john

Hey Gang A quick plug for the Hot Rock playlist on the Independent Music Stage, as featured on SSUK. Cheers John

Added as a weekly event to the community calendar. If you would like better info in the calendar event we can add it as the weeks go by. Just let me know of any changes you want.

View into another world

Hi Steve started a new thread, “New Music Friday!”. It’s a nice idea. So I’ve drafted some basic in-site ads to help get things started. @Steve Mueske I thought we could also add to the site calendar as a recurring event. Anyway, here’s those images: Cheers John

I hear you, though having separate threads per song has some advantages. We can have small experiments to see what works. Perhaps we can have different events/challenges that have different formats? I am sure with some in-site promo and newsletter ads we can get this going. Other variations we can look at is, as mentioned, a pre-arranged interactive hour, using chat or not using chat, we could look at using a club (because then we can notify members of the club of activity.) Beyond that, we could look at different though related focus groups (lyrics, songs, recording & production, remixing, video) as well as genre focused (if it gets too busy). We could try doing them on different days (songwriting Saturdays for example). I don’t suggest we do anything more than grow the basic idea to begin with, but all of these variations could work for different members. Its important to explore ideas. One group can feed another, and as has been mentioned by several members, they like Songstuff but it would be nice if it was busier. We can all help with that just by being active. Other things too, but active is good.

Hey gang What do you use as a studio control surface (if any)? Effectively, I now use 2. I used to use my old Roland VS880 VX as basic fader and transport control, but it was very clunky. I had always used my PC keyboard, just remembering keys. Then I got myself an EditorKeys keyboard for my StudioOne DAW. It made life considerably easier. My latest addition has been a Presonus Faderport 16. Awesome. Motorised faders, context driven control surface. Love it. Combining the editor keys and the faderport makes for a control system that makes a lot of features in my DAW immediately accessible. I use my mouse much less than I was! So, whatcha using? Cheers John

Hey Mike, I really enjoyed that first loop. A nice airy, floaty piece. Gentle. I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance yesterday. I’ll take part next Friday. Great idea! it might be an idea to great new threads per artist per song and keep the chat in the chat room. Especially if we can arrange an actual time to be on. Just a thought. Cheers John

The trouble is, Soundcloud suffers from all the issues other OMDs suffer from… artists make terrible music fans. Yes some can be ok, but it depends how they encounter music. If an artist encounters another artist on the platform, they see an equal, and often like things they never listened to, screwing up any algorithms on the platform, and where they like they look forward likes in return. Ie the like has nothing to do with liking music and everything to do with trying to get large fan lists… mainly for misguided reasons and bragging rights. Unfortunately it makes for unresponsive fan lists when an artist releases new music, which is discouraging. Meanwhile listeners share the platform with these spammy artists. So far listeners have been a second class citizen on the platform. Soundcloud themselves don’t release data (or at least they didn’t) about what percentage is artists and what listener but not artist. I suspect that pure listeners are very much in the minority making listener subscriptions pretty low to start with. That won’t change as long as they mix the front end interface like they do. Spotify has a different interface for artists, and a separation that means that artists largely encounter other artists as listeners. They have no inter-artist social tools on the listening platform. It’s a fundamental difference with huge consequences. I use both platforms. I use Soundcloud as an artist/listener, but I use Spotify as a listener/playlist curator/artist. It makes a bigger difference than discover will IMO.

Brilliant! I will do. It’ll feel strange calling you Zachary now! Lol Not to worry. Choices, choices

Hi What microphones do you use? I use a Rode NT2, a Shure SM7B, SM58, and 517SB (Unidyne B). I use the NT2 and SM7B for vocals and acoustic instruments. The SM58 I use with my RC-505 Loopstation, and the 517SB I use with my guitar amp, though usually these days I tend to DI my electric guitar via my GT-10 and often then use an amp sim. I like the sound I get for my acoustic guitar using my NT2 pointed between fret 12-14, but I am planning on getting a Lewitt LCT 140 Air, small diaphragm mic to record pointed at the lower front quarter of the guitar. It will be great for a balanced/pop tone on my 12 string and standard 6 string, but I doubt it will work in that position on my Martin DCX1E as it is a cut away. An experiment waiting to happen! Either way the LCT 140 Air will also sound great in the fret 12-14 area too. So what do you use and what do you use them for? Cheers John

Hey Blue Labs have stopped further development. Their plugins will be freely available until the website disappears. Go get em! https://bluelab-plugs.com/plugins/?fbclid=IwAR1GTlXUhg2HsJ-MUqed4komjXT36U3roMvUphHyYW5X5-90JpWDqvbTPqI

Worth having a stab at? It’s a useful exercise in working out what you really value from your toolkit.

Thanks Powerchord. I have a STACK of songs to record and a whole bunch of ideas to try out. I sense a lot of fun in my immediate future

Hey There’s some pretty useful vocal processing plug ins available these days. A far cry from analog days! The increase in AI based tools is really gone up a notch. Especially in EQ based tools, even more so with ones that specialise in vocals. Some are fairly straight forward, like Track Spacer, which saves a load of time implementing a side chain triggered frequency sensitive ducking. Ideal for quickly carving our a precise hole for vocals to cut through other instruments, or even other vocals. Then there’s SynchroArt’s Re-voice Pro. It combines several tools in one. You can use it to match timing to a lead vocal, but much more you can match tonality, vibrato and pitch. When you update a designated lead track, all derived or connected tracks are updated. The sound is much more natural than Antares Autotune tools. Ideal for the tight timing of a modern pop song. Then again plenty of modern tracks use the automatic harmony of Antares Harmony Engine. There’s a big difference between those who use these tools as an obvious effect and those that use them for performance enhancement or use them to create an unreal performance. I tend to use them primarily to tighten timing in a way that doesn’t take a day to edit! AI enhanced Eq, compression and reference track comparison are all pretty exciting developments. What do you currently use, and what would you like to use on vocal production? Have you seen any new VST’s or stand alone processors that you are excited about using? Cheers John

This could have gone in any of the discussion boards. It’s well worth the watch…

Beethoven has long been my favourite, though there are a few brilliant composers. For me, I am a sucker for his piano sonatas. I regularly play the moonlight sonata as an exercise in memory and mood. It still takes me on a journey every time I play it. Not only do I express the mood I think Beethoven intended, but overlaid is my own mood, affecting every performance. Sure I can do it with or without my mood affecting it, but to meet it’s a vital expression. Chopin is another, slightly later composer I love. Some pretty big hand stretches required for Chopin. The biggest are just a little too much for me. Another composer who I greatly admire is Rachmaninov. Oh boy, the passion he can summon. So far I haven’t learned any, it’s on my list. Out of interest, going back to an earlier topic, the journey from Bach (harpsichord - loads of “inventions” of constantly played notes because the plucked note had low sustain and all the same volume, more or less), through Mozart (piano - improved sustain, so more held notes, and more variety in note volumes, better control, more complexity, more emotional depth) to Beethoven (pianoforte - the modern piano, loads of sustain and nuance of note volume, a load more control) was enabled entirely by the evolution from plucked strings of the harpsichord to the hammered notes on the pianoforte. That evolution allowed composers a growing depth of expression in a technology journey that lasted a century. The emotion of the composer, the emotion of the performer, both are vital components. They allow a full range of expression, limited only by feeling and imagination. Playing scales and chords is just the start of playing. Mastering expression is what sets you apart as both a composer and a player. Truth be told, feeling, expression and communication are vital for musicians, composers and lyricists. There’s an expression I love: Amateurs practice until they get it right Professionals practice until they can’t get it wrong In honesty, that is just talking about the core notes and chords, the base timing. The journey of a piece goes way passed that. Mastering the nuance of weight of note and timing of note is a journey that has barely begun when the performer has already reached the point of no mistakes. As a writer our compositions require such devotion too. Not in a slavish sense of devotion. It is a devotion of love, a dedication to the honest expression of a full range of emotions. It is about a level of control that allows you to express exactly what you feel and the depth and complexity with which you feel it. Performance is a beautiful addiction. Songwriting is no less. It deserves our best. After all, if we do not believe in our music enough to build the capacity for such emotion in to our works, why on earth would someone else do it for you? Exploring, learning, they are all about expanding our capacity to express. So that we can commune with our audience, at their convenience, long after our performance. That takes depth and range. Never under estimate the beauty and power that mastery of expression will infuse your music with.

Independent Music Stage We are launching the Independent Music Stage - a platform to showcase the best independent music alongside complimentary mainstream artists. It will be managed by the staff of SSUK (Songstuff U.K.). The idea is simple. Build a place that fans will go to hear great music, giving Songstuff Community members a friendly, accessible place to showcase their music. We plan to feature: Songstuff Artists Non-Songstuff Indie Artists - the best we can find Mainstream artists - Popular artists have large numbers of followers We want to treat indie artists just like mainstream artists, with features, interviews, playlists, production videos, webcam performances, livestreams, photos etc spread over websites, blogs, social media, newsletters, podcasts, video channels… it’s a massive undertaking, but one we believe to be an essential component to a successful indie scene. Not simply that Songstuff features indie music, but that there is a network of sites that treat indies like mainstream artists. SSUK SSUK will be a music blog/music magazine site. It will offer blog posts, articles, interviews, playlists, reviews, and is to be closely associated with the Independent Music Stage. It is a fan facing site. Songstuff will help to provide songs to SSUK, while SSUK will provide playlists, livestreams interviews and more to Songstuff. Suggestions for witty uses of SSUK are very welcome! Independent Music Stage The Independent Music Stage (IMS) proudly showcases independent music through playlists on some music distribution platforms: Follow – Independent Music Stage on Soundcloud Follow – Independent Music Stage on Spotify Follow – Independent Music Stage on YouTube Our playlists are then promoted on our blog, social media portals, our newsletter, across our sister site’s blogs, their social media portals: Independent Music Stage on Twitter Independent Music Stage on Facebook Independent Music Stage on Instagram Independent Music Stage on Pinterest Mainstream Artists Why would we feature mainstream artists? Apart from the fact that they make good quality popular music, they have fans. Their fans are potentially your listeners, your fans. If you make music that is like a mix of Lou Reed and John Mayer, then prominently placing your music on the same playlists as popular songs by Lou Reed, John Mayer, and a few other complimentary mainstream and indie artists, potentially exposes their fans to your music. Fans who already like the kind of music you make. Why You Should You Actively Support The IMS Of course, you can do this yourself, but with multiple artists promoting our lists to their fans we should be able to grow at a much faster rate than any individual artist would. Additionally, we plan to grow our playlists and portals with an audience of fans, not artists. It’s an important distinction. Fans listen to music, they download music. They behave like fans! What about your fellow artist? Well they might never listen to your music. A large percentage liked or followed you, in the hope that you will follow them. I scratched your back, so please scratch mine. It might grow large lists quite quickly, but they are pretty dead lists, because they are not fans. Algorithm wise, platforms then down rank your posts. After all, your audience doesn’t even interact with them, and previous interaction predicts future interactions. That means Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube etc. think your content is boring and un-engaging. On such content platforms that is the death of your account. I get it. Just as bands start by playing to friends, family and work colleagues, they need to quickly transition to reaching listeners who don’t know them in order to build an active, engaged fan base who are there for their music, not a sense of obligation. On social media the same is true. You might get your list started with friends, family and fellow artists, but you absolutely must transition to reaching strangers who listen to the kind of music that you make. Quality Of Playlists To grow playlists we need to attract followers and keep followers engaged. We need to deliver a minimum of great music to listeners, or listeners will evaporate away. This means we need to maintain a high standard of recording and production, good songs, lots of talent. As mentioned we want to mix mainstream with the best of indie and the best of Songstuff. By pushing Songstuff Artists to produce brilliant recordings of their songs we create the best opportunity possible for those artists. If we simply accepted all songs with no checks on quality we could very easily kill the popularity of individual playlists or the IMS as a whole. This means that songs that are submitted cannot be automatically accepted and added to IMS playlists. However, if requested, Songstuff staff will help Songstuff Community members whose songs are rejected to improve the standard of their submission with the hope that future submissions will be of an acceptable standard. This includes highlighting issues with recording and production, performance. In the case of being featured or interviewed, if requested, our staff will provide suggestions for improving the artist’s EPK, and the overall packaging and presentation of the artist and their music. Songstuff Songstuff has more than 20,000 musicians, songwriters, artists, producers and other music professionals as members. In the near future it will provide courses, articles and tools to help aid with every part of a song’s journey, from the idea, through lyric writing, music arrangement, recording and production, mastering, release, marketing and promotion. Songstuff will present SSUK playlists, features, livestreams and interviews to Songstuff visitors and community members via the Songstuff blog, across the Songstuff site, the Songstuff newsletter and our social portals. Cheers John

Hey all I’m looking for recommendations for indie artists to include in some playlists. A broad cross section of genres. Who do you rate? Who would make your playlists? Any specific songs? Cheers John

I don’t know why you posted this bri. To read your original post in THIS topic it gives the impression you posted “You are my destiny” on Songstuff and it was then ripped off. But it wasn’t that at all, which leaves me puzzled why you would give that impression? I’d draw your attention to this from your 2012 post: ”When I wrote it, I thought I was the world's best songwriter. Sent this everywhere...Paul McCartney, Tamla, anywhere. Around ten years later, a certain A.N. Other (from Tamla) released a song with a fairly similar hook, I thought.” According to your post in 2012, you shopped the song around everywhere you could think, MANY years before Songstuff existed (2000), and a decade after that an artist on Tamla (formed in 1959) released it. Paul Anka released a song with the same title in 1957 on ABC Paramount, which was then re-released on Columbia. The words are very different. I can’t comment on the melody as your song link is no longer active. I can’t find another version that is remotely similar lyrically. As you mention sending it to Paul McCartney, even if you are talking about 1965 Beatles era that puts the release of the rip off you talk of as about mid-1970’s. I can’t see a Tamla release with this song title any year, but especially not mid 70’s.

Hi and welcome to Songstuff Amieine.

I am happy to help. The h is silent in my name too! Lol I’ve never been to Singapore but would love to visit. It seems to be quite a vibrant place. If you post up your videos in new threads that would be great. I also recommend that you offer comments on other people’s videos too. For multiple reasons: By critiquing other people’s work you get to learn from their mistakes… and what they get right. You improve your observation skills You improve your analysis skills, while being free of any attachment to the work (we tend to be more precious with our own work, and that can get in the way of progress) You become much better at finding solutions to problems You learn from people from different schools of thought, which encourages experimentation and creativity You are not just learning working on your own works, which means you can learn much faster You make friends and collaborators You encourage more people to comment on your works when you post them I would encourage you to be as detailed as you can be when you offer critique. Look at the work from different perspectives. With a video of a song that might be the quality of the video, camera angle, sound quality and balance, length of video, lighting etc. You might also comment on various aspects of the performance. If an original song you might also comment on song form, melody, etc. As a member offering critique you stand to gain more than a member posting work for critique. Obviously I would recommend that you do both! Meanwhile, I look forward to the next work that you post. Cheers John PS, which is your given (personal) name, as opposed to your family name etc? For me John is my given name and Moxey is my family name. I have a middle name I never use.

Hey there Mind of Thorus Welcome to Songstuff!

Good post Greg. I completely agree about track order. People always created mix tapes, with tracks out of context. They didn’t always listen to tracks in the order they were placed in vinyl. They always dropped the needle on specific tracks. What people now do is that on steroids, but I still think there are plenty of fans who think it is important to experience them in the way the artist intended, at least once. I would say, for me, I listen to tracks in the order they were released on the album about 60-70% of the time. I listen to a load of single tracks, but when I am working painting, drawing or coding, I listen to full albums… unless I am building playlists.

Hey Clay I’ve been involved with Songstuff for 21 years, and I still love it. I am still regularly surprised and inspired by people’s talent, skill, perspective and sense of purpose. I’ll be the first to admit, that not everything I wanted Songstuff to achieve, not everything it could achieve, has been successful. At the same time, one of the things I think has been achieved has been is that our community is an open, honest and generally friendly place, where writers, composers, producers and performers can meet up and talk to their peers. They can explore their craft in a way that I think, in my unavoidably biased way, is pretty unique. Where it is not these things, I hope we resolve reported issues fairly and quickly. Don’t get me wrong, there are unique and precious features about most online communities, but by the same token not all communities are equal. I like to think Songstuff is one of the better communities on the Internet, and it will always strive to be better. Songstuff has in the past been very busy. Just now it’s pretty quiet, but that will change. We know several reasons that lead to it being quieter, and behind the scenes we have been fixing them. Communities go through cycles, often as they go through necessary changes. Songstuff has changed a lot in the last 3 years, and many of those changes have been in preparation for anticipated and necessary changes. At last we are almost at a point of fundamental change. Changes that I believe will only build upon the strengths of this community. The trick is, to scale up a community but preserve It’s identity, it’s personality, it’s ethics, and it’s attitude. Can I say, as an admin your experience is great to hear Clay! I hope on some level that your experiences have been in some part related to the type of community we have here. That in part must reflect the performance and approach of the staff. It is useful to find out what we do, both right and wrong. While staff may not be directly responsible for your epiphanies, we must be doing something right! I’ll take it as a win!

I’m confused. In your intro topic, you talk as if you are lil lucci, yet here you talk like it’s someone not connected to you lol