nolongermike@gibson Posted December 4, 2008 Posted December 4, 2008 http://www2.gibson.com/News-Lifestyle/Blogs/The-Lawson-Letter.aspx I've started a blog on the Gibson.com site that details what it takes to get yourself setup to begin performing virtual concerts from your home in Second Life. Some of you probably don't know about my alter-ego (and I mean alter-EGO) named Von Johin (that's Yo-Hen) that has been doing live blues concerts in Second Life for over a year now. I actually got signed to a real record label last summer because of these shows, and am on the same label as Krokus, KC & the Sunshine Band, Marcy Playground, and others, odd as that list sounds, all because of my live concerts in Second Life. Go figure. As bizarre as this sounds, its really cool. You can setup a free account in Second Life at Second Life and create an avatar version of yourself. You choose from one of the last names that they've made available, then pick your own first name. After you've made your avatar look how you want and learned to get around in SL, you can "teleport" to Gibson Island and pick from dozens of free, amazingly realistic guitars from the Gibson family, for your avatar to hold. Wait until you see what these look like, they're crazy cool and accurate down to the string gauge. By streaming the audio from your sound card or other audio device using some free software called WinAmp with the SHOUTcast plugin, or the $40 software for Mac called Nicecast, the sound from your microphones and other devices is instantly webcast out to a URL that is put into the media tab of the land where your avatar does the concerts. Then you sit in your house, with a real live audience of other people from around the world who show up in their avatar form to listen and enjoy your show. I actually make great money on the side playing concerts in Second Life. Not only will various "clubs and venues" in Second Life pay you to perform, but the people who use Second Life will generously tip you money using the "Linden" dollar currency in Second Life, which you can then sell back to the Linden Labs folks, and put the money you earned into your PayPal account. It doesn't matter where you are in the real world, if you have a late model computer that can handle the requirements of the Second Life software, have an audio recording card, and can put on a good show for an hour, have a high-speed Internet connection, then you can have a lot of fun, actually make some decent money playing music right from your own home, and make some great new fans and friends along the way. If you join up Second Life, search for Von Johin and "add me" as a friend. I'll be happy to personally walk you through doing all of this, and even schedule you to play on Gibson Island when you're ready to put on a concert. We even pay $5000.00 Linden dollars for everyone who does a show, plus all the tips you can get, and supply you with great virtual guitars for free. You'll need your own real guitar, though! I'm actually making around $40-60US each show now that I have an established fan base. All kinds of genres are popular in Second Life. People love hearing live music from musicians around the world through Second Life. And frankly, we could use some more talented folks on board. There's plenty of room. Being a global service, people from all parts of the world are using SL to put on concerts 24/7, make new fans, even sell their downloads of the songs they record. So if you've got the chops to put on a solo concert, and think it might be fun to join Second Life and start doing gigs on Gibson Island and elsewhere, I'm here to help you get started, help you sound check to make sure you sound great, and book you onto the island for some fun concerts. Crazy? Yeah, it sounds a little weird at first, but its fascinating stuff, fun and having played about 20-25 shows a month the past year or so, I've actually put thousands of dollars in my pocket doing it. Not bad considering I used to waste those hours watching South Park reruns or surfing the web. No gear to lug to concerts, nothing to haul off the end of the night, no drunks or the road or smokey bars, its pretty cool in a kind of surreal way. Let me know if you want some help and are going to join us in Second Life on Gibson Island. I'm happy to answer any questions and guide you along to get setup.
Thundergod Posted December 4, 2008 Posted December 4, 2008 Sounds cool... I'll give it a try this weekend. Thanks again Mike.
nolongermike@gibson Posted December 4, 2008 Author Posted December 4, 2008 link doesnt work! I fixed the link to Second Life. Seeya in the virtual world, Thundergod.
nolongermike@gibson Posted December 4, 2008 Author Posted December 4, 2008 add mejesse Warbaum I sure will. By the way, I play tonight at 10PM Central time, which is "8PM SL Time" at a cool virtual blues club called Mama's. Always a good time there. If you're curious about how this works, log into SL, use Search for Mama's Blues Club, and go there at 8PM SL Time (which is the same as west coast time in California).
MikeRom Posted December 4, 2008 Posted December 4, 2008 I don't know when I'll have time for this but you can add me as well, Slinger Aboubaker
nolongermike@gibson Posted December 4, 2008 Author Posted December 4, 2008 Will do. Added you both as friends.
RichCI Posted December 4, 2008 Posted December 4, 2008 Play World of Warcraft and kill crap! Sambuca of Feathermoon, Officer of Gnomeland Security
SRV-Zeppelin Posted December 4, 2008 Posted December 4, 2008 Sorry Mike... as fun as it would be to rock out in SF, I already waste enough time on this freakin' forum to set up a virtual life...
retrosurfer1959 Posted December 4, 2008 Posted December 4, 2008 sim city for real huh? I actually saw a demo of a meeting the other day done in second life
nolongermike@gibson Posted December 5, 2008 Author Posted December 5, 2008 I made $54.54 for play for about an hour tonight on Second Life. I'd say that wasn't time wasted. :) To each his own though. Too bad you can't get paid for posting in the forum. :D/ Sorry Mike... as fun as it would be to rock out in SF' date=' I already waste enough time on this freakin' forum to set up a virtual life...[/quote']
nolongermike@gibson Posted December 5, 2008 Author Posted December 5, 2008 Yeah, it is kind of like that. I think that's what I liked about it the most at first, was that I was a HUGE Sim City fan when it first came out and in additional releases. This is much cooler. So far I've made a couple of hundred real dollars this week "playing a video game" in my spare time (well, logging into a "video game" and playing music into it) instead of watching TV or surfing the web, my chops have not been this good on guitar since I was playing full time 20 years ago, or maybe never, and I'm having a LOT of fun. What's not to like? :)/ sim city for real huh? I actually saw a demo of a meeting the other day done in second life
nolongermike@gibson Posted December 5, 2008 Author Posted December 5, 2008 I do enjoy some occasional quality time with my 10 year old playing WoW, but I can't make money from it so I don't play so much. I understand some folks have figured out how to make money in WoW, but its really easy to do in SL. Besides, the ONLY reason I am into Second Life is because it is a platform for me to use to be a performing musician. Otherwise I don't think I could justify from the time I've put into it. Know what I mean? Play World of Warcraft and kill crap! Sambuca of Feathermoon' date=' Officer of Gnomeland Security [/quote']
Cat Daddy Posted December 5, 2008 Posted December 5, 2008 Hi, Mike! Is the Dark Fire one of the virtual guitars available in Second Life? If so, I'm there! <g> Cat Daddy
Homz Posted December 5, 2008 Posted December 5, 2008 I like it. I already have a second life account and the few times i have checked it out there was no one else on the island. Perhaps I was on the wrong island. I don't know if my network speed is fast enough. I am on a satellite connection. You know what would really be cool. If we could jam with others in real time. Chanman is a computer guru. Wonder if he could figure out how to do it.
ChanMan Posted December 5, 2008 Posted December 5, 2008 I like it. I already have a second life account and the few times i have checked it out there was no one else on the island. Perhaps I was on the wrong island. I don't know if my network speed is fast enough. I am on a satellite connection. You know what would really be cool. If we could jam with others in real time. Chanman is a computer guru. Wonder if he could figure out how to do it. If you can stream live audio into the game for others to hear, it shouldn't be that hard. Not sure I have the time to devote to another mmorpg, but I gotta say I'm quite intrigued by the possibility of a SL music career that PAYS.... Nicely done Mike!
RichCI Posted December 5, 2008 Posted December 5, 2008 I do enjoy some occasional quality time with my 10 year old playing WoW' date=' but I can't make money from it so I don't play so much. I understand some folks have figured out how to make money in WoW, but its really easy to do in SL. Besides, the ONLY reason I am into Second Life is because it is a platform for me to use to be a performing musician. Otherwise I don't think I could justify from the time I've put into it. Know what I mean? [/quote'] To me, when you put real money into the equation, it starts to sound like work. I play games just for the pure enjoyment of it and feel no reason to have to justify having fun. If you enjoy playing Second Life and can legitimately make a few bucks at the same time, more power to you.
MikeRom Posted December 5, 2008 Posted December 5, 2008 I made $54.54 for play for about an hour tonight on Second Life. I'd say that wasn't time wasted. To each his own though. Too bad you can't get paid for posting in the forum. =P~/ Are those cyber dollars or real dollars?
nolongermike@gibson Posted December 5, 2008 Author Posted December 5, 2008 Satellite can be a real challenge. I know some folks it works great for in SL, others, not so much. Yeah, the island can have people 24/7, and it averages over 100 different people a day coming in and getting guitars. Double that on concert nights. Its fun stuff. This is all pretty cutting age stuff in the grand scheme of things. I think of SL being where CompuServe was in terms of online maturity and use when i put Gibson on there in the early 90's. I think that ten years from now, the tech, the speeds, everything is going to make the whole virtual world thing a seamless part of your everyday Internet experience, as the Internet becomes a more 3D capable combination of flat information you read, and 3D information you experience. And you CAN jam with others in real time, well, a measure behind the other guy, but you don't notice it. I'm going to post on my blog here about how that works pretty soon. I don't want to get ahead of myself. I like it. I already have a second life account and the few times i have checked it out there was no one else on the island. Perhaps I was on the wrong island. I don't know if my network speed is fast enough. I am on a satellite connection. You know what would really be cool. If we could jam with others in real time. Chanman is a computer guru. Wonder if he could figure out how to do it.
nolongermike@gibson Posted December 5, 2008 Author Posted December 5, 2008 The original Robot is, we're building Dark Fire as we speak. Hi' date=' Mike! Is the Dark Fire one of the virtual guitars available in Second Life? If so, I'm there! <g> Cat Daddy[/quote']
nolongermike@gibson Posted December 5, 2008 Author Posted December 5, 2008 Real dollars, the net cash after I sold the Linden dollars back to SL. Yep, I made another $54.54 last night, sitting in my house playing guitar. Crazy, huh? Are those cyber dollars or real dollars?
nolongermike@gibson Posted December 5, 2008 Author Posted December 5, 2008 Well, anytime you play a gig, its work, real world or virtual. But i love playing gigs. Its why I picked up the guitar at nine years old, so I could rock out and people would stop and listen. Now I get to do both, stay at home and make money doing what I LOVE, playing guitar. Too cool. To me' date=' when you put real money into the equation, it starts to sound like work. I play games just for the pure enjoyment of it and feel no reason to have to justify having fun. If you enjoy playing Second Life and can legitimately make a few bucks at the same time, more power to you.[/quote']
nolongermike@gibson Posted December 5, 2008 Author Posted December 5, 2008 Thanks. Yeah, it not only pays, it got me signed to a real record label. Go figure. :-s/ If you can stream live audio into the game for others to hear' date=' it shouldn't be that hard. Not sure I have the time to devote to another mmorpg, but I gotta say I'm quite intrigued by the possibility of a SL music career that PAYS.... Nicely done Mike![/quote']
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