Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Independent Artists

Do you like to hear new music? Do you like to discover new artists that you haven't heard before? Are you getting excited when an unknown song grabs you by the ears and doesn't let go? You have to play the song over and over again and feel the need to tell all of your friends about it? Well, you're in luck because the internet offers endless possibilities of music discovery. In fact, there is such a wealth of undiscovered artists out there that you will be overwhelmed by the mere thought of trying to find something. The available music streaming and download services use complicated algorithms to determine similarity in music and artists based on information that you feed them about your favorite artists, playlists and other available data. Sometimes they compare your taste to the tastes of other listeners. In the end, this method can work out or completely fail. Since every person perceives music in a different way and every artist puts their own talent and creativity into their music it is hard to find a common denominator. In many cases I can appreciate someone's talent and ability of playing an instrument or writing a song but the emotional content of the song might not appeal to me at all. Or there can be a beautiful song out there but I don't like the singer's voice. The reasons why our favorites are our favorites are manifold. I usually enjoy the artists the most that I stumble upon by accident. Something draws me in to hit that play button on the stream on a profile page.

At this point I would like to introduce a few artists to you that I came across over the last year that I find intriguing, fascinating and that I can't stop listening to. This is just an overview but I am working on reviews of their CDs and music in future posts. One thing that all the following artists have in common is that they venture outside the mainstream and make no compromises when creating their music. Their sound is unique and identifiable.

When I started out on MySpace with my page I received a friend request from Jesse Adams. Since I didn't know him I checked out his page and I was surprised to find a great variety of styles and sounds in his music. Although he describes his music as metal and experimental there is so much more. Jesse has the talent of creating music based on themes, emotions and images. In some songs he is a sound architect creating a beautiful atmosphere by blending guitars with keyboards in syncopated rhythms and unconventional harmonies. Did I mention that he plays all the instruments himself? Drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and he can sing. Listen to "Home" and imagine you are sitting on the front porch of a farm in the Midwest on a lush summer night. The crickets are singing their song and a slow guitar tells the story of life at a different pace. On other songs Jesse can be funny or rocking out. His first CD will be available at the end of the month.

Another one of my early MySpace acquaintances is Karen Stever. In early 2008 Karen released her debut Playground Isolator. If you missed some depth and emotion in your musical diet lately you have to check it out. Working as a producer with Frank Gryner in Los Angeles, Karen uses the tools she has available to create a fantastic sound. This album is a rollercoaster ride that you have to experience to believe. The music has a hard rocking beat with lots of dynamics from orchestral arrangements to quiet piano accompaniments. Karen's vocals are sensational and incredibly versatile.

Just recently I heard music from Jennifer Spengler. I have to admit that I need to do my homework and research her CD availability but I'm sure she has one for sale. Think Tori Amos with electronic beats Jennifer creates the most hauntingly beautiful songs. The first time I listened to "Miss Mercury" the hook stuck with me over the next several days. Her message is emotional yet powerful, a true gem. Jennifer does all the programming herself as well as the keyboards and piano. Top it off with her immaculate vocals and addiction could very well be a side effect.

When I played a show with Reigning Heir at Pop's in Sauget, IL Tunghook was another band on the roster. They are a great band playing some serious metal. When I checked out their singer and guitar player Matt Tebow's page a few days later I was blown away by his solo stuff. What a professional musician with several solo and band releases. Heavy and groovy guitar riffs are chasing each other. In addition, Matt sings beautiful melodies with an incredible voice. Go listen!

Last but not least I would like to introduce Featured on Fridays. If you ever wondered what power trio means and what it sounds like I have the answer. It sounds like Brev Sullivan shredding the most mind boggling solos out of his guitar while Crystal Fawn's bass keeps pumping and Etienne's drumming makes a horde of elephants jealous. Yep, it's that good. Stay tuned for the upcoming release of their debut CD. It's worth the wait. It's metal chicken pickin' at its best.

Now go and check out these fantastic artists before I think of many more.

Monday, April 27, 2009

Why aren't you on facebook?

Are you a musician or in a band? Are you trying to get the word out about your shows, grow your fan base or sell music and merchandise? It's easier and yet harder than ever before.
You can replace facebook in the headline with any other social networking site.

There is a flood of social networking sites out there. There are hundreds of online music platforms out there. Where should you start and what should you do? It depends on your goals, level of determination and time to spare. Some sites are a must simply because of the amount of visitors and members they have. Others have tools to offer that will help increase your chances of success.

Let me begin by putting out the disclaimer that I don't have all the answers. There are people out there that are in the music marketing business and they scour the web for marketing opportunities each and every day. I can't and don't want to compete with them in the least. But I might have a few pointers that make you want to try some of the sites and greatly improve your visibility.

Before I get started I would like you to reflect on how you want to present yourself, who you want to reach and how much time you have available to keep up with your efforts.

If time is of the essence since we are all musicians that try to make music first and don't want to invest too much of our valuable time into marketing I would suggest the following sites to establish a presence:

MySpace - I still rank myspace as the number one must have site because of the vast amount of users. Even though I believe that myspace in some cases has missed the bus and got behind others in technological development it is a great all-round site that offers a lot of services. Your page can basically be a digital press kit with in addition a tour schedule, fan communication, music, videos and your biography. The layout is customizable so you can really brand your act.

YouTube - If you have a video of a live show, a music video or just an impression from the rehearsal room having a page on YouTube and offering a couple of videos gives your fans a chance to catch a glimpse of your band. Involving your fans is more important than ever and YouTube provides a great platform. Also, you can embed videos easily on other sites without having to upload them again and again.

Facebook - When you think of facebook you don't think about a music presence in the first place. However, where myspace falls behind facebook is the front runner of the new technology. Their API services allow applications from all kinds of sites to tie into your profile if it's a reverbnation band page or an iLike playlist for example. You can make it all accessible through facebook.

Reverbnation - I really like reverbnation for several reasons. You get a lot of tools that you can use on your sites. Granted, there are by far not that many visitors and fans on reverbnation than there are on facebook or myspace, but you can utilize your tools from reverbnation on both. There is for example a fan collector. It is a simple text box where your fans can provide their email address for your mailing list. What about the tune widget? I haven't seen any other widget as comprehensive as that one. All your songs on your reverbnation profile, biography, schedule, videos and photos are packed into this power tool. All you have to do is deploy the code to all your pages. And you can always use the extra fan or two that stumbles across your profile on reverbnation.

Now that you have your presence established you can look at gaining more exposure. Unfortunately, most online activities require some sort of engagement that will definitely cost you a lot of time. This might not be a big deal since you spend a lot of time online anyway or you like hanging around in chat rooms. It is just not for everybody.

Internet Radio - There are thousands of stations out there that play independent music. Make sure you check out their preferred musical genres. Go to their chat rooms and listen to a show or two. Get acquainted with the dj's and get contact information to send your music to. One site that could help you is airplay direct. On airplay direct you can establish a press kit with music, videos, bio and photos and you can send a link to it to any dj or station. This also applies to regular radio stations. One difficulty is to find the right contact for regular radio stations.

Last.fm, iLike, garageband, imeem and others - All these sites can help you promote your band. A word of advice: it takes a lot of effort to get started and get a following because your ranking in various charts improves when you listen to and review music from others. Just posting a comment or a banner is not enough to make people find your profile. If you want to use these services to their full advantage you need to get out there and listen to others.

There are a lot more social media sites that could help you promote your band. Keep in mind that there is only so much you can do. In order to have your profiles branded and keeping up with fresh content it takes a lot of work and time.

The last service I would like to present here is twitter. Even though you cannot post music or anything else here it is a very important tool. As I mentioned earlier, it is important to engage your fans in your creative activity. By allowing them to look behind the scenes into your life you are doing just that.

As always, feel free to leave your comments. I hope this post gave you a few ideas.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Improvisation

It surprises me time and again how few guitar solos can be heard on the radio today. Although the guitar is probably one of the most played instruments in the world and in popular music, its presence is often overshadowed by keyboards, programming or simply doesn't exist. Over more than the last decade even rock music had most of the solos eliminated. There are a few acts that still incorporate solos in their arrangements. I have no idea why things are the way they are. Do bands skip solos to become more marketable and adhere to the "a hit song can't be longer than three and a half minutes" rule? Or is there a legion of hundreds of thousands of guitar players that can play great rhythm but no lead? It will probably remain a mystery to me. However, I do think that it is a shame because guitar solos were an integral part in the rise of rock music in the late 60's, 70's and still in the 80's.

Styles that to this day enjoy the presence of guitar solos are blues and jazz. It could very well be that because of the lack of the mass appeal of these styles and the persistence and longevity of the fans and audience artists feel encouraged to continue to deliver the highest quality of their playing.

During my tenure in college I have seen and heard many great players. But the one that I have learned from the most (and still do) is Scott Henderson. Not only do I own most of his discography and have listened to the CD's and vinyl (!) albums till my ears bled but I saw him play live three times and during a clinic as well. Simply amazing.

Scott is originally a blues player that turned to jazz and incorporated many different genres in his playing. Lately, he returned to his blues roots only to enhance the music with some jazz and rock flavors. During his career that started out with gigs with Chick Corea, Steve Smith, Jeff Berlin and other greats from the jazz rock scene he was a founding member of Tribal Tech together with bass player Gary Willis. The development of Tribal Tech was interesting in a sense that the music started out extremely complicated and arranged (Scott studied composition as well) and turned to jamming on the final two albums. At first the musical structures were much defined and 15 years later the structures were almost gone bringing out the best of the players.

I don't own many instructional videos. I have seen some that completely turned me off because the instructors used them to make a quick buck without really teaching you anything. I do own the two videos that Scott has published quite a long time ago, Jazz Fusion Improvisation and Melodic Phrasing. Even though every aspiring guitar player is eager to learn all about the jazz fusion improvisation with the scales and the modality and all the "interesting" stuff it is the melodic phrasing video that captures my attention every time. I believe that every serious guitar player no matter what style or genre should watch this video at least once.

The video focuses on the similarity of language and music. The major musical element in the video is rhythm. Scott uses very easily understandable examples to support his theory and bring his point across. He takes solos and melodies and splits them up into paragraphs, phrases and words. In summary, the player becomes a storyteller to capture the audience. It's a very powerful message.

I would like to encourage everyone to take a fresh approach at improvising and playing solos. Check out examples from Scott's videos and sit down with the story in mind before you start playing. You don't have to play as many notes in as little time possible. That's impressive but neither interesting nor entertaining. You don't have to play scales as far out as the moon. Chances are your listeners won't be able to follow you. Put your heart and soul into your playing, don't forget to breathe, listen and play in full sentences. You will be amazed at how different and intriguing you sound.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Idol thoughts

Watching American Idol is one of my biggest pet peeves. I admit it. If you know me you'd probably wonder why since I am extremely picky with everything I listen to or watch. Growing up in Europe I wasn't exposed to too many live shows on TV with live music, at least not at a decent time of day. After I emigrated I embraced the opportunity to watch live performances (good and bad) on a weekly basis during season 2. Also, I am fascinated with the marketing idea behind the show that is pure genius. If you look at the success of the show over 8 seasons with mostly mediocre entertainment you have to admit that someone had a bright idea leading up to this phenomenon.

What is Idol?
It is a reality TV show dressed up as a singing competition. It is also a marketing campaign to find the public's favorite before they get signed to a record deal. This idea in and of itself is probably the smartest one I've seen in a long time. You ask the public whose record they want to buy and who they want to see performing live on stage. It is so simple yet so powerful an idea, it's like getting a big bonus once the revenue from the actual show dries up.

Is this show trying to find the best singer?
No. I believe that really great singers (if they audition) are generally turned down during pre-auditions by the producer's staff. Unless they can generate a buzz that is, but more on that later. The singers on the show need to be able to carry a tune. They should also have at least some stage presence and be able to perform well. But honestly, there are thousands of singers out there that are better at both disciplines than most contestants.

Monetary considerations:
If a show is successful, the ratings go up and the advertising income grows. By season two or three Idol was established as such a big audience hog that other networks re-scheduled their best and highest rated shows at other non-conflicting times.
I don't know how much the show earns with the voting system. But let's face it, if you can generate more than 30 million phone calls in two hours, there's probably a slice of the cake for you.

Buzz:
The buzz is what makes the show. Contrary to popular belief that this show is a singing competition it is all about controversy and the public's interaction. While I write this I realize that I am feeding right into the shows ratings.

Here is why it works:
If you want a real singing competition and find a fantastic singer, you wouldn't let the public vote. You would use a panel of real industry specialists judge the contestants week after week. The problem is that nobody would watch the show after three seasons. The public needs to have the power to vote for their favorites, and favorites don’t mean the best. By allowing the public to vote as much as they want you generate a ton of phone and text traffic. Why would you want to have a voting mechanism where anyone can vote once for or against each contestant? You would run the risk that the bad and sometimes colorful ones go home early and the buzz dies. What better marketing than millions of people fighting in forums and bulletin boards? Talking about the show day after day, everyone trying to bring their point across to non-believers? You can't get advertising like that for free.

LA, we have a problem?
What's different this year is not the judge's save that is being beat to death every week. It's a small spice compared to the one contestant that slipped by the producers. Or did he?
There is one contestant that could hold his own in a real talent competition. His consistent solid performances are way above everyone else's. And he has not only the talent but the experience and knowledge of his instrument. Yet he is a very colorful character that causes a bigger stir than a tornado in Kansas. Once again, it will be the image reigning supreme over the singing in the end. And the cash cow will be filled to the top when this season is over. Thank you for watching, voting, blogging and breathing Idol.

I have to admit that I was quite surprised this season when a most prominent judge proclaimed on the show that "this show is not artistic". That sums it up nicely.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Three Elements of Music

As far as I can remember music fascinated me. I've been told that as soon as I was tall enough to reach the top of my parent's record player I played my mom's old 45s.
Throughout my childhood and adolescence I would listen to music, learn instruments and play with others.

Apparently I was pretty good at math in high school. Many people told me they were not surprised that I would be good at both disciplines, math and music since they had so much in common. But do they?

In my twenties I went to college to study guitar and music. But what was music? That question always stuck with me and I even wrote half my thesis about it. I guess that's where my analytical skills come in. At this point I could translate my thesis and copy and paste it here but that would take up days and way too much space.

What brought all this up? Two friends of mine sparked my interest last week by touching on this topic. Ed, one of my favorite internet radio DJ's confronted me with his 4 elements of music and Pete, a fellow guitar player who wrote a blog about phrasing. I went back into the darkest corners of my brain to drag out those old theories I had and had to re-think them. Maybe this can lead to an interesting discussion.

The three elements of music
At the source, music consists of three basic elements:
Melody, the horizontal movement of notes over time.
Harmony, the vertical movement of notes over time.
Rhythm, the rhythmical order of the movement.

No matter how hard I thought about this, I still feel the same way about it today. Even though melodies, harmonies and rhythms require even smaller particles like notes and frequencies, we need these three basic elements to make music.

At this point music is pretty much still basic math that can be displayed in vectors, graphs and notation. What does it sound like...that depends. There are children's songs that sound good to the human ear and there are also pieces of modern composers that test everyone's patience (because of the form of graphical/mathematical notation).

In any kind of music, it takes a lot more than the three basic elements to make music interesting, good, bad, fun, intriguing or any other adjective possible.
Once a basic song or piece of music has been established, another set of elements comes along to "bring the music to life". These are mainly:
Groove, transforming the rhythm from the notation and infusing a human beat or pulse. Music has a groove when it makes you want to move.
Phrasing, mainly applies to the melody but also sometimes comping. You can compare this to the flow and accentuation of a sentence. Phrasing is the unique interpretation of a melody by the player. No matter how I look at it, phrasing is a personal touch and is added to the listening experience by the player.
Dynamics are the differences in volume within a piece of music.
These elements give the music color and allow the musician to express their emotions.

Of course there are a few more elements that add flavor to the music like slowing down, speeding up and all kinds of ways of influencing the tone of an instrument. I could probably write a book about this topic. For now I will leave you with the statement I made above and encourage you to think about the elements of music.