I recently wrote incidental music for a play, David Mamet’s “Edmond”.  Having forged many sound designs (including composed music) in years past, I’ve always had some clue as to what I wanted to do for each production.  This time was an exception, as my first inclination was: leave as-is (no music).

You can fit music into a Mamet play, and if you do, it sticks out like a sore thumb and doesn’t integrate well.  Mamet’s language is center stage and the timing needs to be crisp — this is especially true in “Edmond”, which has many scenes and shifts gears quickly.  I’m used to generating a lot of content for plays, and believe in an integrated production design, so my approach is to always underscore where possible.  This doesn’t work for Mamet, especially “Edmond”.

I told the director first off, don’t do anything.  At most, keep sparse or bookend the whole dramatic work by simply putting something at the top and something at the end.

I ended up writing about 30 cues — 15 of which were used for almost every scene transition.

Initially, I recorded some solitary drums — from a drum kit — but sparse and authoritative.  After building a few cues with iterative feedback from the director, I scrapped it.  Too “militaristic”.

I turned to guitar textures, largely atonal, and layered, which is my forte.

I had a guitar still strung up with a Glenn Branca tenor strings and tuning, and improvised some small gestures and microtonal movements.  At HIGH volumes.  This produced some great combination tones (Cue22C).

I also strummed a little melody, and ferociously hammered a heterophonic chord.  At HIGH volumes.  More snippets (Cue9).

The rest was editing (and fragmenting and layering) within Logic, created subtle differentiated cues of about :30-1 minute in duration.  I probably spent 10% of my time recording at most, but the rest was editing.

I’ll go check out the performance next week, but for now I still believe that nothing was probably the best solution for the work.  At least I generated some decent content for future use (or for my CV).  Most importantly, it kept me productive, learning new approaches and solutions to creative problems.

Music Resources is where we provide some basic tips and…well…resources, to help artists find success in a changing music industry. Helpful items such as song writing tips, legal tips, sound mixing tips, recording & producing tips, and management & publicity tips will live here. It’s everything a growing musician needs.

Some of the topics we have on the horizon include:  how engineers/producers achieved certain sounds and how to approach songwriting for different assignments.

Yes, it’s about to get really geeky and technical in this section, but unlike other geeky passions, becoming a more successful musician actually seems to correlate with becoming a more successful object of desire. Even awkward, acoustic guitar, serenading guy gets a little play.

photo credit:  kk+ on flickr

by Ariston Anderson

The music industry in general has been slow in playing catch up to the tools of new media. While record labels and publishers are still fighting to maintain ownership of their properties, there’s a whole new world of new media elite who are working to find tools to empower musicians and to build a bridge between the new media and the old media.

Whether it’s putting music online for free, working to build an online community, or simply starting a dialogue, the folks seeking out answers are quickly replacing the stagnant ways of old media.

I decided to check out the New Music Seminar in New York City this week to find out just how musicians are becoming empowered.

The mastermind behind the conference, Tom Silverman, founder of Tommy Boy Entertainment, started the New Music Seminar in 1980, to discuss the future of the business then.
He founded the conference to reach out to a industry that was historically resistant to change. It served as a forum for young entrepreneurs to launch their businesses and make connections, and it became a model for new conferences like South by Southwest.

Since 2000, music revenues have been steadily decreasing. By next year, for the first time ever, digital revenues are expected to exceed physical sales. By 2013, the breakdown will be 80% digital and 20% physical.

“Change will not come if we wait for a record company,” said Silverman. “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.” The conference aims to teach artists how to make more money and less mistakes. Whether you want to be an artist, promoter, manager, or entrepreneur, here are the new rules to make it in the business:

• The future is DIY. Learn how to use affordable tools, but remember it’s not all about the tools. It’s about your craft. Software won’t solve all of your problems.
• The best marketing is informed by art, not art that you try and inform. You can’t create a viral video; that all depends on the audience. But you can create awareness.
• If you’re an artist, don’t borrow money. You can only maintain creative control by maintaining financial control. The opposite applies if you’re on the entrepreneurial side. Tim Westergren, founder of Pandora, maxed out a dozen credit cards and owed money to everyone he knew before getting his project off the ground. The best advice he ever received was from his wife: “Don’t be self-conscious about being an entrepreneur.”
• There are a ton of places online to sell your music: Amazon, MySpace, iTunes, and TuneCore for starters. But don’t underestimate the power of giving away your music for free. Lil Wayne gave his music away for over a year before releasing his album. He worked first to build a connection with his fanbase before asking for any money.
• Fans are the new record label. The business now all depends on the relationship between an artist and their fans, most importantly the uber fans, the ones who buy all the merchandise, go to all the shows, and spread the word about their favorite bands.
• The key to staying in touch with your fans is through e-mail, the most important data you’ll ever collect. Have a sign-up sheet at every show. Have your audience text their e-mails to a road manager’s cell at the end of every show and promise to personally stay in touch. Then you’ll have both e-mails and area codes. Build an online community by blasting out webcasts, photoshoots, interviews, and even live streaming concerts.
• Engage with fans in a meaningful way, nothing forced or fake. We the Kings launched a weekly webisode series, The Kings Carriage, that has collected over 300 million views. They sold 100,000 albums even before the music was on iTunes.
• It’s dangerous for an artist to spend time on things that aren’t artistic. Build a management team to take care of the tools, marketing, and technology. If you’re just starting out, enlist a college music lover to build your brand.
• Sign any deal as long as it’s short-term if it’s going to get you noticed. Otherwise you’re not going to be on the radar.
• Start local, start tribal. The best band success stories come out of a music scene. The Internet has allowed for tribes to become bigger and bigger. Connect with similar bands doing similar music and go on tour with them. Build your own scene and work to break through together.