john

Hey Joey, welcome to Songstuff,

Hey Madame Wu! Great to have you aboard

Hi just to catch up on where you get your artwork from. Please fill in the poll and offer comments and suggestions below. Thanks! cheers John

Hey Marquee, welcome to Songstuff!

Hi Gang I've just posted a review of the IsoVox 2, both a written article and YouTube vid. http://www.songstuff.com/product-reviews/isovox-2-review/ Feedback very welcome. Cheers John

Everyone can improve... but then it is a question of how much... and is related to how hard and how smart you work. Sometimes you can find you can develop a reasonable singing voice, but it is not best suited to the style you listen to, but works brilliantly for another style. Sometimes you can find your voice can only go so far, but you can use your love of music to fuel playing other instruments.... playing a second instrument is always recommended... and in those you might find you are exceptional. Whatever opinion we offer would just be an opinion. I understand you may be lacking confidence... but that may simply down to experience. Do you practice singing at home, alone? Dedicated singing practice? Do you try to learn technique, or are you thinking "it's my voice, isn't that enough?", also known as lazy lol Point is, practice. Learn. Use technique. Learn your instrument. Then look at how good it is. if you just expect to be able to sing, you aren't being fair to yourself, or respecting the work it takes to make a voice into an instrument, or the many singers who work hard to build their skills. After all, why should you expect you can do it with minimal effort, when the greats have to work at it? Confidence is built on knowledge and experience. Talent can be natural, but it can also be learned through hard work.

Hi Giora! Welcome to Songstuff!

Hi it isn't easy. Yes a wage can be made, but it takes not just hard work, but smart work, built upon skills, musical and non-musical... and it will take a bit of trial and error to gain experience.... but that is to be expected. what makes a difference? Viewing it as work, not just a hobby helps. A willingness to work on the unfun stuff that is necessary. The exact skills vary depending on your role. A jobbing musician requires similar though different skills to a singer/songwriter who is also an artist. Session musicians need different additional skills to actual band members, or members of an orchestra. The he ability to learn from others, and not repeat their mistakes or your own is useful. An ability to network and find and develop opportunities. A professional attitude, diligence, and loads of hard work. Find and develop contacts, make friends in the biz... the list goes on.... loads of stuff many musicians neglect. Most musicians have other jobs, of all kinds... generally day jobs because most gigs are in the evenings. Flexible jobs help, though there is a balance to be had... more money comes in handy, but it usually comes with less flexibility, and more commitment. Gotta dash, will try and get back and write something more... cheers john

Hey Wolf! Welcome to Songstuff!

Hey Tony, welcome to Songstuff! Good to have you aboard. What you can of course do (to answer your question) is to practice, perform, write.... and keep doing that. Luckily enough we love all that! Ok, practice less so, but we love the results! Lol

Hi gang I thought it would be interesting to see what the top songs we would recommend to 15 year olds would be. The idea is simply to build a chart based on numbers of recommendations of any individual song. A top 20 chart would be brilliant, but we might struggle on numbers... So, please give me your chart of the top 20 songs you would recommend 15 year old's listen to! Hopefully we can build some sort of consensus. Ok, I'm off to put together my list. Cheers John

Hi and welcome to Songstuff!

One point of interest, is the reduction in hardware in my studio. That said, I need a new control surface or three!

A bit messy ATM, but here is the main bit... behind to right and left are guitars, amps etc. Just now I have an Isovox2 set up for a review instead of the usual movable baffle.

Hi and welcome to Songstuff Jamaal!

Hi Ben Welcome to Songstuff!

Hi and welcome to Songstuff!

Lol he was concentrating on looking windswept and shexy (as Sean Connery would say).

1. Be an active participant. Online communities thrive on activity of their members. Activity helps you, and it helps our community stay useful and interesting. 2. Recommend Songstuff to songwriters, musicians and bands that you know. Keep recommending whenever you meet new musicians. More members means more experience, more activity, more things to interest you. 3. Consider making a donation. Having a budget is essential to paying for site running costs and the development of new features.

Hi Are you a recent member, or at least inexperienced with our site and community? Would you be willing to share your first impression? What do you like about the site? What do you think could be improved, and how? Cheers John

Hey Edson Welcome aboard! We've had many members over the years whose first language was not English, including several site staff. I am sure you will fit right in. You posted an Introduction post which is a good start. Have a read, add some friends, try to avoid flooding the critique boards with multiple topics, and please be active in offering critique... it is a great way to learn and help you to broaden your horizons. Most members are more willing to help members they see helping others, that is just human nature. Cheers John

Hi Shawn, Welcome to Songstuff! Good to have you aboard Cheers John

Unfortunately Jessie died in December 2015 at the age of 18. she was a much loved wee pussycat. Last year we adopted a 14 year old cat (Treacle) and 8 year old dog (Sparkie) who were needing re-homed. Our house had been so empty, we love animals and they were needing help. David Bowie had two issues with his eyes. He had one green eyed one blue eye, and in addition he had one pupil fixed wide open. My mother had the second condition and it would cause her a lot of headaches, I can only imagine that it would have the same effect on David Bowie, and perhaps explains why he wore sunglasses a lot.

Here's a color color pencil drawing of 3 ages of David Bowie I made just after he died:

Here's "Jessie", my old cat, a color pencil drawing from early 2016 or thereabouts.