The widest read, 'delivered to your Email box', weekly music Ezine on the Music Net.
The Archive
A service from 'The Serious Writers Guild' at MAKEHITS.COM Written by Dec Cluskey
This Email first mailed to all Members of 'The Serious Writers Guild' and
subscribers to 'One Minute With Dec' on 22.07.02
Our own Vicci Esselle is at it again....at this moment (Sunday night) performing at the Virgin Mobile monster bash at Longleat House, the home of my old pal The Marquis of Bath, for Richard Branson...success? What do you think?
"I never realised how little I knew about this business. Best thing I ever did in music was to sign up for 'The Serious Writers Guild'." [aidan stewart, Eindover, Netherlands]
================================="One Minute With Dec"
"My Emails are written in good humour, and should be read with a smile"
I always advise the members of my Serious Writers Guild to 'hang their hats' on a charity [be careful it's a genuine, kosher, charity, not the usual scam]. In fact, please call me about any charity you wish to get involved with.
It pays off mighty dividends. For instance, I have just got home from a fabulous shooting day at Newick House in Sussex. I was the guest of Dame Vera Lynn, the UK legend. Ahem! I came 3rd! And Sandy won the raffle! I bid, and got a fabulous auction item [always give to charity. It keeps the money going round.]. An ex boss of Universal Music introduced himself to me. I wasn't the only one there who has had Number Ones.....Tom Jones did a thank-you at the end of lunch [there is a story to that!]...so all in all, attending and participating in high profile charity do's can be very useful.....try it.....it will also help the charity.
You learn so much from chatting with these Show Business giants who have done it all. Mind you, you could say I have done it all, but I still sit in awe at the feet of the true, all time greats. Vera sold millions and millions of singles and albums...her shows, worldwide, won the war for the UK [so Churchill said - she was the English secret weapon].
We chatted:
We chatted about the fact that Decca were the first Record Company to understand 'mastering'. In the days when every record was pressed exactly as it came from the studio, the level of each record was different. The radio stations did not use end of line compressor/limiters, as they do today [and very sophisticated bits of kit they are]. Decca realised that by compressing the signal from the studio tape and 'mastering' it at +6 DB, as it went onto the matrix master, the resulting record would, not only be louder but also it would, have a more solid sonic illusion. The quiet bits would be just as 'solid', sonically, as the quiet bits but would still have a 'quiet' feel.
So, when Vera's records came on the radio, particularly in clubs, bars, noisy workplaces, the noisy cars of the day, then her songs were heard much better than all the rest....voile! A Hit career.
I was amazed to hear, from Vera's lips, today, that she never knew that! She did tell me that she insisted on being at the 'mix' after each session and also she insisted on attending every sound check, world-wide, to make sure that her vocal sound was the best available...amazing!
Vocal performance makes a Hit Record:
She also gave me chapter and verse on the fact that it is the 'performance' of the vocal that makes a hit record...not all the mucking about with the music before and after that 'magic' performance. She told me that she always understood that fact and always considered that the orchestration was just there to 'frame' her performance. I smiled and wondered had she read 'How To Make A $Million From Your Music'? The same thought is echoed in everything Celine Dion says.
The crazy thing is that my latest 'FREEBIE' for new members of 'The Serious Writers Guild' is a stunning report on mastering. It covers all the points on how mastering can make a demo into a HIT. Called 'So You're Thinking of Mastering'...it is a free gift, from me, to all new guys when they purchase 'How To Make A $Million From Your Music' at https://secure.mistral.co.uk/makehits/swgappsecure.htm.
So Vera, even in those unfeminist days, was a 'power' in the studio.
"I'm just a person trapped inside a woman's
body."
Elaine
Boosler
The power of proper musical encouragement:
Ian, one of our members in Germany, is fast becoming a highly influential producer over there. Much in demand and earning a tidy fortune from what he enjoys doing...making music. He has the great knack, which I advise you to cultivate, of listening to good advice and actioning it. He has kept closely in touch with me and tweaked his skills by listening to my advice and comment...
Sadly, you will never get this kind of help from Record Companies, Production Companies, Publishing Companies or any of the other music organisations that purport to help guys in our Industry. And I won't even begin to mention the Companies who 'critique' songs and music...Yuck!
So how did we improve his product?
This is typical of the way Ian and I have improved his product...he sent me a red hot production, not to critique or to ask 'What do you think?'...no, just to ask how to improve it.
The track he sent me was: 'I Feel Good', an almost 'clone' of 'Let Me Entertain You'. This is what I replied...listen in, you could learn a lot:
"It's almost great! Gosh, your production techniques have come a long way.
Mind a couple of positive notes? A 'Master' class? Nobody will point out these tiny improvements that can be made on your next production.
When you produce a track that is 'close' to an already hit song ['Let Me Entertain You']...it is extremely difficult to get away from it, if you use the exaggerated chord structure you use in this toon. I know it's difficult to make that genre sound different...but you are 'leaning on it' too much...so Record companies immediately say: 'Robbie Williams' - three years too late. "We've already got a Robbie Williams".
The overall sound is 'thin'...whereas what we aim for is 'fat' but 'hard'. A strange contradiction but very relevant.
The guitar sound:
Your guitar sound could be much bigger..it is exciting and brilliantly played, but extremely 'small'. I almost feel that that is the sound you 'love'...don't get 'precious' with your sound. You want a 'hit' sound not 'your personal' sound. That's the way it is recorded. From an amp? If so, borrow a Marshall Stack [nothing comes even close!]. Mic towards the outside of the best one of the four speakers. Then place a mic. behind the cabinet 1 inch away and a third right up in the corner of the ceiling as far away as possible. Blend the three mics, this is the biggest sound you will ever hear. That is the way the big guys do it. Volume at 'full', by the way. Trail the guitar lead into the control room for ear safety.
My preferred way to record guitar is with the Marshall JMP1 module [again nothing comes anywhere close] also using an aggressive, rack effects module [I use Digitech 256...very 'in yer face'] direct into the recorder in stereo. I would normally use a very 'today' stereo spread programme, similar to that I use on vocal arrangement, giving very identifiable left / right.
Always remember that the huge live guitar sounds that you hear on CD are created live on stage, where the guitar sound is 'leaking' into any open mics on stage..thus it is having a 'Kings Cross' station announcement effect. All the mics are picking up different images at different Millisecond delay times. So we strive to emulate that effect in the studio. I have seen 'the big guys' place an amp at the end of an echoing hallway and put ten mics. at different distances from the amp! Duane Eddie used to climb into a huge empty oil tank with his amp to create his sound.
The vocals should be much 'bigger':
The vocals, likewise are 'very small'. The lead vocal is good [a bit unaffected for today's market, with no effects 'tricks']. The B/V's, I nearly said vocal arrangement...you're getting close, are extremely un blended. You really shouldn't hear individual voices, which you can on this track. Whoever is recording the B/V's should be instructed to sing in such a way as they cannot hear themselves within the mix of all the voices...if they can, then it is not blended. When I sing B/V's, if I 'hear' the voice I am working on then it is 'wrong', I listen to the 'sound' not the voices....BLEND!!!!!
Think 'Destiny's Child'. Can you hear any individual voices on their records? Of course, compression will always help to squash the voices together....the simple and inexpensive Behringer Composer is almost an industry standard for this job today.
Three tracks of each line is what is needed today. That would mean 9 tracks, minimum, of three part, or twelve tracks, minimum, of four part. The track I mixed last night had 42 tracks of vocal arrangement! Did it sound good? You bet. Also, use a left / right stereo spread programme on the vocals with a shallow chorus built in...that way the B/V's are only heard on the left and on the right with a great 'hole' in the middle. Also, always have a 'timed' echo hanging about in the background...so you hardly notice, except when the music stops....EVERY great 'today' record has that effect on...EXCEPT YOURS?
The B/V's sounded 'scrappy'...not precise enough for a finished 'chart' record. Spend the time on accuracy, but don't sacrifice 'performance'. Aim for 'fun' and 'enjoyment' coming down the microphone lead. This is where Robbie scores, every time. He has fun etched all the way through his records...even the ballads. Always get your vocalists to 'smile' when they sing...stunning difference.
Whenever you have a acappella section, always have a driving 4 in a bar solo kick. Gives that huge 'live' feel for this kind of track.
All in all...you are getting too close for comfort.
Bl**dy good!"
And finally:
Guys, I think by reading that 'encouragement' will give you a feel of where your music should be going. If you are a straight songwriter, then please understand that you still have to think this way. You have to write and design a toon that can have all the vocal stuff built into it...it is not good enough, today, to just write a simple melody and expect everyone to swoon over it...no, you have to write a HIT PRODUCTION...not just a 'toon'.
"It is better to
keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool
than to open it
and remove all doubt."
Mark Twain
Dec
"I shot an arrow
into the air, and it stuck."
graffiti, in Los
Angeles
Never mix business with pleasure.
An old phrase, but so true. Don't ever think that Charlie, your pal, is going to drive you to the important 'gig of your life' on Sunday. He, more than likely, will call, Sunday morning, to say his mother is sick, his cat has dies, he has to scratch his b*m tonight. You see 'ordinaries', as we call those not steeped in the 'real' Show Business, have no idea of the importance of the gig, they think you are just enjoying yourself...having fun, so that party, they were suddenly invited to, is infinitely more important than your career.
If you want a driver, pay one...that way he will be there, on time, sober, properly dressed and he will call you 'Sir'. [or 'Madam'!]
Gag of the Week: I must ask you guys to stop sending gags....oh no I won't! You seem to enjoy them too much.
"So
I rang up my local swimming baths. I said 'Is that the local
swimming baths?'
He said 'It depends where you're calling from.'"
"So I rang up a local
building firm, I said 'I want a skip outside
my house.'
He said 'I'm not
stopping you.'
One Moment with Stuart Goldsmith
"What we call an 'evil' person is really someone who habitually, chronically, and probably subconsciously, uses anti-life strategies in an attempt to gain pro-life values."
the website of my good friend - Stuart Goldsmith
=====================================================
SPONSOR
Stand by for a major announcement from
'The Serious Writers Guild' at MAKEHITS
this week....plus a great free competition.
============================================================
Heard enough, want to apply to join 'The Serious Writers Guild' and receive the award winning ten month program: "How To Make A $Million From Your Music" now?
"as secure as when you buy in your local shop"
I am so confident in the quality of the materials I offer, that if you are not happy at anytime in your WHOLE LIFE with the product then just mail me and ask for a complete, no-quibble, courteous refund! I mean it! Your payment will be returned promptly and courteously and you will OWE NOTHING. In fact, as a complimentary gift from me, I'll even let you keep all the releases that will make your business EXPLODE WITH SUCCESS - totally free of charge.
This is not only a guarantee - it's a personal promise. There's no catch, and there's no risk - I personally take ALL the risk.
We never advertise - I know and you know that songwriters/musicians tend to know a lot of other songwriters/musicians. If you sign up today and you introduce others to this program, I'm going to give you a full 35% commission on the $277 sale price for any of your friends who join. This means you could get the full cost of the program back AND make a profit within your very first month as a member - and thereafter it's pure profit for you. This money can help finance your music career, help pay off debts, or WHATEVER! I only want you to recommend this program to others if you seriously mean it.
When you sign up I'll tell you EXACTLY how to go about recommending this program to others and receiving your commissions - in fact, it's all a completely automatic process and I'll give you everything you need to get started!
Heard enough, want to apply now?
"as secure as when you buy in your local shop"
On the secure page you can pay any way you feel comfortable and secure. The easy way is to pay us on our secure server with your card, but you can also pay by check, money order, or email transfer. You can even pay monthly by card....no problem.. just go to 'choose the product you require' and select the monthly payments option.
That works out at the equivalent of just $29.70 a month for a value of at least $750,000 over a ten month period, and it's all 100% risk-free with our iron-clad LIFETIME guarantee - you can't lose!
If you prefer 'Clickbank' for secure purchase just click on the logo:
[As members of The Data Protection Society your details will never be given to ANYONE]
To pay by any other method please check out the payment methods on the secure page. Any queries re payment just contact me directly. I'll get back in touch with you within hours: mailto:dec@makehits.com?subject=Urgent! Alternative Payment Request from MakeHits.com
For your further protection, we are recognised by British Actors Equity.
Sign up now or risk losing the place to someone else. The number of places is strictly limited so act now, today.
For your complete
privacy and protection 'The Serious Writers Guild' is proud to be registered
with the Data Protection Society Reg. number Z5952061. We never share your
details with anyone.
http://www.makehits.com/220702oneminarchive.htm -- Revised: 2002-12-05
Copyright © 2002 MAKEHITS. All rights reserved.
Maintained by: makehits.webmaster@makehits.com