Dave Coonrod aka Fender Bender
Dave Coonrod aka Fender Bender
@dave-coonrod-aka-fender-bender

Newspaper article featuring Mixposure


By Fender Bender, 2014-04-19
Newspaper article featuring Mixposure

 

Article about Mixposure appearing in my hometown newspaper, the Defiance Crescent-News:

 

 

Talking about change of time with local musician

 

Perhaps one of the best things         

 

about writing and recording

 

music is the ability to capture a

 

sign of the times, immortalizing

 

it forever within a snapshot of

 

creative effort

 

and release.

 

But what makes

 

it even better is a

 

situation where

 

carefully-crafted

 

lyrics tell a tale

 

of prophecy that

 

only grows more

 

poignant with

 

age.

 

Take Bob

 

Dylan, for example.

 

When he ever so epically

 

announced to the world “The

 

Times They Are a-Changin’”

 

back in the mid-1960s, the rambling

 

king of cultural observation

 

captured the flow of an entire

 

generation hinged on the cusp of

 

eminent change.

 

Fifty years later, while illuminating

 

an entirely different

 

societal climate, the ebb and flow

 

of the world is still so perfectly

 

depicted by the words etched

 

into history five decades ago

 

at Studio A in New York City.

 

And since musical messages

 

ultimately find their final resting

 

place within the perception of

 

the listener, they can apply to an

 

endless array of situations.

 

Which brings me to the context

 

of this week’s column.

 

There was a time in a not

 

so distant past when the only

 

method of preserving music for

 

eternity was to hit the studio

 

and make it happen. Solo, with

 

a band, collaborations — it all

 

went to tape and was typically,

 

take by arduous take, hammered

 

out in the same room.

 

But, oh, how times have

 

changed again in ways I doubt

 

even Bob Dylan could have seen

 

coming, especially when it comes

 

to recording with like-minded

 

individuals who may never even

 

meet each other in person.

 

With the inception of the

 

technological explosion, musical

 

community sites such as

 

Mixposure (www.mixposure.

 

com) have opened a worldwide

 

door for musicians to connect

 

with one another, also offering

 

a promotional smorgasbord of

 

management, labels, comedians,

 

listeners and DJs.

 

Or as longtime local bass and

 

guitar instructor Dave Coonrod

 

explained it, “A one-stop site

 

for pretty much everything you

 

could want out of music resources.”

 

While Mixposure is just one

 

of countless sites of its kind on

 

the musical webscape, it is one

 

Coonrod has certainly made the

 

most of. A frequent collaborator

 

with renowned keyboardist

 

and area psychologist Dr. David

 

C. Deal — notably in the live

 

Christmas season project Siberian

 

Solstice — Mixposure has provided

 

a convenient opportunity

 

for both to compose with other

 

musicians from around the

 

globe.

 

And it’s all done from the comfort

 

of home, or wherever comfort

 

happens to find you.

 

“The main advantage of a collaboration

 

site such as this is the

 

availability of musicians and

 

genres that extend the local talent

 

pool,” said Coonrod, who

 

splits time teaching bass and

 

guitar between Tri State Music

 

in Bryan and Defiance College.

 

“I have done recordings online

 

with people that I have never

 

met face-to-face from as far away

 

as England and as close as south

 

Defiance. I’m currently working

 

on a project from a guy from

 

Montana.”

 

How can this be possible? It’s

 

actually remarkably simple … at

 

least, the sharing process is.

 

A recorded riff or idea can

 

be uploaded to file sharing

 

sites such as Dropbox (www.

 

dropbox.com), where another

 

awaiting musician can access it,

 

add another element and fire it

 

right back. This can be bounced

 

around to an unlimited number

 

of players on any given project.

 

When all the pieces are in place

 

and the final mix is applied,

 

the song or project can be

 

uploaded for review, sale or a

 

mere listen to the entire world

 

via Mixposure’s host of Internet

 

radio connections in addition to

 

the site itself.

 

The best part for aspiring talent

 

is that all you need is a computer,

 

an interface and the proper

 

recording software to have endless

 

creative possibilities literally

 

at your fingertips.

 

“I don’t always record at home,

 

either,” Coonrod explained.

 

“When I am away on vacation

 

all I need is my laptop, a pair of

 

headphones and my guitar. All

 

of this made possible by building

 

upon contacts made on the

 

Mixposure website.”

 

For a smooth taste of what

 

it’s really all about, search

 

Mixposure for Coonrod’s musical

 

work under his “Fender Bender”

 

profile, and also open your ears

 

to his rich bass tone complimenting

 

Deal’s heady keys on the

 

David C. Deal profile.

 

And as always, support our

 

vast community of immensely

 

talented local musicians.

 

Stay in tune.

 

(Contact Kevin Eis by email: keis@

 

crescent-news.com; or on Twitter: @

cnKevinEis

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