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Rock Articles Reprinted From Harder Beat
These are some articles I wrote for the Dallas "Harder Beat" magazine. They cover a lot of interesting subjects if you're a musician. Give me a minute or so to load all the articles, then just click on the underlined title:
Dec/Jan, 96/97: Influences - How Far Should You Go? - Copying Your Heros. Feb, 1997: Breaking Up Is Hard To Do - Firing A Band Member. Mar, 1997: Ok, Last Time - How To Get A Record Contract - The Real Scoop. Apr, 1997: Friends, Fans, Managers, Producers - How Important Are They To Your Career? May, 1997: Agents, Publicists, Attorneys, and Accountants - Part 2 Jun, 1997: Where To Find Equipment Cheap - Where Are The Good Deals? Jul, 1997: CD Or Not CD, That Is Still The Question - What are your choices? Aug, 1997: Hanson and The Spice Girls - Are You So Different From Them? - Maybe Not. Sep, 1997: Mastering - The Final Step. - Polishing The Final Product. Oct, 1997: Going For The Big One - Getting Signed. - How To Do It. Nov, 1997: Women In Music - They're Not Just For Vocals Anymore. - Give Them A Chance. Dec/Jan, 97/98: Reflections - On 3 Years of Writing Harder Beat Columns. Feb, 1998: Bits And Pieces - Some Observations. - Are You Doing It Right? Mar, 1998: Scams And Ripoffs - It's Your Money - Spend It Wisely. Apr, 1998: Odds and Ends - Questions That Keep Coming Up. May, 1998: Spring Cleaning - Now's The Time To Do Some Upgrading. Jun, 1998: School's Out - Let's Go Record Something! Jul, 1998: - Let's Go Record Something. - Part II Aug, 98: The Business of Making Music. Sep, 1998: More Observations. Oct, 1998: Choosing A Guitar/Amplifier Combo. Nov, 1998: The San Francisco AES Show. Dec/Jan, 1998: What's The Best, What's The Cheapest? Feb, 1999: A New Year - Time For A Change? Mar, 1999 - Things That "They" Never Tell You Apr, 1999 - Equipment Versus Experience May, 1999 - Harvey's Predictions For The Future June, 1999 - How Come I Ain't A Star Yet? July, 1999 - Radio Friendly - and You! Aug, 1999 - Speed, Scales, Effects, or Feeling? Sep, 1999 - Some Common Misconceptions About Music Oct, 1999 - Some Common Misconceptions About Music - Part II Nov, 1999 - Maybe I should call it "Silk Purse Recording Studio" Dec, 1999 - Maybe I should call it "Silk Purse Recording Studio" - Part II December 1996/January 1997: Influences - How Far Should You Go? Most of us started playing because we heard someone we thought was great and we decided it would be cool to be like them. This Stevie Ray Vaughan stuff is one extreme example. There are a whole bunch of people out there trying to be the next Stevie Ray. Right down to the look, the equipment, the sound, even playing his songs. Reminds me that the same thing happened when Hendrix died. Except the only one that did his stuff was Robin Trower as kind of a tribute album.What bothers me is that some groups are so influenced by another group, they don't even bother to get their own sound. They just write similar songs and play them like their favorite group. Get a grip gang, there's already a group out there like that. They were there first. Influence is one thing, copying is quite another. Go ahead and be influenced by your favorite group, but take their ideas to new places they haven't thought of. Use that group's music as YOUR starting point. Now, go somewhere else with it. Expand it, develop it, bend it, twist it, break it, play it backwards, but just don't copy it. I love some of the groups we get in the studio, but sometimes I get people that I swear should never have been musicians in the first place. They don't practice, they don't rehearse, they don't know what they're going to play, they don't care, and I don't understand why they're even in the business in the first place. At best, the music business is not easy, but some of these people are going to take up a lot of other people's vauable time before they decide they're going to stay with their day job. It's not fair to serious bands if you're gonna take some club gigs just to stoke your ego. Enough bashing. Congratulations to One Ton Records for snagging all the great Dallas bands for their really funny takeoff CD of "Grease." The CD is called "Sandy Does Dallas," and features Slow Roosevelt, Caulk, Doosu, the Toadies, and a host of other great bands doing music from the movie. Three of the tracks were recorded here at Indian Trail Recording Studio. Big problem that I've noticed lately. The intonation on a lot of guitars and basses are set up wrong when they come into the studio to record, or the jack plate is loose, or a broken ground wire. Do yourself a favor this Christmas, treat yourself to a guitar setup at your favorite music store. It will really pay off when you reach for those high notes. Finally, an end-of-the-year thank you to all the great groups and people that helped make this a great year for us. If you got something out of one of my columns that helped you, then I've done my job. Thanks to Linda for giving me a spot to rant and rave. To all the great bands that have been to Indian Trail Studio, thanks for letting me hear some really great music (for the most part). The "best" is yet to come. Merry Christmas, everyone. Return to the top of the page February 1997: Breaking Up Is Hard To Do Like the old song says, breaking up IS hard to do, especially when you and your band wants to dump one of the band members. So this month's article is about that problem - how do you tell a band member that they're fired? Especially when that member may be a close friend of yours? Well, it isn't easy, but there are some things you can do to help make the job a little less hard. There are really only a few reasons why a band fires one of its members: 1. Talent. The band member just isn't as good as the rest of the band, and everyone feels that person is holding the band back. 2. Attitude. The person just doesn't fit in with the rest of the band, constantly complains, or is just very different from the rest of the group, making the group feel uncomfortable. 3. Dedication. Doesn't really care about the music, or take rehearsals seriously, shows up late for gigs, cancels without any warning, etc. 4. Direction. The band is into metal, and the person being fired really wants to play blues. The person is not going toward the same place as the rest of the band. 5. Substance Abuse. The person shows up smashed all the time, either from booze or drugs, it doesn't matter which one. It affects their playing and their attitude. There are different ways to handle each one of these problems, but in every case, there is never any reason to get into a fight or a shouting match. Here are some methods that should make things go a whole lot easier: 1. Talent. This is the hard one - nobody wants to tell somebody their playing sucks. And nobody really wants to hear that either - even from a friend. You're better off just saying something like "We don't think that your style of playing is exactly right for what we're doing". 2. Attitude. This is another biggie - if the person already has an attitude, they're not going to listen to much of anything you have to say. Just say, "We don't think this is working out, and we think you'd be happier in another band." Keep it vague and avoid any disagreements as much as possible. Don't get into a shouting match. Just keep quiet till they blown off some steam. Don't let yourself be drawn into an argument. 3. Dedication. One of the easy ones. Just say, "We don't think this is working out, we all feel you don't care enough about the band. Even though you're a great musician, we need someone who'll be there for rehearsals and jobs." 4. Direction. Another easy one. Same answer as number two, but pleasant. Just say, "We don't think this is working out, and we think you'd be happier in another band." Wish them a lot of luck, and tell them you really think they should pursue the kind of music they really wants to play. 5. Substance Abuse. This is a "go either way" kind of situation. They either already knows they have a problem or they have a split personality - they act one way when they're sober, and another way when they're smashed. Try to talk to them when they're reasonable. Explain that all the band members are concerned, you understand that they have a problem, they should try to get some help, and until they do get some help, the band has no other choice but to let them go. Those are the basics. If you're the one that has to do the firing, do it face to face, in private. Don't phone or leave a message on the machine - that's cold and it's chicken shit. Do it face to face. And don't do it at rehearsal or a gig. Don't make it seem like the band is ganging up on them, and you're the hatchet man for the group. Wait for some time off, and go out for coffee or something - just the two of you. Try to imagine they are the person speaking for your group, about to fire you. Tell them the same things you would want to hear if the situation was reversed. Firing someone isn't easy, being fired is even harder. Try to make them understand it's not because they are a bad person, but you all feel this would be the best thing for everybody in the long run, themself included. Return to the top of the page March 1997: Ok, Last Time - How To Get A Record Contract So you wanna be a Rock and Roll Star? Well, this month's article is about just that - how do you get a recording contract? It ain't easy, but there are some things you can do to help. There is really only just one reason why a label will sign a band to a contract: The record company believes they will make money. That's the only reason a label ever signs an act. There are at least a thousand bands in the Metroplex trying to get a recording contract with a major label (that includes country, pop, rap, singer/songwriters, etc.). How many do you think are going to make it by the end of this year? One? Five? Ten? The answers is probably one or two, maybe five, certainly not ten. A few months back, I pointed out what record companies are looking for these days. Here's the list again, in exact order of importance to a label: 1.) Established stars with a track record (Janet Jackson, etc.), 2.) Celebrities that have a curiosity factor built in (Kato Kaitlen, Marcia Clark, etc.), 3.) Acts on smaller labels that have a national or regional hit, 4.) Small label groups with a really big following, 5.) Local groups with a big following and/or national touring, 6.) Other. Now, which category does your group fit into? Welcome to the real world. So, how do you move up to a more desirable category, like number 5, even? Start by taking a look at your demo. How long are the songs? If you want airplay, get them down to under 4 minutes (preferably 3 to 3½ minutes). Save the long shit for your live shows. Either digitally edit what you've got, or go in and re-cut your demo. Then, try to get signed with a local label that has some distribution. If you're in a band, play, play, play. Try to buildup a following and get on a label - almost any label is better than no label. Why? Most legitimate record companies want a guaranteed hit from their artists, whether it's an established artist or a new artist. Singles sell albums, and albums pay the bills. If you've got a regional hit with an independent label, a big label is more interested in you than if you're a group that just sends a demo tape. A regional hit with an independent label is one good way to get a major label's attention. Another is a good gimmick, something that sets you apart from other groups, like a girl playing bass (as in Smashing Pumpkins). Make yourselves and your music different than everybody else. Kiss made a fortune being very different from other bands, so did Nirvana. Make sure your group is leading the way, don't follow. Make people say, "now that's really different." Make your shows something the audience will remember for a long time. Be ready if Fame comes knocking; Does your group have a good picture, a well written bio, and a really good demo tape? What if a record executive walked up to you after a gig and said, "I'm interested, give me a press kit". Do you have one? Do you carry demo tapes and pictures with you EVERYWHERE you go? Should you make cassettes demos or go right to CDs? There are advantages and disadvantages to both formats. CDs are cheap, but only if you buy 1,000 or more. You're safer getting a hundred or so cassette copies of your demo, then using the money from sales to make some CDs for airplay and to send out to record companies. With that kind of money, you can drop a few bucks on fancy graphics and some color, which would be a lot more impressive than a plain looking cassette demo. Sending out CDs to record companies is not a hard and fast rule, but always call the record company first to find out what format they prefer or will accept. If they tell you that a cassette is OK, you've got it made. But make sure the cassette looks professional and that the whole package you send has a pro feel to it - good graphics, eye catching, something that would make a record company executive want to know more about the band. Don't hype the band in your bio or promo pack to a record company. If you really are the next Sepultura, or Pantera, let the record company tell you. They kind of resent being told things like that. Remember, record companies are NOT in the business of making records. They are in the business of making money. They make money by selling records. If you can convince them that you can make a lot of money for them, congratulations, you just got a record deal. Return to the top of the page April 1997: Friends, Fans, Managers, Producers, Agents, Publicists, Attorneys, and Accountants Who are all these people and why are they important to the band? What exactly is their job? Do you really need them? How do you find them? What are they worth? How do you know if they're doing their job? This is probably going to span a few issues of the magazine, but it's important to understand the function of each. Usually, a group's first fans are made up of the group's friends They come to your shows, rehearsals, and even to your recording sessions. It can be good or bad sometimes. A cheering section made up of friends is great for clubs, but it might cause some problems if they also show up at rehearsals, or while you're trying to do a demo or a CD. They love the band's music, they are usually very supportive, and they may be fans as well, but remember they are usually "big" fans of only one member of the group - their friend. There can sometimes be serious tensions at rehearsals or while recording that can only be resolved by the band sitting down and discussing it among themselves. The band doesn't need other people taking sides in those types of discussions. Wives, husbands, friends, girlfriends, and boyfriends have no place at these "band meetings". Real fans (who have no connection whatsoever with the band) are one of your most valuable tools - they provide a reality check on your music and the band. Listen to your fans - they'll let you know which songs they like in no uncertain terms. Make sure you start, and carry, a mailing list of all the fans so you can tell them about upcoming gigs, the CD release dates, and generally keep them informed about the group. Your manager is almost another member of the group, or should be. Your manager has the same job as your mom or dad or your big brother, to look out for the band's welfare and do what's best for the band, while protecting the band from people that might try to take advantage of the band. When the band is just starting out, the manager may be able to help find gigs, but that's really not the manager's job. The manager might also be able to help with some of the band's conflicts, but there are some meetings that should be off limits, even for managers. A manager can often be a friend or relative, or the group'sattorney, or accountant. Your producer is basically your manager for recording. He or she is there to help you get the best possible recording of the group. Just as your manager takes the load off the group in business negotiations, the producer takes the load off in technical terms of dealing with the engineers and the record company. The producer is also like another band member, more so than the manager, since the producer will get 100% involved in the band's music - every note, every beat, every start, ending, fill, solo, and rest. Some bands (like the Doors and the Beatles) stayed with the same producer for almost their entire career, while some bands will change producers when they want to try a new direction. Other bands will be self produced. It really depends on the group, the producer, and the relationship that's formed. Next Month: Agents, Publicists, Attorneys, and Accountants. Return to the top of the page May 1997: Agents, Publicists, Attorneys, and Accountants Who are all these people and why are they important to the band? What exactly is their job? Do you really need them? How do you find them? What are they worth? How do you know if they're doing their job? This is the second part of this article, dealing with Agents, Publicists, Attorneys, and Accountants. Booking Agents get you jobs - that's all they do. They have the contacts to the major clubs, concert halls, fairs, and stadiums. Typically, they're paid about 10% of any job they find for you. If you have your act together, the first outside professional you should be looking for is a good booking agent or agency. If you don't really have a great stage show put together, don't even bother calling a booking agent. Professional agents aren't interested in getting a band into a club that pays $50 to $100 a night - it's just not worth their time and energy, since they only get a percentage of what they book for your band. Most agents are on the lookout for show bands that are good enough to open for major acts, or headline smaller shows. Publicists are less important than agents when you're first starting out, but as you get more known, their job becomes more and more important. What is their job? To make sure that people know about you. They get reviewers to review you, try to get your band favorable reviews, get your name known to the public, and get the people out to hear you. Attorneys are the backbone of any group's organization. Like your manager, the attorney's job is to protect the group and work out the best deal for the group, whether it's concerning a record deal, or marketing T-shirts, or going after money that's owed to the group. Most groups don't need an attorney until they reach a certain level of professionalism, usually it's when they are offered their first record company contract. There is a special class of lawyers that only deal with the music industry, and they specialize in record contracts and copyright problems. Accountants are the final link in the band's behind the scenes support group. Accountants keep track of the money going in and out, suggest investments that have long-term investment potential, and keep the group straight with the IRS. A bad accountant can cost you millions (Willie Nelson wound up owing about 8 million dollars), while a good accountant can help you put away money for the future. Two other link (which I didn't even include in the original heading) are the publisher of the group's music and a performance rights agency. The publisher is responsible for making sure the record company is paying the correct amount of royalties, licensing the music for other artists to perform, publishing sheet music and song books, and promoting the songs to other groups. The performance rights agency makes sure that royalties are collected from radio, TV, clubs, and juke boxes, whenever one of your songs is played. Some of the most well known agencies are: BMI, ASCAP, and SESAC. That's it for this month. Next month, I'll be devoting the column to finding the best deals on equipment and how to wheel and make deals to get the lowest possible price on the equipment you want. Return to the top of the page Jun 1997: Where To Find Equipment Cheap This month, I'm be devoting the column to finding the best deals on used equipment and how to wheel and deal to get the lowest possible price on the equipment you want. Before you start, make sure you know the current value of the equipment you're looking for. Since you have access to the Internet, you can find used equipment price lists in several places, showing the most current asking prices. Try going to the Neil Bradley used prices list. Here are some major sources for finding cheap equipment:
Return to the top of the page July 1997: CD Or Not CD, That Is Still The Question Should you make cassettes demos or go right to CDs? There's no easy answer to that question as we discussed last year, so that's what we're going to talk about this month, in a little more detail. CDs are best, but they're not cheap unless you buy 1,000 or more. If you buy 1,000 cassettes, they'd be cheaper, but either way, it's a problem. Think about it - how long would it take your band to sell 1,000 cassettes, or 1,000 CDs, for that matter? Unless you're a major Dallas band, it's gonna take quite a while. The major problems with having your own CDs are the hidden costs, the time involved, and who's gonna take responsibility for following up on all the details? The simplest CD package with B/W graphics can run up to about $1,500, and a full color package will run about $2,000, usually more!! Forget what the ads in the back of Guitar Player promise - they don't give you the whole story. Do you have your own "films" ready? You don't know what "films" are? Well, films are what they need to make printing plates and you'll pay about $200 to $300 for them. Oh, you have your artwork in your computer? Is it compatible with their computer? No? Well, they'll have to reset it - for a price. Need a bar code before your record store will take them? About $100 more. Gonna do your own printing? How are you going to get it to the CD makers so it can be stuffed and shrink-wrapped? Who pays shipping? Who pays sales tax? Do you have a resale number? Is your DAT or CDR fully mastered? Not just from the studio, but from a mastering house that can increase the apparent level by 10 dB or more? Figure on $150 to $500 there. It may sound simple at first, but pressing your own Cds can be a major headache - especially if you're having it done halfway across the country, to "save money". You're better off getting a hundred or so cassette made, then using the money from sales to buy more. Like you're not going to give away any of them, right? Sure, you will, but that's a "BIG" mistake. Most bands are too eager to "give away" their tapes to friends and family. You should sell most or "all" of the first batch of tapes, then give away some of the second batch. Get everybody in the band to autograph the first 50 or 100 tapes and sell them for 10 bucks each, as a collector's item. Sell them to your friends and family. If your friends want a tape, they can either buy one from the first batch, or get one free from the second batch. If you have just 50 tapes to start with (at about $2 each in cost) and you can SELL all of them, and that will pay for 250 MORE TAPES. You can afford to give away 50 of the tapes from this second batch, and still have 200 tapes to sell. If you sell the 200 remaining tapes for just $5 each, that brings in $1,000 and you can use "that" money to make some CDRs for airplay and to send out to record companies. With that kind of money in your pocket, you can drop a few bucks on fancy graphics and some color, which would be a lot more impressive than a cassette demo. Sell a few more cassettes using this technique, and you've paid for your next recording session, and maybe even the cost of a CD run. Most radio stations will play a CD or CDR, a few will play DATs and cassettes. You can make DAT copies of your master tape for 10 or 15 bucks. "One-Off" CDRs will cost you about 35 dollars for the first CDR and 15 to 25 dollars for additional CDRs if they're all done at the same time. It's worth it to have a few done for radio stations, reviews, and demos to record companies. Sending out CDs to record companies is not a hard and fast rule, but always call the record company first to find out what format they prefer or will accept. If they tell you that a cassette is OK, you've got it made. But make sure the cassette looks professional and that the whole package has a professional feel to it - good graphics, easy to read, anything that would make a record company executive want to know more about the band. Don't hype the band to a record company. Just tell them a little about the band - influences, places you've played, reviews, comments, etc. If you really are the next Toadies, or Pantera, let the record company tell you. They kind of resent being told things like that. Remember, record companies are NOT in the business of making records. They are in the business of making money. They make money by selling records. If you can convince them that you can make a lot of money for them, congratulations, you just got yourself a record deal. Return to the top of the page August 1997: Hanson and The Spice Girls - Are You So Different From Them? Maybe Not. Shocking headline for this month's column, huh? Well, it's not as shocking as it first sounds, and there be more similarities there then you first realize. And there are similarities between your group and Milli Vanilli, and the Monkees, and the Partridge Family. Can't see the connection? Read on and you will. Let's talk basics first. You're in this to get a recording contract, make money, become a star, and get your music played. Well that's pretty much the same goals as the groups listed above. "Wait a minute," you say, "we're different from them - they're 'fabricated groups' - put together strictly to make money - we have musical integrity. We have something important to say with our music." Really? Let's just see if that's true. You and your group aren't in it to make money, huh? You only play free gigs, right? You don't want a recording contract because you're above being "commercial", true? Being a star would suck big time, right? And your music is never tailored for the audience - you don't give a damn about the audience's reaction, right? If the audience doesn't like a song, you aren't gonna change it just to please them, are you? Are all the members in your group the original members? You don't have a new drummer or a new guitar player or a new bass player or a new lead singer? If you added just one new member, you're a 'fabricated group' - the group already had a direction and a specific idea about the music and you've added someone that can further that goal. Musical integrity? Your band has never done a cover song or copied a riff from another band or record? Hah, hah, right, your band has no musical influences - let's move on. Peter, Paul, and Mary were a 'fabricated group' - put together by their manager, Albert Grossman, about 30 years ago, to create a group like the Kingston Trio. They were in it for the money, and it worked. They also happened to be pretty damn good. The Stones and Beatles spawned hundreds of wannabe 'fabricated groups', trying to cash in on their popularity. The Monkees were the TV version, the "Prefab Four". But Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork were well respected musicians in L.A. before they were in the Monkees, and even Stephen Stills (of Buffalo Springfield, and Crosby, Stills, and Nash) tried out for the Monkees. The big difference (maybe the only difference between you and them) is that they got the opportunity, a chance at stardom, while your time hasn't come yet. Don't begrudge them their success. Hey, if they can make it, it should be even easier for you. But it won't happen for you if you're Pantera wannabes. Find your own niche in the music world and start beating down some record company doors. You don't have to like Hanson or the Spice Girls' music to appreciate that they're good at what they do. Some smart record executive saw a potential for money and that's the bottom line. Record companies don't dictate what's popular (even though they try). No matter how much hype, in the end, it's the buying public that decides what sells and what doesn't. If enough people like your music, you're in. Musicians are the poets of the 90s - they comment on what was, what is, and what could be. If your music touches a nerve in a lot of people, you will succeed. Cadillac (the car company) ran an ad a very long time ago that said, "That which deserves to succeed, will succeed". It's still true today, and I wish you all success. Return to the top of the page September 1997: Mastering - The Final Step. So, you just finished you first demo or CD. That's great, congratulations, I'm sure it's killer, but did you get it mastered as well? What is mastering, and why do you need it? Ah, grasshopper, that will require patience. Let me try and explain. Every song you recorded has peaks and dips in the music. Stuff that's loud and soft. When your drummer hits a cymbal, it registers as a very loud peak for just a split second. Most meters can't even read those peaks, they go by so past. For analog tape it's usually not a problem, it's very forgiving, but digital recording (and digital in general) is a new set of rules. Digital recording is like a brick wall - you can record up to 0 dB and that's it!!! You cannot record louder than 0 dB in digital. If you try to exceed 0 dB, things get very ugly very quickly. If your music has a wide dynamic range (lots of peaks and dips in the music), the average level of the music will be about 14 to 20 dB below the peak levels. That's not very good if you're putting your music on a cassette, or trying to get airplay. Cassettes will show up noise during the softer sections - and radio stations want the music to hit the listeners in their faces. So if the peaks are already sitting at 0 dB, how do you make it louder, without adding distortion? That's where mastering comes in. A good mastering engineer can take your finished stereo two-track recording and squeeze another 10 dB out of it, without drastically changing the sound. That's a 10 time increase in levels!!! He (or she) can bring up the average level, fatten the sound, make your music more punchy, and make it sound good on anything from a boombox to a $50,000 system. First, the mastering engineer, using very sophisticated digital software programs, examines all the peaks in your song. Some of the cymbal peaks happen so quickly that your ear doesn't really hear them, so those peaks are reduced (by hand) to match some of the lower peaks. The channels are then "normalized" to bring them back up to 0 dB, resulting in a 3 to 5 dB increase in volume. Any added noise at the start or the end of the track is "digitally" muted. Next, the music is compressed very gently, using a special compressor that looks ahead for peaks and calculates what has to be done by the time it gets there. In the analog days, and many records are still mastered in analog, a special "leveling" compressor is used to squeeze the signal a little more, reducing peaks and increasing the loudness of the soft parts. This step can raise the level another 4 to 5 dB and really fatten up the music. These special compressors start at around $6,000 to $10,000 - and you won't see them at most recording studios, either. Next the mastering engineer listens very carefully to your music to make sure the tonal balance is still there, and adds or subtracts some bass, mid-range, or treble as needed. This step is very crucial. The mastering studio must have extremely accurate speakers in a room that is acoustically neutral, so he/she won't boost or cut frequencies because of false room readings. You get the added benefit of an objective set of ears and they know what the radio stations and record companies want to hear. What does mastering cost? Anywhere from about $300 to many thousands of dollars. Is it worth it? Absolutely! Are there good and bad mastering engineers out there? You betcha!! How do you know which is which? Ask them to play some before and after samples of their work. In today's competitive music market, you want as much going for you as you can get - and mastering is one of your most important tools. If your recording isn't mastered, it could cost you a recording contract, and you'd never even know it. Budget in some money for mastering - it's a smart investment. Return to the top of the page October 1997: Going For The Big One - Getting Signed. There are a lot of groups in Dallas that think they have all the answers (and I'm not talking about just Metal bands). Well, I have news for you - the music industry has changed in the last few years. You can't go to a record company and ask, "What are you going to do for me?" The record companies are now asking that question to bands. There are at least a thousand bands in the Metroplex trying to get a recording contract with a major label (that includes country, pop, rap, singer/songwriters, etc.). How many do you think are going to make it by this time next year? One? Five? Ten? The answer is probably one or two, maybe five, certainly not ten. If you've been a faithful reader of this column, you'll remember a few months back, I pointed out what record companies are looking for these days. For you new readers, here's the list again, in exact order of importance to a label: 1.) Established stars with a track record (Janet Jackson, etc.) 2.) Celebrities that have a curiosity factor built in (Kato Kaitlen, Marcia Clark, etc.) 3.) Acts on smaller labels that have a national or regional hit 4.) Small label groups with a really big following 5.) Local groups with a big following and national touring 6.) Others. Now, which category does your group fit into? Think I'm full of shit? Think about this - a major label is considering your group when they hear that Smashing Pumpkins is shopping for a new label. Who do you think they'll choose, you? Guess again. I've said this so many times in the past, but it is the one thing, the only thing, to remember when you think about record companies: "Record companies are not in business to make records. They're in business to make money. They make money by making records". And they want all the guarantees they can get. You're probably not in the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th categories either. So, how do you move up to a more desirable category? Start by taking a look at your demo. How long are the songs? If you want airplay and record company interest, get them down to under 4 minutes (preferably 3 to 3½ minutes). Save the long shit for your live shows. Either digitally edit what you've got, or go back and re-cut your demo. Then, try to get signed with a local label that has some distribution. If you're in a band, build a following and try to get on a label - almost any label is better than no label. Even if the label is screwing you, it's better to be on a label. Why? Most legitimate record companies want a guaranteed hit from their artists, whether it's an established artist or a new artist. Singles sell albums, and albums pay the bills. If you've got a regional hit with an independent label, a big label is more interested in you than a group that just sends a demo tape. A regional hit with an independent label is one good way to get a major label's attention. Another is a good gimmick, something that sets you apart from other groups, like a girl playing bass (as in Smashing Pumpkins). Make yourselves and your music different than everybody else. Kiss made a fortune being very different from other bands, so is Marilyn Manson. Make sure your group is leading the way, don't follow. Make people say, "now that's really different." Make your shows something the audience will remember for a long time. Be ready if Fame comes knocking; Does your group have a good picture, a well written bio, and a really good demo tape? What if a record executive walked up to you after a gig and said, "I'm interested, give me a press kit". Do you have one? Do you carry demo tapes and pictures with you everywhere you go? Return to the top of the page November 1997: Women In Music - They're Not Just For Vocals Anymore. OK, Rock is still pretty much a guy's world, at least on stage, but that's been changing over the years. Biggest inroads have been in bassplayers, with D'Arcy of Smashing Pumpkins, but the first great female bass player was Carol Kaye, part of the famous "L.A. Wrecking Crew", a group of L.A. studio musicians that made almost all of the hits during the 60s and 70s. She was the one that introduced the Fender bass to pop music, and she was/is one of the best. Another girl (named Carol Hunter) was Neil Diamond's lead guitar player for years. And Karen Carpenter (of the Carpenters) was a kick ass drummer, who could smoke a lot of her male counterparts. Mary Ford (of Les Paul and Mary Ford) fame, could hold her own with some great lead guitar players. On the last Don Henly tour, I saw an amazing girl bass player, and she was good, I mean, she was "damn good". I know it's still fashionable in country to have the girl singer play rhythm guitar, but let me tell you I've heard some great girl steel players over the years. And the viola sound on the Doobie Brothers "Black Waters"? That's Novi, about 5 feet of violin/viola playing genius. Here in the Metroplex, we've got some killer female players, but some groups are just too into the macho stuff, I guess. But give a listen to some of the North Texas women the next time you audition for a new member - they're not just for vocals anymore. Return to the top of the page December 1997/January 1998: Reflections on 3 Years of Writing Harder Beat Columns. I can't believe I've been doing this for almost 3 years now. Just two more years and I'll make it to the 21st century. I hope I live that long. All my old friends seem to be dropping like flies (Henry Vestine, guitar player for Canned Heat, 8 years younger, and John Denver, who I used to play bass for, 5 years younger). I didn't know what to write this month, so I went back over my old columns, and one stuck out as being important to remember. I've seen a lot of groups break up, reform, then break up again. I've heard some great groups fall by the wayside because of arguments. And I thought this might be a good time to repeat the column: Being A Professional - Some Questions To Ask Yourself. When you decided to be a rock musician, you made a choice to enter a profession, whether you're doing it for fun, as a hobby, or to hopefully make money at it and go on to stardom, million-selling albums, and screaming fans all over the world. If you're doing it for fun or as a hobby, enjoy yourself - it's great fun. If you're in it because you want to be a rock and roll star, this column is about the cost of joining the profession. How much is all that worth to you? Let's find out. The first price you pay is the time you spend learning to play your instrument. How much time are you willing to spend to get really good? How much more time to get really great? Are you willing to put in the kind of time that Andy Timmons puts in to practicing? Are you good enough to get on stage with someone like Andy and jam at that level of musicianship? The next cost in becoming a professional is the equipment. How much of your income are you willing to spend on getting the best equipment for your sound? Your needs may be as modest as a beat-up Ibenez through a Crate, or you might need a Jackson Randy Rhodes into a Marshall Anniversary stack and a wall of processors. Does your drumming demand that you get a DW 8-piece set with racks of custom Zildijin cymbals? How much are you willing to spend NOW to get the sound you need? Next, comes your involvement with other people, the band. How much rehearsal time are you willing to put in? Are you just going to show up and play, or really get involved in where the band is headed? Are you 100% committed to the band's success? Are you contributing new songs? Are you making every effort possible to get along with every other member of the group or are you just telling everybody how bad so and so is, and how you want to find a "real" group? If the group is going to sound good, the group might have to share in the purchase of a P.A. system. Maybe you're thinking, "Hey, I'm not gonna be with this group much longer anyway, so why should I contribute a whole bunch of money for a PA?" Are you going to tell the group you're thinking of leaving or are you just going to stall till you find a better group and then simply quit? If the group decides to do a demo tape, are you going to show up and play to make the band sound great, or are you planning to use the tape to show off what YOU can do? When you get gigs, are you there on time, are you ready to play, without an attitude? Did you tell everybody about where you're playing and make them promise to show up? Or is that somebody else's job? While you're waiting to go on, are you dising the other bands? These are questions that have to be answered if you're going to be a professional. Your answers aren't important to me. They should be important to you. Return to the top of the page February 1998: Bits And Pieces - Some Observations. This year, there's a lot of change in the air. At Indian Trail, we're finally going to take the plunge and go 24 track. Even as I sit here writing this, we are in the process of switching over to 24 track and moving our old multi-track masters to the new format. That means we have to look at every multi-track recording we did and decide if it's worth transfering. In most cases, it's not worth transfering, and that disturbs me. After really listening to some of the old things we've done, a few glaring problems keep coming up over and over. The first problem is song length - the songs are too damn long. Groups seem to think that record companies and radio stations love long intros - they don't. What may work great onstage to set up a groove, doesn't work on record, for airplay, or impressing a record company. Record companies buy singers and songs. It's that simple. They don't care about fancy instrumentals or how accurately you can sound like a group that's already out there. They want to hear a commercial song, by a singer that can sell lots of records. Long songs scare the hell out of radio stations and record companies. If you don't believe me about buying singers and songs, look at Kiss, Nirvana, the Doors, and the Rolling Stones. Kiss dumped their drummer and went on. The Stones lost a guitar player and went on. Nirvana and the Doors lost their lead singer and songwriter - end of story. Moral - don't let the group ego get in the way of getting a contract - not every song needs a sixteen bar instrumental solo or a 3 minute buildup to the lyrics. Save that stuff for clubs. The second most often encountered problem is a lack of preparation. That one puzzles me the most. Why come into a studio if you're not ready. Some groups walk in without a clue as to how they're going to start or end a song, or what the solo is going to be. I guess they think the process of recording will inspire them - wrong!!! Work these things out before you walk into the studio. Practice the songs you're going to record before you hit the studio. And that's where you work out the starts, the ending, the solos, and the song lengths - not in the studio. Problem number three is expectations about what you'll get, and what you want it for. Most groups think that one recording can do everything; get them jobs, get a recording contract, get airplay, and give them something they can sell at clubs. It can sometimes - with proper planning, but that's the problem - most groups don't plan. A recording to get jobs can be very inexpensive - just go in and record a couple of minutes of about 5 songs and make a five minute booking tape that gives a club owner a good idea of the group's sound. No big deal. For record companies (and airplay), a three song, carefully polished and mastered demo (with 3 SHORT songs) will usually do the trick. No fancy graphics, no imprinted cassettes or CDs, just your 3 best songs. If you want something to sell at gigs, that's the 5 to 12 song package with a mix of short and long songs, the fancy artwork, and all the bells and whistles. But make sure you can sell them first before you run off a thousand copies. I've seen groups fold right after the CD came out - and one person in the group winds up with a thousand copies of a CD, by a group that doesn't exist any more. Finally, find someone that's been there, and listen to them. They can save you time and hundreds of dollars. They're called producers. They've seen all the mistakes that new groups make and can help you avoid the mistakes. But not just anybody that calls themself a producer. Make sure they care about, and understand your music. If you can't find a producer, ask the engineer. If that doesn't work, then you've gotta listen to your stuff critically. Do you start getting bored with a song halfway thru it? It's probably too long - cut it in half. Does the solo suck? Drop the solo!!! Is the song still too long?? Drop some choruses. Next month, we'll talk about scams and ripoffs, and people who are out to make a buck on your music. Return to the top of the page March 1998: Scams And Ripoffs This month, we're talking about scams and ripoffs and people who are out to make a buck on your music. Ocassionally (even here in Texas), you'll find a "big producer-type" who will try to solicit your band to record with him. These people usually have a tie-in with a convincing sounding company, but if they're associated with a legitimate label, why would they be requesting money from you? If it ever happens to you, stop and ask yourself, why doesn't the company he supposedly represents come up with the money to "record you properly"? Or why doesn't he use or suggest a good local studio.? Even clubs are not immune to ripoff artists. Someone contacted a Dallas club wanting $1000 as a "qualification fee" to get some national acts into the club. It's the same kinda deal these people represent themselves as having important connections, but in reality, they're looking to collect money for something that isn't worth very much to begin with. In Los Angeles, the rock music scene is so damned overcrowded, the bands have to "pay to play" in L.A. - there are now so many bands wanting to showcase in clubs, the L.A. clubs are charging bands to let them play. At least, that hasn't happened here - yet!! Play for free in Nashville is more common, again, because they have so many groups there wanting to use a club as a showcase. You pretty much have to play for free there now, or not play there at all. Nashville is not as bad as L.A. yet, but it's getting there. Compilation Cds are another way of people getting your money, but there are some ligitimate compilations out there. Here's how to tell them apart. If it's a local CD compilation, you will know who the other people on the CD are, and what's gonna be done with it. At worst, you'll spend a little money, but have some Cds out of the deal that you can use to showcase your group. And it's an inexpensive way for a few bands to share the cost of the recording sessions, and the cost of manufacturing the CD. The compilation Cds to watch out for are the ones that imply their CD is going to a lot of radio stations and record companies. And they want anywhere from $500 to $2,500 from your band for this glorious opportunity. They won't tell you what record companies, which radio stations, or even who else is gonna be on this disc. Here's a clue - ever heard any radio stations around here (and Dallas is a major music market) play any compilation Cds? And record companies just trash those kinds of compilation CDs. So what's the answer? You must learn to ask just what the group is getting for their money? Who have they done this for before? What were the results? Can you get some names and phone numbers to verify this for yourself? Do they have samples of previous discs they've done? What are their credentials? Along this same line of thinking, there are studios out there that promise you low rates or blocks of time, but they don't tell you about all the hidden charges, or their qualifications. It's not a scam exactly, just a way to lure you in with promises of inexpensive recording sessions (that seem to keep going up in add-on expenses. Again, You have to to ask just what the group is getting for their money? Who have they done this for before? What were the results? Do they have samples of previous discs they've done? What equipment do they have? Do you get the feeling that they know how to use it? Is the engineer that did what you're hearing still there? Do they seem interested in your music? It's your money - spend it wisely. Return to the top of the page April, 1998: Odds and Ends - Questions That Keep Coming Up There are some questions I get from groups on a regular basis, so I thought I'd answer them all at once here. Here are the questions and my answers (in no particular order): Q: Do I have to get permission to use another person's song or a sample from a movie? A: Technically, yes. You must get a "mechanical license" from the Harry Fox Agency in New York, and you agree to pay the publisher of the music about 8 cents per copy of your version, or of the song that uses the sample. But most groups that decide to put out a self made CD probably get away with not paying because the CD really never sells, or the group disbands. By the way, the royalty is due on all albums sold OR given away, even as promo copies. Q: Another group is using our name. What can we do about it?? A: Probably nothing much unless you have registered your name in the county, and/or had it trademarked by the US Tademark office. Even then, it's "iffy", and fighting to retain the name can be costly. A trademark won't help if another group makes "better use" of the name. If they're on a big label, and you're a local group, I suggest you look for a new name. It all boils done to a question of "can my lawyer beat up your lawyer?". Either way, you lose - the lawyers win. Q: Why does it take some big groups 9 months to make an album? A: Record companies have a lot of money invested in an artist. Even though the group will eventually pay for it (if the album is successful), the initial recording money comes from the record company. When they invest that much money, they want it to be a guaranteed smash hit, so they use the best studios, the best producers, and the best material they can find. Getting 10 or 12 perfect takes and finding the best songs isn't easy - it takes time. Kinda like the movie "Titanic" - I heard it was the most expensive movie ever made. Was it worth the money? You bet - the studio is happy as hell. Q: Last time my band went into the studio to record, our music sounded great in the studio, but shitty on everything else. Why? A: Studios, and their equipment, all have a unique sound. Some studios may have great sound in their room, but it's because they are compensating in their recordings for bad studio design. When you take the CD somewhere else, the problems appear. In the business, we say the mix "doesn't translate well". Always test your final mixes against commercial releases to make sure the balance, level, and tone of your mix is similar. Q: During our mixdown session, everybody kept complaining that their part wasn't loud enough, or they couldn't hear themself very well. What can be done about it? A: This is usually part of "pre-production planning" before you go into the studio, but almost nobody does that anymore, so I'll just address what you can typically do during mixdown. First spread out the guitars to leave a hole for your singer. Trim a little off the low frequencies and add a little treble to make the bass stand out more. If you've "layered" the guitars, try leaving some of the layers out to help eliminate some mud. Watch for guitars that are conflicting with the lyrics - make the lead guitar take turns with the singer for the center space. Q: How come we can play a song perfectly in practice or at a gig, but it sounds shitty in the studio? A: Music consists of two parts: technical perfection, and heart. Most groups concentrate on technical perfection when they get into the studio, and they sometimes lose sight of the "feel" or "groove". When that happens, it's time to take a break, move on to another song, or call it a night. By the way, that's an important function of a "producer" - to insure the "feel" is there. Look at Joe Cocker's "You Are So Beautiful To Me", where his voice cracks on the high note. Someone outside the band said "that's it!!". Joe Cocker wanted to redo the part, but someone else saw the magic in it and convinced him to let it go like that. Q: How can I get the same sound as "________" on my demo? A: Have the engineer listen to a CD that shows off that sound and try to match it. It may require you to do things differently than the way you normally play, or you might have to use different equipment. For drummers, check out the studio's drum set - it's usually tuned correctly and the engineer knows it better than your set. For guitar players, try different amps, stomp boxes, or amp simulators. For bass players, try going direct or thru a preamp. Q: Why isn't our CD/tape as loud as a commercial release? You have to turn the volume way up on our demo to match. A: It's called "mastering" and it's an important step a lot of studios and groups leave out. Having your CD or tape mastered to match standard levels and last minute trimming is a critical final process. It's crucial if you're looking for airplay. Some studios will do mastering for around $20 to $35 per hour and it's money well spent. Find out if the studio has mastering capabilities before you start, and how much will that add to the bill. Q: How can I get a record contract? A: Keep your songs short and radio friendly is the first way. Get lucky is another way. Have a friend in the business is yet another way. Always carry a promo pack and a demo with you where ever you go. Try to build a following. Try to be different. Try to be professional. Be easy to contact. Make sure your name and phone number is on anything you hand out. Return to the top of the page May 1998: Spring Cleaning - Now's The Time To Do Some Upgrading. Still playing with the same shitty equipment? Now's the time to think about upgrading your stuff. You don't need to spend a lot of money to make a big improvement in your sound. Here are ten things for everybody to think about: First, when is the last time you had your guitar or bass checked by a good guitar technician? Is the neck still straight? Is the action fast and smooth? Any string buzz? How's the intonation? Are the pickups adjusted to the right height for your playing style? Any bad pots, noisy jacks, or flaky switches that need replacing in your instrument or amplifier? When's the last time you had the tubes and the amp bias checked? Before you consider buying a new instrument or amplifier, check to make sure these problems are fixed - you might wanna keep your instrument or amplifier after it's had a tuneup. Drummers, have you really tried some of the new heads that are out there? There have been some radical changes in head design lately. Are your drums tuned for maximum output? Do you know how to tune your drums for maximum output? Don't be surprised, but a lot of drummers don't know how to do it either. Second, think about changing out your guitar or bass pickups. Go for hotter pickups, or active pickups. It's like getting a whole new bass or guitar. If you're happy with the way the instrument feels, try some new pickups instead of a new instrument first. Drummers, check out some of the new snares, pedals, and cymbals as possible replacements for some of the old stuff. But have you first tried really cleaning your cymbals? Third, check out some of the new effect pedals, or consider going to a rack-type amplifier system. Check out replacing your speakers or having them reconed. Bass players, are you lusting after a 5 string bass? Try replacing your strings with a B-E-A-D set of strings instead of E-A-D-G set, and see how it feels for a while. Drummers, are you cracking your cymbals? Try going to wood tips. Do you have the plastic inserts on all your cymbal stands, so that the center of the cymbal stays even, and doesn't wear on one side? Here's a reality check - how much duct tape do you have on your drum set? A lot? Then you need some work on it. Fourth, if you're really ready to buy, consider whether service on the new stuff is really important to you. If you know what you want, and service isn't important, shop for the best price and the biggest selection. If you're buying a more delicate, high dollar custom instrument, consider paying a little more and going to a store that has a great service center and knowledgable technicians. Fifth, remember that most drums, basses, and guitars are made out of wood - and no two pieces of wood are exactly alike. That means there are going to be differences in the sound, feel, sustain, and tone between ANY two instruments - even "identical models". It has to look good, but use your ears and pick out the instrument that sounds best. Sometimes a medium price instrument will smoke the top of the line model. Use your ears, not your wallet. Sixth, know your prices before you walk into a store. Memorize the list prices and the best prices you've seen for several different models you may be considering. Don't be afraid to wheel and deal for the best possible price. If you're near a store with a large selections, go there first and actually try the instruments you're considering buying. Just because Stevie Vai or Michael Anthony or Neal Pert plays one, doesn't mean it's best for your playing too. Seventh, one thing leads to another. If you buy a new instrument, what else will you need to go with it? Consider how much extra it will cost for anything else you may need and allow enough money for it. Will the new instruments need new cases? Will your 6 string tuner cover the range of your new 7 string guitar? Will your old amp handle the new pickups? Are you gonna need some extra time to learn all about your new toys? Eighth, do you trust the people you're buying your new stuff from? Will they stand behind it if it goes bad or needs repair work? Who does the work? Are they local? Will they give you a loaner while yours is being fixed? These are questions you should have answers to before you plunk down your cash. Ninth, have realistic expectations about what the new equipment will really do for you. A lot of people will buy something they think they need or want, only to discover it really isn't that much better than what they already had. Make sure you really need it. Tenth, and finally, is there something else you can do that will make a bigger improvement in your sound? This is the really cold part - will firing your bass player (or guitar player, or drummer, or lead singer) and getting someone, else make a bigger improvement in your sound? If you're really serious about your equipment and making it in the music business, this is a question you have to ask on a regular basis. Can somebody else do a better job? Return to the top of the page June 1998: School's Out - Let's Go Record Something! Okay, May is over and it's time to get serious about the band. Find a studio and record a demo to get gigs, or to send to record companies, or even to do that CD you've been promising everybody. Whatever the reason, now is the time to do it, but how to begin? First, decide on what you want to do with the finished recording. Is it to get gigs? A simple 5 minute club demo tape will do that. You want about 45 seconds of the best part of about 5 different songs, strung together, but with fade ins/outs between each song. This is a quicky recording session, but the final product should sound as really good as possible. Make sure the tape is mastered and hot!! Remember this is what you'll be judged on by club owners. This is the least expensive option. You can use a smaller studio and the whole thing should be around $150 to $300. Or perhaps you want a demo to send to record companies? For that, you want at least a 3 song demo CD, fully produced and mastered, and sounding as good as anything you'll hear on the radio. Is all that really necessary to get a record contract? Yes it is. The music business is getting tougher and tougher. Nowadays, record companies want more than just "potential" - they want "proof". Make sure your CD really stands out from the hundreds of demos they get each week. That can cost money. Figure on spending from around $1,000 to as high as $10,000 or more. Can't you just make one CD to sell at gigs, and still use it for all of these other things as well? Yes, you can, but it's harder. You'll need at least 5 (or more) songs, some serious planning, and possibly some outside help. How good you are, how many songs (and the final quality you want) will determine the final cost. The recording and mastering part can cost anywhere between $1,000 and $6,000. Why such a big difference in the numbers for the last two options? Because a lot of the money spent will depend on a lot of other factors, such as how prepared the group is, the quality of the studio you use, the amount of extra processing necessary (samples, overdubs, outside players), the image you want to project, the experience of the members of the group, and the final level of quality that is acceptable to the group. That's why serious planning and possibly some outside help is important. Unless, of course, you like throwing away money (in which case, make out a check for around $2,000, made payable to: Harvey Gerst, Route 4, Box 639G Sanger, TX 76266, and make sure it's plainly marked "GIFT" in large letters.) Okay, assuming you didn't make out that check, let's see what we can do to conserve your money and get you the most bang for your recording buck. First thing to do is to figure out how many tracks you really need to record your group. They tend to add up real fast. Always figure on having at least 4 more tracks available than you really need.If the studio is really good, they can do on the spot submixes to conserve tracks, but then you're stuck with whatever they've done at mixdown time. Most 5 or 6 piece drum sets will use up around 8 tracks. If your drummer has a really big set (double kick, lotsa toms, and cymbals), this can get as big as 11 or 12 tracks. Rhythm guitar usually takes up 2 more tracks. Lead guitars can take up another 2 tracks. Bass usually takes a single track. Vocals, figure on one track for the main vocal. Harmonies can use up 3 or 4 more tracks. Keyboards will take another track or two. So, if you just have two guitars, bass, drums, and a lead singer, you might be able to get by in a good 16 track studio, and still have a couple of tracks left over for harmony. Any more than that (extra percussion, keyboards, guest players, dense harmonies, and samples) and you're looking at a 24 track studio. The maximum number of needed tracks for one song is the minimum number of tracks the studio has to have. If one song takes 17 tracks, you really need to be in a 24 track studio. After you've figured out how many tracks you need, it's time to shop for a studio. You'll need the following stuff: Some CDs of groups you like (or are similar to your sound), a list of studios in the price range you've decided on, a worktape of your group, and a small notebook. Major price differences exist between studios depending on the following factors: equipment, experience, reputation, and location. Before you start on your shopping adventure, check with some of the local groups and find out if there is any studio they recommend, or even more important, is there any studio they would avoid? A bad studio can make your recording experience a nightmare. If they liked a particular studio, what was it about the studio they really liked? The sound? The atmosphere?, The engineer? The convenience? Their reasons may not be the reasons that are important to you, so just don't take a recomendation without finding out why they liked it. Make an appointment to visit the studio. Check out the following things: Do they seem familiar with their equipment? Are they easy to talk to? Is the place comfortable or intimidating? Do they even have a clue about the type of music you're doing? Do they have drums? Are you restricted to using their set? If you require additional stuff, do they have it available (gongs, percussion, different snares, guitars, other amps, etc.). How far ahead are they booked? A sure sign that a studio is "hot" is a long waiting list. But do they charge extra for weekends? Are there any other charges or do they have a flat rate? Figure about 1½ hours of studio time for every minute of recorded music. Do they charge for drum setup? How much time do they allow for setup and getting the right sound? Do they have a block rate? Do they have a flat rate? How much time do they give you for mixdown, and at what rate? How much do they charge for the master tapes? How much are cassette copies if you need them? Can they burn the master CD in house? How much is it? Does it include mastering? I'll finish up the rest of this article next month. For those of you with Internet access, I have some tips on this subject, along with a typical session at: http://www.ITRstudio.com. Return to the top of the page July 1998: Let's Go Record Something! - Part II Last month, we talked about choosing a studio and things to look for when you're trying to decide on a studio. This month, we're gonna talk about the stuff that will save you money and time when you're in the studio - any studio. Every studio knows these problems and dreads them when they occur, because they waste time and kill the excitement. EQUIPMENT: Believe it or not, some of the biggest guitar sounds ever recorded were done thru little 5 to 15 watt amplifiers, not Marshall stacks. When the mic is only one inch from the speaker, you really don't need 100 watts and 2 stacks going full blast. Some of the little speaker emulators like the SansAmp or some of the multi-effect pedals really work great in getting the sound you want, without hiss, noise, or hum. The same thing hold true for bass and keyboards - they can go direct to the board. or thru a special preamp, like the Ampeg SVT Pro II. You get a far cleaner less muddy mix by going direct. But if the sound you want isn't happening, then use your amp, by all means. By the way, how are your guitar cords? Are they old? Replace them. Get high grade, heavy duty guitar cords (without the molded ends). Are the pots and switches on your guitar noisy? Replace or clean them. Put new strings on several days before the session and let them settle in. Replace batteries in anything that uses batteries. SETUP AND TUNING: This is a source of frustration for every engineer I know. You get a perfect take, only to find it's ruined, because the guitar slipped out of tune, or the bass went to the high notes and they were sharp or flat. Gibson pegs are notorious for slipping. If you find yourself always having to retune after a song, put on some Grover or Shaller pegs. Fenders have bridge problems. Make sure the guitar is intonated correctly before you walk into the studio. Take care of buzzing strings and bad frets. Same thing with basses. Drummers, are your drum heads new, and really tuned correctly? Make sure they're tuned for maximum resonance and tuned correctly for each drum. Listen for ringing and buzzing hardware. CLean your cymbals, and oil, or replace, your pedal. PREPARATION: Another source of frustration for engineers. Does everybody in the group know how the song starts and ends? How long is the solo? Does the guitar player know exactly what he's gonna play for the solo, or is he hoping for devine intervention in the studio? A recording studio at $50 or $60 an hour is not a rehearsal hall. Work out the solos BEFORE you go to the studio. Make sure everybody in the group knows the chords to the song. Sounds like a stupid thing to say, doesn't it? If you hang around the studios, you'd be amazed at how often it happens - somebody in the group decided to change an A major to an A minor and didn't bother to tell the rest of the group. Or you tried it both ways when you were learning the song and nobody ever made a final decision on the right chord. It was never a problem on stage cuz you were so far apart, you couldn't hear the clash. In the studio, it really makes the group look bad when they stand around yelling at each other about the right chord. TEMPO: Let's talk speeding up. (Nobody ever slows down.) A "little" speed up ain't always bad - it can add a bit of excitement, but that's not what I mean. You know exactly what I'm talking about - I'm talking about speeding up so much that the drummer can't do fills, the singer can't get the words out, and everybody's complaining it's "too damn fast". Practice with a metronome a few times, or invest in a BEATBUG for the drummer. Getting a groove going with a metronome is hard at first, but it can be done. In general, the drums should be on the beat and the bass "slightly" pushing the beat. Get used to feeling the groove and searching for the pocket - when you settle in, you'll know it. ATTITUDE: Shitty attitudes just get everybody pissed off. You aren't God's gift to music yet, so settle down and lose the attitude. Unless you've got thousands of fans waiting anxiously for your new album, you don't have a right to have an attitude. As a point of interest, people like Jimi Hendrix were all business in the studio - no gyrations, no humping guitars, and no goofing off between songs. Same thing with Clapton, and Mike Bloomfield, and Albert King - they're an engineer's dream. MISC: Studios are in business for several reasons. First, they like to make money, but a lot of them are in it because they love music. They don't like groups showing up late for sessions, or not showing up at all. If you don't show up (and don't call well in advance), chances are you won't get back in that studio again. And you may not be welcome in other studios either, since studio owners do talk to each other, and word can travel quickly. How long would your drummer last in the group if the gig started at 9pm and he showed up at 11pm? Or didn't bother to show up at all? A studio is like a group, and a gig. If you've booked time in a studio, show up on time. If you can't make it, let them know as far ahead as possible. For those of you with Internet access, I have some further tips on saving time and money in the studio, along with a typical session at: http://www.ITRstudio.com. Return to the top of the page August, 98: The Business of Making Music I have news for you - the music industry has changed in the last few years. You can't go to a record company and ask, "What are you going to do for me?" The record companies are now asking that question to bands. There are at least a thousand bands in the Metroplex trying to get a recording contract with a major label (that includes country, pop, rap, singers, song writers, etc.). How many do you think are going to make it by the end of this year? One? Five? Ten? The answers is probably one or two, maybe five, certainly not ten. If you've been a faithful reader of this column, you'll remember a few months back, I pointed out what record companies are looking for these days. For you new readers, here's the list again, in exact order of importance to a label: 1.) Established stars with a track record (Janet Jackson, etc.), 2.) Celebrities that have a curiosity factor built in (Lucy Lawless, Kevin Sorbo, etc.), 3.) Acts on smaller labels that have a national or regional hit, 4.) Small label groups with a really big following, 5.) Local groups with a big following and national touring, 6.) All Others. Now, which category does your group fit into? Think about it - a major label is considering your group when they hear that Smashing Pumpkins is shopping for a new label. Who do you think they'll choose, you? Guess again. You're probably not in the 3rd or 4th category either. So, how do you move up to a more desirable category? Start by taking a look at your demo. How long are the songs? If you want airplay, get them down to under 4 minutes (preferably 3 to 3½ minutes). Save the long shit for your live shows. Either digitally edit what you've got, or go in and re-cut your demo. Then, try to get signed with a local label that has some distribution. If you're in a band, build a following and try to get on a label - almost any label is better than no label. Even if the label is screwing you, it's better to be on a label. Why? Most legitimate record companies want a guaranteed hit from their artists, whether it's an established artist or a new artist. Singles sell albums, and albums pay the bills. If you've got a regional hit with an independent label, a big label is more interested in you than a group that just sends a demo tape. A regional hit with an independent label is one good way to get a major label's attention. Another is a good gimmick, something that sets you apart from other groups, like a girl playing bass (as in Smashing Pumpkins). Make yourselves and your music different than everybody else. Kiss made a fortune being very different from other bands, so did Alice Cooper. Make sure your group is leading the way, don't follow. Make people say, "now that's really different." Make your shows something the audience will remember for a long time. Be ready if Fame comes knocking; Does your group have a good picture, a well written bio, and a really good demo tape? What if a record executive walked up to you after a gig and said, "I'm interested, give me a press kit". Do you have one? Do you carry demo tapes and pictures with you everywhere you go? Return to the top of the page September 1998: More Observations Since we've gone 24 track at ITR, we are now getting some pretty incredible groups into the studio, but the same glaring recording problems still keep coming up. This is an expanded version of my February 88 column and it's a lot more detailed. For any band even thinking about recording, this month's column is important to you, or should be. The most often encountered problem is a lack of preparation. That one puzzles me the most. Why go to a studio if you're not ready? Some groups walk in without a clue as to how they're going to start or end a song, or what the solo is going to be. I guess they think the process of recording will inspire them - wrong!!! Work these things out before you walk into the studio. It's called "pre-production" and it's standard practice with any major recording work. Your recording project could benefit from it, too. Practice the songs you're going to record before you hit the studio. And that's where you work out the intros, ending, the solos, and song lengths - not in the studio. Problem number two is expectations about what you'll get - and what you want it for. Most groups think that one recording can do everything; get them jobs, get a recording contract, get airplay, and give them something they can sell at clubs. It can sometimes - with proper planning, but that's the big problem - most groups just don't plan. A recording to get jobs can be very cheap to do - just record a couple of minutes of about 5 songs and make a five minute booking tape that gives a club owner a good idea of the group's sound. No big deal. For record companies, a three song, carefully polished and mastered demo (with 3 SHORT songs) will usually do the trick. No fancy graphics, no imprinted cassettes or fancy CD artwork, just your 3 best songs. If you want something to sell at gigs (and for local airplay), that's the 5 to 12 song package with a mix of short and long songs, the fancy artwork, and all the bells and whistles. But make sure you can sell them first before you run off a thousand copies. I've seen groups fold right after the CD came out - and one person in the group winds up with a thousand copies of a CD, by a group that doesn't exist any more. The third problem is song length - most songs are just too damn long (unless it's for sales at the gigs or to your fan base). Groups seem to think that record companies and radio stations love long intros - they don't. What may work great on stage (to set up a groove) doesn't work on record, for airplay, or impressing a record company. Record companies buy singers and songs. It's that simple. They don't care about fancy instrumentals or how accurately you can sound like a group that's already out there. They want to hear a commercial song, by a singer that can sell lots of records. If you don't believe me (about buying singers and songs), look at Kiss, Nirvana, the Doors, and the Rolling Stones. Kiss dumped their drummer and went on. The Stones lost a guitar player and went on. Nirvana and the Doors lost their lead singer - end of story. Long songs scare the hell out of radio stations and record companies. Moral - don't let the group ego get in the way of getting a contract - not every song needs a sixteen bar instrumental solo or a 3 minute buildup to the lyrics. Save that stuff for clubs and your CDs. Finally, find someone that's been there, and listen to them. They can save you time and hundreds of dollars. They're called producers. They've seen all the mistakes that new groups make and they can help you avoid those mistakes. But not just anybody that calls themself a producer. Make sure they care about, and understand your music. If you can't find a producer, ask the engineer for his opinion, but remember, you have the final say. If that doesn't work, then you've gotta listen to your stuff critically, or bring in a friend that knows your music, but who isn't biased. Do you start getting bored with a song halfway thru it? It's probably too long - cut it in half. Does the solo suck? Drop the solo!!! Is the song still too long?? Drop some choruses. OK, enough ranting about studio stuff. Next month's column is about a subject important to everyone - how to get good paying club gigs, and playing out more than once or twice a month. Return to the top of the page October 1998: Choosing A Guitar/Amplifier Combo. Strat, Les Paul, Charvel, Jackson, Ibanez, Fender, Gibson, Steinberger, Marshall, Peavey, Sovtec, Crate, PRS, B.C. Rich, Carvin - so many choices. How do you decide what's the right combination for you? Well, it isn't easy, but maybe this month's column can help sort things out a bit for you. What your guitar hero currently plays may or may not be of help. If you like the sounds they got, try to find out what they played on their first album, before they got their big endorsement deal and the custom model named after them. Chances are it was a stock guitar - and probably not the top of the line either. Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan didn't have custom guitars - just stock Strats to start out with. You can always add special pickups and outboard effects to get you closer to the "holy grail" of guitar sound you're searching for. If you absolutely have to get the genuine "signature" model to feel good about your playing, go for it, but remember, none of these people had a signature model when they made a name for themselves. Most stock guitars and pickup have a distinctive sound. Strats tend to have more top end bite, while Les Pauls have a warmer, fatter sound. The Strats, and their copies, along with the Ibanez guitars have a lighter body (which gives you more midrange), but they feedback a little stranger than something like a Les Paul, so it's harder to control (if you want to use feedback a lot). If you already have a guitr, you know what you don't like, but if you're ready for a better guitar, here are some things to think about: Try as many guitars as you can till you find the ones that feel right to you. Even identical guitars play and feel different. It's really important to get the right fit. If it feels perfect for you, it probably is. A large part of your sound is determined by the pickups, effect boxes, and the amp you choose. Pickups and effect pedals come in all flavors and you'll have to decide what's right for you. Don't be afraid to mix and match. Be careful thaat the amplifier you choose is also capable of playing clean as well as the distorted sound. Some amps are only good at one sound. Take yout time putting together a guitar rig. Check out guitars at every store and pawnshop in your area. Yeah, you want a good deal, but when you consider the guitar may be perfect for yo for many years to come, price is less of an issue. If price is a big concern, hit the pawnshops first. No matter where you buy your guitar, take it in to a good repairman and have him check the frets, intonation, and the action - even on a brand new guitar. You also have a choice of buying separate effect pedals or an all in one box. Each has it's advantages. Separate pedals cost less initially, but use more batteries and a lot of wires. All in one boxes may not have the exact sound you're looking for. Try everything you can get your hands on. A multi-effects box will save you money IF ithas exactly what yo're looking for. The amplifier is your other major expense, so really try as many as you can. Remember a 100 watt amplifier is NOT 3 times louder than a 30 watt amplifier. You'd need a 300 watt amplifier to get the sound twice as loud as a 30 watt amp. Don't be afraid to go with a 30 or 60 watt amp if the tone is right for you. Finally, don't be afraid to go with a quality, but lesser known, brand if the sound is right. You can often save a lot of money and who knows - if you hit big, they may want you to design a "signature" model for them. Hey, it could happen. Return to the top of the page November 1998: The San Francisco AES Show. When I'm not writing columns and hanging out on the Internet, I actually make my living in music, usually by recording bands from this area. But that wasn't always the case. In the 60s, I played guitar in several bands (mostly rhythm), did session work, and I was a record producer. In the 60's, 70s, and late 80s, I designed a lot of stuff for musical instrument manufacturers, ranging from loudspeakers to guitars and pianos. Last month, I went back to that world - I went to the AES show in San Francisco. There are too shows that happen every year that are important to you as a musician - the NAMM show, and the AES show. NAMM (National Association of Musical Merchants) is a trade show for musical instrument manufacturers and music dealers. That's where they trot out the new guitars, basses, keyboards, and amplifiers for the year. The other important show is the AES (Audio Engineering Society), which is a trade show for studio equipment manufacturers, engineers, and producers. These shows are important because manufacturers use these shows to test the waters to see if a product generates enough interest to warrant putting it into production, as well as introducing their new product lines. So the show serves as a testing ground as well as a preview of what's going to be in the stores next year. My son Alex (who engineers at Nomad Recording Studio in Carrolton) and I went to the AES show this year. Some very interesting things happened. Two separate trends are becoming very obvious - tubes are coming back, and digital is becoming more important - and cheaper. Aspen Pittman of Groove Tubes sold off his whole microphone line to Alesis so he could concentrate on possibly building a tube manufacturing plant in the U.S. Right now, all tubes are made in Russia or China. I think it's a smart move on his part. More and more manufacturers in the recording industry are moving toward tube gear, as far as Equalizers, PreAmps, and Compressors. It's a way of warming up the slightly cold sound of low end digital equipment in some of the cheaper ADAT-type studios. Microphones took center stage with new tube (and large diaphragm) mics from Alesis, Audio Technica, Neumann, Shure, AKG, B.L.U.E., Brauner, Soundfield, AEA, and a flock of other companies. 3 new ribbon mics were also introduced there bringing back a popular sound from the 50s and 60s. The most expensive mic there was around $12,000, but a lot of the mics in the $2,000 to $5,000 range received the most interest at the show. The other big news was digital consoles, ranging from a few thousand dollars all the way up to 1.2 million dollars. Full automation, total recall, and moving faders were in abundance, but the larger studios in L.A., New York, and Nashville will get first call on those goodies. At the same time, people are pushing up the limits on digital recording equipment, from the CD standard of 44.1 kHz/16 bits to a new possible DVD standard of 96 kHz/24 bits. Even when you eventually go back down to the current standard for your final mix to CD, the sound will be noticeably improved over today's sound. There's also a lot of interest in recording albums in 5.1 surround sound, complete with subwoofer, which should be a controversial topic for the next few years. It will be possible to put the listener right into the middle of the band with instruments coming from the front, sides, and even from behind the listener. Whether this is a good thing or not is still to be seen, but the technology is in place to do it. So what does this mean for you - a musician in Dallas? Well, it means that many studios will soon have some exciting new options to make your band sound better than ever. You'll be able to get an album cut that can rival some of the best things out in terms of quality and technical excellence. Some of the new stuff isn't cheap (Indian Trail has added about $10,000 worth of new stuff because of that show). One other thing came out of that show last month. A bunch of us engineers sat around and noticed that a lot of studios are going out of business, because record companies are spending less for albums these days. You may have noticed how many "boxed sets" are coming out these days by older artists. It's a way for record companies to sell more albums, without spending a lot of money on promoting new artists. Record companies are getting more and more interested in signing artists with finished albums. This means that the stakes have gone way up - you just can't send in a rough demo anymore and hope to compete with finished, mastered albums that some groups are producing on their own. Any thing you send in to a record company nowadays better be good - damn good. Return to the top of the page December/January 1998 - What's The Best, What's The Cheapest? Why do some people keep putting these two questions together? On the Internet, you see these questions always paired together; "What's the best, low price guitar amplifier?" "What's the best electric guitar (then, later in the same posting) in the $300 range?" "What's the best cheap distortion box?" Let's talk about each of these questions separately, and we'll try to put them together at the end of this article. So, what is the best __________? OK, make the blank part of that last sentence any noun you want; guitar, bass, drum set, amplifier, effect, strings, music, drug, booze, soft drink, aspirin, car, boat, singer, airline, girlfriend, hair color, TV show, band, job, book, religion, and so on - you get the idea. When you look at some of the other items I've added to the list, the answer should a little clearer. It's what works best for you. There is no other answer possible. You can't assign the word "best" to anything, unless everybody agrees on what "best" means, and that's not easy. "Best" can mean most popular, most beautiful, most useful, most convienient, and the list goes on. "Best" is a personal term. It's your opinion, based on your desires, your experience, and your needs. So the old question of which is best, a Strat or a Les Paul, is meaningless and has no answer, except your personal opinion, based on your desires, your experience, and your needs. Often price has nothing to do with what's the best. One of the most distingushed microphones in the world - the Neumann U47 tube condensor mic (around $7,000) - can't hold a candle to a $75 Shure SM-57 dynamic mic when it comes to capturing the sound of a snare. Even if the group has a million dollar recording budget, chances are they'll use a Shure 57 on the snare. For 95% of the snares ever recorded, the SM-57 was the "best". But then, that would means that "best" doesn't have anything to do with price, or workmanship. It's best because it works so well for that application. But you can't use popular to define "best" either. There have been more 4-track cassette recorders sold than all the 24 track tape machines and all the digital recorders put together. I don't think anyone would say that a 4-track cassette recorder would rank in anyone's "best" list, so best can't be attached to stuff just because it's expensive, well made, or popular. So where am I going with this whole thing? Look at the last line of the paragraph about the Shure SM-57 microphone. There's your answer. The best ______ is whatever works really well for your particular needs. But that still doesn't answer the "what's the best, cheap ______" question. Cheap is also a relative term. What you may consider expensive, others may consider cheap, and vice versa. When I was living high on the hog in L.A. back in the 60's, I had a steak dinner that cost me around $100 for 2 people. That was the "best" steak dinner I ever had, and that may be expensive or cheap to you, depending on your income. Since then, I've had more expensive dinners, and a lot of cheaper dinners too, but that was still the "best". So the "best, cheap ____" is whatever you find that does the job perfectly for you, at the lowest price you can find for that particular piece. Anything else is a false saving - you really won't be happy with it. If you want a Strat because your hero plays one, that ain't a good enough reason. If you tried a '59 Strat, and it fit your hand like a second skin, then that's what you need - go looking for the least expensive '59 Strat you can find and buy it. But if you fall in love with a $150 '89 Hondo Les Paul copy, and it feels perfect to you, get it!! That's what's best for you and the hell with what anybody else thinks. What's the best guitar for me? Depends on the song. What's the best job, hair color, girlfriend, boss? It's different for everyone. For me, it's writing a music column for a gorgeous, redheaded, nymphomanic, magazine owner. (Ok, 4 out of 5 ain't bad.) Return to the top of the page February, 1999 - A New Year; Time For A Change? First of all, I want to congratulate my son, Alex, for his being nominated for the 1988 "Producer Of The Year"award by the Fort Worth Weekly for his work on Slow Roosevelt's "Throw Away Your Stereo" album. I expect he'll also be in that category for the Observer awards as well. Pretty cool! He's checking out the NAMM show in Los Angeles for me right now. When he comes back, I'll try to do February's column on all the new stuff he saw at NAMM. So, what's been happening with your band? Lose a member of the group? Planning on doing that new demo? Gonna finally put out a CD? Did you submit anything to the record companies last year? Is the group bio and pictures current? Are you hitting the clubs for gigs? In other words, are you serious about making it happen this year? Segram just closed down A&M and Geffen Records. This could mean a big year for new, independent record companies. Which could be great for your band - if you're prepared. See, a small independent company doesn't have the overhead of a huge label, so 10 or 15,000 albums sold is a hit for them. It means you won't get a big signing advance, but you won't be getting screwed by a big label either. What's it take these days to get signed by a label? Same thing it's always taken; some lucky breaks, a strong local or regional following, stability, and a band with some talent who have their shit together. A good looking press kit with lots of good reviews, and CDs that they're already selling at shows. The Boy Scout motto really works: "Be Prepared"!! It's the one big single difference between "Wannabe" and "Gonnabe". It also means getting off your collective butts and actually planning what you're gonna do to make it big this year. Let's go thru a check list:
All of these things add up and they all count. Record companies look for bands that have their shit together. How does your band rate? Return to the top of the page March, 1999 - Things That "They" Never Tell You Congratulations, your first album just went gold. You haven't received your first royalty check, but hey, there's probably still plenty left over after you pay some debts, right? Sorry, it doesn't work like that. We'll start with an estimated list price of $14.98 per CD, which we'll round off to $15 to make it all easier. A gold record means sales of 500,000 units. If you multiply that times $15, you come up with a nice hefty $7,500,000 (that's seven and a half million bucks) that your record has earned. Pretty damn good, huh? So, how much of this money is yours? How much is the record company paying you and the 3 other members of the band for generating millions of bucks? What you're about to read is pretty standard numbers. Some percentages may change by several points up or down. (Remember, this doesn't include publishing royalties.)
And don't forget, out of this amount you still have to pay taxes, social security, and insurance (if you can get it; record companies don't provide for it). After that, it's all yours, unless you owe money to investors, family, friends, pawnshops, or local demo studios. Don't spend it all in one place. Return to the top of the page April, 1999 - Equipment Versus Experience I know a lot of you out there must think that the Harder Beat writing staff must all be filthy rich by now, since we write for the major magazine in the area, but we're not (at least I'm not). Sure, I'd love to have another Rolls Royce and make it an even four, but I don't consider that as being rich. The same thing goes for musical equipment. Maybe a 1956 Martin D-18, or a 57 Strat, a 76 Les Paul sunburst, an old Marshall stack, and a Fender Twin would be nice. But then, I stated thinking about it, and I realized I really didn't need all that stuff, cuz I'm not that great a player, or maybe I do, for just that reason - and that gave me the idea for this month's column. To keep things really simple, let's break it down into four categories:
So, what's the point of having cool equipment if you're just a fair player? Well, better tools mean you don't have to work as hard to get a good sound. And it's easier to get a good sound quickly on great equipment, regardless of you skill level. But don't think you're gonna blow away a great player, if you have great equipment and the great player doesn't - it ain't gonna happen!! The only thing that will change all that is practice. Practice as often as possible. Learn all the licks and all the tabs you want, but develop your own style. Music isn't from scales and tabs - it's from the heart. All the rest of the crap is just so it can come out!! My ability to read and write helps me to express my thoughts. Learning to read and write is the same thing as learning to play - they're tools to help you express what you feel and turn it into what you play. I din't learn to write just so I could write exactly like someone else I admired. Learning every lick Dimebag ever played won't make you as good a player, only a good copiest, until you understand that those licks come from inside him, and you ain't him. Just like I ain't Clapton, or Hendrix. The axe slinger contest that Harder Beat hosted in December kinda bears that out. About 1/2 of the contestants were trying to impress the judging panel by playing the same damn EVH tapping riff. Everyone of them played the exact same thing. Did it impress us? Nope, Eddie does it way better, and he invented it. A lot of the players got points deducted in the originality category for that one. We came to hear fresh new exciting talent, and for the most part, we did. But there was a big gap between the exciting players we saw and the some of the contestants that obviously spent many long hours learning popular licks note for note. Practice IS important, but once you've got a lick down, play with it, turn it inside out, reverse it, bend it, but make it yours. Find your own voice. Listen to the guitarists you admire. Find out who they listened to - who their heros are. See how your heros worked out their style from the other guitarists. Speed is great, but it has to come from the heart, not the fingertips. But if you're on a quest for that one perfect sound, go for it. Good equipment won't hurt, and it CAN help. But above all, it's way more important to know what you're playing, instead of what you're playing it on. Return to the top of the page May, 1999 - Harvey's Predictions For The Future It's pretty exciting right now in the music business because music is in for a big change this year or next. It's going to affect everybody in the music business and how people interact with music. Call this month's column "Harvey's Predictions For The Future." Some of you are aware of the "Web," "Internet," and "AOL," but what's that got to do with the way we make, listen to, and buy, music? Everything. Recording contracts have always been scarce because the cost to record, package, promote, and distribute music are very high. Record companies need a million seller just to break even sometimes. Record companies are very good at recording, packaging, promoting, and distributing your music, they're just not very good at creating your music - that's your job. And until now, you weren't very good at recording, packaging, promoting, and distributing your music, you were just good at creating your music. But there's a change on the horizon and it's headed your way. What if you had complete control of the entire process? The whole thing, creating, recording, packaging, promoting, and distributing your music. And at a fraction of the cost that a record company has to charge? Without employee overhead, or big costs in packaging, manufacturing, promoting, and distributing CDs? What if you could make just one digital master copy and have everybody that likes your music make perfect digital copies from your master and pay you for their copy directly? And we're talking guaranteed payment. That takes care of the packaging, manufacturing, and distribution, but what about promotion? Remember earlier, I mentioned the "Web," "Internet," and "AOL?" Those are networks," ways to connect millions of people together electronically. People with computers, and money. For a very small monthly fee, you could "create" a "digital record company" that exists only on these nets and in your bank account. You put on some short musical excerpts from your digital "master" and charge people $2.00 to download the whole album. Why only $2.00 when a CD costs $15.00? Simple, the artist only gets about 10 to 15% of the selling price anyway. The rest of it is taken by the store and the record company as profit and to cover the costs of recording, packaging, promoting, making, and distributing the CD. Here, the customers pay you directly by credit card (or an added charge on their phone bill) and the money goes straight into your bank account. If enough people buy your music, you've got a hit on your hands and you didn't even have to leave your house. Okay, so how much is fairy tale, and how much is reality? Right now it's pretty much all fairy tale, but it's about to change by this year or next. Why? Because price are dropping fast on all the items needed to make this a real story. Computer digital stereo (at CD fidelity standards) is a memory hog. It takes about 10 million bytes of computer storage to hold just one minute of stereo music. An hour of stereo music will just fit on a 850 meg computer hard drive (along with the software to play the music). Once your computer hard drive is filled up, you have to erase the old music to make room for more. That's like having a cassette recorder with one built-in blank cassette. To record another hour, you either erase the cassette or buy another cassette recorder. That's been one problem. But CD recorders are plummeting in price. Sony plans to release a $600 CD recorder this year. If enough people show an interest, prices will drop even further, to about $350 to $500 for a new machine. The customers hook it up to their computers and make their own CDs of your music after they've paid you your $2.00. You can even include the electronic artwork for their jewel box that they print out on their printers. The "net" becomes your music store, and the customer becomes the manufacturer, and packager for your record label. Stay tuned for more details. And here's the kicker, gang - the above column you just read is the EXACT same column I wrote for Harder Beat in December, 1995. There was no MP3 back then, but everything I predicted is coming true. If you have a computer with Internet access, go to mp3.com. The times they are a-changing!! Return to the top of the page June, 1999 - How Come I Ain't A Star Yet? I get to see a lot of groups in the course of a year, both in the studio, and on stage. After a while, I can usually spot the groups that are gonna break up soon, the groups that are gonna stay together for a while, and the groups that have a chance to make it big. Some, but not all, of it is attitude. Let's see if you and your band are doing everything possible to become stars. Are you writing your own songs or doing "covers"? Are your songs really original, or are they similar to an already popular group? In other words, do your songs sound like Pantera's songs, only with slightly different lyrics? Are you making a statement about what you believe, or what you think people wanna hear? What are you doing to increase your group's following? Are you playing everywhere you can? When you don't have a gig, are you still visiting the clubs, pushing your group? Is everybody in the group trying to increase the fan base? Do you have a website? Are you telling everybody where you're gonna be playing next week, in the next month, over the next few months? Do you have a good, current demo to give to clubs, ,DJs, or anyone that might be able to do you some good? Some bands have demos that are terribly out of date; they may have replaced members, added new lead singers, have all new songs, but they keep sending out the old demos. Are you thinking about doing a self-produced album that you can sell at gigs? Do the math. If you can sell 10 to 20 at every gig, the album will soon pay for itself, and then some. But if you're not playing out regularly, it's not worth it. How many people in the group are actually out hustling on behalf of the group? Most groups have one or two members that don't seem to be interested or want to get involved in group activities. What are you doing to get the group noticed? Pulled any outrageous stunts lately? Played any showcases? Have you looked for gigs out of town? Tried calling the radio stations? Updated your web site, or added to your mailing list? Is the band photo current? Remember when you first got played on the radio? And you called everybody you knew and told them to call in to the station, requesting more? And nobody called? If you had an active fan base, and stayed close to them, that wouldn't have happened. The secret to stardom is really very simple - it's hard work and attention to the details. Now it's just a question of how bad you really want it. Final thoughts: I've been seeing the Old Navy "Board Shorts" ads on TV for the last few weeks, and at first I thought, "If these are hip ads, then I'm really out of it". I just don't get it. I guess I've really lost touch with the youth of America. After studying them really closely to see if I could figure out what I'm missing, I'm convinced they are not only "UN-hip", but possibly the very "worst" ads I've ever seen on TV (and that includes the little fat guy swinging his arms like a windmill, selling furniture). There's an ad agency somewhere that has a guy that came up with this whole ad campaign - we have to stop this person before he can come up with more ads!! Return to the top of the page July, 1999 - Radio Friendly - and You! First of all, let's talk about what "radio friendly" means, both to a radio station, and to you as a musician. In most cases, it's a song that understands the way radio works, and is designed for radio play. If you don't know what that means, stick around, you're about to learn. Like record companies, radio stations are there to make money for their owners and investors. Most owners pay a high priced consultant to come in, check out the market and tell the station owners what format would make the most money for them. It may be "Golden Oldies", or "Tejano", or "Music In A Mellow Mood" - the station owners really don't care. The question is simple: Will this format appeal to a large number of people so that the station can charge higher rates for advertising? Once the format is decided on, they'll hire DJ to do the programs, etc.. If it's a rock station, they want to put DJs on the air that will draw people to listen to their station. Some rock stations will also do a "local talent" show, once a week, featuring local artists. Those are the only shows your group is likely to get airplay from. These "local talent" shows don't get a lot of listeners - usually just the people who are friends of the band ("Hey, man, we're on KZFU 88.1 in 10 minutes; check it out!!"). They'll play a few cuts from the band's demo CD, do a quick interview, and that's it. The secret to success is to get into "rotation" on a radio station. That means your band is "scheduled" for repeated plays, without having your friends call in to request it (which your friends won't do anyway). So, the trick is: How do you get your song into "rotation" on a major radio station if you don't have a label behind you? There are 3 things your record should have to get a shot at radio play: promotion, a large following, and the song MUST be "radio friendly". Let's talk about each one of those things. Promotion: That's your job. You hafta get that CD of yours into as many record stores possible and make sure the radio stations know about it. Make sure the station knows where you're gonna be playing, and try to make friends with some of the DJs at the radio station. And make friends with every magazine and reviewer that can do you some good. (I only accept bribes of $50 or more, for example.) A Large Following: Nothing gets more attention from magazines, radio stations, and record companies, than a large following. If you can sell 5 or 10,000 CDs without a record label behind you, you're a short step away from getting a record contract. Magazines, radio stations, and record companies like sure things - they don't like to take too many chances. Prove to them that you can generate the excitement, and they'll beat down the doors trying to get to you. Radio Friendly: Ok, now let's talk about what that term means: First of all, it's a song that people wanna hear over and over. The type of song that will make people call in and say, "what the hell was that song you just played?". It's gotta be original. It's gotta be well recorded - the quality has to equal anything that's already out there. Second, it's gotta be short enough to fit in a space just before the top of the hour. Times drift during the radio day; if the DJ finds he has 2:53 left to fill before the news, and your song is 2:45, he'll play your song, and not "Stairway To Heaven". The shorter the song, the more chance of airplay, assuming it's a good song. Third, the song should have a short intro. Nothing turns a programmer off quicker than a 30 to 60 second intro to a song. Get to the lyric quickly. Save the long version for concerts and the next album. It's the most often repeated mistake made by bands trying to get airplay. They do a 60 second jam at the start of the song to "get into the groove". Forget it!! No station will touch a song like that by a local group, except for the "local talent" kinda shows. If you're doing four figures before the first verse, cut it in half, or better yet, just do it once. Your lead guitar player may hate you, but the radio stations will love you. Is the song still too long? Cut the solo in half, or to one fourth its length. What's the best song length for a group trying to get radio play? Anywhere from 2:30 to 3:30 (but that 3:30 song better have a lot to say, with a short intro AND a short solo). So, now you know what "radio friendly" means. Go take a fresh look at the songs you already have. Do any of them really qualify as "radio friendly"? Can some be made more "radio friendly"? A good studio can take your master tape and take out a chunk of the song without anyone hearing the splice. Listen to every song you do. Is it really cut down to the essentials, or is it just an excuse for the lead guitarist to show off how fast he is? It's all a question of ego vs. airplay. You hafta decide which will get the band where it wants to be. Return to the top of the page August 1999 - Speed, Scales, Effects, or Feeling? It seems like the way people play music has changed. Things like the new POD effects box let you dial in a whole bunch of different amplifiers, plus there is the current trend of using an effects rack. Even the way players think of music has changed - scales, speed, playing "in key", all point to a new way of thinking about music. I'm not sure whether it's a good thing or a bad thing yet - I just know it's different. The problem for me is that, since most of the players these days play that way, are we losing sight of the feeling in music? If it's all about speed and scales, and equipment, will we lose the feeling? The part of the music that makes you go, "Wow"!! Yes, you can admire speed for speed's sake, but is that enough to touch people and make them feel your music? I don't know the answer to that one, either. Sure, getting the best sound has always been important, but have we gone too far? I've heard of some people claiming that different batteries in pedals will produce different sounds, or that the guitar cable is directional, but I wonder if this level of attention to detail may have lost something when people are more concerned with equipment and technique than they are with what they're playing. Is how fast and how loud you can play more important than what you're playing? I think it may be a good idea to occasionally listen to some of the people who are your influences and try to find out who their influences were, then listen to those people as well. Kinda like going back to the roots. Some of the older blues players would actually go to where Robert Johnson lived and try to find the actual "Crossroads" he sang about, or they'd visit the graves of some of the great players, just to feel a little closer to them. Maybe just a change of music will do it. If you play metal, take a weekend off and go to some of the blues or jazz clubs and expose yourself to some other kinds of music. Hell, go to a classical concert and listen to a full symphony orchestra - now THAT's real power!! Even easier, pull out some of the records you grew up with and listen to them again. They're the records that inspired you to get into music in the first place. Feel the force, Luke. Try playing some 12 bar blues, but don't think about scales and speed - listen to the power of just one note, when it's the RIGHT note. Write a new song in the style of one of your early influences. Don't try to make it exact, just try to capture that feeling they had. Same thing with the solos, don't try for speed, just try to get the same feel. See what happens. It might just be fun, or better yet, it might be usable. If nothing else it'll be a change of pace. Try plugging straight into the amp without ANY effects turned on. I'm not suggesting that you change the way you play or even suggesting that you play something else. I'm just saying that every once in a while, a reality check is not a bad thing. Make sure that where you're going is where you wanted to go in the first place. Return to the top of the page September 1999 - Some Common Misconceptions About Music Over the years, I've heard people tell me a lot of things that they believe to be true, but aren't. They hear it from other musicians and pass it on and pretty soon, people start accepting it as absolute fact. The actual truth gets buried in history and that's the way legends are born. It's charming, but inaccurate. Let's examine some of these beliefs. Bass Drum Ports: There are a lot of drummers that cut a small hole (usually around 4 to 6 inches in diameter) in their front head to "port" their drum. Somebody may have told them that this tunes the drum (like a bass reflex speaker) to improve the bottom end. Is it true? Yes and no. Cutting a hole will provide a vent which can be tuned to resonate the air inside the drum, but that's what the second head does anyway - it's like a passive radiator, driven from the pedal head. Putting a hole in the front head is kinda like putting a hole in your speaker to port your hi-fi system system. So, why do drummers put that hole in their drums? Primarily to use as an opening for a kick drum mic, without removing the head entirely. A lot of drummers still print the band's name on their drum head and that's important to them. That hole is important when you walk into a studio to record. Live drummers saw their studio conterparts using the hole and thought it looked cool, and adopted it. Where the hole is located is very important, but not for any reason you'd normally think about. It should be above the center line of the drum, so that a short mic stand will work, and the mic stand boom arm angle will let the engineer position the mic to point directly at the spot where the beater hits the head. The hole diameter should be around 6" to allow for various size microphones. The center of the hole should be above the center line of the drum, so that the entire opening is in the upper half of the drum. Any 6" opening above the 9:00 to 3:00 line will work. Guitar Amps and Speakers: 4 ohms, 8 ohms, or 16 ohms; is one impedance better than the others? Impedance is simply the working load the speakers put across the amplifier's output terminals. Maximum safe power transfer occurs when the amplifier is correctly matched to the speaker load. On stage, multiple speakers will give you more output, compared to a single speaker and provide increased power handling, but that isn't important in the studio. Many of the big groups use a little 15 watt amp with a single speaker to record. Speakers can be wired in many different combinations so that is why many amplifiers have impedance switches on the back of the head. Which impedance is best? Any of them will work fine as long as the head impedance is set correctly - it depends on the speaker configuration you're using. Electric Bass; How Low Does It Really Go: The main output of a bass E string is primarily around 84Hz, not the 42Hz most bass players imagine. The reason is simple; the string length is too short to produce much fundamental. Yes, it produces some 42Hz, but most of the sound is an octave above that. Which brings up the next question; how do you get more bass out of a system. It's very simple - you need to move more air. Low bass must move more air, so the answer is more power (to make the speakers you have move further), more speakers (so that each speaker doesn't have to move as much), or a more efficient ported or horn-loaded cabinet (so that the port and/or horn adds more air motion). We'll continue this next month. Return to the top of the page October 1999 - Some Common Misconceptions About Music - Part II Over the years, I've heard people tell me a lot of things that they believe to be true, but aren't. They hear it from other musicians and pass it on and pretty soon, people start accepting it as absolute fact. The actual truth gets buried in history and that's the way legends are born. It's charming, but inaccurate. Let's continue examining some of these beliefs. Tubes are better than Transistors: This one's a little harder to answer. When transistors first appeared, their distortion characteristics were very different than tubes. Once you exceeded their output range, they simply gave up, all at once and distortion went straight up very quickly. A transistor amp which hit 100 watts at .05 distortion might put out 110 watts, but at 35% distortion. A tube amp distorted slower and more gracefully, often generating 2nd and 4th harmonics - which made the sound even better. The newer breed of MOSFET transistors were able to mimic this kind of distortion, and the gap narrowed. With the new breed of computer modeling amps, and some of the new DSP chips, the gap between tubes and transistors is getting even narrower. Tubes are noisier than Transistors: Nope, it depends on the circuit. You can build ultra-low noise tube circuits if you're willing to take the time to do it right. And let's get rid of the tubes won't reproduce high frequencies myth too. For many years, tubes ruled the high frequency roost in the megaHertz range. The main advantage to transistors over tubes is less heat, less susceptible to shock and vibration, and now, lower cost. There's no difference in cables and cords: Somewhat true for speaker cables, once you get past the teeny size wires. Not as true for guitar and audio cables. Bad shielding, high capacitance, and poor construction can seriously degrade your sound in any cable carrying low level signals. There are now even some wire companies selling "directional cable," which is pure bull. All just hype. Different batteries sound different: Hmmm. Some people swear they can hear a difference in batteries. I remain sceptical of their claim. Some batteries DO put out more current then other batteries and that MIGHT change the sound but I think different batteries of the same actual voltage and peak current output should sound the same. The jury is still unconvinced on this one. A condensor mic is the best kind of mic: Best for what? If that was really true, they would use nothing but condensor mics in major studios. They don't. EVERY studio has dynamic mics, like the Shure SM 57, the AKG D112, the Sennheiser 421, and usually several ribbon mics and a wide assortment of general purpose mics. Why? Because there is no such thing as the ONE perfect mic for everything. For big ballads, it's hard to beat the sound of a great big diaphragm condensor mic like the old Neumann U47, which now sells for around $10,000 in primo shape. But even that mic occasionally gets beat out by a Shure 58 or an old ribbon mic for some voices or some songs. A good engineer doesn't go by price - he/she will pick whatever works best for that particular sound. PA amplifier wattage should match PA speaker wattage: Usually you can double the wattage of the power amplifier to prevent clipping. But if you're going to be playing loud, invest in a good stereo compressor to go across the output of the mixer to prevent huge spikes from blowing the speakers. That's it for this month. Return to the top of the page November 99 - Maybe I should call it "Silk Purse Recording Studio" There are two old sayings in the recording industry: The first is, "You Can't Polish A Turd". The second aying goes along with the first, "You CAN Polish A Turd, But All You End Up With Is A Shiny Turd". That's happened here a number of times, and why it happened might help some of you out there who are planning to record soon. Since these people won't be coming back, and they don't read my columns, I don't think anyone will be hurt by my explaining what went wrong. Case Number 1: A very nice "new age" group came in. They had only been together for a few months; had one or two good players, and a few that had only been playing a few months. They wanted to have the album out by Christmas, and it was late August when they came in. Was this possible? I told them yes. Shouldn't be too hard, I figured. They had a drum machine for the drum parts, and we just had to record the drum machine, two acoustic guitars, a bass part, keyboard, flute, vocals, and some light harmony. Not a big deal. The singer/songwriter and the lead guitar player had been a duo for several years, so they were pretty tight and polished. I started with the rhythm guitars, bass, keyboard, the drum machine, and a scratch vocal to build the basic rhythm tracks. I don't think any song was under 6 minutes, and some were 8 and 9 minutes long. OK, stop and explain the principles of airplay to them. They're not interested in "commercial airplay" - they have "artistic integrity". Two hours later, OK, keep my mouth shut and don't argue with them - it's their album. Next problem, the keyboard player is the singer/songwriter's girlfriend - she's never played anything in her life and she's in the band to "help". She can play one or two notes at a time, usually late, and she's not crazy about the lead guitar player (who's the only person that can really play), and he's not too fond of her either. Somehow, over the next month, we get down most of the basic tracks (we'll replace all the bass parts later, since the bass player has a total of 3 months under his belt of playing any musical instrument, except native American drums). I work with the singer's girlfriend on some cool keyboard parts for some of the songs and we fly those in over the next month. Same thing with the bass player and the flute player - try to work out parts they can play and help them get the parts recorded, a phrase at a time. After about seven weeks or so, they decide that the drum machine tracks don't "sound right" and we need to reprogram all the drum stuff. We spend a couple of weeks doing that, then they decide they need a real drummer, and they say, "we have this friend who "doesn't have any drums, but can he use yours?". We get him in and he's terrible. So I talk my son Alex into recording all the drum tracks for all 12 of the songs. "Oh yeah, we want to make it more rock sounding, can he do that?". Gee, now the lead guitar player is really stoked by the new rock drums and he wants to add some electric guitar parts. The guy is great on the really delicate nylon string acoustic folky guitar parts, but he thinks he's Hendrix on electric. Power chords, whammy bar dives, and feedback out the ass - on these "new age" songs!!! More distortion, more reverb, more chorusing, and he adds like 4 more guitar parts, bringing the total to 6 or 7 guitars, on these new age ballads. (We bring in a real bass player to play on some of the difficult tracks.) I keep my mouth shut, except to say, "Do you all understand you're taking these songs in a whole new direction than what we talked about when we started this project?" The answer? "Well, we want to make them more commercial." I shut up, but think to myself, "More commercial? At nine minutes long?". We finally get to the harmonies. Next surprise, the lead guitar player is the main harmony singer and he has pitch problems. The singer's girlfriend also wants to sing harmony on almost every song and she's never sung in her life, let alone sung harmony. Can I help them with the harmony parts? Sure, I don't mind singing her part into the talkback mic as we punch in each phrase over a period of months - what's a few more months between friends? The schedule is now out the window. A full year and a half goes by with them coming in during off hours to fix or "change" their parts. By mixdown time, the lead guitar player has a "complete vision" of how he wants each song to sound, and he becomes the "producer". "More me" turns out to be his basic theme. Some of the delicate flute and keyboard things (that I worked months on) get thrown out, because "we need this guitar solo in there instead." He actually brings his electric guitar to the mixdown session and he's throwing in last minute guitar parts to each song. The singer/songwriter is watching this whole thing from the back of the control room and he's not saying anything. I ask him if this is what he wants. He doesn't answer. His girl friend is glaring at the lead guitar player's back. Finally the album's done - after two years of on/off work. Are they happy with it? No, and by this time the group has broken up. Six months go by and the singer and his girl friend come back in. "They're my songs - will you remix them for me, the way you originally heard them?" I spend about a month, remixing all the songs, taking out the electric parts, bringing back what's left of the delicate stuff, but it still has the semi hard rock feeling, and the older parts have been erased to make room for all the new guitar parts, so it's now neither rock or newage - just some weird thing in between. I mix it, but I don't like it. What started out as an honest, delicate album, played with enthusiasm (if not great musicianship) wound up in the "polished turd" category, by trying to be something it wasn't. Bottom line: Everybody connected with this project ends up disgusted with the results. Who's fault was it? Everybody's - and nobody's. So what's the answer if you don't want this to happen to your band? Make sure everybody has a clear idea of what they want the final mix to sound like. Bring in rough tapes of the songs to the studio beforehand, and discuss all the details of each song with the engineer. Bring in CDs of bands whose sound you like. And mainly, make sure everybody in the band knows their part. Return to the top of the page December 99 - Maybe I should call it "Silk Purse Recording Studio" - Part II Case Number 2: A heavy metal group came in to do an album a few years ago. Over a series of sessions, they would eventually have enough material to do one or two albums. Fine, so far. All nice guys, good understanding of the business, reasonable expectations, and pretty good players. Over the next few weeks, we laid down all the basic tracks, some scratch vocals, and all we had left were the final guitar parts and finishing up the vocals. All cool so far. I set up a time for one of the guitar players to come in and do his parts - around 2 in the afternoon. Comes 2 PM, I'm set up and ready to record, but the guitar player hasn't shown up. An hour goes by, then two hours, then 3 hours - it's now 5 o'clock - and still no guitar player. Around 6, he finally shows up, stoned out of his mind. He can't tune his guitar, he can't even keep up with the basic tracks, let alone play a speed metal solo. After a couple of hours of trying, he packs up and goes home. So what did he accomplish? He wasted a day for me that I could have booked another group in, kept me waiting for four hours without bothering to let me know he was gonna be late, arrived here unable to play, and didn't really contribute to my image of the band being professional. I was pissed and I think that soured me on the band and vice versa. From that point on, I was slow getting their stuff out and I just didn't care as much. I'm sure we're not high on their list of good places to record anymore, and I'm not sure they're even still around. But it's cool - that kind of group I can do without. Finally, the year 2000. As I predicted about 5 years ago, the Internet would play a large part in getting new artists heard and that's starting to happen, but a lot of these new groups are still missing the boat by not playing live and building a following. Those are the missing parts of what it takes to get a contract these days. You hafta be able to play live, AND you have to demonstrate that you can collect a following for your music. It ain't just about how many hits you've had on your website, or how many downloads you've had on mp3.com. Seagram (the company that makes whiskey) now owns about 80% of the record industry, and most of the executives there are bean counters - more interested in quarterly profits than they are in artist development. The concept of bringing an artist along slowly is a thing of the past. The new slogan is "what have you done for me lately?" If the answer is "not much," you're history. It doesn't make any difference how many gold and platinum albums you've had in the past - it's about "what are you doing for my profits right now?" It's a great opportunity for independent record companies to get some major artists, but there's still the problem of distribution to overcome. The independents just don't have the advertising and the distribution clout that the big labels have. So artists that sign with the smaller labels won't get the big up front advances, or work in the "A" list studios, with the "A" list producers and engineers. As the smaller labels get smarter on using their bucks wisely, the gap will eventually narrow, and they will attract some of the maverick producers and engineers. Hopefully some of the independent distributors will see the long range picture and go for less up front, giving the smaller labels a chance to grow, but so far, most distributors want a big share of the pie, since they don't foresee the smaller labels being in business for too long. The music business is a little tough right now, but there's a tremendous potential for growth and opportunity if some of the people in the music industry will only realize that they can really make it bigger as partners, not adversaries. Return to the top of the page |
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