We came across the following blog by CBE Music on The New York Songwriters Circle describing one artists frustrations at playing for only 2-15 people per night; who then came up with the idea of sending out a video-invite to help pack the house. We have included their video below. To read the entire story, go here.
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We are pleased to present another guest blog from Derek Sivers, founder of CD Baby. Derek discusses a very timely topic in how to get the best use out of Twitter.
by Derek Sivers
Someone recently asked my advice about Twitter, since BusinessWeek magazine just named me one of their “20 to follow” for entrepreneurs. I’m not a Twitter expert and don’t claim I’m one to emulate, but here are my personal thoughts on how I use Twitter:
Twitter, Facebook, blogs, and mailing lists are all a P.A. system. (Remember P.A. stands for “Public Address”.) Speaking through them is like stepping up to a microphone, on a stage, in front of 10,000 people. What can I say that’s worth saying to 10,000 people? It has to be something that most of those 10,000 unique individuals will find interesting.
I try not to let that paralyze me into thinking that everything I say has to be super-important. Occasionally I light-heartedly post something cute or funny. Nobody wants to be around someone who’s too heavy and profound all the time.
Musicians know that you perform differently to 5 people than 5000. If there are only 5 people in the room, you can take advantage of the intimacy to be more casual. If I’m hanging in my living room with 5 friends, it wouldn’t be strange for me to say to them, “I’ve been tired all day. My foot hurts.” That’s just regular conversation with friends. But I wouldn’t say that to 10,000 people.
Reversing it: With a few of my best friends I actually do enjoy hearing the tiny details of their day. I want to know that they’re feeling sick, or just had the best Chinese food, or missed a flight.
Because of this, I have two profiles on Twitter and Facebook. One public, for anyone. One private, only for 20 close friends. I highly recommend this.
These social media tools have double use, so if you’re only using them super-publicly, adding tons of “friends” you don’t know, you might be surprised how Twitter/Facebook feel completely different when you’re only following a few real friends. Then you really can enjoy sharing and hearing about the tiny things that shape our days.
Ask good questions that you think people will enjoy answering creatively and succinctly. Examples:
* “Complete: I need more ___ and less ___.”
* “What comes first: thoughts or feelings?”
* “What’s the opposite of music?”
I’ve been fascinated with the amazing responses that come back from people. Surprisingly insightful, creative, or funny.(When I asked, “What’s the opposite of music?”, 200 people answered with interesting variations on chaos, silence and nothing. But then came my favorite answer: “Business.”)
Think about songwriting or poetry: You’ve got something you want to express, but instead of just spewing it out bluntly, you choose to do it artistically within certain limitations. Like fitting an idea into 12 syllables, where the last word needs to rhyme with “train”.
Instead of telling every detail, you use a few key words that give the gist, then leave the rest open to the listener’s imagination. Sometimes, like a songwriter, I feel like documenting or expressing something big that happened to me, but don’t feel like writing an article about the whole story. So I compress it into an intriguing short post, letting imagination fill in the details.
For example, when my only one-night-stand told me a year later that she was briefly pregnant (because of me), and I was wrestling with the thoughts and emotions behind that, I felt the need to share just: “Found out I was a dad for 10 weeks.”
Other favorites:
* “Came to NYC for a wedding. Decided to stay. Cancelled return flight. Found a place & signed a 1-year lease. Now buying clothes.”
* “Walking in NYC. Feet, sandals, and jeans covered in mud from a festival in central England where I was this morning.”
* “Rented a car at the airport. Accidently drove it off a bridge into a creek. Car totaled. I’m fine. Shoulda paid the $8/day insurance. Damn.”
Like any songwriter, I’d like to think that my mini-statements are at least entertaining and maybe even inspiring to someone. I enjoy the creative challenge of expressing myself publicly in a succinct and intriguing way.
You can follow my posts at twitter.com/sivers. Then please email me to give me your Twitter URL if you’d like me to follow you back.
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We are pleased to share a blog from CD Baby founder Derek Sivers. We subscribe to his blog and we are always rewarded with interesting and thought-provoking subjects.
by Derek Sivers
In New York City last week, across from the library, there was a man pacing on the sidewalk, barking something hysterically at the top of his lungs. Everyone was avoiding him, even crossing the street to avoid getting anywhere near him. It wasn’t until I listened closer I realized he was working for a local business, yelling, “20% coupons for window shades! 20% off! Window shades! Get your coupons here!”
Painfully ineffective.
Today I’m in Union Square on the 20th floor. In the big white noise of the city, only one voice sticks out. For the last 3 days, someone has been yelling in the park for hours a day, barking the same high constant monotone pitch (an F that falls to a D at the end of each sentence.) I assumed the person was just insane and yelling at ghosts, but after two days, I finally heard a few words: “Help feed the homeless!”
Aha! Not insane. Trying to help, but incredibly ineffective. Watching Union Square, I can see it’s crowded everywhere except near the yelling man. People tend to stay away.
Then it made me think: How many of us do this?
Maybe our existing marketing wasn’t getting the results we want, so we think if we just shout it louder, more people will hear?
But the downside is people start to avoid those types. Like the slimy guy always trying to sell insurance to friends at parties, pretty soon he doesn’t get invited to parties anymore.
In London, I heard “barking” used as slang for “insane” (as short for “barking mad”, get it?)
When promoting, make sure you’re not barking.
When things aren’t working, think “smarter” not “louder”.
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I recently received this email notice from Music Connection Magazine. Check it out.
This month marks the 50th anniversary of the untimely death of pioneer rocker Buddy Holly, and to commemorate it Music Connection’s website is featuring a remarkable mp3 for your listening pleasure: it’s a fascinating long-distance phone conversation between a then little-known Buddy Holly and the president of the label that had just dropped him. Bottom line: the ever polite but persistent Holly is heard getting the old heave-ho from The Man. The conversation (recorded by Holly on his own reel-to-reel tape machine) is heartbreaking (considering Holly’s impending death in a plane crash), supremely ironic (in light of the legendary heights that this artist would soon attain), but ultimately inspirational today to any struggling artist who hears it.
Take this opportunity to eavesdrop on this incredible piece of music history by going to http://www.musicconnection.com/. In the upper left of our Home Page you’ll find the Holly clip on the “Music Connection Channel.”
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Guest Blog by Koorosh Daryaie
Hello Friends,
Many of you know my work as the drummer for rock bands like Silence and LXIX, and solo artists such as Woody Moran and Kirsten Hansen. What most of you might not know is that I spend as much time playing percussion and programming drums as I do actually drumming.
Last year I was in the studio programming drums and playing percussion on my great friend Woody Moran’s Tu-Toned Stranger album when the resident studio engineer, Ryan Kushner, asked me what my secret was to humanizing programmed drums. After an hour-long explanation and perhaps being sorry that he asked, Ryan encouraged me to share my thoughts and procedures with other aspiring drummers and drum programmers.
I’d like to first discuss my programming tools. I usually do the majority of my drum programming using Pro Tools with the Strike plug-in. I also use Live 7 with Battery 3 or EZ Drummer. My midi controllers are Mandala V 1.0 and 2.0 Drum Pads, Roland HPD 10, 15, and SPDS Percussion pads, an M-Audio Trigger Finger, and a Korg Wave Drum.
The most important thing to point out is, that these are plug-ins and hardware MIDI controllers that I have used for a long time and the ones I’m the most familiar with and efficient on. Remember time is money in the studio, and no one wants to throw away money because you don’t know what you are doing. You should choose the application based on your needs and ease of use.
I’d like to discuss some of my procedures. I usually like to get together with the artist a few times for rehearsals, to play either drums or percussion with them. By doing this I usually get a feel for the songs and learn the structure of the songs. I then spend a few hours after the rehearsal talking to the artist about the songs, their influences, and what inspired them to write the song. By asking questions I can get a feel for what the artist was thinking when writing the song and what direction they like to see their song go in.
With a metronome at hand during rehearsals, I tap tempo the songs and get the BPM (beats per minute). I listen to the feel, the groove of the song, to see where the song pushes, or drags. I then calculate the different sections of the song (verse, chorus, bridge, break), and if necessary ask the artist to make a decision to either speed up or slow down the song for a stronger feel.
I like tracking programmed drums first. By laying down the drum part you are laying down the foundation for the songs where all other instruments will follow and use as their guide track. In programming I usually don’t quantize the Kick and Snare Drums, but do quantize the Hihat, and Ride Cymbals. I usually follow the Hihat track with a Shaker that is not quantized, and then a Tambourine track playing the down beats, also not quantized. After all the programmed drum parts are tracked in to Live or Pro Tools, I go in and start cutting sections for fills that lead from Verse to Chorus to Bridge, and so on.
Once the sections of the track are cut out, I start over-dubbing fills and lead-ins and change-ups in the areas with the holes.
At this point I have already had a few cups of coffee and nice cigar, and am ready to lay down live percussion instruments. I don’t like to quantize any of the percussion tracks unless all the drums were live, and the percussion is what was tracked first. I usually start with the Conga, and work my way around to the Cajon, and then the Timbale if the song calls for it. I do a lot of Middle Eastern percussion work as well instruments such as Darbuka, Zarb, Daft, Boolangoo, and Tabla, and because of the nature of the way these instruments are played, and the technique applied, quantizing the tracks will not translate too well.
This is a multipart series on humanizing your drum tracks. In Part II, I will let you guys know how adding some effects can change the feel of a groove drastically.
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Guest Blog by Gabriella of Bruised But Not Broken
There’s been much talk that’s been concerning me lately. Artists here in space & elsewhere often wait for the magical day or moment that they feel is coming when they can say:’ I’ve made it’.
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
‘I’VE MADE IT’ ? MADE ‘WHAT’ EXACTLY?
AS AN ARTIST, IF WE ARE PRODUCING OUR ART, OUR SONGS, OUR POETRY, OUR BOOKS, OUR DESIGNS… WHATEVER IT IS THAT YOU DO AS AN ARTIST, THEN HAVEN’T YOU ALREADY ‘MADE IT’?
The general public has a strange idea that unless an artist has a ‘best seller’, or has won a ‘Nobel Prize’ or a ‘Grammy’ or an ‘Oscar’ then they just haven’t ‘made it’. I’m here to remind all artists that if you are producing whatever art you produce, then YOU HAVE ALREADY MADE IT! 
MANY BLESSINGS TO YOUR CONTINUED SUCCESS AND YOUR CONTINUED ART.
IT’S THE DAY WE STOP -
THAT’S THE DAY WE CEASE TO ‘MAKE IT’
I hope everyone has the ability to understand that artists LIVE their ART. They live and breathe it. It is their Life and by doing so they are ‘MAKING IT’ every moment of their existence - and to set up some kind of ‘bar’ that says ‘oh yes, they’ve made it now’ is simply a matter of misguided perception on behalf of the general public - and I do speak ‘generally’, not specifically & not everyone, but generally speaking from my own observations. There are so many avenues that all artists can take, and the general public would benefit from realising that it’s not all about winning prizes (although that’s always nice) or reaching best selling lists (although that’s also very nice).. etc
Art is about creation - PROLIFIC creation.
Art is a lifestyle.
Art is NOT not a race to any finish line that say’s ‘I’ve Made It’.
YOU HAVE ALL ALREADY ‘MADE IT’ SO RELAX AND ENJOY YOUR WONDERFULLY BLESSED LIVES AND DON’T EVER LET ANYONE TAKE THAT AWAY FROM YOU.
Peace to your home & loved ones.
Gabriella
BRUISED BUT NOT BROKEN ™
‘Nothing real can be threatened
…Nothing unreal exists’
=========================
© Gabriella of BBNB (Oursong Ltd Australia)
All rights reserved.
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Guest Blog by GuitarJunky
If you haven’t read “Here,There and Everywhere” by Geoff Emerick, you must. Ever since this book was recommended to me by a friend, I’ve tried to tell all my musician buds about it.
I know, you’re thinking this is all about another old guy and his memories…yada, yada, yada!!! But, this time it’s about so much more.
For some background, it’s the telling by Emerick, of his experiences in the recording studio with the Beatles. His tenure with the band started with the “Revolver” album and went thru “Abbey Road.” He also tells of his fascination with sound starting in childhood and landing his dream gig at Abbey Road Studios. That being said, there’s so much more to the book. What began as seemingly random associations of people assigned to various tasks, including recording this band of “kids” emulating musicians (the prevailing attitude of the time), that became full blown relationships is amazing.
While most have heard of the symbiotic relationship between the Beatles and George Martin, I dare say the contributions of Mr. Emerick made to the Beatles is no less important. In some ways, perhaps even more so. Let me explain. Motivated by his fascination with sounds and sheer creativity, Emerick succeeded in pushing the curtain of conventional recording studio wisdom aside to peer into the world of what-if. His take on microphone placement as well as other ground breaking recording techniques helped define a sound that not only became synonymous with a generation, it set into stone the high recording values of all rock artists since. While the influence of George Martin is undeniable and helped set in motion the musical maturity of the Mop Tops, I think it’s the sound of the Beatles that non-musicians and musicians find instantly recognizable from any distance. This ultimately created a phenomena whose sound and influence was greater than the sum of its parts.
The book also gives us insights that to date have merely been speculation at best. After all, he was there! Great stories of struggles all around: the band, dealing with celebrity, ego, power, creativity….the studio, dealing with a changing of the musical guard, boundries stretched, (or obliterated in some cases), and subsequent adventures after the Beatles moved on to their solo careers.
In his career, Emerick went on to work with Paul McCartney & Wings, the Zombies, Badfinger, Supertramp, America, Jeff Beck, Robin Trower, Split Enz, and Elvis Costello.
A great read, check it out.
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Guest Blog by GuitarJunky
You’ve heard it before I’m sure. YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR! (or not). No middle ground. It’s either or. It’s true no matter what. Cars, restaurants, clothing, yada, yada, yada! Why is it though we put so little value on music and music education that we continue to buy very poor quality guitars? For that matter, trumpets, flutes, saxophones too!
I was asked recently by a friend if buying a “guitar gift pack” from one of the big box retailers would be “good enough” for his child to learn on. You’ve seen them. Cheaply made copies of famous guitars, that usually won’t stay in tune, cheap electronics, and packed with a cord, strap, 3 picks, crappy little amp and a song book. When I replied that I thought it would be perfectly good enough to use for building a campfire, he was somewhat pissed and defensive. “We all can’t be guitar snobs like you!” Hm…apparently, he thought I was going to support his implied opinion of his child’s music ability. You know what I mean…”I don’t want to spend a lot, in case he won’t stick with it,” or ”It’s just a passing phase,” or whatever excuse they can come up with to justify their unwillingness to actually go to a real music store and get a bit of education first and not go so cheap. (Which I suggested he should do)
In an earlier post, I asked the question, “Where are the new guitar players coming from?” In that post I was feeling the world may be moving away from the guitar in lieu of things like “virtual guitar.” I guess I’m not surprised after all at the decline. This “cheap guitar is good enough” idea is a recipe for failure. I’m not suggesting that every beginner needs a brand new Taylor or PRS but I’m totally convinced that you should buy the absolute best quality you can afford. What better way to insure interest? If it sounds good, plays good…you get the idea. There is an abundance of good quality student level guitars out there to choose from. Maybe local retailers need to figure a way to get that message out and not concentrate so much on price leader ads.
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