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The widest read, 'delivered to your Email box', weekly music Ezine on the Music Net.
The Archive - '2'
A FREE service from 'The
Serious Writers Guild' at MAKEHITS.COM
Written by Dec Cluskey with a little bit of help from his friends.
This Email first mailed to all Members of 'The Serious Writers Guild' and subscribers to 'One Minute With Dec' on
18 Sept 05
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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-]
"Always
read stuff that will make you look good if you
die in the middle of it."
Danny Taddei
MENU:
"Three years ago I was just a Management accountant working for the Post Office (going nowhere fast). Now I am a Financial Director [!!!!! whoopee] for a commercial company. Talk about increase in earning potential! And Dec my good man, that is all down to your course changing my life -thank you.
Colin Timpson"
The Song WriterEdward sat in his office and didn't even open his mail - he had someone else to do this for him. He wouldn't even realize that the quarterly BMI royalty check arrived in the mail, except for the fact that his secretary said, "The BMI Check was a little smaller this quarter, it was only $145,000.00." Well he has hundreds of hit tunes out there earning him royalties and every time the tune is "performed" by a play on the radio, silver screen or Vegas night club, he earns a few pennies for being a part writer on these tunes. When his four yearly checks from BMI come in, along with mechanical royalty checks from sales, they will total nearly $1.5 million. His last name is Holland.The song writer is, by far, paid much better for his/her efforts compared to other music professionals. Laws of the land actually set the rate that songwriters will be paid for each copy manufactured and distributed by the record company. This rate, called the "statutory rate" is currently just over 8 cents per copy sold and this amount is reviewed and adjusted (upward) on a periodic basis. The writer has virtually no "charge backs" against these royalties for recording or distribution costs, meaning that the song writer earns money from the first record sold.It gets better than that. By law, the song writer is due compensation every time the song is performed. This "performance" can be the playing of a recording over the air or its use in a concerts, movies, etc. This compensation is often referred to as "airplay" royalties but really encompasses any performance of the song. With a popular song this revenue can easily exceed the dollar amount of royalties paid off of record sales.Bob Dennis [reproduced from a freely available page on the Net]
So you are selling your music?Much of a decision about whether or not to buy from you comes within seconds of meeting you and long before you have a chance to open your mouth and say your first words.In order to create a powerful persona you need to check several areas. First, take a look at your clothes, go beyond the basics like freshly shined shoes and pressed clothes. Ask yourself if your hairstyle is current (note, if it is over 3 years old, it is probably out of date whether you are a man or a woman). If you’ve gained or lost more than 10 pounds in the past year and haven’t had your clothing altered or updated they will not give you a powerful first impression. Are you dressed at the right level? You should dress at least as well as the CEO of the company you are selling to or one step better. But dressing is just the first step, there are at least a dozen other areas that you must consider.Simply by making those small changes to your current presentation will increase your persuasive quotient instantly. If people are going to judge you by what they see, be sure that they see your very best package first.Dave Lakhani is the author of Persuasion: The Art Of Getting What You Want.
Go to www.makehits.com/testimonials.htm also www.makehits.co.uk/applause.htm for stories that will amaze you and fill you full of hope for YOUR future.]
====================="I was nominated for a BACS Composer of the year award 2004 in conjunction with BBC Radio 3 listeners." Phil Lawrence
"I've learned....
That there's nothing sweeter than sleeping with your babies and feeling their breath on your cheeks."
Charts:
USA [my thanks to Charles in the USA for supplying this]
(1) Gold Digger, Kanye West Featuring Jamie Foxx [Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam]
(2)
Shake It Off, Mariah Carey [Island]
(3)
Like You, Bow Wow Featuring Ciara [Columbia]
UK
Gentle change in all charts and the top of the UK chart is still occupied by the track will soon become ever so 'twee'.
Yes, The Pussycat Dolls make it three weeks at the summit this week, once again all their nearest challengers just not being equal to the task of deposing the sextet from the top. What almost certainly has helped 'Don't Cha' is that it is something of a grower. Whilst at first we may have bemoaned the understated nature of the chorus and the slightly formulaic production, after a while you begin to appreciate the hidden depths of the track - in short it becomes more and more worthy of a long run at the top, which I'm delighted to say is just what it is managing. For the moment anyhow. But just wait!
The
highest new entry of the week is well, different to say the least. Kanye West's
new album 'Late Registration' has already spawned a Top 10 hit single in the
shape of July's 'Diamonds From Sierra Leone' and has already been in the shops
for four weeks. Its second single turns out to be far and away his biggest smash
hit to date, entering with a bang at Number 2.
"I've
learned....
That when you harbour bitterness, happiness will dock elsewhere."
Subscriber's Section:
A good question from a long time member. He has learned so much but still falls into the trap of:
"Dec
Which mic. is best for me?
G*****"
My Reply:
G*****
As with most guys you misunderstand the way that mics. react and
take in sound.
The sound is not created by the microphone...the microphone only takes in what 'it hears'. So, provided a microphone is full frequency, then it will take in, accurately, the sound presented to it.
Differing mics. have ever so slightly different response in the varying frequencies. Usually, a good mic. will have a frequency graph with it so that you can see which frequencies it exaggerates and which it diminishes...thus each mic. will give a 'unique' sonar pattern. The high grade condenser mics. are generally total flat in response through the frequencies and the frequency capabilities stretch right up to say 20,000HZ...thus they have an indefinable 'transparency' in their response.
Condenser mics. also are 'powerful', in that they will pick up from a much greater distance without degrading the sound. Dynamic and ribbon mics. sound great close in [proximity factor] but quickly lose that quality in the first six inches away. Or even half inch to the side! So they are useful when you don't want extraneous sounds and noises on the recording or live performance [useful for live gigging, TV and a studio with other musicians present.]
I don't want to get into detail here..and that is enough about the mics.
What you need to concentrate your brain on is the fact that the mic. will pick up the 'reflections' in the room. That is called the 'ambience'. So a brick walled room will have a hard edgy sound to it. The vocal will be affected by this as the voice will reflect off the walls and add the reflections to the sound recorded...you cannot get rid of those reflections.
A glass or mirrored room, or marble floored room will give a brittle sound to everything [Phil Collins drum sound?].
So, what you need is:
Get rid of the reflections by (a) totally sound deadening all the surfaces (b) ensuring that there are no 'parallel' surfaces (c) ensuring there are no right angle corners. This is easily achieved, at tiny cost, by just thinking about it in a logical manner.
Using the mic. as close to the sound source [with vocals, the mouth] as possible....get yourself the best pop shield you can afford ['Popper Stoppers' from Studiospares are Industry Standard]
Ensure the vocalist remains in a constant position in relation to the mic. [beware that horrendous habit of cabaret singers pulling the mic. away for the high notes....drives you mad in a studio...or live, for that matter]
Record all vocals at the highest possible DB level on the meters without distortion [this uses the maximum number of 'bits' in digital recording]
SM58 [standard or Beta for extended frequency range] - the reasonably priced AKG D880, are the best dynamic mics. and are workhorses that will take care of almost any close miking situation.
The Stagg MC7 condenser mic. is my favourite low cost high quality mic. for those stunning vocals, acoustic guitar and percussion tracks. But you need a mixer or recorder that will give 'phantom power' for this mic. Mic. available from Guitar Amp and Keyboard Centre...talk to Sanjib and mention my name...details in 'Uncle Dec's Lil' Instruction Book'.
If you have more money to spend I can recommend the Shure KSM27 as a sensational 'full' condenser mic. currently my favourite.
You will find that for most applications a separate recording room is a nuisance [I don't use one]. It is much cosier [and quicker] to adopt a 'singing in the control room' situation...but then you have to follow all my detail on making sure of no hums etc. in the control room. Any equipment with fans need to be in a separate room....some of the Hard Disc Recorders have an automatic fan shut down when the record button is pressed.
So there you have it.
There
is a mountain of this information, in detail, in 'One Minute With Dec - The Annual'
plus the TWO Interactive audio CD's. www.makehits.co.uk/annual.htm
Regards
'Mad About Music' the seminar on CD and CDrom is now ready....Dec at his best! Check out http://www.makehits.com/madaboutmusic.htm or call 01323.728005 [+44.1323.728005]
"They who give have all things; they who withhold have nothing" Hindu Proverb
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 or call +44 (0)1323.728005
Finish===========
============================================
The gags: [one for the ladies?]
A lady walks
into a drug store and tells the pharmacist she needs some cyanide. The
pharmacist said, "Why in the world do you need cyanide? The lady then
explained she needed it to poison her husband.
The pharmacist's eyes got big and he said, "Lord, have mercy - I can't give
you cyanide to kill your husband! That's against the law! I'll lose my license,
they'll throw both of us in jail and all kinds of bad things will happen!
Absolutely not, you CANNOT have any cyanide!"
The lady reached into her purse and pulled out a picture of her husband in bed
with the pharmacist's wife.
The pharmacist looked at the picture and replied: "Well, now. You
didn't tell me you had a
prescription."
============================================
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