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'One Minute With Dec'

The widest read, 'delivered to your Email box', weekly music Ezine on the Music Net.

The Archive - '2'

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Written by Dec Cluskey with a little bit of help from his friends.

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This Email first mailed to all Members of 'The Serious Writers Guild' and subscribers to 'One Minute With Dec' on

21 April 04

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'One Minute With Dec'

"My Emails Are Written With Good Humour And Should Be Read With A Smile"

[-The views of any contributor to 'One Minute with Dec' are not necessarily the views of Dec Cluskey-]

"Truth - Accuracy - with no Flannel....that is our promise here at 'The Serious Writers Guild'.
But we cannot vouch for the contributions of others...
Please alert us to inaccuracies and help us maintain our high standards."
Clive Sanderson [legal dept. Serious Writers Guild] clivesanderson@makehits.com

"Failure seldom stops you; what stops you is fear of failure"
jack lemmon

Our biggest show this year to date?

What a concert with my band last night.....BIC....Bournemouth International Centre on the South coast of England. Gorgeous venue and a stomping 4,000 audience all there to see Mois! And my brother of course. Big stages really take it out of you. The energy we expel in a two hour concert is phenomenal. I was kn*ckered!

We have always been a big stadium band...so we love the 'size'.

But hey, a great night....the audience were clapping at the first note of music and they spent the two hours on their feet....quite unbelievable. I always feel that it shows that everything I teach and advise works! Particularly in 'The Art of Live Performing' ten month audio program which is taking Show Business by storm...all the tricks and know how that I give to performing guys work with a vengeance...as proved last night.

Watch out UK performers:

I just got news, today, that there are major changes on the way re. the relationship between agents and artists in the UK. A little sketchy at the moment [I will get the correct detail].

Basically, artists will be forced to have complete public liability insurance [get it free from Equity or MU]. Agents will be obliged to hold a copy of that insurance policy for inspection.

Agents will no longer be able to accept fees on behalf of artists. The cheques and payments will go directly to the artists. Some artists will applaud that, but sadly a lot of agents will go out of business. Artists are notorious for slow payment of commission...and even non-payment! So, agents client accounts will be a thing of the past.

PAT testing [Portable Appliance Test] will be strictly enforced and agents again will be obliged to hold a copy of the certificate for each artist.

Bureaucracy gone mad?

The UK Government are employing an army of 5,000 new bureaucrats to police these measures and agents tell me that they will have to take on extra staff to comply with these requirements. Result? Most agents will now charge 20% to cover the extra costs.....crazy stuff!

How about this for success?

Since I started doing everything you recommend, I can't write as fast as the good ideas and music keeps "presenting" itself. Randy Beck

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I look forward to my next instalment of the course, I really need the bit about setting up your own publishing co. I have learnt so much in only one month, more than at Uni for 3 years, apart from the practical becoming a pianist bit!

Best wishes to you and thanks again. Sheena Munro

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It's wonderful, empowering and full of excellent business sense, thank goodness. I have no doubt that I will be plying you with a million questions as I progress! Your personal approach to helping others is epitomises generosity and grace. Others should learn from your example (key role in a feature film lined up for later this year - so the SWG magic is working).
.
Now I realize that until the pros tell you you wouldn’t know. I understand this help very much, you are the greatest. I am doing an 80% better job at music now. Thank you so Much. Quincy Ellis
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Anyways, we are continuing the negotiations about our first record contract and partly because of you. I want to get a decent first deal.

Best regards! -Ari
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I put into practice presenting myself differently and people said that I had changed (except my wife !). A female friend told me she adored me and I was chatted up by a gay man! Simon Taylor

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Hi Dec,

I just wanted to say thank you ever so much for all the advice in your demo consultation service.
Yes I did feel like throwing darts at a Dec Cluskey photo, but at the same time I knew your comments, tips, and knowledge were spot on.

Cheers Gary Brookes

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Just a note to say what a pleasure it is reading info from you. You do a great job. Anyway like I said I just wanted to thank you for the great info you have provided to me. Talk to you soon.

Jim Morris....Oceanside, California
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I thought I knew an awful lot about the music business and had doubts about your course. However, it has revised & updated my knowledge more than
significantly and truly put me back in touch.

Thanks again - and see you there! Best regards Ric Holland
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Hi Dec,

Your piece last week regarding producer's royalties was very timely - thank you!

Your One Minutes with Dec are really enjoyable - they are not only entertaining but always informative. Thank you!

Kind regards Virginia Irving

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I can now see that it will take the time you said to make the changes. They're working already I hope. I've been reading Pete Waterman's autobiography, and he seems to follow your ethos in it all?
Cheers, Franc Sutherland.

A Lyric writing tool:

Hi Dec,

Id like to share a helpful songwriting tool with everyone. www.lexfn.com

You give it a word or two, and it will not only find rhyming words, but
word associations, and a shed load of other information!

I typed in the word "songs" and it gave me over 100 related words,
rhyming, phrases, etc.

As for your site and emails, im sure i dont have to tell you how useful
they are in becoming a star, and in general! Thanks,

Andy Farmer

Did I annoy a 'demo consultation' guy?

Brian has just listened to the CD of comments that I recorded, in critiquing his latest stuff.

Hi Dec..... I just finished hearing your observations on my submission to your Demo Consulting Service. I appreciated your advice for the following reasons.

First, your observations were bruisingly straightforward, but useful. You know your trade and craft well.

Second, after I finished listening I immediately felt like going back to work.

Third, it comes through that you take a personal interest in your work, and that is motivating.

Thank you again, I received more than I expected. Brian Gattermaier

The key is not dismissing, but digesting.

I get so many Emails expressing hatred for various genres of music, particularly Chart Pop. I am lucky that I find something in every piece of music, in fact every piece of reading, every experience I have....so I love this little piece....it says it all:

When we dismiss people and ideas because the entire world doesn't agree with them, we get to be right. But we also get to stay empty inside. By dismissing what could work, we dismiss our own growth. We dismiss what's possible.

It doesn't matter if the book you read and love is loved by anyone else. It doesn't matter if the teacher you admire is admired by anyone else. It doesn't matter if the healing method that worked for you doesn't work for everyone else.

What matters is you. Your happiness. Your health. Your healing. Your well-being.

Truth is, no method works for everyone. No teacher is right for everyone. No book is going to inspire everyone.

It all comes from within. You are the first and final authority on your life. Rather than dismissing what is possible so you can be right, what can you accept so you can grow?

Dismissing is often a way to deflect the messages. It's a self-defense mechanism. If you dismiss the book, idea, or method offered to you, you get to be right --- and stay right where you're at.

Every successful person I know has accepted new tools into their lives over the years, spent thousands of dollars on personal growth and self-study, and never regretted any of it.

Charts:

UK

1) "**** It [I don't Want You Back]"........ Eamonn [Will the 'reply' make it so big? I wonder!]

2) "My Band" ....... D12
3) "In The Shadows" ........ Rasmus

USA

1) "Yeah!" Usher Featuring Lil Jon & Ludacris
2) "I Don't Wanna Know" Mario Winans Featuring Enya & P. Diddy

3) "Tipsy" J-Kwon

AUSTRALIA

1) "Yeah" ..... Usher Featuring Lil Jon & Ludacris
2) "Suga Suga" .... Baby Bash

3) Left Outside Alone ..... Anastacia [great track!]

A chart observation:

Eamonn makes it to No 1 with a single the title of which I can't tell you for fear of getting my wrist slapped. It's been at No 1 in the US for six weeks, though, so it comes with pedigree. His album makes a less stellar entry, settling in at No 34. The American RnB star's single notches up an impressive total of 33 cuss words, so the radio version probably sounds like one long beep. Will the reply by supposed ex girlfriend make it as big? Great idea though.

Meanwhile there's very little new stuff on the album chart but jazzy Canadian crooner Diana Krall is the latest benficiary of the smooth jazz craze that's leading album sales at the moment. Elvis Costello's wife enters at No 4 with 'The Girl in the Other Room'.

Agnetha Falkstog makes her first return to the singles charts in ages and ages. Her solo single, the snappily titled 'If I thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind', just misses out on the top 10, but it's nice to have her back, isn't it?

Watch out for Daniel Beddingfield's kid sister....Not released yet, but interesting material. Natasha Beddingfield.

Music/Show Biz News:

Barbra Streisand: Conservatives will be singing the blues early next year if this music superstar has anything to say about it. She plans to hold a fundraiser, possible at her Malibu estate, that will benefit John Kerry's run for the White House. Streisand also plans to sing for her guests. If this doesn't land her on Bush and Cheney's "leaders to overthrow" short list, nothing will.

Madonna: If reports from the Hollywood Reporter are correct, material mom may have to float a loan from a friend to buy her next material. Her record label, Maverick, has lost $66 million since 1999 and Warner Music may try to use legal means to take over Maverick because Warner lawyers claim that Madonna's company owes them over $90 million. It's an odd legal tale because Madonna's personal record label is Warner Music. She recently filed a $200 million lawsuit against the company that accuses it of mismanagement and improper accounting. This bad marriage may be ready for a nasty end.

Sheryl Crow: Speaking of odd marriages, how about Crow's new gig for United Airlines and Sony Connect. She will perform live on a May 4 United flight from Chicago to Los Angeles in order to help the companies launch a new program between Sony Connect and United that enables United Mileage Plus members to earn and redeem Mileage Plus miles for music at Sony's future online music site, connect.com. Don't call your travel agent just yet. The flight will only carry passengers invited by the companies involved in the unique promotion.

Check out a Member's latest release? Click it now? Then come back.

Hi
The collaboration between Harry Williams and Mudijong seems to be a success. The new ep is available from www.mundijong.com or the Solarise Records site.
The new compilation by Solarise is excellent also.
Regards
Harry Williams

Subscribers Section:

"Hi Dec
I got the EMT-10 what a piano patch! What a steal at £30 any other cracking advice like that is welcome. Could I trouble you for some tips on space in the mix...i.e do you know how the get the effect of making something sound miles away in the mix?

Thanks N***

My Reply:

Easiest way to get space in a mix is to understand the logic of the 'garden'.

A good garden is where each plant, shrub, tree, sits in it's own space to be admired. No one item crowds another.

This is a logic understood and much discussed among great gardeners and great producers [I hope you got the 'Behind the Glass' book, it's full of those discussions].
It is achieved by selecting samples, sounds, instruments, voices of differing frequency, so, like the garden none interfere with the other. Each sound is in it's own space [Dr Dre is the best current example of this]. A symphony orchestra is made up of instruments of differing frequencies so they are all heard individually.

In the case of broad band sounds, like kick drums, then the trick is to 'dip' out the frequency that the bass will be in, so that the bass will fill the frequency dipped out of the kick. This is the principle involved, of course it is a subject, and a skill, that has got to be learned first, then analysed, examined, practiced and used.

I always point 'would be' producers to the 'TOTO' albums, which showed this technique off to a 't'.

Making a sound disappear back into the speakers is exactly the opposite of getting sounds to jump out of the speakers.

Picture a trumpet playing far away from a microphone. It will lose all it's 'timbre'. In other words the bottom frequencies will disappear [think of a fanfare in St Paul's Cathedral]. Equalisers [tone controls] were invented by the BBC to counteract this phenomenon on radio. That is why they are called 'equalisers'.

Also - the instrument will pick up all the ambience of the environment on the way to the microphone. [St Paul's again].

This again is the reason we use 'pre-delay' - so that we can have the sound close up to the speakers but have reverb added to the pre delay....thus, in theory, the sound should not disappear backwards.

So to get a far away impression:

Fader down
Take away low frequencies
Add large hall or cathedral reverb with no predelay.

Of course, it goes without saying that you must have the sound in a frequency that will be heard - as the top paragraphs...otherwise you won't hear it at all.

Regards

DEC dec@makehits.co.uk

"When I write a song it's like a child to me"

elton john

Regards

Dec

You may use any part of this 'One Minute' in your own publications...we simply require you to add:

Start ============

'One Minute With Dec' is written each week by Dec Cluskey. Dec's advice?

Get in touch personally to discuss what you want to achieve in music dec@makehits.com

web: www.makehits.com

Finish===========

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The gags [Brilliant....from Willy Foux]

A Charlotte, NC, lawyer purchased a box of very rare and expensive cigars, then insured them against fire among other things. Within a month,
having smoked his entire stockpile of these great cigars and without yet having made even his first premium payment on the policy, the lawyer filed
claim against the insurance company.

In his claim, the lawyer stated the cigars were lost "in a series of small fires." The insurance company refused to pay, citing the obvious reason: that the man had consumed the cigars in the normal fashion.

The lawyer sued...and won!

In delivering the ruling the judge agreed with the insurance company that the claim was frivolous. The Judge stated nevertheless, that the lawyer
held a policy from the company in which it had warranted that the cigars were insurable and also guaranteed that it would insure them against
fire, without defining what is considered to be unacceptable fire, and was obligated to pay the claim.

Rather than endure lengthy and costly appeal process, the insurance company accepted the ruling and paid $15,000 to the lawyer for his loss of the rare cigars lost in the "fires."

NOW FOR THE BEST PART... After the lawyer cashed the check, the insurance company had him arrested on 24 counts of ARSON!!!! With his own
insurance claim and testimony from the previous case being used against him, the lawyer was convicted of intentionally burning his insured property and was sentenced to 24 months in jail and a $24,000 fine.

This is a true story and was the 1st place winner in the recent Criminal Lawyers Award Contest.

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How to set up a Demo consultation with Dec?

The Professional service the Professionals use. Even available for voice and guitar!

Simply get in touch by Email - click this link: demo@makehits.co.uk and tell me that you want to send your material for a full critique and appraisal. We will then send you a unique PIN number to put on your letter or Jiffy Bag. This will ensure you get immediate attention. This is also for security reasons. We do not open unsolicited Jiffy Bags.

For full details click on this link: www.makehits.co.uk/demo.htm

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