Archive - September, 2012

8 Ways We Avoid Making A Recording

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last time, we discussed the reasons why it is so important it is for us to make a recording of our music. While those reasons are compelling, as soon as we begin to build up a “head of steam,” various doubts and fears can creep in, slowing us down, or even paralyzing us. Let’s look at these issues, and how we can move past them and get our project going.

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8 Reasons Why You Should Make a Recording Now

hen is the best time to release your new recording? Right now. Don’t have one? Let’s talk about why making one is so important, and how this can benefit you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Music Production Story Time

In The Not-So-Distant Future (la la la)

(In this play, Randy will be crustily portraying the role of Grandpa)

Kids: “Grandpa, tell us again about the days before Auto-Tune!”

Grandpa: “Well, I know it’s hard to imagine, but there were these people called singers who could stand in front of an audience or a microphone and perform a song from beginning to end! ”

Kids: “But didn’t they use a computer to fix wrong notes?”

Grandpa:  “No, they actually sang the whole song correctly!”

Kids: “But that’s not possible!”

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“Skillz” vs. “Swagg” or Doing vs. Appearing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With the new era of the internet, self-promotion and marketing have reached new levels of affordability and accessibility. Now anyone can have a website (like me!) or a “fan page” (me again) and can appear to be a “player” or a big time artist. How do we tell the difference, and how do we distinguish ourselves as the real thing in a world of pretenders? Or is there any difference?

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Overcoming the Fear of Wasted Time

One thing that can really hold us back is the fear of going down a “dead end,” with the assumption that the precious time we spend traveling these paths will have gone to waste. In order to avoid this, we attempt to make sure we choose only what seem to be directions leading to certain benefit. We end up not knowing where to begin, or what to do next. Let’s look at this logic, and how it can hold us back.

Dead Ends

Starting with grade-school, we find ourselves in the position of putting in time on things that don’t appear to have a payoff. The basic premise here is that we will burn irreplaceable hours, days or even years of our lives pursuing goals that will turn out not to move us towards our dreams. Let’s look at some examples:

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Keyboard Harmony: Ma7#5 Shapes

The Major 7 #5 chord is a very useful shape for a number of colorful chord sounds. It also is very valuable as a linear structure for improvisation over these same chords when used as an arpeggio.

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Improving Your Focus

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the most important issues facing us as musicians is focus and attention. While there has been a lot of research into what is going on in our brains when we focus, nobody has really figured out what consciousness really is at all. We have not been able to create it in even our fastest computers, and we have not been able to isolate what is going on neurologically in a way that we can control it.

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10 Reasons Your Composition Gets Stalled

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Probably the biggest issue composers face, especially when getting started is the problem of finishing pieces. Somewhere in the process, we get “stalled” and in many cases, we never get started again, leaving unfinished works. In this article, we will look at some of the ways we get stuck.

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7 Questions to Ask Before Buying New Gear

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When you are considering a gear purchase, what are the factors you can use to decide what to get and how much to spend? When I say gear, what I really mean is anything that you use to make, record, or perform your music. This could be instruments, computers, accessories, even the car you drive to the gig. Because money is tight, especially these days,  I have a series of questions I ask to make this decision logically.

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The Power of Being Fully Engaged

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are times in our lives when we experience a moment with full awareness. All of our consciousness is focused on where we are and what we are doing right now. I like to think of this state of being as Fully Engaged. Needless to say we could achieve great things if we could assume this state at will. What do we experience when we are fully engaged?

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