john

Nice. It has an interesting vibe, evoking Gamelan mixed with Japenese Shomyo or Gagaku with a modern broken beat. Do you intend your beats to be complete instrumentals, or do you aim to have a vocal added?

Hey there Aki! Welcome to Songstuff! What’s your background/ interest in music? Do you have any music related goals?

He means John Oszajca and his Music Marketing Manifesto. I don’t want to link to it. At the time he emerged on the Internet most of these guys were internet marketers wrapped up in music terminology to make it a bit less salesy sounding. His own marketing is quite slick and he certainly has some skills and abilities. While there are many lessons to be learned from digital marketing, for music it is only part of the picture. I can’t speak specifically for MMM, but most of these guys trivialise the amount of work and ongoing budget required, and the skills that might be required. They also tend to operate in fairly deep music channels themselves. For artists that are more niche there is of course an audience, but it is smaller. Such people also don’t tend to look at your product and be really honest with you… is it good enough. It’s a major failing of such businesses. That is not to say that such work cannot be good enough. if these guys were a marketing department in a label, they know there is a team taking care that your product is of a good enough standard, knocking it back from being released until the writing, performance, recording, production and mastering are all good enough, that the artwork and photo shoots are good, that everything is ready to roll… before release happens. At best only some of these steps are touched on, leaving artists going to market too soon, partly prepared and simply not market ready. Even when market ready, different audiences really benefit from more nuanced approaches. Such classes largely leave that up to you or to peers. Often trainers are experienced in a few mainstream genres so their advice is limited. For some niches you either need an advisor experienced in your exact genre or who had a good create and analytical mind (most trainers are either one or the other, more or less using the same playbook as your own but with a bit more experience. Ie their ability to create new strategies is highly limited. It’s a great shame because often the majority of their courses are useful are applicable.. in context. So, for example, say you put together a marketing video to use as a video ad on Facebook. The tools they give you are good at identifying your video is failing to get clicks, but they don’t really help you with identifying why your ideal audience is not clicking. Again they may help you identify that you may have mis-defined your initial audience, but not really helped you more effectively target, they may make broad suggestions on product bundling but not really identify that product bundling is a major factor in lack of sales, or that your profit margins are too low, and not really give you solutions that really address these problems. Some are better than others, that is definitely true. Most do contribute bits of the puzzle (some more useful than others) but they don’t magically teach us all we need to know. To a degree their support groups could help…. But they aren’t necessarily that experienced. Courses might have a lot of good stuff, but most don’t fill the gaps effectively. Most don’t view their clients as people they have to adapt the course work to, or even help adapt their clients to the course work… so much as say the same thing, but slower, in the hope their clients adapt all on their own. I’m rambling. Lol

Hey Thom good to see you mate. How are you getting on?

Try this for your jbridge setup: https://jstuff.wordpress.com/jbridge/

Hey Arcurus Welcome to Songstuff! I’d be interested in what they had you doing and what you were expecting. There can be many factors affecting the reaching of goals, including the realism of those goals, but some courses aren’t much good and I find often value doesn’t necessarily go with price. In music one formula does not necessarily fit all. The old model of music required a sizeable risk, but I don’t think it needs that risk now. Often I think artists need honesty, from others and from themselves and a willingness to be creative in finding and engaging their fans. Having people you can compare notes with…. All go with a basic game plan. I’ve looked at a lot of the available game plans etc out there. Some are not bad, but some are pretty awful. If you are still releasing music, it’s still worth having a plan. Even if you give your music away for free. At the end of the day it’s all about finding and connecting with your audience as a fundamental step. It’s the step most artists do wrong. It’s not the only step. It’s not the first step, but it is a vital one. Either way, it’s good to have you aboard. Hopefully I can hear what you’ve been doing at some point, and who knows, maybe we can help you in some way? Onwards and upwards. John

A few ideas… Designing studio AC is a challenge. You want a decent heat exchanger and a design that builds in acoustic absorption without overly reducing airflow. Out of interest using low or no power temperature management as used in green home design can help. Gear contributes a lot of heat, add to that hot gear means hard working fans equals noise. So, if you can, encase computers and vent them to the outside world. If you use long large diameter hoses and basic convention logic for input and output location you can extend equipment life by running at a lower temp and stop venting hot air into your Studio. Create a thermal chimney inside your computer encasement. It is possible to do the same with equipment racks. Using a false ceiling to hide long winding tubing will help, with a floor level cold intake and ceiling mounted exhaust creating a thermal chimney. That means a heat exchanger in the ceiling coupled with an external unit on the roof. Switch off incandescent lights. Use LED lighting.

8 hours ago, VoiceEx said: Do you think that your too old to make music? (i,e becoming successful, opportunities no longer being relevant etc) * Hell no! 8 hours ago, VoiceEx said: * Do you think that there an "age limit" to success? * Pfft! Perhaps with certain types of success it can be harder, but there’s not necessarily limits. 8 hours ago, VoiceEx said: * Do you feel like you were more creative when you were younger? * Nah! I had more energy. I am just as creative in terms of ideas 8 hours ago, VoiceEx said: * Are you pleased or displeased with the progress you have made over the years? * Displeased, but that is due to life, not the music industry. The music industry is one where if the opportunity doesn’t exist, you can make the opportunity happen. Life, however, can have very different plans for you. 8 hours ago, VoiceEx said: * If you had the ability to go back in time, is there a point in your career that you would like to re-live? * Sure, my late teens to early twenties, but that is about my health, nothing else. 8 hours ago, VoiceEx said: * Has your music changed over the years? * Absolutely. Music is an exploration, an experiment, a journey in emotion, melody, rhythm and words. It wouldn’t be much of exploration, experiment or journey if it was unchanged. 8 hours ago, VoiceEx said: * Has your fan base changed over the years? * I lost touch with my fanbase over the years. I stopped releasing music while I dealt with what life was throwing at me. During that time I was focused on helping other writers and artists through Songstuff and my own personal connection. I never stopped writing, though my subject matter was always pretty serious. The good news for me is that I am back recording and planning to release some new music. I have no idea if my fanbase is still there or remotely interested in what I have been doing. We’ll soon see. Meanwhile I am completely prepared to start again. Life’s big adventure, eh? 8 hours ago, VoiceEx said: * Is there something you`d share about what its like to make music pass your 20`s? * I never stopped writing. It’s a learning experience. You start qualifying what you write more, judging it. As a teen I could write about anything. Then you start qualifying it. Not cheesy. Not predictable. It must be meaningful. The list gets longer and longer. That means more and more potential songs get ruled out before you even started writing them. I think this is a huge part of writer’s block. We stagnate in the quagmire of ruled out ideas. It takes a while to realise it’s not just what you talk about, it perspective. It’s not just perspective, it’s style. It’s not just style, it’s experience. For every aspect you can feel painting you into a corner of predictability, for every idea you feel repeated or formulaic, there is something new, fresh and unique that only you can bring to your songs. Don’t just keep hitting your head against the same brick wall. Step around it. Climb over it. Dig under it. Blow the wall up. Don’t stand still. Don’t consider yourself a failure. You only fail if you do not learn and try anew. Most of all, don’t give up.

Hey, welcome to Songstuff Zewamae

Alrighty! You’ve come to the right place! Welcome to Songstuff! I have a bunch of questions but let’s start with a few: Do you have a mailing list? If so have you created a welcome sequence and a release sequence? Your mailing list should have an autoresponder. Is your website Wordpress based? If not, what platform do you use? Are you using any automation tools? Especially for social media scheduling. Are you running a blog on your site?

Oh boy, I love all sorts of music, often for different reasons. Picking one genre is so difficult! I make all sorts of music for just that reason. I think despite my love for music tech, and the crunch of guitar…. I would have to pick classical piano. For me emotional expression is everything. Sure, expression is in every instrument. Electronica and orchestral are both capable of those all encompassing soundscapes I also love, but for the simplicity of a single instrument that can give voice to the soul, it has to be piano. Classical is also a very broad range. If I were to keep out of classical, it would most likely be chill out.

I posted that just as further info on Mark Ronson, not intending to direct the convo away from his new series.

I remember seeing a video people online were raving about, a cover of Toto: It’s quite subtle until the last chorus, where the auto tune earns it’s money. In the early parts you know it sounds surreally “right” but it’s hard to nail down what is up. That sets the alarm bells ringing. It’s not very obvious. That last chorus though? Well it’s working very hard on the high notes lol I am sure it’s still quite a capable performance with out it. My guess is they are using something like this: With a little practice you’ll hit every single note with minimal artefacts to give the game away. There are other more self contained solutions. As ever, it has musicians getting acclaimed as amazing… and of course they are not giving auto tune any credit. Ask any audio engineer… I am sure they would give the same answer. I first noticed Mark Ronson as the producer for half of Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black album. A brilliant Jazz / Pop fusion with Motown style production. Well worth a listen. He co-wrote this: And for that more Martha and the Vandellas type arrangement and production: He is passionate about music and rooted in classic recordings.

Hey Pam, welcome to Songstuff!

Hey What do you currently do to promote your music? Fan engagement is critical to building a fan base. As a prompt… Real world Posters Fliers Interviews Appearances Open Mic/Showcase/Gigs Launch Party Street Team Other Online Ads Interviews Appearances Playlists Social Platform Activity Facebook Facebook Groups Twitter Instagram Pinterest Linked In Tiktok Clubhouse Other Forums Livestream Showcase Launch Party Fan Meets Online Street team Mailing list Video channel Blog Artist website OMD Artist pages Soundcloud Reverbnation Bandcamp Other I didn’t want to just create a poll. I’d like some detail and discussion. So, what do you do? Where do you think you could do better? Cheers John

Ah the eternal trial of time management! I always find my day works better by putting planning at the end of the day, and regular, daily tasks at the beginning of the day. Planning works best with knowledge of the problems, but little need to stay at my computer, or even in my house. Regular tasks that need to be done, by doing them first you don’t get into the position where they don’t happen because you got sucked in. You don’t have them hanging over the task you are working on, distracting you with “hey, you need to do this!”. Best just clear your feet and do them first. That gets them done and you will still get to the fun stuff. Tools, automation, AI, can all help… but only if you actually use them. Tasks, tools, gear you don’t use are just clutter, distractions.

Robot voice is definitely cheesy, though auto tune does go pretty far beyond that, and the harmoniser particularly. It is interesting to me from a music tech perspective. That is a big part of my background. It is like it is on a journey, but hasn’t got to it’s destination yet, and to me it is an interesting journey. Episode 2… still to watch. That’s this evening’s TV taken care of!

I still use my old 01/W fd. I need to get a new LCD backlight fitted. I could do it myself but it's a lot of time to find!

Good job on the sound and performance. Try an EQ notch filter(s) to dip the guitar on the original track, or one of the dedicated mastering processors to remove that original guitar, leaving a hole in the mix for you to drop your performance into. It would allow you to perform your interpretation more clearly, as your own version of the song.

that was an original intention (and why I thought of it purely as cheating) but pretty soon it was adapted as an effect (Cher, life after love), and it has evolved. The addition of the harmoniser engine takes it well beyond disguising bad vocals.

Some people don’t want to sell their music. It’s not related to thinking their music isn’t good enough. I do playlists on YouTube, Spotify and Soundcloud to cater for musicians no matter if they want to earn from their music or not. p.s. You can sell your music on Soundcloud

I am not a fan of using it to mask bad singing. A bit like Mark Ronson at the start of this… it feels a bit too much like cheating. That said it is interesting. I like to think I am open to considering the possibilities of exploring an effect.

Hey I've just been watching the first episode of "Watch the sound" on Apple TV. It focuses on the evolution of Autotune and treating the human voice. Pretty good! Mark speaks to a lot of artists and producers about how they use both Autotune and Harmony Engine. Autotune has come a long way from Antares first version. The view of the purist that it is cheating to exploring using Autotune and Harmony Engine as a purposeful effect is ultimately interesting. Music production has always been about using music technology to do something different. The level of control and invention for the human voice is quite amazing. Check out the series. I'd be interested to hear what you think Cheers John

of course it will be read!

Hey To double-track or not to double-track? That is the question. Once upon a time it was the inevitable tool in the producer’s production kit… but now? Engineers thicken up vocals in many ways. What do you do? Double-track? Double-track with a personal twist? Use a pseudo-double-track-trick? Something else entirely? cheers John