Among the many opportunities for songwriters to get our songs heard is connecting with independent filmmakers. To get a little more insight into how to approach this, I talked with Tyler Gibb, a talented filmmaker, artist, and songwriter who has experience writing, producing, directing, and promoting film. You can visit his website to learn about his work and view clips of his most recent film “Refrain,” which was selected by the World Film Festival (Montreal 2009) coming up in August. http://www.tylergibb.com.

Q: How did you find the songs for your film?

A: Since “Refrain” itself is a movie about a songwriter, there had to be music for the lead character to appear to write and sing. Therefore, the majority of the music in “Refrain” was written specifically for the film. Most of the lyrics were written by me as I wrote the screenplay, and the musical compositions were written by Vidya Lutchman (who played the lead) and a guitarist by the name of Tom Simpson. The music was written to appear unpolished and off the floor - in keeping with the portrayal of a novice songwriter but sweet and beautiful none the less. All that to say, we needed to write most of it ourselves (Vidya and I are long time partners in songwriting - and in life) so that it would suit the film.

That said, there are still some spots for background songs in the movie that haven’t been assigned yet. We’re still looking for those songs and we’ve been taking our search to the web, mostly on MySpace. And if I could give any advice to musicians out there with MySpace pages it would be: Keep those pages simple, small and clean. If I’m looking for music for my films and I visit your page but it takes five minutes to load and is unsightly - I’m probably going to close the page and move on.

Q: What are some ways songwriters can identify filmmakers and those looking for original music?

A: The internet isn’t a bad way to go about it but I would stress research. Independent films are more prolific than ever and every filmmaker out there is dying to be discovered just as much as an independent musician is. So use those search engines, seek out films and introduce yourself to their producers. Networking is everything.

And don’t underestimate your hometown. If you’re writing songs wherever you are I’d bet someone nearby is trying to write a screenplay. Find them. Work with them. Start your own scene. You can write some music for their short film and in turn they could shoot a video for your band. There’s no wrong way to get your feet wet.

They say you can’t force your way into the film industry, you have to be invited. But no one’s going to invite you in unless you make yourself seen, so work your way up.

Q: In what form do you prefer to receive music submissions - CD, MP3 by email, other?

If a musician sends me a link to their music that has been placed online (either to stream or download) I will definitely check out their music. Unsolicited MP3s sent by email clutter up my email inbox and if I want a CD I’ll ask for it. But having a website, or a MySpace page (that is well built!) means I can visit your music at my own convenience. Though a lot of people I know refuse to visit MySpace pages just because so many of them are out of control. And check your website (an MySpace page) on several computers (including Macs), make sure it works on all of them, some computers give different results.
The Refrain webpage at http://www.tylergibb.com/refrain has a bunch of examples of free media players you can add to you website to play your music and video.

Q: Are there publications, websites, conferences, and festivals that songwriters should frequent in order to develop relationships with filmmakers?

A: There probably are! And I would say this falls into the category of doing some research online for where you can connect with like-minded people. There are festivals that combine film and music and those are definitely on our list of festivals to approach with “Refrain.” I can’t speak about them specifically without having been to them yet, but I’d say any film festival (there’s probably one near you) has got dozens of filmmakers just milling around hoping someone’s going to come and talk to them. Filmmakers talk with each other. And you never know where somebody’s going to be in a year, so get to know some filmmakers who are just starting out, if you connect with them, they’ll remember you.

Q: Is there any other information that may be helpful for songwriters aspiring to get their music heard through film?

A: You will get rejected. But don’t let it get to you. Remember that a rejection doesn’t mean your music isn’t good no matter where that rejection is coming from. Music is subjective, so all a rejection means is that your music may not be suitable for the film you’re hoping to appeal to.
Filmmakers have a vision. My vision while working on “Refrain” was of a young woman who is struggling to write soft, acoustic music. If a heavy metal band had approached me and asked if they could write a song for my film, even if they were a fantastic heavy metal band, that just wouldn’t have been appropriate for the tone of my film. I would have had to reject that band, but it wouldn’t be because they weren’t any good. What would come out of that exchange, however, is that a year later, if I was working on a film that could use some heavy metal music, I’d remember them.

That said, don’t decide not to approach a filmmaker just because you’re trying to guess what will appeal to them. Just introduce yourself, be polite, and make yourself known. Songwriting is an art but finding an audience is a numbers game.

As far as getting heard goes, we’re actually trying out a bit of a musical experiment with Refrain that we’re calling the “Side Project”. Essentially we’re opening up all the music that was written for the film to the interpretation of other musicians. No strings attached, just an open-source project for getting artists to collaborate and create some great music. So far the results have been incredible! The Side Project will launch this summer (join our mailing list to keep tabs on it) at which point it will be open to everybody to participate and be recognized.”

Thanks to Tyler for taking the time to answer these questions. If you’d like to know more, check out his website at http://www.tylergibb.com. And remember - musicians and filmmakers need eachother. If you were moved by Tyler’s work, tell someone about it, and you might even introduce yourself to Tyler in a brief email.

Andrea Stolpe

Beck uploaded a very cool DJ set on SoundCloud:

If you are a musician or blogger, I suggest you check out the SoundCloud service. I’ve been messing around with it this AM - unlimited upload space, commenting ability, embeddable widgets, and as with most online artist service companies, it looks to have some pretty interesting analytics.

You could hum a few notes from Peter Gunn to a hermit in the Himalayas and chances are he’d pull down his shades and start tapping his foot in time to the classic jazz soundtrack of the 50s.  The Pink Panther theme is probably more widely recognized, and liked, than “The Star Spangled Banner.”  Croon a little “Moon River” and generations of movie romantics will get all blubbery and nostalgic.

Just a few of his movie scores: Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Days of Wine and Roses, Charade, Arabesque, The White Dawn, Silver Streak, 10, Victor/Victoria.  Television: Newhart, Remington Steele, What’s Happening, The Blue Knight, The Thornbirds. The stats are substantial:  17 Academy Award Nominations; 4 Oscars, 20 Grammys, 7 gold albums, a Golden Globe.

BONZAI: Do you have any gripes with the scoring industry — anything you would like eliminated?
MANCINI: Well (laughs), first you shoot most of the directors and producers.  That’s a sweeping statement, and there are some that are sweethearts, that are a big asset, and then there are those that are afraid.  You are messing with their baby and you better not put the wrongs clothes on it.

BONZAI: Is that a crushing experience when you come up with something that you feel is lovely, and perfect, and you get shot down?
MANCINI: Yeah, but then there’s the next case, judge.  I don’t take it personally and I consider where its coming from.  Many times when you get shot down, it’s the right decision.  Sometimes you get shot down by your friends, too, you know.  A composer isn’t the end all and the final judge of what is right for the picture.  Sometimes the people who make the picture have an instinct.  I always leave the door open.

Repeat endings are complex shapes that can add a lot of clutter to your notation. Here are a few tips to make them behave.

Here’s a basic first and second ending, right out of the box from Finale. It starts off pretty good.

Certain details of the shape will vary between publishers. The numeral fonts might be different, for example. You might see some of the vertical lines extend all the way down to the bar line. The brackets might be shorter or longer, higher or lower. Some publishers will extend a hook coming down from the right corner of the second ending, so that the brackets look identical. I prefer the way shown, though, so that you can see your escape route.

The default is pretty close to what you generally see among music publishers. One change I’d make, though, is to add a little separation between the vertical lines between the two shapes. Out of the box, they are touching each other:

A little space gives more of sense of separation, like each ending is its own place:

The numerals should be the same distance from the top and the left edge. Sometimes, this gets out of whack, during the course of editing, particularly if things are being adjusted to accommodate notes and chord symbols.

In such cases, move the whole bracket up. Keep chord symbols inside of brackets, not above them. The general rule is to keep more intimate notation elements closer to the notes than the more distantly related ones. Chord symbols are more intimately connected to notes than brackets are, so keep them closer. To make room here, I moved the center lines a teeny tiny bit to the left.

If you have multiple staves, there’s no need to display the ending brackets on every staff of the score (though of course, every part needs them), and doing so adds a lot of clutter.

See how much cleaner the score looks with the brackets only on the top line? And their presence is noticed just fine, like this.

Hi everyone, I’m Julia Polanco, advisor at Berkleemusic. We just launched the Advisor Blog and I wanted to share with you my favorite certificate of the week: the Specialist in Voice Technique and Musicianship.

Being a vocalist, vocal coach and a Berklee Alumni, I can speak from experience when I say that most singers are not always “respected” in a musicians’ world. A common belief is to think that all there is to being a vocalist is singing a melody line and reciting lyrics. Wrong! We are as gifted musically as any other instrumentalist. It is up to us to take our musicianship to the next level, not just to sing along but live our music, understand it, and interpret it like a trumpet player or a piano player would perform their tunes. Yes, your voice is an instrument and a powerful one, so use it right!

Our Specialist Certificate in Voice Technique and Musicianship is a collection of three courses. It will not only take your vocal and technical skills to an advanced level, but your musicianship as well. Add to it your talent and your dedication and it is the recipe to success for a respected and a trusted vocalist. Let’s take a look at the courses included in my favorite certificate.

Music Theory 101 is the key to understanding pulse, meter, triads, basic chord progressions, music notation and its relationship to a comping instrument: the piano. You will learn how to read, write, and notate music. It is extremely important especially when you have to prepare for an audition or for a rehearsal. It is best to know what the lead sheet you are giving your accompanist is about. Finding out as you are performing for the audition of the year that the song you’ve dedicated so much time to is in a different key, that you are out of tune since there was no intro and you didn’t know where to start is mortifying (yes, I’m speaking from experience).

Basic Ear Training 1 will teach you how to identify different parts of a song, rhythm, key signatures, intervals, and major/minor tonics and triads. You will find it especially useful to get your sight-singing skills up to speed and you will love the fact that you can finally hear harmony parts in a song, find your melody line without hearing the backing track, and start to arrange vocal parts for your background vocalists.

Voice Technique 101 is the icing on the cake. You will get rid of bad habits, polish your breathing technique, you will turn into a healthy singer with daily practice routines, you will feel your range expending fast and your voice sound more powerful in no time. Getting rid of bad habits is hard, especially when you’ve been singing “the wrong way” for years. Starting fresh with an excellent foundation and no preconceived ideas is the best thing you can do when it comes to mastering such a delicate and fragile instrument in contemporary music.

I highly recommend this certificate to every inspiring or advanced vocalist out there. No matter what your goal is: whether it is towards your career or your personal growth, the most important thing is to approach it as an art and reach for perfection.

Tonight (Wednesday, July 1), join Berkleemusic business instructors Dave Kusek, George Howard, and Mike King, along with Berkleemusic Dean Debbie Cavalier, on Twitter for a conversation about the state and future of the music industry and their online business courses. Dave, George, Mike, and Debbie will be taking your questions from 9:00-10:00 P.M. EST.

To join, just post a tweet with your question or comment and add the tag #bmusic.

Please join us on Twitter by using the hash tag #bmusic to track the conversation. You can follow the conversation live here at hashtags.org

Here is some more info on following hash tag conversations.

All you need is a Twitter account to participate. It’s free and easy to sign up at twitter.com.

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Check out Berkleemusic’s online music business courses and multi-course certificate programs. Enrollment ends tomorrow (Thursday, July 2) at 5:00 P.M. EST.

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I did a radio show yesterday on NPR on the Future of Music along with Jeff Price from Tunecore and Tim Westergren from Pandora. You can listen to the show online here or download an MP3 of the show.

In a 2002 New York Times article, David Bowie said that “music itself is going to become like running water or electricity….it doesn’t matter if you think it’s exciting or not; it’s what is going to happen.” Now, seven years later, the music industry has continued its rapid metamorphosis. Often referred to as an industry in crisis, coming up Where We Live, we’ll be talking with writers and innovators who say the business of making music has never been better. Ignore the closed up Virgin MegaStore in cities across the country—listening to and making music is still big business. David Kusek, author of The Future of Music: Manifestor for the Digital Music Revolution joins us to talk about the new truths that govern the music world. Also, The founders of Pandora and TuneCore chime in and we’ll be joined in-studio by WNPR’s own Anthony Fantano. From the Connecticut Public Broadcasting Network.

Tonight (Wednesday, July 1), join Berkleemusic business instructors Dave Kusek, George Howard, and Mike King, along with Berkleemusic Dean Debbie Cavalier, on Twitter for a conversation about the state and future of the music industry and their online business courses. Dave, George, Mike, and Debbie will be taking your questions from 9:00-10:00 P.M. EST.

To join, just post a tweet with your question or comment and add the tag #bmusic.

All you need is a Twitter account to participate. It's free and easy to sign up at twitter.com.

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Check out Berkleemusic's online music business courses and multi-course certificate programs. Enrollment ends tomorrow (Thursday, July 2) at 5:00 P.M. EST.

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Hey everyone.

I thought I’d post a short sample from Orchestration II.  I made a quick, narrated screenshot movie of one of the topics.  It covers an example by Aaron Copland, a well-known melody from Appalachain Spring. First, the basic musical material is presented in a piano reduction, and then five orchestrations that Copland used in the piece are shown.

Anyway, I thought it may be interesting to those who have yet to take the course.

As promised, here is Bill Elliott’s version of “Fools Rush In,” as sung by Michael Feinstein. I’ve also included the score in pdf format.

Note that right from the very beginning, Bill lets us know what we are in for with his use of woodwinds. Also note where Bill places the fills and how the strings have a very lush sound because of the range he puts them in.

Enjoy, and feel free to post comments as to your own listening/writing experience.

Fools Rush In Audio

Berkleemusic’s summer term begins today—Monday, June 29th!

There are limited spots still available in over 130 online music courses and programs. Don’t miss your chance to start studying online with Berklee. Enrollment remains open throughout the week.

It’s not too late. Enroll today.

What a week for songwriters and publishers. In the hopes of cutting down the travel costs for everyone in LA, the music publishing and songwriting community seems to have decided to cram all of their NY events into one week, which just so happened to be the last one. On Wednesday there was the AIMP (Association of Independent Music Publishers) luncheon, featuring a live interview with Lava Records president and resident music business raconteur Jason Flom, followed by the NMPA (National Music Publishers Association) cocktail party and annual meeting. Then the next day, all the same faces got together for a big night out at the Songwriters Hall of Fame Awards dinner, an event in which several prominent songwriters each year are invited to be part of a Hall of Fame that after 40 years, still fails to exist in anything but the formidable imaginations of the leaders of the institution. It’s an apt metaphor for the week, actually, in that many discussions are had, much food is consumed, many cocktails imbibed, and in the end, no one has much to show for it all. Meanwhile, back at the office, royalty earnings are in a free fall. Oh well.

Despite the absurdity of a Hall of Fame that has no actual hall, I do have to compliment the Songwriters Hall of Fame on mounting an inspiring evening, which featured amazing performances from a vast array of artists ranging from Bebe Winans, Tom Jones, James Taylor, Chris Daughtry, and Bon Jovi to Andy Williams, Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. (from the Fifth Dimension), Clint Black and Jason Mraz. And that doesn’t even include the stellar cast of songwriters who were honored:

Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora
Crosby Stills and Nash
Felix Cavaliere and Eddie Brigati of The Young Rascals
Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway
Stephen Schwartz
“Hair” composers Galt MacDermot, James Rado, Gerome Ragni
Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Eddie Holland, Jr.
Jason Mraz

What I found particularly interesting about the evening were the acceptance speeches themselves, and the common themes that kept popping up in the thoughts of each legendary songwriter, despite their coming from several different genres and generations. Of course, there was the appreciation of those who had opened doors: early music teachers, early believers in their talent, executives willing to take a gamble, and long-time collaborators who had been there through thick and thin. It’s worth remembering that even as isolated and personal a craft as songwriting is, it is not something one can ultimately do alone. As I say so often in my class at Berkleemusic, Music Publishing 101, and in my book, Making Music Make Money, you can not hope to succeed on any meaningful level without a core team around you– whether it’s fellow songwriters, A&R people, a lawyer, a manager, a handful of interns or all of the above. You can create alone, but you can’t survive as a creator without the help of others who believe in you and what you’re doing.

More importantly, however, the message that seemed to show up in almost every speech from the new members of the Hall of Fame, was the idea of music as a universal language, a way of effecting change, or of touching other people. The idea of songwriting as COMMUNICATION. And it came up again and again, from each writer who accepted an award. Interestingly, what did not get mentioned, or at least not in any notable way, was the idea of songwriting as personal EXPRESSION– a forum to give voice to one’s inner emotional life, to offer opinions on social or political issues, or to exorcise personal demons.

Obviously, we know that both goals, communication and expression, are part of the motivation that makes writers pick up a guitar or go to the piano with a notebook and create a new piece of music. Most of the time, I suspect that it’s the desire for personal expression that gets most writers started on their first songs– a way of letting off some emotional steam when a punching bag is unavailable or someone else is using the phone. In fact, when meeting with developing songwriters, the theme of personal expression comes up more often than anything else. There are lengthy explanations of the situation or relationship that brought the song about, then usually a long, introspective and hopefully in the end, cathartic lyric. Then finally, there is a defensive reaction to any suggestions or criticisms along the lines of “well, I’m not trying to be commercial– this is what I wanted to express”.

While that kind of desire for personal expression was undoubtedly the beginning of all of our creative urges, including those who went on to create classic songs in every different style, what the speeches at the Songwriters Hall of Fame revealed was that the process doesn’t stop there. What makes the Hall of Famers great is that somewhere in their development, they have learned to move from expression, to communication — and that made all the difference in their careers. They can use their personal experience as a window into understanding universal emotions– and their desire is to express those universal feelings in a way that can touch other people– listeners who don’t know (or care) why or how the song came to be, but relate it to their own experience and find that it has meaning. Several of the inductees spoke about the idea that there is really “one universal song” that stretches throughout time and across cultures, and that they, as individual songwriters, had simply offered their own interpretation of it. This just means that they may use their own emotions, their individual social and political agenda, or their own deep personal angst or soul-searching as the impetus for an idea– but once they move to writing the song, they seek to find the universal truth or emotion that makes the song about something larger than themselves.

As I say in my new book, The Billboard Guide To Writing and Producing Songs that Sell, at some point a songwriter has to decide what he or she wants to achieve with songwriting, and the ultimate choice is between expression and communication. Expression is relatively easy, and impossible to judge. If you set out to express something personal, who am I to tell you that it failed? It’s an entirely subjective process. Conversely, communication is far more difficult (how hard is it just to explain a simple task to your colleague at work?) and the success of the communication lies entirely in the eyes of the beholder. If I set out to communicate something and you don’t get it, then I didn’t do it right.

Objective criteria, whether it’s the size of an audience, the response of the audience, or the sales figures of a record, are all reasonably valid means of measuring how successfully a song communicates. No one watches the Billboard charts more closely than the top songwriters. They’re not content to simply express their emotions and put it out into the marketplace. They want to see whether or not people “get it”, whether or not they have touched an emotional chord.

There is a word that describes the act of writing songs for the intention of personal expression. That word is “hobby”. It’s an excellent place to start in the creative process, but not a very interesting place to end. It’s not really a question of being “commercial” versus “non-commercial”. If you write songs that communicate to others, you will find a reasonable, if variable, degree of commercial success, whether you’re Bob Dylan or Max Martin, Leonard Cohen or Jon Bon Jovi.

In an otherwise dispiriting and depressing interview at the AIMP luncheon, record label president Jason Flom (pictured) brought up what has been the elephant in the room of the music industry for over 10 years now. “Where” he asked, “have all the musical geniuses gone?” “Why has this generation not produced even one musical genius on the level of Dylan or Sly Stone, or John Lennon, or Prince?” It’s not something the industry likes to talk about– given the promo departments’ job of trying to convince the public that each new release is the seminal work of a musical genius that they can’t live without.
But it’s something that every serious person in the music business has contemplated, especially as the business has disintegrated over the past five years.

Personally, I think some of the answer lies in the balance– specifically, the balance of personal expression and communication. Somewhere over the past decade, songwriters and artists have quit trying to reach a mass audience with something universal, and settled for reaching a small group of people with a very specialized, narrowly focused, introspective yet public form of self-analysis.

Songs that are primarily intended as personal expression are no different than long, self-indulgent guitar solos, or endless pontificating by the lead singer– they are, as James Brown would have said, “talking loud, and saying nothing”. And the audience endures them, then shuffles quietly out of the club. On the other hand, songs that communicate are probably the one thing keeping the industry alive at all. In fact, they are the only reason our business can or should exist. What the great songwriters will tell you is that if you write one song that communicates on a universal level, it will change your career, as well as the lives of those who hear it. A song like that might even land you in the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Wherever that may be…

Great post from Mashable about how artists are creating upgrades and enhancements to music business models. Earlier Mike King reported in his blog how Amanda Palmer made $19,000 online using Twitter on a Friday night. The important thing is not the fact that she used Twitter, but that she found a way to engage her fans and make money, on top of the traditional approach of trying to sell CDs or tickets.

“Amanda is not producing money out of thin air, or by swindling some people into buying something they do not want. She’s engaging her fans who are glad to be able to buy some merchandise directly from the artist. Secondly, she’s not a professional PR or a marketing professional; she did it by engaging her audience through the simple tools at her disposal.

Which brings me to my most important point: Twitter is just a tool in this case. Her 30,000 Twitter followers aren’t just people who she followed and then they followed her back; they’re not some random mass of people who just happen to be following Amanda Palmer. They’re her fans, which means that any artist who has fans can do the exact same thing. It’s not a one-time thing or a passing fad: true fans will always be interested in buying a t-shirt, attending a secret gig, or getting their record signed.

We’re still at a very early stage in the online music revolution. Soon, artists will have a multitude of tools to help them communicate with their audience, offer them extra value and, last but not least, make money.

Ultimately, we’re not talking only about replacing current business models; we’re talking about upgrading them; finding new, better business models. You think that the music business is fine as it is? It’s not. It scales awfully. It’s great if you’re hugely popular, but if you’re an indie artist, the big record companies don’t care much about you. As Amanda bluntly puts it:

“TOTAL MADE THIS MONTH USING TWITTER = $19,000
TOTAL MADE FROM 30,000 RECORD SALES = ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.“

These new tools, such as Twitter, will help the entire music business scale much, much better. Very popular musicians such as Radiohead will still make a lot of money. But relatively unknown artists, by promoting their work and selling stuff directly to the fans, using free or inexpensive online tools, will be able to make a better living than they do right now. The future might not be very bright for the big record companies, but it is indeed bright for the artists.”

Read more here at Mashable.

Every term, without fail, I get a few assignments handed in with all of a mixer’s solo buttons enabled. The usual problem seems go something like this, “I turned a solo button on and it muted all of the other channels on the mixer. I’m not sure what happened but in order to hear my mix again I had to turn all of the solo buttons on.” As ridiculous as this might sound to a pro, it’s a common mistake for beginners. If you don’t know what the purpose of the solo button is you’re not going to understand what’s going on when you press it. So, let’s clear this up once and for all.

At its core, the solo button on a mixer channel allows you to quickly audition a signal all by itself, or with a group of other solo enabled channels, without needing to mute all of the channels that you don’t want to hear. For example, if you see a signal on Channel 10 but you’re not sure what it is because you haven’t labeled that channel yet, press the channel’s solo button. Or, if your need to have a closer listen to the blend on a three part vocal harmony, press the solo buttons on all three harmony channels and instantly mute all of the other tracks in your mix. Then, to return your mixer to its normal monitoring mode, turn off all the solo buttons. Pro mix engineers are constantly switching back and forth between listening to soloed signals and the whole mix as they’re working.

The obvious reason why you don’t want to leave mixer channels in solo mode is because you might have a channel muted somewhere on your mixer that’s supposed to be in your mix. It’s easy to hear if you’re missing something really obvious like a guitar or vocal part, but you might not so easily realize that you’re missing an aux effect return channel. For example, if you’ve soloed a bunch of tracks your reverb return channel might be muted, and, consequently, you’d be missing much of the depth and space in your mix that was being created by your group reverb effect. (If you’re not sure about how a group reverb effect works, check out my earlier blog titled, “Let’s Talk Reverb“.)

At this juncture, it’s worth noting that there will be channels you never want muted when you press a solo button. For example, if you always want to hear a soloed track with its group reverb effect intact. Or, when you have a MIDI control track that always needs to be running in the background (such as a drum track or controller data). In these situations, you never want the tracks muted when you solo a mixer channel. So, to safeguard these tracks the best designed mixers have a function called solo-safe which allows you to disable the track mute action for those channels in solo-safe mode. For example, in Digidesign’s Pro Tools you press Command (Mac), or Control (PC) and click on a solo button to enable a channel’s solo-safe mode.

It’s also worth noting that there are several different types of solo modes, dependent on the level of mixer (hardware or software) that you’re using. Top of the line pro mixers may have three or four different solo modes that you can switch between, while a basic home studio mixer usually just has one set solo mode. The two most common modes that you need to understand are latching and canceling. They may have different names dependent on the mixer’s manufacturer, but they will always operate in the same basic fashion. On a mixer with latching solo the solo button stays on until you turn it off. You can keep pressing solo buttons and they will all stay on until you turn each one off. On a mixer with canceling solo pressing a solo button turns it on and pressing another solo button turns the last solo button off. Consequently, in canceling mode you can only have one channel soloed at a time unless you hold down a modifier key while pressing additional solo buttons (such as the Shift key in Pro Tools).

I wish every mixer had, at the very least, these two basic solo modes. However, more often than not most mixers only feature the latching solo mode. And, those mixers that do have both modes are usually set by default to latching. Though, I can’t help but think that having the default solo mode set, instead, to canceling would help beginners avoid a lot of confusion. This, and Mackie’s brilliant feature on their hardware mixers, the Rude Solo Light. It’s a big red indicator that let’s you know whether you have a solo button engaged somewhere on your mixer. Indeed, novices and pros alike can use this feature because when a mixer contains a ton of channels and a solo button is accidentally left on somewhere on the mixer, especially on a channel that has little or no audio, trying to figure out where all of your sound went can leave even the best producer scratching his (or, her) head for a minute.

photo credit: inweaknessbe’s photostream

Pat Pattison is a world-renowned lyric writing instructor. In addition to being a Professor at Berklee College of Music, he presents songwriting clinics all around the world. Pat has taught thousands of aspiring songwriters and several of his students have won Grammys, including John Mayer and Gillian Welch.

Every time I have the good fortune to see Pat “in action” with a student and a song, I’m amazed by his ability to transform songs from good to great in a matter of minutes with very practical techniques. Here’s one example:

We are very fortunate at Berkleemusic to have three online Lyric Writing courses authored by Pat. I can tell you firsthand they are outstanding courses that will change the way you write and provide you with a powerful songwriting toolkit to use for years to come.

Classes start on Monday!

While I’m preparing the agenda for the online music business chats I’m hosting tonight (discussion items so far: the effect Apple’s variable pricing has on publisher’s income, Sarkozy’s thoughts on the three strikes rule, direct to fan marketing techniques, and more), I thought to drop a quick note here to say that our next term here at Berkleemusic begins this Monday. There’s little I like more than to talk about music and the music industry, and I’m lucky for the opportunity to do that with 19 other folks from around the world on a weekly basis. If anyone is interested about what studying music business online is like, I’d be happy to give you some background. Direct message me here: www.twitter.com/atomzooey

I am very passionate about the orchestral tradition and the fate of the modern orchestra. My choice to live in Boston was indeed influenced by the presence of not only the BSO but so many other fine orchestras and performing groups supported in our fine city. Many people I meet are surprised to hear me speak about my background as a classical musician and then to find that I work in video games, but for me, it is the perfect combination. In fact, some of the scores for games coming out today are simply amazing.

A former student (thanks Mitchell) sent me this link to a NY Times article this past holiday break. In it you can start to get a glimpse of the depth of this new media scoring and how it is breaking new ground for composers and musicians alike. Those of you who know me, know that one of my favorite games last year was 2k’s BioShock. I willed myself to finish the game (it is quite a bit more graphic than most games I enjoy) just to hear the music! Much has been written about the music, and unfortunately few people outside of the video game world have experienced the truly exquisite juxtaposition between the licensed period pieces like Django Reinhardt’s “La Mer” and Billie Holiday’s “Night and Day” and “God Bless this Child” with Garry Schyman’s 21st century classical score.

For those of you that doubt a video game could be the source of a great score, take a listen to the download on 2k’s website. Direct download here.

Game music is steamrolling ahead! Losing the limitations of older game hardware has made it possible for composers to expand to the point where they can fully express themselves in this medium. Berklee continues to push the envelope… we’ve been training composers, musicians and sound designers for decades, alums like Howard Shore and Olivier Deriviere are even mentioned in the NY Times article. Another alum, Shota Nakama, is spearheading performances of game scores on campus through his organization, the Video Game Orchestra (VGO). Through things like our courses on campus, online and even for the younger crowd through our summer programs I can only imagine the great music we’ll be hearing in the coming years in the virtual and physical school halls!

Skilled composers, comfortable with an orchestra, now have a new horizon… and that horizon is simply amazing!

When I tell people that I teach songwriting courses for Berkleemusic.com, it always inspires an interesting conversation. The first question usually is, ‘can songwriting be taught?’ followed closely by ‘how can one teach songwriting online?’

Having been on both sides of the fence with a music degree from the brick and mortar college and now teaching online, I’ve had the benefit of seeing the inner workings of each. I’d like to try to outline some of their value, and talk about which path a songwriter desiring a career in the industry might follow.

Music is often viewed as an elusive art, as something that speaks to the soul rather than something understood by the mind. My experience as a songwriter in the commercial music industry has taught me that whether I enjoy it or not, at some point, my brains do need to be involved. From understanding my own strengths and weaknesses as a writer, taking feedback from my publisher and applying those suggestions, pitching to specific artists looking for songs, and expanding my business network through co-writing and other opportunities, I realized early on that I would never stop learning. I learned from co-writers how to craft songs, from publishers how to rewrite and rewrite again, and from meetings with label executives where my own perspective on the pitchability of my songs drifted from the industry’s perspective. Many of these opportunities to learn were available to me because I had a foundation of tools for the craft that I had gained through my music degree.

This foundation included basic tools and strategies for songwriting, the very same tools taught in Berkleemusic.com’s online songwriting program. Integral to any songwriter wanting to write better songs is consistent practice. With consistent practice comes greater awareness of our own strengths and weaknesses, and how we use or don’t use elements that are effective in songs across all genres. With this awareness comes the ability to control these elements, and that means better songs more of the time.

What I received as part of my music degree was personal, weekly feedback on my writing from an experienced writer. I also received peer feedback, and had the opportunity to give feedback as well. I began to grow the confidence I’d need to start promoting my own music in the field. I had the opportunity to visit my instructor during a weekly office hour to discuss any questions I had regarding my writing, my goals, and my future. I attended the brick and mortar school because I wanted a true 4-year college experience, and that is what I got.

Comparing this brick and mortar experience with an online experience, we find similar elements and some additional perks. We have the opportunity to play our songs for peers and experienced instructors for feedback. We have weekly chat hours where a relationship with these peers and instructors can be built. What’s more, we have daily writing assignments instead of weekly assignments, flexibility to complete the assignments when it is convenient throughout the day, and an opportunity to network with others with similar goals. We can even find co-writers and support groups to keep us writing and pursuing our art, whether that be as a paid writer or as a hobbyist looking for greater fulfillment through the process of creativity. Its drawback is also its benefit - those looking for a 4-year college experience won’t find it online. What they will find is a supportive, diverse community and quality education they can access from the comfort of their own livingroom. There is no need to uproot our family or our jobs, and the financial commitment is light enough to help us take one step at a time towards our songwriting goals.

If you’re on the fence about whether to take the plunge and enroll in an online songwriting course, take a few minutes and talk with an enrollment adviser. Discuss your concerns openly and gather more information to make an informed decision. Many aspiring artists and writers are surprised at how easy it is to get involved, and how far-reaching are the benefits.

A few courses I recommend as you’re getting started:

Lyric Writing:
Tools and Strategies
Writing From the Title

Music and Lyric:
Commercial Songwriting Techniques
Songwriting Workshop: Melody
Songwriting Workshop: Harmony

Andrea Stolpe

Great post from Amanda Palmer of the Dresdon Dolls on using online media to connecting directly with fans and make $$$. Love the creativity here…

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From: Amanda Palmer
Subject: twitter power, or “how an indie musician can make $19,000 in 10 hours using twitter”

this story has just been blowing people’s minds so i figures i should write it down.

1.
FRIDAY NIGHT LOSERS T-SHIRT, $11,000

about a month ago, i was at home on a friday night (loser that i often am when i’m not touring, i almost never go out) and was, of course, on my mac, shifting between emails, links and occasionally doing some dishes and packing for a trip the next day. just a usual friday-night-rock-star-multi-tasking extravaganza.

i twitter whenever i’m online, i love the way it gives me a direct line of communication with my fans and friends.

i had already seen the power of twitter while touring…using twitter i’d gathered crowds of sometimes 200 fans with a DAY’S notice to come out and meet me in public spaces (parks, mostly) where i would play ukulele, sign, hug, take pictures, eat cake, and generally hang out and connect. this was especially helpful in the cities where we’d been unable to book all-ages gigs and there were crushed teenagers who were really grateful to have a shot at connecting with me & the community of amanda/dolls fans.

i’d also been using twitter to organize ACTUAL last-minute gigs…i twittered a secret gig in LA one morning and about 350 folks showed up 5 hours later at a warehouse space….i played piano, filmed by current.tv, and then (different camera crew) did an interview with afterellen.com.
the important thing to undertsand here is that the fans were never part of the plan..,i basically just INVITED my fans to a press day, the press didnt’ plan it…i did.
i was going to be playing in an empty room and doing q&a with afterellen on a coach with only the camera watching.
it was like….why not tell people and do this in a warehouse instead of a hotel lobby or a blank studio? so i did.

it cost me almost nothing. the fans were psyched.

but back to the bigger, cooler story….

so there i am, alone on friday night and i make a joke on twitter (which goes out to whichever of my 30,000 followers are online):

“i hereby call THE LOSERS OF FRIDAY NIGHT ON THEIR COMPUTERS to ORDER, motherfucker.”
9:15 PM May 15th from web

one thing led to another, and the next thing you know there were thousands of us and we’d become the #1 topic trend on twitter.
zoe keating described it as a “virtual flash mob”.

the way twitter works (if you don’t have it) is that certain topics can include a hashtag (#) and if a gazillion people start making posts that include that hashtag, the topic will zoom up the charts of what people are currently discussing. it’s a cool feature.

so anyway, there we were, virtually hanging out on twitter on a friday night. very pleased with ourselves for being such a large group, and cracking jokes.

how do you “hang out” on the internet? well, we collectively came up with a list of things that the government should do for us (free government-issued sweatpants, pizza and ponies, no tax on coffee), AND created a t-shirt.
thank god my web guy sean was awake and being a loser with me on friday night because he throw up the webpage WHILE we were having our twitter party and people started ordering the shirts - that i designed in SHARPIE in realtime) and a slogan that someone suggested: “DON’T STAND UP FOR WHAT’S RIGHT, STAY IN FOR WHAT’S WRONG”. neil gaiman and wil wheaton joined our party. the fdnas felt super-special.

by the end of the night, we’d sold 200 shirts off the quickie site (paypal only) that sean had set up.
i blogged the whole story the next day and in total, in the matter of a few days, we sold over 400 shirts, for $25/ea.

we ended up grossing OVER $11,000 on the shirts.
my assistant beth had the shirts printed up ASAP and mailed them from her apartment.

total made on twitter in two hours = $11,000.
total made from my huge-ass ben-folds produced-major-label solo album this year = $0

2.
WEBCAST AUCTION, $6000

a few nights after that, i blogged and twittered, announcing a “webcast auction” from my apartment.
it went from 6 pm - 9 pm, my assitant beth sat at my side and kept her eyes on incoming bids and twitter feed.
while we hocked weird goods, i sang songs and answered questions from fans. we wore kimonos and drank wine. it was a blast.

people on twitter who were tuned in re-tweeted to other fans. the word spread that it was a fun place to be and watch.
we had, at peak, about 2000 people watching the webcast.

at the suggestion of a fan early in the webcastm anyone could, on demand, send us $20 via paypal and we would chew,
sign and mail them a postcard. we sold about 70, and we read all those names at the end of the webcast and thanked those
people for supporting us. here’s how the sales broke down:

all the items were signed by moi and hand-packed by beth and kayla._ the items and highest bidders were as follows:_ hilary, ukulele used on the european tour: $640 _jake, “guitar hero” plastic guitar controller used in album promo shoot: $250_ lary b, copy neo2 magazine, plus two post-war trade slap-bracelets & a crime-photo set: $230_ devi, glass dildo, with subtley-sordid backstory: $560 _liz b., “hipsters ruin everything” t-shirt, made by blake (get your very own here!!!!): $155.55_shannon m., my bill bryson book, a short history of neary everything: $280_ nikki, huge metal “the establishment” sign, used at rothbury festival for the circus tent i curated: $450 _j.r., purple velvet “A” dress used in the dresden dolls coin-operated boy video shoot: $400_ jessie & alan: who killed amanda palmer vinyl: $100_ nikki: wine bottle, auctioned BY REQUEST!!! $320 _shannon w., torn-to-shit vintage stockings used in the who killed amanda palmer/ michael pope video series: $200 _jodi,
school-note-book break-up letter, written to amanda from jonas woolverton in 7th grade (i still haven’t emailed him about that….): $250_ daryl, ANOTHER wine bottle, by request, that we had LYING AROUND: $320
and…………..
reto emailed, having barely missed the wine bottle, and asked us to send him “something funny” for $129.99. we sent a heath ledger statuette.

total made on twitter in 3 hours, including the postcards, was over $6000.
again, total made on my major-label solo album this year: $0

3.
TWITTER DONATION-ONLY GIG, $1800

a few days later, i twittered a guest-list only event in a recording studio in boston, to take place a week later.
the gig lasted about 5 hours, all told, with soundcheck and signing. i took mostly requests and we had a grand old time.
first come, first served. the first 200 people to ask got in, for free. i asked for donations and made about $2200 in cash.
i gave $400 back to the studio for the space and the help. we sold some weird merch. i think we should call it an even 2k.

total made at last-minute secret twitter gig, in about 5 hours = $2000
major-label record blah blah blah = $0

…..and for fun, and to thank my fans for being awesome, i’ve been doing some twitter perfomance art, including answering their questions by magic-markering my body until it’s covered, and displaying time-lapse make-up application advice….but that’s another story.

TOTAL MADE THIS MONTH USING TWITTER = $19,000
TOTAL MADE FROM 30,000 RECORD SALES = ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

turn on, tune in, get dropped!!!!!

love,
amanda fucking palmer
http://www.amandapalmer.net
http://www.dresdendolls.com

p.s.
if you want to read the full blogs and see the pictures from the #LOFNOTC events, i blogged here:

1. the friday night that started it all:
http://blog.amandapalmer.net/post/111667948/twitter-the-beautiful-losers-lofnotc

2. the webcast and magic-marker/make-up mayhem:
http://blog.amandapalmer.net/post/127401792/wasnt-this-supposed-to-be-my-fucking-week-off

If you are considering taking my course, here are some links to help in your search:

• The official info on the course.
• Check out week 5 and learn about Sampler for free.
• A short interview with me about the course.

Have a look around my blog and get a feel for my teaching style. As of Summer ‘09 I am the only instructor for the course, so included with the course is 12 weeks of my advice and support; here is my weekly approach:

• All grading is done on Monday; an announcement is made regarding that week’s material and any class-related specifics like chat time changes.
• An assignment is due each week, usually an mp3 and a post about it. While grading I reply to every assignment and post.
• The voluntary chat times function as both meeting places and virtual classrooms for extra topics: rewire, sound design, advanced sampling, production analysis, and student suggestions.
• A full featured discussion board is used for day-to-day questions. Off-topic discussions and student collaborations are encouraged.
• Required discussion questions are included in the course material. By posting links, analyzing tunes, and problem solving in Live, classmates talk about what was discovered in and out of the class.

Created with the word “advanced” in mind, this course challenges even the best student. Ableton Live itself is unusual and the composition and sound design techniques unique to the program are highlighted. Students familiar with other DAW’s are often surprised how a new approach can inspire new ideas.

Full of my personal discoveries and techniques, the material in this course can only be found here. It was a pleasure to create the thousands of words, hundreds of screenshots, hours of video, and many tunes that when into the course. I hope that you can share in my musical discoveries.

Have Fun. Make Music.
-L-Don

Hey, it’s Amy Heidemann!  Like my fellow advisor Liam mentioned, we get to chat with students everyday, so we wanted to feature a “Weekly Favorite” Certificate Program to give you guys the inside scoop.  I’m actually in the midst of the Master Certificate in Music Business and Technology myself, so you’re getting the DIRECT inside scoop here…

My ultimate career goal is to be a self-sufficient artist.  I want to write, perform, record, produce, and market my music!  The reason I chose the Music Business and Technology Master Certificate is because I already have a pretty solid background in performance and songwriting.  I wanted a program to teach me the business lingo and important topics on royalties, publishing laws, and marketing techniques for getting my music out there.  I also needed to know how to record my own, professional sounding demos at home.  There are so many great Certificates to chose from, so why this particular one?

First, I like that it splits Business and Technology right down the middle.  You get half business courses (all essentials for any artist or producer) and half technology or production-based courses.  Hiring a lawyer to consult me about that certain paragraph on a contract or agreement about money issues just doesn’t sit right.  I want to know the basics on how to read contracts and get what I want in terms of revenue and copyright ownership. On the other hand, when I write a song or want to put something down, I can just flip on my system and go!  I am also excited to learn how to edit my performances, tweak the vocal sound, and get a real effective demo put online as an mp3.  Paying $50 -$100 per hour at a studio got very frustrating, especially when it didn’t come out sounding the way I wanted.

Finally, after you’ve gotten into Publishing, Marketing, Recording, Producing, and other valuable areas of study, you have three elective courses.  I chose Critical Listening 1 because I had some issues with feedback and noise interference in my audio tracks.  Finding the solution for this can take a good amount of trouble-shooting, so I figured, why not eliminate it entirely?

Since I chose the Critical Listening course from the provided list of “Recommended Electives,” I am now able to choose the other two electives from ANYWHERE in the catalog.  So, naturally I took a guitar course (so much fun)! Rhythm and Groove Guitar with Bruce Bartlett taught me the real meaning of “pocket.”  Now my rhythm playing/accompaniment to my singing is a lot more natural sounding and diversified.  Prior to this course, I caught myself playing only one rhythmic figure—problem solved.  I’ll be saving my final elective for later because I’ve heard Berkleemusic is launching some awesome new courses this Fall.  In fact, Berkleemusic launches new courses almost every term—so why get tied down?

In conclusion, the Master Certificate in Music Business and Technology is a fantastic program that fits me perfectly.  I’ve recommended it for many other students who have similar interests and they always seem very relieved that there’s a Certificate Program that fits their goals so perfectly.  Get in touch with a Student Advisor if you’d like to find out if this is a good fit for you. If not, there are many other Certificates we’ll be featuring in later weeks.

If so, I’ll see you in class!!

In time for our summer term (which begins in just one week, on June 29), Berkleemusic is excited to expand our online curriculum even further into the field of songwriting for visual media. We’ve launched a brand new online course, as well as a new multi-course Master Certificate program.

Songwriting for Film and TV (12-week course)
Explore the techniques of writing music that will appeal specifically to music supervisors, editors, directors, and producers across any number of different genres.

Master Certificate in Orchestration for Film and TV (8-course program)
This extensive new program will arm you with the necessary skills to write and orchestrate songs to perfectly complement film and television, provide you with valuable placement techniques for your compositions, and offer you the most up-to-date tools and information to make you a more marketable songwriter and composer. This eight course program includes:

• Arranging 1: Rhythm Section
• Songwriting for Film and TV
• Orchestration 1
• Orchestration 2
• Film Scoring 101
• plus 3 electives

It’s not too late to enroll in a Berkleemusic online course or program for this summer. Our next term begins next Monday, June 29. Learn more at Berkleemusic.com.

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Meet the Instructor: Brad Hatfield
Songwriting for Film and TV course author and instructor Brad Hatfield is an Emmy-winning composer and one of Boston’s most prolific musicians. His compositions have been heard in movies such as Borat, Analyze This, and Cop Land, as well as dozens of TV series including The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, ER, and CSI.Watch this video interview with Brad to learn more.

Have you ever played a gig and absolutely loved your tone at the beginning of the night….then somehow as the evening progressed, you found it increasingly more difficult to get a good sound when you took solos? Does the volume of your amp seem to creep up after every song?

This is something I have been thinking about for about for many many years. Some of you might be able to relate.

How many times have you heard the soundman say “Turn your stage volume down!!” at the beginning of the evening, even if you have your amp on the 20w setting with hardly any volume? So you turn down. After the first couple of songs, as the crowd gathers in front of the stage, every other instrument in the band is louder than the guitar, and everyone in the audience complains that they can’t hear your guitar solos?? Hmmm….Well here are some thoughts of mine on what I call the dynamic tone effect. (Hey, it sounds good to me!)

Here is the scenario that used to play out. At the beginning of the gig, after the sound-check and the first song (which is usually used in the set to get adjusted to the levels) I would feel very comfortable with my solos; in control and restrained like the ninja who sees everything in slow motion and can think with clarity about his next move. However, as the evening would progress, with each song, I would find myself constantly adjusting, trying to reclaim my former tonal composure, wondering if my previous feelings of satisfaction were all just in my head. Well…There seem to be a number of things at work here that just might be somewhat scientific. Here are some thoughts on what is happening and how I have learnt to deal with this.

Usually things start to sound different as the night progresses for a number of real reasons:

1) We get used to louder volumes over time. As a result, they way we hear is affected, which affects the way we play which affects the tone. Over time, at loud volumes, our ears attenuate all frequencies. However, high frequencies suffer the most.

2) The room/hall/theatre sounds acoustically different once the crowd comes. At sound-check, the sound leaves the stage and bounces from the back of the room back to our ears. The higher frequencies are more directional and travel more efficiently than the low frequencies. The guitar might be perceived as being louder at this point in the evening. As the crowd gathers, the bodies and clothing effectively block the higher frequencies.

3) The increasing humidity in the affects the way sound travels. As the crowd drinks, breathes and sweats the humidity in the room increases. The effect is small but scientific.

4) Your amplifier warms up. If you are using a tube amp, (even though, this should only be after a few minutes) once your power tubes are up and running hot, your amp might experience a slight change in tone. Not much but just enough to make you adjust your playing.

5) Overall band volume changes. Usually volume goes up! You turn up to compete and thus the quality of your tone will change. You may be pushing your power tubes more at this stage, depending on wattage. The tone section of your amp may be gain driven, so an increase in volume may result in a disproportionate increase in the overall setting of your bass, mid and high’s.

Now these factors in combination just might be enough to demand and active tweaking of your tone as the night progresses and songs and dynamics change. I have, through the years come up with a few solutions. I call this Dynamic Tone Tweaking. (Sounds good to me.)

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Amplifier: The amplifier I choose to use for a number of reasons is the Working Dog Rottweiler, made my George Alessandro.The reasons why this is my amplifier of choice are:

• It is a light yet powerful 40w.
• It has great tone
• It has what amounts to an attenuator, a final output volume (not a master volume). The Final Output Volume allows you to get the same tube driven tones at different, especially lower, volumes.

Application: Throughout the course of an evening, I use this final output control to achieve the desired effect of clean at high volumes, crunch at lower volumes or any variation in between. At the beginning of the evening, I can get away with half power (happy sound-man) to get the rhythm clean I need, and still the crunch and dirt on power chords I need without being too grungy. As the evening progresses I need full 40w power to get clean rhythm tones. I also actively use the creamy/jangly switch, going back and forth depending on feel and dynamics of the tune being played.

Of note: I always choose to put my amp on the floor for most club gigs. In situations where there is adequate sound re-inforcement on the stage, (e.g. monitors and a mic that feeds the amp into a large house or theatre system) then this matters less. However, for gigs where I am depending on my amp for the guitar mix in the band, this is a must for me. High frequencies are very directional are readily blocked and absorbed by the folks in the club. If the amp is pointed up at you, as is the case if the amp is placed on a stand, chances are, the high frequencies are not making it to the back of the room. The sound you are hearing is not the sound that the audience hears. If the amp is on the floor, granted, there will be a few in the front of the stage who might overdose on higher frequencies, but the rest will hear your amp the way you are hearing it…the indirect and reflected sound. Hence, a more accurate representation of what is actually happening sonically between your playing and your responding to the sounds that you are hearing as you play.

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Overdrive Pedal: I use a pedal called Ethos Overdrive.The reasons why I use this pedal are:

• Very smooth very clean overdrive pedal. No fizz or Buzz
• 2 fully tweakable channels with 3 band EQ, plus a clean boost tone bypass, effectively giving you 4 options for tone. Clean channel, Overdrive Channel, Boost, and Bypass
• It has an overall hi-cut control.
• Useful for situations where a back line is provided. You can take a tone that you are used to everywhere you go.

Application: Perception of high frequencies change as the evening progresses and the natural aural attenuation occurs. I can use the hi-cut/add to change my high frequencies as the night progresses without changing my tone on the individual channels. In addition, I use this pedal dynamically as the night progresses. At the beginning of the evening I use the overdrive channel to get saturated, sustained tones. As the night progresses, I only need to use the boost in the clean channel to achieve the same effect. My amplifiers power tubes are humming and are giving me great sustain and smooth overdrive with little else than the clean channel of this pedal.

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Guitar Tone/Volume Controls: As I mentioned in my last post, lately I have been using a Fender Highway One Stratocaster . The Strat has a very wide range of tone controls which provide ample ammunition for cutting through just about any mix on the fly.

Application: The 5 postition tone switch gets it’s work out as the night progress. I find myself playing more in positions 4 and 5 as the night progresses to either cut through when playing a solo, or to get cleaner rhythm parts. High frequencies demand less power, so my amp can stay relatively clean on a back pickup with the amp at full blast and yet a simple flip of the 5 position switch to position one brings out the lower frequency crunch on demand. In addition I can make use of the volume and tone pots as the volume and dynamics changes.

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Well there you have some of my thoughts on this tricky subject…I will agree there is not much in the way of scientific data in this post, and some might feel it necessary to substantiate some of my claims. In addition, there are any number of pedal combinations that can be added to the mix to achieve more in the way of dynamics and compression, but I thought I would start with the basics.

Some of this might sound like a lot…but I think the end result is that your tone becomes as dynamic and as interesting as that of a good public speaker…I get some good compliments on my tone at shows but honestly I think it is primarily because I try to keep things moving along in a way that takes the listener on a tonal journey. I do this using the Dynamic Tone Effect along with some of those articulation devices that I talk about in my on-line course, Funk/Rock and R&B Guitar Soloing.

I am very interested to hear what some of your experiences are in this respect…

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Video of the Week:This week is one of my favorite Jimi solos for dynamics and tonal variation…actually one of my favorite Jimi Solos, period…

Liam McCormack here. I am a Student Advisor at Berkleemusic. Welcome to Studying Music Online, our new advisor blog, where you’ll get the inside scoop on what’s happening at Berkleemusic, in and out of the online classroom.

I know that many of you have spoken to us via phone and email, but I wanted to give you a bit more insight into our Advising team and all of our responsibilities at Berkleemusic.

Within our Advising team, there are two sides: Recruitment and Retention.

The Recruitment Advisor’s main responsibilities are to educate potential students about the many details of the Berkleemusic online learning experience. For example, how our courses function, which course is best for the student’s goals, how financing works, our affiliation with Berklee College of Music, our certificate programs, and more.

The Recruitment Advisors keep in touch with the student as they make decisions about their enrollment plans, answering any questions along the way, up until the point where the student actually enrolls in a course or certificate program.

At that point, the student is assigned to a specific Retention Advisor.

The student’s Retention Advisor is now their permanent Advisor contact at Berkleemusic. The Retention Advisor’s responsibilities are to help the student with any questions about our academic policies, help them pick courses for the future, guide them through scheduling their certificate programs, check in on them throughout their studies to see how things are going, etc.

The Recruitment and Retention team all work in the same space in our office which allows our tight knit group to communicate with ease and assist our students throughout their Berkleemusic experience.

I hope this insight is informative and helpful to you and I encourage you to contact the Advisors with any questions you may have!

1-866-BERKLEE (USA)
+1 617 747 2146 (Intl)
advisors@berkleemusic.com

Hey folks -

If you’ve been checking out this blog and you’re interested in learning production techniques using Pro Tools with me, why not sign up for my class? Its called Producing with Pro Tools. Here’s the course description:

Producing with Pro Tools will help you learn professional recording and producing techniques utilizing Digidesign’s Pro Tools software, the industry standard in music production. Throughout the course, I will help you hone your production and engineering skills through hands-on activities using Pro Tools, interaction with other students, and personalized instructor feedback.

Learning in an online environment might be new to you, yet all of the same elements exist from regular classroom learning, with a few notable improvements.

* Lectures are replaced by guided, hands-on practice.
* You can learn at your own pace.
* You can interact, collaborate, and trade files with me and your classmates easily in chat and Discussion Board.
* You can ask dumb questions or carry on deep discussions with personal stories while remaining somewhat anonymous.
* You can visit me in my virtual office hours from any time zone.

By the end of this course, you will be able to

* use Pro Tools to record and edit audio and MIDI files
* operate Pro Tools with a well-rounded knowledge of the software, including many keyboard shortcuts and other timesaving techniques
* master many basic and advanced functions within Pro Tools
* set up your home studio equipment and recording environment to maximize efficiency and sound quality
* apply your knowledge of the production process to all of your current and future projects, including all of the production and engineering duties along the way

Read more about it here… and see a video with your truly taped at Capitol Records.

Producing with Pro Tools

If you’ve already taken me class, check out any of the other amazing offerings from Berklee Music.

Hope to see in you class soon.

df

In 1973 - $4.99 was then the going rate for a single LP. Then the prices slowly starting climbing over the years, despite Tom Petty’s very public efforts in the early 80s, and vinyl rose bit by bit until it was about $7.99 or $8.99.

When CDs came along in the late 80s, even though they were less expensive to produce, the list prices put them at $14.99 or more. Over the last 10-15 years, the street price has settled at about $11.99 or so, but of course lots of places sell them for more and less than that. Of course now CD prices are dropping in price to compete with digital downloads and they are often costing less than mp3s albums.

After the demise of the original Napster and the rise of iTunes, the $.99 a song model arose and somehow took hold. But in an era where many listen to music free from myspace.com or off of artists’ web sites and others file share, most working musicians are wondering how they will make a living making music when it’s clear you can’t rely on the sale of a physical product any longer.

Enter Amie Street.

Amie Street was started in Providence, Rhode Island on Amie Street on July 4, 2006 by Elliott Breece, Josh Boltuch and Elias Roman while at Brown University. They are now based in Long Island City, just across the river from Manhattan. Roman is the Director of Business Development and Operations, Breece is the Director of Product Development, and Boltuch is the Director Public Relations and Marketing.

The idea is that when a song is added, it starts free up to .98 and will go up in cost as demand rises up to a maximum of .98. Occasionally, shoppers who frequently recommend artists will also get credits from Amie Street, so it’s a bit of a buy back strategy.

The mp3 files are all free of digital rights management, or DRM.

Musicians receive 70% of the revenue from each sale.

Listen to the PodCast here.

Having been inspired by Acid basslines, we will explore how to create them in Live using the Analog device.

Start with an init patch and put it in sawtooth mode. I will be using only the first Oscillator and first filter so the F1/F2 parameter should read F1, meaning the first oscillator is running through the first filter. Move over to the Amp1 tab and set the sustain parameter to 1.00 and the Release to 0.

It is best to have a loop playing while tweaking synth parameters; changes can be heard in real-time without having to touch the keyboard. Create a new MIDI clip. Add a single 16th note on a low note and set its velocity to zero. Create a second 16th note directly after that one and raise its velocity all the way up. Select both and duplicate them till you fill the clip. On a TB-303 Accent is either on or off, like a one bit velocity control, 1 or 0.  It raises the volume of a note and changes its timbre. Acid lines are highly syncopated, accented off the beat, making this clip is a great starting point.

To add some variation with the higher velocities some editing in Analog is required. Parameters with “<Vel” indicate that velocity is controlling something else. Still in the Amp tab, the Env<Vel parameter indicates how much velocity controls the amplitude envelope. When raised, higher velocities will result in a louder note. In this example it is set around 1.39, adding a nice accent.

Some timbre variation is needed as well, make a similar change in the Filter 1 section, changing the amount that velocity controls the filter envelope. This one is a little more complicate because the Filter envelope can control both Cutoff Frequency and Resonance.  Tell Analog the extent that the envelope controls cutoff freq(Freq mod, Env) and the extent that velocity controls the envelope(Env<Vel). Start with both of these set to 2.00, but adjust them to taste as you go. Oh, don’t forget to Enable the First Filter and adjust the Freq and Resonance to taste.

The 303 is a monosynth, it has only one voice, it can’t play two notes at once.  To make a 303 style line, with the signature slides, put your synth in mono mode.  That involves bringing the voices parameter down to 1, “mono” in Analog’s case.

Slide is perhaps the defining characteristic of Acid lines. When slide is active for a note, the pitch will glide to the next note in the pattern. Enable Legato and Glide; adjust the Time parameter to taste.

Back to the sequence, where you will create the strange line.  With the loop playing, shorten all the notes till you get a simple click. Then lengthen just a couple of the notes.  Acid lines are characterized by strange rhythms so change some of the velocities; all syncopation is just as boring as all straight rhythms. When a note is long enough to overlap the next note you will hear the slide, make sure some of these are in your line. Finally, make sure there is some space by deleting some of the notes.
Here is a video of one possibility:

finished Performance

Here is the clip including the line and the Analog preset so you can download and check it out:

Acid Clip

Next time we will look at the “global” controls of the 303 and how to incorporate those into a final performance.

Have Fun. Make Music.
-L-Don

Okay, so let me start by saying that after watching “Total Eclipse of the Heart” (Literal Video Version), I take back all the bad stuff I said about YouTube. Sure they steal from copyright holders (think about the fact that this literal video version has earned nothing for the songwriters or publishers of the song, despite millions of views). But I gotta be honest, this video is really, really funny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XkD5sJwwrE

On a completely different note…

One of the more important events in the world of music publishing took place last week, and most songwriters probably didn’t even know it happened. The International Confederation of Authors and Composers (CISAC) held its second annual World Copyright Summit on June 9-10 in Washington, DC, with an invitation list that included representatives from across the entertainment and technology fields, including executives from the Motion Picture Association, the Consumer Electronics Association, Microsoft, my good friends at YouTube, as well as government officials and legislators. But the guest list was heavily weighted toward the music publishing community, with senior executives from a wide variety of publishers large and small, as well as collection societies from all over the world.

While I did not attend (someone’s gotta stay home and take care of business, after all), I understand that the discussions were comprehensive and thoughtful, and relatively free of vitriol, despite sizable differences amongst many of the parties involved.

The truth is, both sides are frustrated with the licensing systems that exist, which are admittedly far out of step with the realities of the digital, global world in which we live. Rights-holders feel utterly unprotected and incapable of mounting any defense against the endless and uncontrolled proliferation of copyright violators. On the flip side, many well-meaning entrepreneurs watch their business plans crash on the rocks of the licensing laws, where the use of even one song on a website can require the permissions from publishers and collection agencies around the world. Having recently completed a book that required lyric reprint permission from a number of sources, I can tell you first-hand that the licensing situation, as it exists today, is a slow-moving horse and buggy caught in the middle of a high-speed, worldwide Information Highway.

http://www.amazon.com/Billboard-Guide-Writing-Producing-Songs/dp/0823099547

From what I’ve heard, one of the most constructive ideas that emerged in the conference was the idea of a worldwide licensing database that would allow licensors to go to one stop to obtain permissions on a worldwide basis. Just the challenge of tracking down the rights-holders in each individual territory can often be overwhelming. I still remember working as an A&R person on the “Wild Thornberrys” soundtrack for Jive/Nickelodeon, and trying to license a beautiful African song called “Awa Awa”, a journey that took us from France to Africa to Brooklyn that almost resulted in a last minute change in the movie due to the difficulty of tracking down the rights holders. Multiply this by several thousand songs and you start to get some idea of the challenges faced by many start-up, music-based ventures who are trying to do the right thing by licensing the music they use.

The spirit of cooperation and thoughtful discourse that dominated the Copyright Summit is exactly what we need to begin to address the challenges of making music make money in 2009, and beyond. But the Summit is also a demonstration of the increasing advantages of being in business with a large publisher or collection society in this generation of copyright disputes and international piracy. I’ve been outspoken in my first book, Making Music Make Money, about the importance and viability of songwriters creating their own music publishing venture, and this blog has emphasized over and over an independent approach to the business of songwriting and music publishing. But, it has to be acknowledged that it is becoming increasingly difficult for small, independent publishers, especially those who are not affiliated with the major collection societies like Harry Fox Agency, to get paid, and more importantly, to protect their interests on a worldwide basis.

If you look at the attendees at the Copyright Summit, they were predominately representatives from the major publishers, large independents, the major collection societies like HFA, ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and their international equivalents. By virtue of size and influence, these are the people who will be at the table when the decisions about the future of music publishing are made, and consequently, whatever new systems emerge will be designed primarily to serve these companies and organizations. Between the battles with the record labels, the digital music providers, the international licensing organizations and the governments of countries all over the world, it’s becoming more and more challenging for a lone songwriter/publisher to defend his or her rights, and also to actually collect the royalties that are due.

Having said that, I’m not telling anyone that they should give up their independence. But I am suggesting that songwriters and independent publishers are going to feel increasing pressure to find partnerships with larger entities, at least in the short term. We are living in a moment in which the rule-book is being drastically re-written. At least during that formative period, there are definite advantages to having one of the major players on your side. When you’re in a street fight, it’s good to have a big friend.

If your company is at the stage of earning consistent, measurable royalties, it may be time to consider striking at least an administration deal (an arrangement in which one publisher does not share the control of the copyright, but simply collects the income and distributes it, in exchange for a percentage fee) with a larger company or organization. Beyond the major publishers like EMI, SonyATV, Universal or Warner Chappell, there are numerous independent publishers that excel at these kinds of services. Check out:

Kobalt Music: www.kobaltmusic.com
Bug Music: www.bugmusic.com
Royalty Network: www.roynet.com
PEN Music: www.penmusic.com

You could also use a collection service like Harry Fox Agency, which is the largest collection organization for mechanical royalties in the US. Remember, these partnerships are not a matter of giving up any control over your copyrights. These partnerships are simply a means of issuing licenses and collecting your money. Just as importantly, they can offer some assurance that you will have a piece of the often haphazard payments being made by digital music companies or monies collected in lawsuits. At the very least, you need to become an active member of ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC, as well as trade groups like the NMPA. Now is not the time for going one on one. The challenge of getting paid requires some teamwork.

http://www.harryfox.com
http://www.nmpa.org

If you want to learn more about administration deals and how they work, I’d encourage you to check out my online course, Music Publishing 101 at Berkleemusic.com. The whole course is focused on helping you to create your own independent publishing company. Nevertheless, there is also ample discussion of how to build an effective team to support you in your independent venture, and that includes organizations that can help you get paid. The new semester is starting soon– so check it out today…

Stefan Shepherd is the man behind one of the most popular and well-regarded “kids and family music” blogs in the industry called Zooglobble. I highly recommend following Zooglobble whether you’re a parent looking for music for your family to enjoy, or a musician interested in keeping your finger on the pulse of this thriving genre. Here is recent Debbie and Friends interview on Zooglobble.

Interview: Debbie Cavalier (Debbie and Friends)

Five years ago, Owen Gurry had a career as a data analyst, and the guitar was nothing more than a weekend hobby. He enrolled in Berkleemusic’s online courses to reconnect with his passion for music—and ended up studying at Berklee’s physical school in Boston as well as launching a new career as a professional musician.

Owen enrolled in Berkleemusic’s online Music Theory 101 course, where he began to learn the formal vocabulary of the music he played. With that experience under his belt, he jumped into music education with both feet attending the Berklee Guitar Sessions held in Boston in the summer of 2006, and then spent a full semester at Berklee in person. After his time at the physical school, Owen returned to London and took further courses online with Berkleemusic—in particular, Music Theory 201 and Harmonic Ear Training.  

As for what he ultimately did with all this education, he explains that “I always wanted to be a session player,” he says. “To me, session players represent the musical SAS, the guys you call in when you need the job done. And also, session work really challenges my ability. I never know what’s going to happen.” To date, Owen has worked as a session guitarist on project by South Africa’s Arno Carstens, spent five months supporting UK recording artist Natalia on tour, and currently has a regular assignment recording BBC Radio 1 “1ntros” each week for Music 4.

“It’s hard to explain how much Berklee and Berkleemusic have helped me, because they made me into a completely different player,” says Owen.

Read More…