Washington, D.C.— The future of the film industry is more democratic. That’s the idea behind a Main Stage panel discussion at the 2024 NAB Show in Las Vegas. The team behind “Holy Smokes,” the winner of the Decentralized Pictures Kevin Smith Comedy Short Film Screenplay Award, will dive into the challenges aspiring filmmakers face and explore the groundbreaking shift towards audience-driven filmmaking. The panel features Decentralized Pictures (DCP) Co-founder Roman Coppola (“Moonrise Kingdom,” “The French Dispatch,” and “Darjeeling Limited”), and Actor Mena Suvari (“American Beauty,” “American Pie,” HBO’s “Six Feet Under”), followed by a screening of “Holy Smokes.”

Washington, D.C. -- The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) today announced that Hubbard Radio’s David Kolesar and consulting engineer Winston Caldwell are the recipients of the 2024 NAB Engineering Achievement Awards. They will be honored at the We Are Broadcasters Awards, held on the Main Stage of the 2024 NAB Show, April 16 at 9:30 a.m.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A bipartisan majority of the United States House of Representatives now supports the Local Radio Freedom Act (LRFA). The LRFA, which signals members of Congress' opposition to imposing new performance royalties on broadcast radio stations for music airplay, now has 225 cosponsors in the House. There are 24 cosponsors in the Senate.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) today announced that FOX's groundbreaking true crime series, "America's Most Wanted," will be inducted into the NAB Broadcasting Hall of Fame for television. The series will be honored during the NAB Broadcasting Hall of Fame Ceremony, held on the Main Stage of the 2024 NAB Show, April 15 at 1 p.m. PDT.

Washington, D.C. – The Library of American Broadcasting Foundation (LABF) today announced Emmy Award-winning broadcaster, author and philanthropist Soledad O’Brien as the third annual Insight Award recipient. O’Brien will be honored during the NAB Show Welcome, April 15 at 9:30 a.m. PT.

Washington, D.C. – The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) announced today that Gabriela Sibori has joined as senior director of Communications on the NAB Public Affairs team. Sibori will report to Alex Siciliano, senior vice president of Communications.

Washington, D.C. – The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) is hosting its fourth annual NAB Diversity Symposium April 14 – 15 at the 2024 NAB Show in Las Vegas. This year's symposium remains open to all attendees.

Washington, D.C.— In the crowded media landscape, audience attention spans are shorter than ever. To stand out, content must truly connect with audiences. That’s the subject of a newly announced Main Stage session at the 2024 NAB Show in Las Vegas featuring NBCUniversal entertainment chairman Frances Berwick and moderated by Variety co-editor-in-chief Cynthia Littleton. The pair will then be joined by “America’s Got Talent” host Terry Crews, as the trio of industry leaders will discuss the current TV landscape, as well as connecting content and audiences across NBCU’s television portfolio.

Washington, D.C.— With 160 countries represented, NAB Show April 13 - 17 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, is solidly the global destination for all things broadcast, media and entertainment. Dignitaries and delegations from six continents will convene to discover cutting-edge technologies, forge strategic partnerships and shape the future of content creation.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- TheNational Association of Broadcasters Leadership Foundation (NABLF) today announced the recipients of the 2024 Celebration of Service to America Awards, which recognize outstanding service to their communities by local television and radio stations. Winners will be honored at the awards ceremony on June 4, 2024, at The Anthem in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C. – In response to the release of the discussion draft of the American Privacy Rights Act, the following statement can be attributed to NAB President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt:

"NAB supports the bipartisan efforts of Chairs Maria Cantwell and Cathy McMorris Rodgers to craft a unified national privacy standard. This discussion draft is an important step towards much-needed legal clarity for America’s hometown broadcasters amidst a patchwork of state laws as we engage with our audiences online.

“As the power of the Big Tech companies often goes unchecked, we are grateful for Chairs Cantwell and McMorris Rodgers' ongoing commitment to providing a more sustainable digital ecosystem for local journalism. We look forward to working closely with the Chairs and all their Congressional colleagues as this important discussion continues.”

Washington, D.C. – In response to the announcement that House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA) and Ranking Member Frank Pallone (NJ) will hold a legislative hearing April 30 titled “Draft Legislation to Preserve Americans’ Access to AM Radio,” the following statement can be attributed to NAB President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt:

Today, Melody Spann-Cooper, chairwoman and CEO of Midway Broadcasting Corporation, testified on behalf of the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) at a hearing held by the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Innovation, Data and Commerce titled, “Preserving Americans’ Access to AM Radio.” Click here for a copy of her testimony.

Washington, D.C. – Today, the National Association of Broadcasters Leadership Foundation (NABLF) proudly announces a groundbreaking partnership with the Foundation For A Bright Future (FABF), a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting underprivileged and underrepresented children. This collaboration, rooted in shared values and objectives, aims to provide students with unparalleled educational opportunities and sustainable employment prospects in the media industry.

Washington, D.C. – NAB President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt issued the following statement in response to the markup of the American Privacy Rights Act:

Washington, D.C. – The NAB Television Board of Directors this week adopted a policy statement reaffirming the association’s commitment to protecting viewers’ access to live, local broadcast stations and the vital local journalism and trusted information they freely provide.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) filed its initial brief in its challenge to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) local radio and television ownership restrictions.

Washington, D.C.— NAB Show New York, set for Oct. 9-10 (Education Oct. 8-10) at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, will energize the news and sports industries with the latest trends and technology. Held in the epicenter of live production, the event is perfectly timed as the broadcast, media and entertainment industry prepares for key moments such as the 2024 presidential election and the major fall sports seasons. Industry leaders will gather to explore key innovations and strategies reshaping how content is created, distributed and monetized in today’s fast-evolving media landscape.

Washington, D.C.— Proposals for technical papers and panels are now being accepted for the 2025 NAB Broadcast Engineering and IT (BEIT) Conference, part of the 2025 NAB Show, held April 5-9, 2025, at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The conference is an unparalleled opportunity for industry professionals to present their expertise at the premier broadcast, media and entertainment event.

NEW YORK — The 2024 NAB Show New York concluded, solidifying its place as the must-attend East Coast event for not only broadcast, media and entertainment professionals but for anyone creating content across various industries. With more than 12,000 attendees, some 250 Exhibitors, 50 of which are first-timers, and 20 new product launches, the Show offered a comprehensive look at the latest trends and innovations shaping the industry. Held at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, the Show’s Q4 timing provided a pivotal opportunity for professionals to explore end-of-year purchases and prepare strategic decisions for 2025.

Last year I went on one of the craziest adventures of my life. I was on a crew for a non-stop bike race across America. And I just agreed to do it again.


                                                           
From June 16th to June 22nd, I will be on the crew for a bike race across America as a member of Team Donate Life , a non-profit organization that raises money and awareness for organ and tissue donation and transplants. By joining others and contributing to team donate life you can help give hope to thousands by raising money and awareness for organ/tissue donation and transplants, and feel good about it all. Every little bit helps.

The Race Across America begins in Oceanside, CA and will end 6 days and 3,005 miles later in Annapolis, MD.  Our relay team will ride 24 hours a day, racing from the Pacific Ocean, through the Mohave Desert, climbing 3 mountain ranges (including the Colorado Rockies) totaling over 118,000 vertical feet, traversing the Great Plains, with all its wind and rain, riding throughout the day and night on our way to the Atlantic Ocean until finally, worn out yet victorious, we’ll celebrate with actual organ donors and recipients, as we cross the finish line, to support the miracles associated with organ donation~ LIFE!

Your tax deductible donation of any amount can either be made by check to “Team Donate Life” mailed to the address below, or you may go directly to our fundraising page here:http://teamdonatelife.com/riders.asp?ifid=198 to donate online.  Please note on your donation who you are supporting. We are committed to reaching our goal by June 16th.  

This year we decided to have a little fun for the start of our annual Christmas Concert. So my top choir decided to make our own music video. It was a lot of fun and while the original idea was to record our own song we ran out of time and decided to just go ahead and make it anyway using an old N'Sync Christmas Song. The concept is the choir is all arriving for the concert in one car and we follow them as they get ready. When you see them run into the auditorium the choir ran into the actual auditorium the night of the concert and interacted with the audience while singing along (David Letterman Style). Then we all gathered on the stage and sang a fun song "One for the little bitty baby" and then went and changed into our formal wear for the rest of the concert.

www.ifttt.com

This is a near impossible task to narrow down all of the youtube videos I have seen to pick only my top 3. So I am going to break this into sections.

Today - Top 3 Youtube Videos I Have Uploaded of my Daughter Macy.

• Approach the note from above.
• Singing is an athletic event.
• Drink in the breath.
• Listen louder than you sing.

• Let the breathe fuel the sound.
• Stop talking.
• Smile with your eyes
• Sing through it, not to it.
• What are you singing? To whom are you speaking? What are you trying to say?
• 80% of life is showing up. The rest is what you do after.
• Gird up your loins!
• Pitch is not optional or approximate!
• Stand from the waist up.
• Pull the taffy!
• What are you singing ABOUT?
• One more time...
• Make mistakes. Make them boldly. Make them once.
• Lay a big fat green egg, because I cannot fix "nothing."
• Have a love affair with the center of pitch.
• Too much, too soon, too bad. (About a crescendo)
• Once a mistake, twice a habit!
• Don't make it more accidental than it already is.
• The higher you go, the brighter. The lower you go, the brighter.
• No one can smile and sing except Miss America...and she only learned one song.
• Bend your knees.
• Long vowels!!
• Put more space in your face!
• No one note is the same as the other.
• Everything we do, we do together.
• Never sing louder than beautiful.
• Look up here!
• Do not take steps backwards!!
• I own your eyes.
• Pretend there's a string being pulled out of the top of your head.
• What does [accel./rit./fermata/etc.] mean?" After various mumbled responses with the actual definition, "No, it means to look at me!"
• There's a reason God gave us two ears and only one mouth.
• The arch of the eyebrow governs the shape of the tone.
• Honor the rests, please.
• Look up and live.
• Miss a note. Get a rhythm.
• Enjoy the process not the product.
• Ok we're going to go from the top to the end. I promise I'm not going to stop.
• All music must dance.
• Watch!!!!
• Better to be confidently wrong than wimpily right.
• One more time.
• Let your head rule your heart and your heart rule your head.
• Never louder than lovely.
• They who cannot spread light, are content to generate heat instead.
• It's a SONG, so SING it.
• Sing through your eyes.
• Good is the enemy of excellent.
• Fish lip and rabbit teeth.
• We want bel canto, not can belto.
• I coach choir.
• I'm tired of that mistake, make another one.
• Do we sound like one?
• Do as I meant, not what I said.
• Early is on time, on time is late, and late is unacceptable.
• Look #, don't b flat, and act natural.
• Make it interesting!
• The eyebrows matter - it's hard to look interested and sound dull and equally hard to look uninterested and sound engaged.
• Look up and live!
• Sing as if you were fatter stand as if you were taller.
• Strong and wrong is better than feeble and right.
• North-south vowels rather than east-west vowels.
• One more time...
• If the basses are bad, the choir is bad.
• Sing on air.
• Sing from your toenails.
• “What's your favorite piece?" Students: "The one in our hand!"
• Men - sing like football players in tuxedoes.
• Vertical vowels, please.
• Breathe in the shape of the vowel.
• Sit tall.
• Don't 'sing the voice - - sing the phrase.
• Don't land hard on the last note of the phrase just because you've got extra air to spend.
• English is a second language for conductors - Sarcasm is first.
• That vowel sounded like a cat being pulled through a keyhole - backwards.
• That sounded like a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs!
• “How do you Spell Monodynamoc?" (Choir starts to spell) -interrupting- "Wrong! It's B.O.A.R.I.N.G!"
• Vomit out the air.
• Breathe as if you have 20 noses around your waist.
• Don't let the consonants contaminate your vowels.
• This is a Chor"us" not a chor"me"!
• Use your "Disney eyes"
• Sometimes it's more beautiful when you DON'T sing! (Rests)
  

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I keep receiving questions about writing songs and/or guitar solos, and I get a lot of difficult questions in my inbox ;)

I was recently asked to do a series of videos, outlining how I go about writing a guitar solo, with effects and so forth. I decided to accept the challenge, though this is a very difficult thing to do. To turn on a camera, suddenly become inventive, and explain what is going on is a sure pathway to a headache, and today I definitely have one, but none the less - I delivered.

So in this next 3 videos I explain how I go about song writing and adding a guitar solo. I explained this to the best of my capabilities, using some common sense, and a little improvisation, but there is a lot of good information in this video series, and I do reveal some of my secrets that normally I wouldn't.

Hope this helps you out a lot and please enjoy - it took me 6 hours to make these 3 videos. Parts 2 and 3 are on the way.

Ok, so in the first installment, we laid down a basic drum beat, and added some cool sounding chords, keeping in mind a more interesting rhythmic structure.

Now we need some sort of a melody/intro to what will be our guitar solo. You will see in the video that I settled upon the D Natural Minor scale to line up with our chords, the first chord being D minor.

We'll also make good use of Duo harmony, where we take to melodic phrases and harmonize them with each other. You can find a lesson explaining the process of Duo Harmony by way of that link.

In the video we'll also go over note arrangement a little bit, which is very important for a melodic sounding solo. I won't give it all away, because you can certainly watch the video for yourself, but part 3 will be coming out shortly, which is where it gets really good.

This is part 3 of our constructing a guitar solo lesson, which by the way I totally forgot to post on the site, so I'm sorry for this. Anyways, as promised - this is where things start to get really good - hope you enjoy, and I don't apologize for the off colored comment at the end ;)

Before I begin, I wish that I could give you some sort of formula for transcribing guitar parts from songs, but I really can't because its done on intuition and from focus. Plus, I have no idea what song or what type of music you may be interested in tackling.

However, I am well aware that many guitar players, both young and old are out right intimidated by the thought of, or word of "transcribing".

As someone who continues to do it to this day, I have learned quite a bit about doing so, and have been proven time and time again that there are tricks that can aid you. I will do my best to help you, but first, why should a guitar player learn to transcribe music?

First, in my opinion, the ultimate goal of any musician should be to find their own voice, and throwing away the tabs and buckling down will unlock the whole world for you. Everything that I teach by way of videos, article lessons, or even rants was born from trying to figure it out on my own. I can't even begin to emphasize this, and words cannot describe.

Second - even if you simply wish to play pre-written songs for the rest of your life, learning them the old fashioned way makes things like soloing, and improvising a total synch. If someone puts you on the spot in front of a bunch of people and you are expected to learn a song right then and there, as that person is playing it, it will be no problem anymore.

So now we begin...

STEP ONE

The first thing is where DO you begin? most people could listen to one note, and they can't picture where its at, and so they assume that its going to be anywhere, and yet it is in one
specific place as expected.

If you do the math, you've got 6 strings, and on a full 24 fret guitar, 2 octaves per string. Let's take a random note. Say G#. On the low E string alone there will be 2 G#'s - remember, two
octaves per string. Now you've got 6 strings - 2 x 6 = 12. So you've got 12 of each note on the guitar - pretty cool.

Even if your guitar doesn't have 24 frets, thinking like this makes playing so much easier.

Now, let's imagine the fretboard as being divided into 4 sections.

We'll say that from frets 0 to 6 are section 1, 6 - 12 are section 2, 12 - 18 are section 3, and 18 - 24 are section 4.

There is a HUGE difference in pitch when a note like G# is played in section 1, 2, 3, or 4. Its the same note, but the sharpness grows as you move on up the neck. By the way, we're not just sectioning off one string, we're handling all of them.

I don't expect you to get it right away, but playing around with this mindset could very well mean that you will be able to go to the correct area of the fretboard, even if you don't have
perfect pitch and know what note it is that you are trying to find.

STEP TWO

Since man does not sport monstrous hands, nor 13 fingers on each hand, you can pretty much assume that the next set of notes will be in close proximity to the one that you first found. The first note by the way gets it started. In my opinion, if you can find the very first note of a guitar solo or melody, you can crack the code for the entire thing.

You should put a LOT of emphasis on that very first note and remember where its at, because if you get lost - this is your starting point again.

The next question to ask yourself is, are the next notes higher or lower, and how much so?

Let's say that you've come to the conclusion that the next note is lower. Even if you have to do half steps, or one fret at a time to find that next note - do it. Once you find the next note, again - lock it in. Go back and play those 2 notes over and over again. We'll worry about the mechanics
of how the notes are played/expressed later.

Even for me, if I encounter a song that's pretty fast and hard to keep up with I will tend to have trouble, but you and me both have a secret weapon. The pause button on our computer or CD player. where ever you are at in the song, hit the pause button immediately after the part that's got you hung up. Don't let those other sounds interfere and throw you off. One block at a time.

Though this process might seem confusing now, if you take my advice of breaking it down, over time it will tend to happen on auto pilot. Hope this helps - best of luck.

Sorry I'm not a better classical guitar player. I used to be decent.

Ok straight up I want to say that this is my version that I came up with when I was a kid. I like this, and I don't want anyone pestering me about how its not accurate and all that. It is accurate, its just an interpretation. The problem with most versions of this song is that they are draggy and depressing. This song was meant to be "uppety", because it is a song of joy.

Its a great piece because its a very old Christmas song from France, but it can be played all year round because of its structural diversity I guess you could say.

Real quick:

As mentioned at Wikipedia, this song was first published in the year 1553, and was not meant to be sung as a Christmas song, but rather a song to celebrate French nobility. Though the song contains religious lyrics, and respectively not everyone is in to that, they are still really beautiful. If you wish to know more about it you can check out the Wikipedia page here.

TABS


BRING A TORCH JEANETTE ISABELLA (this is the original file - sorry about its presentation)

|--------------------------------------|---------------------------------|
|--3-------------------0--1--0--------|--3-------------------0---------|
|------0--0-----0--2------------2----|------0--0-----0--2-----2---0--|
|------------4------0--------0--------|------------4------0---------0--|
|--------------------------------------|---------------------------------|
|--3------3---------2--------3--------|--3------3---------2---------3--|

|--------------------------------|------------------------------------|
|--3----3--3--1--0--0----------|------------------------------------|
|------0---------------2--0--0-|-------------------5-----5---4--2--|
|--5--5----------------------0--|--4---2h4h5-0-0-----------0--0--|
|--------------------------------|------------------0----0-----------|
|--3-------3--3-----3--------3--|-------0-----3---5--5------3--2--|

|---------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------0----0-----3----0-------------------------------|
|--0----------2--------5-----2------------2--0----------2-----------|
|--2----------0--------------0---------------2----------0-----------|
|---------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--0----------2-----3--------2-------0-------0----------2-----------|
|__staccato__| |__staccato__|

|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--0-----0-----3----------------------------------------------------|
|-----5-----2-----0------0------------------------------------------|o
|-----------0-----0-----0-0-----------------------------------------|o
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--3--------2-----3----3---3----------------------------------------|

Check out the Spanish translation of this article here! We recently added Stephen Street‘s Urtext Edition of Bottesini’s Concerto di Bravura to our Sheet Music Store, prompting a common question: Why is Bottesini’s music written down an octave? The issue at hand is that Bottesini wrote all his solo bass music at sounding pitch rather […]

For years, I’d heard about “rules” that I was supposed to follow when figuring out bass fingerings. Honestly, it was a bit confusing to me. They all seemed to conflict with each other, and I was never sure where to begin. Over time, I figured out how these rules work, when to follow them, and […]

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