Over the years, I’ve printed a few audio recording, midi and music business tutorials and “how to’s” that have received much positive response from readers. The other day I was having a difficult time locating one of the older posts for myself, so I decided to put together a short list of links to the favorites.
Thanks to those who’ve taken the time to email and continue discussions on these topics.
Several years ago, Avid added a light version of Sibelius notation software to their flagship workstation, Pro Tools. While I don’t rely on Pro Tools’ notation capabilities for any involved work, it is often useful for printing out a part for a player or two.
A short while back I was lamenting to my friend John Hinchey, international Sibelius wizard (and more), that I was unable to print a violin part from Pro Tools on just one stave… it always defaulted to a grand staff (treble and bass staves together, like piano music.) (more…)
Last year, I composed and produced the score to a television commercial for Germany’s passenger rail system, Deutsche bahn. Though we do quite a bit of commercial music for Europe, the spot, beautifully shot, very edgy and very funny, was a bit different than anything I’d done to date with my sister company IV Music, so I really didn’t know how it would be received.
Apparently it was received well! The spot, called Der Chef Kommt, won 8 awards including 2 New York Festivals Awards, EuroBest, Effie, EPICA and 3 DDP Awards. If you don’t know what these awards are… well, neither do I, but it’s always nice to have something I scored get some thumbs ups.
In the score, I was asked to strongly convey the feeling of ennui that the office workers might feel, then move straight to a buffo, Big-Valley Western gunslinger as the Boss arrives back at the office, EARLY, because he’s taken the new rail system instead of driving. No problem… we all know what ennui sounds like, right? Remarkably, my first draft was accepted with a minor revision to the vocal in the second half. It was a great gig.
You can find the long version of this spot on the video side of my work page. Here’s the short version of the commercial
And here is a great article on IV and what CEO/ CCO Steve Keller is doing with audio branding.
I spend most of my professional life helping artists, bands and other clients through the process of music production. Like most of the people I work with, my love of making music is why I do what I do but it’s foolish to forget that we have business to take care of as well, so here are some thoughts and tools for rounding out your plan for Indie (or even Label) domination.
7 Steps To A Glorious Future
Yes, there is more to making a record than just production. This is why, for decades, people gladly signed over most of their profits (and most of their rights) to Record Labels, because they handled all the dirty work (leaving rock stars free to be rock stars). Let’s look at a rough sketch of the steps involved in making a successful master recording. (more…)
I’ve added a flash video reel with some of my work for picture. I’ll be adding more clips as I crunch them to flv. These examples feature some of the many fun things I do in the studio, including sound design, composition, mixing and editing.
