I'm new. Hi!

[haim shim]

Hi guys!

I'm new here.

My name is Haim Shim and I'm a singer-songwriter.

I feel that Facebook, and other social media, has too much noise for me lately, and so I think joining a forum that is a little bit more "slow motion" in todays terms, might be a good idea for me. I miss those days of hanging out in forums as a kid. And maybe I'm back to those days since now?

So, a bit more about me,

I've released 11 songs so far, and I try to release as many as I can.. about 1 song every month because of the high demand of the internet.

 

I hope to meet some interesting singer-songwriters here, and to earn some new musician friends.

 

Let's do it.

 

Cheers, Haim Shim.

[john]

Hey Haim, welcome to Songstuff! Good to have you with us. I might be a little biased, but I think forums are more focused, and they help better with building skills, whereas social media s all about pursuing likes and shares. Each has their place.

 

So I have questions for you... You release 1 song a month because of the high demand of the Internet....

 

How many fans do you have?

 

Do you release videos or just audio?

 

Do your fans demand brand new songs every month?

 

[haim shim]

3 hours ago, john said:

Hey Haim, welcome to Songstuff! Good to have you with us....

 

Hi John!

Honestly, to be true, I didn't release one song per month because of people.. I've released 11 songs in less then a year because I got so many and I can't have them "in the drawer" anymore. About fans - I don't know exactly it's still work in progress like most of us, but I would say I have a nice following on instagram that are not my family or my friends from the past.

 

My first 8 releases were audio only, and now I've released 3 videos self-made with the help of a friend.

 

When I say "I've released" I mean - self released.

 

What are your thoughts? man, it's been a while since I've talked with someone like that. I'm used to the short instagram comments.

 

By the way, I've read one of your posts I think it was about promotion challenge, and I really liked it. I've seen your text about "how many real fans you have not including friends and family", and I agree a lot on that, I'm trying to build and gain new fans slowly with each new release.

 

I'm glad I joined here, although I must say it's a bit more quiet than I expected.

[Cody]

Welcome! I suppose it's relatively quiet.  I know nothing about FB, Instagram, or any other......but I assume as soon as you post something it's probably pretty quickly buried under a pile of look what I ate today, that is if it's not just vitriol and hate    I guess that has a purpose 🤔 

[haim shim]

3 minutes ago, Cody said:

Welcome! I suppose it's relatively quiet.  I know nothing about FB, Instagram, or any other......but I assume as soon as you post something it's probably pretty quickly buried under a pile of look what I ate today, that is if it's not just vitriol and hate    I guess that has a purpose 🤔 

 

Thanks Cody!

So how often should I visit the forum in your opinion? And where should I start after introducing myself a bit?

[Cody]

I usually pop in a time or three a day time permitting, whenever browsing around on the internet........if you follow topics(you automatically do if you start one), or get quoted or tagged you'll get notifications.  It helps navigate what is a pretty large site.  There's some pretty good discussions, hop on in, or share some music in one of the critique or showcase , if you're not interested in getting a critique threads would be my recommendation. 

[haim shim]

20 minutes ago, Cody said:

I usually pop in a time or three a day time permitting, whenever browsing around on the internet........if you follow topics(you automatically do if you start one), or get quoted or tagged you'll get notifications.  It helps navigate what is a pretty large site.  There's some pretty good discussions, hop on in, or share some music in one of the critique or showcase , if you're not interested in getting a critique threads would be my recommendation. 

Thanks Cody! And 🎉 congrats on your 1000 posts!!! 

[john]

17 hours ago, haim shim said:

Honestly, to be true, I didn't release one song per month because of people.. I've released 11 songs in less then a year because I got so many and I can't have them "in the drawer" anymore. About fans - I don't know exactly it's still work in progress like most of us, but I would say I have a nice following on instagram that are not my family or my friends from the past.

 

It sounds like you have a healthy perspective in place or developing, which is excellent. I don't want it to feel like I was being difficult, but they are useful questions for me to ask to better understand where you are in your journey and help me to pinpoint what I would consider to be potential issues and/or blindspots.

 

17 hours ago, haim shim said:

My first 8 releases were audio only, and now I've released 3 videos self-made with the help of a friend.

 

When I say "I've released" I mean - self released.

 

Awesome you are beginning to make videos. There's a load to explore there Out of interest what type of videos (production, performance, lyric etc)? Have you tried livestreams (either for performance or fan engagement interactions)?

 

When you say self-released, I am assuming you mean posting on social media etc "here's my song" type posts as distribution and promotion or are you self-releasing through CD Baby / DistroKid etc?

 

17 hours ago, haim shim said:

What are your thoughts? man, it's been a while since I've talked with someone like that. I'm used to the short instagram comments.

 

Hopefully having this discussion (and others like it) will be of benefit to to you. The ability to have such dsicussions is a big advantage over social media. Loosely, social media is a great first filter on your audience, a method for reaching fans. Forums are much better for interacting with other artists and people involved in the creative process. Of course you can find artists and musicians on social media and fans on forums, I just mean that each environment is more ideally suited to talking with different groups of people.

 

17 hours ago, haim shim said:

By the way, I've read one of your posts I think it was about promotion challenge, and I really liked it. I've seen your text about "how many real fans you have not including friends and family", and I agree a lot on that, I'm trying to build and gain new fans slowly with each new release.

 

Awesome! Such posts, articles and challenges are intended to be thought provoking, hopefully to help artists to consider their goals, their activities and their options as they move forward. While there are common components to operating as an effective independent artist, the ideal set up will vary from one artist to another. It's always a journey, an evolution, but without the infrastructure and experience of a label it is a longer journey, much less certain. My hope is our activity within this community (and no doubt elsewhere) helps artists to fill that void and that we help to give them knowledge and support to move forward with a higher degree of certainty. I also hope that we help them to establish a strong base of connections with ourselves and other artists who will become collaborators at various points in the process of releasing music and building a fanbase, from writing, recording and producing a song through to branding, marketing and promotion activities.

 

18 hours ago, haim shim said:

I'm glad I joined here, although I must say it's a bit more quiet than I expected.

 

i'm glad you joined too! It hasn't always been this quiet, but it has also been quieter than it is now.

 

Generally speaking, forum activity levels do go up and down. In part, our active member base has changed over time, and social trends have changed a lot too. Initially our active members were more producers and music makers. Then our main member base shifted firstly from producers to songwriters, then lyricists, and now gradually towards artists. In truth there is plenty of useful information and resources for all of these groups.

 

On top of these changes, our own active members have changed due to the members themselves. Just like artists, communities evolve. In order to move forward in a better way sometimes communities need to step back, change and then step forwards. That is exactly what we have been doing. Unfortunately that often has a temporary cost in activity. Especially when the speed of progress is more limited for volunteer and free communities.

 

For Songstuff, our level of change has been pretty big and the number of active members dropped significantly. We are almost finished in creating tools and assets for stepping forward, and we are moving onwards and just beginning our rebuilding of activity. That said, I hope that you and others will still see the value of being active here, and that you will stay active and will see activity levels grow. It's like a snowball rolling down a hill. Activity grows activity, gathering momentum. As increasing numbers see the value to them of being active on Songstuff, activity levels will suddenly begin to take off. In other words, if you value what we offer, your activity will help us to grow overall activity. Big time.

 

Songstuff has always been a free community. It is a double edged sword. People can easily take it for granted, thinking it will just be there, and they don't realise the personal cost of not being personally active is that the community can die (with a less dedicated staff!). Luckily, we are stubborn, steadfast in our support of independent music.

 

The growth of Songstuff rises and falls, in part limited by available budgets. Lack of budgets has acted as a choke, stopping the community from growing beyond a certain point. As a result we needed to make some big changes to help our community to grow in a way that it can fund itself, paying for better servers as activity levels grow. So, in addition to the large amount of free information and resources that Songstuff already provides, we have been putting in place  subscription courses and paid products to augment what we offer. What we offer for free will remain for free, and indeed we will keep adding to it, but we hope to remove that choke point through our own fund raising. It must be said, from the experience of many forum communities, subscribers build active communities. People want their money's worth!

 

Subscriber, or not, we hope you guys will help us to grow our community while we help you to grow as artists.

 

Sorry for the long answer to a simple observation, but I felt it deserved a candid explanation

[haim shim]

1 hour ago, john said:

 

It sounds like you have a healthy perspective in place or developing, which is excellent. I don't want it to feel like I was being difficult, but they are useful questions for me to ask to better understand where you are in your journey and help me to pinpoint what I would consider to be potential issues and/or blindspots.

 

 

Awesome you are beginning to make videos. There's a load to explore there Out of interest what type of videos (production, performance, lyric etc)? Have you tried livestreams (either for performance or fan engagement interactions)?

 

When you say self-released, I am assuming you mean posting on social media etc "here's my song" type posts as distribution and promotion or are you self-releasing through CD Baby / DistroKid etc?

 

 

Hopefully having this discussion (and others like it) will be of benefit to to you. The ability to have such dsicussions is a big advantage over social media. Loosely, social media is a great first filter on your audience, a method for reaching fans. Forums are much better for interacting with other artists and people involved in the creative process. Of course you can find artists and musicians on social media and fans on forums, I just mean that each environment is more ideally suited to talking with different groups of people.

 

 

Awesome! Such posts, articles and challenges are intended to be thought provoking, hopefully to help artists to consider their goals, their activities and their options as they move forward. While there are common components to operating as an effective independent artist, the ideal set up will vary from one artist to another. It's always a journey, an evolution, but without the infrastructure and experience of a label it is a longer journey, much less certain. My hope is our activity within this community (and no doubt elsewhere) helps artists to fill that void and that we help to give them knowledge and support to move forward with a higher degree of certainty. I also hope that we help them to establish a strong base of connections with ourselves and other artists who will become collaborators at various points in the process of releasing music and building a fanbase, from writing, recording and producing a song through to branding, marketing and promotion activities.

 

 

i'm glad you joined too! It hasn't always been this quiet, but it has also been quieter than it is now.

 

Generally speaking, forum activity levels do go up and down. In part, our active member base has changed over time, and social trends have changed a lot too. Initially our active members were more producers and music makers. Then our main member base shifted firstly from producers to songwriters, then lyricists, and now gradually towards artists. In truth there is plenty of useful information and resources for all of these groups.

 

On top of these changes, our own active members have changed due to the members themselves. Just like artists, communities evolve. In order to move forward in a better way sometimes communities need to step back, change and then step forwards. That is exactly what we have been doing. Unfortunately that often has a temporary cost in activity. Especially when the speed of progress is more limited for volunteer and free communities.

 

For Songstuff, our level of change has been pretty big and the number of active members dropped significantly. We are almost finished in creating tools and assets for stepping forward, and we are moving onwards and just beginning our rebuilding of activity. That said, I hope that you and others will still see the value of being active here, and that you will stay active and will see activity levels grow. It's like a snowball rolling down a hill. Activity grows activity, gathering momentum. As increasing numbers see the value to them of being active on Songstuff, activity levels will suddenly begin to take off. In other words, if you value what we offer, your activity will help us to grow overall activity. Big time.

 

Songstuff has always been a free community. It is a double edged sword. People can easily take it for granted, thinking it will just be there, and they don't realise the personal cost of not being personally active is that the community can die (with a less dedicated staff!). Luckily, we are stubborn, steadfast in our support of independent music.

 

The growth of Songstuff rises and falls, in part limited by available budgets. Lack of budgets has acted as a choke, stopping the community from growing beyond a certain point. As a result we needed to make some big changes to help our community to grow in a way that it can fund itself, paying for better servers as activity levels grow. So, in addition to the large amount of free information and resources that Songstuff already provides, we have been putting in place  subscription courses and paid products to augment what we offer. What we offer for free will remain for free, and indeed we will keep adding to it, but we hope to remove that choke point through our own fund raising. It must be said, from the experience of many forum communities, subscribers build active communities. People want their money's worth!

 

Subscriber, or not, we hope you guys will help us to grow our community while we help you to grow as artists.

 

Sorry for the long answer to a simple observation, but I felt it deserved a candid explanation

 

I'm just not used to this level of genuinety and exposure.

I'm also feeling a bit vulnerable talking about these things as I'm new to this community, so I will try to answer what I feel comfortable answering, I hope that you understand.

 

First of all thanks for your elaborated explanation.

 

May I ask, what kind of experience you have that you can help me with? I'm asking in a good way because I'm always opened for learning from people who are more experienced than me in certain aspects.

 

"Self release" means I've produced & released myself. I have a distributer of course, but my Spotify needs a lot of work on it.

 

I believe that even if using companies like CD baby or Tune core, you still need to "self release" it unless you have the money / knowledge for a promotion company. I post wherever I can and I try to get a bit more exposure with each song I release.

 

I think you are right about the snowball, the more people are active, the more people will come. I think I will stick around for some time, I might even do one or two of those promotion quick courses that are posted on one of the forums here.

 

About my videos - I try to do different things, it's not my strongest spot, so I learn as I go, I did one video of me just playing the guitar and some scenes. and I did one of me walking in the city, and another one walking in the night.

All of them were really nice, and I'd rather have a song with a video rather than without because I feel people are much more attracted to that. 

 

Of course I've got a lot of negative feedback about the videos and I did listened to some of those feedback. I rather have a video and being thought of as a fool, rather than doing nothing and looking at other people who try with jealousy if you know what I mean.

 

I also try different styles with my music, but I stick to a live feeling most of the time, real instruments.

 

Actually I used to run a few Forums myself at different stages of my life, and I have all kinds of things I'm doing other than creating music. I try to help people promote their music, and I motivate my followers on Instagram to release their music without being afraid of not being perfect. nobody was born perfect at making music..

 

Cheers, Haim.

[haim shim]

12 hours ago, Theodore Kidd said:

Welcome man! See you around. I've signed up to most music-related forums and have to say that there's a charm to this one that the others don't have. Enjoy.

 

Thanks Theodore.

I've been listening to your song "Believers", and now I'm listening to "Awkward Time", both of them sound sweet man. right in the sweet-spot. I also liked your website. Nice to meet you.

[Cody]

5 hours ago, john said:

Sorry for the long answer to a simple observation, but I felt it deserved a candid explanation

It's why this is a great place  

 

4 hours ago, haim shim said:

I'm just not used to this level of genuinety and exposure.

I'm also feeling a bit vulnerable talking about these things as I'm new to this community, so I will try to answer what I feel comfortable answering, I hope that you understand.

 

But what if I want to know whether you go boxers? briefs? none of the above? hahahah!!!

 

4 hours ago, haim shim said:

Of course I've got a lot of negative feedback about the videos and I did listened to some of those feedback. I rather have a video and being thought of as a fool, rather than doing nothing and looking at other people who try with jealousy if you know what I mean.

 

It's something I've been meaning to actually get into doing recently myself, I used to do tape video editing and such super8, vhs, etc.......mostly just out of hobby,  have been pretty out of the loop digitally, just even started using a DAW this year instead of a reel2reel or taped 4 or 8 track hahaha.........I'm sure digital editing is much easier once you get down the basics,  but with that comes a lot more expectations in what's considered "good" and yeah a whole group of people who think they're "experts" because they've shot an iMovie hahah.  

 

23 hours ago, haim shim said:

Thanks Cody! And 🎉 congrats on your 1000 posts!!! 

  

Thanks!! I hadn't even noticed  and I haven't been here that long(March?April maybe?) so yeah the place has kind of grown on me hahah. 

[haim shim]

22 minutes ago, Cody said:

It's why this is a great place  

 

 

But what if I want to know whether you go boxers? briefs? none of the above? hahahah!!!

 

 

It's something I've been meaning to actually get into doing recently myself, I used to do tape video editing and such super8, vhs, etc.......mostly just out of hobby,  have been pretty out of the loop digitally, just even started using a DAW this year instead of a reel2reel or taped 4 or 8 track hahaha.........I'm sure digital editing is much easier once you get down the basics,  but with that comes a lot more expectations in what's considered "good" and yeah a whole group of people who think they're "experts" because they've shot an iMovie hahah.  

 

  

Thanks!! I hadn't even noticed  and I haven't been here that long(March?April maybe?) so yeah the place has kind of grown on me hahah. 

 

Wow, so you've been recording on a fancy old tape recorder? which kind? I'd love to look it up on the internet and see how it looks like.

 

and about the boxers, lol... yeah can't answer that xd.

 

Honestly I just take the videos with my phone's camera, I have a help from a friend and it's not perfect but it's a good place to start and it's really nice to hear people's comments.

 

Congrats on starting to use a DAW. yeah, once you'll have the basics thing will shine for you. Where can I hear some of your music?

[john]

9 hours ago, haim shim said:

 

I'm just not used to this level of genuinety and exposure.

I'm also feeling a bit vulnerable talking about these things as I'm new to this community, so I will try to answer what I feel comfortable answering, I hope that you understand.

 

First of all thanks for your elaborated explanation.

 

May I ask, what kind of experience you have that you can help me with? I'm asking in a good way because I'm always opened for learning from people who are more experienced than me in certain aspects.

 

"Self release" means I've produced & released myself. I have a distributer of course, but my Spotify needs a lot of work on it.

 

I believe that even if using companies like CD baby or Tune core, you still need to "self release" it unless you have the money / knowledge for a promotion company. I post wherever I can and I try to get a bit more exposure with each song I release.

 

I think you are right about the snowball, the more people are active, the more people will come. I think I will stick around for some time, I might even do one or two of those promotion quick courses that are posted on one of the forums here.

 

About my videos - I try to do different things, it's not my strongest spot, so I learn as I go, I did one video of me just playing the guitar and some scenes. and I did one of me walking in the city, and another one walking in the night.

All of them were really nice, and I'd rather have a song with a video rather than without because I feel people are much more attracted to that. 

 

Of course I've got a lot of negative feedback about the videos and I did listened to some of those feedback. I rather have a video and being thought of as a fool, rather than doing nothing and looking at other people who try with jealousy if you know what I mean.

 

I also try different styles with my music, but I stick to a live feeling most of the time, real instruments.

 

Actually I used to run a few Forums myself at different stages of my life, and I have all kinds of things I'm doing other than creating music. I try to help people promote their music, and I motivate my followers on Instagram to release their music without being afraid of not being perfect. nobody was born perfect at making music..

 

Cheers, Haim.

I certainly don’t want you to feel vulnerable, but I completely appreciate artists don’t get to talk of such things very often, so, no problem.

 

Other than running Songstuff for 20 years, I’ve been in and around the music industry in one capacity or another all my life. I can honestly say at this point that I am quietly proud of all the people who have been helped by Songstuff over the years. An average of about 70k - 100k people each month, peak was about 250k. Of course, directly I interact with very few each month by comparison!

 

I have an honours degree in Electronics with Music, where I learned about designing and using analogue and digital music hardware and about software and firmware design for Music. During the degree we also studied composition, production, legal, music and other business fundamentals, marketing etc. It was a good grounding. I should say before I went to Uni I had worked in a recording studio complex where I got the bug for music tech and production. I also got to meet and work with some awesome musicians, artists, engineers and producers and interact with managers, label A&R and execs. I started playing my first instrument aged 4, started performing at maybe 8 or 9, writing about 11-12. Although I have been an artist I haven’t been remotely interested in personal fame since my teens. I value my privacy too much. As a teen/early twenties I had a manager etc, which was pretty useful for learning and making some connections etc. Up until that point professionally I had been a performer or audio engineer. Hmm I think also I had done some session work. My manager had been in a 70’s/80’s folk-rock band where self-reliance was key, even when you were signed. It was fairly common for up and coming music professionals to turn their hand to many roles. You gain experience and you paid your bills. I’ve worked so many roles it’s ridiculous. Audio Engineer (studio & live), Producer, Production Assistant, Stage Crew (audio and lighting), Promoter, Manager, Music Marketer (pre and post internet), session musician, songwriter, artist... though admittedly some areas I have much more experience than others and at different levels. So, just for example, in music marketing I did have training, formal and informal, and have worked professionally, almost all of that experience was still within independent music, this includes running campaigns. Like most artists I also have load of semi-pro and amateur experience everything from designing and planning campaigns to being a street team member. I am lucky enough to have had good friends in radio, tv, video production, journalism, a&r, members of charting bands and more. That has helped me fill in gaps in my knowledge and experience. I also have a stack of experience in running websites, digital marketing including digital music marketing etc. I have a bad habit of putting other people’s music ahead of my own, with my own sat on a shelf while I either work on Songstuff or help other artists set up their infrastructure, but that goes back to my lack of interest in fame. As a teen I had had a small taste and really didn’t enjoy it. I love performing, hate celebrity! Lol

 

These days I help people, unpaid. If I take an interest and offer suggestions or advice, I try to explain it because generally I will not be doing the work. I have been focused on putting together the course work and tools for Songstuff.
 

There’s more but really any suggestions I make will feel sensible to you or not. I tend to avoid name dropping, even though in marketing Songstuff or myself it would often be an advantage. I prefer people to look at the quality of information I give and weigh that up. By all means be critical, ask questions, challenge suggestions, test them out and make sure they will work for you... but I would suggest you did that with anyone, no matter who they are and whether you pay for info or not. I am sure you already satisfy yourself about the quality of advice you get from people and learn to basically trust their suggestions or not. I am not suggesting that you should do anything different with my comments.

Asking questions simply helps me in trying to be constructive, to help me to be useful to both you and other people who might follow the convo. I love it when others come up with what they do differently. Music marketing is like shifting sands. There is always new tools and new techniques to learn.
 

I don’t mean to be intrusive or pushy. I am just passionate about making music and trying to help people. It’s why I started Songstuff and why Songstuff is still here today. Ask other members and I am sure they will tell you, I’m not known for short posts  

 

As for right now, I’m not pitching for you to buy anything, just explaining that we are addressing the issue you raised (the boards being quieter) with our change in approach.  The comments I made were just a “by the way”, assuming suggestions would be welcome, but it’s no big deal  

 

From your background and activities Songstuff would seem to be a good fit for you and you a good fit for Songstuff! Awesome  I look forward to getting to know you and I truly hope we can help you in whatever way we can. I can honestly say I feel like that towards all members, with the exception of spammers lol

[john]

Oh and I can honestly say that if all the people who said they love this place, it’s not like other communities, they just wish it was busier... if they just stuck around a bit longer, then this would be a very busy site with even more great people

[Cody]

9 hours ago, haim shim said:

 

Wow, so you've been recording on a fancy old tape recorder? which kind? I'd love to look it up on the internet and see how it looks like.

 

and about the boxers, lol... yeah can't answer that xd.

 

Honestly I just take the videos with my phone's camera, I have a help from a friend and it's not perfect but it's a good place to start and it's really nice to hear people's comments.

 

Congrats on starting to use a DAW. yeah, once you'll have the basics thing will shine for you. Where can I hear some of your music?

 

 

 

that's not it, but my (not defunct and busted won't even power on anymore one) is a very similar model.  Then what I always considered just standard affair but now they're expensive because they're "vintage" Tascam 4 or 8 track cassette machines, they're more used and in crap condition now than they used to be brand new hahah.  

 

I have very little(if anything) recorded past what I'd consider a demo stage, but have done a ton of stuff just this summer

 

quite a bit of it is in that 5 minute write thread in songwriting forum  but all of soundcloud appears to be down right now, who knows if that'll ever get fixed, they've been pretty wonky for me. 

 

but here's last weeks stuff  had to start a new page there filled one up since july

 

 

 

 

[Cody]

5 hours ago, john said:

I don’t mean to be intrusive or pushy. I am just passionate about making music and trying to help people. It’s why I started Songstuff and why Songstuff is still here today. Ask other members and I am sure they will tell you, I’m not known for short posts  

 

Yup  and it's appreciated, can tell you actually do care  and I haven't forgot about the Marketing thread, just every time I start a "bio" Get really sidetracked hahah, I'll get there eventually

 

 

[Cody]

1 hour ago, Patchez said:

I used to love the old Revox machines. Thinking I'd get a bargain, found they became a "thing". Oh well. Now I wish I kept the reel to reel I had... left it at a "house rental", thinking, eh... - oh well. 

Yeah they're stupidly expensive now, I don't know how many I've done the same with, I've got a buddy that might still have a few, but he even left probably 4 or 5 last time he moved maybe 15 years ago, I didn't want the heavy bulky things either........OOPS  I think he had 2 or 3 of those Revox ones, be lucky to find a barely working one now for 2-300 not like the 20 or 30 I never even wanted to pay hahaha. 

[haim shim]

19 hours ago, john said:

I certainly don’t want you to feel vulnerable, but I completely appreciate artists don’t get to talk of such things very often, so, no problem.

 

Other than running Songstuff for 20 years, I’ve been in and around the music industry in one capacity or another all my life. I can honestly say at this point that I am quietly proud of all the people who have been helped by Songstuff over the years. An average of about 70k - 100k people each month, peak was about 250k. Of course, directly I interact with very few each month by comparison!

 

I have an honours degree in Electronics with Music, where I learned about designing and using analogue and digital music hardware and about software and firmware design for Music. During the degree we also studied composition, production, legal, music and other business fundamentals, marketing etc. It was a good grounding. I should say before I went to Uni I had worked in a recording studio complex where I got the bug for music tech and production. I also got to meet and work with some awesome musicians, artists, engineers and producers and interact with managers, label A&R and execs. I started playing my first instrument aged 4, started performing at maybe 8 or 9, writing about 11-12. Although I have been an artist I haven’t been remotely interested in personal fame since my teens. I value my privacy too much. As a teen/early twenties I had a manager etc, which was pretty useful for learning and making some connections etc. Up until that point professionally I had been a performer or audio engineer. Hmm I think also I had done some session work. My manager had been in a 70’s/80’s folk-rock band where self-reliance was key, even when you were signed. It was fairly common for up and coming music professionals to turn their hand to many roles. You gain experience and you paid your bills. I’ve worked so many roles it’s ridiculous. Audio Engineer (studio & live), Producer, Production Assistant, Stage Crew (audio and lighting), Promoter, Manager, Music Marketer (pre and post internet), session musician, songwriter, artist... though admittedly some areas I have much more experience than others and at different levels. So, just for example, in music marketing I did have training, formal and informal, and have worked professionally, almost all of that experience was still within independent music, this includes running campaigns. Like most artists I also have load of semi-pro and amateur experience everything from designing and planning campaigns to being a street team member. I am lucky enough to have had good friends in radio, tv, video production, journalism, a&r, members of charting bands and more. That has helped me fill in gaps in my knowledge and experience. I also have a stack of experience in running websites, digital marketing including digital music marketing etc. I have a bad habit of putting other people’s music ahead of my own, with my own sat on a shelf while I either work on Songstuff or help other artists set up their infrastructure, but that goes back to my lack of interest in fame. As a teen I had had a small taste and really didn’t enjoy it. I love performing, hate celebrity! Lol

 

These days I help people, unpaid. If I take an interest and offer suggestions or advice, I try to explain it because generally I will not be doing the work. I have been focused on putting together the course work and tools for Songstuff.
 

There’s more but really any suggestions I make will feel sensible to you or not. I tend to avoid name dropping, even though in marketing Songstuff or myself it would often be an advantage. I prefer people to look at the quality of information I give and weigh that up. By all means be critical, ask questions, challenge suggestions, test them out and make sure they will work for you... but I would suggest you did that with anyone, no matter who they are and whether you pay for info or not. I am sure you already satisfy yourself about the quality of advice you get from people and learn to basically trust their suggestions or not. I am not suggesting that you should do anything different with my comments.

Asking questions simply helps me in trying to be constructive, to help me to be useful to both you and other people who might follow the convo. I love it when others come up with what they do differently. Music marketing is like shifting sands. There is always new tools and new techniques to learn.
 

I don’t mean to be intrusive or pushy. I am just passionate about making music and trying to help people. It’s why I started Songstuff and why Songstuff is still here today. Ask other members and I am sure they will tell you, I’m not known for short posts  

 

As for right now, I’m not pitching for you to buy anything, just explaining that we are addressing the issue you raised (the boards being quieter) with our change in approach.  The comments I made were just a “by the way”, assuming suggestions would be welcome, but it’s no big deal  

 

From your background and activities Songstuff would seem to be a good fit for you and you a good fit for Songstuff! Awesome  I look forward to getting to know you and I truly hope we can help you in whatever way we can. I can honestly say I feel like that towards all members, with the exception of spammers lol

 

Sounds like you had a great fun making music throughout your life and I'm sure that many people can still benefit from you. It's nice to hear that you helped a significant amount of people during the years that this forum has been active and outside it. I appreciate people like you, who create something for other artists, and try to help with their experience, I do it myself on my social media as much as I can.

 

It's been a long long time since I've participated fully in a forum and I think I need to have a shift in mind towards tmy attitude and openness on a platform such as this. I think I need more time to feel the environment more before I go deeper into the details of what, when how etc (further from what I already wrote), and for those who want to know a bit more about me,, they can always go and listen to my songs - that's how I intend people to know me, at least if not now, than in the near future.

 

I think a lot can be studied about a person just from his music, especially when it's verbal (like in songs with lyrics).

 

And I agree, people should spend more time where they enjoy the most, and if someone wants a community to be better and more active, then they should spend some time there and contribute with conversations and ideas etc.  I'm already getting to know some interesting artists in here and I'm glad for this.

 

Cheers, Haim.

[haim shim]

16 hours ago, Patchez said:

Hey... been reading watching...  hahhh...

Yeah, it's gets long here. I don't read half of what's posted, even when I post it... 

The different "here" is, we are all asheholes, we know it and in our own special way, and allow "room" for it as adults, -- as one may expect. 

They used to, long time ago, "teach" "how to engage online", -- long gone. 

I think, or hope, in many instances (unless trolled and we all know it when we see it), -- no one takes 15-20 mins out of their day to make someone else feel bad. Or to hear themselves talk? (well maybe  ) 

So, with many who speak English as a 2nd language or if from another country where the ordering of words, is idomatically correct, -- but may otherwise sound rude... well, I see that "allot" (?) in some music forums. (Absolutely, I know for a fact was not being rude, -- however, how that language forms negatives in their syntax, came out, or read as "negative". -- Not.) 

Also, some folks need to look up, Inductive and Deductive "communication". We all live on a Scale and it context driven. Believe it, -- I can be very, short. How I speak in my "working voice", well, it ain't dis a way  (ashehole sounding to be sure). 

This one fellow here, great guy put up a video... should find the link... and got feedback. 

From it, he (kindly and well done...) created 180 degrees from his original, very original "hand puppet" video and nice, generic, very forgetable but excellent video. 
 -- Well, I guess he took the time to "get to know me" and how I "sound" online?... and thanked me, or ANYONE here for that kind of authentic, longitudinal, bi-directional communication  hahhh... to be very specific  

 -- Not being drunk or high or otherwise irritated when "here" is a good policy too  as I used to tell "students", don't drink and hard-drive... (like drunk dialing... never sounds as good the next day)  

One final thing everyone knows anyway... I try to engage everyone and ones 180 degrees from me. However, there is wisdom ? in limiting "that" too. If I see someone and stuff I like I'll keep it brief. Maybe, I'll test the waters slightly for further meaning. However, there are some folks you can only just "wave hello to", or you're gonna wind up not getting along... so, don't do that, or do that pending on how you read it, hahhh! 

The thing is, most folks here, or around here, well, we're not "stupid". Meaning, we don't need anyones spammy $19.95/mo anything, or "how-to" or other krappolla philosophy, new-method anything. I am sure you don't. So why try anyway? But they do and it's just ignored. 
  - What you are here for is... or I am, the unexpected "uninformed" ? and NOT like other feedback that looks even wrong to me, -- TO consider. If it looks good, is it a "new", or possibly more correct answer? I find, in life that the "answers" that don't look CORRECT... (since I don't know the answer and am asking...) may be. It may not be. 

However, I have found, I am grateful for, e.g., my wifey who pesters me... that when I actually listen to her and figure out what language she is speaking to me (literally sometimes  ) ... O M G... -- vwah lah, the "answer" or better than what I was doing, or a great Caveat warning to keep in mind. 

So, I know we give each other hernias here sometimes... but, am glad many moved on  . I would not have time for "work-work" IRL to engage this place otherwise. As it is, I stopped subscribing to threads... and finally after... 6 mo's back here (since joined a while ago)... found a good "flow" that seems to work over time or will. 

There's a story to that, but over time most things reveal their selves. Basically, I put up my 5 min Writes thread, to NOT irritate anyone else AND be "social" AND because it's how I and one or two other "work"... in a Chaos Flow (well I do... the more I got, the more I do... over the weekend, my head is blank since, no Chaos, if makes sense, if not, -- skip it). 

So, UNLIKE most? here, I will wipe my ashes on some paper lead sheet and post it. I am beyond caring... self conscious... and even a "demo". Now that, in "other" places, unlike how John allows ROOM for others to be theirself... would get uselessly commented. Well, the ones that can't relate to my/our brilliance and jeanyous  ignore it... while others then when hear the more "final" ? (if ever) track... may say, -- "yeah that's what I thought". 

 -- However, all ? know I am NOT a "Recording" artist. If anything? All I need is a Demo to remember the song, or for CR if/when do as they require. 

I have no desire to remove 19,000Hz "noise" from my track or my buddies with laugh at me... heck, I ADD noise... white, brown... Fan, Lawn Mower in Key of D from the Neighbor, or and the Crickets... no kidding Key of D... so, I guess they follow me in that? And the Birds, come by, poop, chirp, look then leave... so noise?
  -- Oki dok!


So, derUgo! "Life according to me". 

(Oh, also, you'll see prolific typos and grammar since I type faster than I speak and in flow of thought. So read as if being spoke to, - makes more sense if at all. And if not, as always, just ignore me... it's notta problem at all  won't hold it against you! I don't proof and rarely unless really bad, "edit"... you get what you get.) 

 

 

Hi Patchez, thanks for welcoming me.

I read everything you've been writing here.

I must say that I understood some parts better than then others, but generally I enjoyed reading, your mind works in an interesting cool way that I haven't met before.

 

I like what you said about recording whatever, the airconditioner sound or your neghbour lol, and not removing 19000khz from your track, I think we all have different needs and expectations from our music and from our tracks, and as long as we feel good about it and don't let anyone bring us down, then it's all great!

 

Also- I'm glad to hear you found the right time length that you can spend on this community. See you around I guess!

 

Cheers, Haim.

[haim shim]

13 hours ago, Cody said:

 

 

 

that's not it, but my (not defunct and busted won't even power on anymore one) is a very similar model.  Then what I always considered just standard affair but now they're expensive because they're "vintage" Tascam 4 or 8 track cassette machines, they're more used and in crap condition now than they used to be brand new hahah.  

 

I have very little(if anything) recorded past what I'd consider a demo stage, but have done a ton of stuff just this summer

 

quite a bit of it is in that 5 minute write thread in songwriting forum  but all of soundcloud appears to be down right now, who knows if that'll ever get fixed, they've been pretty wonky for me. 

 

but here's last weeks stuff  had to start a new page there filled one up since july

 

 

 

 

 

Looking very cool, it sounds great.

 

I'm listening to your music right now, the first two songs are really nice, I really like your voice and I wonder have you ever "officially released" any of your songs to some extent of an audience ? I can hear tremendous potential there.

 

Lol, I especially like the song with the dog barking, it's awesome.

 

Cheers, Haim.