is a place that you can go…

Hello again – Ben Joe here, bringing you another newsletter from Soundzania. We’ve got songs, a sale and maybe even a new instrument!

Songs
We’re working hard on the new CD we plan on releasing in December – in fact – we’re posting a new song every week to give everyone a sneak listen to the album ! You heard it – we post a full copy of a song every week at Soundzania.com. Just check out the link at the top of the page when you visit Soundzania.com.

A Sale
Mandy Lynn has made some fabulous tie-dye Soundzania shirts for you all, and guess what – they’re on a huge sale just for October! Yup, every shirt is $5 off. So, instead of the usual $12.95 – now they’re just $7.95 – a very nice price for a t-shirt! Order yours today – just enter “OCTOBER” as a coupon code during checkout.

A New Instrument?
Well, maybe not completely new… but definitely fun. We are making a fun new instrument in Soundzania. Its a super-controllable-highly-interactive-sound-making-apparatus – and we affectionately refer to it as the SCHISMA. The name is actually a musical term, and if you’re the first person to explain it to me, you’ll score yourself a free copy of the upcoming CD !

Well, thats it for now, hopefully we’ll get to see the SCHISMA in action this weekend at a block party in Del Ray. Drop us a line if you want to come by.

Until next time….

Ben Joe

My Crazy Uncle… don’t we all have one? or are one? I was one for a long time for my 6 nieces and nephews. I’m sure this song will ring true with them. Its always fun for kids to know an adult or two that are just a little “different” than the others.

The lyrics were written by Andy Berry and this is another installment of the song of the week. I hope you enjoy the sample below. If you want the full version, it is at the top of the page on soundzania.com.

Until next time….

Ben

 

 My Crazy Uncle (sample) [0:30m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

This week’s installment highlights “Pancakes are Impatient”, a silly tune about a very serious issue – pancakes left on the plate. As you may know, pancakes are indeed impatient and they very much do not like to wait. So, without further ado, I bring you the song of the week: Pancakes are Impatient !

 

 Pancakes are Impatient (30 second sample) [0:30m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

We’ve recorded another song – Individual. This one was by Lee Parker – words and basic music. A lot of interesting voices on this one. It also has some fun percussion with the cowbell and floor tom. It might be the song of the week next week, we’ll see. Anyway, the point of the song is that we are all individuals, but how… how can that be with 7 billion people ?? How can we actually be unique? On the flip side, there are tons of things we share and make us all alike. My favorite line in this song is “if I say I love you will you say you love me too”. Nice touch Lee ! Yes, we all need some of the same things don’t we

Take care – and until next time….keep the safari going

Ben Joe

 

 Individual (sample) [0:29m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

I’ve added another little game to Soundzania.com. Sound Check provides you 2 controls… each one plays the same song, the trick is to try to get the two going in the same place at the same time so they sound as one. Or, you could just play around to see what other interesting timings you can come up with. Its sure to be a fun little diversion.

Enjoy !

Ben

This is the first in a series of posts that will reveal some of the coming album from Soundzania. Each week (or so) we will post another track from the upcoming album. You can listen to the track by clicking on the play button at the top of the page (the link changes each week though) !!

Building Blocks was written by Lee Parker and was extremely fun to record! The crunch sound you hear is actually a slew of lincoln logs being thrown about in a big plastic bin. Each toss is different… it was recorded live, so I had to throw those lincoln logs for the entire song… my arms got tired This one has been a clear favorite with my kids for the past month… but recently another track has displaced it… more on that track later!

Stay tuned and enjoy the sneak listen! Ben Joe

 

 Standard Podcast [3:53m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

Fellow citizens of Soundzania –

Its been a while since I’ve sent out a newsletter, and lots of things are going on. Everywhere around kids are going back to school or maybe starting it for their first time! Soundzania has been pretty busy lately too! We’ve been going back into the recording studio.

Whats that? A new CD ??!!
Yes!! A new CD will be available before the holidays this year (early December). This is very exciting news for us and we are definitely having fun making some new songs for the kids! We’ve been playing some of the new songs for our kids and the response is great! We’ll be sharing some of these upcoming songs on Soundzania.com and accepting discounted pre-orders. Don’t worry, we’ll tell you as soon as that is available.

Can I still get another copy of Soundzania ?
I’m glad you asked ! We are putting the Soundzania CD on a discount just for September. You see, the remaining boxes need to be moved in order to make room for the next CD (real estate is at a premium in Soundzania). For the month of September the Soundzania CD will be sold for $5. Yes…that’s what I said … $5. But only for orders placed in September, then its back to regular pricing, ah shucks.

So… prepare someone you know for back to school by picking them up a copy of Soundzania for their kids to listen to in the car or at bedtime, or whenever.

Buy Soundzania from Soundzania.com and enter coupon code 5DOLLARCD during check out to receive this special discount price. While you’re there, check out the t-shirts Mandy Lynn has made – they’re pretty cool !!

What else did we do on summer vacation?
We made a game. Yup, a very simple one though. Its a little picture-scramble puzzle some of the kids might enjoy.
Click here to play the game

Another fun little diversion has been Facebook. The Citizens of Soundzania is now a group on Facebook with a bunch of members, including Ben Joe (he needs some friends though, can you help?)

And so, as we say on Soundzania Radio:
Sounds good – and good sounds. Until next time, this is Ben Joe and Mandy Lynn signing off….

Keep in Touch
You’re reading this blog post, so that means you’re in the loop.

Choose your favorite way to keep in touch:
Citizens of Soundzania group on Facebook (don’t forget to make friends with Ben Joe !!)

RSS Feed from Soundzania.com or an e-mail version of the same

We are happy to anounce that we are in the middle of recording a second CD for Soundzania. We’ve got a few tracks complete and are working on several more. We will be able to deliver these in time for Christmas as we did last time in 2006.

Keep in touch, if we get a chance, we will post some sneak peek samples here later.

Ben

Soundzania is now available for download from CD Baby here.

We’ve been available on iTunes for quite some time.  Just search “Soundzania” on the iTunes website or from within iTunes on your computer.   iTunes charges $10 for the download.  You can get it for $9 at CD Baby (more goes to the artist with CD Baby).

So, support Soundzania today and download your own copy for only $9 here.

Thats the title of an article we’ve written and Washington Parent published in their February issue.

Pick up a copy of their February issue almost anywhere around town where kids go.

Washington Parent (a publication providing family enrichment through education and support) published an article written by Scott Flory (our friend who produced Soundzania!). This article appeared in the February issue of Washington Parent. For a peek at the article contents, see an earlier blog post here.