Dear BOSS,

Last year, my friend and her 3-year-old twin boys were visiting my wife and I. In order to entertain the rowdy twins, my friend popped a popular children’s musical video (which shall remain nameless) into the VCR. After listening to a few nauseating songs, my wife turned to me and said, “You could write this in your sleep!” A light bulb went off. My new musical endeavor would be to come up with a kids’ album that they as well as their parents could enjoy. After a few weeks of brainstorming, I came up with the character Uncle Moondog. He’s a tall, lanky terrier who drives around the beach in a dune buggy, sings songs, and has a goldfish named Timmy who drives around with him in a super-charged, turbo-powered goldfish bowl. (No, I don’t take drugs!) Then it was off to my BOSS BR-1180.

I’m a guitarist and songwriter by nature — not an engineer! That’s why I was originally drawn to the BR-1180. I didn’t need a Master’s degree in rocket science to make great-sounding recordings. Thus, I feverishly began composing my kids’ album when I stumbled upon a hidden treasure in my BR-1180. My album needed to have different character voices, and I was desperately trying to come up with a silly-sounding voice for Timmy the Goldfish. I came across a vocal patch in the BR-1180 called “Vocal EFX 1.” I went into the “edit” section (even without needing to refer to the manual, thank you very much), altered the pitch setting, and came up with a funny, high-pitched sounding voice for Timmy. I immediately saved the patch as “Goldfish Vox.” The first thing parents often tell me after they’ve played the CD for their kids is, “My son absolutely loves Timmy the Goldfish, and laughs every time his voice comes on.” Thank you BOSS!

Many months and ten songs later, my kiddie masterpiece was complete. I wrote all the songs, played all the instruments, sang all the lead and vocal harmonies, recorded, mixed, and mastered everything all by myself on the BR. Not to mention, the built-in CD burner allowed me to make plenty of test mixes that I could listen to on my car stereo. Everyone that’s heard the CD cannot believe that everything was recorded on something that could fit inside a briefcase. Not to mention, it certainly didn’t take me very long to pay for the BR-1180 in CD sales.

So, thank you BOSS. Somewhere in America right now, there’s a happy child singing “Dancing With My Dog” thanks to you … and Uncle Moondog.

Sincerely,
Mike McManus
Agoura Hills , CA

Check out song clips from Uncle Moondog (all recorded on the BR-1180) at www.unclemoondog.com.