by Rachel | Uncategorized
I love this illustration (source), because it totally reflects my feelings about Dropbox and how it has changed the way I share files. I split my work between my laptop at home and my laptop at work, so up until recently, I’ve relied on USB flash drives, sending emails to myself, and uploading files to MobileMe in order to access them in both places. Not anymore!
I have to credit Kimberly S. Moore with introducing me to Dropbox, which is a free application you can download from the internet to any computer (both Mac and PC) or mobile device. The free account gives you 2 gigabytes of storage, though you can pay a monthly fee for more.
What I love is that Dropbox works just like another folder on your computer, so now instead of saving a copy of a document or project on both my computer and in another location, I can simply save it to Dropbox and then it’s right there when I need to access it from another computer.
Another cool feature is the ability to share folders with other people. I share a folder with my Music Therapy Round Table cohosts and another with my husband. It’s like magic: new files just appear in the folder when other people add them!
Just yesterday, I recorded instrumental tracks for 9 new songs at work. Instead of compressing the Garageband projects into a zip file and saving them to my USB flashdrive, I simply saved them to Dropbox as-is and then opened them right up on my home computer to record the vocals. Then I saved the WAV files to Dropbox, and am listening to them now as I type this :)
Have you used Dropbox yet? If you work on multiple computers like I do, or want to access files on your phone, give it a try. And then come back and tell me how much you love it!
by Rachel | Uncategorized
When Listen & Learn made the move from Blogger to WordPress last summer, there was no question as to which theme I was going to use.
Not only did my good friend the Music Therapy Maven use and recommend the premium theme Thesis, but I saw it pop up all over the blogosphere on a daily basis.
I wanted a theme that I would be able to customize myself to keep Listen & Learn’s signature look, not to mention one that would help boost my presence in the search engines. Thesis was a bit of a financial investment at $87, but it didn’t take long before I shelled out the additional $77 for the Developer’s Option Upgrade, which allows me to install Thesis on any and all of the domains I own.
I’m in love with my theme, which is why I saved this “Friday Fave” for Valentine’s Day week. From the many font options, to its search engine optimization capabilities, to the sheer ease of use, Thesis truly takes the intimidation factor out of WordPress.
In fact, I’m using Thesis to roll out yet another website — but more about that another time. A girl’s got to keep some of her secrets under wraps! ;)
by Rachel | Uncategorized
This weekend, my husband and I are both going to be enjoying sporting events at which the national anthem will be sung. The difference is, I’ll be singing it at one, while Zach will get to hear Christina Aguilera’s rendition at the other.
That’s right, folks: my husband is going to the Superbowl.
Not that I’m jealous or anything. I mean, how often do I get the chance to perform the Star-Spangled Banner for our local minor league hockey team? Chance of a lifetime, if you ask me…although the monster truck rally back in high school comes in as a close second :)
All kidding aside, I’m extremely happy for Zach. Football is one of his passions — he’s almost as good at fantasy football as he is at selling insurance. But not only does Zach get to enjoy watching the Steelers vs. Packers; he also gets to enjoy the sounds of Lea Michele, the Black-Eyed Peas, and the aforementioned Christina Aguilera.
He’s promised to take lots of pictures and videos, and in return, I assured him that my mom would record my performance (not much has changed since my childhood). One thing is safe to say: we’re both very excited about our sporty, star-spangled weekends. Go Steelers and Springfield Jr. Blues!
by Rachel | Uncategorized
A little over a year ago, the lovely and talented Kat Fulton introduced me to a guy by the name of Chris Guillebeau. I can’t thank Kat enough, because Chris has been a huge influence on the way I live my life and build my business.
Chris’ blog is called The Art of Non-Conformity, and there he writes about how to change the world by achieving significant, personal goals while helping others at the same time. His articles never fail to inspire me, especially since he practices what he preaches. Talk about goal-setting: Chris plans to visit every country in the world during a five-year time period; so far he’s been to 149 out of 192 with two years remaining in which to complete his mission.
So when he debuted his Empire Building Kit last spring, I didn’t hesitate for a minute before taking the plunge. Case studies, video interviews, transcripts, and a 365-day email series (the longest in history) designed to help me build my business in one year by doing one thing every day? Yes, please.
That was in May. Today marks day #255, and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve hit “reply” to thank Chris for another valuable idea or nugget of information. And you know what? He’s responded every single time. Amidst his world-traveling, writing a bestselling book, and generally just being awesome, he’s found the time to personally cheer me on.
I love working on my business (which is comprised of my private music therapy practice/teaching studio and Listen & Learn, of course), but what I love even more is seeing positive results. And although I may not have achieved empire status just yet, I’m on my way.
Any other emperors out there? I’d love to hear your thoughts on the kit. And if you want to join us, read on.
by Rachel | Uncategorized
Today’s Friday Fave is actually a spin-off of yesterday’s guest post at Time for Music, which is the second installment of my “Adventures in Songwriting” series. I mentioned that I use the voice memo app during the songwriting process, and Susan of the wonderful blog Make Me Musical wanted to hear more about it.
I wrote about my favorite iPhone apps around this time last year, but lo and behold, I failed to mention voice memos. I keep my iPhone next to me while I write my songs, first so that I can tune my guitar using the Cleartune app, and second, so that I don’t lose my melodies before I get them down on paper.
As I mentioned while describing my songwriting process, the melody usually comes to me organically as I’m writing the lyrics. I don’t like to switch gears between perfecting the words and figuring out chords, so I simply open the voice memo app (which comes already installed on the iPhone) and hit record. That way I can sing or hum the melody and save it for later.
Not only does this app let me save my voice memos under a custom title, but when I sync my phone to my laptop, they automatically transfer to a dedicated iTunes playlist. These features come in extremely handy when I use voice memos during my lessons and music therapy sessions. Often I’ll record a piece of music for a student, download it to my computer, and then pop it onto his or her USB flashdrive for practice purposes.
I’d love to hear about other uses for the voice memo app. iPhone users: any tips to share? Bonus points if they’re related to songwriting :) Happy weekend, all!
