Clay Anderson Johnson

You posted on last Friday's critique which is mostly a one weekend deal. There will be another this Friday. Everyone is welcome here, there are all skill levels of members. Some are very good, some OK, and some you will stop after the first 10 seconds. It will take time for you to get into the groove

Private message me on the message system if I can help you. I am on and off but will respond when I read your message. You may also want to read @john introduction tutorial.

Anyone who has followed any of my activities should know if nothing else I am eager to learn. Whatever success I have had, which may not be Earthshaking but has kept me from otherwise working, is due to something I have learned from other people. Those who have mentored me, those I have taken classes from, and those whom I have never met but read their book or taken their online course. There is a world of relevant information available to help you boost your career(s), much of which is actually free or costs little. I was very fortunate. Even though my family had little money I was ambitious enough to work my way through my original college doing construction work. However much of this credit also goes to those who let me work an on/off schedule and attend classes. Everything I learned about Stagecraft, Lighting, Sound, and Set Design came from a BFA program at The University of Texas before I ever saw work in that area. This may not seem relevant to Music but for several years I owned an Event Production company which worked with B list acts working nationally in the US. That generated over $100,000 a year in personal income doing 4-6 events. These were only small to medium in size, not the Astrodome. This was a part time job. This was possible because of being trained. Before I ever met anyone higher in the Music Business than a bar owner or festival organizer I was in the Music Business and Creative Arts program at UCLA. Once again on my own dime because I thought it was important. I would have had no idea what to do in a studio if were not for John Boylan who taught me Record Production there. This was possible because of being trained. Almost everything I know about playing came from being around older musicians and learning from them. Of course I played in college bands and experimented on my own but it was being taught things like the Nashville Numbers System by them years before I ever saw Nashville that put me in the union as a session player. This was possible because of being trained. I also got a certificate in Web Development from California State University Northridge in the 1990s. I owned a commercial website development company in Los Angeles during the Wild West days of the Web when you could say $50,000 and no one questioned it or looked for another bid. There were no website templates available to them, everything was coded by hand. Once again this was possible because of being trained. Learning = Earning. Being ahead of the game counts. It is often said that the world is divided into those who make things happen and those who watched what happened. None of the above things happened through chance or getting a “lucky break”. They involved learning, planning, and very hard work. Everyone stands on the shoulders who those who came before them. My personal experience is that listening to Music and then trying to do it yourself will only take you so far. It is far easier, quicker, and more dependable to learn with someone else’s help. You don’t have to go to college, although it certainly helps. There are hundreds of books available on Music, Songwriting, and Music Business available for little cost on Amazon. Youtube is filled with tutorials. Masterclass.com where I still take classes costs $85 a year for unlimited courses. I highly recommend Carlos Santana’s The Art of Music to anyone who plays guitar. He talks like you are in the room with him and I learned one hell of a lot from the experience. Do Not Go By Yourself. Invest time and money in yourself then others will invest in you.

Facebook has been a thorn in my side since joining. They also will not verify my Public Figure page in spite of meeting all posted requirements and giving them extensive documentation. I have a business bank account which they have billed for Music advertising.

Hi Eddie, You are posting in the wrong place. This is where you introduce yourself to the community as to who you are and what you do or expect from participation. There are other sections for Critique. There are Draft, Lyric, Song, and Video forums for that purpose. As a rule uploading your work is preferable to an off site link. Hope this helps. Clay

Dynamics In A Band There are three primary traits in choosing musicians Skill, Talent, and Imagination. It is rare to find all three in one person and it not necessary to have all three in one person for success although it certainly can’t hurt. I only score Medium in Skill, but High in Talent and Imagination. I am technically not stellar but I can hit the target on emotion. This means I can sometimes make a piece sound better than a more skilled musician who has less feeling and emotional depth. Most studio musicians score Skill - High, Talent - Medium, and Imagination - Low. Jimmy Page became wealthy and owned a bookstore in London as a studio player because he scored Skill - High, Talent - High, and Imagination - High. This was before ever moving on to The Yardbirds which eventually became The New Yardbirds and then became Led Zeppelin. Below is an analysis of three world famous bands based upon this dynamic. Person/Band Skill Talent Imagination Led Zeppelin Page High High High Plant Medium High Low Jones High High Medium Bonham High High High The Who Townsend Medium High High Daltry Medium High Medium Entwitlsle High High Medium Moon High High High The Experience Hendix High High High Redding Medium Medium Low Mitchell High High High All of the three were groundbreaking acts. All of the three had hit songs. All of the guitarists and singers never did anything of any significance after their drummers, all triple Highs, either died or left the band. Jimi Hendrix only played with Buddy Miles for a short period before bringing back Mitch Mitchell. All of them had at least two members who scored High in combinations of either Skill, Talent, and Imagination. Most of the players were High in Talent which like Imagination cannot be learned. Many musicians who have some Skill believe they also have Talent on a level which they do not possess. This is similar to believing you have discriminating taste based upon something you learned from a magazine rather than a book. Led Zeppelin was finished after the death of Bonham. Bonham is widely regarded as the #1 drummer of all time by many drummers and was equally as important as Page for their sound and direction. The Who trudged on playing their hits after Moon died but was artistically dead as Townsend had Talent and Imagination but Moon was too much of a driving artistic force behind the band even though Townsend wrote the material. Townsend has talked about this in interviews. One lesson to be learned from this is a the wrong drummer will kill your act faster than almost anything else other than a wandering lead player or a poor vocalist. Ringo Starr was an excellent drummer although his sound only really worked well with The Beatles. He later had hit songs but not because of his drumming. Charlie Watts had very un-flashy drumming but was the backbone of the Stones because he understood, as did all the others mentioned, that the purpose of a drummer is to accent the other players not act as a metronome for them. The majority of drummers do not understand this and fall into rigid regimentation. This makes them worthless in a sophisticated, progressive setting unless all you want is a tapping in the background Remember you are not your audience and you are not your potential career promotion professional. Your buddy, the rambling lead guitarist you think sounds great because he has a little Skill but no Talent, will kill your record deal in a heartbeat. What Music Business people look for is professionalism, solid, clear direction in playing. They generally know nothing about musical talent and imagination but they know what works in widespread practice for selling things. So when you pick a musician what are you really looking for? Do you want someone capable of contribution and expansion? Do you want a highly skilled person to raise your sound quality or as a soloist? Or do you simply want someone to fill in the space because you believe you are a star in your own right? Donald Fagan and Walter Becker of Steely Dan were only Medium in Skill but very High in Talent and Imagination. Through a succession of lineups they surrounded themselves with some of the most highly skilled players available. There are many different roads to choose from. Discrimination in who you are willing to play with and why will most likely be one of the biggest deciding factors for success.

Very nice John. For some reason you remind me a great deal of Terry Reid although I haven't listened to anything by him for a very long time. I have no faith whatsoever in politicians as I believe in Voltaire's saying that young men die in wars started by old men for their own benefit.

This similar to how I looked until well into my 40s although heavier. Due to my lack of foresight in not digitizing everything I lost all photos and recordings up to 2007 when we moved from LA to DC. I believe we simply threw them away because of the massive house cleaning where we were paying people to cart things off because of the volume. We had so much "junk" that our dining room was filled with office boxes and the back veranda was wrapped in polyurethane to protect the boxes there since there was no more room in the garage. Pack Rats 'R' Us...

This was more of a joke than an attempt at poetry. 😁

I have had a lot of problems using Facebook. I have a Public Figure page but they keep rejecting my videos although I own the copyrights and they will not respond to the issue. I also cannot post to other pages unless that page is my Follower https://www.facebook.com/FirebirdsOfParadise

Très bien! Simple but eloquent

Up until last July I had only recorded in professional studios. I bought my first DAW, Logic Pro X, which I find to be great for only $199, although everyone has their own opinions about choices. The drawback is having to own a Mac which some people don't. As I have always owned nothing else It works great for me.

I do also but in different ways according to the situation. Sometimes it is on external speakers, sometimes it is on my own internal soundtrack. I frequently hear music whether there any is actually playing in the room or not. I always thought that is why some people are musical.

I love The Kinks. They were always one of my favorite bands. I still occasionally play All Day All Of The Night when I pick up a Bass Guitar. I don't know if there is any truth to the story but one of my friends claims to have been with Ray Davies the night he wrote Lola.

I met John Entwistle one night at the bar at the Rainbow on Sunset Blvd in 1990. He was very charming and friendly dressed like any suburban dad in dress casual attire.

It's funny you mention this as The Who started out as Mods then morphed into Rockers after the release of Tommy.

The song is very good but it need bass and drums badly otherwise it sound like background music in a film. It does not sound like a commercial song offering. The first part up to 1:00 sound great. The part staring after 1:00 where the effects are added to the vocal sound cheesy and unimaginative. The effects detracts from the overall song, rather than adding anything they subtract.

Or you could post the lyrics. 🤪 Sean Connery's first stage role was in a production of South Pacific because he was able to do cartwheels during one number. He commented later his Scottish brogue was so strong the rest of the cast thought he was Polish.

Keep us posted with a play by play on your blog on what's happening there!

Really nice song John! I couldn't quite understand all the lyrics but the overall feeling was very good. You make me wish I could play rhythm guitar well.

This is beautifully done Emily both as a performance and as a song. The section from around 2:50 - 3:20 would be a great place to insert a strong electric guitar solo based around the melody line. It would blow people away and take the song even higher into the commercial realm. This is the type of move which makes a song step from Good to Unforgettable. Great job! ♥️

It is very pretty at the beginning. It was calm and soothing until the vocal synths overpowered the piano rather than supporting it. At that point it became difficult to continue listening although I did make it to the ending.

@Ron Mac Donald Welcome Ron! Come on in and join a Critique or a Discussion. There are many types and many levels of artists from multiple genres.

I believe this is due more to record labels still controlling the lion's share of print media. I see articles about ancient bands in my newsfeed every singe day. I think, "I thought they were all dead." I stopped caring about what The Who did after Keith Moon died but there is an article in the Entertainment section almost every week about their latest resurrection. I think Pete Townsend keeps announcing their retirement just because he gets press coverage. Does anyone really care what Slash thinks anymore? I saw a video of G&R from a festival last summer and Axl could barely waddle from side to side on the stage dressed the same as the 1990s. These acts show up with a feature article regularly along with a cast of a thousand geezers I stopped following decades ago. Remember the term payola? It's not dead. Record companies may no longer control production but they still control a disportioncate amount of publicity machinery.

@Mahesh I wrote a post in Musicians Lounge about this last year. Before I got Covid in early 2020 I was a session player and never did anything except play. Now I cannot play at my previous level and had to retire from studio paying although I still hold my union membership. This whole experience is new to me except for websites. I had never used a DAW before last Summer. The concept of recording without other musicians had never crossed my mind.