Rob Michael: Guitarist

Why in the world would I give my music away for FREE?

// December 16th, 2009 // Comments // Atmos Trio, Jazz, Rob Michael, widget

A couple of weeks ago I conducted an experiment with the Atmos Trio bandcamp site.

It was toward the beginning of the holiday season and I was in a giving mood, so I priced all of Atmos Trio’s albums (which include sheet music along with music files.) at a “Pay what You Want (even nothing)” price. I’m accustomed and happy to giving music away for free. I’ve always offered individual song downloads for free and had a low minimum price set for albums. But I offered everything for free to anyone who was interested.

Over the course of the 3 Day Special, many more people than normal downloaded the 2 albums “Atmos Trio” and “Atmos Plays Waters.” They helped spread the word about the opportunity for “Free Atmos Trio tunes”on Twitter and Facebook. It was nice to get such a favorable response from people who seemed genuinely appreciative of the music.

But something else rather interesting occurred as well: More than 50% of those that downloaded opted to pay for the music. Some paid far more than any price I would consider setting. Was this merely the result of a period of actively promoting the music? Maybe. Should I price my music at the  ”Pay what You Want (even nothing)” price all the time? Maybe.

Why in the world would I give my music away for FREE? I would much prefer people hear the music and form some opinion on it rather than have it be locked away behind a price tag somewhere.

That’s why.

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Atmos Trio 3-Day Holiday Music Special

// December 7th, 2009 // Comments // Rob Michael

Purchase securely here:

Happy Holidays

We have new online store: the Atmos Trio Bandcamp site. Here you can listen to tunes for FREE, embed players on your web sites and/or purchase downloads.

We so appreciate the support that we’ve received all year that we’re offering a special gift for you. Next week, starting December 7th through the 9th, both of our albums “Atmos Trio” and ”Atmos Plays Waters” are available to you for a “Pay What You Want (even nothing)” price.

If you would like the music for yourself or for a gift for someone else, you may have them FREE or you can pay a price of your choosing. The albums include High-Quality (DRM-free) Digital downloads AND sheet music for select tunes. Enjoy!

If these newsletter aren’t enough Atmos Trio contact for you, please connect with us on Twitter or Facebook. You’ll surely get your fix there.

That’s about it for now. See you on the “other side.”

Rob

AtmosMusic.com Facebook Fan Page YouTube @AtmosTrio on Twitter Atmos Trio Blog http://fburls.com/61-RLZ6rDH4 Update your information

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Pay What You Want (even nothing…) for “Atmos Plays Waters” for the next 24 hours.

// November 30th, 2009 // Comments // Rob Michael

Enjoy the latest album by the Atmos Trio “Atmos Plays Waters.” This album features the amazing compositions of Drew Waters and includes sheet music for two of the tunes.

You are invited to download the entire recording, FREE of charge, or you can exercise your option to pay ANY price you like.

Happy Holidays!!

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This week’s “Forgotten” Atmos Trio tune: Bill Frisell’s “Is It Sweet?”

// November 17th, 2009 // Comments // Atmos Trio, Jazz, Joe Shotwell, Rob Michael, Soundcloud, widget

From a July 2004 session, "Is It Sweet" is a classic Bill Frisell piece that features a really cool "drunken" feel in the groove and some folky- country-blues tones.

Again, I'm offering a tune we played out of the love of playing. There are no edits or overdubs here.

Is It Sweet? I think so…
Is It Sweet by AtmosTrio

Another “Forgotten” Atmos Trio track: Stephanie’s Soliloquey (2004)

// November 11th, 2009 // Comments // Atmos Trio, Jazz, Joe Shotwell, Rob Michael, Soundcloud, widget

This offering is the sixth in an on-going series of “Forgotten Music“ that has been rediscovered after years of languishing on a hard drive. This music was never intended for release, but after sitting all this time, has been considered worthy, at least, to share. it may be that a “Forgotten Album” will emerge.

Recorded in July 2004. Atmos Trio wasn’t even recording an album–just sight-reading some charts.This is another beautiful Peter Sprague tune we used to play during our Monday morning jam sessions. 

This song is something of a rarity in that it does not feature solos but instead, features the composition itself as the main character in this particular music tale.

Features Rob Michael on guitars, Joe Shotwell on bass and Jeff Obee on bass.

Stephanie’s Soliloquey  by  AtmosTrio

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Atmos Trio Monday morning sessions: Miles Davis’ Solar

// November 6th, 2009 // Comments // Atmos Trio, Jazz, Joe Shotwell, Rob Michael, Soundcloud, widget

The Atmos Trio first started out as an excuse to play in a very conversational way. We were (and still are) seeking a musical discussion that required no words. We were out to explore group improvisation but hopefully present it in such a way that it almost sounded composed.

For a time, our method of operation was to converge on my studio each Monday morning, throw up some mics, hit RECORD and just play. Here is a result of one of those session from July 2004.

Never intended for release, this recording of Solar really was a happy accident which was captured to disk. We played it and moved-on. Only during a later review of the session did we realize the level of musical interactivity that had apparently occurred earlier that day.

Here is your invitation to eavesdrop on our conversation.

Solar  by  AtmosTrio

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