FinnArild

... or ... you could do what I do ... sing the damned thing and listen to how it sounds. If it sounds crappy - change it. Repeat until goodstuff. What I'm trying to say people: don't get too hooked up in methods and techniques - just use your ears!

In the pine right outside my balcony two magpies has started building their spiky nest. Last year they had 3 little ones, and I wonder if these are the same ones - they probably are - but more importantly: it's a sure sign spring is just around the corner. An especially long, cold and snowy winter looses it's grip, and to celebrate me and my wife will be off tomorrow for a week of R&R in lovely Prague. If you have followed me on my Facebook or Twitter pages you will have known that I have been featured on many radio shows throughout the world lately. Tomorrow (April 4) I will be featured with a longish interview on the Oslo based Rock FM from 23:00 Norwegian time. I can also recommend Progulus on-line radio where you can easily preview my album by requesting tracks. Reviews are continuing to come in - check out the review page. Between PR work and day job I am also getting together a band - we are still short of someone on keyboard, so anyone interested should just contact me. That's all for now - I'll be back soon with more info about the band! Finn Arild Source

Yep, that's the Finn you know and love which I try to live up to ...

Playing notes that are not in scale are actually strictly forbidden - in some countries punishable by death. That's rock'n'roll you know - living on the edge!

When there's talk about deadlines I always remember the (in)famous Douglas Adams quote: "I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by."

For my part I'm 50% inspiration and 25% playing around and 25% of bloody hard work.

The most important - and difficult - is to get the whole band to listen to each-other and the whole thing, and work together to make the end result something bigger than the sum of the individuals. It is very challenging and there are many ways to do this - sometimes a tightly knit band of musicians has this already, but many times it takes a "coach" or "manager" to encourage this. I think you can draw many analogies to how a sportsteam or a company is lead. I think very few of these "rules" are relevant in this challenge.

... but in a way it is true, actually - the drummer sets the most important frame around a rock song - the beat. On that the drummer really can be the indisputable boss. If the drummer can't do this good, the only help is if the bassplayer is so good he can guide the drummer by "kicking" or "butting" (translated from Norwegian ("tuppe", "butte") - I am unsure what English terms apply here - it means being a bit in front or being a bit behind).

Let's not push it, Tambarskjelve

Hm - I find myself disagreeing to quite a lot in this article. It is very focused about the lead performer, and I guess if it's a band backing a solo artist these rules could apply. However, in a rock band there are often a whole different set of dynamics, and I would say rules #1 and #3 are terribly wrong. Also, in a rock band you frequently point microphones to speakers - guitar speakers, or leslie cabinets. Also the article proposes a very top-down management (typical American, I would say). Instead it is more important to guide rather than lead. Give praise when it's good, suggest alternatives when it's bad - instead of telling them they did it bad. Make sure it is fun. If the musicians drift off - take a break! Thats my 10 øre.

Loads of good tips here - thanks guys! I was thinking of getting someone else to do the voiceover .. that's one way at least. The other way I thought about doing it was to do the ad more personal ... "Hi - I'm Finn Arild from Norway - check out my latest album Testament" ... but I'm in doubt about that (it actually looks strange now I saw it in writing). Anyone with a nice voice here on the forums who feel up to the task? I'll do some writing tonight and let you know.

f.no

Don't let this start a flamewar but I'd rather not install anything built with GTK on my Linux machine. After all I worked for 10 years on "the other side" ...

I just ordered a 3 letter domain name that's gonna be perfect for this ad. That's 3 letters with the country part ... I'll let you know when I've confirmed the order.

So - I'm making a 30 seconder radio ad for my latest album Testament. I should probably play clips of some songs: - how many, how long? I should probably say something: - what? I should probably tell them where they can buy the album: - I have a distributor in UK - should I say "quality music stores" or something? Should I mention CDBaby? Should I mention my webshop? Should I mention iTunes? Other stuff I should fill the 30 secs with?

Wikipedia discourages writing about oneself - so - are there anyone here with a Wikipedia account that could help me out getting an entry about myself in? I would gladly return the favor of course ...

Your Own Special Way - Genesis (Wind and Wuthering)

I use my nails - edit the poll so I can vote, please

Maybe most members aren't interested in the commercial pop scene a'la Katy Perry or Kelly Clarkson - I know I'm not interested in writing lyrics for hormone overdosed teenagers ... Anyway, pun aside, there are a lot of possible explanations to why people didn't respond to this challenge and the explanation: "there's something wrong with everyone else" is one of the less likely ones.