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A service from 'The Serious Writers Guild' at MAKEHITS.COM Written by Dec Cluskey with a little bit opf help from his friends.
This Email first mailed to all Members of 'The Serious Writers Guild' and
subscribers to 'One Minute With Dec' on
04.03.02
So many this week: David, has two songs being recorded by ‘Blue’....WOW! And
John Dartnell, just in the middle of the second ‘Harry Potter’ film, has now
been booked for the third! Starts in September....guested with my band on
Saturday night.... "Thank you for looking over this Publishing deal with Rita
Publishing....it’s my first...so here we go. Now the money comes in" Jim Clarke [Master Class Member: 06104030W] =================================
"One Minute With Dec"
"My Emails are written in good humour, and should be read with a smile"
OK, so I’m late again...but wow! What a week I’ve had.
Mini tour, second last night in Elland....half a mile from where my brother lives and last night, Saturday, half a mile from where I live in Eastbourne...
So we finished in Eastbourne, Grand Hotel ...a mega birthday bash for Sandra’s birthday....arranged by her adoring husband Bob....the gig of a life time...and I've had a life...believe me.
He had an eighteen piece 40’s style big band, The Squadronaires, my band and Alan Reeves, his own brother.
The evening started at 6 PM, Champagne all the way...Squadronaires were stunning, with an interesting idea of a boy and girl, in Blues Brothers style outfits, doing all the authentic jitter bugging...terrific. Then my band...we do a very stylized opening which I always advise performers to emulate, in other words always have a great opening [plus a great closer].
We arrive on stage as a pre-recorded voice over calls all the musicians and crew to their stations...lots of noise, lots of testing and tuning - all in semi darkness...we are concealed among the crew and musicians dressed as roadies with Marshall Amps tour jackets on. Then the voice over turns to a the huge announcement, suddenly we throw off the jackets, the lights go to full up, and we miraculously appear center stage...a simple trick but effective.
As we did it on Saturday night and we launched into one of our Number Ones, to start, a guy dropped dead in the audience, about ten yards from us.....Whoops!
There was pandemonium...guys running around, a doctor happened to be there with two nurses among the guests....we stopped the show.....calmed the audience, and went from the stage to where the guy was lying spark out. They jumped up and down on his chest, applied the kiss of life and blow me, they got him back....paramedics arrived in their greens and at a suitable moment we drifted back on stage - assured everyone that he was OK. [I checked this morning...Steve is OK] and continued the show....
Alan...well, I don't think you will know ‘who’ he is.
He got a Grammy last year for his film score for ‘Walking With Lions’ also an award for the top IMAX film score. Apart from being the top Hammond B3 organ player in the world.
Alan flew in from South of France. He got some of his musician pals from LA. plus some top guys from London...no rehearsal...no sound check ....the engineer bottled out and asked me to handle the mix...no problem....they got the best mix ever.....
You see, there is a total difference to the way a normal live engineer arrives at a sound and the way I do...I give a recorded, studio, CD sound...which the public love and it’s the way most of the top guys work nowadays. The muddy pub sounds are relegated to show-pubs and small time rock venues!
Next up was Bob’s brother Alan Reeves...now you won’t know that Alan was, and is, the greatest hammond organ player in the world.....the best I have ever seen....
They insisted that Vicci Esselle [the Membership Administration Executive of 'The Serious Writes Guild' and one of our back singers] join them for ‘Mustang Sally’....it was possibly the greatest performance of that classic I have ever seen...the band, the band’s singer, Jon Dean Foster....Vicci, Alan....all trying to out scream each other....and the sound....WOW! That Hammond was SCREAMING!
Loud? What do you think...but it proves the theory:
"A great mix can be as loud as you like - a bad mix should be listened to from the next town!"
So I left at 6AM....Hmmmmmmm! Then London for 3 meetings yesterday...so here I am....writing....but can you tell I love it?
Spike Milligan RIP
I listened in awe to my Show Biz pals paying tribute to Spike Milligan last night at my last meeting, his dearest pal David Lodge was sitting beside me...Nicholas Parsons told some great stories, plus David Berglas, who did a lot of the magical illusions for his whacky films. Spike and my band did a chat show together...George Foreman was also there. In the green room, before going on air, Spike turned to me, looked over at the huge frame of George and said: "Dec, I'm there's two fellas inside that suit!"
After he been on to do his usual tirade against using up the Earth's resources, conservation, animal rights etc. we rode up in the lift to the dressing rooms...I said: "Spike how can you carry on like that...you have a wool sweater on...and the shoes, they must be leather?"
He stooped down, took off a slip-on shoe...tore it in half...and said: "cardboard!"
Big Reaction To last week’s ‘One Minute’
I was a little apprehensive that last week’s ‘One Minute’ would be either too simplistic for the expert guys, out there, or a little too technical for the guys who are not computer minded...but....
I seem to have hit the right chord...lots of calls, lots of Emails...even from the girls.
Many guys [mostly with Midiverbs and the like] asked could I enlighten them on how to silence effects with the Atari? I am amazed that guys never understand what the midi in/out/through is for on effects units.
Silence through MIDI
:Simple.
Set up a program on the Midiverb or Quadraverb, or any unit that is midi addressable and has editable parameters.
You need to set up a user patch so that the effect output is Zero and the input is Zero. Also you need to have the effect mix set to fully wet, in other words no direct sound being heard and 100% of the output of the mix being 'effect'. That way, in theory, nothing will be heard from the unit. Why? Because the effect output is set to Zero.
Title the patch 'silent'...make sure it is absolutely silent with earphones.
Look in the effects unit manual and check out the way to midi address it so that the 'control' on the Atari [or Mac, PC] midi sequencer program will turn off the effects program at the selected part of the toon and turn on the 'silent' patch. In other words change the patch to the silent patch. You will have to assign a midi channel to the midi channel chosen on the unit, then assign the number of the patch to the control..it's easy once you get the hang of it.
Always ensure you take the reverb 'dying down' into account when turning off effects by Midi control.
An interesting Email question from a non Member
It never ceases to amaze me the difference between the thinking of non members of ‘The Serious Writers Guild’ and Members...
The Members learn how to write and perform and produce Hit Records, the other guys seem to just wander through their music career trusting to pot luck, assuming it’s all to do with ‘luck’ and ‘who you know’......NOPE!
>>>>>>Hi Dec,
Thank you for four weeks of free advice which I have been reading with great interest. I am pleased to say that I love your methods and expression of ideas. I will be joining ‘The Serious Writers Guild’.
Please don’t cut me off you will make me commit suicide.
I have written another song that needs the Dec stamp of approval - I don’t know if you would do me the favour and pull it apart. Tell me something Dec, what’s your opinion on the verse going straight into the middle eight and to have Four strong lines at the start of a song leading straight into the Chorus?
I’m getting into the studio soon to put this new song down, would you for the demo, put all the string, WW, Brass and percussion in together with BV’s or would you just put the voice accompanied by piano?
What would be more listenable to?
Hope to hear from you soon Dec,
Your Irish Buddy
Robbie J..<<<<<<<<<
My Answer
:All the questions you ask are all treated in my 'How To Make A £Million From Your Music' program at www.makehits.co.uk/swgintro.htm
I actually get quite upset [sad, I mean] when I read Emails like yours. You are rushing headlong into a silly spending spree....taking a demo to a studio to record, without having first studied what a HIT TOON is and should be. All you are doing is making a 'vanity' recording which will just swell the studio owners Mercedes fund. Even if the studio is not charging, it's still a 'vanity' recording. The only ones who will like it are your so called friends and your Granny! Your friends will only like it because it’s free and your Granny will like it because she’s deaf and can’t hear it anyway.
You don't need to ask me the middle eight sequence question. The 'manual' for Hit records is on all radio stations between 4 and 7 each Sunday....simple as that. If your track is 'stompin', danceable, raunchy, memorable, with no more than 29 words and more hooks than a pirate convention, with a 's*d off' vocal arrangement and fits comfortably between the Number One and the Number Two this week then record it...if it doesn't have all those ingredients - why bother?
As regards the 'just piano'...I cover this at length in my writings, but suffice it to say; "A Hit song is a Hit song"...if it's sung in the bath or sung by a bunch of girls on Friday night in the pub with no accompaniment...or if it is produced by Dr. Dre.
'King of my Castle', 'Angel', any ‘Dido’ hit, 'Survivor', in fact any great song holds up on it's own....Paul Simon played to 250,000 at Hyde Park and sang all his hits with just acoustic guitar...case proven?
Learn your craft Robbie, just like Brain surgeons learn their craft....there is no easy way! How long does it take and how much study does it take to be a Barrister? Why do folk think that writing Hit Songs is the exception in life?
Major Changes to www.makehits.co.uk
In the past weeks we have done a lot of work on the www.makehits.co.uk
site and it really is a worthwhile visit. Particularly the www.makehits.co.uk/swgintro.htm and the www.makehits.co.uk/swgmore.htm and the two new Questions and Answers pages.Finally:
Please feel free to pass along this ‘One Minute’ to at least three or four of your music pals....then they can subscribe for direct service, and if you are a webmaster or have your own site, please feel free to post this entire ‘One minute’ on your site...or any part of it...just PLEASE pay us the courtesy of giving a credit...make sure you include our URL and our contact information.
"When I was young, I used to think that wealth and power would
bring me happiness... I was right. "
Regards
Dec
It is only possible to live happily ever after on a day-to-day
basis.
Tip of the week
: In the studio, the key is to find out what makes you different and accentuate it. [Mitchell Froom]OK....
It’s the drummers turn!
Q: What's the similarity between a drummer and a philosopher?
A:
They both perceive time as an abstract concept.
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www.medina.co.ukthe website of my good friend - Stuart Goldsmith
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