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Sunday, July 20, 2008

How About Record Production & Produce Song?

What is record production? Surely, there are many thoughts on this concept. There are many record producers, some more famous than others. However, this article will attempt to address some of the basic elements of record production and how to effectively approach the overall task of producing a record.

First let’s take a look at the 5 Steps of the creative process:

STEP 1: THE IDEA
Think about the song you’re going to write. It can be just some lyrics written down on a piece of paper, a melody recorded on your cell phone voice memo or mini recorder, or a home demo. Ultimately, it will need to be produced into a full song.

During pre-production (which we will discuss later), the producer creates the arrangement – vocal or instrumental, decides how it will be recorded, and who will be the players. This process includes songwriting, song selection, song adjustment (key and tempo), style determination, instrumentation decisions, creating a working demo, and rehearsing.

STEP 2: RECORDING
During this step, the performances are recorded to any one of the many recording hardware or software on separate tracks or direct-to-stereo which is used to record some jazz ensembles and many live performances. When you record direct-to-stereo, the recording becomes the final version and you are unable to change any of the characteristics of the instruments. Most professional recording is done using multi-track recording, where individual musical performances and vocal performances are recorded on separate tracks. This gives us the flexibility to edit and process the tracks, and to mix them into a final stereo version well after the original performance. It also allows for us to add to an original recording, as well. This process is called overdubbing.

STEP 3: EDITING
In post-production, the song is ready to be edited changing individual performances or the entire arrangement. In midi editing, you can change single notes or even the specific instrument that plays those notes. You can also change the complete arrangement of the song by copying and pasting entire sections of the song.

STEP 4: MIXING
It is during the mixing stage that the individual tracks that make up our multi-track recording are combined/blended and processed using effects to create a final stereo recording. We have the ability to control each track separately. In this stage we want to document and organize the various elements for the intended mix. We are able to control such elements as volume, panning, equalization, and effects.

STEP 5: MASTERING
Mastering is the preparation of our final stereo mix for distribution making final adjustments to the overall sound – (incl. editing out unwanted sound, EQ overall song, compression, if needed, for final format).
The Master Tape

1. What is the Master Tape?
the completed mix with added equalization and the signal processing effects. Some times called the "mix master".

2. How is it Done?
Utilizing high-end mastering equipment, the producer or/and the engineer are involved in the final mastering, creating balances in volume, time between songs and equalization issues.

3. What you Do With It…
For CD duplication the master is sent to a duplication plant and CDs are creating in accordance with prescribe technical specifications.

Even if the ultimate format for the use of the recording is other than a CD, the mastering process is implemented to insure a professional consistency with regards to the recorded music. Once mastering is complete, the song is ready for its final format (ie. AIFF, MP3, Wave, Liquid Audio, Real Audio, Web Streaming, CD, etc.). The producer has now done his job.

The Impact of Technology in Producing Recorded Music:

An integral part of record production is understanding the technology that supports the science. Technological advances in recording equipment and computer platforms have dramatically changed the landscape of record production.

In desktop production, the self-produced artist often wears more than one hat, in many cases taking on the roles of composer, arranger, and performer. When we use multi-track recording techniques, composition and arranging can be part of an interactive process where one musical idea suggests another.

Just as composers have traditionally used the piano to work out fully formed compositions from fragments of musical ideas, desktop producers can start with a skeletal idea for a song – perhaps just a drum pattern and bass line -- and develop it into a complete musical arrangement. The most powerful capability of computer-based desktop
production is the ability to rearrange and edit both audio and MIDI performances after they've been recorded.

How to Produce a Song/Understanding the song

Once you have a grasp on the creative process and understand current trends in recording technology and there applicability to our project, you can now attempt to produce a song.
a. Describe the artist’s identity.
b. Identify the song’s style and intended audience. Is it similar to other records?
c. Describe the budget constraints?
d. Describe the record's purpose, in terms of an artist’s career. Is it a catchy first single to establish the artist? To get a deal? A demo to get a gig as a cover band? A different direction, used to learn something new?

Knowing about the artist’s qualities and motivations creates a context and shapes
an overview for how to approach a production. It will help you answer the main
question, “Why take this particular production approach for this particular artist and
this particular song?”

Decide what the song is saying. In other words, how does the song itself influence the approach to the production? Knowing the identity of the song is as important as knowing the identity of the artist. Indeed, “production” is the melding of song and artist onto record.

a. What is the lyric’s story, and what individual sections, phrases, or even words direct or affect the production at all scales?
b. How does the melody interact with the lyric?
c. Does the melody emphasize lyrics or direct the flow of the song, or just create a musical element and draw attention in its own right?
d. How do these invite production elements?
e. How do harmonic elements affect all of this, and again, invite production attention?
f. How does the overall structure of the song dictate the production approach and/or flow of the record?

These may seem like “songwriting elements,” because they are! The first job of the producer is A&R (“artist & repertoire”). Choose the best song and then oversee touching up or rewriting and restructuring the song, if necessary, until it is the best it can be.
That is what much of pre-production is, and it is often the most important element of the entire production process. A great song for a great artist makes the producer’s job easier, and the song often points the way to approach the production.

Another characteristic of a good producer is one who is cable of identifying what specific elements are being heard sonically and musically and adjusting those elements so that the song is audibly appealing the listener?
a. Name each element you are hearing (instrument, voice, sound, combination).
b. What are each element’s sonic qualities, and what is its part in the arrangement?

For example, “I might describe a part I’m hearing as a 12-string
electric guitar (the type of instrument) with a clear but
idiosyncratic sound (color/timbre) playing a IV chord (the music)
with the third on the top, open voicing(arrangement), with a slow
but aggressive, anticipated strum (performance)”.

c. At what point does an element appear in the production/song? I find it best to analyze a production by going section-by-section, and then bar by bar, down to the beat. It helps to define the general, overall production feel of each song section.
d. Where does a specific musical element appear?

As producers or engineers, we often think in technical terms—panning, reverb, delay, volume, etc. The listeners, however, just hear things located in 3-dimensional space. So, define spatial placement as they do. Then you can figure out the possible
technical ways to achieve that.

For example, “a muted trumpet drenched in reverb, panned off to the right, with a lot of a reverb and low in the mix, is heard by the listener as a soft trumpet off in the distance, perhaps on a misty night”.

How is it played? What is the emotional approach, attitude?
This overlaps with much of the above. “How” may include equipment, effects, and so forth. A specific instrument through a specific processor helps define the sound and is used to support the attitude.

Know what the purpose of each musical element is? Above all, this is the most important question for good production. For each and every element in a record, a choice was made to have it.
a. Why was it included?
b. Why that specific instrument at that specific location in this specific song, located in that specific space, played with that specific approach?

There is a purpose for each choice, even if it’s just to “keeps the groove,” or some other simple musical purpose.

Record production is akin to directing a movie. Like a director is responsible for managing all of the elements of making a movie so is the record producer of a great record. Record production takes thought, skill, knowledge, and wherewithal. There’s no better way to understand it that to go through the process if you’re interested in record production. It’s a great experience to hear a finished project for which you were primarily responsible. There’s nothing better than your first time because now you know how to do it, and how to make it better the next time around. Like anything, you will get better with experience. Read this article. Reread this article. Then read it one more time and take the leap…produce a record or if nothing else get involved in a record production! credit:articlesnatch

Friday, July 18, 2008

Bad Boys Mötley Crüe Are On A Rock & Roll Mission

The group members, Nikki Sixx, Tommy Lee, Mick Mars and Vince Neil are well known for their bad boy antics and hard rocking lifestyles. From the very beginning, these boys have either made problems or problems found them. On their first tour in 1982, they were actually apprehended at the Edmonton International Airport as they had on their spiked stage clothes through customs. Officials at the airport confiscated all of what the group carried that they thought indecent or unsafe. No concern for the band though, it was all a promotional prank and it worked beautifully!

Throughout the 1980's, Mötley Crüe was involved in a seemingly endless cycle of loose females, substance abuse and run-in's with the police. There was a night in 1984, an allegedly intoxicated Vince Neil was involved in a terrible frontal crash. Vinces' passenger, Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley of the band Hanoi Rocks was killed in the accident. Neil was condemned to 30 days, but spent a measley 18 days imprisoned for the incident. Later, the band turned tragedy into music and released box sets irreverently called "Music To Crash Your Car To".

The drugs and alcohol were overtaking their lives in a major way. In 1987, Nikki Sixx actually was pronounced dead from a heroin overdose. His heart stopped and that could have been his demise. Luckily for Sixx, the paramedics didn't give up and gave him two shots of adrenaline to his heart. Plainly, he lived to tell the story. This small incident gave the group the inspiration for the song 'Kick Start My Heart' from the 'Dr. Feelgood' release.

It was not long after Sixx's near-death experience that the bands managers intervened. It was time for a serious treatment if this band was going to keep going. The managers denied the group to go on a European circuit, fearing that more than one would die on the road. The reality of their demeanor and the results must have hit them where it hurts. All the members finally got themselves sober. While the others opted to go into a rehab program, Mars preferred to deal with his habituations on his own.

In spite of their larger-than-life struggles with addictions during the 1980's, they still managed, in some way, to put together several best-selling albums. To this day songs from the albums, 'Shout At The Devil', 'Theatre Of Pain' and 'Girls, Girls, Girls' get alot of air-time. But it wasn't until '89, with a clean-living band that they were at long last able to produce a #1 album, 'Dr. Feelgood'. Everyone, even the band thought that their sober attempts were far better than anything they'd done earlier.

The 90's bestowed more trouble for the band. They published their 6th studio album, 'Decade of Decadence' in 1991 and it reached the #2 spot on the music charts. Then, in 1992, Neil either left the group or was terminated, depending on who you hear the story from. He was promptly replaced and the group released a self-titled album that achieved number 7 on the charts. Finally, in '97, the band reunited and released yet another recording, 'Generation Swine'. The album did not do well commercially, which led to them departing their recording label, Elektra.

In '98, after their contract with Elektra had expired, the band discovered themselves in a unique position. They are one of the very few bands to have full control both over their catalogue of masters and publishing. With this new power, the band re-published all of their albums and included many demos and formerly unreleased songs.

In 1999, Tommy Lee left the group to pursue his own solo calling and to avoid further battle with Neil. He was substituted and the band continued to tour and record, but fell short of genuine success. Sixx likewise went his own way and played for the bands "58" and "Brides Of Destruction". It took 5 years, but the band finally did reunite and got busy recording a new compilation album called 'Red White & Crüe'. They as well went on a couple of circuits, including their 2005 tour, 'Carnival of Sins' and the 2006 'Route of All Evil' tour that they did with the group Aerosmith.

Just last month, Mötley Crüe published their latest album, 'Saints of Los Angeles'. Critics say the album is some of the best music they've ever produced! It is a serious flash-back to the Crüe's former style and a welcome one at that. Seems these bad boy rockers are still going after their original mission to rock the public as hard as they can. credit:articlesnatch

Monday, July 14, 2008

Gonna be a RockStar

People often think of ‘RockStars’ as drunken drugged up idiots with a whole lot of STI’s. This description of a RockStar is correct, but the life style of ‘Sex, Drugs and Rock N’ Roll’ has really just withered down over the years to ‘Rock N’ Roll’. The reason for this because drugs are now stronger and kill many people before they can be a RockStar, and the STI’s are now a lot worse than they were twenty years ago and can kill you now. So if being a RockStar still sounds relevant to you, you need to follow these steps.

1. Practice

Practice as much as you can, practice as often as you can, because every second you spend practicing will put you one second above your competition. Whatever you play, Drums, Guitar, Bass, Keyboards, Vocals or anything else, just learn every thing you can, no matter what style you like, learn every style, Blues, Flamenco, Rock, Jazz, Metal etc. It is not abnormal for someone to practice upwards of ten hours a day, if you are not committed to this, stop now and decide on something else for a living because being a RockStar is not for you. For those willing to put in the work, read on.

2. Make Your Music

No matter what style you play, there has to be an audience or else you will never make it, if that means playing a style you don’t really like then that is too bad. If you are lucky enough to be able to play the music you like then that is great. The easiest way to make a sound that a lot of people will like (including record labels) is to look at the charts, make a similar sound with a unique flavor and you should have a sound people want to hear.

3. Get Your Band Together

If you are just playing an Acoustic Guitar and singing this isn’t so important, but for anything else you need to assemble your band. Post ads in local newspapers, on online message boards and go to your local Music store and ask if they have a notice board for you to place an ad on. Ask around and eventually you will find people wanting to play the same style music as yourself.

4. Promote Yourself

No matter how good you actually sound, you need to promote yourself so people can actually hear you. Start by playing a few free gigs and work your way up to paying gigs. Play covers plus your originals so people have a reason to go see you other than taking a chance listening to an all original band. Get a demo CD done, doesn’t matter how, just get it recorded, then send it out to Record Labels and sell it at your gigs to help you get your name out. You may also want to send your demo CD out to small radio stations, the biggies won’t take a chance with a demo but small stations often do.

5. Get a Manager

Once you can afford it, get a manager, put an ad in the Newspaper and you will find one very fast. They will do a lot of work for you so you can concentrate on your music. Get them to promote you and hopefully you can get picked up on a record label.

If these steps don’t work for you, don’t give up, just keep going, you may want to professionally record a CD and get your manager to get it sold throughout the country. You can also have your own tour, by hiring out venues and doing a lot of organizing, this can be the best way to get your name out there.

Remember that people will only listen to music they want to listen to, don’t try to change the people, change your music. If it takes you through a few styles of music that is ok, if your ultimate goal is to be a RockStar, you will do whatever it takes to get to that goal, so if that means practicing 10+ hours a day for 10 years, you will do it. credit:articlebiz

Saturday, July 12, 2008

How To Play Online Guitar Lesson!!!

Playing the guitar has been one of my favorite pastimes since I was a teenager. I remember the day my elder brother came home with a shiny new Yamaha nylon-stringed classical guitar. I was really excited but could not get my hands on it as he was hogging it. Fortunately for me, he lost interest in it after awhile and I gleefully inherited it and have been playing since.

Well, that was many years ago and when I recently decided to improve my guitar playing skills, I was glad to find some excellent online guitar lessons. In this article I'm going to tell you some tips to get started and how you can benefit from them.

Firstly, be prepared to do some research. There are tons of good websites out there but only a few offer a complete learning system. Most websites are run by guitar enthusiasts offering some lessons online and they might not be so appropriate as you'll need to see and hear what's being played.

That's where you need to find a guitar learning course that offers:

1. A structured course outline

Not just a random "guitar tips" course. You will need a course to take you from the basics to playing by ear.

2. An experienced teacher

Some websites are run by other newbies also honing their guitar playing so make sure the tutor is a qualified guitarist.

3. Videos that show you how its done step-by-step

This would be essential if you are a beginner as you'll be able to see how the chords actually look (and sound) like rather than just dots on a grid!

The beauty of the Internet is that with some searching and comparing, you'll soon be able to find that perfect guitar learning system. And what do you need on your end to get started? Well, obviously a guitar, a good pair of PC speakers and a lot of time and patience. Most of all, tons of practice!

One of the key ingredient is ear training and that only comes from many, many hours of playing and you'll be able to identify chords, chord progressions, rhythm patterns, etc. You don't need to be born with "perfect pitch" to play like a pro! But you do need the determination to excel in you craft.

Guitar playing is a highly rewarding and relaxing skill which you can acquire and if you've been contemplating on learning the guitar, well my advice is get started now! Just get an inexpensive starter's guitar, get online and as they say - "shred your ax"! credit: Al Tan

Let's try "Bye Bye Baby Song"

Gave my heart and you took it to your best friend for a whirl
got it back all scarred with lies by your caring sisterhood whose so evil

bye bye baby
baby bye bye
bye bye baby
baby bye bye

Take a trip down memory and make sure its a memory not fantasy lane
have the last word for haven't I answered every captured whisper again and again

its so easy to accuse
its so harder to proof
in your world of in-securities
kept alive by someone's jealousy
your just another manipulated fool

bye bye baby
baby bye bye
you wont see me cry babe
you won't see me cry
There again may be for once
I'm telling a lie

Have you ever wondered if she's ever had a touch of what you've had
was she around the corner when your heartbreak scenes came back from the past

it's my time to accuse
just look back for proof
in your world of in-securities
kept alive by someone's jealousy
your just another manipulated fool

bye bye baby
baby bye bye
you wont see me cry babe
you won't see me cry
There again may be for once
I'm telling a lie

bye bye baby
baby bye bye
love of my life it's too late

bye bye baby
baby bye bye
got to admit for once I've failed

bye bye baby
baby bye bye
from her painting everything as fate

bye bye baby
baby bye bye
from you seeing your her tail

bye bye baby
baby bye bye
you wont see me cry babe
you won't see me cry
There again may be for once
I'm telling a lie

bye bye baby
baby bye bye
you wont see me cry babe
you won't see me cry
There again may be for once
I'm telling a lie

you manipulated fool....
credit:Suki Cheema

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Great Party Music? - You need more than just a CD player!

Music is an essential part of any successful party. I had been thinking a lot about how to make the music and the atmosphere of my upcoming party exciting and totally unique; but how could I do it? A DJ could be very expensive; just letting the CD\MP3 player do the job would be too boring. Then, on the Internet, I found out about Music Morpher Gold 4.0.66, a cool music software program. I downloaded it and checked it out and discovered it could easily help my party be more exciting than ever with its many unique features. Best of all it was 50% off at www.musicmorpher.com. Music Morpher Gold 4.0.66 and its cool library of effects will make your music listening more exciting than ever. Music will never be quite the same again. Just imagine what it can do for you with just one click: change a small room into a music hall, move you under the sea, place you on a mountain, in a cave, or almost anywhere while you’re still sitting there enjoying music. Let your imagination fly and rock your world. You can be your own DJ by adding a wide range of music effects such as Techno Word, Sticky, 3D Sound, Alien, Artificial Echo, etc., and in real time. Everyone will want to try it. Moreover, you can edit multiple songs or music clips at the same time in a multisession waveformat window. You can combine your favorite music clips together to create your own unique music. Be your own DJ just once with Music Morpher Gold 4.0.66 and you will agree that it’s a great software program. If you are in the music industry or know about sound technique, then you’ll want to explore the wealth of available special effects. They are so easy to use and control, you’ll be making new music in no time.

Music Morpher Gold 4.0.66 also integrates an enhanced surround sound player system. It supports many surround sound systems, including 4.0, 4.1, 5.1, 6.1 and 7.1, with many surround environments preset for you to choose from. Including Theater, Stadium, Concert Hall, Arena, Big Room, etc., just choose the preset surround environment most suitable for your speaker system. If you want your party to be awesome and outrageous, I highly recommend trying this fantastic music software. Music Morpher Gold 4.0.66 will surprise you and your friends with its smart and creative musical effects combination and its versatility. Imagine how impressed your friends will be when they hear you modify the music in real time. Everyone will have a great time.