Quincy Jones to remake "We are the world" for Haiti

Quincy Jones and Lionel Richie are planning a massive 25th anniversary re-recording of "We Are the World." In the wake of the Haiti Disaster, the timing couldn't be better, sadly enough.The duo is summoning lots and lots of talent from Grammy weekend to stay an extra night - Monday Feb. 1 - and come to the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles. There, they will celebrate a quarter century since Ken Kragen, Richie and Michael Jackson organized the original "We Are the World" with Jones.

This time the artists invited include Usher, Natalie Cole, and John Legend. But you can bet that more names will be added shortly and that all the Grammy nominees and participants will be asked to come as well. Grammy producer Ken Ehrlich will produce the event, which will then be turned into a video and single just like it was in 1985. Don't be surprised if Wyclef Jean joins in, along with Sting, Fergie, Alicia Keys, Justin Timberlake and other distinctive voices.

It's hoped that as in 1985, everyone will "leave their egos at the door."
Can this remake be as legendary as the original?

For More on this story visit http://www.billboard.com/

What's your take... leave your comments below.

Bringing Music Back to Life

So we've ALL heard the statement, 'Hip Hop is Dead' thrown around a lot lately.

Artists such as Soulja Boy, and many other auto-tuning bandwagon musicians have had to defend themselves and their music after becoming scapegoats for the apparent battered state of the Hip-Hop sound. But the Urban community aren't the only ones crying "I remember when...!"

Pioneers in Rock 'n' Roll are just as concerned about the future of their beloved genre. So this leads me to ask the following. Are current music lovers just refusing to accept the inevitable evolution of music, or is music as we know just DOOMED??? Read on, form an opinion for yourself, and don't forget to comment!

What will save rock 'n' roll?
By Todd Leopold
CNN

Steven Van Zandt, guitarist to Rock 'n' Roll icon Bruce Springsteen, talks about the end of a golden age: [Rock 'n' roll] is a craft that has to be learned," he tells CNN. "There are things you learn by listening to great records, copying heroes." He believes that he said some things that people were thinking, but haven't said out loud.

But the rumbles are out there. The music business is in a state of flux, with the sales of more profitable CDs continuing to fall even as single downloads climb. "American Idol's" season is coming to an end, with rock purists once again assailing the show's slick pop sensibility. Commercial radio, country, rap and hip-hop -- they all have their critics, many of them wishing a return to the way things used to be....

To read more, check out this article in entirety here.

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Get In Tune

If you have turned on your radio in the last few years I'm sure you noticed the "robot thingy". Yes I'm talking about the vocoder. Do you know the origins of this wonderful device though? Antares Audio Technologies is the company getting the awesome accolades. This device has became the savior of many careers. It is used to disguise inaccuracies and mistakes, and – due to its increasing use in modern music – has allowed many artists to produce more precisely tuned recordings. While Auto-Tune is only one out of many commercial pitch correction packages, auto-tune is frequently used in the media as a blanket term to describe any audio processing with a similar effect, perhaps because it was the first product allowing pitch correction in real time. Auto-Tune is available as a plug-in for professional audio multi-tracking suites used in a studio setting, such as Pro Tools, and as a stand-alone, rackmount unit for live performance processing. Auto-tune has become the standard for professional recording studios.

The vocoder was introduced to the world in 1930 as a telecommunication application. The idea was to code speech for transmission. The vocoder was first used in the music industry in the 1970's by The Alan Parsons Project, Giorgia Moroder, and Pink Floyd. 80 babies how can we forget Rockwell's use of the device on his one hit wonder "Somebody's Watchin Me" with Michael Jackson on the hook. Nobody personified the meaning of the vocoder like the late great Roger Troutman. He finessed the keyboard synthesizer that created robotic-sounding vocals through the simultaneous use of a piano-like interface and breath controller(breath tube), somewhat like a guitar talk box. In 2004 a brother named Akon revitalized the voice box with the hits "Locked Up", "Belly Dancer", and "Lonely". This opened the door for his secret weapon to the world. Enter T-Pain. Since then everybody has hopped on the bandwagon. Hip-Hop artists like Kanye West, Chris Brown, Ciara, 50 Cent and Lil Wayne have used Auto Tune in their own songs and in those of others.

The problem I'm having is everyone is feeling like they don't have to sing anymore. I know I'm nice in the shower but this might change the way I express myself. I imagine more people are utilizing Autotune than you think. This is how we are making it happen in 2008 so get use to it. Everything is repeating itself so I wonder what is next.