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Songstuff

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Blog Entries posted by Songstuff

  1. In a recent study conducted by the University of Westminster, it has been found that there is crisis in mental health within the U.K. music industry that is at alarming levels. The study, “Can Music Make You Sick” was commissioned by Help Musicians UK. It looks at how having a career in the music industry impacts upon the mental health of musicians.
     
    2,211 musicians took part in the study. Researchers Sally-Anne Gross and Dr. George Musgrave revealed that 71.1% of musicians have suffered from anxiety or panic attacks, while 68.5% have suffered with depression.
     
    Primary contributory major issues include:
     
    money worries, due to juggling jobs and uncertain pay poor working conditions  
    The study also found musicians are more likely to be subjected to:
     
    sexual abuse bullying discrimination antisocial and unsympathetic working environments  
    Additionally, musicians often don’t have sufficient income to allow them to get professional help.
     
    Help Musicians UK is the leading UK charity for professional musicians, throughout their professional life. They help both at times of crisis, and of opportunity, providing much needed support at a crucial point in their career. 
  3. Due to a variety of reasons we have taken the decision to cancel the site Summer Meeting, scheduled for 22nd to 24th August 2008.

    There were too few actual Songstuffers who were going to attend and svereal who were uncertain. This on it's own makes the event unviable in the form it was going to take place.

    We will learn from this experience by consulting with members so that if we consider further events we can take that into account.

    One possibility that has been suggested is the possibility of a variety of informal local meets, but that will be discussed on the boards.

    I am sorry for any onconvenience that this may cause any individual members.
  5. "You Rocked The Country" by Amy Abernathy, @ames1212
     
    Amy's piece was selected as the closest to the initial challenge brief. Well done Amy and congratulations!
     
    Read Amy's entry and an interview with her by following the link below:
    Ballad Challenge #1 Winner Amy Abernathy
     
    To everyone else who took part, many many thanks for getting involved. There were some great lyrics contributed, covering a range of genres. It was great to see your lyrics evolve, trying to meet the initial brief and in some cases writing in ballad snog form for the first time.... Some songs evolved into quite different songs from how they started!
  6. Collaborate on Songstuff, bringing lyricists, songwriters, musicians, recording engineers, and producers covering many styles of music.

    Come along and take part!





    Join our general Collaboration Group and keep up to date with collaboration projects, create your own collaboration group.

    Each group provides you:
    your own forum
    your own web pages
    your own communication tools to allow you to easily communicate with your chosen collaborators!

  7. Fan Engagement

    Keeping it fresh while engaging your fans isn't straight forwards. At least that's the what many artists tell us. They start a band blog and pretty quickly run out of interesting things to say. They write the odd interesting post, but most posts are boring as hell, or barely related to their band and their music. More common still is their blog just dries up. So what could they do?

    Have no fear Songstuffers! We've collected 15 excellent ideas to help you engage your fans using video.





    Read "Fan Engagement"

    Comments

    Please leave some comments and feedback on this article, and / or suggestions for new articles by leaving a reply below.


  8. MyWerx and ASCAP have joined forces to provide ASCAP members with 600 MB of FREE Copyright Protection through its WerxProof service.

    MyWerx copyright management platform provides songwriters with WerxPost, a free database for managing their creative work, and WerxConnect, a social network connecting Creators and their collaborators to their work. The MyWerx web application and iPhone application deliver the best possible proof that you are the creator of your works. The evidence includes geolocation (where you were when you created it), dates and time stamps, who you created it with, and multiple copies of the work are easily stored and shared as the work develops.

    MyWerx provides Life Cycle Copyright Management solutions. MyWerx patent pending technology is a platform that makes it simple for creators to manage their works in one location for free, coupled with a subscription based copyright protection service. The platform keeps all interested parties in a work up-to-date in real time.
  9. Dave Bradley is a science journalist by day, but by night he's Cambridge's most wannabe singer-songwriter rockstar. Dave has played guitar for four decades or thereabouts and writes and performs acoustic and electric in a range of styles and has been likened to a range of artists, including Glenn Tilbrook, David Bowie and James Taylor, which is very flattering to him, of course, but he really is just a Geordie chancer with a loud shirt and six string...
     
    Click through and support!
     
    Dave Bradley on Bandcamp
    Dave Bradley on Songstuff
  10. Song Building Blocks

    Songs use a number of common sections. These sections are the building blocks of songs. When discussing song form these sections are assigned letters as labels, but you will be more familiar with their names such as verse, chorus and bridge.

    This article looks at the common sections, what defines them, and how those sections work together to form a working, popular song.



    Read "Song Building Blocks" now.


    Comments

    Please leave some comments and feedback on this article, and / or suggestions for new articles by leaving a reply below.
  11. A New Perspective on Writing Lyrics




    Starting to write a song can be a tricky business. This article explores approaching the song with the big picture in mind armed with a clear idea of what the song is trying to say, and where it is going. This can all be achieved by asking yourself three key questions when writing a song

    Read the article now....

    A New Perspective on Writing Lyrics


    Comments

    Please leave a comment! =>

    Please leave Anthony some comments and feedback on this article, and / or suggestions for new articles, or simply showing Anthony some love for contributing this article to the Songstuff Music Community by replying to this topic...

    New Article - A New Perspective On Writing Lyrics Topic


    Author



    Anthony Ceseri
  12. High Pass Filters

    Are amphitheatres the original high pass filters? Graeme Young takes a look at ampitheatres, psychoacoustics and digital signal processing to complete the link from ancient Greek amphitheatres thrrough to modern day recording and live performance.

    Ampitheaters



    Graeme's Site Crew Profile
    Graeme's Community Profile
  14. Finn Arilds long awaited second album is now on general release.

    Norwegian multi-instrumentalist and composer Finn Arild takes a big bite on his second album. This time it is nothing less than an epic progressive rock concept album telling the creation of the universe, life and - almost everything. The answer is not 42, but over 60 minutes of non-stop listening experience - no pauses included.

    After finishing his art-rock debut album Serendipity, Finn Arild wanted to create something that would really honour his progressive rock roots. The album, which has taken five years to perfect, covers the modern story of the creation of the universe starting with the Big Bang,the creation of stars and planets, the emergence of life on planet earth - and the human race - discussing the mark we put on the world.

    Testament features the seasoned Stockholm based drummer Mikael Wikman who recorded all the tracks in his Stockholm drumstudio in online cooperation with Finn Arild. Also featured is his old friend Reidar Wiik doing some excellent piano work and tasteful background vocals of Finn Arilds wife Elin. Testament is thoughtfully written, elaborately produced and skillfully mixed by Finn Arild in his Oslo based home studio.

    - “An incredible start to the prog-year of 2011” says Scream Magazine. - “On Testament Finn Arild is truly revealed as a prog-artist where inspirations from Genesis a-la “Wind and Wuthering”, Eloy and Pendragon comes to mind when I listen to this beautiful Album.”

    In addition to being available in quality indie record stores, Testament can also be purchased in lossless downloadable formats in the artists own webshop. Here you can also purchase special single-versions of all songs.
  15. Please welcome Donna Dahl as a new contributer to our drumming sub-site.

    Donna is drummer and a singer/songwriter. In recent times she has returned to the study of her first love, drums. Dahl is currently involved in teaching drums, recording and composing, appearing live most often as a singing drummer and singer/songwriter with Thorny Swale, a blend of Twin Cities and Wisconsin players. Dahl sings regularly with the St. Augustine Latin Mass Choir of South St. Paul, Mn and is a member of MAS (Mn Association of Songwriters).


  16. A Change For The Better?

    In recent times there's been some real changes in the music industry as bands try to woo fans. More than that they are wooing online shoppers by trying to demonstrate an understanding of fans by taking a stance against unreasonable profits of record companies. They are giving away freebies and unusually that includes their music. Does this demonstrate a new understanding of their fans or is it simply just a marketing ploy?

    I may be cynical, but the music industry has been looking for new ways to bring their profits back up and to increase their market share. Illegal free downloads and a changing market place have already caused cuts in music industry jobs, and I'm sure there will be more. More to the point the shareholders won't be pleased.

    So how has the music industry tried to adapt? No more are tours seen as simply marketing exercises by the business. Ticket prices have sky-rocketed, and merchandising prices are ridiculous. Image is everything and brand derivatives are gold dust. Give away music, let fans set the price they want to pay for an album. When the supposed rapport between labels and artists gets in the way of profit use the age old music marketing tool of controversy to win fans. Music is fast becoming the nice-to-have added extra to support the overall celebrity package; the spin doctors are working overtime.

    For a long time people were under the mistaken belief that the music industry was about the music. Music is just the product and the hook and the bottom line is profit. For a long time the industry has been about smoke and mirrors, lies, rumours and insinuation all in the name of money. With today's artists being more business savy than ever before you can guarrantee it's not just the labels. Sure there might be those that dabble with the odd rebellion, but so many are addicted to fame, celebrity and the lifestyle they'll do anything for their next fix. Well that and contractual obligations!

    As bands and labels continue to experiment I'm sure some things may improve, but the cracks are showing and some are pretty big. As long as the general public places such stock in celebrity I'm afraid music will just have to sit in the passenger seat.
  17. Ok so you love AmpliTube 2... and you may be thinking of upgrading to the latest version, or maybe you are considering buying AmpliTube for the first time. This article is an in-depth review of AmpliTube 3, from IK Multimedia, by John Moxey. Building on the reputation of AmpliTube 2 this simulated amplifier environment modeling software has a lot to live up to.

    AmpliTube 3 From IK Multimedia




  18. Round This Time Of Year if the current Featured Video on the Songstuff Channel

    Free video made for Songstuff community member. For more information click on the following link:
    Free Video of Your Song

    Pat Coleman & Colin Lazzerini
    © Hip Pocket Music 2008

    Voice: Tania Hancheroff
    Piano: Ross Taggart

    Imagery: roflcopter.eu


  19. Please welcome joe hanley to the Songstuff fold.

    Joe will be writing for Songstuff on a number of subjects concerning musicians and writers.



    Joe Hanley is a composer and songwriter in NYC and has spent 29 long, A.D.D.-ridden years on this big, beautiful Earth, jumping frenetically from one part of the music world to the next. He's toured with Universal-Motown recording artist Tina Parol, released a CMJ chart-ranking jazz album, and written and composed music for advertising, websites, artists and TV. Joe also writes for the blog www.WriteRecordMix.com which publishes articles about the challenges musicians face bringing their music to reality. His original compositions and songs can be heard on his website at www.JoeHanleyMusic.com.
  20. Please welcome professional singer, vocal coach and singing teacher Cheryl Hodge to Songstuff!

    Cheryl will be writing regularly for the vocals section of our site, and taking part in the vocals board discussions.

    Cheryl has been teacher to many students; including pop icons Grammy winner Paula Cole, Juno winner Frazee Ford, and Canadian Idol finalist, Alyssa Klazek. She graduated from and taught at Berklee College of Music (voice faculty for 8 years), and for the last 18 years she has been the head of the Selkirk College Vocal Department. Cheryl has recorded 7 CDs and writes and gigs regularly with jazz guitar great, John Stowell.

    Vocals Area

    Vocals Board
  22. Steve Mueske reviews Orion, a DAW from Synapse Audio

    "Orion is great for getting ideas down quickly, and it's really nice that it supports VSTi, DXi, and Rewire functionality. Whether you came from a Sonar / Sonic Foundry / Sony background or you came from a Cubase or Reason background, all your instruments are available and ready to use. "

    Orion Review
  24. We have been working on improvements to artist page management:

    Streamlining of navigation - removed artist selection

    We are currently working on:

    Artist page view editing
    Image Upload
    Removing artist page approval

    Further Planned Work

    Member pages for fans, individual musicians and music industry
    Member message box
    Gig Info
    Press Pack
    Blog Support
    Fan List
  25. New Features

    New Default Style
    Themes and Custom Headers
    Content Block Plugin System
    Social Bookmarks
    Media Integration
    Akismet Integration
    Feedburner Integration

    Other Changes:

    Edit Entry Date

    Display article count for categories

    Blog Offline Mode

    Entry author replies in comments are now highlighted

    Detail

    New Default Style

    Blog has been overhauled with a fresh style, one which feels more like a traditional blog. Additionally, it has been designed with themes (see below) in mind, so there is plenty of room for future designs.

    Themes and Custom Headers

    We can now install 'theme packs' and allow users to choose which of these themes will be applied to their blog. Using themes you can completely change the look and layout of an individual blog. Users are also able to create their own unique theme, these user themes must be approved by an adminstrator before they are publically viewable by other users. The new custom header system allows us to create multiple header images for users to choose from.

    Content Block Plugin System

    It's now much easier to create custom content blocks, using a new plugin system. It's now possible to define settings for a plugin that apply to individual blogs, this means that we can integrate with 3rd party widgets that require a unique username for each blog. There are also included new content blocks in this release: Twitter, MyBlogLog, Google Reader, Friends Blogs, and Recent Visitors.

    Social Bookmarks

    A new bookmark manager allows us to define bookmark services for your blog system. These services will allow blog entries to be easily submitted to the bookmark services that you setup. There are several preconfigured services: Del.icio.us, Digg, Facebook, Mixx, Reddit, and Stumbleupon.

    Media Integration

    The new tag allows you to automatically convert various media types into a more useable format. FOr example, [ blogmedia ]http://www.test.com/somemp3.mp3[/ blogmedia] would be converted into a mp3 player for the specified file. By default we include: Flickr Image Set, GameTrailers, Google Video, MP3 Player, MySpace Video, Veoh, and YouTube.

    Akismet Integration

    It's now possible to use Akismet to filter spam for both the comment and trackback system. (not enabled yet, wehn it is trackbacks will be activated)

    Feedburner Integration

    Users can now override the default rss syndication and use FeedBurner.
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