as he was attractive, and a humorous, impish fellow at that. Experimenting with a few things almost no one had heard of in these days, like LSD –until the sixties mainly used by the CIA as sort of a truth serum drug- and the ancient Chinese Book of Changes, the I Ching, his main occupations were painting and music. Painting came first, the music and songs that would make him famous came second in those early days.In the music industry many things had changed in the slipstream of the Beatles fame. Musicians were no longer puppets on a string of shady, cynically-minded Tin Pan Alley-types, churning out product for whoever laid the money down. There was a new playfulness and originality in the music of the Beatles and also a completely un-self-conscious integrity, mainly brought about by the fact that the Beatles wrote their own songs, and became a role model for that. It was the Kennedy era. People were in some ways starting to be encouraged by the authorities to think for themselves and not to do simply what the same authorities expected them to do, which, of course, implies a paradox with a vengeance, but, lucky for those times, it took a while for us all to realize.Back to our story. So the Beatle phenomenon became a trailblazer for a whole gamut of gifted young bands, all into writing their own material: The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, and The Who, who does not know their names.Barrett’s Pink Floyd rose to fame a few years after the first batch of post Beatles bands. And in those heady days a few years made an enormous difference. Swinging London was already turning psychedelic and of that era Barrett was, is, and always will be one of the finest relics. It all went by so fast…Syd Barrett was an almost devout non-believer in discipline, and had a frame of mind and body not heavy duty enough for the rough life of a rock star. Within two blasting years his behavior had become so erratic that he could not rationally function anymore in the band that was his brainchild. Forgetting guitars everywhere, sometimes refusing to speak to anyone, standing on stage like a statue, playing just one chord. Roger Waters, Rick Wright and Nick Mason had to incorporate guitarist David Gilmour, a good friend of the whole band, and already a highly rated session player. A short while the band was a five some, David Gilmour delivering the sonic good, and Syd Barrett as a sort of far-out ornament. Then the idea was that he would be the home staying genius, with the other boys on the road a la Brian Wilson, but it al expired, Syd being so deranged that he temporarily became an inmate of the Terrapin Asylum, after which followed a few years in London, living in various trippy bohemian settings. During that time he did manage to create two albums that are still enjoyed by quite a few good ears: “The Madcap Laughs” and “Barrett’s” quirky, very asymmetrical songs with strangely evocative lyrics about almost nothing/everything, after which he stopped making music altogether. He ended up where he started, in Cambridge, living with his mother, and after her death on his own, picking up painting again and writing a history of art for his own enjoyment, without the slightest idea to let others read it, let alone publicize it.All his life he had the status of a cult hero, also because his old band, Pink Floyd, became hugely successful in the line-up with David Gilmour, and the standard bearers of, let’s say, adult rock: always competent, creative, even poetic, skilfully performed on state of the art hardware, but with the elusive x-factor, which makes things creep under your skin, considerably reduced.A short career and a long retirement.He regained his inner balance sufficiently to live as a quiet, withdrawn, strange but not crazy citizen, sustained by the royalties of his compositions on Pink Floyd’s and his own records. According to his family he could even be said to live with his very own brand of satisfaction. Syd Barrett will always be remembered as one of the most enigmatic characters in the pantheon of modern Western popular music.
Article Source: http://www.superfeature.com
Harry Rackers writes for File Sharing the site to visit if you want to download music, movies and/or games from the Internet. You could find more info on pop stars at Music Movies Download where you will find lots of entertainment articles, and a directory of entertainment sites.