john

Hey I thought about asking the question “How much do you spend, on average, each year, on music promotion?” But then I thought it might be more interesting to contrast your estimated annual music creation spend vs music promotion spend! Yeah, I know… I’m pretty sad lol So, I’ve asked both questions in this poll Mwuahahaha! Cheers John

Well, please give me a bump if you do add some

What do you think about Neil Young removing his music from Spotify? Now Joni Mitchell too? A move supported by Peter Frampton? Is Spotify gambling that young people don’t know or resonate with these artists? https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/jan/27/neil-young-spotify-joe-rogan-covid-misinformation Of course, Apple couldn’t resist jumping on the bandwagon… https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/apple-music-trolls-spotify-neil-young-joe-rogan-1291697/ Stance aside, it’s been a long time since musicians really tried to shape the world, or to take a stand against a streaming company. I’d be really interested to get views about artists doing this.

Liking idea 1.15.22. Some pieces you can just so visualise along with, imagining them being used in a movie or tv series. This is one of those for me. Sure there are bits I might change or tweak, but it’s an interesting starting point. I’d love to hear someone singing some words with it!

Absolutely Clay. What we do shapes the community we build. Better to inspire than to scare. Inspired people usually move forwards. Scared people often run away. Better to encourage than to punish. Encouraged people grow confidence and constructive determination. Punished people grow anger and destructive determination at best, timidity and fear at worst. Better to participate than to watch from the sidelines. Participate to build, to shape changes, in yourself, in others, in the community. Watch to take some gains from observation, but do nothing to contribute to community strength, resilience or it’s collective knowledge. Better to be active and interested, than inactive and disinterested. The former builds, the latter destroys Now I’m going to listen to some bonanza lunchbox

I am happy sharing either. If anything I am more inclined to post incomplete works as I would prefer to release complete works via a release process, with a big splash. The issue has been 3 weeks of lack of studio time. That should change this week.

No need to thank me! I think I said at the outset, it takes a while to get new initiatives to take off. It’s not this idea, really. In part it’s where the forums are at (been slow but beginning to pick up again), modern motivations, and it simply being new. It takes time for people to be aware and then to switch on to it. I think it will naturally take off as the forums get busier as long as we keep it going and we keep promoting it. I created a topic about community activity that explains what we can all do to help improve our community. Luckily the solution is pretty simple!

Hey We’re just getting on with promoting the community in general and according to stats we have stopped the decline and started to grow again. We have so many promotions to do to attract people here, and we have only scratched the surface in terms of promoting things like New Music Friday topics (Check em out!). Members notice the boards getting busier but maybe not as fast as they would like. Luckily there are some simple solutions… If members find the boards would be better busier, then simply by 1. staying around and 2. keeping posting, the more members who do these two things, our boards will pretty quickly become busy. Why? Several reasons, but can largely be broken down into two areas: Traffic Activity Activity Breeds Activity It motivates others to be active. Posts also stimulate other members by feeding them stuff to talk about, things to respond to. Activity tells people it is worth being active here. People are wired to look for a number of responses quite quickly to feel people are interested. If they don’t get that, they feel people are disinterested and they go elsewhere. When we promote our forums, ideally people will arrive to find a busy forum. The more promotions we can do that encourage people to come here and they arrive to find the subject that brought them here being discussed… the more of them will stay around. Simple solution. Talk to people. Ask them questions. Be interested. When you see staff post new topics, or promote member topics, please respond because we are probably promoting that topic. Keep it active. Even better, post related topics too! Traffic We rely on search traffic to bring in new members We also rely on regular promotion of our community on blogs and social media by staff to bring in new members. Please comment, like and share our social posts! We rely upon members and visitors occasionally sharing links to our articles and topics on social media and blogs. Please comment, like and share our site content on your social media! Doing 2 and 3 helps really helps with 1 as well as directly helping with traffic in their own right. Activity Our boards, and our individual topics, rely on members actively posting This helps improve the search ranking, mentioned above, by creating new content and new links, which Google etc loves and use to help measure our community popularity. More links to our community gives more traffic from search engines, which gives more traffic…. You get the idea. Members, especially new members, look for regular activity. So when we are actively promoting our community, the best thing we can all do is to be active on our boards. Our social media accounts benefit hugely from members actively commenting, sharing and liking our post on social media This also helps improve the search ranking by giving new content and new links, which Google etc love. Followers, especially new followers, look for regular activity. So if you see our posts, the best thing we can all do is to respond. If you like what we have here, but just want it busier… Stick around Be active Be patient

Hey Steve, I love new music Fridays. For my own music life just seems to have conspired. I have been writing, not recording, and trying to clear my feet. I am hoping this week will see a change for me. I know Mahesh intends taking part and I think Peggy might. It would be a shame if this fell by the wayside. We have promoted it, but will promote it further. I think one thing that might help would be actively promoting participation in NMF through the week. I’ll also add an Ad or two into general rotation to see if that helps

Artists focus too much on artists being in competition with each other. They don’t like to admit they approach it that way, but actions speak louder than words. It’s true to some extent, but far less than is allowed for. The fact is, it has been this way for a long long time, and the modern world only accentuates this…. Artists get far far further when they focus on working together with other music artists, but also when they work with other kinds of artists too (photographers, videographers, clothes designers etc.). Think of it this way, the modern music industry started focusing on discovering new bands in new cities. The Beatles were the catalysts of the Mersey sound in Liverpool. Oasis and blur in Manchester in the 1990s. True, we tend to remember one or two big acts by the end of it all, but at the time these cities are a launchpad for a load of artists. It stands to reason. A lot of artists create a bigger target. It is easier for an entire local scene to be noticed than an individual band. In truth it normally starts with a few core bands working together on some level. Perhaps they share a manager, or their managers are smart and collaborate. When one wins, they all win. That is the attitude that works. Once those bands work together they collectively generate more newsworthy moments. If for no other reason, that turns industry heads. Journalists, A&R, musicians… they look towards the brightest lights. That is true for fans too. That is why cross promotion works so well. If we work together then your fans and my fans discover something new and finally my music gets the chance to shine in front of some new fans. If WE win, then each of us has a far better chance. A good way to visualise it is imagine each artist is a star in the sky. Fans (and industry peeps) are drawn towards the brightest lights because those are the lights easiest to see from a distance. If you and your fellow local bands pull closer together then from a distance you look like one much larger, brighter star. And so they head for you to check you out. However, it is only when they get closer that they realise that that one large light was in fact several smaller lights next to each other. By then of course it has done it’s job. Plus, often people are fascinated that you could be so close to each other and they want to know more. Now they are close enough to appreciate you… and that’s what you want! To a degree this is what we hope for both Songstuff and Songstuff U.K. If we can use the size of the community and collab work to attract attention, and we are actively shining the light on our members, then hopefully we can really help get a bunch of you really noticed. That’s the thing, working for mutual gain as a priority doesn’t mean you lose out. One wins, we all win. Of course, Songstuff is nit a fellow artist. More like a venue. You help us shine and we help you shine. In the star analogy… if you don’t band together then it is you, on your own, trying to get noticed in a sea of millions of stars. By working together with say 100 bands, then your collective light is 100 times bigger and brighter than all those single bands. Once people get closer, now you have to stand out from 100 artists…. Which is a lot easier than standing out from a million artists, no? Just like Songstuff, this works for other artist types. If their stuff gets noticed, then the chances of you getting noticed increases. This goes on to actively promoting your fellow artists, and supporting people and platforms. You might say that sounds dodgy, but there are ways and means. The king of this approach? Ed Sheeran. He not only actively gives shout outs for other artists, but he features on records for other people, he writes and produces other people. He is a prolific writer. In the 2 or so years before he was signed he released about 11 EPs. He wrote for others, had them guest on his songs, he guested on theirs (cross promotion) and they name checked him more than anyone else. This was hardly a new concept. Prince did the same thing. So did Bowie. So, don’t think of it as a cheap trick. It’s about playing to your collective strengths. It’s about wanting good things for each other and knowing others have your back just as you have theirs. The modern age of the internet just raises the need to do this and presents better tools to do it with. Never before have so many stars been so visible to the naked eye. Never before has there been such a need to work with others as there is now.

I really like this piece Steve. Some great sounds and an interesting, slow build and transition between dominant sounds. I did wonder, about halfway through, if a nice soaring melodic coming in would have been a good addition.

Thanks Greg! Fixed!

Hi Sam, Welcome to Songstuff! A few quick questions that will help clarify your situation: Have you previously recorded and released any songs? Do you know this person to speak to if you met in real life? Are you familiar with their previous work? Are they a traditional producer, working with many artists to help them record the artist’s music and create “a sound”? Or are they a more modern home studio musician who mainly records their own music? Or would they be considered a “beat maker”? Would you be looking to co-write with this person or hire them as an employee to do a job? Have you thought about how you would compensate this person? (Up front payment, royalty share, no payment…) I ask because your answers have an effect upon how you would approach them. Cheers John

Hey Simple questions….. Please fill in the poll, and please post up your thoughts here too! Cheers John

Hi I was muttering away in Mahesh’s Cakewalk club about Cakewalk, reminiscing about CAL, Cakewalk Application Language. Basically you can control all aspects of the DAW interface and MIDI, programmatically. It was excellent. It got me to thinking. Back in the mid 1990’s I played with CSound. CSound was a sound extension for the C programming language. It was used in part by electronic composers, and at one point very cutting edge. It was where I first played with physical modelling synthesis and granular synthesis… well ahead of any hardware for these types of synthesis being available. Have any of you used CSound? Cheers John

I used Cakewalk for a long time. Loved it. Then it looked like it would be discontinued, so I tried Studio One. I did install the current version but haven’t really explored it. One thing I used to love, was CAL. Cakewalk Application Language. I don’t know if it is still supported. It allowed you to interact with all aspects of the interface using programming language. I am sure it is useful for many things, but as a regular electronic composer it was great. More than that, no other interface offered an equivalent. As a DAW, I always found it pretty intuitive to use.

Hi and welcome to Songstuff! Can you tell us a little about yourself and your music?

Hmmm. I use reference tracks for arrangement and production to get into the same sonic space…. I use it very specifically when checking mixes and mastering. I don’t use it to imitate another song. I wonder if they misunderstand it’s use, or if their songs are so easily influenced?

More than one thing, but one thing first. Connecting with the words by getting into the emotional space. If I feel the words, I perform better. I usually remember the words far better than setting out on a mission to remember the words! I want to be practised enough that I don’t need to think on the mechanics of performance… I want the feeling to flow through what I play. I can’t do that if playing is not second nature, allowing me to focus on feeling. After all, songs are best delivered when the singer is convincing, and feeling the words is a big part of that. As a second level thing, it’s connecting with the audience… ie, don’t close your eyes and lose yourself. It’s all very well having a touching moment with your eyes closed (shush now)…. You are there to entertain.

Hey Studio One 5.5 has been released with a heap of new features and bug updates. Here's a brief overview of what's new in Studio One 5.5: 1. Track Automation on Project Page Studio One 5.5 introduces automation to the Project Page. 2. Clip Gain Envelopes on Project Page The Project Page now provides Clip Gain Envelopes which allows for precision fixes of any gain issues when mastering without the use of dynamics plug-ins. 3. Listen Bus on Project Page The Project Page now provides a Listen Bus for monitoring via a separate output and effects from the Master output. This lets you use room correction plug-ins or headphone monitoring tools when mastering or mixing. 4. Track Transform on Project Page The Project Page now includes Track Transform. Track Transform lets you create reversible, non-destructive mastered track renders, including every insert effect and automation parameter. This means you can reduce the required processing power for your session while keeping the flexibility of not committing to permanent mastering decisions. 5. Multiple format export for Digital Release The Project Page Digital Release window now provides a list of available audio formats which can be exported at the same time — within the same render time! Each audio format keeps its own export settings. This means you can export your mastered EP/album as both a high-resolution, 24-bit/96kHz WAV and AAC for streaming at the same time! 6. Target Loudness on Digital Release The Project Page Digital Release window now provides new Loudness options to let you set target values for loudness and true peak during export. A list of common target loudness presets is provided. Presets for every major streaming service are included — from Apple Music to Spotify to YouTube — which means no need to Google streaming service settings! You can also create custom Loudness settings and save them for future use. 7. New high-end dithering algorithm Studio One 5.5 uses an exclusive, new, proprietary dithering algorithm with minimal conversion based audible noise, distortion and other artefacts while preserving low-level signals. 8. Drag and Drop MIDI files to Chord Track to extract chords MIDI files can be dragged on to the Chord Track and their chords will be extracted. It works with any .MID file. This includes any chord packs or songs in Standard MIDI file format. Studio One’s chord detection works with both Audio and Instrument Events. 9. Create a strum pattern by dragging notes A strum pattern can be created manually by dragging note events in a selected chord while holding the [Cmd+Opt] or [Ctrl+Alt] keys. Strummed chords can be created with a single movement. 10. Ampire now optimized for fast preset switching on Show Page Improved preset switching in Ampire with the emphasis on live performance. Changing between Ampire presets is now faster. It is optimized for use with the Show Page, allowing you to trigger your Ampire presets by MIDI pedalboard. Other features / improvements worth mentioning: Mix Scenes now include automation Plug-in Nap available per-plug-in Copy / Paste / Swap pads from any bank in Impact XT ATOM-series controllers can control sample edit parameters in Impact XT and Sample One Draw vertical note stacks Support for Steinberg CC121 controller Support for Tascam Model 12 mixer Import/Export support for Opus audio file format Diagnostics Report plug-in list available Automation tracks display plug-in name and position Chord Selector had three more intervals: 2|9, Flat-5, and Sharp-5

First time I’ve seen that Freebie vocal doubler.

Capos are your friend…

Hi Greg Thanks for reaching out to podcasters. Very much appreciated. We actually already do playlists, both with Songstuff and Songstuff U.K…. on YouTube and Soundcloud. We also have playlists on Spotify. You are right that we can evolve the format to fudge a podcast, completely under YouTube’s license. We had considered this but thought it a bit clunky, but workable as a short term answer. We could then evolve towards something more integrated. We thought to evolve the format to have live performances, for example an open mic. I believe the YouTube license covers us for livestream too… but only live… not for stored recordings of those live performances. Ideally, we want to supplement our existing playlists with interviews, perhaps with live performance as part of the interview. Like some other YouTube channels we also thought to include webcam performances on our channel. We had also wondered about creating lyric videos for artists on our channel. We planned to heavily promote this content and the artist’s channels and other projects. We would promote through our websites, newsletters, social media and blogs etc. This way it would be very worthwhile for artists and our site. Artists get improved reach and discovery and the site gets to build an audience. Although we would be promoting Songstuff artists, we want to promote other indie artists too. Even a small number of more mainstream artists… not top flight, but people who are indie just now, on the way up or down. It’s all about audience. If we want artists to improve their reach to find a new audience, then we need artists who attract an audience on our playlists, being interviewed etc. Then we have a chance of introducing our artists to their audience. Either way, introducing a podcast styled element could happen pretty quickly in the format of your suggestion.

Hey Bawb! Welcome to Songstuff

Hey Greg, did you try Poser? Were you not tempted to try stop-motion? Well, I guess you are using stop motion with a 0.5 fps! Lol