By The BBC. Rest of the videos in the jump!
In our new series Making The Chorus Bigger we will examine numerous
ways to get your chorus to get to the size you want it to be. We will
examine the many tricks that can be utilized to make this happen.Many times, making the chorus bigger isn't about just adding things to the chorus. One of the most clever and common ways to make the chorus huge is to do a drop out right before the chorus kicks in. Whether you stop the drums, bass, guitars, or vocals, taking a few instruments out for half or whole bar can help the chorus explode when it comes in. For a perfect example of this used effectively and described in great detail, check out our Forensics Of A Song of Katy Perry's "Hot N' Cold".
Let's say you're at a dinner party, and you enjoyed every bit of the meal, from the salad all the way through the after-dinner brandy. In a gesture of respect and simple good manners, you compliment the host: "That was a great dinner." The host replies: "No, it wasn't. It sucked. I overdid the chicken and the vegetables were soggy."Slowly, you begin to think, "Wow, maybe that chicken *was* a little overdone, and maybe those vegetables *were* soggy. And maybe I won't come here for dinner again." Follow us to the jump and we will explain how this applies to you!
Producer/engineer Steve Evetts and I started to notice it in 2004. We were working on The Cure's S/T record and would find that two out of three of the Remo heads we would put on the drums would be defective. They were either warped or completely devoid of any note being reproduced. This bothered singer Robert Smith so much that he penned the note to the left and had one of the assitants send it to Remo. It reads:
"To Remo, This is a bad head, Two in Three of these Artists Heads are rubbish, and it is taking up a lot of studio time taking off and putting on... Why is this? Robert, The Cure"Unfortunately, it is not just the Artist Heads that are constantly defective. Steve and I, along with a few other producer/engineers we know, constantly have the problem of Remo's quality control with their heads. Over the last 5 years, I have had to toss or return dozens of heads from their inability to be tuned properly. The evidence that this happens right at the factory is when you tap the head right out of the box, some of the heads won't even produce anything aside from cardboard like resonance. Steve put it well:
"I am just sick and tired of the inconsistent quality of Remo heads now. With Evans heads - I don't have to throw away/return 5 or 6 out of 10 heads anymore. Makes more sense to me."Despite both of us preferring the tone of Remo, the company has given us no other choice but to switch so we can get back countless hours of lost time. Subsequently since switching, we have no problem with Evans. This leads me to ask, have you had a problem with Remo too? If so, lets put some pressure on Remo to get their act together!
Headphones are like learning a new language. Once you are comfortable speaking it, you may actually prefer it. After years of living in NYC and listening to music on headphones - on subway rides and long walks - I am so comfortable on headphones I am not confident in the quality of a mix till I have heard them on my pair of choice. It's no secret that many musicians are VERY uncomfortable on headphones. One thing I have seen make a huge difference - especially for drummers and singers - is to have them wear headphones they are used to listening to music on. I have watched this INSTANTLY get a vocalist singing much more in tune. Never underestimate the power of making a performer comfortable!
Yesterday, we talked about Jack Ely, singer of the very famous song "Louie, Louie", who recieves no royalties for his performance. Today, The Future Of Music Coalition has written a very insightful article as to the whole story of why artists like Jack, see no royalties in these instances. From the article:
"Nearly every other industrialized nation compensates songwriters and performers for the over-air broadcast of their work -- notable exceptions include Iran and North Korea. That's not what you'd call great company... Second, it's helpful to look at how this royalty would break down. The featured performing artist receives 45 percent of the total monies, which is paid directly to the artist -- meaning it doesn't go to the record company to be held against debts incurred to the label (aka "recoupables.") 50 percent goes to the sound copyright owner (usually the label, but in some instances the artist)."All of this and plenty more over at The Future Of Music Coalition
"That's a super white phrase"
It might seem corny, but we couldn't resist showing you this - a USB drive that looks like an Akai MPC2000! The good news is that in addition to having a cool design, they also hold a whopping 4GB of space, so you can keep an entire recording session on there (and then some)! The company that makes them also offers a E-mu SP-1200 for you 12-bit drum machine Hip Hop junkies. Oh the irony of carrying around your beats on a device 50x smaller than what it originally came on only to have it looks JUST LIKE it's older brother. Anyway, get yours here. 
You probably know that Les Paul invented his signature guitar for himself to play. But you probably didn't know that Vic Firth and Ableton Live were invented by musicians as well! 37 signals has a great story about musicians taking matters into their own hands here!
AKA How To Use Facebook Like MyspaceA month after we gave the dirt on how to
get your bands Facebook page going, the world of technology has changed fast. We are back to give you an update on some of the way to promote your music on Facebook. Be warned they don't make it easy!
You would think we have a sponsorship with all this talk about Google! We told you about making a Google Profile for you/your band. Google will now offer you 10,000 free Business Cards through a partnership with iPrint. If the tough financial times have got you strapped for money, you can the free business card above (with your name instead of MG Siegler)! If interested, click the link at the top of your Google Profile. (via TechCrunch)Throughout the Internet everyone is looking for a big awesome drum sound. As well, in every interview you read of people telling you it is all in the drummers hands. The detail they don't tell you is how to move your hand to get it. That bouncing whip motion employed in the example above will give you years of smashing Snare sounds.
Musformation has declared this week Click Track Week. Check back
here all week to see many articles about making life with the Click
Track much easier!
In the studio every detail is magnified. Many times a drummer is missing the groove because they just cannot hear the way it should sound. The Click Track can sometimes make a drummer forget how to groove a beat the way they did in rehearsal. One way to get the drummers groove back is to edit the stiff sounding drum part to the way it should sound inside your DAW. Play it back for your drummer and get him to memorize the sound of the groove. If that still doesn't work, simply turn this edited groove into the click track and have the drummer play to it. With these tools in my pocket I can get almost every drummer to play a groove the way I would like to hear it.
In the studio every detail is magnified. Many times a drummer is missing the groove because they just cannot hear the way it should sound. The Click Track can sometimes make a drummer forget how to groove a beat the way they did in rehearsal. One way to get the drummers groove back is to edit the stiff sounding drum part to the way it should sound inside your DAW. Play it back for your drummer and get him to memorize the sound of the groove. If that still doesn't work, simply turn this edited groove into the click track and have the drummer play to it. With these tools in my pocket I can get almost every drummer to play a groove the way I would like to hear it.
In an age where fewer people seem to be buying music, no matter what your style or genre, an artist's live show is becoming even more important. Many artists are ONLY making money from playing live, so without a doubt, this is where you're going to want to shine. We've spoken before about things to do to improve your live show with things like video-taping yourself, but Adrian Try over at Audio Tuts has composed a list of 8 great things to think about, whether you are a seasoned veteran or putting together your first live show. After the jump we take a look at Adrian's analysis.
"Don't Put All Your Eggs In One Basket"
Everyone knows the Music Industry is cut throat. It is loaded with ego bruises and dissapointment around every turn. Whether you are a musician, producer or manager you will be promised opportunities, given offers and other things that will get your hopes up time and time again. Over the years I have watched many close friends get their hearts broken when a powerful member of the music industry told them they would do something and it didn't actually happen. Whether you are The Killers or a local band I can tell you one thing that will ring true at any level of the industry, in any profession- for every five promises/oppurtunities one may come true! Follow me to the jump and I will explain more. 
We all want to know what is being said about ourselves on the Internet. It is important to know if you are making a fool of yourself, whether that is your goal or not. Take note, this is one of the useful things about Twitter! You can now be updated with a search about what is being said about you in the Twittersphere. Simply bookmark the search or add it to your RSS feed. Coupled with Google Alerts can help you understand how the Internet is seeing you and preceiving what you do. For those of us who run businesses take note. Companies like Time Warner - notorious for their HORRIBLE customer service - have a Twitter search going and if you curse their service, they write you to help! Modern World!
The Korg DS-10 is proving itself to be a pretty cool tool for musicians. More and more we are being sent cool videos of people creating awesome songs with this ultra-portable interface. Above we have a video of electro-wierdo Jamie Lidell doing a remix with one and after the jump we have a few videos of some YouTubers showing the world what they got with a DS-10.
Musformation has declared this week Click Track Week. Check back
here all week to see many articles about making life with the Click
Track much easier!If you have decided you aren't going to listen to yesterdays tip and use Kick Drums as a click in quiet parts of a song. I have another alternative for you. Use automation on the click to turn it down during quiet parts. If the song is done, there is no need to have click track still playing, and if someone hears it click away as the song ends you look like a retard. If the drums take a 4 bar break its very easy to take the click down 6-12 db, cut down on the bleed and your player can still hear it loud and clear! You can even do this by hand, but if you know the song form, its easy to draw these moves in to the automation very quickly.
Are you one of those people who think your ideal lover is someone who loves the same obscure band as you do? There is now a site called RockNRollDating.com just for you. Why not find your ideal mate who loves MGMT "Kids" as much as you, to make Kids with!?!?! While I don't think this is the best idea for procreation, who am I to judge?
Hey everyone, give a nice welcome to John Zaremba. John plays in an awesome band called Say When - a band that is able to support themselves being on the road year round with no label! Any advice he gives you, your band should be listening to! -ed.Frank Zappa said it best when he described rock journalism as "people who can't write, interviewing people who can't talk, for people who can't read." But I think we have it in us to prove Frank wrong. There are insightful interviewers, interesting musicians and a public who would like to know more about the music they love (or about a band they don't know they love yet.) After the jump are some tips on how to conduct yourself in an interview.
Musformation has declared this week Click Track Week. Check back here all week to see many articles about making life with the Click Track much easier!
As more and more bands incorporate backing tracks into their setups, the need to play live and rehearse to a click track becomes greater and greater. Even for those bands looking for a stripped down live set a click track can still make you sound a million times better live. As simple as this seems, there are some simple things that bands often neglect when trying to pull this off. We will demystify and answer some common questions about how to get the most of rehearsing with a click track!
As more and more bands incorporate backing tracks into their setups, the need to play live and rehearse to a click track becomes greater and greater. Even for those bands looking for a stripped down live set a click track can still make you sound a million times better live. As simple as this seems, there are some simple things that bands often neglect when trying to pull this off. We will demystify and answer some common questions about how to get the most of rehearsing with a click track!
Zach Lind Blogger/Drummer of Jimmy Eat World has posted some pictures of the bands current studio setup, as they record drums! There is also a written explanation of some of the micing. Pretty exciting stuff from a band that always makes awesome sounding records! Josephson e22s on all those drums!
If you like tormenting your neighbors playing Guitar Hero, you know that it's very easy to beat the hell out of the instruments. They often need expensive replacements, making the cost of your hobby a little unreasonable. However, if you are the crafty type there is a DIY guide to repairing your Guitar Hero gear! (via ARS)
If you are like me, you are on one too many social networks then you have time to deal with. As a Smart Phone owner, I like my messages getting to my phone. It allows me to deal with email on subway rides and other boring moments. One way you can get back a few moments of your life - from the never-ending barrage of Social Network messages - is to have your Myspace message become an away message, with your email address listed as you contact. To do this simply sign in to Myspace and click the "MyAccount" button follow by the "Miscellaneous" tab. Below you will see a field to enter your away message. Mine reads:"Hi! We dont regularly check this profile. With all matters relating to the site please email musformation@gmail.com. Thank you!"Now click the "Show Away Message" button and you are set to go!
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