Lazz

50% is normal. If you joined the MU, they have a specialist department that would look at the agreement and offer comment for you.

Persevere with it. It gets easier each time.

Nah.

Fascinating. Don't appear to cost a huge amount - though the UK price has just increased from 599 squiddleys to 629. No doubt the price will come down soon. DJs will love it. It will bolster their claims to full musician status. I want one too.

I have my old dependable basic Bb Shure. Have no processors or effects, but have thought about it often. Always wanted to experiment with loop tape and harmonizer - never got around to it. Still have an old harmoniser tucked away somewhere unused. I imagine the technology is long superceded and improved. Maybe I shopuld think about it some more. Any techno-suggestions ?

Hey Jules. Just chiming in to support what the other guys say. Everybody learns from somewhere. Even the most obstinately self-taught listened hard to those who excited them about playing. That’s a form of study. And that’s exactly the same motivation which gives value to lessons = what you want to learn from them. You might split what you can learn into two areas: musical and technical. By musical I mean developing your ability to make workable sense of ways to organise sound – harmony and theory, however much people diss it and persist with this absurd suggestion that knowledge and understanding could be ever be considered a hindrance, can simply save a huge amount of faffling about in pointless random directions. Technical is pretty damn crucial, too – and postponing this area of study can be detrimental. A few years after I bought my first typewriter, I asked somebody for lessons. ‘No way!’ they said. Seems like I had spent far too long teaching myself how to do it wrong and was now considered beyond redemption. I would have to unlearn stuff, de-programme muscle memory, erase all acquired habits, before I could learn the more effective tried and tested. So just in the technical aspect of the most effective tried and tested way of getting around the fingerboard, I would be concerned that you don’t create too many problems for yourself that may be tough to eradicate. And once you get a lesson or two, of course, then the onus of practice is yours. Practice is what makes people successful or brilliant. Lessons can make practice more effective. Me ? I am largely self-taught and stumbled around ineffectually with little understanding of what I was doing for many wasted years. In my mid-30s, I took a couple of theory and harmony lessons from a very hip guy and it was like suddenly having a light switched on. Brilliant. If only I had have known that stuff before, I would have benefitted so much more from everything I had struggled to learn on my own. But my typing is still crap.

I think 'mine-field' is the preferred term. His working styles are interesting in terms of the regular debate about 'what comes first - words or music ?' He had loads of collaborators and was flexible enought o deliver in whatever way they wanted. Jerome Kern, for instance, wrote the music first maybe 99% of the time and was notorious for refusing any subsequent accommodations for his lyricists – not one single note could be modified or added to fit what they might have needed word-wise. Kern would play the piano down the telephone to Hammerstein so he could make preliminary notes on the project, then Oscar would write the words to fit. With Richard Rogers, though, Oscar’s lyrics were almost always written first, having been (completed while he stomped the local roads around his Pennsylvania farmhouse. Quite a big relief for Rogers, I imagine, who had been otherwise coping with the troubled Lorenz Hart as lyricist, and usually ending up having the music already written and waiting and having to lean on Hart heavily to get him to produce the required texts. Oscar was flexible as well as brilliant. I recommend getting this book out of the library and having a butcher's.

Frustrated recentlyby a fruitless attempt at dialogue with a fellow SStuffer on the board, I took shelter among the bookshelves and pulled down a little 300 page volume “Lyrics By Oscar Hammerstein II”. It is lovely. OK – so I may be rightly considered a bit of an old fogey compared to the more youthful participants here, but my personal stylistic growth and learning process has long been rooted in the jazz tradition with its shared repertoire of classic standards from what’s known as the Great American Songbook. Oscar was a core member of that lot and a real dab hand at writing a lyric. This volume contains a sparkling collection of some of his finest. I’ve heard him identified as a true poet laureate – in much the same way as Dylan and Springsteen are recognised – though from a different era. He was writing when the stage musical was king (John doesn’t like musicals) and is the wordsmith on any of the tunes you might remember from Oklahoma or Carousel or South Pacific or The King & I or The Sound Of Music – all pretty much old fogey food alright, but carved and worried into life by a real craftsman. And, while his work was wildly successful for being truly as American as “Kansas in August or blueberry pie”, people often seem to overlook how radically (given the context of the times) his lyrics looked at things like racism or domestic violence or slavery. That’s why Senator Joe McCarthy went for him, after all. A good geezer and a great writer. (Oscar, that is, not Joe, who couldn’t recognise a couplet unless it was wrapped in a writ.) But before you even get to the lyric section of this book, though, there is first a foreword from Stephen Sondheim (also a major contributor to broadway musical theatre so you know it’s an interesting few pages) then a short preface by Richard Rogers (with whom he wrote those shows mentioned above) - like hors d’ouvres and starter whetting the appetite before the main course. The lyric section is not the main course, however. Not for me. The lyric section is the dessert menu. The centerpiece and main protein component of the meal is the opening chapter: “Notes On Lyrics” – almost 50 pages of the man himself writing about writing. People as unlikely as Elvis Costello and Billy Bragg give this guy the metaphorical five-stars. Maybe they're both old fogeys by now, too. But anyway.... Well worth a look.

Er... DEVIATION !! Shouldn't this be in the 'innuendo' thread ?

It just happens. A friend of mine once told me that style is limitations of technique. This may seem obvious to some but it took me a while of pondering to get it myself. I have certain songs where I know absolutely the original source influence - they started as conscious exercises of emulation. But by the time I finished with them, due to lack of technique, I would defy anyone to make the correct identifcation. They ended up just sounding like me - and I have long overcome feeling bad about that.

Well – good luck with that.

Are you truly asserting that UKCS and the grand sounding "Intellectual Property Rights Office" are official bodies ? While the PRS/MCPS Alliance is not ? If you are so determined to cling to assumptions, Lee - why continue seeking opinion here ? I'm not sure what more any of us can tell you.

Hey Lee. I am becoming confused. My impression was that your concerns have already been addressed HERE. Nobody can give you a magic bullet for protection. Protection comes to you the same way it comes to a huge multinational pharmaceutical company guarding the formula for their newest chemical cocktail – i.e., entirely through their own vigilance and readiness to pursue the issue in civil law (it is rare that copyright infringement becomes criminal). What that means is if your copyright is infringed you can’t call a policeman and expect the enforcers to take care of it out of civic taxes. You would have to hire a lawyer and go for a settlement or a court decision. Sometimes, for those of us who are not pharmaceutical corporations, it’s simply not worth the trouble. Good point. Think about it, Lee… Realistically – Who is going to rip you off ? Seriously – Why would anyone bother to do that ? If they are successful and make loads of money at it, and yet you can demonstrate title, then you are going to have a choice of lawyers lining up ready to take your case on a contingency basis. So you’re protected when it’s worthwhile at least. Otherwise don’t worry unduly. Finn is perfectly correct in each of his observations – so don’t waste your money on any of those alleged services. No doubt a court would give them some evidentiary value if it came down to a fight over authorship, but that much maligned ‘poor man’s copyright’ would do as well for just the cost of registered mail . Plus - if you actually publish/release your stuff for sale (presuming some nasty bastard hasn’t already broken into your home without you noticing and has published/released the stolen stuff ahead of you but under his/her own name instead) then I don’t much see you ever facing a serious ownership challenge. Do you ? You should just stop faffling about, download and read this file from PRS/MCPS to understand what's going on, then get 'em on the phone (I already gave you the number), ask 'em what you want to (they are very helpful: it's their job), have a chat, join up, and then get your stuff out there. Good luck.

Finn makes a typically generous offer - but I would still expect a manufacturer to throw this in 'free'. Like Finn, they are usually registered and are able to generate as many UPCs as they want using the proprietary software. So, because it's all paid for already, it's really no skin off their nose to give 'em away. You should chip away at their quote/estimate all the time. A few pennies per unit here and there makes a difference. And the cost of a UPC is negligible. Getting a deal on print and assembly will be the biggest challenge. That's a real toughie.

Hope it makes you feel better knowing you're not alone. But I think being self-critical is very valuable. There is much stuff I wrote from years ago that I find faintly amusing. Mainly because it was crap. But I learned from it. (& then dumped it). Since hitting my stride a few years back, I have songs that are good - and one that's great So perseverance pays off I think - and you should just stop worrying and keep at it. I find my own performances difficult to listen to. That's common, too. Even with the finest artists. I think because of the self-critical tendency we are always quite naturally aware of where we failed in our goals. Just have to get used to it I guess. And try to do better. The greatest reward for me is hearing others perform our songs. It's a real genuine thrill.

Here's one back for you. Finger-pickers should especially like this. It's the legendary http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsB8lFwfKyA. Lennie is legendary mainly to guitar players - few others may have heard him. Both George Benson and Pat Metheny cite him as an important influence on their playing. Chet is obviously more famous to the world at large.

Hey - thanks for that link, Hari. I just knew you would be into the Bulgarian choral tradition. This is very ambitious and impressive student project - whoever the arranger was apparently speaks no Bulgarian and so transcribed those wedding song lyrics phonetically. (I wonder how many shades of Ken Lee would have been involved for a Bulgar ear). I thought the BRTV choir's learning of "Oh Susana" especially for the US audience was a very gracious thing to do. As a courtesy to overseas hosts, it is a common practice for choirs, and obviously much appreciated. Such efforts always go down well. I remember when Loose Tubes opened a concert in Athens with a special John Harborne arrangement of a a popular hit song by Manolis Manolu and the atmosphere became immediately electric with audience recognition - it was truly palpable magic. After that they loved everything - even the most demanding - and took us straight to their hearts. It's a good thing to do.

I notice they've given us a new verb: "to capo". Wonder what they did with the old one.

In the lands of the angles and scots these are known as 'soldiers'. Who the hell knows why ? Toasted marmite soldiers for egg-dipping. Line 'em up and get 'em down. Ther were so many implicit contradictions involved in Jules' original report that I thought maybe there was something else going on or they were talkin at crushed porpoise somehow - and for all those valid reasons already mentioned. Hard to tell without being there. But then I recalled a Pat Coleman dictum which he applies mercilessly to all his guitar students: - "No Strumming !!". So maybe Jules' pal was talking about strumming too. Is that any help ? Probably not.

Maybe none of the regular practical benefits of being a corporate entity have any relevance to any of us little guys. In terms of branding or identity there are other benefits to having a label/name that may be useful to consider. Primarily to do with the perceptions of others. I think as a sole operator you might also be able to get away with 'trading as", and not have to do any special registration, while still being able to receive money under the name you pick - talk to your bank-manager to discover how and what's possible in Tenerife. For dealing with those other companies who you want to be able to flog your stuff, they all require a UPC - a bar-code. CD Baby can sell you one. For digital downloading, each track also needs to have an ISRC number. ISRCs are supposed to be embedded at the mastering stage - but that may not be absolutely crucial. But you definitely need to have 'em to fill in all the boring paperwork. I'll bet CD Baby has a solution for that also. CD Baby is a great aggregator and might be all you need for making your stuff available where you want it to be. Good luck.

Four - Miles Davis (Thank you for noticing - a three piece draylon lounge suite is being delivered to you door right now.)

The Chicken - Jaco Pastorius

I thought that was someone else's job. Is there a vacation schedule I don't know about ? Oh piffle. In the context of chords versus melody, adhesive qualities must never be overlooked. 10 days brown rice take him away

As long as it's away from the terrible south and those training camps for the english lager drinking team. I used to waste time pleasantly around Santa Ursula. Visits are very rare now, but our new locus is close to you, in La Orotava. Verry beautiful.

Yes. You're right. But they can still offer benefit. Even if you're doing it all yourself, the channels of communication and distribution are still controlled by others All you really need is blind ignorance and huge determination. If you knew too much before you started you would probably just give up. Which island are you on ? Which town ?