Canadian Musician Newsletter
March 2011

This year’s edition of Canadian Music Week (CWM), taking place in Toronto from March 9-13, 2011, is set to offer musicians and fans alike a slew of valuable educational opportunities, combined with some great nights of music at various venues throughout Hog Town.

Combining four information conferences; a trade exposition; a film festival; four awards shows; and the New Music Festival, CMW spans a five-day period at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel and various downtown Toronto venues, attracting participants from across the globe.

For the conference portion of CMW, a sampling of the panels slotted for this year’s event include: “Marketing and Promotion Panel: Beyond 2.0″; “New Media and Touring: Finding The Fan”; “The Agent Super Session”; “How To Outsell a Major Without a Label”; “Apps for Bands and Apps for Fans”; “Music In The Cloud”; and many more. For the full schedule, visit: www.cmw.net/conference/panel-schedule.

Also on the docket are keynote speeches from Sammy Hagar, Nikki Sixx, and rocker Melissa Etheridge. Also speaking will be the Doggfather himself, Snoop Dogg. For more information and a complete list of speakers, visit: www.cmw.net/conference/highlights.

It couldn’t be a music week without live music, and on the extensive bill for Canadian Music Fest are artists including Shad, Hollerado, Hannah Georgas, Big Sugar, Papa Roach, and USS. Check out www.canadianmusicfest.com for a complete line-up of artists.

Also taking place are the annual CMW award nights, including the Canadian Music and Broadcast Industry Awards, Canadian Radio Music Awards, the Crystal Awards and the ever-popular Indie Awards.

For more information, contact CMW: 905-858-4747, FAX 905-858-4848, www.cmw.net

To see what Canadian Musician magazine is up to at CMW, visit www.nor.com/cmw.

First off, congratulations to Gillian Garbutt, Meghan Scott, and Joey Porpiglia, winners of CM‘s Verge Music Awards contest. These three each won a year’s subscription to XM Online as well as VIP passes to the Verge Music Awards, hosted March 1, 2011.

Our winners had the chance to see performances by Tokyo Police Club, Gord Downie and the Country of Miracles, and The Acorn as well as the winners of the 2011 VMAs.

Michou were named Artist of the Year while Zeus’ Say Us was Album of the Year, with each band earning $25,000 for their win. BC’s Hannah Georgas snagged $5,000 as Emerging Artist of the Year. Congrats to all of the winners!

For more information, visit www.thevergeonline.com.

Toronto-born guitarist and composer Alex Goodman is this year’s recipient of the Domenic Troiano Guitar Scholarship. The scholarship, worth $10,000, is awarded annually to a Canadian guitarist who will be pursuing post-secondary guitar education in Canada or abroad.

For more information, visit www.domenictroiano.com and www.alexgoodman.ca.

Pioneer Electronics Inc. has introduced the DDJ-T1 DJ controller dedicated for use with Native Instruments’ TRAKTOR DJ software.

The plug-and-play DDJ-T1 controller, combined with a computer and the included TRAKTOR Pioneer DDJ-T1 Edition DJ software, offers DJs the operability and functionality of a professional player and mixer set-up.

This controller connects with a user’s laptop via USB and also comes with a computer dock that allows a laptop’s keyboard to slip directly under the controller, bringing the monitor closer to the DJ, providing fast visuals of song information while mixing. The device utilizes Pioneer’s P-LOCK Fader Cap, designed to prevent the fader caps from slipping.

For more information, contact SF Marketing Inc.: 514-780-2070, FAX 514-780-2111, , www.sfm.ca.

Zoom is now shipping the G3 Guitar Effects and Amp Simulator Pedal. The G3 combines a stompbox pedalboard with the power of a multi-effects pedal and adds a USB audio interface to the mix.

The G3 allows control over both individual effects and amp modeling, giving the player the ability to modify tones on-the-fly while performing. The G3 also features an onboard drum machine, looper, authentic amplifier modeling, and over 100 built-in DSP effects, as well as the ability to craft and store up to 100 original tones.

Most of the G3′s features stem from its three LCD displays and corresponding footswitches. Together they form a graphical interface that allows the musician to utilize up to three amp models or stomp box effects in any combination at any time.

The G3 is also a USB audio interface for DAW recording on a computer. The pedal is bundled with Zoom’s Edit & Share software and also comes with Steinberg’s Sequel LE DAW. The G3 can be powered by an AC adapter, four AA batteries, or as a USB bus.

For more information, contact Omnimedia Inc.: 514-636-9971, FAX 514-636-5347, , www.omnimedia.com.