Songwriter101

Thinking Analog

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:24:48 GMT

By Dave Simons Anyone who started out in home recording using a clunky cassette-tape or reel-to-reel multitracker and managed to remain a musician deserves some credit. Not only were those relics off-putting and temperamental, they weren�t even supposed to sound all that great in the first place. Back then, a demo was, well, a demo, an approximation of what a song might sound like in a pro studio in the unlikely event that a record exec decided to proffer a recording contract. In...

� C in a Circle - Copyrights in Bankruptcy: When Seven Is Not Your Lucky Number

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 20:18:22 GMT

By Gary Roth In these difficult economic times, some of you may find your own financial situation to be so severe that you are considering filing for bankruptcy. Although not the stigma it was decades ago, bankruptcy nevertheless is a drastic measure that should not be done without a lot of thought and legal advice. Although it often is said that a bankruptcy filing gives you a �fresh start� to wipe your debts clean and move forward without that burden, it is important for you, as...

Takes from the Top: The Smithereens� 'Green Thoughts'

Fri, 15 May 2009 12:00:11 GMT

By Dave Simons Late August, 1987: The Smithereens � guitarist Pat DiNizio, lead guitarist Jim Babjak, drummer Dennis Diken and bassist Mike Mesaros � were winding up a packed 16-month tour in support of their breakthrough effort, 1986�s Especially for You. Encouraged by the strong showing of EFY cut �Blood and Roses,� the New Jersey-based foursome was eager to get back into the studio in order to strike while the iron was hot. With little time...

New York & Nashville: How the Songwriting Centers Differ

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 18:53:14 GMT

By Cliff Goldmacher Differences within the Similarities I�ll start with a similarity between New York and Nashville and then explain how, within that similarity, one city differs from the other. One of the first similarities is that both cities have huge songwriting populations. The depth and breadth of talent in both places encompass many more genres that the obvious country music for Nashville and pop and rock music for New York. There are great pop writers...

Cliff Goldmacher

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 18:44:49 GMT

Cliff Goldmacher is a songwriter, producer, engineer and the owner of recording studios in both Nashville and New York City. Along with playing on, engineering and producing thousands of songwriter demos, Cliff has had his songs recorded by major label artists and recorded/collaborated...

Jay Ferguson on Writing TV Themes

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 18:56:52 GMT

By Kevin Zimmerman SW101: When you mention �TV theme songs� to most people, they�ll think of something like Gilligan�s Island or The Brady Bunch, but those days are pretty much over, aren�t they? Jay Ferguson: TV theme songs are the incredibly shrinking format. Something like The Brady Bunch was basically exposition � telling viewers about the show and the characters. Today�s theme songs...

Q&A with Recording Engineer Joe Barresi

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:34:33 GMT

You once made a comment that modern engineering has changed for the worse because young mixers who grew up using digital tools have become accustomed to fixing everything after the fact, rather than learning to get good sounds up front. It�s true. Plug-ins, for example, are cool, and they�re right there at your fingertips, but they sure can make you lazy�plus they allow you to take something that�s intrinsically bad and make it �good.� And because you can fix...

Tales From the Top: The Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers (1971)

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 20:18:28 GMT

By Dave Simons While the Beatles were falling apart in the fall of 1969, coincidentally or not, their cross-town rivals, the Rolling Stones, were hitting a creative high. Let it Bleed, the Stones� final effort for Abkco, was in the can, but already creative heads Mick Jagger and Keith Richards had a full compliment of new material ready to be recorded. Concluding a brief U. S. tour in West Palm Beach on November 30, the band decided to check out a new studio located up the road in...

Gear Cheapness Pt. 2: The Pleasures and Perils of Purchasing Online

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 19:10:58 GMT

By Dave Simons I recently said goodbye to my old rust brown Ford F-150 after 17 years of reliable, gas-guzzling service. Its ragged appearance meant I never had to worry about scrapes or thieves, and, best of all, it cost next to nothing to buy or to maintain. I tend to look at studio stuff the same way � the more beat up and cheaper the item, the more I like it. Guitars that were abused by baggage handlers, amps that spent years in someone�s shed and microphones that looked like they...

C in a Circle - Three Copyright Firsts

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 13:27:12 GMT

By Gary Roth The most contentious dispute that recently was resolved was over what the mechanical royalty rate should be for interactive music streams and downloads of music available by subscription or supported by advertising. Although these are subject to compulsory licensing, the government�s rate-setting body, the Copyright Royalty Board, had yet to establish a statutory rate, given the fact that this kind of digital delivery of music was so new. The RIAA, representing record...

Tales From the Top: Recording Pink�s �Get the Party Started� (2001)

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 20:18:03 GMT

By Dave Simons While preparing to record the follow-up to her platinum-selling debut Can't Take Me Home, in early 2001 Philadelphia�s then 21-year-old pop ace Pink (born Alecia Beth Moore) decided to make a beeline for the Sherman Oaks residence of Linda Perry, the former leader of early '90s rock quartet 4 Non Blondes � and, as it so happens, one of Pink�s earliest musical heroes. An independent producer/songwriter and author of 4NB's million-selling hit...

Gear Cheapness, Pt. 1

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 21:23:16 GMT

I really hate spending money on just about anything, even when the fundamentals of the economy are really strong like they are today (heh, heh). So when it comes to buying stuff for the studio, I generally gravitate towards the kind of gear that can get the job done for as little as possible (as in under $100, in many instances). On that note, for the next several installments I�ve compiled a list of some of the most reputable low-priced mics, effects and other audio aides, including...

Band Boot Camp!

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 20:33:03 GMT

Are you serious about getting signed? Do you only want a career in music? If someone told you exactly what you needed to do to accomplish this, would you listen? If your answer is YES to all of the above, then this opportunity is for you! By all means, read on! There is an event in Los Angeles, called Band Boot Camp, that is put on by Loren Israel. Here is the website www.bandbootcamp.com Log on and check out Loren�s Bio...

Tales From the Top: Van Halen�s �Van Halen� (1978)

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 17:25:46 GMT

By Dave Simons In an era already overcrowded with knuckle-dragging metal bands, Van Halen was clearly different. Behind the macho swagger lay four supremely talented individuals who could play and write circles around the competition. As a rhythm section, bassist Michael Anthony and drummer Alex Van Halen offered bottom to spare; frontman David Lee Roth was a vocal gymnast of the highest order. But it quickly became obvious that the driving force behind VH was then 22-year-old...

Room Adjustments

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:57:09 GMT

By Dave Simons There�s one inescapable truth about recording � it�s hard to keep it to yourself. Unless you live in the middle of nowhere or direct-line all of your tracks, there�s a good chance that your housemates, neighbors and other unintended (and potentially hostile) audiences will be privy to your studio sessions, particularly if you�re prone to using amplification. However, a few basic soundproofing tools and techniques can help immeasurably. Using sound absorption to...

Tales from the Top: Neil Young�s After the Gold Rush

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 21:27:05 GMT

By Dave Simons In January 1969, 23-year-old singer/songwriter Neil Young released his self-titled solo debut album, its layers of guitars reminiscent of Young�s work with the Buffalo Springfield. But when Neil Young failed to crack the album charts, Young immediately went back to work, recording Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere at Wally Heider�s Los Angeles studio in less than two weeks with new backing band Crazy Horse. A tour-de-force of spontaneous...

Eliminating Vocal Phobia

Thu, 08 May 2008 18:38:53 GMT

By Dave Simons I�ve never really liked recording my vocals. Maybe it�s my voice, or knowing that once the vocal is on there the finished track might not sound nearly as great as I�d previously thought, or any number of other reasons � which might explain the amount of vocal-less backing tracks currently on my hard drive. Unfortunately, it really doesn�t matter how good your rhythm tracks are if you don�t have a vocal that can do it justice. However, there are a handful of strategies...

Tales from the Top: Johnny Cash�s �At Folsom Prison�

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 14:07:36 GMT

By Dave Simons In January 1968, America was quickly coming apart at the seams. The war in Vietnam had boiled over, hastening President Lyndon Johnson�s demise and creating a firestorm of political tension. As rock music increasingly became the voice of dissent, Nashville, the acknowledged seat of social conservatism, stood in sharp contrast with its tales of drinking, divorce and redneck mayhem. Few knew about the raucous side of life better than Johnny Cash, who�d had his share of...

The Lowdown on Audio Uploading

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 19:41:43 GMT

By Dave Simons You recently added a demo of a new original song to your MySpace page, then sat back and waited for the rave reviews to roll in. Unfortunately, the response from a few of your friends wasn�t quite what you�d expected: "OK song, but what�s up with the buzzing in the background?" read one post. Upon closer inspection, you noticed that the guitars sounded tinny, the vocals were distorted in places, and yes, there was a pretty weird buzzing through the whole...

�C in a Circle - You Put It Up, They Take It Down - or Not

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 21:43:32 GMT

By Gary Roth YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, etc. They are the names of some of the most popular websites in the world. They are also the names of the places where hundreds of thousands of copyrighted items are posted by users daily � without permission of the copyright owners. I�m sure you�ve read about the attempts by the large copyright owners of both musical and video material to discover and get their unlicensed material removed from these sites. It is a mammoth, expensive...

More Essentials for the Home Studio

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 14:34:14 GMT

By Dave Simons Hear Wear: If you want to hear yourself clearly while shutting out most extraneous noises, a solid pair of sound-isolating headphones is absolutely essential. The AKG K-240s semi-closed model has been standard issue in recording studios for years, and is still one of the best-sounding and most comfortable headphones on the block. Only around $100 give or take, and well worth it. A Stand That Delivers: Even a...

Amazon's Charge Into Digital Music Seen Boosting Apple iPods

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:32:45 GMT

Brain surgery helps woman listen to music again

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:32:28 GMT

The Guy to save the music industry?

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:32:27 GMT

BMI, Sundance Film Fest Host Music/Film Roundtable Discussion

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:32:01 GMT