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Music & MP3 Information
Does Your CD Cover $ell (Or Suck)?
Oh, I know the last part of the title (Suck) isn't a very
pleasant description to apply to anyone's CD cover. But,
in the interest of plain old honesty, and to face our demons
head on, I wanted to (again) utilize a worst case scenario
that we can only improve from.
How to Compose Using ABA Form
ABA form is like a musical sandwich. You have the 2 slices of bread with the contrasting meat and cheese on the inside. Instead of bread and meat, you use musical materials. Perhaps an 8-bar phrase for the A section followed by a 4 or 8-bar phrase for the B section. A nice little musical sandwich.
New Age Music - What Is It Good For?
Let's face it. The world will not end if there isn't another new age music CD on the market. So why bother? Why play when most people don't care or want to hear the kind of music you like? The answer lies in the nature of art itself, for the world really does not need art. It can survive without painting, sculpture or music. It can survive, but it would be a pretty dreary place.
George Winston and New Age Piano Playing
The first time I heard George Winston play back in the early 1980's I was blown away. I didn't know why I liked this music. All I knew was that it made me feel good and that was enough. I didn't even play piano back then but something about this music seeped into me almost haunting me. The way he let the notes ring out and wasn't concerned with pop flavorings. A new sound for the time.
Trusting Your Inner Voice - Key to Success at the Piano
We all have so many critical voices in our heads.
Piano Music - How to Begin and End a Piece
How do you begin a piece of music? That's a question I'm often asked. The answer I usually give is that you begin as soon as you start playing - that is, if you're trying to "compose" something, the piece begins the moment it has energy and is something you want to capture. If it's an improvisation, the piece begins the moment you set your fingers on the keys and hit the first note. It's like free flow writing and writing a chapter to a novel.
Music Making as Spiritual Experience
If you've been playing piano for some time, you may come upon periods where you forget yourself and only the music remains. You might even have had a spiritual experience. A phenomenon where emotion and intellect become one and the outside world disappears.
Living Life Loud
Change is good. Just ask the millions of unsigned artists worldwide trying to get their music heard. Since the music industry is changing drastically, unsigned musicians are able to make their music available to listeners. Record labels are realizing new techniques need to be created in order to promote music, and find new talent.
CD Mastering using Har-Bal
Feel free to download the entire manual detailing the mastering process from Har-Bal complete with pictures of all the tools needed to create a great sounding mastered cd .
Warner Music Executive Payments
?In human life, art may arise from almost any activity, and once it does so, it is launched on a long road of exploration, invention, freedom to the limits of extravagance, interference to the point of frustration, finally discipline, controlling constant change and growth.? Susanne Langer (1895-1985)
The Revolution has begun - and it will not be Televised The new Artist Development Paradigm
In reflecting on the world of the Music Business in 2004, there were some very profound and dramatic changes that changed the nature of the Music Business itself. 2004 will always be remembered as the year the 'Big Five' became the 'Big Four' and don?t be surprised if you?re reading at this time next year and we?re telling you about the ?Big Three?! Beside the Sony/BMG merger, 2004 will also be remembered as the year labels utilized aggressively utilized video games as a marketing vehicle for the launching of many of their artists.
The Flower Garden and New Age Piano Music
If you've ever looked at a flower garden, not only its beauty may have captivated you, but also its overall arrangement.
How to Find Musical Ideas
The Russian Composer Igor Stravinsky once said: " A good composer does not imitate; he steals."
When Does Practice Make Perfect? Not Much Of The Time Unless All The Pieces Fit First
Often people receive a banjo, mandolin, fiddle, guitar or some other musical instrument as a birthday, Christmas or special occasion gift. There?s glee and joy everywhere. The giver of the gift knows how much the receiver of the gift wants to learn this instrument and the receiver of the gift is ACTUALLY holding the coveted instrument in his/her hands instead of lusting for it down at the corner store or through the shop window. NOW WHAT?
Playing The Violin Is For Everyone Who Loves Music
Every day musical instruments enrich the lives of people around the world and continue to promote culture and art throughout every society and community, no matter what size or structure. Even those people of the world who live outside the realm of technology enjoy and use musical instruments to tell stories or entertain. Someone who has never played musical instruments but is interested in trying one has quite a selection to choose from.
Writing Hit Songs
There are a lot of factors to writing a hit song. First, you should focus on writing a good song. Once you've done that, you are not far away from writing a hit.
Like most other things in life, it takes persistence, patience, drive, knowledge, belief and maybe some luck.
Stop and think about your favorite songs. Really analyze them and figure out what it is that you like about those songs.
Different factors may come to play here. Maybe it is the good beat, lyrics that hit home, a beautiful melody, something spiritual or patriotic, or maybe even that it is humorous.
If you include one of these elements in your songwriting you are well on your way. If you combine two or more of these elements, you may have yourself a hit.
A Good Beat
Rhythm is important in music. I have to laugh and think of Jerry Van Dyke on "The Dick Van Dyke Show" years ago trying to play the banjo and sing, "I've got rhy-rhy-thm, I've got mah-mah-music..."
But, unless you are very funny like Jerry Van Dyke, your audience is not very likely to stay with you.
Your music not only needs to have a good beat, but must fit the genre of music you are trying to write. A Metallica beat in a George Strait type song may not get you very far. A song with a good enough beat might be a hit even with no melody and no lyrics. Remember "Green Onions?"
Along with the beat is the tempo. Country music is easy to write (I did not say it is easy to write well) because it is about people's lives and everyday experiences. However, too often people write slow songs for country music, when in fact the industry is starving for upbeat country material like "Country Roads" and "Rocky Top." It is much harder to write a good up-tempo country song than it is a tear jerker.
Lyrics in popular music can range from broken relationships to political issues, and just about any point in between. Those that tend to be the most popular are about situations you and I may encounter in our everyday lives; "Workin' 9 To 5," "I Just Called To Say I Love You," "Your Cheatin' Heart," "God Bless The USA" (which ingeniously incorporates spiritual, political and patriotic views).
A beautiful or interesting melody can get you into the ranks of hit songwriter with no lyrics required. Going back in time to prove a point about beautiful melodies, you might consider songs like "Last Date" and "Sleepwalk."
Songs with great melody lines are very easy to be found in many hit TV show themes like "Peter Gunn," "Hawaii 5-0," along with many of the 60's surfer songs like "Wipe Out."
Well done humorous songs usually find an audience, such as Ray Stevens "The Streak," and Jerry Reeds "She Got The Goldmine, I Got The Shaft." If you have a knack for both humor and music, you might make a fortune.
Spiritual and patriotic songs, if they are well done and come out at the right time, are easy hits. Every time the U.S. gets involved in any type of world conflict, the songwriters get their pens out.
Keep your ears and eyes open, and keep a shoe box to put your ideas for songs in. Every time you think of an idea for a song or a song title, write it down and drop it in the box. It could be your first, or your next, big hit.
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