In past articles I've talked about different record deals, and this is another option for up-and-coming musicians. Although it isn't a record deal, but the art of self-distribution.
With a self-distribution model, musicians have all the creative freedom and control that they want. They can distribute their own CDs, plan their own tours, do their own artwork and devise their own marketing strategies.
Generally speaking CDs are pressed and distributed in limited numbers, the number varying depending on how many a musician can afford to press. Touring is also another demanding aspect of self-distribution, and requires heavy promotional activity from the musician to ensure decent CD sales. Many musicians are also highly creative artists and can design their own artwork. Marketing may be a grey area for musicians, although many are proactive with social networking, an activity that's integral in the modern music business.
The question is would you want that responsibility? It is a very demanding and at times brutal activity to essentially develop yourself as a successful musician. There's also the cost - the freedom of this model could mean absolutely nothing if you're losing money paying session musicians, recording costs, CD pressing and distribution and any other expenses. There is also the problem that your model lacks innovation - there are plenty of websites that allow you sell music for free and there are plenty of musicians embracing that. Trying to separate your music and general ethos from the rest of the crowd is no easy feat. Another point is that you may seek an actual record deal in the future if the self-distribution model fails, and soon realize that the freedom you had as a DIY independent artist evaporates the moment you sign the record deal.
Self-distribution can be a highly effective strategy for any musician, and it's success as a model largely depends on how many areas a musician can manage. They may, however, give themselves too much to do when going up against the big boys.
Sunday 22 December 2013
Tuesday 3 December 2013
The Musician's Paradox
This is an obvious thing to say, but when a musician becomes successful and famous they have all the respect in the world, all the fans, all the money they need to buy whatever they want and generally earn God-like status.
However, there are many musicians who do not reach this level. They do not earn success, fame, fortune or God-like status, and furthermore they are made to feel failures or undervalued because they do not make a living from their art. It's not seen as a credible career choice. Many musicians work very hard, develop their craft and build a fanbase, and that takes time. They may not earn much money during this time, and self-esteem and security could be seriously effected.
This is the musician's paradox - you can be a successful artist, but you may have difficulty in fulfilling this ambition by social constraints and your own music issues.
The solution is simple - bring a bit of realism into your music ambitions and develop an ideal timeframe in which to improve yourself. After that, the sky really is the limit.
However, there are many musicians who do not reach this level. They do not earn success, fame, fortune or God-like status, and furthermore they are made to feel failures or undervalued because they do not make a living from their art. It's not seen as a credible career choice. Many musicians work very hard, develop their craft and build a fanbase, and that takes time. They may not earn much money during this time, and self-esteem and security could be seriously effected.
This is the musician's paradox - you can be a successful artist, but you may have difficulty in fulfilling this ambition by social constraints and your own music issues.
The solution is simple - bring a bit of realism into your music ambitions and develop an ideal timeframe in which to improve yourself. After that, the sky really is the limit.
Monday 18 November 2013
The Role Of The Session Musician
A session musician is essentially a musician who provides instrumental backing to the main artist or group. They need to be able to listen well and make harmonies on the spot. It goes without saying that you have to be a talented musician, and you often have to play a tune to death.
Session musicians can work with some great and famous artists/groups, and they may find themselves getting regular work from established stars, earning good money and travelling round the world in the process.
However, for many session musicians the work is often very erratic. Your pay will often be diluted if you are working with a number of session musicians. It is a very hard area to get into, and you may need to develop affiliations with a number of artists/groups before they request for your services. Many session musicians are often failed, fading or has-been artists, and therefore take session work purely to make a living from their art. The role of the session musician may attach a certain sense of self-unfulfilment - most session musicians truly aspire to be a rock guitarist for a stadium-filling group, or being a multi-million selling vocalist. A session musician is thus a lesser career by comparison.
One of the biggest benefits of being a session musician is the learning and experience you acquire from other, often bigger and more successful artists/groups. You may find yourself working on a variety of different artists working of differing styles, so you learn to adapt well to meet different artists' needs. When you gain the experience of working with other artists you may then develop the confidence and contacts to start your own successful band or solo career.
So providing you are an accomplished musician, session work may be an ideal career or job for you. The important thing is that you can work with different artists and ensure you don't get exploited too much.
Session musicians can work with some great and famous artists/groups, and they may find themselves getting regular work from established stars, earning good money and travelling round the world in the process.
However, for many session musicians the work is often very erratic. Your pay will often be diluted if you are working with a number of session musicians. It is a very hard area to get into, and you may need to develop affiliations with a number of artists/groups before they request for your services. Many session musicians are often failed, fading or has-been artists, and therefore take session work purely to make a living from their art. The role of the session musician may attach a certain sense of self-unfulfilment - most session musicians truly aspire to be a rock guitarist for a stadium-filling group, or being a multi-million selling vocalist. A session musician is thus a lesser career by comparison.
One of the biggest benefits of being a session musician is the learning and experience you acquire from other, often bigger and more successful artists/groups. You may find yourself working on a variety of different artists working of differing styles, so you learn to adapt well to meet different artists' needs. When you gain the experience of working with other artists you may then develop the confidence and contacts to start your own successful band or solo career.
So providing you are an accomplished musician, session work may be an ideal career or job for you. The important thing is that you can work with different artists and ensure you don't get exploited too much.
Monday 11 November 2013
A Guide To The Major Record Deal
In a previous post I talked about the 360 degree artist deal, but this time I will talking about one of the most popular artist contracts - the major record deal.
With this deal, the record company pays all the costs - recording sessions and gear, videos, promotion, pressing, distribution and any other costs. Bands or artists also get a huge advance as an additional 'sweetener' and contribution to some of the said costs. This deal comes with huge expectation and promise to the artist/band, with the intention to engineer big sales, fame and fortune.
If only it was that easy. The reality of this deal is that the artist/band has to recoup all the costs, and to do that they have to sell a lot of records. Major labels spend a fortune on the initial videos, pressing, promotion, distribution, recording, production and whatever else, and all the staff involved in those processes have to be paid before the artist/band receives anything from the fruits of their work. Typically a new artist/band gets 10-15% of the royalties on their initial album sales. Any artist/band has to be aware of these costs, and not get carried away with the fact that they've signed a major record deal and believe their sales will go through the roof. Record sales aren't what use to be, so it may take time just to recoup to the initial costs. Quite often an artist/band doesn't get that time.
However, having a major record deal has plenty of benefits. It can open many doors to many different areas of the music industry. It can give an artist/band the complete music business experience, both positive and negative. It can be a great learning curve for them, especially given the fact that they are surrounded by people who generally have years of experience behind them and can strategize the best method for an artist/band's success. It's an incentive for the label to make the band a success because that's how any label makes money - they are almost entirely dependant on artists.
A major record deal can be a huge breakthrough for any type of musician, but the risk is always there and any artist/band has to be aware of the expenses they have to recoup.
With this deal, the record company pays all the costs - recording sessions and gear, videos, promotion, pressing, distribution and any other costs. Bands or artists also get a huge advance as an additional 'sweetener' and contribution to some of the said costs. This deal comes with huge expectation and promise to the artist/band, with the intention to engineer big sales, fame and fortune.
If only it was that easy. The reality of this deal is that the artist/band has to recoup all the costs, and to do that they have to sell a lot of records. Major labels spend a fortune on the initial videos, pressing, promotion, distribution, recording, production and whatever else, and all the staff involved in those processes have to be paid before the artist/band receives anything from the fruits of their work. Typically a new artist/band gets 10-15% of the royalties on their initial album sales. Any artist/band has to be aware of these costs, and not get carried away with the fact that they've signed a major record deal and believe their sales will go through the roof. Record sales aren't what use to be, so it may take time just to recoup to the initial costs. Quite often an artist/band doesn't get that time.
However, having a major record deal has plenty of benefits. It can open many doors to many different areas of the music industry. It can give an artist/band the complete music business experience, both positive and negative. It can be a great learning curve for them, especially given the fact that they are surrounded by people who generally have years of experience behind them and can strategize the best method for an artist/band's success. It's an incentive for the label to make the band a success because that's how any label makes money - they are almost entirely dependant on artists.
A major record deal can be a huge breakthrough for any type of musician, but the risk is always there and any artist/band has to be aware of the expenses they have to recoup.
Wednesday 6 November 2013
The Transition Of Film Composition
Film composition has had some traditional trademarks as well as radical makeovers from the early 20th century to the present.
In the beginning of film composition in the early 20th century film music was essential for most silent movies, often a pianist playing in the cinema to the film footage.
When spoken film dialogue became popularized in the late 1920s, the role of film music changed significantly. Music often served to represent the action and dialogue, in a manor that you could say was more 'expressive' than in a lot silent movies. The music was often a rich, big, extravagant orchestration, fastidiously created by a notable composer of the time, such as Prokofiev, or Bernard Herrman, the legendary Hitchcock collaborator. Much of this extravagant music was composed for epic films, and is still heavily used in many action and Hollywood films today.
It wasn't until the 1960s and the 1970s that film soundtracks started to feature a popular music soundtrack. The 1973 film American Graffiti carries a non-stop hit collection of popular music that was used to great effect. Quentin Tarantino, director of Reservoir Dogs (1992) and Pulp Fiction (1994) is a major advocate of popular music soundtracks, using many popular songs in quite often humorously twisted ways. The major issue of using popular music in films is getting clearance to use them - often film music supervisors face rejections from artists over their use of music in a certain film, but when they see their royalty check for it's use they often retract their original statement.
In the past 30 years, technology has been one of the major influences in film composition. For a lot of futuristic sci-fi films, electronic soundtracks are often used, created by synthesizers, to add reference to the film narrative's time and culture. If you are skilful and musically adept enough, you can create a lavish and colourful film orchestra soundtrack using software synthesizers and sequencing software. You wouldn't ever have to hire an orchestra, although you would probably need to know the expressive characteristics of classical instruments.
Film music has many aesthetics to it, and you shouldn't assume that one phase of film music has evolved from the other - because that would imply the old compositional styles were inferior to the newer ones. What is important is that film music has the power to fuse traditional methods with newer technologies and tastes.
In the beginning of film composition in the early 20th century film music was essential for most silent movies, often a pianist playing in the cinema to the film footage.
When spoken film dialogue became popularized in the late 1920s, the role of film music changed significantly. Music often served to represent the action and dialogue, in a manor that you could say was more 'expressive' than in a lot silent movies. The music was often a rich, big, extravagant orchestration, fastidiously created by a notable composer of the time, such as Prokofiev, or Bernard Herrman, the legendary Hitchcock collaborator. Much of this extravagant music was composed for epic films, and is still heavily used in many action and Hollywood films today.
It wasn't until the 1960s and the 1970s that film soundtracks started to feature a popular music soundtrack. The 1973 film American Graffiti carries a non-stop hit collection of popular music that was used to great effect. Quentin Tarantino, director of Reservoir Dogs (1992) and Pulp Fiction (1994) is a major advocate of popular music soundtracks, using many popular songs in quite often humorously twisted ways. The major issue of using popular music in films is getting clearance to use them - often film music supervisors face rejections from artists over their use of music in a certain film, but when they see their royalty check for it's use they often retract their original statement.
In the past 30 years, technology has been one of the major influences in film composition. For a lot of futuristic sci-fi films, electronic soundtracks are often used, created by synthesizers, to add reference to the film narrative's time and culture. If you are skilful and musically adept enough, you can create a lavish and colourful film orchestra soundtrack using software synthesizers and sequencing software. You wouldn't ever have to hire an orchestra, although you would probably need to know the expressive characteristics of classical instruments.
Film music has many aesthetics to it, and you shouldn't assume that one phase of film music has evolved from the other - because that would imply the old compositional styles were inferior to the newer ones. What is important is that film music has the power to fuse traditional methods with newer technologies and tastes.
Sunday 3 November 2013
Why Mastering Is Essential
Mastering is the last stage of music production, and it is basically the stage where the music is finished to a professional quality. It makes tracks appear louder, more dynamic and clearer. It also removes any defects in the audio and alters the frequencies or tone to perfection. The track is tweaked to industry standards and is made to sound good on any platform, such as TV, home stereo, headphones, car stereo and online.
The tools often used in mastering include compression, which alters the dynamics of the track. Some mastering engineers use multiband compressors, which compress certain frequencies. Stereo reverb is another common enhancement used to make the track sound wider. Equalization is often used to bring up or bring down certain frequencies, and is another way to increase clarity of a track, particularly in the high-end frequencies. Many of these effects are available as plugins on digital production software, and the hardware effects processors are a good alternative if you decrease your CPU usage.
One of the biggest issues with mastering is that it's very, very hard. The standard of clarity in professional music is so high, so an upstarting musician has their work cut out when they try mastering. There's also the common case that you may have a great song but it's been poorly mixed, and you or a mastering engineer can only do so much to rectify the sound quality. Mastering cannot save a bad mix. The general notion with a lot of musicians is that mastering is not a creative or exciting process, and therefore they don't give it the required focus it needs. I should also add that because mastering is in essence the 'finishing line' of a track or album's production, so some musicians attempt to get over that 'finishing line' as fast as possible.
You can solve many of these problems by employing or outsourcing this process to an experienced mastering engineer, rather than learning the tricky process yourself. You should consider doing a good re-recording or remix of a track before you give it to a mastering engineer. They'll ask you questions that include how you'd like your mix to sound, which frequencies to bring up, the required loudness level and what dynamics you want. Experienced mastering engineers know how loud a professional recording should be, set an even level of the left and right channels, and are 'ear-trained' to pick out and enhance the best elements and cut out the worst elements of a track.
Mastering is a vital but difficult process to any musician or producer, and anyone who attempts it must know the basics. If you want your music to sound professional, give it to an experienced mastering engineer, and if don't your final track(s) will sound underwhelming.
The tools often used in mastering include compression, which alters the dynamics of the track. Some mastering engineers use multiband compressors, which compress certain frequencies. Stereo reverb is another common enhancement used to make the track sound wider. Equalization is often used to bring up or bring down certain frequencies, and is another way to increase clarity of a track, particularly in the high-end frequencies. Many of these effects are available as plugins on digital production software, and the hardware effects processors are a good alternative if you decrease your CPU usage.
One of the biggest issues with mastering is that it's very, very hard. The standard of clarity in professional music is so high, so an upstarting musician has their work cut out when they try mastering. There's also the common case that you may have a great song but it's been poorly mixed, and you or a mastering engineer can only do so much to rectify the sound quality. Mastering cannot save a bad mix. The general notion with a lot of musicians is that mastering is not a creative or exciting process, and therefore they don't give it the required focus it needs. I should also add that because mastering is in essence the 'finishing line' of a track or album's production, so some musicians attempt to get over that 'finishing line' as fast as possible.
You can solve many of these problems by employing or outsourcing this process to an experienced mastering engineer, rather than learning the tricky process yourself. You should consider doing a good re-recording or remix of a track before you give it to a mastering engineer. They'll ask you questions that include how you'd like your mix to sound, which frequencies to bring up, the required loudness level and what dynamics you want. Experienced mastering engineers know how loud a professional recording should be, set an even level of the left and right channels, and are 'ear-trained' to pick out and enhance the best elements and cut out the worst elements of a track.
Mastering is a vital but difficult process to any musician or producer, and anyone who attempts it must know the basics. If you want your music to sound professional, give it to an experienced mastering engineer, and if don't your final track(s) will sound underwhelming.
Saturday 2 November 2013
Where Has The Experimentation In Pop Music Gone?
There are countless resources and truly endless possibilities available to for innovation and ground-breaking new music.
However, when you listen to the popular chart music or even more specialized music you hear very little music experimentation. It seems that new technology has essentially homogenised many different musical styles, rather than enhancing them. The focus of new technology is make the music sound the best it can, rather than to encourage experimentation. Often when you do hear an unusual sound, particularly in pop music, it is a novel little moment rather than a solid component of the track.
If you think of every music movement and style from the 50s to the 80s you'll discover a huge development and spectrum of experimentation in pop music. The slap-back echo sound is characteristic of 50s rockabilly, multi-tracking gave new dimensions to 60s pop, the effective use of sequencers in 70s disco and the glossy synth sounds in the 80s were incredibly futuristic. The music arrangements were also great as well and that added to the technology that was being discovered.
In the last 20 years or so technology has mainly been used to enhance elements of distinctive sounds from the past, and quite often they are used on very uninspired and bland songs. The trick is to use any many effective musical elements as possible, but also to incorporate as much new technology and ideas as you can. You could do this by integrating tried and tested chord progressions, but unusual instruments to play these progressions, such as a theremin or some strange folk instruments. If you understand the boundaries of composition then you can start to play around with them.
So I guess what I'm saying is pop music has progressed the way it did in the past largely down to a happy marriage between new technological advances and quality songwriting. We need to inject this ideology and experimentation into modern pop music to lift it out of it's mediocrity.
However, when you listen to the popular chart music or even more specialized music you hear very little music experimentation. It seems that new technology has essentially homogenised many different musical styles, rather than enhancing them. The focus of new technology is make the music sound the best it can, rather than to encourage experimentation. Often when you do hear an unusual sound, particularly in pop music, it is a novel little moment rather than a solid component of the track.
If you think of every music movement and style from the 50s to the 80s you'll discover a huge development and spectrum of experimentation in pop music. The slap-back echo sound is characteristic of 50s rockabilly, multi-tracking gave new dimensions to 60s pop, the effective use of sequencers in 70s disco and the glossy synth sounds in the 80s were incredibly futuristic. The music arrangements were also great as well and that added to the technology that was being discovered.
In the last 20 years or so technology has mainly been used to enhance elements of distinctive sounds from the past, and quite often they are used on very uninspired and bland songs. The trick is to use any many effective musical elements as possible, but also to incorporate as much new technology and ideas as you can. You could do this by integrating tried and tested chord progressions, but unusual instruments to play these progressions, such as a theremin or some strange folk instruments. If you understand the boundaries of composition then you can start to play around with them.
So I guess what I'm saying is pop music has progressed the way it did in the past largely down to a happy marriage between new technological advances and quality songwriting. We need to inject this ideology and experimentation into modern pop music to lift it out of it's mediocrity.
An Introduction To Music Publishing
The relationship between music publisher and artist is much like the relationship between a novelist and a book publisher. The music publisher is responsible for royalty collection, song registration, licensing and creative aspects of artist's music.
Many music publishers relay these activities with performance rights societies such as American Society of Composers (ASCAP), Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI) and Performing Right Society (PRS), as they provide a service of tracking, collecting and paying out 'performance royalties' to publishers and songwriters. Whenever an artist's songs are played on TV, film, online or even in live performances, they are paid royalties, along with their publishers.
One of the most crucial roles of a music publisher is protect songwriters' rights. Registering the songs for copyright protection is one of the most common ways. A publisher will often play the part of the 'enforcer' - protecting the artist's rights to ensure they are professionally established and granted. However, a bad music publisher may take advantage of an artist by taking more than their fair share of the deal, so if you're an artist, be careful what you sign.
The biggest question is this - if you're an artist, do you need a music publisher? A lot of that depends on what kind of artist you are. If you're a rookie artist then you may want to explore this option and see how it could work for your music. If you're already on a label the likelihood is they'll already have a music publisher in mind for you to work with. If you actively enjoy songwriting and composing but don't really have the time to seek out opportunities (or don't want to), then a music publisher may be an ideal option for you, as they'll seek various opportunities and uses for your music.
The music publishing world is a diverse and interesting area to explore for an artist. It could prove to be an incredibly lucrative step for an artist, especially if they sign a good publishing deal.
Many music publishers relay these activities with performance rights societies such as American Society of Composers (ASCAP), Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI) and Performing Right Society (PRS), as they provide a service of tracking, collecting and paying out 'performance royalties' to publishers and songwriters. Whenever an artist's songs are played on TV, film, online or even in live performances, they are paid royalties, along with their publishers.
One of the most crucial roles of a music publisher is protect songwriters' rights. Registering the songs for copyright protection is one of the most common ways. A publisher will often play the part of the 'enforcer' - protecting the artist's rights to ensure they are professionally established and granted. However, a bad music publisher may take advantage of an artist by taking more than their fair share of the deal, so if you're an artist, be careful what you sign.
The biggest question is this - if you're an artist, do you need a music publisher? A lot of that depends on what kind of artist you are. If you're a rookie artist then you may want to explore this option and see how it could work for your music. If you're already on a label the likelihood is they'll already have a music publisher in mind for you to work with. If you actively enjoy songwriting and composing but don't really have the time to seek out opportunities (or don't want to), then a music publisher may be an ideal option for you, as they'll seek various opportunities and uses for your music.
The music publishing world is a diverse and interesting area to explore for an artist. It could prove to be an incredibly lucrative step for an artist, especially if they sign a good publishing deal.
Friday 1 November 2013
Crowdfunding For Musicians
Crowdfunding is essentially a method of financing a creative project through investment from fans. Sites like Indiegogo, Pledge Music and Kickstarter provide this platform of direct-to-fan involvement for many musicians who for whatever reason need funding for their project, whether it be a live show or to complete an album.
A typical Kickstarter page for a musician will have a description of the project they are doing, why they need the investment and the different packages available to fans who invest, which vary depending on how much they invest. Typically if you invest a small amount you'll get a thank you note from the musician(s) and possibly a limited edition CD of the finished work. If you invest between $50-$100 you get the album in many different formats, artwork, biographies, diaries of the project, and various other types of merchandise. If you invest even more you'll probably get a personalized video thanking you, music tuition, VIP access to a live gig, lunch and dinner with the musician(s) and/or the complete back catalogue of all their music. These projects have a deadline to reach a specific target, say $20,000 in four weeks.
I can't help thinking that this is really only beneficial for musicians who have a pre-existing fanbase, so it may be of little help to a musician who's starting out. If people believe that the music they hear in these projects is of little value, then they won't invest the small packages offered, never mind the VIP tickets or lunch and dinner with the musicians. People will only pay for what the music is worth, not the added-value packages that are offered to them. I also can't escape from the fact that these musicians are displaying themselves as charities, which they aren't, and they could more than likely finish their project without investment. Many musicians do not reach their required target in the within the project's time period.
The intention of a crowdfunding website is great, and creates a good relationship between musicians and fans. I think that it's best for musicians who have had mid-level success online and want to take their promotion and fanbase growth to the next level, but the rookie musician should grow their fanbase first before even thinking about creating a crowdfunding project.
Here are some links to crowdfunding websites to judge for yourself.
www.kickstarter.com
www.indiegogo.com
www.pledgemusic.com
A typical Kickstarter page for a musician will have a description of the project they are doing, why they need the investment and the different packages available to fans who invest, which vary depending on how much they invest. Typically if you invest a small amount you'll get a thank you note from the musician(s) and possibly a limited edition CD of the finished work. If you invest between $50-$100 you get the album in many different formats, artwork, biographies, diaries of the project, and various other types of merchandise. If you invest even more you'll probably get a personalized video thanking you, music tuition, VIP access to a live gig, lunch and dinner with the musician(s) and/or the complete back catalogue of all their music. These projects have a deadline to reach a specific target, say $20,000 in four weeks.
I can't help thinking that this is really only beneficial for musicians who have a pre-existing fanbase, so it may be of little help to a musician who's starting out. If people believe that the music they hear in these projects is of little value, then they won't invest the small packages offered, never mind the VIP tickets or lunch and dinner with the musicians. People will only pay for what the music is worth, not the added-value packages that are offered to them. I also can't escape from the fact that these musicians are displaying themselves as charities, which they aren't, and they could more than likely finish their project without investment. Many musicians do not reach their required target in the within the project's time period.
The intention of a crowdfunding website is great, and creates a good relationship between musicians and fans. I think that it's best for musicians who have had mid-level success online and want to take their promotion and fanbase growth to the next level, but the rookie musician should grow their fanbase first before even thinking about creating a crowdfunding project.
Here are some links to crowdfunding websites to judge for yourself.
www.kickstarter.com
www.indiegogo.com
www.pledgemusic.com
Thursday 31 October 2013
A Useful Method For Music Composition And Inspiration
There are times when every musician gets a writer's block and can't think anything to compose. One method to inspire creativity and revive this drought is through the use of synectic triggers. Synectic triggers are essentially words designed to inspire creativity. Within these words you have more specific commands or possible instructions. Here's a few examples.
Combine - Bring things together by connecting, arranging, linking or unifying. Make new mental associations that some may not necessarily make. You can apply this to music, for example arranging a harmony alongside a melody, linking certain instrument passages together or unifying different rhythmic textures.
Subtract - Simplify, omit or remove certain elements. Think what could be reduced, disposed of or eliminated. You could remove an instrument from a certain passage, leave out a rhythm or simplify a melody.
Add - Extend, expand, enlarge, or add colour. Can your idea be better developed by adding more? What else can be added to your image, object, material or idea? You could add distortion to a guitar, expand an instrumental solo by a few bars, or extend the octave range of a certain instrument.
Superimpose - Overlap, cover, place over or overlay. Overlay elements to produce new meanings, images or ideas. You could overlap certain instrument passages, overlay instruments onto a rhythm or place a new instrument over another.
These are just a few examples and there are truly endless options to trigger and inspire creativity in your music endeavours.
Here's a link to all the synectic triggers -
http://www.rawumber.com/education/level1/Synectics/synectic_triggers.htm
Combine - Bring things together by connecting, arranging, linking or unifying. Make new mental associations that some may not necessarily make. You can apply this to music, for example arranging a harmony alongside a melody, linking certain instrument passages together or unifying different rhythmic textures.
Subtract - Simplify, omit or remove certain elements. Think what could be reduced, disposed of or eliminated. You could remove an instrument from a certain passage, leave out a rhythm or simplify a melody.
Add - Extend, expand, enlarge, or add colour. Can your idea be better developed by adding more? What else can be added to your image, object, material or idea? You could add distortion to a guitar, expand an instrumental solo by a few bars, or extend the octave range of a certain instrument.
Superimpose - Overlap, cover, place over or overlay. Overlay elements to produce new meanings, images or ideas. You could overlap certain instrument passages, overlay instruments onto a rhythm or place a new instrument over another.
These are just a few examples and there are truly endless options to trigger and inspire creativity in your music endeavours.
Here's a link to all the synectic triggers -
http://www.rawumber.com/education/level1/Synectics/synectic_triggers.htm
The Art Of Selling Music Online
With the abundance of online resources available to musicians, it's never been easier to sell music online. The problem is that it's so easy to sell music online that anyone can do it, and now you have an over-saturation of musicians flogging their material with little imagination, craft or originality.
The truth is that you should only have a respectable fanbase and some decent material before you even think about selling music. A respectable fanbase should be a few thousand fans minimum. After you've reached this target you should consider these steps:-
The truth is that you should only have a respectable fanbase and some decent material before you even think about selling music. A respectable fanbase should be a few thousand fans minimum. After you've reached this target you should consider these steps:-
- Develop a mailing list for your fans. Ask for an e-mail for musician updates and news and in return you give them a free track. Many bands have become successful this way by giving away free tracks and other merchandise during their development stage. However, from a producer perspective I have an issue with this. If I'd spent a long time to produce a track or album and then I or another musician gave it away for free, I would feel pretty underwhelmed for getting no monetary reward for my efforts. If you have this concern, consider giving away a high-quality demo or outtake of a track as a freebie.
- So you've given away a track or more for free and you've developed your fanbase and created a bit of buzz. You should then consider creating a bit of anticipation for your next release, either through a blog detailing the development of your music or by some clever promotion through an online video. If you take this stage seriously you'll keep your fans hungry and they will be ready and waiting for your next release.
- Now your at the stage where you have your finished masterpiece, more than likely an album or a collection of strong singles. Try to get as many online reviews of the album as you can, one of the most popular way being through blogs. Have great videos for your singles, post them online on YouTube, and with that well looked-after fanbase you're music will spread and go viral. You should offer all kinds of music-related merchandise, including DVD concerts, limited edition CDs, vinyl editions, extended takes of tracks, outtakes of tracks and any other music odds and sods. This way you'll keep your fans focused on the music. And all this time you'll use your growing e-mail list to keep your fans aware of these updates.
Tuesday 29 October 2013
Reference Tracks For Music Production
If you’re making music then you’ve probably got at least a few
musical influences, and from those influences you have a few tracks that have inspired you. These are you’re reference tracks, which you use to
model your own production techniques and musical ideas. Here are some
things to take note of when listening to your reference tracks.
Panorama – Listen to where the instruments are place in the mix. Most likely the drums and bass will be placed in the centre (although this is not always the case). Often you’ll hear synths, guitars, piano and leads placed on the left or right of the mix. Vocals are generally placed in the middle, but again, if the vocals are double-tracked then they may be placed on both the left and right side.
Tone and Dynamics – There is no definitive tone or perfect sound for a piece of music. This is when you have to judge the emotion of the music. Is it dark, atmospheric, punchy, mellow, or intense? These factors are particularly important if you want to give your music a signature sound.
Volume – Average volume levels vary considerably depending on what kind of music you’re making. Ambient and classical music is generally the quietest, and on the other end of the scale rock and pop music has the highest average volume levels. This is something to listen out for.
Use Of Effects – Listen out for equalization, compression, reverb and delay. There are many, many other effects to consider but in most occasions it is those four that are prevalent in well-produced music. Most music has EQ to cut away any unwanted noise, or to achieve a more desirable tone. All tracks will feature compression, which helps control the dynamics of each instrument, or the mix as a whole. Reverb is often used on a selection or all instruments to judiciously bind those elements together. Delay is often used on particular tracks to ‘beef up’ instruments, such as on synths and basses.
Improvements – Not many producers would tell you this, but when you listen back to your tracks, think how the mix could be improved. You might think the bass is too weak, or the drums are too loud, or that the vocals lack a bit of punch. This, of course, is entirely subjective. It may have been the artist and/or producers intention for the music to sound that way. This is not always an essential aspect to look out for but definitely worth bearing in mind.
These skills are essential for any budding producer, composer or songwriter if they want to make great mixes and develop an original style.
Panorama – Listen to where the instruments are place in the mix. Most likely the drums and bass will be placed in the centre (although this is not always the case). Often you’ll hear synths, guitars, piano and leads placed on the left or right of the mix. Vocals are generally placed in the middle, but again, if the vocals are double-tracked then they may be placed on both the left and right side.
Tone and Dynamics – There is no definitive tone or perfect sound for a piece of music. This is when you have to judge the emotion of the music. Is it dark, atmospheric, punchy, mellow, or intense? These factors are particularly important if you want to give your music a signature sound.
Volume – Average volume levels vary considerably depending on what kind of music you’re making. Ambient and classical music is generally the quietest, and on the other end of the scale rock and pop music has the highest average volume levels. This is something to listen out for.
Use Of Effects – Listen out for equalization, compression, reverb and delay. There are many, many other effects to consider but in most occasions it is those four that are prevalent in well-produced music. Most music has EQ to cut away any unwanted noise, or to achieve a more desirable tone. All tracks will feature compression, which helps control the dynamics of each instrument, or the mix as a whole. Reverb is often used on a selection or all instruments to judiciously bind those elements together. Delay is often used on particular tracks to ‘beef up’ instruments, such as on synths and basses.
Improvements – Not many producers would tell you this, but when you listen back to your tracks, think how the mix could be improved. You might think the bass is too weak, or the drums are too loud, or that the vocals lack a bit of punch. This, of course, is entirely subjective. It may have been the artist and/or producers intention for the music to sound that way. This is not always an essential aspect to look out for but definitely worth bearing in mind.
These skills are essential for any budding producer, composer or songwriter if they want to make great mixes and develop an original style.
Some Words About Sampling
Sampling is the art of taking one track or instrument from an existing song and then implementing it into your own music. It's a difficult topic to explain because it brings up so many issues regarding copyright, usability and it's necessity as a compositional tool.
The whole culture of modern electronic music was founded at least to some extent on sampling, and in the modern era many dance producers still use certain beat, instrument and even vocal samples. To some music cultures and genres this seems a betrayal of tradition. However, such is the range of technology available to composers and producers who implement samples that it's incredibly easy to make the samples sound totally different and original.
There are some cases when sampling is used that make it sound uninspiring and pointless. Take an electronic composer/producer when they use a dubstep sample and implement it into their own dubstep track. It's not very inspiring and sounds fairly unremarkable. However, if you took a classical sample and implemented in a dubstep track then that would sound very original and fresh, and that would put the used sample into a different musical context, or 'recontextualize' to give it it's fancy name.
Another factor with sampling is copyright. Many musicians have a royalties license from collection agencies like PRS and ASCAP. Composers/producers have to be extremely careful when implementing licensed music into their music, so they either have to pay mechanical royalties for use in their music, or risk getting a lawsuit filed against them because you can hear in their music that they 'nicked' a popular song. There are many good royalty-free tracks available online, so that's a good area to explore if you want to avoid the sticky issue of copyright.
Sampling is a very effective tool within music composition and production, so provided you can avoid the obstacles of copyright and stigma you could have a highly effective element to your music.
The whole culture of modern electronic music was founded at least to some extent on sampling, and in the modern era many dance producers still use certain beat, instrument and even vocal samples. To some music cultures and genres this seems a betrayal of tradition. However, such is the range of technology available to composers and producers who implement samples that it's incredibly easy to make the samples sound totally different and original.
There are some cases when sampling is used that make it sound uninspiring and pointless. Take an electronic composer/producer when they use a dubstep sample and implement it into their own dubstep track. It's not very inspiring and sounds fairly unremarkable. However, if you took a classical sample and implemented in a dubstep track then that would sound very original and fresh, and that would put the used sample into a different musical context, or 'recontextualize' to give it it's fancy name.
Another factor with sampling is copyright. Many musicians have a royalties license from collection agencies like PRS and ASCAP. Composers/producers have to be extremely careful when implementing licensed music into their music, so they either have to pay mechanical royalties for use in their music, or risk getting a lawsuit filed against them because you can hear in their music that they 'nicked' a popular song. There are many good royalty-free tracks available online, so that's a good area to explore if you want to avoid the sticky issue of copyright.
Sampling is a very effective tool within music composition and production, so provided you can avoid the obstacles of copyright and stigma you could have a highly effective element to your music.
Monday 28 October 2013
An Introduction To Film Composition
Film composition is a huge subject area in it's own right, and there many aspects to consider before attempting it. Here I will run through some terminology to help you understand music's effect in film.
Diegetic music - Where the sound is visible on screen or when the source is implied to be present by the action/story of the film. The most blatant example of this is a concert film of a rock band, where you can clearly see the band playing the music that your hearing.
Non-diegetic music - Where the source of the sound is not visible on screen. Any background music can be classified as this. It can be used to provide mood for the narrative, make reference to geographic location or the period of time of the story.
Leitmotif - Use of a musical phrase to identify with a particular character. The mood or emotion of the score could change dramatically when a character's 'theme' is introduced, such as when a hero comes to save the day. Often on many original soundtrack CDs you will find a track that make's reference to a particular character's theme.
Mickey Mousing - Where the music is synced with the actions onscreen. Can be used to add excitement to high-octane scenes and also to heavily exaggerate character actions.
Underscore - Musical accompaniment to dialogue. It should add to the dialogue of the film but not be intrusive or overbearing, as dialogue is more important in this instance. This could be used effectively in a plot twist, in which a character reveals something terrible to the audience and the music starts to turn darker.
Many of these elements work on a subconscious level, and you don't really start to take into account the music being used until you listen to it closely. There are many ways you can use these elements in film music, so it's a good idea to watch as many films as possible before you try them out yourself.
Diegetic music - Where the sound is visible on screen or when the source is implied to be present by the action/story of the film. The most blatant example of this is a concert film of a rock band, where you can clearly see the band playing the music that your hearing.
Non-diegetic music - Where the source of the sound is not visible on screen. Any background music can be classified as this. It can be used to provide mood for the narrative, make reference to geographic location or the period of time of the story.
Leitmotif - Use of a musical phrase to identify with a particular character. The mood or emotion of the score could change dramatically when a character's 'theme' is introduced, such as when a hero comes to save the day. Often on many original soundtrack CDs you will find a track that make's reference to a particular character's theme.
Mickey Mousing - Where the music is synced with the actions onscreen. Can be used to add excitement to high-octane scenes and also to heavily exaggerate character actions.
Underscore - Musical accompaniment to dialogue. It should add to the dialogue of the film but not be intrusive or overbearing, as dialogue is more important in this instance. This could be used effectively in a plot twist, in which a character reveals something terrible to the audience and the music starts to turn darker.
Many of these elements work on a subconscious level, and you don't really start to take into account the music being used until you listen to it closely. There are many ways you can use these elements in film music, so it's a good idea to watch as many films as possible before you try them out yourself.
The Beginners Guide To Soundcloud
Soundcloud is an online music platform where you can upload, share and discover music in a variety of ways.
You have the option of uploading a track in any file format you want to, whether it be MP3, Wav, FLAC, AIFFs and so on. You can upload single tracks, remixes, sets, demos, podcasts and any other type of audio you can think of. The fact that you've got this choice shows how incredibly flexible Soundcloud is.
So you've uploaded your tracks, and you want people to listen to them. One of the best ways is to add your track to a group that's tailored to the style of your music. There are thousands of groups you can share your track to, and it's a good way to start getting plays. You can also send messages to other Soundcloud users and share your track on a variety of social media such as Twitter, Facebook, Myspace and StumbleUpon. You can also provide links to your bands website or video links to your tracks.
You may find at first that your track is a bit of a slow burner, and you'd like to get a lot more plays and comments on your tracks. One of the best ways to improve this is to listen to other artists on Soundcloud and make comments based on what you've heard. Try not to say anything negative or abusive, but be constructive with your criticism and be detailed and specific with your compliments. After this those Soundcloud users will at least listen to your tracks in return. There is also the option to start your own group, where you can choose a theme or genre for the group and encourage other Soundcloud users to join. This is a great way to raise your own profile.
There are three different accounts available to you when you sign up - free, pro and unlimited. In a free account you can upload 2 hours worth of tracks, you can count plays, likes, comments and downloads. With a pro account you can upload 4 hours worth of tracks, get details on who is listening to your sounds and where they are in the world, and you also have spotlight mode, which lets you pin your sounds to the top of your profile. With an unlimited account you can upload as much audio as you want and you can find out what devices, pages and networks your audio is being played on. You have the option of a free 14-day trial on the pro and unlimited account if you just want a taste of those extra features and added audio time.
Soundcloud has a strong sense of community and is widely used throughout the world. It's variety and versatility make it a much more satisfying music platform than other music websites. It's focus is on new and under-the-radar talent, and if you follow some of the steps in this article you can really grow your fanbase.
Take a look for yourself - https://soundcloud.com/
You have the option of uploading a track in any file format you want to, whether it be MP3, Wav, FLAC, AIFFs and so on. You can upload single tracks, remixes, sets, demos, podcasts and any other type of audio you can think of. The fact that you've got this choice shows how incredibly flexible Soundcloud is.
So you've uploaded your tracks, and you want people to listen to them. One of the best ways is to add your track to a group that's tailored to the style of your music. There are thousands of groups you can share your track to, and it's a good way to start getting plays. You can also send messages to other Soundcloud users and share your track on a variety of social media such as Twitter, Facebook, Myspace and StumbleUpon. You can also provide links to your bands website or video links to your tracks.
You may find at first that your track is a bit of a slow burner, and you'd like to get a lot more plays and comments on your tracks. One of the best ways to improve this is to listen to other artists on Soundcloud and make comments based on what you've heard. Try not to say anything negative or abusive, but be constructive with your criticism and be detailed and specific with your compliments. After this those Soundcloud users will at least listen to your tracks in return. There is also the option to start your own group, where you can choose a theme or genre for the group and encourage other Soundcloud users to join. This is a great way to raise your own profile.
There are three different accounts available to you when you sign up - free, pro and unlimited. In a free account you can upload 2 hours worth of tracks, you can count plays, likes, comments and downloads. With a pro account you can upload 4 hours worth of tracks, get details on who is listening to your sounds and where they are in the world, and you also have spotlight mode, which lets you pin your sounds to the top of your profile. With an unlimited account you can upload as much audio as you want and you can find out what devices, pages and networks your audio is being played on. You have the option of a free 14-day trial on the pro and unlimited account if you just want a taste of those extra features and added audio time.
Soundcloud has a strong sense of community and is widely used throughout the world. It's variety and versatility make it a much more satisfying music platform than other music websites. It's focus is on new and under-the-radar talent, and if you follow some of the steps in this article you can really grow your fanbase.
Take a look for yourself - https://soundcloud.com/
Sunday 27 October 2013
Why A Career In Music Should Be Taken Seriously
I believe that there's a culture in my native UK that a music career isn't a proper one and that you should try and pursue something that's more realistic. I find this very annoying and patronizing given the amount of effort, skill, knowledge and creativity that goes into many different music careers.
Let's start with the career of a musician. There are many musicians who are gifted, talented and experienced, capable of playing many types of music to many different types of audience. This is could be a concert pianist, a rock guitarist or an orchestral musician - all with different skills and experiences but all equally talented. There are often too few opportunities for these musicians to show their talents in live venues and they often aren't paid enough for their profession, so often they have to have other jobs alongside this.
It is equally difficult to find opportunities in music production. I have a music production degree, and the pressure to find work in this area whilst trying to find a regular income makes my lifestyle very difficult. It's very labour intensive to plan, compose and produce your own material, and competition is fierce from other producers. I feel my effort and skill should be rewarded, but I also understand that there are many other producers in my position.
Then there's the business side of music. Often artist development staff need two years to break a highly successful band or artist. It would be very difficult for these artists and bands to make a living during these two years with the cost of trying to get them to a high level of finance, performance and musicality.
One of the main reasons people who aren't involved in music don't value it is because of their experiences of music. From childhood they may have been forced to play the recorder or a woodblock at school, neither of which are creatively satisfying and could potentially put you off music for life. Only a minority of students from my school were involved in the different bands and orchestras, so the one's who weren't involved didn't care or had no interest. It's this apathy that's carried through to adulthood and explains why many people have little value towards music and resort to piracy.
So it's important that I should emphasize this commitment and dedication people involved in music have, and no one should feel foolish for having aspirations to break into the music industry.
Friday 25 October 2013
The Truth About Music Streaming
Music streaming is a very popular outlet for many artists and bands to spread their music to a worldwide audience. Many believe that streaming is enough to make a living out of in it's own right. However, the amount bands receive from each stream is miniscule. This criticism has also been echoed by artists like David Byrne and Thom Yorke towards streaming services like Spotify.
It isn't right to say that Spotify is bad because it rips off artists. With over 20 million users, Spotify is a widely used music platform. Artists can make the most of this platform, and can scatter their music to a range of international audiences throughout the world with growing music markets. It raises profile of an artist or band throughout the world.
So in a sense Spotify and many other streaming services are not big moneymaking schemes for artists, but a great promotional tool that could be used to divert towards artists' merchandise and/or music website. However, Spotify doesn't point this out and can mislead a lot of artists thinking they're heading for success by music streaming alone.
In a few years Spotify will receive a significantly higher amount of paid subscribers and maybe then artists will get a better deal from streaming. Until then Spotify should be seen as an effective promotional platform for all types of artists, but they can't live off it.
Thursday 24 October 2013
The UK Vinyl Revival
In the UK there has been a strong and surprising vinyl revival. Vinyl LPs have reached the half a million mark for the first time since 2003. According to the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) vinyl now accounts for 0.8% of album sales, which might seem small but is actually a big improvement on the 0.1% the format commanded in 2007. In April this year independent record shops sold a massive £2 million worth of vinyl on Record Store Day, an event to celebrate the importance of said record shops.
So why this big vinyl renaissance in the age of digital music? It's largely down to the sound quality of vinyl records. Digital music sounds bright and incredibly pristine, but that also makes it sound clinical and cold. Vinyl sounds warmer and more immediate. Then there's the process of the listening experience - taking the vinyl out of the sleeve, putting it on the turntable, dropping the needle and sitting back to embrace the pure listening experience. It's an activity in it's own right and one where an album should be listened to in full. Then there's the artwork, liner notes and the added benefit of a download code for MP3s.
There's clearly a high level of intimacy associated with vinyl culture, and I believe this doesn't exist in MP3 culture, where playlists damage and overshadow the power of the album format, which showcases a band or artist's hard work and skill over many months. You don't even have to download full albums on digital platforms, just cherry-pick the best tracks. This takes away from the attachment that vinyl has to offer. MP3s don't feel like products, and many bands and artists give them out for free. A vinyl feels like it's been loved and cared over, tailored-made for your ultimate enjoyment. It also confirms that music lovers still buy records.
So in conclusion I think vinyl has had a great resurgence as a result of the musical isolation digital music has created, enhancing the album experience that the latter simply cannot emulate. Maybe in the future vinyl will become the dominant album format, but there's still a long way to go for that to be realized.
Here's a link to the BPI article on Vinyl's Resurgence.
http://www.bpi.co.uk/home/vinyl-revival-continues-as-lp-sales-reach-highest-level-in-more-than-a-decade.aspx
So why this big vinyl renaissance in the age of digital music? It's largely down to the sound quality of vinyl records. Digital music sounds bright and incredibly pristine, but that also makes it sound clinical and cold. Vinyl sounds warmer and more immediate. Then there's the process of the listening experience - taking the vinyl out of the sleeve, putting it on the turntable, dropping the needle and sitting back to embrace the pure listening experience. It's an activity in it's own right and one where an album should be listened to in full. Then there's the artwork, liner notes and the added benefit of a download code for MP3s.
There's clearly a high level of intimacy associated with vinyl culture, and I believe this doesn't exist in MP3 culture, where playlists damage and overshadow the power of the album format, which showcases a band or artist's hard work and skill over many months. You don't even have to download full albums on digital platforms, just cherry-pick the best tracks. This takes away from the attachment that vinyl has to offer. MP3s don't feel like products, and many bands and artists give them out for free. A vinyl feels like it's been loved and cared over, tailored-made for your ultimate enjoyment. It also confirms that music lovers still buy records.
So in conclusion I think vinyl has had a great resurgence as a result of the musical isolation digital music has created, enhancing the album experience that the latter simply cannot emulate. Maybe in the future vinyl will become the dominant album format, but there's still a long way to go for that to be realized.
Here's a link to the BPI article on Vinyl's Resurgence.
http://www.bpi.co.uk/home/vinyl-revival-continues-as-lp-sales-reach-highest-level-in-more-than-a-decade.aspx
Tuesday 22 October 2013
Sexualisation In Pop Music
There has been much outcry recently in the US and UK news about the sexualisation of the modern female popstar.
In a recent interview Charlotte Church said that she was put under pressure to wear revealing outfits from the age of 19. She also added that the music business is a 'male dominated industry' with a juvenile perspective on gender and sexuality. There has also been an open feud between Sinead O'Connor and Miley Cyrus about the latter's overtly sexual behaviour in her 'Wrecking Ball' video.
However, the sexualisation of female popstars is not an exclusively modern one. Artists like Donna Summer in the 70s, Madonna in the 80s and Britney Spears in the late 90s have all sexualised themselves for videos and live performances. It's because the fact that there is this legacy that modern female artists believe they must exert this image in order to be successful, therefore they subsequently feel less self-conscious when it becomes realized. And surely Charlotte Church must of known that there were elements of sexualisation involved in female pop performances! The main elements of pop music are fashion, which comes down to looking good, which inevitably has elements of sexualisation.
Because the vast majority sexualize they inevitably sell a lot records, which is good business for the artist and the record label, and any subsequent publicity created sells more records as it gravitates more attention to the artist. The sad fact is there are not enough acts like Adele who don't really sexualize themselves, create a great music performance and sell well.
I can't see female sexualisation ever being phased out in the music industry, as it's a commodity the industry can't get enough of.
In a recent interview Charlotte Church said that she was put under pressure to wear revealing outfits from the age of 19. She also added that the music business is a 'male dominated industry' with a juvenile perspective on gender and sexuality. There has also been an open feud between Sinead O'Connor and Miley Cyrus about the latter's overtly sexual behaviour in her 'Wrecking Ball' video.
However, the sexualisation of female popstars is not an exclusively modern one. Artists like Donna Summer in the 70s, Madonna in the 80s and Britney Spears in the late 90s have all sexualised themselves for videos and live performances. It's because the fact that there is this legacy that modern female artists believe they must exert this image in order to be successful, therefore they subsequently feel less self-conscious when it becomes realized. And surely Charlotte Church must of known that there were elements of sexualisation involved in female pop performances! The main elements of pop music are fashion, which comes down to looking good, which inevitably has elements of sexualisation.
Because the vast majority sexualize they inevitably sell a lot records, which is good business for the artist and the record label, and any subsequent publicity created sells more records as it gravitates more attention to the artist. The sad fact is there are not enough acts like Adele who don't really sexualize themselves, create a great music performance and sell well.
I can't see female sexualisation ever being phased out in the music industry, as it's a commodity the industry can't get enough of.
Monday 21 October 2013
Great Android Music Apps
There are some very sophisticated and useful music apps on the android phone market, many of which are free or have free versions. Here's a quick guide to a few great music apps.
Chordbot is an essential app for any composer or songwriter. It lets you create and play a variety of simple and advanced chord progressions. It is great for experimentation and accompaniment to guitar, piano or vocals. There's a massive range of chord types to choose from in all keys and inversions. You can alter the tempo, transpose the chords and create slash chords. Some of the complex diminished, sixth and seventh chords are probably more useful to experienced composers, and can sound very dissonant. However, this app can create song arrangements from absolutely nothing and it's good fun to play around with. Chordbot Lite is free, but you have to pay for the full version, which comes with extra features like extra instruments and exporting options.
Songo is essentially a chord finding app without the boring bits of music theory. It's a tool that helps you find chord progressions by joining chords of the same key together. You can create songs in 12 keys, transpose the songs or just have a good old mess about. The design does look a bit too kid-friendly, but that doesn't take away from the fact that this is a vital educational tool for songwriters of all ages, and can help you understand how one chord relates to another. This can be used alongside Chordbot for even more effective chord progressions. The basic free version is fine, but the full version can let you play around with altered chords in seventh and minor seventh variations, see each note of a chord and includes a hands-free auto-play mode.
Piano For You is a great piano app. It has a full piano keyboard (88 keys), you can record it, you can create custom instruments using samples, it loads quickly, it's completely free and has no ads! Even that description doesn't do the app justice, there's plenty to explore on this app and it provides hours of creativity and entertainment. I would personally like to see more keys on the screen to play with, but apart from that this app is fantastic!
For the more experimental music creator, Plasma Sound is worth a go. It is an instrument that acts as a theremin, continuum, keyboard and sequencer. When you touch the screen a note is generated. The left-right axis controls the pitch and up-down axis controls the volume. You can pick the note range, the waveform, tremolo, vibrato, delay and much more. Some of the controls should be used with caution, as they can create some seriously unstable sounds, unless that's your intention. The design is certainly very slick and it's completely ad and cost free!
There's plenty of variety and experimentation available to you with these apps, and are fine examples of how new technology can shape modern music composition.
Chordbot is an essential app for any composer or songwriter. It lets you create and play a variety of simple and advanced chord progressions. It is great for experimentation and accompaniment to guitar, piano or vocals. There's a massive range of chord types to choose from in all keys and inversions. You can alter the tempo, transpose the chords and create slash chords. Some of the complex diminished, sixth and seventh chords are probably more useful to experienced composers, and can sound very dissonant. However, this app can create song arrangements from absolutely nothing and it's good fun to play around with. Chordbot Lite is free, but you have to pay for the full version, which comes with extra features like extra instruments and exporting options.
Songo is essentially a chord finding app without the boring bits of music theory. It's a tool that helps you find chord progressions by joining chords of the same key together. You can create songs in 12 keys, transpose the songs or just have a good old mess about. The design does look a bit too kid-friendly, but that doesn't take away from the fact that this is a vital educational tool for songwriters of all ages, and can help you understand how one chord relates to another. This can be used alongside Chordbot for even more effective chord progressions. The basic free version is fine, but the full version can let you play around with altered chords in seventh and minor seventh variations, see each note of a chord and includes a hands-free auto-play mode.
Piano For You is a great piano app. It has a full piano keyboard (88 keys), you can record it, you can create custom instruments using samples, it loads quickly, it's completely free and has no ads! Even that description doesn't do the app justice, there's plenty to explore on this app and it provides hours of creativity and entertainment. I would personally like to see more keys on the screen to play with, but apart from that this app is fantastic!
For the more experimental music creator, Plasma Sound is worth a go. It is an instrument that acts as a theremin, continuum, keyboard and sequencer. When you touch the screen a note is generated. The left-right axis controls the pitch and up-down axis controls the volume. You can pick the note range, the waveform, tremolo, vibrato, delay and much more. Some of the controls should be used with caution, as they can create some seriously unstable sounds, unless that's your intention. The design is certainly very slick and it's completely ad and cost free!
There's plenty of variety and experimentation available to you with these apps, and are fine examples of how new technology can shape modern music composition.
Sunday 20 October 2013
A Short Guide To The 360-Degree Artist Deal
In the past 10 years one of the most recent developments in record deals is the 360-degree deal. A 360-degree deal involves artists sharing every type of income avenue they generate, which includes live performances, record sales, merchandising, sponsorship and endorsements. Essentially this deal works with the application of turning an artist into an entertainment brand.
One of the major benefits of a 360-degree deal is that they provide new opportunities for artists to maximize income from publishing, merchandise and sponsorship, therefore providing new revenue streams. It also helps record companies to sign bands that might not sell many records but have the potential to sell merchandise to their loyal fan base. Record companies also commit to bands for a longer period of time, as they are constantly sourcing new opportunities for them. It also creates better relationships between record companies and specialist music companies in artist management, marketing and online networking, because those specialist companies can provide cross-platform opportunities to artists.
However, this is type of deal isn't without it's drawback. The record company may take a large share of the artist's overall revenue because they are finding and monetizing so many different opportunities for them. The artist may feel that this is worthwhile for the amount of revenue streams they are getting. Some artists may not want to endorse themselves to a particular product or service that undermines their image. There is also great risk with this strategy. An artist may not recoup the cost of their own music with their other streams of income, which is bad for the record company and the artist. It's a case of going to the extreme and therefore creating the highest risk.
There is no doubt that a 360-degree deal can propel an artist into superstardom, provided that it's well strategized. If it isn't, this method could prove to be extremely unsustainable.
One of the major benefits of a 360-degree deal is that they provide new opportunities for artists to maximize income from publishing, merchandise and sponsorship, therefore providing new revenue streams. It also helps record companies to sign bands that might not sell many records but have the potential to sell merchandise to their loyal fan base. Record companies also commit to bands for a longer period of time, as they are constantly sourcing new opportunities for them. It also creates better relationships between record companies and specialist music companies in artist management, marketing and online networking, because those specialist companies can provide cross-platform opportunities to artists.
However, this is type of deal isn't without it's drawback. The record company may take a large share of the artist's overall revenue because they are finding and monetizing so many different opportunities for them. The artist may feel that this is worthwhile for the amount of revenue streams they are getting. Some artists may not want to endorse themselves to a particular product or service that undermines their image. There is also great risk with this strategy. An artist may not recoup the cost of their own music with their other streams of income, which is bad for the record company and the artist. It's a case of going to the extreme and therefore creating the highest risk.
There is no doubt that a 360-degree deal can propel an artist into superstardom, provided that it's well strategized. If it isn't, this method could prove to be extremely unsustainable.
Ways To Improve Composition Skills Part 2
In this article on composition improvement, I will be talking about dynamics, which basically concerns how loud or soft you make your music sound. Little tweaks to dynamics can make a big difference.
Placing a loud dynamic on the first beat of each bar is a simple but effective tweak. It can give a track momentum and impetus, and it also helps you keep in time.
You may also want to introduce consistently loud dynamics for choruses, by placing them on every beat of the bar. This adds impact and power to the chorus.
Very quick dynamics are also very effective. You should consider introducing rising dynamics on the beats toward the end of a bar, like on a pre-chorus, which can make the track very dramatic and exciting. You could start very quietly and end the bar very loud for maximum effect.
For a more extreme contrast, you could introduce very quiet dynamics on the beats of one bar, then very loud dynamics on the next. Repeat this process a few times and you have a very unusual sound texture.
Those are just a few ideas to consider for creating an excellent dynamic range, and can really add extra life and vibrance to your tracks.
Placing a loud dynamic on the first beat of each bar is a simple but effective tweak. It can give a track momentum and impetus, and it also helps you keep in time.
You may also want to introduce consistently loud dynamics for choruses, by placing them on every beat of the bar. This adds impact and power to the chorus.
Very quick dynamics are also very effective. You should consider introducing rising dynamics on the beats toward the end of a bar, like on a pre-chorus, which can make the track very dramatic and exciting. You could start very quietly and end the bar very loud for maximum effect.
For a more extreme contrast, you could introduce very quiet dynamics on the beats of one bar, then very loud dynamics on the next. Repeat this process a few times and you have a very unusual sound texture.
Those are just a few ideas to consider for creating an excellent dynamic range, and can really add extra life and vibrance to your tracks.
Friday 18 October 2013
The Best Music Websites EVER
After years of scouring the net for music resources, I believe there are three that stand head and shoulders above the rest - Allmusic, Audiotuts+ and Chordbook.
www.allmusic.com - This website has a huge database of band biographies, discographies and sample tracks. You can search these artists by genre, mood or through similar artists. Genres include rock, blues, classical, country, easy listening, electronic, folk, jazz, latin, soul and many others. You can also look at album recommendations as chosen by Allmusic's editors. Another feature is the detailed blog which includes sections on new album releases and specialist music. There is an infinite amount of appreciation and inspiration that you can gather from this site. In fact, I'd go as far as saying it's the most influential music website.
audio.tutsplus.com - This incredibly useful blog features tutorials on all aspects of music production and music theory. There are hundreds of articles, features, tips, sessions, resources and videos written by industry experts and professionals, and talented amateurs can earn money by posting articles on the website. You can also join Audiotuts+ Premium for more specialist production tutorials, although this will cost you a monthly or yearly charge. This is the best website to help you compose music, both theory and production.
www.chordbook.com - This doesn't quite pack the depth of the other two websites, but the simplicity of this website works in its favour. You can construct chords using the 'virtual guitar and chordbook' section. It features all the notes of the scale and 23 different types of chords. Once you have selected a chord you can save it and repeat the process a few times, and then you can listen back to that chord sequence in the 'my chords' section. You can change the strum speed from slow to fast and choose from either acoustic or electric guitar for playback. This is a great tool not just for guitar players but all kinds of composers and songwriters, as there are so many chord progression you can experiment with.
These websites are truly brilliant, and are sure to satisfy any music lover.
www.allmusic.com - This website has a huge database of band biographies, discographies and sample tracks. You can search these artists by genre, mood or through similar artists. Genres include rock, blues, classical, country, easy listening, electronic, folk, jazz, latin, soul and many others. You can also look at album recommendations as chosen by Allmusic's editors. Another feature is the detailed blog which includes sections on new album releases and specialist music. There is an infinite amount of appreciation and inspiration that you can gather from this site. In fact, I'd go as far as saying it's the most influential music website.
audio.tutsplus.com - This incredibly useful blog features tutorials on all aspects of music production and music theory. There are hundreds of articles, features, tips, sessions, resources and videos written by industry experts and professionals, and talented amateurs can earn money by posting articles on the website. You can also join Audiotuts+ Premium for more specialist production tutorials, although this will cost you a monthly or yearly charge. This is the best website to help you compose music, both theory and production.
www.chordbook.com - This doesn't quite pack the depth of the other two websites, but the simplicity of this website works in its favour. You can construct chords using the 'virtual guitar and chordbook' section. It features all the notes of the scale and 23 different types of chords. Once you have selected a chord you can save it and repeat the process a few times, and then you can listen back to that chord sequence in the 'my chords' section. You can change the strum speed from slow to fast and choose from either acoustic or electric guitar for playback. This is a great tool not just for guitar players but all kinds of composers and songwriters, as there are so many chord progression you can experiment with.
These websites are truly brilliant, and are sure to satisfy any music lover.
Wednesday 16 October 2013
The Surprising Scientific Elements Of Music
I use to only think of music purely as an artistic interest, but many aspects of music could not exist without science.
One scientific trait is in music theory. When you learn grade 1 and 2 british music theory the notation and musical understanding is fairly simplistic. However, as soon as you get onto grade 3 and 4, you need to develop an understanding of high technical theory, such as augmented and diminished changes, different musical clefs like the bass or alto, some tricky transcription and some increasingly difficult terminology. You get so exhausted trying to decode various compositions that they may as well of been written in Egyptian hieroglyphics. Almost all composition is factual - chord triads, chord progressions, major and minor keys and scales all have a particular science and therefore work in a particular way. This leaves less room for abstract interpretation or philosophical understanding. I can't instantly read sheet music and hear a composition in my head, I have to take time to read it before I can understand it.
The second scientific trait is in music production. Before the days of abundant and affordable music hardware and software, the role of a sound engineer or studio assistant was completely scientific. The hardware consisted of generators or analog tapedesks, and these required a highly competent understanding of physics in order to be fully utilized. These people were more science boffins than music enthusiasts. You still have these experts, but they are involved in more specialized subjects like acousmatics or psychoasoustics. That doesn't mean to say there are less scientific processes in modern music production - far from it. Using the right microphone to record audio requires some scientific understanding of polar patterns. Effective audio compression involves controlling dynamics with accurate ratio, threshold, attack and release settings. Equalization is a highly complex frequency process that changes a track's tone. The art of mixing isn't really an art of all, it's all about keeping a balanced audio spread and making sure the levels are correct. You have a lot of creative leverage within modern technology, but the best processes are usually tried and tested settings.
The third scientific trait is in performance. The way in which an orchestra performs is systematic - certain instruments may play louder in certain sections of a composition, and the combination of instruments playing produces a rich palette of harmonies, melodies and counter-melodies. All this requires some knowledge of tonality, or in some cases, atonality. Less prevalent in classical music but more prevalent in popular music is tuning, especially when instruments or voices can only sound pleasing if they are in tune, which is another scientific trait. If an instrument or voice is out of tune then quite often it sounds horribly flat (this is not the case in jazz or blues), so precise tuning is essential in live performance.
The last scientific trait is in music business. Many labels sign bands largely down to facts and figures from online media, which include Itunes downloads, YouTube plays, Facebook friends, Google Analytics and many other sources of metadata. Radio 1 only select artists with good metadata. This example can be a negative aspect of science's impact on music, because many good artists and bands do not get signed or played on national radio stations because of poor metadata.
These examples show how important science is to music, although that does not mean we should be entirely dependent on it.
One scientific trait is in music theory. When you learn grade 1 and 2 british music theory the notation and musical understanding is fairly simplistic. However, as soon as you get onto grade 3 and 4, you need to develop an understanding of high technical theory, such as augmented and diminished changes, different musical clefs like the bass or alto, some tricky transcription and some increasingly difficult terminology. You get so exhausted trying to decode various compositions that they may as well of been written in Egyptian hieroglyphics. Almost all composition is factual - chord triads, chord progressions, major and minor keys and scales all have a particular science and therefore work in a particular way. This leaves less room for abstract interpretation or philosophical understanding. I can't instantly read sheet music and hear a composition in my head, I have to take time to read it before I can understand it.
The second scientific trait is in music production. Before the days of abundant and affordable music hardware and software, the role of a sound engineer or studio assistant was completely scientific. The hardware consisted of generators or analog tapedesks, and these required a highly competent understanding of physics in order to be fully utilized. These people were more science boffins than music enthusiasts. You still have these experts, but they are involved in more specialized subjects like acousmatics or psychoasoustics. That doesn't mean to say there are less scientific processes in modern music production - far from it. Using the right microphone to record audio requires some scientific understanding of polar patterns. Effective audio compression involves controlling dynamics with accurate ratio, threshold, attack and release settings. Equalization is a highly complex frequency process that changes a track's tone. The art of mixing isn't really an art of all, it's all about keeping a balanced audio spread and making sure the levels are correct. You have a lot of creative leverage within modern technology, but the best processes are usually tried and tested settings.
The third scientific trait is in performance. The way in which an orchestra performs is systematic - certain instruments may play louder in certain sections of a composition, and the combination of instruments playing produces a rich palette of harmonies, melodies and counter-melodies. All this requires some knowledge of tonality, or in some cases, atonality. Less prevalent in classical music but more prevalent in popular music is tuning, especially when instruments or voices can only sound pleasing if they are in tune, which is another scientific trait. If an instrument or voice is out of tune then quite often it sounds horribly flat (this is not the case in jazz or blues), so precise tuning is essential in live performance.
The last scientific trait is in music business. Many labels sign bands largely down to facts and figures from online media, which include Itunes downloads, YouTube plays, Facebook friends, Google Analytics and many other sources of metadata. Radio 1 only select artists with good metadata. This example can be a negative aspect of science's impact on music, because many good artists and bands do not get signed or played on national radio stations because of poor metadata.
These examples show how important science is to music, although that does not mean we should be entirely dependent on it.
Tuesday 15 October 2013
The Best And Worst Aspects Of Classical Music
Classical
music is the one of the oldest music genres, with a wide variety of
styles within in it. It is one of the finest of arts but also
difficult for modern music lovers to interpret. Why is this the case?
It
is one of the most technical and challenging musical forms. The
styles within it - chamber music, choral music, symphonies,
concertos, ballets, sonatas and operas - all possess a huge level of
finesse and elegance. The level of composition requires years and
years of training, and most of the music has a breathtaking delivery from the finest musicians on the planet. It also cemented a permanent
influence on the popular music that followed it in the 20th century.
However,
this highly refined and technically demanding genre has a series of
drawbacks made out of its own benefits. The level of composition is
so brutal and difficult that the end results often sound
over-elaborate and exhausting to listen to. When have people really
got time to listen to a 30 minute sonata with their full undivided
attention? The level of concentration required to listen to most
classical music is not huge but off the scale. Another drawback is
the unfamiliarity of listening to instruments that aren't
pigeon-holed with the popular music conscientiousness, at least in
most occasions. There is also the difficulty in learning to compose
and/or play classical music – you can't easily emulate a concerto
like you could with a pop song.
There
is still an outlet for classical music, and that is with film
composition. Many classically trained composers turn their hand to
film, as this medium provides a platform for their more ambitious,
dynamic and dramatic compositions. Many factual TV programs include
classical background music, although this is often in a condensed
time.
Monday 14 October 2013
Ways To Improve Composition Skills Part 1
There are some ways that you can craft highly competent composition skills, both on a music and a production level.
- Listen to close harmony singing - You should take time listening to classic close harmony groups like The Beatles, The Byrds, The Beach Boys and Simon and Garfunkel. These groups are particularly good because of the wealth of harmonies and melodies combined from very simple tunes. You can pick out particular harmonies and melodies and learn the craft of arrangement in tunes.
- Listen to a variety of different rhythms - You should also invest time in listening to a range of rhythms from around the world. With Cuban Music you have a lot of polyrhythms i.e. two separate rhythms played at the same time. Irish jigs have 6 beats to every bar. The waltz is another very distinctive pattern, played in 3/4 time. Listen to complex rhythms in jazz genres. This is only a small description of the huge cornucopia of rhythms to listen to.
- Listen to different genres for production techniques - dance music is particular sub-bass heavy, with some variation between subgenres. Pop music has very up-front vocals, and folk music has a much more natural production style. Rock and metal is very guitar-heavy and a lot of vocal music has very sparse and little arrangement around the vocals. After careful listening you'll develop important distinctions between different genres and between different artists.
- Find common chord progressions - You'll find a lot of websites that list common chord progressions ranging from classical to popular music. This is a very easy method to writing initial tracks or compositions, and is the perfect platform to build your own sound and arrangement on.
Sunday 13 October 2013
The Future Of The Music Business
With some research, experience and knowledge, here are my predictions for the music business in the next year or so.
Huge boost in subscription levels - musicians will experience a greater boost in YouTube channel subscriptions with the emergence of new music economies (particularly in Brazil and India). This also applies to Spotify subscriptions.
Greater mobile device usage - With the globalisation of smartphones, there will a greater percentage of music, including mobile music streaming, with many people paying music through their mobile devices.
Increase in live ticket and album packages - There will be a greater number of bands selling both live tickets for gigs and albums in a single package. This model has worked very well in Latin America and is sure to catch on in the rest of the world, if not already.
So that's a small glimpse into the future. Hopefully these changes will add to the wealth of markets available to musicians and fans alike.
Huge boost in subscription levels - musicians will experience a greater boost in YouTube channel subscriptions with the emergence of new music economies (particularly in Brazil and India). This also applies to Spotify subscriptions.
Greater mobile device usage - With the globalisation of smartphones, there will a greater percentage of music, including mobile music streaming, with many people paying music through their mobile devices.
Increase in live ticket and album packages - There will be a greater number of bands selling both live tickets for gigs and albums in a single package. This model has worked very well in Latin America and is sure to catch on in the rest of the world, if not already.
So that's a small glimpse into the future. Hopefully these changes will add to the wealth of markets available to musicians and fans alike.
Make Your Instruments Sound Better
One of the most important stages and aspects of music production is the tone of each instrument, which is achieved through equalization. Equalization manipulates the volume of a certain frequency bandwidth in an audio track, ranging from the lower 0-20hz right up to the high end of 20khz.
Here are some ideal frequencies for certain instruments, but this is by no means a definitive guide. For the sake of argument, I have chosen four instruments - drums/beats, bass, guitar and vocals.
Drums/beats - For kick drums, you want a lot of chunky depth and sub-bass, which is more of a rumble or feel than a distinctive frequency. Boost the frequency around 30-70hz, and that should add a fullness. For cymbals and hi-hats, you want to boost the frequencies in the higher echelons, around 3-5khz, to give those parts more snap and presence.
Bass - Similar to the kick drum, you want to boost the frequency in the bottom end. perhaps around 60-80hz, ensuring you get a booming, fat bass sound. Some bass harmonics appear in the high end, but not too high, and you can add this texture if you boost around 1-2khz.
Guitar - Most guitar frequencies are prominent in the mid-range, so you want to boost around 600-800hz for a warm guitar sound. You may want to boost the frequencies a bit higher if you want to add distortion.
Vocals - This is by far the most complex frequency range to master, as the voice has one of the widest. To add some brilliance, boost at the very high end, around 8-10khz. You may wish to cut the frequencies at the bottom end to make the vocals sound crispier.
So there are some ideas to start with. There are many other variations and desired sounds for these instruments, but the ideas mentioned are certainly effective.
Here are some ideal frequencies for certain instruments, but this is by no means a definitive guide. For the sake of argument, I have chosen four instruments - drums/beats, bass, guitar and vocals.
Drums/beats - For kick drums, you want a lot of chunky depth and sub-bass, which is more of a rumble or feel than a distinctive frequency. Boost the frequency around 30-70hz, and that should add a fullness. For cymbals and hi-hats, you want to boost the frequencies in the higher echelons, around 3-5khz, to give those parts more snap and presence.
Bass - Similar to the kick drum, you want to boost the frequency in the bottom end. perhaps around 60-80hz, ensuring you get a booming, fat bass sound. Some bass harmonics appear in the high end, but not too high, and you can add this texture if you boost around 1-2khz.
Guitar - Most guitar frequencies are prominent in the mid-range, so you want to boost around 600-800hz for a warm guitar sound. You may want to boost the frequencies a bit higher if you want to add distortion.
Vocals - This is by far the most complex frequency range to master, as the voice has one of the widest. To add some brilliance, boost at the very high end, around 8-10khz. You may wish to cut the frequencies at the bottom end to make the vocals sound crispier.
So there are some ideas to start with. There are many other variations and desired sounds for these instruments, but the ideas mentioned are certainly effective.
Saturday 12 October 2013
The Most Important Trait All Musicians Should Have
There is one thing that every musician should have - an ultimate goal. It could be to make an album, it could be radio airplay, it could be playing a successful gig. Forward planning is essential, and can help turn all that motivation, skill and passion into great art.
Friday 11 October 2013
How Musicians Can Use Their YouTube Channel Effectively
If your a band or artist you might be thinking of making or have made music videos. You will almost certainly want to upload these onto YouTube. Over 800 million people use YouTube, and you can attract a large amount of subscribers if you know how to manage your channel effectively. Here's how.
- Have a great video - This is the easiest and obvious way to get plenty of viewers and/or subscribers. Although it should not rest on the quality of the video alone. The music has to be good too, and the visuals should combine well with the music. This is what turns a good video into a highly memorable video, especially if the visuals are original. Try to avoid cliched videos - such as having the band play in the video, as this has been done millions of times and has absolutely no imagination to it.
- Have a few videos ready - If you only have one video uploaded then there's a good chance your online audience will lose interest, so make sure you have a few videos uploaded to keep them happy. There will inevitably be times when you don't have any new videos to upload, so during this time you should favourite videos on other channels that you like, preferably ones that are related to your own work.
- Keep your videos short - The reality of YouTube is that most people won't watch a 20 minute epic of your music, if you make it that long. Even at 5 minutes you may struggle to keep them watching for the whole duration. It's far easier to condense and make a great 2 or 3 minute video instead of making anything longer. You have only so much allocation time before your audience switches attention to another video.
- Include plenty of tags - Make sure you put plenty of words relevant to the video and your band in the tags option, so that you appear more in searches. This optimization is vital to ensure you reach a large audience.
- Have a short description - Most people only read the first two lines of the description box for each video, so make sure you post a link to your website and also to remind them to subscribe to your YouTube channel.
- Avoid automated YouTube plays - Many websites guarantee you a large amount of views or plays for your video in exchange for money. YouTube are trying to crack down on this, and if you try to pursue this option your video may be taken offline and they could suspend your channel.
- Consider collaborating - You can share ideas with other YouTube channel makers and explore new areas. With this idea you are creating leverage from your collaborators channel and so you will gain new subscribers to your channel, and vice versa.
- Always mention to subscribe - After every video you should remind your audience to subscribe to your channel, so they are kept informed about any new videos you've uploaded.
Those are useful points to make the best out of YouTube for you or band, and if you adapt to those then you will have a very successful YouTube channel.
- Have a great video - This is the easiest and obvious way to get plenty of viewers and/or subscribers. Although it should not rest on the quality of the video alone. The music has to be good too, and the visuals should combine well with the music. This is what turns a good video into a highly memorable video, especially if the visuals are original. Try to avoid cliched videos - such as having the band play in the video, as this has been done millions of times and has absolutely no imagination to it.
- Have a few videos ready - If you only have one video uploaded then there's a good chance your online audience will lose interest, so make sure you have a few videos uploaded to keep them happy. There will inevitably be times when you don't have any new videos to upload, so during this time you should favourite videos on other channels that you like, preferably ones that are related to your own work.
- Keep your videos short - The reality of YouTube is that most people won't watch a 20 minute epic of your music, if you make it that long. Even at 5 minutes you may struggle to keep them watching for the whole duration. It's far easier to condense and make a great 2 or 3 minute video instead of making anything longer. You have only so much allocation time before your audience switches attention to another video.
- Include plenty of tags - Make sure you put plenty of words relevant to the video and your band in the tags option, so that you appear more in searches. This optimization is vital to ensure you reach a large audience.
- Have a short description - Most people only read the first two lines of the description box for each video, so make sure you post a link to your website and also to remind them to subscribe to your YouTube channel.
- Avoid automated YouTube plays - Many websites guarantee you a large amount of views or plays for your video in exchange for money. YouTube are trying to crack down on this, and if you try to pursue this option your video may be taken offline and they could suspend your channel.
- Consider collaborating - You can share ideas with other YouTube channel makers and explore new areas. With this idea you are creating leverage from your collaborators channel and so you will gain new subscribers to your channel, and vice versa.
- Always mention to subscribe - After every video you should remind your audience to subscribe to your channel, so they are kept informed about any new videos you've uploaded.
Those are useful points to make the best out of YouTube for you or band, and if you adapt to those then you will have a very successful YouTube channel.
Wednesday 9 October 2013
Do Online Music Resources Dilute Or Help Musicians?
Musicians have a whole arsenal of
resources available to them on the web. Many specialize in music
theory, production techniques, marketing and promoting resources and
advice, music business news, online music platforms,
even sites where fans can donate money to musicians, in exchange for
a limited edition album.
Do these resources dilute or add to a
musicians success?
One of the problems with promotion and
marketing tips is that there easily imitable, so if one musician does
it than there's bound to be someone else that follows. This might be
a Youtube Video that's easy to make. Production knowledge is also
easy to be copied, and subsequently you go on any music platform like
someone and you hear loads of musicians doing exactly the same kind
of music. It is also a bad influence on other musicians.
On the flipside, there are many
benefits from using a combination of these resources. If you learn a
good level of music theory and develop sound production skills, both
from online resources, then you will create a more unique and
distinctive sound in your own music. Distinctiveness is absolute gold
dust. It also pays off not to get carried away with overloading your
platforms of online music access – instead of having your music on
Bandcamp, Myspace, Soundcloud and Reverbnation why not just have it
on one of them? You can then give that platform your undivided
attention.
Restraint and control with online music
resources is the effective way, instead of getting carried away with
too much.
The Very Simple Science Of Pop Music
The very simple science of pop music
goes like this:
- Write a common chord progression
- Have a verse/chorus structure repeated three times
- Add a novel or unusual element
- Keep it three or four minutes long
And that's it! This sequence can be
interpreted in many different ways, but with this basic formula you
will have the makings of a pop song.
The Importance Of In-House Artist Development
One key area for a label or record
company is their artist development. More
specifically, they must decide whether or not to promote and market a
band immediately, or give them time to develop. The latter option is
very important – here's why.
Many artists come into labels as raw and unrefined, like raw goods essentially. They have plenty of promise but there maybe some doubt about their musical quality or sound. With artist development, an artist has the time to craft and develop their musical repertoire over a few or even possibly several years. They can learn new compositional and production knowledge, adapt to the business practice of the industry and build a solid network of contacts. This turns a promising musician into a well-rounded, confident one.
One artist from the past who took this route was David Bowie. Despite having an early hit in his youth, it was after five years of artist development that he became a pop mega star with Ziggy Stardust. He was given time to develop and craft his arty and innovative style, and became largely a huge success throughout the seventies because of years of artist development.
There are issues with this strategy. It is very time-poor and can be very costly to a label or record company, who want to have a ready-made product to sell. It makes more financial sense for them to approach an artist who already has an established fan base and tailored to a specific market or genre. There's also the problem that developing an artist won't pay off in the long run simply because of bad development or just plain impatience.
So, artist development can be highly effective, but the key to it's success is giving an artist the right amount of time and taking them into the right direction.
Many artists come into labels as raw and unrefined, like raw goods essentially. They have plenty of promise but there maybe some doubt about their musical quality or sound. With artist development, an artist has the time to craft and develop their musical repertoire over a few or even possibly several years. They can learn new compositional and production knowledge, adapt to the business practice of the industry and build a solid network of contacts. This turns a promising musician into a well-rounded, confident one.
One artist from the past who took this route was David Bowie. Despite having an early hit in his youth, it was after five years of artist development that he became a pop mega star with Ziggy Stardust. He was given time to develop and craft his arty and innovative style, and became largely a huge success throughout the seventies because of years of artist development.
There are issues with this strategy. It is very time-poor and can be very costly to a label or record company, who want to have a ready-made product to sell. It makes more financial sense for them to approach an artist who already has an established fan base and tailored to a specific market or genre. There's also the problem that developing an artist won't pay off in the long run simply because of bad development or just plain impatience.
So, artist development can be highly effective, but the key to it's success is giving an artist the right amount of time and taking them into the right direction.
Monday 7 October 2013
The Changing Role Of The Music Performer
It use to be simple. In the past bands and artists would play gigs or concerts to an audience and get paid.
However, with the emergence of turntablism as a popular performance act in the 1980s DJs were the new breed of performer. They seamlessly blended disparate textures to create a unique new sound, despite not actually using any traditional instrumentation, or having any artistic credits on the records they played.
Roll on a couple decades and you had (and still have) X-Factor, a show that makes regular people's dreams of pop superstardom turn into a reality. At least for a short while. Contestants perform to a panel of judges who decide whether they have the credentials to be a pop star, and culminates with many of them being voted off the show. Combine this with millions of primetime viewers and you have a major entertainment show. Some don't even watch it for the best singers - many of the bad singers are just as entertaining. However, because the stakes are so high many contestants are totally devastated when they lose (and the few that win are beyond ecstatic).
With the power of the Internet there is now a website where artists and bands all over the world can perform to a virtual audience. Artists and bands on Stageit.com can create and perform interactive monetized shows to audiences all over the world who are willing to pay. This gives a different meaning to performance, but also takes away the real interaction with fans and listeners.
These three examples show how changing technologies and new forms of entertainment have had a revolutionary change in the way a musician performs to its audience.
However, with the emergence of turntablism as a popular performance act in the 1980s DJs were the new breed of performer. They seamlessly blended disparate textures to create a unique new sound, despite not actually using any traditional instrumentation, or having any artistic credits on the records they played.
Roll on a couple decades and you had (and still have) X-Factor, a show that makes regular people's dreams of pop superstardom turn into a reality. At least for a short while. Contestants perform to a panel of judges who decide whether they have the credentials to be a pop star, and culminates with many of them being voted off the show. Combine this with millions of primetime viewers and you have a major entertainment show. Some don't even watch it for the best singers - many of the bad singers are just as entertaining. However, because the stakes are so high many contestants are totally devastated when they lose (and the few that win are beyond ecstatic).
With the power of the Internet there is now a website where artists and bands all over the world can perform to a virtual audience. Artists and bands on Stageit.com can create and perform interactive monetized shows to audiences all over the world who are willing to pay. This gives a different meaning to performance, but also takes away the real interaction with fans and listeners.
These three examples show how changing technologies and new forms of entertainment have had a revolutionary change in the way a musician performs to its audience.
The Best And Worst Products Musicians Sell To Fans
The increase in the range of merchandise and added-value goods has provided a real goldmine for all types of musicians, but what goods are of real worth?
The best products are the ones that are related directly to the music - tickets to gigs, limited edition CDs, live videos of concerts and performances, music tuition and instrument kits.
Then there is the worst - the ones that seemingly have almost no relevance to music whatsoever. These include locks of hair, necklaces, nauseating photo books and a lot of clothing merchandise.
The amount of products in the worst category seems to give off a smack of desperation from the artist, and may even reflect an insecurity from the artist with the most important aspect - their own music.
Musicians should know that their fans want their music more than their superficial goods, and I would certainly prefer it if a fan had an album of mine rather than just a T-Shirt.
The best products are the ones that are related directly to the music - tickets to gigs, limited edition CDs, live videos of concerts and performances, music tuition and instrument kits.
Then there is the worst - the ones that seemingly have almost no relevance to music whatsoever. These include locks of hair, necklaces, nauseating photo books and a lot of clothing merchandise.
The amount of products in the worst category seems to give off a smack of desperation from the artist, and may even reflect an insecurity from the artist with the most important aspect - their own music.
Musicians should know that their fans want their music more than their superficial goods, and I would certainly prefer it if a fan had an album of mine rather than just a T-Shirt.
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