Band Assist - Help Your Music Grow

Important Announcement!! We've Moved

2011-09-02T08:33:00.000-07:00

Hi All

As a lot of you noticed we have been pretty quiet over the last few weeks and now we can reveal why! We have changed our name and website but don't worry you will still get all of the tips, advices, articles and newsletters you got before and more. We are still the number 1 resource for unsigned bands and band promotion on the internet!

We are now called Unsigned Alliance and can be found at www.unsignedalliance.com - Don't worry as a member of Band Assist you are now a member of the Unsigned Alliance. So pop over and let us know what you think! www.unsignedalliance.com

This new site will have a blog built into it and will be updated daily so make sure you check it out!

Please let us know if you want a review or need any assistance with your act or music

see you at www.unsignedalliance.com

Band Chemistry

2011-08-26T10:11:00.000-07:00

Band Chemistry
Here are a few top tips to help with your band. Getting this bit right makes everything else far easier. Battle the world, not each other!

Quick Advice
Pick your band members wisely (the easiest way to avoid bad band chemistry)
Talent isn't everything. Sounding good is only half the battle - you need to gel as a band. If you're having fun together, the audience will feel it. If the guitarist and singer can't stand each other, the crowd will pick up on that, too. You might be able to fake your way through it, but you better be great at it. Otherwise, your audience won't respond well.

Know your goals.
If you each know what you want out of the band, you'll have a lot less problems. If you agree on what you want (just playing locally versus becoming world famous versus something in between) then you're all set. But what if the drummer loves playing shows, the singer desperately wants to be famous, and the bassist is just hoping to pick up a date? Well, now you know that your drummer will say yes to any kind of tour, the singer will want to tour in big cities, and the bassist will want big crowds and post-show mixers. Know what will make everyone happy, and go for it.

Let go of the egos.
Just because it's your idea, doesn't mean it's the best one. Be flexible - especially with the minor stuff. Does it really matter if the guitarist wants to move the third song on the set list up a spot? Be civil to each other, and try not to take anything too personally. Remember, you are in this to have fun, right?

Know when to cut your losses.
If someone in your band isn't working out, know when to say goodbye. Don't avoid it because no one wants to be the bad guy. Draw straws if you have to, or approach it together, but take care of it. It's always better than the alternative - practices becoming further apart until one day you realize you broke up without knowing it.

Have fun.
It will solve virtually any problem.

Buying a PA system advice

2011-08-24T07:36:00.000-07:00

Buying a PA System advice

The P.A (public address) system is the most expensive and important part of the professional singers equipment.

It should be said at this stage that you can invest in the best and most expensive equipment but if you don't learn to sing properly you will have wasted your money.No equipment in the world can compensate for someone who has not had singing lessons and learned how to sing properly.
Before we go any further it should be noted that a p.a. system is only as good as the weakest link. What do I mean by this statement?Well, if you buy an expensive amplifier but connect it to cheap speakers, the sound will only be as good as the cheap speakers and vice versa.
The same can be said for having an expensive p.a. system and then using a cheap microphone, the sound quality will only be as good as the the microphone can produce and the same can be said for all parts of the system including connection leads.

Some venues will have their own in-house p.a. system however as a professional singer it is your responsibility to supply a p.a. system adequate for the job.The type of p.a. system depends on whether you are self contained (working solo and using backing tracks) or working with a band where the p.a. system may only have to contend with the your vocals going through it.

There are numerous makes and prices for p.a. systems and the best way to be educated on what is required, is to visit you local musical instrument shop for their advice and it is always advisable to spend as much as possible on the equipment.To give you some knowledge so that you will have an idea of what to look for, lets look at the different parts of the p.a. system.
AmplifierThe amplifier is what amplifies the sound from the mixer and sends it to the speakers so that the audience can hear the music.The amount of power which they can produce is measured in 'amps',and most are stereo (they have both left and right outputs).The power output required depends on the size of the room and the amount of people and what is being amplified i.e.: vocals only, vocals and backing music or vocals and band.

Lets take a small venue which holds 100 people and it's a self contained act (singer using backing tracks).An amplifier with an output of 500W would be sufficient.It is advisable to have the most powerful amplifier available as this will allow for plenty of headroom and be less likely to be overdriven and cause distortion.

Mixer

The mixer is where we connect the equipment we want to hear coming from the sound (PA) system and to balance the volume, EQ (bass and treble) and any effects such as reverb, echo etc. Mixers come with various amounts of channels and controls depending on needs and price.For a solo singer using backing tracks a four-channel mixer would be sufficient. Channels one and two could be used for the backing track player (panned left and right to give a stereo sound), channel three would be for the microphone, leaving channel four as a spare channel.Some mixers come with a built in amplifier thus lessening the need for more cables.

Speakers

The speakers used should be of as good a quality as the rest of the equipment, should be sat on speaker stands at height of at least 6ft 6in (2m).The speakers total impedance should never be lower than that of the minimum impedance of the amplifier and should have a lesser output in amps than the amplifier.I would recommend 15in speakers if they are being used full range (not in conjunction with bass bins).

Microphone and leads

There are numerous microphones on the market and they are all dependent on budget and preference but for someone new to professional performing there is none better to get you started than the shure sm58 microphone.It is industry standard, still used by some of the worlds top performers and is reasonably priced.You should always have good quality leads which should be wound up carefully at the end of the gig in order that they don't get damaged.They should also be taped to the floor where necessary, to prevent anyone tripping and causing damage to either themselves or the equipment.Spare leads and microphone should always be carried in case of breakdowns and a circuit protection plug should be used to plug into the mains for safety.

Band Gig Tips

2011-08-22T11:06:00.000-07:00

Whether you’re in a new band just starting out or an experienced musician familiar with the scene, you will always take something away from every gig you play. If could be something that didn’t go as planned that you will know not to try at the next gig, something that was a huge crowd pleaser that will definitely make a reappearance, or something as simple as your own personal set of rituals that gets you and your band ready for each show.

Below are a number of helpful tips and suggestions to keep in mind at your next gig. Whether you play the guitar or the violin, these are all good general things for any musician to know, and could also help your next big show to run a little bit smoother.

Music Stand: This is for those of us that have set lists and key structures written out. The music stand is better than picking all your guitar tabs and sheet music up of the floor after they fall off of your amp.

Instrument stand: I can't even count the times that my guitarist kept forgetting his, he'd prop up his electric guitar and I would watch it fall across the amp after just a few minutes...oh well, save your own instrument. If you want to avoid potential costly damage, be sure to invest in a sturdy instrument stand.

Ear plugs: For obvious reasons, ear plugs are a necessity for anyone that plays an excessively loud instrument such as an electric guitar, bass guitars or the drums, as well as anyone in close proximity to any such instrument on stage.

At the Gig: Don't drink excessively or dope up. It shows in your playing and your professionalism or lack thereof.
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Practice: Be courteous. Send a flier to the neighbors letting them know what time and when you practice ... so if there is a problem they don't call the cops first, they call you.

Band Politics: The band sits at a round table - no egos, everyone gets a say - democracy - discuss your goals, tunings, who knows what, song dynamics, etc. A happy band is a successful band.

Bring a Towel (or five): To sop up the spilled beer on your amp that your guitarist denies he did. This will also help to keep the stage cleaner and safer for everyone in the band.

Cable: Loop your cable through your amp handle and your strap so it doesn't fall out.

Guitar Picks: Different gauges for anyone in your band who uses one.

Spare Cords and Cables: Oh yeah it worked yesterday why doesn't it work today? BTW, wrap your cords when you are done - the copper wire has a memory.

Spare Microphones: If you sing it is always good to have a back up. There is nothing like watching, in slow motion, a microphone hitting the ground and splitting into pieces.

Tuner: Guaranteed your guitarist thinks he's in tune and everybody else is out.

Extra Batteries: For the tuner (which proves your guitarist wrong) or effects pedals.

Extra bass guitar and guitar strings: Obviously for yourself but even a set of guitar strings. Guaranteed when a guitar string breaks, it's always the high E ... and it's on a Sunday and the music store is closed and the gig is in an hour.

Drum Key: Drummer arrives and can't tune his set, or can't put a new skin on.

Power Strip/Surge Protector: For some reason, clubs always have problems with their power, go figure - too many surges or blown circuit breakers than I care to remember.

Screwdriver: To get into your instrument or amp if there are any problems.

Allen Wrenches: A must have if you want or do any instrument adjustments.

Tubes: For all of you oldies out there.

Fuses: GK amps especially.

Pen/Paper: Whether for a song idea that pops into your head mid-show, or just any random idea you happen to think of, a pen a paper always seen to come in handy.

Crazy Glue: For your fingers or your guitarist's mouth.

Duct Tape: Repairs anything ... also for guitarist ... oh yeah broken drum skins.

Duffel Bag: To carry everything you are secretly supplying.

Spare Cloths: For yourself, not the kinky kind but something that is comfortable for either relaxing in before/after the show, or to change into should you or someone else have an accident with a drink.

Take every suggestion on this list to heart, and you are good to go for your next gig. I know you will feel like a walking hardware store, but trust me you will thank me in the end.

Good Gig Advice

2011-08-19T11:02:00.000-07:00

Get Ready for the Big Gig
So your cool new band has lined up a live show and you're ready to rock the house and become overnight stars. Awesome! But are you sure you're ready for the gig? Are you GOSH DANG sure? Now then, here is some advice as to how to prepare for the big show, so that it doesn't turn into a disaster... READ ON!

Guitarists: The worst thing that can happen during a show is to break a string. You don't want to stop the show to change a string, no. Make sure you always bring a backup guitar to each show! Make sure that guitar is in tune, and is set out on stage (or nearby) with it's own strap and pick, ready to be picked up and played at a moment's notice. If you have two guitarists, they should each bring a backup guitar. Also, you should put new strings on your axe a few days before a big gig - this will cut down on broken strings. Just make sure you play your axe a few times before the show, so that the strings are properly stretched. A big mistake is to restring THE NIGHT of the show - chances are the guitar will go hideously out of tune AT LEAST A FEW TIMES during the set. You should also always carry an extra guitar chord, extra batteries (for your stomp boxes), extra picks, and if you can afford it - an extra set of power tubes for your amp head. You never know when something will go wrong with your gear, but rest assured it WILL HAPPEN eventually... be prepared!

Drummers: It's always a good idea to replace your drum heads occasionally, especially the snare head. Not only will the drums sound better for it, but this will help you avoid busting a drum head during a gig. Bring a couple spare pair of sticks to the show -- we all know how easily they break in the heat of the moment, don't we? Also, at the show do not wait til the last minute to assemble your drums. You should be assembling them while the band going on before you starts playing, if not sooner, so that when it's your time you simply just carry your set up on stage ready to play. Bass players: Well, just make sure you're in tune, dang it! Bass strings don't break that easily, but it's always a good idea to have a spare set with you, and if you have two basses BRING 'EM BOTH! The bass player in a band I was in once broke TWO strings during a show, and he was not prepared. We had to beg for a new string from the other bands... very embarrassing.

Singers: I read in an interview with Don Dokken once, that he'd always drink a shot of whiskey before a concert to lube up his vocal chords. I tried it myself, and IT REALLY WORKS! 'Course, more than one shot may slur your speech. You can also try hot tea with lots of honey... mmmm, good! I recommend drinking your shot 5 minutes before you take the stage and you will sing like an angel.

The whole band: Okay, you're at the show on time to load in, you've tuned up, checked your gear -- all systems are go. Now, you feel like having a few pre-show brewskis... STOP! A couple beers is allright, but DON'T GET DRUNK BEFORE THE SHOW!!! That is, if you want to sound good and have everyone in the band remember how to play the songs... Save the free drink tickets for after you've played. It's also a good idea to get a couple pitchers of water on stage before you play, in case you get thirsty... especially for the drummer and the vocalist. Those stage lights can get pretty hot... Also, it's always a good idea to do some stretches back stage to loosen up before you go on. I always lead my band in jumping jacks, stretches and tai chi before we take the stage. You don't want to pull a muscle while doing a crazy stage maneuver, do ya? Very embarrassing!

Make sure you have SET LISTS for the show, on large (11x17) paper written with a jumbo marker or even better, printed out by a laser printer. Make a copy of the set list for each member of the band.

Drum AND sing?

2011-08-18T11:01:00.000-07:00

Drum and Sing

Drumming and singing is a very hard skill to learn and whilst most drummers have no aspirations to be the next Phil Collins most can be great back up singers. So todays blog comes from a drummer with some tips on mastering this difficult technique.

Recommendations to Enable Simultaneous Singing and Drum Kit Playing:

1). Go to a classical vocal instructor and have your voice evaluated. I took classical vocal lessons for a year to learn the techniques necessary to breath and project without damaging my vocal chords. This also helped me learn how to setup my drum stool for optimum singing and playing posture (I brought my drum throne to each lesson - and my instructor thought I was nuts).

2). As I was taking lessons, I slowly began learning backup harmonies while playing in various bands - but I still didn't drum and sing into the mics.

3). Before I "opened my mouth" officially behind the kit, I found for me, that it was best to get all of my drum parts down "cold" first. I figured this was the case because I wouldn't have to consciously think "too much more" as I added a vocal part into the mix. Heck, we're all already using all of our limbs when we play anyway! We have so much more "going on" then most other musicians!

4). Next, I started learning singing parts "in sections" (and not at a rehearsal). Personally, I would repeat a section of a piece until I know that I was playing smoothly and was singing on pitch. I still find this to be a successful approach. Based on this, I recommend that you don't move on to the next vocal phrase until you've gotten both your drumming and vocal parts down in the previous phrase. Oh, to know whether you're doing everything correctly use a metronome (for time analysis) and a recording device (for pitch). When you like what you hear, move on to the next phrase... and so on.

5). I recommend learning/singing backing vocal parts first. These parts are not as constantly occurring as lead parts, but they still require you attain the right words and notes while others are singing with you. This allows you to gain confidence continually.

6). Use a headset mic for performing if you can. Even the best overhead boom stands are distracting and take up too much space. One of the absolute best headset mics that I've found for drummers is Crown's "CM 311 series" (and I don't work for Crown). This mic is able to reject essentially all drum sounds (including the snare drum) while you sing and play! This is a very unique capability - and a VERY important one

Social Media for Unsigned Bands

2011-08-17T11:15:00.000-07:00

Using Social Media

Social Media is most certainly not a fad, and if all your fans are there, it would seem a pretty good idea for you to be there too. You cannot expect to just create a Facebook or Twitter account and instantly have masses of people following you. You have to interact, be personal, and lure them into your fan page. In this article I’ll share with you three ways you can effectively drive more fans to your social media networks through creating a good first impression, connecting with people who share similar interests, and using video marketing to build hype and personally engage with your fans.

1. Create an Enticing Facebook Landing Page

If Facebook were a country it would be the 4th largest in the World, so you have a free opportunity to share your music on a global scale. People who land on your page want to know about you immediately (the world of social media is an impatient one) so to increase your conversion rate from visitors to fans you should make the first page a visitor lands on as compelling as you can. Thankfully ReverbNation have created an app to make this process a whole lot easier:

Reverb Nation’s Band Profile Tool

ReverbNation just recently upgraded its popular Facebook app, and have integrated some interesting new features to help grow your fan base. The free app incorporates a brand new feature called ‘Fan Boosters’ where you can activate features including ‘require like to access media content,’ ‘require share to for music download’ and require email sign up for music downloads,’ each addressing today’s key social networking goals; getting fans to share, like and subscribe to your content.

This app is also very easy to set up and has a simplistic interface that is easy on the eye. It shows visitors all your releases, upcoming gigs, biography, videos, photos and press quotes, all to give a great first impression to your visitors, compelling them to ‘like’ or ‘share’ your fan page to increase your followers.

2. Connect With People Who Share Similar Interests in Music
Often you will find artists new to social networking following all of their friends or sendingeverybody invites to follow their fan page. One must ask, are they really interested in your music? Rather than adding everyone you know, you want to be connecting and engaging with people who have a genuine interest in your music. Twilert is free web app that enables you to receive email updates containing tweets mentioning any keyword you choose. This is an invaluable tool to help you connect with people who share the same musical interests as yourself, and if you follow them they will most likely give you a follow in return.!

3. Use Live Video Streaming to Personally Engage with your Fans and Build Hype
A lot of big artists are now using live video streams to connect more personally with their fans. By using live video streams it allows your fans to ask questions and share feedback on your music and can be used further as a marketing tool to build hype prior to a release, or even to broadcast a live performance that could possibly attract thousands of users within the live streaming website. To reach the largest audience you can, you should consider becoming a dedicated user of all the top live video streaming sites:

Ustream.tv – ‘Ustream is the leading live interactive broadcast platform. Anyone with an internet connection and a camera can start engaging with their family, friends or fans anytime, anywhere.’

Qik – ‘Qik, the leading mobile video sharing service, lets you record and share the experience with your friends, family and your favorite social networks’

Justin.tv – ‘Justin.tv is the easiest way to create live video and show anyone in the world what’s happening right now. Using only a laptop, you can share your event, class, party or thoughts, live, to anyone in over 250 countries while they chat in real-time with you and with other viewers.’

Vokle – ‘With the Vokle platform you can hold your own live video streaming event in real time right on your own website without directing your watchers and participants to a different website’

Explore each of these three ways in which to expand your fan base using social media comprehensively, and you will see an increase in the amount of relevant followers on each of your social networks, but the size of this increase will be determined by how hard you are willing to work. Go for it!

How to Use Remixes to Grow your Band Fanbase

2011-08-15T10:50:00.000-07:00

One of the most exciting things about new media is the move from people being passive listeners to collaborators by producing content of their own, based on your output. One example of this is a growing trend is for people to offer their music to be remixed. Artists from Gang Of Four to Radiohead to DIY artists such as Brad Sucks and lots of electronic artists have all offered their tracks up to be remixed by their fans.

Remixes are great because they give you a new perspective on your music and allow you to crossover with another artists audience. All you need to do is to get the stems (individual parts from the multitrack) for your songs in a folder on an online hosting site as an archived zip file for people to download (4shared.com seems as good as any). You can either export the stems from your recordings yourself or ask your Producer or Engineer to provide them if you record at a commercial studio. You can then link to the folder from your website/blog/Facebook or Twitter and ask people to start remixing. Remember to let people know what the BPM of the track is, it really helps when people are importing stems into Pro Tools or Logic or any other recording software.

There are also sites like CC Mixter that can host the files for you and have the added bonus of a community of remixers looking for tracks to remix. You can use a general Creative Commons license to allow people to use the stems for non-commercial use (and spread the word about your music). Once you have a few remixes in you can then post them on your blog to show how talented and clever your listeners are. This also gives you something to talk about via Twitter and Facebook and gets people talking about your music.

Remixes are also good to submit to podcasters and can even sometimes get your music on podcasts that don’t cover your usual genre. Its been known for a house remix of a rock tune to get a lot of play and even be used for adverts and films (depending on agreement for commercial use between the the artists and the remixer). This is another opportunity to build your listener base (depending on how tight a hold you want to retain on your music).

Also can you remix other peoples music? You can ask for the stems from other artists, its worth a try and its a brilliant way to build a relationship with an artist if you like their work and to get more exposure for both of you. This works fantastically on a local level

You could even release the best of the remixes as an EP on Bandcamp.This is a lot of new music created with very little work by the artists themselves, but with a lot of engagement from listeners and fans. Regular releases are vital to keep acts in the public eye, the days of one album every 18 months to 2 years are long gone.

Really the key to social media for musicians is to have interesting things to talk about and lots of content to enable you to start conversations and to be social, then hopefully the content will be shared by influential people across Twitter, Facebook, Podcasts and Blogs. Remixes are a great opportunity to start people talking and collaborating.

How to record your band LIVE!

2011-07-09T02:54:00.001-07:00

Recording Live

Recording live music can be one of the most gratifying aspects of being a musician or producer. It is a unique challenge in the world of recording. The key to conquering it is to have an array of techniques ready to be deployed as the situation dictates.

Technology has made this job much easier. Many musicians in this era are turning to digital devices to record their work, due to the ease of use and superior performance. The key here is picking the right one.

A firepod is the most popular choice. Many MP3 players also have recording capability. Anything that can record onto a CD is ideal, but if you prefer to stay purely digital, look into the MP3s. The next step will be to get the proper microphone to connect to it.

You probably want a ribbon microphone for this situation, because a directional mic will often not catch the full spectrum of sounds the band is producing. Directional mics usually focus in one one instrument or the vocals at the exclusion of everything else.

Microphone placement is also vital. You will need many. One for every singer, at least two for the drums, and two on each side of any instrument being played. Place a windscreen between your recorder and the music to filter out unwanted sounds. Since you will be using ribbon microphones, the closer you can get with them the better.

Recording live music can be a headache but with this basic outline your strategy going in will be solid. The key is being able to adapt and grow over time. Nothing replaces experience, especially in this volatile facet of the recording industry.

Improve Your Singing Voice

2011-07-06T11:17:00.000-07:00

Improve your singing voice

Use a slight Irish accent when you sing. Sound weird?! I agree, it does sound a little strange to put on an accent when you sing. But there is a reason for this strange technique.

What would you say if I told you that the Irish accent is the perfect accent for singing? It has a few built-in-functions that allow the voice to release, keeping singing very easy and relaxed. Singing this way will engage only the correct muscles required to sing. The troublesome muscles (that try and interfere with the process) will sit perfectly still.

Here's an example....

If you say the word "Are" with a exaggerated wide mouth, you will feel the muscles under your chin begin to tense up. These are the muscles that you don'twant to play a part in the singing process. Give it a try......really exaggerate the "A" and feel your chin begin to get really tight. Ouch!

But if you say it in an Irish tone, kind of like how a pirate would say "Arrrrrrr matey!" When you say "Arrrrrrr", can you feel how your mouth stays quite narrow and very relaxed? You get this relaxed feeling because the Irish accent prevents the incorrect singing muscles from interfering...

...Good news if you're already Irish!

Use a cry-like-tone when you sing. This technique is used by some of the greatest singers in the world. Next time you hear Michael Jackson, listen to how he places a slight cry at the beginning of each note.

Placing a slight cry underneath your voice will dramatically sweeten your tone quality. It will also allow you to sing with much less vocal tension, making it easier to hit high notes. Such a simple exercise, yet so effective!

You can practice your crying tone by singing "hoooo" as in "Boo Hoo". Try to really exaggerate the crying tone, and feel the ease at which this allows you to produce your tone.

Personally, every word I sing benefits from this crying technique. Not only does it add sweetness to the tone quality, but it adds emotion to the performance as well.

Keep your tone slightly dopey to hold your larynx in a still position.

Your larynx is your "voice box" that sits in your throat. It is a grouping of muscle, cartilage, and ligaments. Inside the larynx are the vocal folds, or vocal chords. These are the muscular folds that vibrate to produce the initial sound. The sound that then passes up into your facial structure becoming amplified by the resonant spaces...

It is very important that the larynx is very stable when you sing. Singing with bad technique seems to engage the muscles that surround the larynx......the outer muscles of the larynx. When this happens, these muscles force the larynx up and down. This makes it incredibly difficult to sing high notes, and it also destroys tone quality. In other words, to sound any good, you must learn to disengage these outer muscles.

Singing with your larynx in a stable, central position is one of the most important singing techniques. When you can do this, you are halfway to singing at speech level ie: singing with the same ease as speaking. Of course, with the technique I just explained, the larynx isn't completely central. Because of the dopey tone, the larynx is a fraction lower than the central position.

As you continue to master this technique though, you can abandon this slight offset. The dopey tone will train the outer muscles of the larynx to relax. Once this is happening, you can reduce the dopey tone until it is completely normal. The larynx, which has now been conditioned to sit still, will not move.

In Summary

Here are the key lessons to remember from these free singing tips.

1) Sing with an Irish accent

2)Use a cry-like-tone to sweeten tone quality

3) Add a dopey tone

Let us know your top singing tips

Bass Player Tips and Advice

2011-07-04T11:06:00.000-07:00

Hello All

Today, we have our resident Bass expert penning some top tips just for you 4-string slingers out there!

Enjoy!

7 Vital Bass Lessons

OK . . . this is going to piss off a few bass players, but I’m just going to say it:

Bass is easy to learn.

Come on bass players, let’s just admit it to ourselves and everyone else. The bass guitar really wasn’t that difficult to figure out, was it?

Unlike guitar players, who had to figure out chords, scales, leads and solos, or drummers who had to figure out how to make their four limbs work together and separately at the same time, we had it pretty easy.

If you could afford a couple quick lessons or had a decent ear, you were off to the races, thump-thumping to your heart’s content.

At its most basic level, bass is a pretty simple instrument. Unless you’re into some weird, freaky-ass jazz fusion kinda shit, you can get away with banging out root eighth notes most of the time. Learn to play the right notes, more or less in time, and you pretty much have a gig for life.

And there’s the problem — so many bass players learn to get by on so little skill because their services are so in demand.

Let’s face it, we all get lazy. Especially when no one is pushing us to get better.

So here’s my challenge to you: Is your playing sub-par? Get better. Already pretty good? There’s always room for improvement.

Here are 7 ways to improve your playing:

1. Play with musicians who are better than you.

Nothing will motivate you to get better as much as the prospect of being a band’s weak link. Nobody wants to be the guy that can’t keep up. So seek out opportunities to play with musicians who are more accomplished than you are — and then work your ass off so you don’t embarrass yourself.

2. Explore different genres.

I’ve always been a rock guy. But a few years ago I spent some time with a band that did some country music. I HATE country music, but it was a great learning experience — especially in the art of walking bass lines. I later put those skills to use in an original hard rock project.

3. Play only with the best drummers you can find.

Everyone knows that drums and bass go hand in hand in creating a band’s foundation. A great drummer will elevate your bass playing to new heights. A shitty drummer will drag you (and the rest of the band) down into a pit of mediocrity. The drummer needs to be the most accomplished member of the band. He’s the quarterback of the team. And it doesn’t matter how strong the offensive line is, if the quarterback gets sacked, or fumbles the ball, the play is over. So if your drummer sucks, get rid of him — even if he’s your buddy.

4. Think like a drummer.

Better yet, think like YOUR drummer. Your job as a bass player is to lock in with the drums. Period. You need to tune into your drummer on a much deeper level than other members of the band. This takes time, but you can speed up the process by studying your drummer’s playing. Watch his kick drum foot. Pay attention to how and when he plays cymbal accents and fills. Over time, your playing will begin to take on some of your drummer’s characteristics. This is when you know you’ve found your groove as a rhythm section.

5. Find a bass guitar that you’re comfortable with.

Don’t play a bass just because you think it looks cool or because your favorite bass player plays it. A bass has to fit you and your playing style. Basses come in a variety of styles and shapes. There are different neck sizes, pick-up configurations and on-board electronics. Even a bass’ inherent tonal qualities will affect your playing ability. A bass that doesn’t feel or sound the way you want it too will impair your playing ability and negatively affect your playing enjoyment. Try different basses until you find the one that feels right. Experiment with different price points. Don’t assume that a higher-priced bass is the answer. That $3,000 boutique bass may feel like the worst piece of crap you’ve ever played, while the $400 Squire Precision fits like a glove. Be open minded and don’t worry about what other people think about what you’re playing.

6. Practice with a metronome.

To get the most out of your practice time, make sure you’re using a metronome. A metronome keeps you focused on what’s most important to your role as a bass player — rhythm and timing. Start at about 100 beats-per-minute and work on playing nice steady quarter and eighth notes. Every few minutes, bump up the beats-per-minute so that you’re spreading your practice across a range of tempos. Do this for 30-45 minutes every day and watch your chops improve dramatically.

7. Ask your band mates for feedback.

Finally, no one knows your playing better than the musicians who play with you all the time. So don’t be afraid to ask them for some constructive feedback. They may be able to point out things about your playing that you are completely unaware of. As musicians and performers, we tend to be a little sensitive and resistant to criticism, but a little feedback can go a long way in motivating you to get better at your craft. Your band mates rely on you to be the steady, driving force that keeps things nice and tight — so give ‘em what they want and everyone will be happy!

Good Band Flyers

2011-06-30T10:59:00.000-07:00

Band Flyers That Work

Good Flyer Designs

Flyer’s are a very effective method of promoting your nights to people offline, they also have an easy way of finding their way to your target audience by being left at Venues, Bars, Clubs (the usual places). Getting your Flyer’s to the right people is important, but getting people hooked into reading your flyer with interest can be difficult.

Planning is important when creating a flyer you have a few things to consider –

Flyer size – A4/A5/A6/A7 and Business Card size. When i started i went straight for the A5 size, until one day when someone give me a flyer advertising a car wash. This flyer was a5 aswell and i decided to keep hold of the flyer. I folded up, creased it and ripped it trying to get it into my pocket and when i did it went straight through the washing machine, i then had a light bulb moment. Why not make your flyer’s Business Card size? Now obviously this means all text, images and artwork have to be smaller, but if you design them to be double sided you shouldn’t have a problem. When handing out these flyer’s i noticed a lot of people slipping them straight into their wallet and i never changed back to a5. Not only did more people hang on to the flyer’s but they are also a lot cheaper to produce.

Color and Fonts – Lots to choose from, but i suggest you use the principle Keep It Simple Stupid. Nice Bold Text in an easy to read font and nice vibrant colors. I have seen many flyer’s with crazy looking fonts and unusual colors. I have good eye sight but i struggle to read some flyer’s, consider people who don’t have good eyesight if they cant read the text they wont know what your advertising. Another point i would like to make is that when you hand these flyer’s to people you are taking their attention away from their busy lifestyles, if they cant read the entire flyer within 20 seconds and make a decision whether to keep it or bin it, they will just throw is straight in the bin.

Images and Photos – These provide a good summary of what your flyer is about, i highly recommend you add some form of image to your flyer. If nothing else they make the flyer look more interesting. Be careful what images you use, make sure they are relevant to what your advertising.

Themes – Keep it topical! I once generated lots of interest for a gig purely by theming the flyer. The event was taking place next to Portsmouth Harbour used heavily by the navy. The Event night took place the day after the anniversary of D-Day, so i used a military theme. Purely by having a photograph of a navy boat on the flyer, they went like crazy!

Selling Points- Before you start designing your flyer you need to jot down 3 selling points, 3 points that will make people want to come to your event. Once you have these, you need to make sure these 3 points dominate your flyer design and can be clearly seen above everything else.

Include the important information – Once your flyer’s go to print there is no time to correct any errors. Make sure your flyer includes the following information. Venue, Venue Directions, Time, Dates, Participating Bands, Cost and any special discounts that the flyer offers.

Proof Read, Proof Read, Proof Read

Quick Tip: If you have room, always promote your other upcoming Gigs. If someone can’t make this one, they might be able to make the next one!

A simple summary is to use your common sense, make it attractive to as many people as possible and don’t forget people who might have disabilities

Band Assist - Get a Record Deal Twitter

2011-06-28T11:04:00.000-07:00

Hi All

Just a really quick reminder we are on twitter (@bandassist1). That's even more tips, advice and great articles to help you get further in your music carear!

How to improve your solo writing ability

2011-06-27T10:36:00.000-07:00

When people solo, they have a few things in mind.... Their primarily thinking about the key of the song that their playing in. The key of the song is the overall note that the song is in. Here's a little trick that works most of the time when determining the key of the song: the chord that the chord progression of a song usually (9 times out of ten) starts with or ends in, is usually the key of the song. For example if a song is in the key of G, that means that I can develop melodies within the G scales, or I know that I could use the G major scale, G mixolydian scale, G pentatonic scale, etc. So remember that the key of the song is "key".

Here's another thing to keep in mind when you're soloing: Keep in mind that when someone solos, they're not hitting as many random notes within the scale as possible, however they are using a couple notes to create melodies and taking breaks between the phrases. Remember that a solo is also composed of the notes that you don't play. So take a deep breath and focus on little tiny melodies that you can make within a particular scale of a song. Don't focus on huge long runs and millions of notes during a given phrase!! Just focus on small, few note, runs. You can throw in more notes as you get better.

Refer back to the Arpeggio for the key of the song. If I'm playing many different style scales over the key of the song, if I refer back to the arpeggio of the key of the song, then I will hit notes that will interest the listener’s ear. What's an arpeggio you ask? Make a G Chord. You know, 3rd fret of the 6th string, 2nd fret of the 5th string, open 4th, open 3rd, 2nd on the 3rd fret, 1st on the 3rd fret... a regular G chord. Then play the 6th string, play the 5th, the 4th, the 3rd, all the way down to the 1st (in other words just strum the chord super slow). You've just played the arpeggio for the G chord! That’s all an arpeggio is. If you throw in notes from a given arpeggio, then you can make the listeners ear perk up and keep their attention. Try it!

Another thing you can throw in when soloing (this is really cool) is when you take the same melody that the person has been singing in the song, and play it on the guitar. This has been done in many songs. Great examples of this are Van Halen's "Higher", The Beatles "I've Just Seen a Face", Mr. Big "To be with you" and many others. It sounds really cool when you through it in.

Performing cool runs and patterns in scales is another cool thing you can mess around with while soloing. For example take the G major scale and play the 1st note, then the 3rd, then the second note in the scale, then the 4th then the 3rd, then the 5th and all the way up... see the pattern? You can also start on the 1st, go to the 4th, 2nd, then 5th, 3rd, then 6th, ya see?, there's a million of these patterns out there. Be creative come up with some. Patterns really make it more interesting instead of climbing up and down the scale... that gets boring to the ear.

Creating a New Band

2011-06-25T02:52:00.001-07:00

Creating the ULTIMATE Band

You've got the songs, now all you need are the people to help you bring them to life. You know that finding the right band members is crucial to your success, but where do you begin your search? These tips will point you in the right direction.

1.Ask Around

You may already know your bandmates - you just don't know you know them. Some of your friends already in bands might be looking for a change, or they might know of other people who are looking for a gig. What makes this way of finding a bandmate good is that you "know the deal" about someone before they join the band. If so-and-so is a great bass player but has never turned up for a soundcheck on time in their life, now is the best time to find out. Finding band members through your local music scene grapevine means you can be more confident about finding someone reliable - or at least have a heads up.

2.The Record Shop

Where do music types like to gather? The record shop, of course! Or the instrument shop or another music related shop. Most of these places, especially the independently owned ones, will have message boards where you can advertise for band members. Be sure to put a little bit about your music on the advertisement, or at least some info about bands that you like, and don't forget to include some way for interested people to contact you. Asking the staff of these stores is another way to find people looking for a band.

3.The Internet

Websites like Craigslist and MeetYourBand.com are filled with ads from people looking for a band to join. Browse through the lists of musicians in your area who are interested in finding a band with whom to play, and place your own ad seeking band members. Include the same information you would on an advertisement on the record store message board. You can also visit musician's forums, like our own to advertise.

4.Studios/Rehearsal Rooms

Put a call in to the recording studios and rehearsal spaces in your area and let the people there know you are looking for musicians. See if they have a space where you can come by and post an advertisement for your band. The staff at these places know who is playing with which band and who is looking for a new gig, and they can be a great resource for you. Even if you haven't actually used the studio or the rehearsal space before, don't shy away from approaching them in your search for your band members.

5.Poster the Town

Stick advertisements up all over town, in places where you think likeminded musicians may frequent. Coffee shops, book shops, college campuses, clubs and venues - the key is to let people know you are looking. Get the word out there!

Tips:

1.You may want to set up a special email account just for people to use to respond to your advertisements, especially if you plan on putting up ads all over in town in non-music related places, so you can avoid that guy who pulled your contact info off your ad on the coffee shop wall to try and sell you an insurance policy.

2.When you advertise, be as specific as possible about the kind of music you want to play. It's a waste of time for the jam band guy to show up at the metal band audition, and so on. You want people in your band with whom you share a lot of musical interests so you're more likely to have the same "vision".

3.Take the time to find band mates who can not only play, but that you genuinely like as well. Remember, if all goes well, you could be spending quite a lot of time with these people. No one likes spending 12 hours crammed in a van with someone they can't stand. Your shows will be better if everyone likes and respects each other.

4.Be clear about your expectations of a band member. How many practices a week do you plan to have? Will everyone get to have some creative input, or is there only one songwriter? It is very important to figure these things out in advance. Also, if you're serious about making a go of things with the band, let people know up front that you expect a certain amount of professionalism. Tell people you expect band members to get to the show or practice on time, well rehearsed, and ready to play.

5.If there are to be band related expenses, like travelling to shows, now is the time work out who pays for what.

Fill Your Next Gig

2011-06-21T10:45:00.000-07:00

Fill Your Gig

Local is the area around your favourite venue (the venue you like and play most) or your town. Get a map. Find the venue or town centre. Draw a circle with a radius of about 25 miles (about 40 kilometres) around the venue or town centre. That’s local. 25 miles represents the distance people would be prepared to travel to see an independent band in the UK. Because of the transport infrastructure and familiarity with commuting, you can have a 35 mile radius around a London venue (same in most large cities). Bands who operate in large cities have a big advantage - of course you don’t have to target everyone!

1. Swap links and get involved with local: businesses, charities, record shops, fashion shops, cafes, pubs, clubs, venues. Get links from local: press, radio.

2. (Legally) Hand out, post, pin up, stick and drop (accidentally!): flyers, stickers, business cards, button badges - in and around: schools, colleges, universities, record shops, fashion shops, cafes, pubs, clubs, venues and churches. Include your band’s name, website address and free gift details.

3. Team-up and collaborate with 5 or more local bands of the same or complementary genre and promote each other online and offline.

4. Use the networking communities (esp. Facebook, MySpace, ReverbNation) to communicate with the locals. Always make your website The focal point.

5. Create a mailing list / database of fans, friends and family, target those within your locale and ask them for support. And don’t forget, if you can’t make it locally with the support of your fans, friends and family, you’re not going to make it anywhere!

The Importance of Websites

2011-06-17T11:46:00.000-07:00

We are often asked if in the times of Facebook, MySpace and Twitter whether you really need your own website. Our answer is always the same.Band websites are extremely important. Having your own domain name is also a key to your success. Let us show you just a few reasons why:

Band Website vs. MySpace/Facebook/Other

First of all, you never want to put all of your eggs in one basket. Relying on a service like MySpace, and not having your own website is extremely dangerous. Many bands think that due to MySpace's popularity, it's the website that they should focus all of their time and energy on. Yes, MySpace/Facebook,etc is important for musicians, but relying on someone else's service can be a ticking time-bomb waiting to go off. What would happen if MySpace was suddenly shut down? It's not as impossible as it may seem. Just think of all of the problems that MySpace has had, with predators using the social-media site for preying on people and how much trouble MySpace has gotten into with parental-control groups. Having your own site, and mailing list eliminates a lot of those issues because you have complete control of what happens to your site and gives you the ability to contact your fans, should something go wrong with MySpace (or similar sites). One other reason why it is important that you have your own domain name, is that it's usually much easier to remember than a MySpace URL!

Your Band's Domain Name

You want to have a domain name that is easy to remember; hopefully your band's name, if it is available. You'll want to put it on everything that your band puts out, postcard mailers, flyers, cds, t-shirts, everything! Matter of fact, make some t-shirts up and wear them all the time! You also want to make sure that every person you know, knows your web address. Make absolutely sure that your fans are told, many times a night, what your website is...and tell them to go there!

Registering Your Band's Domain Name

Registering your own domain name is no longer expensive (under £10/year for .com's). Some of the most popular domain registration sites out there also have web hosting available.

Quick Singing Tips

2011-06-16T07:49:00.000-07:00

How can you get high quality and have great result if you have no practice? Follow the simple tips and do it with full of love.

1.) Rehearsal- remember all the basic vocal warm up exercises and do it 1hour before you perform.

2.) Meditation- Sit alone in just 5minutes is sure that no one will bother you. Close your eyes and imagine the wonderful moments of your life. Like for example, you are going to sing and you expect to have a great result.

3.) Smile- Don't show to everybody that you are tense or feel nervous. Let them know that you are prepared for the battle and willing to do everything no matter what happen.

4.) don’t think too much- Over excitement and anxious can cause stress and the energy you have will decrease. So, at the time you perform it might be you sing of no emotions.

5.) be natural- Use your own technique and style. Be sure that 100% original. Good luck!

Stage Craft Secrets

2011-06-15T11:14:00.001-07:00

Stage Craft Secrets

You have the tunes, you have the gig now comes the difficult task of marrying the 2 together so your show becomes an “Event”. Something that is talked about for days, weeks or years to come and a display that lives long in the memory of those in attendance. How do you achieve such a feat? Stage craft! And here are our top tips:

KNOW THE MUSI C INSIDE OUT

The first essential is to make sure you’re absolutely on top of the

music. This is the physical or technical side of self-confidence. You

have to free yourself from worrying about whether you play the

right notes or sing the right words. This means rehearsing to the point where

you can almost play without thinking about what you’re doing. Here are a

couple of pointers to help you.

PRACTICE AS IF YOU’RE PLAYING LIVE -

To get ultra comfortable with your material rehearse as if you’re gigging.

This means sticking to the set list in terms of which songs and the order you

rehearse them. You can work out song starts (who does what), where there are

potential problem areas (down-tunings, guitar switches etc).

Playing the set-list when you’re practising is the same as a “dress rehearsal”

and will itself help ease any stress on gig-night. When it comes to the gig

you’ll have been through the same songs in the same order in rehearsal

countless times before. This will increase your confidence and technical mastery

just like playing gig after gig.

HANDICAP YOUR REHEARSALS

You can make performing feel much easier on gig night and so increase your

confidence by “handicapping” yourselves at rehearsals. Rehearse without

letting your singer check out his lyric sheets or guitarists stare at fret boards.

This will also help keep your focus where it needs to be when the time comes

to play live: Out towards your audience!

Drummers and guitarists can also handicap themselves with weights on their

wrists. You don’t want to overdo it and risk injury of course, so you can for

example, use a heavy watch and/or wristbands when you rehearse. You then

leave your wrists bare and so lighter and easier to play with whenever you gig.

RELAX ONSTAGE

Onstage you’ll perform and relate to your audiences better

if you’re feeling relaxed. Crowds can often tell when a

performer is uptight or anxious and it can make them

uncomfortable too. Concentrate on your breathing pattern as this is a key to your feelings of either

tension or relaxation. Once you’re aware of your breathing, just deepen it and

slow it down. This will naturally dissolve feelings of tension and replace them

with calmness. You have to keep on top of it as you’re learning and gaining

performance confidence. Repeat it over and over. Eventually, like most habits

you develop, you’ll find it’s become second nature.

However, all of the advice in the world can’t beat experience. So accept every gig offered and learn by experience.

Unsigned Promotion Advice 2011

2011-06-14T10:52:00.000-07:00

It’s a tough time to be a musician, or the right time, depending on who you’re listening to.

Whether you’re afraid or fearless, one thing that’s certain is that a little advice on being a musician in the digital age won’t go amiss.

Hence this 5 tip mash up, geared towards helping you navigate the digital market as a DIY musician.

Drive your live audience online

Interaction with the audience during live performances is key: it helps you connect with your fans. It’s also a great time to increase your online following, so be sure to let your audience know about your website, Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare or any other social sites where you can be found.

Content is the most important aspect of a website.

The most important aspect of any website is quite obviously the content and presentation. If you’re creating your own musician’s website ensure that your font is both consistently legible and professional looking. Images, video and music are all acceptable forms of content – and should represent who you are as a musician. Don’t forget to leave links to your social networking sites like YouTube, Twitter and Foursquare.

Website Rule #1: No flash!
Flash doesn’t just get in the way of your content. It’s also not compatible with many browsers. Sure Flash websites are good-looking, but what good is a site that can’t be accessed by everyone? It’s best not to forget that your website is a place for fans to go when want to learn more about you and to make a connection.
Email marketing is effective

This being the age of social media, you’d be quite surprised to find that email marketing is still very effective. The below chart shows not just how well email marketing works, but how it is used in other business.

Use emails to remind fans of upcoming gigs, connect on tour, or to announce upcoming releases.

Follow 25 new people a week on Twitter

This is an easy way to increase your followers on Twitter. We suggest following 25 new people that you’d like to follow you on Twitter each week. Don’t forget though that you need relevant followers, so start by adding your favourite music magazines and work your way up to people following bands/ acts similar to yours.

Guitar Effects Advice

2011-06-09T10:51:00.000-07:00

Guitar Effects Advice

Guitar effects pedals can add a whole range of tones and sounds to a guitarist playing that would not otherwise be achievable. It is quite possible for a guitarist to spend more on their effects than on their amp or guitar to sculpt the correct tone. Pedals can also degrade tone quality, so understanding how to set them up is important to minimizing these issues.

1. The "Best" Pedal

o The tone qualities of pedals are subjective, so there is no such thing as a best one. Any well built pedal is likely to have a guitarist get more out of it. Even having a larger range of settings is not necessarily a good quality for everyone. A distortion pedal with a higher level of gain will work for someone that will turn it up, but for lower gain users, it would not usually allow the same level of fine tuning as a pedal with a smaller range. Advice on reliability and quality is useful when looking at pedals, but tone and function are subjective from player to player.

Pedal Order

o The order of effects pedals is important, but there is no single correct setup. Changing the order of the pedals will usually alter the tone and the function of the effects when combined. A volume pedal in front of many pedals will alter the signal strength going into the pedal, which can greatly alter how that effect functions (particularly with something like distortion or overdrive), while a volume pedal after an effect will alter the signal strength, but mostly maintain the tone characteristics of that pedal.
The most significant exception to this rule are tuners, which function the best at the front of the chain (or in the separate tuner loop that is a feature of some amps). Tuners need to measure the pitch of the guitar strings, and will be much better able to do this with as pure of a signal as possible. Tuners are not going to provide a good reading after many effects, since many of them do have a minor effect on pitch.

True Bypass and Buffered Effects

o There is a misconception that true bypass is automatically a good feature on a guitar effect pedal. In some cases this is true, but in other cases, a guitarist would likely be better off with at least some buffered effects. True bypass pedals basically route the signal directly from the pedal input to output when the pedal is off. A buffer pedal will have the signal go through some circuitry, even if the pedal is off.
True bypass pedals are usually better for guitarists with only a handful of pedals. Passing the signal through buffer circuitry will alter the sound a little bit, but true bypass is not all that different in tone from passing through a guitar cable. On the other hand, guitarists with massive pedal boards will find that adding buffered pedals to the mix will help improve the signal clarity and definition. If only true bypass pedals are used in these longer chains, then it ends up being equivalent to passing the signal through a long enough guitar cable that the signal will start to degrade. Buffered pedals help to maintain the signal strength through these longer pedal boards by helping to boost and clear the signal.

One for wannabe rappers

2011-06-07T08:32:00.000-07:00

So we have been criticised a little recently for ignoring rappers. So here’s a blog just for you on free style rap techniques.

You can find freestyle rap tips that beginners can quickly understand. Freestyle is 1 of the extremely remarkable music genres. This is really an aspect of rap music where the rapper creates a verbal rhyming and presents it a song. In case you want to understand the best way to freestyle rap well, it makes a strong sense to have fantastic understanding of words and have the capacity to put them into songs, rhythm and tunes. Most importantly, you also need to know far more about beats.

In freestyling, the words are actually not pre-written and the rapper creates sentences with words that rhyme. Then he has to think the next words and lines when he sings a specific line. With this in mind of a beginner, he surely thinks that this is something so hard to practice and perfect. Others would even thought of this as the toughest and challenging style to compose songs. There are even some people taking years before they perfect their freestyle rapping techniques.

Here are fantastic and successful freestyle rap tips it is possible to try to take a look at today so you can start building your career.

* Enrich your Vocabulary - without a good vocabulary, it is impossible for you to be the most effective freestyle rapper. Your vocabulary is certainly 1 of the most substantial tools of rappers. As freestyle means delivering words and sentences on the spot, it is vital to determine the numbers of words you'll be able to use in your songs. Try to discover and memorize words that rhyme. It enables you to master the music style. The much more knowledgeable you are with much more words, the greater are your chances of becoming a good freestyle rapper in the world.

* Discover the right basics of freestyle rapping - After having plenty of vocabulary words, the next thing essential to know is how freestyle is supposedly to be done. The delivery of words is one of the most important factors in freestyle rapping. It is therefore important to pronounce each and every word clearly so your listeners won't find it hard to understand your message. It is not advisable to be in a hurry when completing one sentence that move to the next one. The words should be retained free flowing. The simple way to do this is take note of the words you learned, play with them and create sentences out of it.

* In freestyle rap, an additional essential factor that need to be considered to successfully produce excellent rap songs is beats. Along with the rhyming words, it's crucial to focus as well on the beats and rhythm. As you've got everything in place, you can now try to put them altogether within the song and sing with the beats. Drum machines are commonly used to produce good beats.

Now that you know quite well freestyle rap tips, it is possible to start making an impressive song that can surely mark the beginning of your rapping career.

Keep your Fans!!

2011-06-06T11:52:00.000-07:00

Keep Your Fans!

Don't Ignore Your Fans on Social Media. Respond With Enthusiasm.

Tell your fan their comment made your day and in doing so you'll make their day. Just think - every day you can chat with dozens of total strangers, encouraging them to share your music with their friends and family. Do you realize the power of this? If a hundred people are following you, that's a hundred people you can ask, via your status update, to spread the word about your music. With social networking, you always have a crowd at your fingertips. Work the crowd. This will put you so far ahead of the pack as 99% of unsigned acts do not do this effectively.

Band of the Month

2011-06-03T02:15:00.000-07:00

This month the coveted Band Assist Band of the Month award goes to indie upstarts; Spray on Jeans. We caught up with the guys for a quick interview!

How did you guy’s form?

Four of us went to the same school, we were a 3 piece at first but then we found joe, our singer and steve, rhythm guitar.

“Weekend Lover” is an awesome track and demonstrates a very unique style – how did that track come about?

Our drummer actually wrote weekend lover and after a few days together we patched it all up.

Tell us about your last gig?

The last gig we played was at cosa nostra, Sunderland, we played with a few other bands, including Where's Strutter from Manchester and 12 Dirty Bullets from London.

What is your general writing process?

At the moment since finding our own sound and what we wanted to be heard as, we all contribute to writing the songs. Usually we practice twice or three times a week working on our own stuff, hopefully an EP will be out soon with around 5-6 tracks on it.

What do you find most difficult about being an unsigned act in 2011?

We would say the most difficult thing about being unsigned in 2011 is being unsigned, everyone knows how difficult it is too get a deal but you haven't got to give up.

What are your top tips for other unsigned bands?

Other unsigned bands like us, all you can do is keep doing gigs, working hard, and when you do get an opportunity take it.

What is your fantasy band line up?

Fantasy band line up would have to be, chad smith (drummer) from the RHCP, Jimi Hendix, matt bellamy (muse) and Alex turner (arctic monkeys), although im not sure it would quite work.

Tell us an amusing band story

An amusing band story, all i can think of is the time after a hard days practice we decided to go out in the car, with the acoustic guitars, we would sit somewhere and play our tunes. Didn't know that somewhere would be a chinese take away. We walked in casually, ordered our food, sat down and started to play. It was very amusing as no one new what we were doing. We sat opposite a middle aged man and he just sat there as if nothing was happening.

What are your views on Band Assist?

Band assist is a great way for unsigned musicians to get help whilst trying to gain a bit recognition.

What’s next for you?

Next for Spray on Jeans we will be working hard towards the Skinny Twins festival where we are supporting the Futureheads and the Stranglers, and trying to get our EP out in the coming months.

Taking Band Photos

2011-05-31T12:50:00.000-07:00

Professional photography can make the difference between your band looking smooth and polished and looking like total amateurs. First impressions do matter in this business, and a pro can help make you look your best but you must balance that against the cost. Nowadays most of us have access to some decent photography equipment, so here are a few top tips

If using a professional ensure you ask them for samples and see if their style is a match with yours. Basically, it comes down to -- do you like their stuff? Their "eye" will be reflected in the photos you see, so look closely. Give them a band bio and any information on you that they might find helpful as to staging the shoot.
Overdo hair/makeup and costuming for the shoot.

Choose cliché backgrounds or poses. If I see another band against a wall or propping up a bar I will go mad! Be original!
Don’t wait until the day of the shoot to talk about what everyone thinks the photo should be like. Discussing this ahead of time can save time/money and make things less stressful.
Don’t be afraid to voice your thoughts to the photographer -- sometimes it can help to have one person as the "spokesperson" for the group to avoid things getting too chaotic.
Don’t hesitate to ask for a break if things are feeling stiff or if you want to talk to band members to see how they feel it is going.

If you have problems keeping everyone's eyes open at the same time, have everyone close their eyes, count to 2 and open on 3. It helps.
Try to make sure everyone gets a good night's rest so you can look your best.

If the photographer doesn't object, music in the background can help relax you and make the shoot feel more natural. Especially if it's your music!

Hiring a professional photographer can be a great way to make sure your band looks their best but not always necessary when you are first starting out.

We are now on Twitter

2011-05-28T03:41:00.001-07:00

Thats right! For even more tips, links and reviews follow us on twitter! we can be found by searching @BandAssist1

Speak soon!

Tips for Keeping Your Band Together

2011-05-28T02:59:00.000-07:00

Your band has lost it's focus. Members are late for rehearsals; or they don't show up at all. When everyone does show up, the sessions deteriorate into a lot of bitching, leaving everyone angry and resentful.

If your band is no longer the well-oiled machine it once was, perhaps these tips will help restore everything to its former order and glory.

Have a band meeting once every six months. Ideally a band meeting is held at a neutral location, such as a bar or restaurant. This helps everyone feel at ease. Try not to hold them at your rehearsal location and whatever you do, don't allow anyone to bring instruments or significant others. You don't need noodling guitars or whispered conversations between lovers to detract from the meeting.
Use this time to air suggestions for new songs, critiquing past performances (not just went wrong, but also highlighting what went right), promotion ideas, performance and rehearsal schedules, new venues to consider, and brainstorming ways to improve the group.
If you can find something to do after the meeting to build camaraderie and blow off steam, so much the better. How about having the band meeting in a bowling alley snack bar, then bowling a game or two after the meeting? Never bowled before? It'll be a new experience for you, and lots of fun for your bandmates!
Revisit your band's common goals. Are you a cover band, or do you play originals? Does everyone want to play six-nights-a-week, weekends only, or casuals? How often should you rehearse? How many members does it take to remove a song from your set list? Is there a certain style or genre of music that you are aiming for? Are things getting stale the way they are? Are there adequate performing opportunities in your area, or do you need to branch out to surrounding communities? Revisiting your band's goals -- and reaching agreement on them -- is a great salve to put on a sore situation.
Voice your opinion. Silence is tacit acceptance that you agree. Try not to remain silent when you should be voicing your disagreement. A healthy band is one that promotes discussion and communication. An unhealthy band has festering problems that will eventually lead to the band's demise.
Encourage discussion. While it's not always possible to reach a consensus agreement on every issue, it helps to allow each member the opportunity to discuss their opinion. Especially encourage the shyest member to contribute. He/she may have an insight that the rest of you will find helpful.
Identify the main problem. It helps if you can break down the symptoms into manageable chunks. From there you can point to the main, overriding problem -- and correct it. Is there a bandmate with a drug or alcohol problem? A girlfriend or spouse that attends practices and insists on giving her/his opinion (the Yoko Syndrome)? One or more band members that have come to hate the style of music the band is playing? Or perhaps the band leader is treating the other players like inferiors, and a mutiny is ready to occur?
Elect a leader. It can be the best musician, the player with the most performing experience, the lead singer, the person who put the band together, or simply the person who has been in the band the longest. Agree on this person, and their duties. Does the leader have an equal voice in band politics, or the deciding vote? Does the leader contact the members to remind everyone of practice and upcoming gigs? Is the leader the main point of contact between the manager, booking agent, and gig contacts? Is there a term for the leader, or is it for the life of the group? Don't assume anything. Discuss it and get band acceptance.
We already have a leader, but it's not working. Then perhaps it's time for a manager. This person, surprisingly enough, manages the day-to-day activities of the group. The manager works with the band, booking agents, venue owners, members of the press, web sites, recording label A&R staff, and other interested parties to free up time that would otherwise be spent by the band leader. The manager will also visit with the band to help it agree on an image, and will work with the members to help them reach their goal.
Some managers may demand as much as 35% of the gross in exchange for their services. This might be fine for a band just starting out, but the term (length) of the contract should not be for the life of the band, so that the members can renegotiate the contract at a later date, once the band begins commanding higher performance fees. (You've heard it before, always seek legal help before signing a contract.)

Tuning your Drums

2011-05-27T10:30:00.000-07:00

Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of playing drums for many people, whether they are beginners or established players with years of experience, is the realization that for some reason their drum set just doesn't sound right, that when they play their drums they hear dissonant sounds unlike the sounds they hear on their favourite recorded music or when they see other drummers playing live.

This often leads to the mistaken notion that their drum set is somehow inferior, and then the person embarks on a never ending quest for "a better drum set". This often results in the purchase of various brands and models of drums for the sole reason that they think it is merely a matter of a drums "brand name" or design that makes it sound good or bad and that eventually they will stumble across that "good set" that is going to have the sound they desire.

The truth of the matter is, even though high quality drums will always sound "better", and to the discriminating professional there are subtle yet noticeable differences in sound between drum brands and models and also that fine quality drums do offer advantages in features and beauty, there is no reason that even the cheapest, most basic budget drumset can't be made to sound "OK" through proper choice of quality drumheads, and most importantly, proper TUNING of those heads.

Often a customer will come into our drum shop and state that his drums just don't sound right and he's reached the point of frustration because he/she feels they have tried everything and that it must be the fault of the drums. Usually though, it is the case that we find at least one of these tell-tale symptoms when we look at the their drums:

1. The original heads that were on the set when it was purchased are still on it, often just thin economy heads which simply can't be tuned to sound like a good quality drumhead by a name brand manufacturer.

2. The heads on the drums have been played abusively and are full of dents and "baggy spots" which make the drums sound bad and do not allow them to be tuned well.

3. The heads on the drums are of the wrong variety for the kind of music the drummer plays or the sound he/she wishes to emulate, or a misguided choice in drumhead selection has caused him/her to use the wrong type of head for a purpose which is contrary to normal usage, and is making the drum sound bad.

4. The heads are either too loose, over-tightened or simply not "cleared" (the same note produced all the way around the perimeter of the drum at each tension rod).

5. The heads have been "doctored up" with adhesive foam, duct tape, paper napkins taped to the heads, felt strips or pieces of cloth stretched across the drum underneath the heads, or various other "last resort" methods in an attempt to control unattractive, dissonant drumhead overtones.

Get Your Band Reviewed

2011-05-23T11:01:00.000-07:00

How to Get your Band Reviewed

Getting reviews for your band can be one of the toughest things for any new band. It's not just trying to figure out who the best people to send your cd to, it's making sure they listen to your band and actually write the review. Music writers get an avalanche of band's cds each week, I have learnt that through Band Assist. Some really good bands get overlooked when it comes to getting reviews because they don't follow a few simple but golden review rules. If you don't follow these rules you might as well make that stack of CDs then chuck them in the bin;
The Golden Rules of Getting your band reviews

Be INTERESTING, sounds obvious, but if you can't be arsed with your output then why should anyone else care about you?

Make sure your contact details are on EVERYTHING, several times I've been sent a totally blank cd by a band. Even if it's an amazing band the chances are I'll never know who they are as the CD pretty much always gets separated from the covering letter (if there is one).

Make sure you know who you're sending your band's stuff to, there's no point in sending your death thrash black metal to a rumba magazine is there?

Don't bother sending your cd to millions of record labels, they will just go in the bin.

Review contactsThe biggest challenge when planning a PR campaign for you band is getting contacts. You can spend months looking up publication/ zine contacts on the web only to have your press packs returned undeliverable. This is especially true with webzines, they are often started with fantastic enthusiasm by the people behind them, then left to rot after a few weeks.

Reading your band's reviewsThe next part of your 'get heard' challenge is reading your band's reviews. Sound daft doesn't it! But think about it for a moment, you've spent months finding contacts, stuffing envelopes with your world changing cds, but how are you going to get copies of the reviews if they are published? 99.99% of zines/ magazines will not send you a free copy of their publication. Most zines (especially the big ones that you really want reviews published in) get sent anything up to 100 cds a week, if they sent out a free copy to each of those 100 bands then they wouldn't have any copies left to actually sell! So what do you do? You subscribe to every single one of these publications, in fact you'd probably have to as the chances of your release / demo getting reviewed when you think it will be are pretty damn rare. So you'd have to buy every copy of the magazine (or whatever) until you happen across your own review.

So is this all worth it?Of course it is silly!

Getting reviews brings exposure, interviews and about a thousand other positive outcomes! Don’t forget Band Assist love to hear your stuff and our site is viewed by up to 150 people a day

– great exposure plus unlike some sites we don’t charge for a thing

The flying death circus that navigated the land of eon with the bejewelled sword of neon and the band of pre-dawn space avenging monkey dancers

2011-05-20T09:30:00.000-07:00

Long Band Names

I don’t recommend giving your band an excessively long name. I’m not referring to names with two parts like "Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers" or "Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention" that flow — but rather the flat-out, unnecessarily long band names.
Here are some examples:

· When People Were Shorter and Lived Near the Water (9 words, 49 characters)

· The Presidents of the United States of America (8 words, 46 characters)

· …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead (10 words, 44 characters including ellipsis)

· I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness (7 words, 35 characters)

· I Can Lick Any SOB In The House (8 words, 31 characters)

While "The Presidents of the United States of America" can be nicknamed and referenced as "The Presidents,"the rest of the names don’t have a lot of options unless you want to go the Excessively Long Acronym route. Here are some reasons to avoid a long name for your band:

· Does not flow in conversation

· Can be difficult to remember

· Often does not sound like a band name

· Website domain name will need to be different than your name (unless you want to make the mistake of using the actual long version) Note: There is a 67-character limit on domain names

I’d like to add that the occasional song or album with a long name is okay, but Fiona Apple went too far with her "When the Pawn" album title that is 450+ characters in length!

What do you guys think? Do they work?

Any other long band names that are worth noting?

Do you have a long-winded band name?

Playing Bass Live

2011-05-19T10:45:00.000-07:00

Playing Bass Live Advice

Live bass sound can be the most difficult to mix and the hardest to make a sound technician care about. When done properly, a bass guitar blends right in with the rest of the band, truly layering music in a complementary fashion, allowing each player to voice his instrument with skill. Done improperly, bass guitar volume can cause drums to rattle out of control, create uncontrollable feedback and create a rattling, swelling sound that drowns out the rest of band.

Proper Choice of Bass
An instrument with active pickups, multiple effects pedals and MIDI technology may sound like a choir when playing alone in a practice room, but it generally falls flat when it comes to blending with a band. Selecting the proper quality bass is a critical element to achieving the best possible live bass sound. According to David King in Global Bass Magazine, the bass should have a clear, flat tone with few enhancements.

Make Friends With the Sound Guy
Each venue will more than likely have one employee (or volunteer) working the sound board. Ask him about the acoustics of the venue, how instruments respond and whether it's better to plug the bass into the venue's PA or to go straight from the amplifier. The sound technician may just respond to the musician's interest and friendly demeanor by taking extra care in mixing the sound of his instrument.

Volume Levels
Maintain a low volume when piped through the house's main speakers. This will allow the intonation of the bass to ring properly while reducing the fuzz and rattle that sometimes occur when the instrument's volume is set too high. Again, this strategy is geared toward blending into the sound of a full band so that guitars are able to shine through with treble and middle tones and the bass is able to thicken the whole notes of a given tune without rattling the hinges off of the venue.

Putting on a Rock Show

2011-05-17T09:20:00.000-07:00

No matter where you hail from there are usually plenty of local bands and venues. Putting on a local rock show that is profitable is quite another story. However, there are some tried and true approaches that can actually net you a decent return.
1. How to Put on a Profitable Local Rock Show
o 1
Find the club and make arrangements for the date of the show. The first step is finding the right club. This involves calling different venues and visiting them in person. You want a club that will allow you to control the door take (what you charge patrons to get in to see the show). In a perfect world you will also want to negotiate with the club about getting a percentage of bar profits for the night; this is where the real money is. Always book a Friday or Saturday night show for the biggest turnout.
o 2
Scout and book bands with a large fan base. Make sure that you keep your bands in the same genre. Finally, offer the bands a flat fee plus a percentage of the door and you will easily get several large local bands to sign on.
o 3
Create the marketing posters and fliers and distribute them. See resources below for a Web site that lets you design and order great posters online. Make sure that you include all of the venue information as well as dates on the posters. Print out plenty of fliers for the bands to hand out prior to the show. Make sure that you place posters in conspicuous places throughout the club and anywhere else that you can think of.
o 4
Post free online ads. Sites such as Craigslist.com and Myspace.com are great for posting events. Let all of your friends know. Tell them to network. Spread the word as much as possible and you will get a greater turnout.
o 5
Offer bands pre-sale tickets. It's the best way to get bands to draw big crowds. Give them a large percentage of the tickets sales they generate as motivation for selling them.
o 6
Talk to and secure potential sponsors. It is always wise to talk to companies that may be willing to sponsor your event, create banners or fliers if their logo is on them and offer drink specials all night at the concert.
o 7
Secure a reliable staff for the event. Usually you want to go with a good friend that you can trust who will take in money at the door. This way there are no accounting issues to worry about. Make sure that you have a decent sound technician or that the club provides one for the event.
o 8
Promote the show as much as possible. Tell everybody that you know and have them tell everybody that they know. The more people that know about the event, the more people will show up

Guitar Solo Inspiration

2011-05-16T09:13:00.000-07:00

One of the key fundamentals with any music and any instrument is timing and it doesn’t matter what you’re playing, if it’s not in perfect time then it sounds amateur and somewhat annoying for the listener. If you have ever struggled in the past with guitar timing then you may find these ‘guitar solo in time tips’ useful, and hopefully instantly applicable to your playing.

There are two main avenues we can look at in terms of timing, and they are external and internal influences. External influences focus on what is outside of you; things like your guitar setup and the picking action itself, the things that physically go into making the sound. Internal influences come into the category of how you think, hear and structure the notes before they are played. With these two areas in mind, here are some things to think about to get ‘machine like’ timing in everything you play!

Thinking about the Beat – Internally, how you process what you hear makes all the difference. I can guarantee you that you and I could be hearing the same beat but creating different tunes in our mind to play over it, and this matters with timing because you need to hear the accents and where the main notes need to land. If you have a basic 4:4 beat and you are playing a scale over it, the scale will consist of notes in between the beats as well as notes that land dead on the beat. Even if you don’t hear a physical beat you need to learn how to imagine it’s there, as this is what timing is all about – picking where the beat should be and landing dead on it (this is how a solo guitarist can play with no accompaniment and sound good, because the beat is in his/her mind).

Following a specific beat – There are two main ways to physically create a beat to play to; use a metronome and get an instant timing you can play to, or take a little longer and set up a drum machine or drum software. Either way is fine and will do the immediate job at hand, but the advantages of the drum machine are that you feel more inspired because it’s playing real music, and you can have snare accents for example to help create odd timings and different feels. On the other hand metronomes are cheap to buy (there are even free ones online). Also, if you do get a chance to play with a drummer do it. There’s something that happens with your playing when playing with a real drummer, you become more accountable and are almost forced to become better, especially with your timing.

Pick Attack and Timing – This is the third area to control after the external and internal timing. Pick attack simply means the speed and consistency that the pick strikes the string. If you are playing a basic chord progression and are ‘strumming’ to just get a relaxed feel then you can have a very loose hand while playing the notes as timing will be a bit more forgiving. If you’re playing a guitar solo or anything with single notes or with more speed, then this needs to sharpen up and as a general rule – the faster you play the tighter your picking action needs to become. When playing guitar solos there is a focus on picking the note fast (even if the sequence is slow) to get an immediate and clean sound from the note, and only then can you add your chosen technique to it.

It’s a very handy thing for guitarists who want to learn lead or solo work to first think about the rhythm and groove of the song. Only when you get the feel from that side of things can you add to it with a solo because solos are not usually stand alone pieces, they are enhanced and structured by what’s underneath them (even if it’s not physically played).

As you can see from these guitar solo in time tips, timing comes from a few aspects of the sound, and if you learn to first hear it and then play exactly to it (practicing slowly and evenly at first) then your timing will improve dramatically in a short space of time, and just imagine what happens when you speed it all up?

Improve your Singing Voice

2011-05-14T02:19:00.001-07:00

Improve your Voice
Whatever your vocal skill, these tips for improving your singing voice are sure to get you singing and sounding much better.
Tip 1: Think about breath. Without proper breathing, you aren't using your voice to its full potential. To find out if you're breathing correctly for singing, place your hand on your stomach and inhale. Your hand should move out--your stomach should be expanding, not your ribcage and chest. That's because you need to support your breath with your diaphragm--the muscle underneath the lungs that inflates them. The diaphragm is activated by abdominal muscles, and it's much stronger than the muscles between your ribs--the muscles you're using if your chest, not your stomach, expands with your breath.
You'll need to have strong breath to give your voice adequate support for singing. To do this, you'll need to use your stomach and lower abdominal muscles to support your breath. Ab crunches and sit-ups can help you build up strength in this area that you can use to project your voice.
Tip 2: Focus on posture. Your breath travels from your lungs straight up through your mouth. If its passage is twisted, kinked, or blocked in any way, it won't be able to get out efficiently. How you stand has a big effect on how you sound. You should be standing with your legs about shoulder-width apart. Your chest should be lifted to give your lungs plenty of room to expand. Your shoulders should be back and relaxed.
Tip 3: Relax. If there's tension anywhere from your abdomen to your head, it'll affect your sound. Your facial muscles, tongue and throat muscles, vocal cords, jaw and shoulders should all be as relaxed as possible. There are plenty of jaw and facial exercises as well as warm-up activities that will help you relax the muscles in your shoulders, face, and vocal cords.
Tip 4: Know where to put your tongue and soft palate. The soft palate should be raised--this will give more space for your voice to resonate. The tip of your tongue should be placed at the back of your teeth. This will keep it from blocking your throat if it's positioned too far back.
Tip 5: Watch what you eat. There's nothing better for your voice than water. Period. If you have a performance coming up, avoid dairy and thick drinks for at least three days beforehand. Drink only water the day of the performance.
Tip 6: Don't strain. Pay attention to your body. If something hurts when you sing, you're either at the limit of your range or you're doing something wrong. You should be able to sing at a strong, healthy volume if you're maintaining proper breath control; if something hurts because you're singing too loudly, you're probably not supporting your voice well with your breath--the vocal cords are doing all the work. If you hurt when trying to hit certain high or low notes, however, it may be that you're trying for a note that's outside of your range. It's true that good breath control can expand your range, but the size of your vocal cords determines the pitches you can reach. You may not be able to hit certain notes no matter how well you support your voice. It's important to choose songs you can sing comfortably. Above all, don't try to sing if you have a sore throat--you may make it worse.
Tip 7: Warm up before singing. Don't go straight into a song without a good warm-up first. A good warm-up routine should concentrate on relaxing your body and getting your breath ready, and should start with simple deep breaths. It should progress to light humming from there, and then some scale work once you feel ready. It's important not to strain too hard during the warm-up process--don't reach for notes that aren't comfortable, and don't sing at the top of your volume.
Tip 8: Get a teacher. A good voice teacher can really help you improve your voice. It's sometimes hard to determine how you sound when you're by yourself; even the most dedicated singer can get into bad habits without feedback. A teacher can give you immediate feedback on how you're doing and address specific problems you may have.
It's a shame that so many people think they can't sing--and wouldn't be caught dead singing in public. In truth, singing is something anyone can learn to do. Follow these tips and practice, and you'll have a singing voice you'll be proud to show off.

Guitatist Stage Skills

2011-05-12T08:45:00.000-07:00

This article will hopefully give the reader some basic pointers that might help improve how a performer looks and presents him or herself on stage. I've also included some pointers on how to build a music set. It is mostly intended for acoustic players who also sing since playing or singing alone is a little easier to do. Other guitarists might also benefit from the pointers, but if you've been on stage for a while, you probably already know them.

Placement

The closer you are to the edge of the stage, the closer and more personal you are to your audience. This is where you want to be.
If you are in a group of players, stepping forward will bring you closer to the audience and "upstage" the others in the band. You want to do this if you are soloing or the lead singer. Of course, if the guitarist is soloing he should step forward and the singer should step back.

Eye Contact

To make an audience feel that you are looking at them while you are playing, look just over the tops of their heads. For me, I divide the audience into 'Left', 'Right', and 'Center', and move the direction of my gaze every so often. Eye contact is not a bad thing, but it can get distracting. The "over the head gaze" should be the default with the occasional eye contact. Do it while you practice, not just on stage.

This also means you won't be able to look at your guitar much. That is usually OK for chord strumming, but will take some work if you are playing a difficult piece and singing with it, too. For me, when I am practicing a difficult piece, I try to find out if looking at my hand placement while I'm not singing is adequate or if I have to keep an eye on things. If the former, I start practicing looking at the right times. If the latter, I move the microphone so that I can see my fretboard out of the corners or bottoms of my eyes. It isn't perfect, but it helps. Obviously the best way is to practice not looking at all, but this isn't a perfect world and practice time is limited.

Facial Expressions

The single hardest thing I had to relearn was scrunching my eyebrows when I was concentrating. To avoid looking like I was scowling all the time, I cultivated the habit of raising my eyebrows a bit during difficult (well, ok, difficult for me) passages.
Get a mirror. Start paying attention to what you are doing while you play. And smile. Look like you are having fun. The audience will forgive a multitude of mistakes if they see you having a good time. I cannot tell you how many times a piece has gone badly and people still seem to enjoy it because I enjoyed it...which brings me to my next point:

MistakesPretend like they didn't happen. Flub through it and keep going, and also know that once in a while you are gonna crash and burn so bad that you can't pretend. Don't scowl or get frustrated. If at all possible laugh it off, make a joke of it and keep going. In fact, you might even have a good one liner or two to cover the really bad ones: "Bad hands! Bad, bad hands!" or something like that.

Selling the Music SetThings I learned as a disc jockey:

1. Sell 3 songs in the set in the reverse order that you will play them. In fact, that last song you talk about should be the next song, or the song after that, that you play. Give them too many songs and they might decide to leave because they don't like 2 or 3 of them.

2. Never "back sell". In otherwords, introduce your song before you play it, never after you are done.

3. Never apologize. If you hose something up, keep on going. If you are unsure whether you can pull a song off, don't apologize before you play it ("Here's a new one I'm still learning", "Here goes nothin'", etc.) or just drop the song.

4. Keep your talk times short. Work on how you talk, too. Odds are they don't care what you have to say, but what you do or don't say and how you say it can hurt you. The rule of thumb being: KISS (keep it simple, stupid). You might even script it out and get a second opinion if you have to.

5. I didn't learn this as a DJ, but by watching other performers: Do not tell personal stories about yourself or your music. Save the personal stuff for the between-sets mingling.
Building the SetMore things I learned as a disc jockey: if the songs you are playing are your own, or are material the audience won't know, it helps to have a well-known song on either side of the unknown material. It keeps the audience more comfortable with being introduced to new things.
As far as tempo, if you have 2 slow songs in a row, make that 3rd a little more upbeat. Vice versa, too.

Dealing with RequestsHave a sheet of paper and pen sitting out front. When someone asks for something you don't know, tell 'em to put it on the paper and you will put it on your list of "songs to learn". Tell them tips that fold will increase the odds of it getting learned, too. :-)
Lastly, there is always a time and a place to "break the rules".

I hope these pointers help.

Recording Keyboards!!

2011-05-11T11:03:00.000-07:00

Recording Keyboard Tips

To continue from our previous recording blog, we were asked about recording Keyboard and to address some of the challenges.
Recording synths can be one of the most fun but sometimes excruciating experiences. Trying to get just what you want takes years to learn. We have assembled some tips from our years tweaking synths that are simple tips that make a big difference.

1. Split Up The Hands. Often times two hands of keyboard can be a little much in the mix. Record the two hands separately and see if both voicings are needed.

2. Play With The Sustain Pedal. Even on some Instruments you wouldn't expect, this can give you a sound you would never imagine. This can a tiny bit of magic you didn't think of before.

3. Record With A Preset, Tweak It After. One of the things amazing programmers do is get the sound in the ballpark with a preset and then tweak it later on and fine tune all the cool details after the part is recorded.

4. Try A Different Octave. Experiment with the octave the keyboards are played in. The movement up or down an octave can open up a mix and free it of clutter.

5. Watch Your Releases. One of the thing that separates the men from the boys in the keyboard department is being neat with when you let go of the keys. While many can play notes on time, finnesing when you let go of each note is what makes a part really shine.

6. Check Your Image. Many synth patches aren't real stereo. Put your signal in mono and flip the phase on one side and make sure your synth patch isn't take up an unnecessary tracks and DSP.

7. Does It Need To Be Stereo? While many synth patches are true stereo with interesting image variations. Panning every synth in stereo will leave little room in your mix. Bounce or pan some synths to mono as you need to.

8. Use Filters. High pass and low pass filters are two of your biggest friends in getting synths to fit in a mix. Learn to tweak them as best you can for improved results.

9. Record Dry. Many synths can have cheap reverbs and delays on them. If you aren't in love with the effects on a synth patch take it off and apply them in the mix.

10. One Is Enough. One of the biggest beginner mistakes is to layers numerous synths on top of every part. Try to make all of your synths work with just one or two playing each part. Anything more can be a clutered mess.

Home Recording Tips

2011-05-09T13:27:00.000-07:00

We’ve compiled some recording hints for those of you recording your own stuff at home. It doesn’t matter whether you record on to an old 4-Track tape machine, a computer based system or wax cylinder.. the same rules usually apply!

Getting the simple things right is the key to a smooth session and a good recording.

1. Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. If you know your material and your arrangements you’ll save time and money and make time in the studio more productive and enjoyable for everyone.

2. Re-string your guitars, re-skin your drums. If you can set them up yourelf then do it. If not then pay a guitar shop to do it. Top studios regulalry hire in gear if the artists equipment isn’t up to standard. A crap guitar is still going to sound crap even if its recorded through the best gear!

3. Make sure you have a guitar tuner with you while you record. It’s absolutely critical to tune before every take. Nothing worse than doing a great take then realising your out of tune! When you layer up parts in a multitrack recording any tuning issues will become apparent and will generally make your recording sound less good!Putting down your initial tracks to a click track or a metronome is always a good idea. Its much easier to add tracks to a multitrack when what your’re playing to is in time! Subtle tempo shifts can be good but big timing issues are one of the major differences between a piece of music that sounds ‘right’ and one that sounds a bit unprofessional.

4. If you’re recording with a mic try and get your mic as close to the sound source as possible. Unless you’re trying to get an ambient/roomy sound, a close mic sound will generally be a bit more useful when you’re trying to mix your song. If you’re recording on to a computer you’ll probably have some plug-in effects you can use on your sounds. In this case you’re definitely better off with a close mic’d sound as you’ll be able to do more with it.

5. A good studio trick when recording guitar is to mic your cab up in another room. Put the head in the control room (or wherever your recording gear is) with you so you can adjust the settings easily. This is handy for overdubbing guitar parts as you can then hear exactly whats going on in the mix

6. Another classic problem with home and small studio recording is the old “It sounded different when I played it at home.” Its tricky to get consistant sounding recordings and mixes, that’s why people pay big bucks for studio design. To get round the problem try setting up 2 sets of speakers so that you can listen on both as you’re recording and mixing. Headphones will also give you another perspective. If you listen to music in your car then take a rough mix to the car and listen to it there… people do this a lot even in top studios! Once you’ve done a few recordings or mixes in the same place you’ll get to know how your listening environmnent sounds. For example, your studio might might create ‘standing waves’ in the low frequencies which make certain bass notes or the bottom end of your track seem really loud, so in your mix you’ve turned the bass right down. Then, when you play your recording somewhere else, the bass seems really quiet or is missing something. Once you know this you can try and work round it or try and set up some accoustic damping.. Not always possible if you’re studio is your bedroom!

7. Distortion can be friend and foe! Nice distortion is possibly a question of taste but generally a bit of analogue distortion or harmonic distortion is quite nice. It sounds good on guitars, vocals, almost anything in fact. When it doesn’t sound so good is when your recording levels are wrong and you’ve ‘clipped’ or distorted the input stage of your recording device. Setting your input gain level is really important. When you’re setting up your levels try playing and recording the loudest section that you’re about to record. Then have a listen back, check your meters and listen to how it sounds. If you’re input level is too high you’ll hear crackles, pops and general badness. If you record on to a digital system you’ll see the meters go red in the loud bits. Turn the input level on your recording device and try again until your recording sounds good. Bear in mind that you don’t want to turn your input levels down too much as then you’ll record your signal at too low a level. This will make it difficult to use. Essentially you will have also recorded ‘noise’ the background noise of the recorder which will be audible when you turn up the track in the mix or try and effects, compression or E.Q.

The Art of the Persistent Musician

2011-05-06T11:07:00.000-07:00

There is Japanese proverb which states “Fall down seven times, get up eight.”

Indeed, persistence, or that not-so-common ability to persevere in the face of disappointments and setbacks, is one of the key factors that separate those who realize their goals from those who fall short.
Of course there is also that catchy, but annoying saying that “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”

So what are we to make of these seemingly contradictory sayings?
Two types of persistence
There is a fine line between persistence of the “insanity” variety and persistence of the “there’s more than one way to skin a cat” variety in which an individual relentlessly but creatively persists in the attainment of a goal – via multiple avenues that may be off the beaten path.

I came across a photographer’s blog posting, which illustrates how he managed to navigate that line between these two types of persistence. The post chronicles his attempt to gain greater behind-the-scenes access to an NBA basketball team over the course of several years. Please take a moment to read it here.
Persistence + ingenuity + audacity + the kitchen sink > persistence only
As evident from this example, there are times when plain old persistence is not enough, and we need a bit of ingenuity and chutzpah to get over the hump.

I once worked with an individual who, upon finding out that she had not been invited to the audition for her dream job despite making a great screening DVD, resolved to prepare as if she were invited and show up at the audition anyway. After consulting with a few trusted advisors, she proceeded to do exactly that, got the panel to agree to hear her, and played a great audition. She didn’t win the job, but left with no regrets.

Of course, I don’t recommend that everybody start crashing auditions around the country (and if by some chance you do, please don’t say you got the idea here), but this brings up an interesting point about regret and how it may play a role in persistence.
Two categories of regret
When it comes to regret, we can have regrets about two things; a) actions – like asking someone out on a date, or b) inactions – NOT asking that person out on a date.

In the short term, we tend to have regrets about both actions and inactions. We worry about how we’ll feel if we go out on a limb and are rejected, but also worry about the regrets we might have if we chicken out and don’t ask for that really cute barista’s phone number.

Research suggests that the balance of regret shifts as time passes, however. In the long term, our regrets are primarily centered around moments of inaction. We have more regret about the things we didn’t do, than those things we did do (even if they didn’t work out so well). In other words, when you look back on your life, the time you asked someone out on a date but were turned down won’t bother you much. However, that time you met your dream date but never asked them out may gnaw at you, as you can’t help but wonder if that may have been the soul mate you always believed was out there, but never did find.
Take action
Ask yourself if what you are working towards is really worth it to you. If the answer is yes, ask yourself if you have really truly explored every possible avenue that is available to you. Did you really do everything you could have? Chances are, there is more you could do.

Remember that we tend to unfairly weight the consequences of unsuccessful actions in the short term, and make it a habit to engage in more courageous actions on a daily basis.

For instance, given a choice between a familiar restaurant and an unfamiliar restaurant, why not try the new place? Given the choice between saying something to that cute guy at the coffee shop or ignoring him, why not say something? Given the choice between letting loose and really going for it in a performance or playing it safe, why not go for it? As the noted author Wayne Dyer once said, “Don’t die with your music still inside you.”

Remember that on the path towards any goal worth striving for, there are going to be obstacles, and that these obstacles are not there to keep you from reaching your destination, but to discourage the others who don’t want it as badly. It’s an opportunity to prove just how much this goal means to you. These are the moments in which to engage in persistence plus, or that more imaginative, creative, and committed brand of persistence where you simply refuse to be deterred by the hurdles that one finds on any journey worth taking.

Better Band Practices

2011-05-03T12:10:00.000-07:00

Make your practices count

It is a great feeling when you play live but that 30minutes on stage must be the result of a great deal of practicing so the audience can enjoy it too! Practices can deteriorate very quickly into jam sessions or simply a time to hang out. So here are some tips for a better band practice

· 1 DEVELOP A STANDARD WAY TO PRACTICE SONGS.

Some musicians who get together to rehearse are talented enough to just "jam" and create a very condusive atmosphere in the practice. Theysort of automatically know where to go. When you're basically first starting out you need to create a direction which everyone can adhear too stricly. To really get the most out of practicing a copy song, each musicain should come to the rehearsal knowing the "arrangement" of the song already.

Ex: Play each verse and chorus separately. This gives the musicianssmall integrated steps to practice the "memory and timing" of a song.
· 2
DEVELOP A CLEAR COMMUNICATION RULE.

Every band I've played in has shown this has to be a must. Ego's and humility do not mix well. It can be very frustracting trying to communicate an idea to someone who thinks they already have all the answers. A good way to make sure ideas are communicated is with a"Talking Stick" nobody is allow to speak over the person holding the stick. This just works well in my expierence.

· 3 MAKE SOMEONE A LEADER.

Either democratically or self appointed, someone has to take the reigns.When there is a dispute on how things should go you have to remember the ultimate goal of the band is to develop a tightness between each other with the music. A leader should bring everyone together on ideas by leading, not dictating.

· 4 DEVELOP AN ULTIMATE GOAL

As a band everyone needs to be on same wavelength to reach the band's goal. Good practicing involves reaching a cohesiveness by being together musically. Realize it's inevitable some practiceswill be better than others. A standard is what should be require andmet at each practice to fully implement a solid rehearsal.

2011-04-30T01:37:00.001-07:00

Yep, It's that time again; Band of the Month. This month after some of the best submissions we have had, we finally decided on Zepher.

Let's here what they have to say!

How did you guy’s form?

- My brother (Toby) and I (Louis) put the band together by advertising in local music shops and our university. Sam originally wanted to audition for lead guitar but we had already found Luke for that role. Sam then got in contact a second time to audition for bass and the rest is history.

“Brand New Day” is an awesome track and demonstrates a very unique style – how did that track come about?

- That's a song that I (Louis) wrote before we put the band together. It's simply a feel good, life affirming summertime song that seems to resonate with a lot of people for whatever reason? I guess that explains the vast amount of MySpace hits?

How did you get some many listens to the track on Myspace?

- Promotion promotion promotion! We would each spend hours adding people, sending messages, posting blogs..but I guess you have to acknowledge the strength of the track too, you can advertise all you like but if the songs ain't strong it's all in vain.

What is your general writing process?

- Well it's usually either myself (Louis) or Luke that will come up with the bare bones of a track i.e. a guitar riff, chord sequence or vocal melody. We then bring the track to the band and work on each instruments part and any harmonies.

What do you find most difficult about being an unsigned act in 2011?

- Not being signed! haha

What are your top tips for other unsigned bands?

- Give up, so there's more room for us.
Work hard, always give 100% live, add a small amount of luck and hope for the best.

What is your fantasy band line up?

- Louis Ellis (Vocals), Toby Ellis (Drums), Sam Evanson (Bass), Luke Hall (Guitar)

Tell us an amusing band story

- We once threw a t.v out of a hotel window, drove a rolls into a pool an various other clichés. haha

What are your views on Band Assist?

- Your doing a good job lads, there aren't many (if any) web sites dedicated to helping up and coming bands with the business side of the industry. And bands need to learn about the legalities involved with the music business..after all, it's your career look after it.

What’s next for you?

- Well, we have a brand new EP out entitled: Who The F**k Are Zepher, which is available to download from iTunes this very second! It will also be available to buy from us at our shows.
We are currently in the running to play this years FIB Festival in Spain, and you can vote for us by following this link: http://www.supajam.com/fib2011/entry/zepher-1

Other than that, we'll be gigging as much as possible, writing new tunes and having a good time.

Band Chemistry

2011-04-29T02:12:00.000-07:00

Here are a few top tips to help with your band. Getting this bit right makes everything else far easier. Battle the world, not each other!

Quick Advice

Pick your band members wisely (the easiest way to avoid bad band chemistry)
Talent isn't everything. Sounding good is only half the battle - you need to gel as a band. If you're having fun together, the audience will feel it. If the guitarist and singer can't stand each other, the crowd will pick up on that, too. You might be able to fake your way through it, but you better be great at it. Otherwise, your audience won't respond well.

Know your goals.

If you each know what you want out of the band, you'll have a lot less problems. If you agree on what you want (just playing locally versus becoming world famous versus something in between) then you're all set. But what if the drummer loves playing shows, the singer desperately wants to be famous, and the bassist is just hoping to pick up a date? Well, now you know that your drummer will say yes to any kind of tour, the singer will want to tour in big cities, and the bassist will want big crowds and post-show mixers. Know what will make everyone happy, and go for it.

Let go of the egos.

Just because it's your idea, doesn't mean it's the best one. Be flexible - especially with the minor stuff. Does it really matter if the guitarist wants to move the third song on the set list up a spot? Be civil to each other, and try not to take anything too personally. Remember, you are in this to have fun, right?

Know when to cut your losses.

If someone in your band isn't working out, know when to say goodbye. Don't avoid it because no one wants to be the bad guy. Draw straws if you have to, or approach it together, but take care of it. It's always better than the alternative - practices becoming further apart until one day you realize you broke up without knowing it.

Have fun.

It will solve virtually any problem.

Play SOLD OUT Shows

2011-04-26T01:02:00.000-07:00

Promoting your band’s website locally is about getting more people to come to your gigs (if you don’t gig, don’t bother), it’s usually only locals who’ll turn up and support you. By promoting your band’s website locally you are also promoting your band locally - it works best if you’re hands-on, real world, for instance, if you want to get a link from the local press or local radio, it would help if your band proactively supports a local charity.
Local is the area around your favourite venue (the venue you like and play most) or your town. Get a map. Find the venue or town centre. Draw a circle with a radius of about 25 miles (about 40 kilometres) around the venue or town centre. That’s local. 25 miles represents the distance people would be prepared to travel to see an independent band in the UK. Because of the transport infrastructure and familiarity with commuting, you can have a 35 mile radius around a London venue (same in most large cities). Bands who operate in large cities have a big advantage - of course you don’t have to target everyone!1. Swap links and get involved with local: businesses, charities, record shops, fashion shops, cafes, pubs, clubs, venues. Get links from local: press, radio.
2. (Legally) Hand out, post, pin up, stick and drop (accidentally!): flyers, stickers, business cards, button badges - in and around: schools, colleges, universities, record shops, fashion shops, cafes, pubs, clubs, venues and churches. Include your band’s name, website address and free gift details.
3. Team-up and collaborate with 5 or more local bands of the same or complementary genre and promote each other online and offline.
4. Use the networking communities (esp. Facebook, MySpace, ReverbNation) to communicate with the locals. Always make your website The focal point.
5. Create a mailing list / database of fans, friends and family, target those within your locale and ask them for support. And don’t forget, if you can’t make it locally with the support of your fans, friends and family, you’re not going to make it anywhere!

Take Cover?

2011-04-25T07:44:00.000-07:00

Thes is an age old question. Should unsigned bands cover well known bands? Should you start or end with a much loved tune or simply stick to your own material.

I am in two minds here to be honest:

When a Cover Works:

In previous bands and projects we have often thrown a well known cover that everyone can get into - think "Whole lotta love" by Zepplin, "Paradise City" by Guns or "sex is on Fire" by the kings of Leon. They can really grab the audiences attention and make them engage with you then you can take them along the trip with your tunes or finish with a much loved song to end on a huge crescendo. Yep I have had some of my best audience reactions from playing covers live plus it's so easy to learn someone else's stuff.

The Problem

The problem is no matter how good your stuff is due to the audiences familiarity with the cover your material just won't stand up. You run the risk of people simply going away remembering that 1 song (albeit, an awesome rendition of it) and you can fast become the band/artist that covers "xxxxxx". I have also seen many a fine musician love the reaction to a cover that they throw in another, then another and soon your playing 50% original and 50% cover versions.My

2 Cents (about 4p for us Brits)

I have a few feelings on this one:

1) have 2-3 create covers in your arsenal ready to bring out if a crowd is flagging and you want to grab their attention. Do not play them in consecutive gigs and replace them every 3-6 months, so you don't get too known for that song alone. The constants should be your material.

2) Make it different - many artists have changed a cover significantly and really made it their own. In fact many launch their careers in such a way. Look at Limp Bizkit with Faith, Robbie Williams with Freedom or the late Sid Vicious with My Way!

3) A little bit of honest plagiarism. Lets face it you probably have a few artists in your CD collection that most people won't have heard of but one or 2 of their songs are simply awesome on first listen. Why not cover them! DON'T Claim they are yours, just don't claim anything! This is honestly what Metallica did in their early days - they didn't have enough songs to fill a set so padded it out with obscure yet catchy covers.

Use covers sparingly and cleverly. Plus if you are going down the road of altering an original to make it your own be prepared to play it a fair bit, as people really latch onto this.

Good Luck

Don't forget to sign up to our free Unsigned Newsletter here

Career Musician Advice

2011-04-20T11:19:00.000-07:00

Career Musician

Many musicians mistakenly deem career-building tasks to be anti-creative.
For them, ‘career development’ equates with writing newsletters, updating websites, emailing presenters, and the like – things that take them away from practicing.

Of course, we all have to carry out administrative chores to sustain our careers. But, as I see it, the most important career moves we make are those that inspire us, that give direction to our creativity.

And the more excited we are about our professional prospects, the more effectively we practice and the less onerous those administrative chores become.

This post highlights seven entrepreneurial strategies that can boost any musician’s creativity and career.

Craft compelling concert programsPresenters will flock to hire you if you offer programs that draw media attention and bring in listeners. Plus, you’ll be keen to promote shows that you know break new ground. So explore innovative ways to package the titles you love. You might even craft programs that tie into current events – say, “Music of Protest.”

Expand your audienceAre there venues where your type of music isn’t normally heard? Have you ever put together school programs? What about interactive concerts for the elderly or infirm? When you reach beyond your typical audience, you increase your relevance to your community and stretch your creative powers.

Compose on commissionDancers, filmmakers, theater directors, singers, and even business leaders often need music for their presentations. If you make yourself available to them, you open up possibilities for both income and creative synergy.

Record distinctive musicAs with live music, recorded music that blazes with novelty can rise above the competition. Classical performers, for instance, who commission and record new works stand out as pioneers (and plenty of grantmakers support commissions).

Team up in unexpected collaborationsNot only do collaborations broaden our musical abilities, insightful ones can lead us to new soundscapes and trigger bursts of compositional invention. These in turn can bring on ideas for concerts and recordings. So keep networking with other musicians and artists, and stay open to unforeseen collaborative prospects.

Create educational materialsFrom one generation to the next, aspiring musicians need up-to-date pedagogical materials. Who better to create those materials than you? The publications you devise can aid countless music lovers and earn you royalties far into the future.

Tap new technologiesSuppose you land a string of concerts: Why limit your audience to those who can attend your show? You might acquire some video production chops and stream your concerts live via sites like UStream. Or you could audio-record your performances and sell recordings right then on flash drives, as Aderra does.

In sum, whatever your musical style, there’s an audience eager to hear high-quality work in your genre. It’s up to you to think imaginatively and then do the work necessary to deliver that music.

Write Great Guitar Riffs

2011-04-18T11:08:00.000-07:00

The thing to keep in mind when writing a riff, is that the rhythmic phrase you created should be representative of a chord. What I mean is you should be clearly playing to one particular tonal center with your root.The best way to achieve this is to pick a key to write your song in. For this example, we'll use the Key of "A".

Lets say the chord progression we have in mind for our song is a typical rock or blues I-IV-VSo, our chords go A5 -D5-E5 (if you aren't familiar with 5 chords you may want to check out my lesson on Power ChordsLet's assume we want our progression to be 4bars-A5, 1bar-D5, 1bar-E5, then repeat.The idea we want to work with is to replace our A5 chord with a riff. Let's use the minor pentatonic scale to create the riff. If the riff is going to represent the A5 chord well, we have to make sure that we favor the A note.

A good idea is to start and/or end on our root note.(A) It doesn't hurt to play the A note repeatedly in a catchy rhythmic fashion before moving on to any other notes in the scale.If you can come up with a 4 bar riff great! Then play your 1 bar of D5, 1 bar of E5 and go back to your riff. That's it! You've got the next big rock hit on your hands.I know what you're thinking, "But, I can't come up with a riff that's 4 bars long!"No problem.

Let's say your riff is one bar in duration. All you need to do is play your one bar riff-one bar of A5-repeat your one bar riff-one bar A5-then on to ! bar D5-1 bar E5....and repeat....etc....Now you're really rockin'!

Get a great bass guitar sound

2011-04-16T01:38:00.000-07:00

How to get a great live Bass sound I have always been struck by preponderance of poor live bass sound. Bassists show up at gigs with thousands of dollars worth of rig and bass yet the results are often dismal. The bass sound seems clouded with extraneous noise. The sound person's best efforts are usually for naught so the sound person takes the bass down in the mix, inevitably filling in the mix with extra kick drum. Many bassists are oblivious to their predicament, having long since relegated such responsibility to others.

The challenges to getting good live bass sound are many. First is the source, the bass itself. Most players imagine their sound in a vacuum. Unfortunately what sounds good solo in their bedroom has little in common with what is needed at the concert hall. When bands practice there is seldom enough thought given to how the instruments blend, who will fit in where in the sound spectrum. Guitarist thrill with extended bass in their sound, while bassists think that every sibilant nuance of their new strings must be broadcast to the masses. Drummers rightfully cover the spectrum from bass drum to high hat. The result is that no one is heard correctly, a volume race ensues in the practice room and on stage. Bassist must compete with their best foot forward; clear, fat fundamental tone enriched with some clean midrange and not much else.

We could start by taking our cues from the electric bass pioneers of the 50s and 60s who, with modest equipment were able to propel their music in a most effective and memorable way, often using short scale basses or hollow bodies and flat wound strings of prehistoric vintage that they played with felt picks. Few of us today would stand for dead strings but we should consider that much of a new string's sound is high frequency clutter. On stage most of those highs will be masked by the guitar, cymbals and other high frequency sources. Trying to poke through the mix by boosting mids and highs won't clear up the bass part since the upper content is mostly finger noise, sympathetic ringing from adjacent strings and buzz or hiss.

Much can be gained by filtering the sound before it is amplified. Bass intelligibility is determined by wave shape. Certain wave forms can cut through better than others. Of course it's best to fit the song with an appropriate tone and then strive for intelligibility from there by cutting out the parts of the signal that aren't essential. In practice this might mean having a couple of different basses. In general it means playing cleanly and staying away from effects. Many times the culprit is too much low end in a misguided attempt to fatten the bass. It is better to get a solid 60 or 80Hz center and cut out everything below 50Hz than to pile up standing waves at 40 or 30 Hz.

If you play several styles during a set you will need to sound check each permutation from reggae to smooth jazz to see how the room will respond. If you are touring a regular circuit, you should take written notes on each venue. Always talk to the local sound person to find out what works. They in turn will appreciate your concern and do their best on your behalf.

If you own a big rig and are playing in a small venue, stay out of the house mix entirely. A single point source is better at avoiding wave cancellations around the room. For a deeper sound, set your rig against a back wall or in a corner to enhance the "boundary effect". If the low end is overpowering move the rig up towards the middle of the room. 10" drivers tend to focus sound in a narrow beam and aren't as good for filling big rooms. You can try bouncing the sound off a back wall to get better propagation though you will loose some highs in the process.

If you mic your amp for the house feed, make sure you aren't distorting your amp unintentionally on stage. A D.I. (Direct Inject) is a much better way to go and you should probably buy one that you like, it's a small investment that can make a big difference. Most bass pre-amps and amps now come with built in D.I.s that work well but you might want to experiment. Some of the best bass players I know simply use a D.I. and the house monitors for their signal and leave their rigs at home. They sound better because they avoid interference between their rig and the house mains while they are more conscious of what their bass sounds in the house. These lucky guys save their backs too. Some of my favorite DIs:

AVALON U-5 Radial Reichenbach DB- 1:12 Little Labs

Keep your stage volume at an absolute minimum if you are going through the house mains.

Smaller enclosures are better suited for monitoring, set them up at ear level or angle them up from the stage. Use them for side fill rather than aiming them indiscriminately out at the audience. This will let the mains sound their best and won't confuse the sound person with a hot bass signal beamed right at the mixing board from the stage. The latest trend is in-ear monitors for the whole band with Plexiglas baffles around the drummer. These in-ear systems are still expensive but can be built up slowly starting with the vocalists who seem to love them. You will probably love not hearing the vocalists in your mix. Drummers seem to be the most monitor-needy after vocalists. Consider a "shaker" throne for the drummer so that she can feel her kick drum and your bass meshing rather than blasting her with 2 monitors and side-fill.

Tell the front of house engineer that you want less overall house volume. A house system running at 100dB will have headroom and will sound far better than a system that is maxed out at 129dB. Sound engineers often believe their job is to wring as much volume as possible out of the house system. Bass requires most of the power in a house system but if all the power is used up with kick drum reverb and vocals, your low frequencies will never get a chance and your audience will go home with their ears ringing and won't have benefited from a note you played. I just heard about a club that uses a low power FM broadcast instead of house sound, each patron gets their own FM headset and can adjust their volume as they wish. Now that's utopian.

Playing Live Tips

2011-04-13T10:52:00.000-07:00

I realise haven’t mentioned the performance yet, and there are a few very important things to bear in mind. You need to be confident that you love what you’re doing, and portray this in whatever way feels natural to you. It’s easy to feel nervous on stage, and this will can be remedied over time, but do try not to look awkward as this will be conveyed to your audience. As music fans we have all been to gigs, some great, some not so great. As well as having a good set of songs to showcase, you need to think about the context. A little work at rehearsal can change 5 or 6 good songs into an amazing set. Crossover time between songs has to be kept at a minimum. There’s nothing worse during a set than a song finishing, then being treated to an awkward silence. People will lose attention and start chatting, when you want to keep their attention throughout. Practice a performance as you would play it live, and try to minimise gaps as much as possible.

Decide when you will say things, create bridging bits between songs; anything to keep the audience’s attention. Also think which songs to put in which order. It may sound obvious, but if it’s a short set, don’t fill it with your slowest songs if that’s not the intention. The last thing I will say for now (I have been rambling on for quite a while!) is to set yourself up a mailing list. This is a great way to let your fans know when you are playing, or of any news or important stuff that is happening. Perhaps include some interesting facts with each issue, the choice is yours. Don’t send out too many emails however, otherwise people will get fed up. All this will take is a clipboard, and some professional looking A4 sheets where people can enter their name, email, and possibly a phone contact.

Recording Vocals at home

2011-04-11T11:27:00.000-07:00

Blog: Recording Vocals at Home Recording vocals can be one of the more challenging tracking phase processes you may run into. If it wasn’t enough of a tough cookie in the studio, you can be sure it’s a daunting task in a bedroom (or a home office or any other room you’ve set aside for recording fun that wasn’t purpose-built for it).

The sad truth is that you can’t get pro quality vocals happening at home. But you can improve the sound by a mile if you’re armed with a few tricks and tips, and that’s what I intend to give you.

The Room

The number one factor in vocal recording is the room. You might’ve thought it was the mic you’re using or the pre-amp you’re running it through, but the truth is if you’ve got a U87 and an Avalon but the room you’re recording in is crap, you won’t be much farther ahead than a guy using a Behringer mic through an Mbox.

You could buy one of those (often rather expensive) reflection shields that attach to the stand and sit behind the microphone, and this will do you some good, particularly if your mic is omnidirectional. However, most common vocal microphones for both home and studio users are cardioid, so the shield will still help to an extent but the majority of problem reflections will come from the front — that is, the surfaces behind the vocalist’s head.

This article isn’t about treating your room, which is a great idea if you own your home and you can learn more about doing so on a budget here. We’re talking about cheap, fast and temporary solutions for the moment. The best thing you can do in this case is to grab a blanket and tape it to a wall or hang it over a reasonably tall and wide bookshelf with some books pinning it down on top.

You want to get as much of the surface on the wall behind the singer covered as you can. Don’t neglect the area behind and above the head in particular — if your singer is taller than your bookshelf (or even around the same height), forget about hanging the blanket and tape it to the wall. The thickest blanket you can find is best.

Here’s an example that compares a bedroom recording without a blanket, and then with a blanket — I’ve used a clap, the industry standard reflection measurement technology: As you can hear, the first sound has a very metallic reflection to it, which isn’t particularly pleasant. The second clap shows that you can’t eliminate reflections in a bedroom this way, but you can control them and give yourself some room to apply a nicer reverb later.

You’ll have the best luck in a carpeted room. If you’ve got floorboards or tiles, get a rug that covers as much of the floor as possible. You should also ensure your curtains or blinds are drawn as window glass is incredibly reflective. Slat blinds are not particularly good at blocking the reflections because of the gap between each strip, so try to hang a curtain even if only for the duration of your recording session. Again, the thicker the better. In some recording rooms a bit of liveliness isn’t a bad thing when the reflective surfaces have been purpose-designed, but in a bedroom you’re best of deadening as much as you can and adding reverb during the mixing phase of your project.

Dampening the vicinity behind the singer’s head can be enough to reduce reflections to decent level for home demo recording, but if you’re full of energy and have more blankets than you know what to do with, put one on every wall and maybe even lay one over your desk surface.

The last suggestion involves a lot of work — you need to move your gear, put the blanket down, put the gear back, and then repeat the process when you’re done, but a reflective desk can cause a lot of problems.

Positioning

Positioning the microphone can be tricky in a home studio situation. You don’t want to be too close to walls or other reflective surfaces such as desks (especially desks, as frequencies, in particular bass, will build up underneath the desktop). On the other hand, you don’t want to be in the middle of the room — the frequencies that build up due to non-purpose specific room design are most prominent here, and are known as standing waves.

In a small room, as most home recording environments are, it’s tough to get away from walls and from the center of the room. My recommendation is that you put yourself closer to a wall that is dampened with a blanket and face the other side of the room. Get a few feet away from the wall if you can do so without putting the microphone in the middle of the room, and make sure the wall you’ve chosen is furthest away from your desk or windows. You may want to rearrange the room so your desk is at the window! It might increase the reflectivity of that area of the room, but if you can get far enough away from it, this is better than having nowhere to go because your desk is at one end and the window’s at the other.

If you can get a few feet in front of the wall you’ve chosen to dampen, make sure you can dampen as much of that wall as possible. Using a few blankets is a bit of a pain, but worth it in the end.

Your singer should stand about a foot away from the microphone as a general guide. Softer singers might be better off standing at half that distance, while a loud metal screamer might need as much as two feet of distance. Good microphone technique plays a part in the process, which unfortunately requires the singer has some experience with studio recording. Someone who has sung live for years but has never entered a studio is not going to be much better than a total neophyte, particularly if you’re using condensers, as the correct technique differs in both situations. They may have a bit of an advantage if you’re recording with dynamics (and I’ve only ever seen a dynamic mic used for studio vocals a couple of times, and one of those times was because the singer was too loud for a condenser even with a -20dB pad on and low gain!). It’s also advisable to put the singer a couple of degrees off the center of the microphone, where it’s less sensitive. Singers like to move their heads, and a centimeter can make too much of a difference at dead-center. Which leads me to…

The Proximity Effect

Almost all dynamic microphones and the vast majority of condensers used in a home studio have a proximity effect, which is to say that the closer the sound source is to the microphone, the more the bass frequencies will be exaggerated. 90% of the time, this is undesirable in vocal recordings.

There are a few ways to combat this — your best bet is to use a singer with good microphone technique and awareness of the various problems that can crop up when they move their little heads too close. When you’re dealing with a less experienced singer I’ve found an effective quick fix is to move the pop filter a few inches away from the mic so they physically cannot get too close to the microphone (you are using a pop filter, right? If not, get one right away!). Be careful, as this may limit their ability to compensate for a sudden drop in volume by moving in a bit closer.

Gain

Most people have a tendency to record vocals too loud, which causes clipping and definitely cannot be fixed in the mix. Unfortunately, if you’ve got a home studio with typical home studio gear, you don’t have the luxury of recording too soft, either. With a studio quality set-up, you can record quietly without danger (usually) of running into noise floor problems. At home, the equipment and cables are almost always too noisy and you need to record with enough volume to escape that ugly sound.

Every time you set up a vocal recording session, you’re going to need to spend time getting the levels right so that the quietest point in the song can be heard loudly enough without introducing clipping when the singer gets a bit more passionate in the chorus. To make matters worse, you need to remember that a singer — be it yourself or someone you’re recording — will get louder as they get further into the session and begin to overcome nerves, particularly those singers who are not experienced in the recording studio. So even if you spend twenty minutes getting your levels right at first, there’s a good chance you’ll need to compensate for it by the time you’re doing the real-deal tracking.

Make the Singer Sound Great

At least, to them! Almost all singers are suddenly and magically able to sing better if they hear their voice after is has been processed a bit. Different singers have different needs, but a bit of compression and reverb on the monitoring bus are usually the way to go. If your compression and reverb units are hardware units, make sure you can route your headphone bus through them so the hard effects aren’t recorded for good, unless you know what you’re doing and don’t intend to change it later on.

For those of you with a more basic setup, such as an Mbox, headphone mixes aren’t an option. You’ll need to satisfy yourself with slapping a plug-in or two on the vocal track and using software monitoring, or going without if the latency is too high for that.

Singers — and have no illusions, every singer from yourself to Rob Halford — will try to overcompensate for the flaws they hear in their voice if confronted with the raw sound from the microphone. Some are better at focusing on the performance and doing less compensating than others, but they all do it. Put some artificial control in place with the compressor and a more natural sounding room with a bit of nice reverb.

Ever seen someone who has never worked in a studio enter a treated dead room or anechoic chamber before? I was surprised to find that many people find it disconcerting. A disconcerted singer is not a very good one, so liven up the deadened sound and you’ll notice an immediate improvement.

As it happens, they say this is why people sing in the shower more than any other location!

Writing Lyrics

2011-04-08T11:00:00.000-07:00

How to write lyrics As an aspiring songwriter myself, I am constantly listening to the albums of my favorite artists in the hopes that some inspiration strikes and I can someday write the lyrics to a song that people will listen to over and over again. And though I have not yet hit the jackpot in my own work, I think I have learned a few things about how the good songs get written. But first and foremost, I would say that the guidelines for writing good song lyrics very much depend on the genre in which you choose to write. The standards for good heavy metal song lyrics are going to be very different from what will be expected of a pop rock song and even more distinct from the lyrics in a country song. Of course, this is not always the case, but it is important to understand and to consider the stylistic differences in the genres before you start writing so that you can decide whether you want a standard sound or whether you want to go with your own unique creation. Here are some thoughts on writing lyrics in the different genres:

For Heavy Metal Songs:

Convey a singular thought, emotion, image, or idea and write lyrics that are somewhat short or punctuated

Stick with that one idea throughout the whole song and keep your lyrics very simple and unilateral. You might want to do something as basic as finding a catchy way to repeat that idea over and over rather than to dilute it with several other lyrics. This might make for a very repetitious song, but this idea seems very true to the already released heavy metal.

For Mainstream Rock-n-Roll (Pop Rock) Songs:

This is a much lighter and catchier sound than heavy metal. Here, you might want to draw inspiration from an event, person, place, or emotion in your life about which you can create a story. Conjure up the catalyst first, and then think of the story you want to tell or the emotion you want to convey and create it. Keep in mind that you want a beginning, middle, and end to your story so you want the idea or emotion to fit tightly within the standard song structures. Example: Use A (chorus) B (chorus) structure. Make verse A be the beginning of the story, the chorus be the major emotion, and verse B be the middle and end of the story. Repeat the structure using as many verses as it takes to tell your whole story or to convey your emotion. The lyric lines here are usually (not always) longer here than those in heavy metal songs and the words themselves are more elongated.

For Country Songs:

The rules here for lyrics are somewhat similar to those in the writing of pop-rock lyrics. Old country songs were very twangy and sad (sometimes sappy). Over the years, country songs have joined hands with the rock-n-roll genre and become both more mainstream and upbeat. My tip here:

If you want to write the old, twangy version of country, think of the saddest thing that has ever happened to you, write a story about it in your head, and follow the rules above to produce the final product.

If you have trouble connecting with the sad experiences of your past, you can always incorporate alcohol to reconnect with the weightiness of the experience. But, should you choose to do this, drink responsibly, do not drive drunk, and be sober when it comes time to write the song. I cannot emphasize enough here, though to drink moderately and responsibly.

Should you choose to write a more modern country song, see the tips for pop-rock songs.

Now genre aside, here are a few tips that apply to all the songs that you wish to write:

1. Keep your verses no more than 4-6 lines and your choruses the same

2. It is a good idea to have the lines rhyme. This rhyme can be a perfect rhyme, but can also be something close. Think creatively here; if you do, you would be surprised what can rhyme with what.

3. Remember that your lyrics will be set to music and can be stretched and manipulated accordingly. So, where you can't get a rhyme, you can use words with the same number of syllables or words that rhyme closely and make them work for you.

4. It is often the case that every other line of your verse or chorus should rhyme. This is not always true, but this element occurs frequently in lyrics.

Mastering Music!

2011-04-07T07:15:00.000-07:00

read a lot on music, so I've come across my share of interviews with pros in the field of recording. When asked about the specifics of a particular mixing/mastering technique, I've noticed that many guys will respond something like this: "Man, if it sounds right, it is right."

Then they talk about how one time they had to boost the snare by 16dB at 5.38kHz and it really made it pop. The album made platinum and the mixer was presented with the “Best Snare Sound Award” from the Canadian Council of Superior Recordings.That’s a great story and all, but in my opinion “If it sounds right, it is right” is the worst piece of advice you could ever give someone learning about mixing/mastering. Why? Because most newbies to recording have neither the experience nor the training to be able to hear the way a mixing/mastering engineer has learned to hear.

What sounds right to a newbie could sound right for all the wrong reasons. Amateur recordists should actually dedicate a fair amount of time trying to learn what it is exactly that the pros are hearing.Once I was...eh-hmm…"mastering" a track and trying to give it some sparkly top end clarity like a radio cut. Over the course of the session, I thought I was making all the right moves. In my mind I was a mastering badass. The next morning I almost wet myself when I heard how absolutely horrible I made the track sound. Instead of making it sound radio-ready, I made it sound like a straight pin was used as a stylus on a record player.My point? Newbies don't know what "right" sounds like. Heck, it took me a good year before I was able to hear how each of the parameters on a compressor changed the sound of the effect. Do you remember your first experiments with EQ? At that early point in our development as mixers, how were we supposed to know what a tasteful amount of EQ sounded like? I know I‘ve made my share of bad mix moves over time. But through these mistakes—and hopefully through critique as well—we slowly start to understand how a pro hears.

Anyhoo…now that I’ve been around the block a few years, I know what the pros really mean when they say "If it sounds right, it is right." So, let me translate for you, because I think it’s instructive. Here’s the translation:

“In my 25 years experience working in the recording industry on hundreds of major-label projects, where I've become extremely familiar with the best gear money can buy, I have learned through countless opportunities of trial and error that occasionally it's okay to violate a general recording guideline in order to achieve the sound I think will benefit the song as a whole. And even though I will sometimes push a principal beyond what is typically acceptable, I make sure that my decision will not jeopardize the sonic integrity and fidelity of neither the individual part nor its relation to the whole."

This is what they mean. Not as easy to toss off as a zen-like maxim, I know. But, until you're in their same situation, which won't be for a while, you may think twice when the violation of a generally-accepted recording axiom sounds "right."

My advice: if you're new to mixing/mastering or recording in general, just stick to the general guidelines you read about in trusted books and blogs. You might not create stellar mixes but they're also not going to suck really bad because you decided that boosting all the tracks 12dB at 2kHz sounded “awesome.”

Wehn to Leave you Band

2011-04-05T11:13:00.000-07:00

Quitting your band is one of the hardest decisions you’ll ever make. You’ve devoted time, money, and your heart and soul in to this group. Every band sees some trouble from time to time, and you don’t want to be a weenie and quit just because someone used your guitar pick to clean their teeth. But there may be a time when you have to seriously consider if being in your band is still in line with your personal goals.

Here’s a list of things that may serve as red flags.

1. You don’t feel inspired any more. Music is art. If you don’t have the inspiration to keep making more—or if you feel like you’re just going through the motions in your practice or performance, it’s time to re-evaluate whether or not your band is the right vehicle for you to express yourself. There are a lot of reasons why “the thrill is gone”: personal changes, artistic growth, or the discovery of something new and more exciting in your life. Whatever the cause, you can’t “fake” inspiration, and you’ll resent your band the more you try.

2. Practice sessions are unproductive. So, one of the guys is late...again. Another one brings his girlfriend to practice and they spend twenty minutes making out on the sofa. The drummer’s cell phone rings three times and he insists he can’t turn it off because he’s waiting for his roommate to call him with the game score. It is pretty clear that no one is taking things seriously. When people don’t take practice seriously, it is a clear indication that the creative energy is low, or worse, non-existent. If your efforts to keep things on track are met with continued lackadaisical attitudes by the other members—it’s probably time to find another home for your talent.

3. There is regular conflict between two or more members. Everyone’s been here: egos clash, opinions are aired. It’s actually healthy to have some disagreement and dialog in the creative process. But if there is regular conflict between members of the band, the negative energy is only going to stifle the creative process. Not to mention it’s a pain in the ass for everyone else to have to set aside practice time only to have it turn into a bad reality television show. If the conflicted members are not interested in resolving their issues, there is only so far you’ll ever be able to go as a band.

4. Creativity has come to a standstill. You may have had a good couple years. Maybe you’ve recorded a disc and played a series of shows with success. You’ve built your name in the community and have a following. But now, there’s nothing new and you feel like you’re rehashing the same old same old stuff during practice. There needs to be a serious discussion in the band about new material. If you’re not constantly creating new music, you might as well be a cover band. If it’s not happening here, then you might want to find another outlet.

5. You feel that your contributions are being ignored—or resented. A band is not a dictatorship. Everyone has a role to play, and everyone’s contribution is important. That’s not to say that your drummer can come in to practice one day and decide he wants to play lead guitar; but it is important that every member feels comfortable making a contribution and that everyone is able to push themselves in new, exciting directions keeping them stimulated and creative. If you feel that your band mates are trying to keep you in a creative “box” and resent your efforts to expand your contribution, then you need to decide how long you’re willing to do that before it’s time to move on.

6. You have an opportunity to further your career somewhere else. When you’re in a band, you are part of a team. So when something else comes along, you don’t just run off and leave your buddies high and dry. But the bottom line is that your career is your own. If you have an opportunity to do something that will change you life, it is worth considering. There’s no right or wrong answer—only you can tell if it’s worth taking the risk of leaving your band for another opportunity. Don’t automatically discount an offer for something big just because you’re already in a band. Weigh the decision carefully, and if you decide it’s worth it, make your choice and stand behind it.

7. Members have started flaking on practice and rehearsal. Unless you’re independently wealthy, chances are that you’re not only in a band, but you are working to pay your bills; and you have family commitments, relationships, and other responsibilities that are all vying for your time. A band is not meant to be a cult where you shun everything else in your life: members need to be sensitive to one another and not make unrealistic demands on time. However, if someone can’t carve out regular quality time to practice with your band, they need to admit it. You can’t just show up once a month and play a gig without regular practice.

8. One or more of the members has a serious problem with drugs or booze. Musicians are famous for their partying, and there’s no reason to expect your band mates to be Quakers. But when someone crosses the line and their drug-use or drinking affects their relationships, their commitments, and their performance—it’s time to take action. If you’re dealing with an addict, you need to talk to a professional about how to approach them. Confronting someone about their addiction is painful for both sides, and the bottom line is that you care about the person—but you can’t let them continue to destroy themselves and take advantage of you and your time. If the band doesn’t want to have this conversation with the member who has the problem and doesn’t think it’s important to address, you are wasting your time. Additionally, if the whole band seems to spend more time partying than practicing; it’s time to move on.

9. There’s not an equal commitment or contribution by all members. An independent band requires its members to play more than one role. Often you are responsible for your own management, public relations, and marketing. You need everyone to cooperate if you’re going to make it. It’s unfair to expect one or two people to handle all the ‘grunt’ work. There’s no room for a prima donna in a band. If people are slacking and you can’t seem to motivate them, you have three choices: continue to put up with it and hope your band magically achieves success; try to convince them to step it up; or leave the band.

10. You can’t keep up your end of the bargain. You’re the only person who can make this call. If you’re over-extended in your time and energy, or if your energy is being used up by your wedding, a new baby, a job, your PhD or the Boston Marathon—then you need to admit it to yourself and your band mates. Being in a band isn’t supposed to be juts another obligation in your day planner. If that’s what it has become, then you need to seriously reconsider whether or not you should be doing it.

How to Win a Battle of the Bands

2011-04-04T11:39:00.000-07:00

A winning band needs visual style as well as an accomplished sound. A regular fixture in the programs of many schools, radio stations and communities across the World, a "battle of the bands" gives new bands the chance to compete for exposure, popularity and prizes. To win the top spot, your band will need to display musical skill, stage presence and the ability to engage with and win over the audience and judges. Top Tips o 1 Read and follow the rules of the competition. If you neglect an important rule, you've lost before you've begun. o 2 Advertise the event and encourage your friends, family and fans to come along and support you. Their enthusiasm can go a long way toward creating a positive response when you're onstage. o 3 Plan an original performance. Even if you cover someone else's song, you can make the arrangement your own and add touches such as solos and your own harmonies to make the performance fresh and exciting. o 4 Perform songs that showcase your technical ability. In addition to showing the judges that you can make music that sounds good, you need to demonstrate that you have sophisticated technical skills. Examples include improvisations and playing chords that require complex fingering. o 5 Add choreography, props and other visual elements to enhance the performance. What you wear and how you move make just as much an impression on the audience as how you sound. Even simple movements, such as jumping around during a particularly explosive part of a song, excite the crowd. A quirky addition to your costume, such as gloves or striking makeup, can make your band stand out from the rest. Make your visual appearance fit the genre of music you play. o 6 Practice thoroughly, tune your instruments beforehand and be on time for the performance. This preparedness shows a professional attitude. Show good sportsmanship toward the other competitors, even if you lose, and introduce yourself to the judges and organizers of the event to make a good impression. o 7 Have a back-up plan in case anything goes wrong. Agree beforehand on what you'll do if equipment fails. For example, have a spare guitar waiting in the wings in case a string snaps. o 8 Interact with the audience to generate atmosphere. Ways to interact include introducing the band members, giving shout-outs to fans and encouraging dancing, clapping and cheering. o 9 Relax before the performance and enjoy the experience. If you let your nerves get the better of you or you struggle through the performance, the audience can tell and will judge accordingly. A relaxation exercise, such as shutting your eyes and taking several deep breaths, can put you in a calm frame of mind right before you step onto the stage.

Band of The Month - The FIx

2011-04-03T02:12:00.000-07:00

Well it's that time aain and this months winners are hard rocking quartet The Fix. We caught up with the guys to see whats new with them, plus see how they are promoting thier music.

How did you guy’s form?

I moved to London 3yrs ago from the midlands with the sole purpose of forming a band. Lots of advertising and meeting people in pubs and practices. It took me two years before I met Mike (Bass Player) and then another six months to meet Fando (Lead Guitar). Phil (Drums) I found on a musician advertising site.

We get on really well and that was as important as being able to play and create.

“Bob” is an awesome track and demonstrates a very unique style – how did that track come about?

Thanks man! I write most of my songs on acoustic guitar and have a vision in my head when I do. I remember it taking me quite a while to write, I always start with music and came up with the verse riff first. The chorus came very naturally but it was the breakdown that took time to perfect.

The lyrics were an idea i’d had for a while and something that isn’t your standard theme. I called it Bob after the character that i’m singing about, I’m really proud of it and it’s probably my favourite track to play live.

What is your general writing process?

All of the songs on the current EP were written by me on my acoustic guitar at home that I already had written for a band. Now we’ve started writing at practices together. Someone will bring an idea to the table and we’ll generally allow each other to find a part to play. We’re not afraid to suggest other ideas or constructively criticise either and I find it healthy to do so.

During the writing I’ll usually have an idea of what I’d like to sing about forming and just have to feel it out and think about it. I take time over my lyrics as I think they’re incredibly important. What do you find most difficult about being an unsigned act in 2011?

Getting noticed. I know nowadays there are more ways than ever before to get your stuff out there to be heard and people can watch you on youtube or myspace but with that comes the problem of the other million billion other acts out there trying to do exactly the same. Hopefully our quality can stand out haha.

What are your top tips for other unsigned bands?

I played a gig with a previous band once and the band we were supporting were due to sound check first. They were a local band and we were travelling from stafford to manchester. We got there on time but were doing our check after the headliners as is standard. They strolled in 45mins late, were rude to the sound engineer and had no interest in acknowledging us when we said hi.

Basically the opposite of that! Be professional, be polite, be respectful. We haven’t done anything yet, we’re an unsigned act trying to get noticed and one of the things I believe people appreciate is professionalism, politeness and respect. What goes around comes around.

Also, don’t just record something, stick it on myspace and wait for the call to come. Don’t kid yourself, you’re going to have to work your arse off! What is your fantasy band line up?

That is just so unfair!

Ok lets give it a go

Vocals - A choice between Eddie Vedder, Guy Garvey and Tom Waits Guitars - John Frusciante, Josh Homme, Johnny Greenwood and Dean Deleo Bass Guitar - Robert Deleo, John Paul Jones or Paul Mccartney Keys - Ed Harcourt or Ben Folds Drums - Dave Grohl, John Bonham or Stewart Copeland

Tell us an amusing band story

This is a story from my old band.

When we did one of our tours we would hire a van, two in the front and all the equipment and the other 3 in the back, in the dark with an old sofa and a matress.

Our lead guitarist had a bladder the size of a flea and constantly needed to use the facilities. On one of our longer drives back from a gig, that call of nature came again but no service station in site for at least 20 miles. Unable to hold out he found an empty plastic milk bottle and proceeded to do the deed.

Unfortunately for him he hadn’t realised there was no lid or cap and so for the next 20 miles was holding an open bottle of piss in the dark in the back of a van.

During those 20 miles there were many swerves and close calls as piss sloshed back and forth from the open bottle when all of a sudden the services were upon us. A sigh of relief as we pulled in, then, we hit a speed bump into the services car park, the bottle flew from his grasp and drenched the back of the van in stinking hot urine. The amps, the sofa, the matress and 60% of the band completely soaked!

Those last 100 miles were very quiet indeed!

What are your views on Band Assist?

Fantastic, Some good sound sensible advice from people who have seen it done it and got the t-shirt. Real friendly and nothing but good things to say about you guys!

What’s next for you?

We’re recording our second EP in June, before then we have photo shoots, gigs at the bowery (8th april), the troubadour (11th may) and are starting to put together our website. Lots of hard work, fun and cups of tea ahead!

Twitter Tips for Bands

2011-04-03T01:44:00.001-07:00

Twitter Tip for Bands Do you follow some awesome band on Twitter that you would kill to jam with? Why not tweet at them? It can’t hurt. You never know who’s going to be down to hook up with you — especially if you don’t try. Eric Victorino of The Limosenes was able to score a kind of collaboration with DJ Samantha Ronson by merely paying attention to mentions of his band on Twitter. “We keep tabs on who’s talking about [us] and who’s mentioning us,” Victorino says. “Samantha Ronson and Lindsay Lohan were both talking about us once, so we just reached out to them, like, ‘Hey, hi.’ And from that came — I wouldn’t say a friendship — but just sort of an

Get a Good Sound on Stage

2011-03-30T11:11:00.000-07:00

You've got your amplifiers, you've been practising in a garage or small rehearsal room and things sound pretty tight. Now you've got a chance to play down at the local pub/bar. How difficult could that be? Well, if you feel that all you have to do is set up and play just as you've been practising then there is a 99% chance of disaster. Many bands sound awful at their first gigs because they haven't balanced their on-stage sound.

You'll have grown accustomed to balancing to the drums when practising but you'll need to be louder for your gigs. The answer is not to simply crank everything to 11. If you are struggling to hear yourself don't get into a volume war with the other guitarist and/or bass player, it's the balance that is wrong. Guitars will need 30 to 50watts RMS to match the drums. The bass will need 50 to 100 watts. You'll notice that most decent combos will meet these needs for small to medium sized venues. The vocalist is the one band member who will not be able to hear himself without monitors. Keeping within sensible levels you can balance the volume of guitar/s and bass against drums, and keyboards if you have them. Each band member can move towards their back line kit to better hear what they are playing, and knows where to go to check the other guys too.

To get balanced, first set up the drums, back-line, the monitors and PA, and make sure everything is functioning. Your band should line up with the bassist to the drummer's left as it's the best eye-line for the drummer who needs eyes-on the other half of the band's rhythm section. Lead guitar is to the bass player's left with rhythm on the drummer's right, again in line of sight and carefully aimed drumstick! Vocalist front and centre. Start with your monitors up but the PA right down and send your sound engineer (or a willing volunteer with good ears) into the auditorium. Run through one of your best songs and check that everyone can hear what they need to hear on stage. Check with the sound engineer for how the instrument balance sounded. You'll need to make some compromises if one or two people are unhappy. Try moving them, or adjust the monitor positions, check the angle that speaker cabs are facing in, you may need to move people away from something or you may need to move them closer.

Guitarists, don't forget that you have a tone control as too much bass will create a muddiness, leave the bassier bass to the man with four strings. You can control this at the guitar. Many guitar players simply set the tone knob to 'max' and forget about it and at this setting you will get the widest range of frequencies your guitar will produce but try being more focused. Single coil pick-ups can, for example, be very bright, sometimes more than you might like; to add some depth simply roll off some top-end with the tone control.

The guitar also has a volume control and it's often used simply as an on-off switch, all or nothing, but it's a variable control, not a toggle switch, it's meant to be versatile, so use it like this: With the volume control at max, set the amp to the highest gain/volume settings you intend to use, now turn down the guitar volume control for a cleaner sound for the quieter stuff you play. When you want oomph, get a smooth change by turning your guitar volume control back up. This is a professional technique much used by great players including Jimi Hendrix. While you are checking those maximum amp settings for gain and volume levels, check them rolled back a couple of degrees, too; you'll often find a punchier and more cutting sound waiting for you. It's all too easy to tip over into a more squashed, thrashy, rock-out sound that is much more exciting on-stage than it is for the audience.

This, then, is the sound check, a time for all to give their opinions. It's very rarely possible for everyone to get exactly what they want so be professional and agree workable compromises; it's no good if people start turning up, or down, later. Both the guy that wants to rock out at 11 and the shy self-conscious player who backs off, share one thing: they can both ruin the mix, your band's sound.

This is the time to agree the on-stage sound and once it's set it doesn't get altered unless problems occur later, such as feedback issues or the crowd absorbing more, or less, of the front of house sound than you'd anticipated. This is being professional. The whole band needs to agree not to change individual settings once you've decided on the balance. The sound engineer is the only person who should adjust volumes once the balance is set and needs to remember that the mix he can hear in his headphones will sound different to someone in the middle of a crowded venue. The engineer, though, should never change that agreed on stage sound balance (unless individuals have been cranking things up!). Communication between band members, and between band and engineer, is essential. If anyone has a problem, use the time between songs to say so and sort it!

Finally, the PA. Everyone imagines this is the sound check - all that "one, two, one two" stuff. It's actually the last part. Remember that the PA needs to be set up so you can adjust the sound separately from that going to the monitors. Run through a song, this time setting the initial volume for the vocals, they will sound loud without a crowd to soak them up and the sound will bounce back from the rear walls and floors. Adjust the back-line if necessary. Run through the noisiest songs for vocals and for guitars, checking what happens when effects kick in or heavy distortion is added. Check the quietest bits too. This is a time for gentle tweaking and fine tuning, hopefully you'll have created the right balance in that first stage above! Play through a couple of numbers and make sure that everyone is as happy as possible. Once the crowd is in you'll need to fine tune some more but with the initial balance right, that's the easy part. Good luck!

How to Rap

2011-03-29T09:27:00.000-07:00

How to rap We had an email the other day about learning how to improve your rapping ability. So here is a little guide to improving this ability. All musicians and artist should try it – even if rap is not your genre, it is good to experience another type of music, it will widen you horizons! things you'll need: Pen Paper Thinking time Motivation o 1 First off, you should understand yourself and your principals, as well as the image you wish to convey when selling yourself. Find some time to sit alone or alternatively in a group of like minded people, as they are less likely to hinder your growth and development than people who do not share this interest. o 2 Take out a pen or pencil or whatever writing instrument you prefer and pick a random word and write it down on a piece of paper. I suggest starting with your own name, as you may often find yourself using it later on. With your chosen word written (some refer to this as the 'starter word') down on your piece of paper, write down anything you can possibly think of that rhymes with that word.Here's an example:say your rapping name is Dr. Snot, I would write:Snot-*pot, trot, aught, plot, rot, clot, dot, blot, naught. o 3 Now, look at the words that you have written and decide how you can use them on the fly. Often when freestyling, you will say your initial line and have another one (or a follow up line) ready as soon as you've said the last word in the first line. You will find it helpful to have as many of these follow up lines ready as possible for a natural and impressive performance.If your name is Jon, and you wanted a battle freestyle -you may for example say:(initial line) You are (other's name) but I am Jon-(follow up line 1) Ex-Con phenomenon drinkin (your choice) till dawn (tip-even better if you choose something you are drinking at the moment) (follow up line 2) Move on before you get trampled by this mastadon(follow up line 3) (other's name) is soft and creamy like a bon bon(follow up line 4) (other's name) is more likely to get paid mowing my lawn. You could then use these lines in any order and after commiting the lines to memory pull them out as you need them. I recommend memorizing your lines in a random order to help sharpen your non-linear thinking skills. -try reading one of your written lines and then cover them all up and spit one of your other lines. o 4 Repeat the process of word rhyme grouping by choosing other words you commonly use and writing them out into lines. The more of these you can commit to memory, the easier it will be for you to train your mind to pull these groupings out randomly and seemingly instantly. o 5 Find a test subject, preferably a friend who shares the same interest and rhyme around. Have them throw out a line randomly and try finishing each other's lines. This may prove awkward and difficult at first, but over time you will further train your brain to work more quickly and efficiently. o 6 Go to events and learn how to improve yourself by watching others while at the same time making as many friends or contacts as possible. Who knows, if you shine at the right time you might catch a break and/or earn a reputation. (preferably a good one)

Some More Unsigned Band Tips

2011-03-28T11:15:00.000-07:00

Get your music on Spotify, for the exposure, not for the royalties.

It’s easier than ever to get your music on Spotify so there is no real excuse not to if you have good quality recordings that you’re happy for the world to hear. The sharing and playlist functionalities on Spotify by far outweigh emailing a social networking link to a friend and it could really boost the viral spread of your music. I’m constantly creating and sharing playlists to friends/industry and if I really like one of your tracks then it’ll be slotted in there between a Muse B-Side and a Susan Boyle cover of Sympathy For The Devil.

Prepare a 12 month plan, setting yourself SMART objectives.

I’m not expecting a full business plan here guys, just have a think about what you want to happen in 2010. Do you want to record an album? Focus on touring? Improve your online presence? Think of 5 achievable targets for the rest of 2011, being realistic here is key – if you formed 3 months age don’t put down “Headline Reading Festival”. Like anything your music career is about small steps. So if you have been going 3 months maybe one objective should be to play your first gig by May? If you have been around for a few years maybe your aims should be to play 3 new cities this year, or get on a smaller festival or get over 100 people to a gig. When you have your 5 objectives you need to draw up a battle plan of how to get there. More soon.....

Writing Bass Lines

2011-03-24T13:26:00.000-07:00

How to write KILLER bass lines

This gets a bit techie from our bass specialist but ask any questions and I will pass them on!

Here goes

One thing that seems to give students a headache is choosing notes to construct a walking bass line. More often then not, the hang-ups are mental and can be easily remedied with some practice and a little theory knowledge. Let's look "under the hood" of walking lines to help and remove some of the mystery behind their construction.

One thing that seems to give students a headache is choosing notes to construct a walking bass line. More often then not, the hang-ups are mental and can be easily remedied with some practice and a little theory knowledge. Let's look "under the hood" of walking lines to help and remove some of the mystery behind their construction. First off when dealing with theory, there are really only three types of walking bass line phases:

1. Chord-Tone Based Lines
These are walking phrases which focus on the use of the chord tones. For example, if a Cmaj7 chord is seen, then the line would be utilizing the notes CEGB and we'll throw the 9 (D) in there as well.

2. Diatonic (or scalar) Based Lines
Scalar lines are walking phrases that use the notes of the parent scale for the chord symbol seen. This requires a little more in depth knowledge of jazz theory. For example, for the chord symbol Cmaj7 the notes from the C major scale would be used, and for a G7 chord the notes from the G mixolydian scale would be used and so forth.

3. Chromatic Based Lines
This type of line is a little trickier to master as it involves mixing chromatic or Non-Chord tones into the first two types of lines. The best way to begin using chromatic notes in walking lines is to use them to lead into another non-chromatic note. A great example of this is found in the bass line for "Killer Joe" where the chords alternate between C7 and Bb7. The bass line is C G

The Importance of Band Website

2011-03-22T11:46:00.000-07:00

The Importance of Websites

We are often asked if in the times of Facebook, MySpace and Twitter whether you really need your own website. Our answer is always the same.Band websites are extremely important. Having your own domain name is also a key to your success. Let us show you just a few reasons why:

Band Website vs. MySpace/Facebook/Other
First of all, you never want to put all of your eggs in one basket. Relying on a service like MySpace, and not having your own website is extremely dangerous. Many bands think that due to MySpace's popularity, it's the website that they should focus all of their time and energy on. Yes, MySpace/Facebook,etc is important for musicians, but relying on someone else's service can be a ticking time-bomb waiting to go off. What would happen if MySpace was suddenly shut down? It's not as impossible as it may seem. Just think of all of the problems that MySpace has had, with predators using the social-media site for preying on people and how much trouble MySpace has gotten into with parental-control groups. Having your own site, and mailing listeliminates a lot of those issues because you have complete control of what happens to your site and gives you the ability to contact your fans, should something go wrong with MySpace (or similar sites). One other reason why it is important that you have your own domain name, is that it's usually much easier to remember than a MySpace URL!

Your Band's Domain Name
You want to have a domain name that is easy to remember; hopefully your band's name, if it is available. You'll want to put it on everything that your band puts out, postcard mailers, flyers, cds, t-shirts, everything! Matter of fact, make some t-shirts up and wear them all the time! You also want to make sure that every person you know, knows your web address. Make absolutely sure that your fans are told, many times a night, what your website is...and tell them to go there!
Registering Your Band's Domain Name
Registering your own domain name is no longer expensive (under £10/year for .com's). Some of the most popular domain registration sites out there also have web hosting available.

How to Tune a Drum Kit

2011-03-18T12:17:00.001-07:00

Tuning Drum Kits

Hi All

We had an interesting question from one of our new members about how to tune a drum kit and if you actually can – so your wish is our command and heres some advice for ya!

Tuning Your SetUnlike guitars or pianos, drums can be tuned any way you want! However, to sound their best, they need to be tuned carefully. Follow the instructions below and you'll have great sounding drums in no time!1) Tune each head evenly: Choose any drum (other than the snare drum...we'll save it for last) and loosen all of the tuning rods on one side then retighten them finger tight. Tighten each rod 1/2 turn using the criss-cross sequence shown below.

Repeat this procedure until the drumhead is free of wrinkles and a tone is produced. Tap the head next to each tension rod as shown and listen to the sound.

If the sounds you hear are the same note or pitch all the way around, you're in luck—this is what you want! However, chances are you won't be this lucky and the sounds will be "high" at some tension rods and "low" at others. Our goal is to get them to be the same note all around…here's how we do it. At the places where the pitches were "high," loosen the rods by 1/8 turn. Where the pitches were "low," tighten the rods by 1/8 turn.

Again, tap the head at each tension rod and note your progress. Continue this procedure until the head has the same pitch all around, or as drummers say, "is in tune with itself."Turn the drum over and repeat the entire process on the other head.2) Tune the heads to each other: Next we need to tune the top and bottom heads relative to each other.

Note: There are three ways that this can be done:

1) the top and bottom heads can be tuned to the same pitch;

2) the top head can be tuned higher than the bottom; or

3) the top head tuned can be tuned lower than the bottom. There's no right or wrong method…experiment to see which sounds best to you.For now, we're going to tune the top and bottom heads to the same note. Select a drum and tap the top and bottom heads to determine which is higher. If the pitches are the same, you're in luck—go to the next drum. If they're different, do the following: lower the pitch of the "high" head and raise the pitch of the "low" one*. Repeat this procedure until the top and bottom heads are tuned to the same pitch. Move on to the next drum.

Once a head is in tune with itself, it can be tuned higher or lower by tightening or loosening each tension rod by the same amount. Most of the time, the head will remain in tune with itself; however, if it should change, simply fine-tune using the tuning procedure we practiced above.3) Tune the drums to each other: You're now ready to tune the whole set. The smallest diameter drums are tuned the highest; the largest diameters, the lowest. Many drummers like to tune their toms a 4th apart. If you want to try this tuning, sing the first two notes of the wedding march, "Here Comes the Bride." "Here" and "Comes" are a 4th apart. Use these notes as a guide.If you prefer the "free-form" method of tuning your drum, go right ahead…as mentioned before, there's no right or wrong notes to tune drums. However, every drum has a range of pitches where it sounds best. Tune it too high and it'll sound "choked;" tune it too low and it'll sound "flappy." Experiment until you find the notes that work for you.

How to Audition New Band Members

2011-03-18T12:15:00.000-07:00

How to Audition New Band Members

Forming a band is a fun thing to do. You can create a band through friends or you can audition people for the band that you are creating. Usually this takes time. Making a band requires a lot of patience to audition the right members, in order to have that amazing chemistry to perform together and to create music.

Here are a few steps on How to Audition Potential Band Members:

1. Put an ad in the paper, posters, flyers, or through word of mouth. Before doing anything, you must first decide what type of music you want your band to play, how many members you will need and whether this is just for past time or as a career. Whether you are looking for singers, guitarists, bassists, keyboard players, drummers to form a band, putting an ad or through word of mouth is the best way for you to attract some musicians to audition for your band. You can create flyers, posters, or placing and ad in your local news paper. Post them at music stores, coffee shops, or at the walls of your school. Another way to do this is through the Internet, post your ad and create a blog so that you can invite and attract potential musicians to create your band. After posting your ads, don’t just wait for their response. Tell some friends or invite some musicians to audition for the band your creating.

2. Find the right place to rehearse and setting up the auditions. After you have talked to some of the musicians that are interested in your band, set the date for them to jam or audition with you. Give them a few songs to learn so you can use it on the day of their auditions. This is one of the best ways to find out how good they can play or whether they have the right chemistry to be in your band. You should also require each of them to have their own instruments.

3. Don’t rush things. Take your time auditioning potential players. If you want your band to come together successfully, you should have patience so that the right people will come. Let them play solos, this is one of the best ways for you to have a good idea of their skills. You should also require them to sing, since it is important for a band to have backup singers so that the music will be more enhanced.

4. Take your time to decide. After you have auditioned a set of players for your band. Take time to think and decide which one to hire. By this time it will be easier for you to decide which one to chose, since you have thoroughly examined and listened what he/she is capable of.
With these steps it would give you some insights on how to audition potential band members in forming a band. it will also make it easier for you to select the best players that can bring potential to the band that you are making. There are a lot of potential players around, but these simple steps will help you make the right decisions in finding the right players for your band.

Dealing with a broken string onstage

2011-03-16T12:48:00.000-07:00

Dealing with a broken string on stage

If you’re anything like me, breaking a string on stage is your biggest fear about playing a gig. Well, maybe you aren’t as scared as me about this, but every guitarist will agree that breaking a string on stage is not fun. And what about breaking TWO strings?
Over the years, i have considered and tried different methods to get around this.

You can bring a spare guitar to the gig. Well, i’ve never tried it myself because i play solo and rely on public transport to get around so carrying one guitar is enough, thank you very much. However, i know plenty of guitarists in bands with a van who do this. For it to work smoothly, make sure you tune your spare guitar during soundcheck, you have a quick soundcheck with it (eg check something hasn’t gone wrong with the instrument during transport), and use one of those cables you can switch off (also known as Neutrik “silent” guitar cable), so you don’t make a horrible pop sound while switching guitars.

As an alternative to bringing a spare guitar, i used to ask another band if i could borrow their guitar. They usually agreed but thought i was a bit weird; i later learnt that many guitarists don’t like to lend their guitars to strangers but they were too polite to refuse (i’ve never had to actually use any of those guitars but i’m sure they wouldn’t have been so happy if i had).
I considered learning how to change a guitar string under 10 seconds. Well, my problem with this was that, well, i couldn’t!

Now, i don’t sweat over it. If i break it, i break it. In fact, i have on some occasions broken 2 guitar strings on stage, because usually, when one goes, another one follows a few songs after. Once, i broke the string i was playing a riff on. So I just moved up to the next string and played as if nothing wrong was happening. Being a solo performer makes it easier for me to change the music, though of course, it also means that every note i play is noticeable and i can’t afford to stop playing for a few seconds.

It’s safe to assume that people at your gigs either know your songs or not.
Well, people who don’t know your songs aren’t a problem - you can change the tune, change the lyrics, change whatever you like and pretend that’s the way it’s meant to be played. Keep your cool and they won’t notice.

What about people who know your songs? Well, they aren’t a problem either, as long as you treat them with honesty. Basically, what i do, i carry on as if nothing happened, i change the music/guitar riff is necessary, but when i finish the song, i acknowledge i broke a string and i joke about the changes i had to make when playing. Fans are always happy to go home with a story like “he/she broke the guitar string, that was so cool the way he/she just carried on playing”.

Not convinced? Recently, i went to see PJ Harvey live in London. She was using a drum machine and couldn’t get the right beat for the song she wanted to play next. She joked about it and her inability with technical things, then gave up and played the song without the drum machine. Now, that is first class performance - no matter what the technicalities of it, she came through as a musicians and an artist. This is all that matters to the audience - no one will judge you badly for breaking a string, so get on with the set and make it a memory for the audience to take home!

Improve your Singing Voice

2011-03-15T11:50:00.000-07:00

Improve your singing voice

So today we are looking at improving your vocal skills. I know most unsigned bands don’t do this but does the drummer practice? Or the guitar player? Of course they do, they might call it jamming or just f@*king about but it is still practicing. So singers should too – here’s some tips to get you started:

Tip 1: Think about breath. Without proper breathing, you aren't using your voice to its full potential. To find out if you're breathing correctly for singing, place your hand on your stomach and inhale. Your hand should move out--your stomach should be expanding, not your ribcage and chest. That's because you need to support your breath with your diaphragm--the muscle underneath the lungs that inflates them. The diaphragm is activated by abdominal muscles, and it's much stronger than the muscles between your ribs--the muscles you're using if your chest, not your stomach, expands with your breath.

You'll need to have strong breath to give your voice adequate support for singing. To do this, you'll need to use your stomach and lower abdominal muscles to support your breath. Ab crunches and sit-ups can help you build up strength in this area that you can use to project your voice.

Tip 2: Focus on posture. Your breath travels from your lungs straight up through your mouth. If its passage is twisted, kinked, or blocked in any way, it won't be able to get out efficiently. How you stand has a big effect on how you sound. You should be standing with your legs about shoulder-width apart. Your chest should be lifted to give your lungs plenty of room to expand. Your shoulders should be back and relaxed.

Tip 3: Relax. If there's tension anywhere from your abdomen to your head, it'll affect your sound. Your facial muscles, tongue and throat muscles, vocal cords, jaw and shoulders should all be as relaxed as possible. There are plenty of jaw and facial exercises as well as warm-up activities that will help you relax the muscles in your shoulders, face, and vocal cords.

Tip 4: Know where to put your tongue and soft palate. The soft palate should be raised--this will give more space for your voice to resonate. The tip of your tongue should be placed at the back of your teeth. This will keep it from blocking your throat if it's positioned too far back.

Tip 5: Watch what you eat. There's nothing better for your voice than water. Period. If you have a performance coming up, avoid dairy and thick drinks for at least three days beforehand. Drink only water the day of the performance.

Tip 6: Don't strain. Pay attention to your body. If something hurts when you sing, you're either at the limit of your range or you're doing something wrong. You should be able to sing at a strong, healthy volume if you're maintaining proper breath control; if something hurts because you're singing too loudly, you're probably not supporting your voice well with your breath--the vocal cords are doing all the work. If you hurt when trying to hit certain high or low notes, however, it may be that you're trying for a note that's outside of your range. It's true that good breath control can expand your range, but the size of your vocal cords determines the pitches you can reach. You may not be able to hit certain notes no matter how well you support your voice. It's important to choose songs you can sing comfortably. Above all, don't try to sing if you have a sore throat--you may make it worse.

Tip 7: Warm up before singing. Don't go straight into a song without a good warm-up first. A good warm-up routine should concentrate on relaxing your body and getting your breath ready, and should start with simple deep breaths. It should progress to light humming from there, and then some scale work once you feel ready. It's important not to strain too hard during the warm-up process--don't reach for notes that aren't comfortable, and don't sing at the top of your volume.

Tip 8: Get a teacher. A good voice teacher can really help you improve your voice. It's sometimes hard to determine how you sound when you're by yourself; even the most dedicated singer can get into bad habits without feedback. A teacher can give you immediate feedback on how you're doing and address specific problems you may have.

It's a shame that so many people think they can't sing--and wouldn't be caught dead singing in public. In truth, singing is something anyone can learn to do. Follow these tips and practice, and you'll have a singing voice you'll be proud to show off.

Dealing with THE ENEMY

2011-03-14T12:51:00.000-07:00

Only Joking, the press used to be known as the enemy but for the unsigned acts they will pretty much be your best friend. However you need to go into interviews and press pieces with your eyes open. The amount of acts I have interviewed who mumble, giggle or sit in silence when you interview them is incredible. To be totally honest about 50-75% of the interviews I undertake I simply can’t do anything with. Again, to make it in this business you need to have a certain level of professionalism.

There are 2 core things that you need to keep in your mind every time you do an interview. Firstly and most importantly what do you want to get out of the interview? What is your aim? Secondly you need to think about why the press person is interviewing you and what do they want to get from you? The second part is usually pretty easy, they want readers to be interested in what you say and ultimately push their Magazine, Fanzine, etc. So they want interest and entertainment. The first part is core for you. What do you need to let them know? Are you playing a gig soon, hosting and event, releasing a CD – you simply must get this across and always have something to talk about.

To be totally honest you will always get a set of pretty similar questions but the true pro will do their home work. Read the publications previous interviews and prepare answers (loosely, don’t learn them parrot fashion). Have a few anecdotes to roll out, a few gig stories, a few interesting facts – sure you will end up rolling these out in most interviews but if you keep reinforcing your image people and potential fans will start to become familiar with you.

More Soon

Gettin Over Writers Block

2011-03-13T03:01:00.000-07:00

Getting over Writers Block

Writer’s block is the nemesis of songwriters - and even non songwriters. There are tons of suggestions and songwriting tips out there for what might work, and various suggestions on overcoming. These are the top 5 that consistently work for me.

Mash random words togetherMany songwriters say that once they have a good song title the “song practically writes itself”. If you are one of these people, then this tip is for you. If you are not one of these people, perhaps this exercise will help spur on creativity.

90% of the time the words in the following exercise will be cheesy. But 10% of the time you will come up with really cool phrases and word pairings. Just keep at it for a bit.

For example, (1)write a list of 10 adjectives, then (2) fold the paper in half so you can’t see the words, and (3) write 10 nouns on the other half. Now (4) unfold the paper so you can see two words on each line. Perhaps you will find some song titles there?
I did an example in MS Excel, just hiding a column while I listed my nouns/adjectives. When I unhide the column - voila! - possible song titles:

Then try some sorting of the columns for even more possibilities.

Listen to other music/Listen to no musicFor me it is Tom Waits. His songs just tell me, “Relax, enjoy the vibe. Mix yourself a martini, belly up to the piano and wax poetic about life.” Other people like listening to the music their parents listened to … because takes them back to an innocent time of music and inspires them. Others like to listen to music diametrically opposite to the style they write in. Others like to listen to music that is very similar to their style. Some prefer to learn 2-3 cover songs and then write a new song based on what they learned through the cover songs. Whatever works for you.

Still others go in the opposite extreme and listen to no music at all. They don’t listen to any music until their inner songwriter begins screaming for music of some type - any type. THAT is when they pick up a guitar or scoot up to the piano and start creating. They say it creates a hunger and yearning they would not achieve otherwise. I’ve never tried it but many people swear by that method.

Read a quotes dictionary or visit a quotes websiteThere’s nothing quite like a great quote to give a song direction.

Allow yourself to write cheesy songs.Many songwriters, including myself, tend to feel that if a song isn’t going in the direction where it sounds like a worldwide top ten smash, then it’s not worth writing. True, it might not be worth “performing” live, but it is definitely worth it to finish the song out. Many songwriters say that “to write good songs you have to get the bad ones out of the way".

Go to a concert, open mic, or some other live performance eventBeing with the crowd, seeing how a performance moves people, and feeling the human electricity that comes with a live event often leaves me with a desire to get home and start creating new music as soon as possible. There’s nothing like seeing a great artist/musician living and performing their dream to give someone else inspiration to go create.

Naturally there are dozens, if not hundreds, of other ways to kill writer’s block. What are your favorites? What works for you?

Recording Live

2011-03-08T08:31:00.000-08:00

Recording live music can be a headache but with this basic outline your strategy going in will be solid. The key is being able to adapt and gow over time. Nothing replaces experience, especially in this volatile facet of the recording industry.

To Cover or Not?

2011-02-25T11:19:00.001-08:00

Is an age old question. Should unsigned bands cover well known bands? Should you start or end with a much loved tune or simply stick to your own material.

I am in two minds here to be honest:

When a Cover Works:

My 2 Cents (about 4p for us Brits)

I have a few feelings on this one:

Use covers sparingly and cleverly. Plus if you are going down the road of altering an original to make it your own be prepared to play it a fair bit, as people really latch onto this.

Good Luck
Don't forget to sign up to our free Unsigned Newsletter here

Join us on Facebook

2011-02-23T08:36:00.000-08:00

Hello AllJust a quick one - we have joined Facebook.

It is very early days but we need some friends. This will be a great place to interact with us and other acts in the same boat plus an awesome place to advertise.

Click Here

Tips for Singers

2011-02-22T12:40:00.000-08:00

Here are a few free singing tips to help you develop your voice. I've chosen to write about a few important singing points that will help you to sing with less vocal tension, and expand your vocal range. These clues may sound a little bizarre at first, but you will soon understand their meanings when you put your voice to work!

Use a slight Irish accent when you sing. Sound weird?! I agree, it does sound a little strange to put on an accent when you sing. But there is a reason for this strange technique.
What would you say if I told you that the Irish accent is the perfect accent for singing? It has a few built-in-functions that allow the voice to release, keeping singing very easy and relaxed. Singing this way will engage only the correct muscles required to sing. The troublesome muscles (that try and interfere with the process) will sit perfectly still.
Here's an example....

If you say the word "Are" with a exaggerated wide mouth, you will feel the muscles under your chin begin to tense up. These are the muscles that you don'twant to play a part in the singing process. Give it a try......really exaggerate the "A" and feel your chin begin to get really tight. Ouch!

But if you say it in an Irish tone, kind of like how a pirate would say "Arrrrrrr matey!" When you say "Arrrrrrr", can you feel how your mouth stays quite narrow and very relaxed? You get this relaxed feeling because the Irish accent prevents the incorrect singing muscles from interfering...

...Good news if you're already Irish!

Use a cry-like-tone when you sing. This technique is used by some of the greatest singers in the world. Next time you hear Michael Jackson, listen to how he places a slight cry at the beginning of each note.

Placing a slight cry underneath your voice will dramatically sweeten your tone quality. It will also allow you to sing with much less vocal tension, making it easier to hit high notes. Such a simple exercise, yet so effective!

You can practice your crying tone by singing "hoooo" as in "Boo Hoo". Try to really exaggerate the crying tone, and feel the ease at which this allows you to produce your tone.

Personally, every word I sing benefits from this crying technique. Not only does it add sweetness to the tone quality, but it adds emotion to the performance as well.

Keep your tone slightly dopey to hold your larynx in a still position.
Your larynx is your "voice box" that sits in your throat. It is a grouping of muscle, cartilage, and ligaments. Inside the larynx are the vocal folds, or vocal chords. These are the muscular folds that vibrate to produce the initial sound. The sound that then passes up into your facial structure becoming amplified by the resonant spaces...

It is very important that the larynx is very stable when you sing. Singing with bad technique seems to engage the muscles that surround the larynx......the outer muscles of the larynx. When this happens, these muscles force the larynx up and down. This makes it incredibly difficult to sing high notes, and it also destroys tone quality. In other words, to sound any good, you must learn to disengage these outer muscles.

A very effective technique to achieve this is to use a slightly dopey tone when you sing. This dopiness will offset the larynx just slightly, gently pulling it down by a small amount. This slight offset will allow the larynx to hold it's position when you sing.

Singing with your larynx in a stable, central position is one of the most important singing techniques. When you can do this, you are halfway to singing at speech level ie: singing with the same ease as speaking. Of course, with the technique I just explained, the larynx isn't completely central. Because of the dopey tone, the larynx is a fraction lower than the central position.
As you continue to master this technique though, you can abandon this slight offset. The dopey tone will train the outer muscles of the larynx to relax. Once this is happening, you can reduce the dopey tone until it is completely normal. The larynx, which has now been conditioned to sit still, will not move.
In Summary

Here are the key lessons to remember from these free singing tips.

1) Sing with an Irish accent

2)Use a cry-like-tone to sweeten tone quality

3) Add a dopey

Write Great bass lines

2011-02-02T10:53:00.000-08:00

One thing that seems to give students a headache is choosing notes to construct a walking bass line. More often then not, the hang-ups are mental and can be easily remedied with some practice and a little theory knowledge. Let's look "under the hood" of walking lines to help and remove some of the mystery behind their construction. First off when dealing with theory, there are really only three types of walking bass line phases:

1. Chord-Tone Based Lines
These are walking phrases which focus on the use of the chord tones. For example, if a Cmaj7 chord is seen, then the line would be utilizing the notes CEGB and we'll throw the 9 (D) in there as well.

2. Diatonic (or scalar) Based Lines
Scalar lines are walking phrases that use the notes of the parent scale for the chord symbol seen. This requires a little more in depth knowledge of jazz theory. For example, for the chord symbol Cmaj7 the notes from the C major scale would be used, and for a G7 chord the notes from the G mixolydian scale would be used and so forth.
3. Chromatic Based Lines
This type of line is a little trickier to master as it involves mixing chromatic or Non-Chord tones into the first two types of lines. The best way to begin using chromatic notes in walking lines is to use them to lead into another non-chromatic note. A great example of this is found in the bass line for "Killer Joe" where the chords alternate between C7 and Bb7. The bass line is C G C B Bb F Bb B so here the B which is in neither chord can be used to bridge the gap between chords

Respect your Kit

2011-01-31T11:21:00.000-08:00

Maintaining Drums

We had some great feedback on the “how to maintain your guitar” Blog and a few of you have asked for the same but on a drum kit.
Your wish is our command!

There are some simple rules to live by that will minimize cracks, stripping, warping, and so on. There are three situations that put your gear in danger: transporting them, setting them up, and, of course, playing them. Percussion instruments are pretty sturdy instruments. However, they are far from invincible. Bass drums are particularly vulnerable because they are often fitted with wooden hoops and are large, heavy drums. If you are carrying your bass drum in a case over your shoulder and you drop it, chances are the hoop will crack. Considering this, a hard plastic case is best suited for your bass drum even though this will make the drum considerably more bulky.As stated earlier, cars are problematic, too.

In addition to theft concerns, you need to worry about the weather. If the weather is really hot, a parked car becomes a greenhouse. Leaving drums in an extremely hot car could cause plastic veneers on your drums to peel off and crack. Packing your drums in a car or in storage without cases can also be a problem; the most obvious reason being that drum shells could get nicked up. However, carrying your drums around without cases can also be perilous for your bottom snare drumhead. This head is ultra thin and a bass drum spike or cymbal stand can easily pierce through the Mylar, rendering the drum useless until you buy another head. So if you plan on taking your drums en route, get cases.Humes & Berg makes great bags called Tuxedo Bags. They also make lightweight vulcanized fiber cases that are more durable than a gig bag. Anvil Cases offers the most durable case of all. These are virtually indestructible and are great for drummers who need to take their gear on airplanes, and the like. The downside is that they are very heavy. While cases are necessary for the working drummer, they can be a bit hazardous to bass drum pedals and hi-hat stands. Hardware, for one, is very heavy.

As you drive, items tend to shift around. For this reason, incorrectly storing bass drum pedals and hi-hat stands in hardware bags can cause the footboard stabilizer rod on the bass drum pedal and the foot pedal linkage rod on the hi-hat pedal to crack if you don't unclip them before placing them in the case. The worst feeling is showing up at a gig and realizing that something is broken, so make sure you're careful.It's a good idea to put your bass drum pedal on top of all the other stands in your hardware bag or case. This will protect it from getting crushed by heavier, double-braced cymbal and snare stands, and the like. The way you set up your drums also promotes or prevents damage to your equipment. One common mistake is placing your snare drum too close to your 12" rack tom-tom. Since this tom-tom hovers over the snare drum at a slightly higher level, the rim of the snare drum, if too close, will rub up against the tom-tom as you play. Heavy playing will cause your whole drum kit to shake a little. If your snare drum is touching the 12" tom-tom, it will scrape the varnish off the drum and even cut into the wood of the drum itself. When playing, always be sure to watch for this, back up your snare drum immediately if you see this occurring.

Band of The Month: The Mathletics Team

2011-01-30T02:50:00.000-08:00

Well, new year new band of the month.

Let's hear it for The Mathletics Team!

BA: Atomic Warrior" is an awesome track can you let us in on the story behind it?

TMT: The song is based on the classic 2000AD, ABC warriors. The formation of that unit on mars and it's trials through their career as giant robot mercenaries. We thought it was a cool concept and it evolved from there.

BA:You have such a pretty unique sound - was that a conscious decision? how did you come up with it?

TMT: The Bands sound evolved through the use of the phrase "wouldn't it be cool if we had a....." and we just added from there till the sound felt full and complete.

BA:What is your writing process?

TMT: The General writes the basic structure of the songs and then brings them into the band and we all work on them together to add little touches of our own individual styles and sounds. Lyrically speaking The General finds a subject be it in comics, films, cartoons or pulp fiction that interests him and trys to find the story within a story. Those are the tales we attempt to tell.

BA:What do you find most difficult about being an unsigned act?

TMT: As a nine piece I'd say the most difficult thing is finding venues with enough room and equipment to fit us all in to play.

BA: What is your top tip for other acts?

TMT: We say preparation is the key to a good live performance. Practice seriously and often both as an individual and a band.

BA: What is your fantasy band line up (Vocals, guitar, Bass and Drums)

TMT: We're very lucky to already have our fantasy line up

BA: Tell us an amusing Band Story!

TMT:Back in December we played at a a couple of friends of ours' joint birthday party. They asked us to play some covers in our set just for kicks and we agreed already having thought up some cool stuff to do. We ended up playing that old Village People classic "macho man" as our joke song of the evening and as we began the tune one of the party goers leapt in front of the stage and began stripping off in a wild dance in time to the music. By the end of the song the guy was standing there in a sparkly thong flexing at anyone that came close.
We played macho man twice that night.

BA:Proudest moment so far in The Mathletics Team?

TMT: Apart from being band assists band of the month it would probably be playing the old fruitmarket in Glasgow last may as it was a pretty big venue and we had only been a band for about four months by then.

BA: What are your views on Band Assist?

TMT: Band assist has been a great resource for us as it's got lots of good advice and the news letters always give us something to think about.

BA:Whats next for you?

TMT: In February we go into the studio to record our second EP which will include remasters of the current EP and three new songs that we currently only play live. We're appearing on the opening episode of trinity force records' TFTV show online on January 28th which will be streamed live as well as launching our own website which guaranteed to be full of flash animation madness. We're recording some promo videos for an as yet undecided single and getting some super cool merch.

Look after your Axe!

2011-01-30T02:47:00.000-08:00

Am I the only guitar player who is a little anal-retentive about my guitars? I’m always hesitant to let people pick them up. I take a mental note of belt buckles and zippers on anyone who comes near them. In the back my head I think “is this the day my guitar gets dropped?”. Don’t even get me started on the panic that ensues inside my head when children get involved.

Even though I go a little crazy when it comes to the safety of my guitar, I do (or don’t do) things on a daily basis that could be harming in the long run. So, I have compiled a list of things manufacturers always tell you to do, but you probably don’t. Well, I know I am guilty of at least the first three of these. If you really truly are concerned with keeping your guitar mint, these should be second nature to you.

Here are the 10 maintenance rules that everyone should follow to keep their guitar in pristine condition:

Wash your hands before playing. Your hands are oily and dirty. Washing your hands before playing can preserve the fingerboard as well as prolong the life of your strings.

Before you put your guitar away in it’s case always wipe it down with a damp cloth to remove any hand oils that may be on it. Not a wet cloth, just a cloth that is slightly dampened.

Put that guitar in it’s case! Yeah, it’s fun to display them for everyone to see, but your guitar doesn’t like to be exposed to anything. It doesn’t like changing temperatures, changing humidity, or direct sunlight.

You know those black canvas gig bags? Yeah, forget they ever existed. Get a real hardshell case.

Properly humidify your guitar. Get a case humidifier and find out what the manufacturer of your guitar suggests the relative humidity should be.

Have your guitar’s bridge and neck setup properly for the gauge of strings you are using. If you change string gauges, have your guitar setup properly for the new strings. Obviously you don’t want to do this too often. If you know how to do this yourself that is great! If you don’t, you might want to get a professional to do it.

Keep your guitar clear of any heavy temperature changes. Wood expands and contracts. If the temperature changes too quickly it expands and contracts too quickly – this is bad.

Change your strings on a regular basis and never remove them all at one time! Remove one string at a time to replace them. Keeping your strings at the proper tension will keep that neck healthy.

Play your guitar every day. Thats right – play it. What happens when you leave your car parked for a few months and then try and start it up? It doesn’t really like that very much, whether it tells you or not. Run your guitar through it’s paces, it’s good for it.

Follow the above steps, and never, ever, let anyone else touch your guitar. Only kidding.
Obviously these are rules that only people with full time guitar techs can follow. Maybe the most diligent of us have the persistence needed to keep up such a strict maintenance routine, but thats not me. Your guitar won’t fall to pieces of you don’t follow these tips, but if you do it will guarantee that the guitar will live longer than you.

What are you guilty of and what tips did I miss?

Fill The Place

2011-01-24T14:20:00.000-08:00

3. Team-up and collaborate with 5 or more local bands of the same or complementary genre and promote each other online and offline.

4. Use the networking communities (esp. Facebook, MySpace, ReverbNation) to communicate with the locals. Always make your website The focal point.

The Art of Composition

2011-01-22T04:22:00.000-08:00

Suppose you’re about to practice, compose, or improvise: Do you aim to restate past ideas or come up with fresh ones?

Assuming that deliberate self-copying makes you cringe, then, to be creative, you’re going to have to step beyond your known universe and toward an indefinite future.
Maybe your ideas will soar; maybe they’ll sputter. How can you know where your intuition will lead?

You can’t.

And that’s one reason why so many people don’t create: The uncertainty of the process sends them fleeing toward the familiar.

For example, musicians who dread risk will devise conventional programs, improvise with shopworn licks, shy away from entrepreneurial projects, and otherwise languish.
Creative artists, by comparison, love venturing outside of their comfort zones. They know that their greatest discoveries will be found in uncharted waters, and they fearlessly set off in search of adventures. For them, the thought, “I don’t know,” echoes, “Let’s find out!”

Becoming a fearless creatorHere are five ways that aspiring musicians can embrace the mysteries of the creative process and become fearless creators.

1. Refine your goals Your big and small goals will interact either to fire your enthusiasm or douse your potential. Authentic long-term aims and specific daily objectives will spur you to work. In contrast, vague aspirations – such as to “get better” – can leave musicians unsure of what to practice.

2. Trust yourself As W.S. Merwin states, your accumulated knowledge matters. Still, your know-how isn’t your art; rather, it comprises the tools you use to create art. To innovate, then, you have to trust your abilities, dive into a task, and let go of worry about how things will turn out. Although you can’t know where your creativity will take you, by believing in yourself, you can be certain you’ll arrive somewhere meaningful. For instance, a trusting songwriter will decisively start composing a new piece, confident that the simple act of beginning will stir up ample material she can craft into a song.

3. Generate copious ideas If you want to scuttle your creativity, tell yourself to come up with brilliant insights exclusively. Then, your wellspring of ingenuity will become blocked by an inner critic. Conversely, to tap your reservoir of imagination, let yourself churn out an unfiltered stream of ideas; then, toy with them.

4. Experiment & evaluate playfully With a cache of ideas in hand, adopt a playful approach to separating out the valuable nuggets from the raw material. In the practice room, let’s say, you might record some passages, listen back, make revisions, record again, and so forth. Take pleasure in the possibilities you open up, pursue the ones that resonate, and set the others aside.

5. Persevere Some days you’ll enjoy a cascade of ideas and a flood of accomplishment; other days you could be snarled in difficulties. Nonetheless, creative achievement is typically built on piles of discards. So bring a tenacious attitude to your work. Perseverance and mental toughness are as vital to the creative process as are artistry and technique.

Overcome Stage Fright

2011-01-20T11:54:00.000-08:00

Stage fright can turn the experience of performing in front of others into a nightmare of dread. Luckily, there are several things you can do to get over your fears and get on with the show. This page will give you some tips on How to Overcome Stage Fright.

You've probably felt it before—your palms are sweaty, your hands are shaking, and you have a mild feeling of nausea. Whether you're about to rock the crowd with your band or speak in front of a large audience, stage fright has a way of getting the better of even the most experienced performer. So how do you overcome the potentially crippling effects of your own jittery nerves? This post will help you figure out how to get over it.

Step 1: Know the Symptoms of Stage Fright
The first step to overcoming stage fright is to know what the signs are so that you can identify it when it happens. Symptoms of stage fright can include tightening of the throat, parched mouth, upset stomach, cold and quivering hands, trembling and rapid pulse. In addition, out of the ordinary emotions or physical occurrences can signify stage fright.

Step 2: Right Before You Hit the Stage
Be prepared. Make sure you're well rehearsed before your performance. You will only be more nervous if you don't feel completely ready to go. You might even try performing for a couple friends beforehand as a sort of dress

Eat right. Don't chow down on any greasy fast food beforehand. It might upset your stomach even without the anxiety of having to go on stage.

Warm up. Whether you sing, speak, or play an instrument, you should warm up before you perform. This will ensure you are comfortable and at 100% from the first note of the show (or the first word of your speech).

Stretching beforehand will help keep you lose, especially if you're playing an instrument.
Vocal warm-ups aren't just for singers; you can stretch out those vocal chords to get ready for speaking, too.

If there is no green room or backstage area at the venue, warm up at home before you leave.
Listen to music. Listening to music that will pump you up can help get you energized, confident, and in the zone. Conversely, listening to soothing music might be best to calm your nerves down.
Meditate. With meditation, it's all about the breathing. Learn some basic meditation techniques or other relaxation breathing exercises. This can help you focus while relieving tension.
Think positive. There's no reason to worry about mistakes. The more you think about messing up, the more likely you are to do it. Picture yourself succeeding and executing your performance flawlessly.

Exercise. Getting some exercise in beforehand can help you expend some of that nervous energy in a constructive way. Do some backstage push-ups or jumping jacks.

Do something silly. You're going to have to leave your inhibitions behind, so you can't worry about looking dumb. The best way to combat this insecurity is to do something that makes you feel silly or embarrassed backstage like making funny faces or dancing around. This can help you get over the feeling and realize that even making a fool of yourself isn't that bad.

Have a group pow-wow. If you're in a band or performing with a group of people, get together right before the show starts to help everyone get focused and on the same page.

Realize it's no biggie. Never forget that when it comes down to it, it's no big deal! You're there to have fun, and you will do your best. Even if it doesn't turn out to be your finest moment, it's not the end of the world.

Leave it all backstage. It's game time—are you ready? Take a deep breath. This is when you have to leave all your baggage behind and just go out there and do it!

Step 3: Once You're On Stage
There's no turning back, now... Hopefully you're relaxed enough at this point that everything goes smoothly.

Make eye contact. If it's appropriate to your performance, you should make a point to make eye contact with the audience.

For musicians and public speakers, eye contact is essential. For athletes and dancers, not so much.

Eye contact may seem distracting at first, but the more you do it, the more you'll get used to it. It is much better than staring at your feet or a script the whole time.

If you're in a dark club, try looking at the wall on the far end of the room. This way, you're looking up at the crowd, but you won't get distracted since you can't see any audience member's face from that distance. This only really works if there are people standing in the back, of course.
Relax even more. You may tense up again when you first get out there. Acknowledge it and let yourself relax again. Loosen up and move around a little. The crowd wants to see you succeed as much as you do, and they want to see that you're enjoying yourself.

Be conscious of your body language. Avoid nervous body language such as fidgeting and sticking your hands in your pockets. Being more animated will help you loosen up.

Band Flyers that WORK!

2011-01-19T11:20:00.000-08:00

Good Flyer Designs

Flyer’s are a very effective method of promoting your nights to people offline, they also have an easy way of finding their way to your target audience by being left at Venues, Bars, Clubs (the usual places). Getting your Flyer’s to the right people is important, but getting people hooked into reading your flyer with interest can be difficult.

Planning is important when creating a flyer you have a few things to consider –
Flyer size – A4/A5/A6/A7 and Business Card size. When i started i went straight for the A5 size, until one day when someone give me a flyer advertising a car wash. This flyer was a5 aswell and i decided to keep hold of the flyer. I folded up, creased it and ripped it trying to get it into my pocket and when i did it went straight through the washing machine, i then had a light bulb moment. Why not make your flyer’s Business Card size? Now obviously this means all text, images and artwork have to be smaller, but if you design them to be double sided you shouldn’t have a problem. When handing out these flyer’s i noticed a lot of people slipping them straight into their wallet and i never changed back to a5. Not only did more people hang on to the flyer’s but they are also a lot cheaper to produce.

Design for your Target Audience – If your designing a flyer for a Punk rock night then make sure it’s obvious in the color, font and design you use. Somebody should be able to walk past your flyer and have a rough idea what it’s about within a split second of looking at it.
Themes – Keep it topical! I once generated lots of interest for a gig purely by theming the flyer. The event was taking place next to Portsmouth Harbour used heavily by the navy. The Event night took place the day after the anniversary of D-Day, so i used a military theme. Purely by having a photograph of a navy boat on the flyer, they went like crazy!

Quick Tip: If you have room, always promote your other upcoming Gigs. If someone can’t make this one, they might be able to make the next one!

A simple summary is to use your common sense, make it attractive to as many people as possible and don’t forget people who might have disabilities

2011-01-17T12:11:00.000-08:00

Management DealsMany bands and musicians after toiling away on the gig circuit are likely to get their first taste of success by being offered a management deal. Having booked your own gigs and public appearances you are naturally going to be more than happy to get such a deal. There is no doubt that having management and PR is a stepping stone to a record deal. But it is very important to be aware of the consequences of being tied to a management deal.

Most management deals will involve the Management Company having sole and exclusive rights to exploit you as a band/artist. This means that only they can book your gigs and arrange promotional events. This may suit some acts but if you have been getting your own gigs then you may have a deal with a local venue that you are happy with but will no longer be able to conduct as your managers will decide where and when you play. It might be easy to see this as a progression but you may lose local support if you are seen to turn your back on the places that gave you your first break.So it is very important to discuss these issues before you sign anything or even look at a contract.

You must find out as much as you can about potential managers- How long they have been in business? What type of artists do they already have? How have they helped them so far? (getting in touch with artists on their books is vital). Once you are satisfied that they might be right for you then you can look at the deal. Below are some examples of common management deal clauses that you should look out for:The term of this agreement shall be for a period commencing on this date hereof and continuing until the date three years thereafter.Although you might be happy that they have offered you a long-term deal I would always advise you to shorten it to one year with an option after six months to extend the deal. This way you are able to assess after a period of time whether the Company has helped your career. This assessment will be based on the amount of exposure you have gained under them and obviously how close you feel you are to getting a record deal.

We (the company) shall not be entitled to sign any agreement on your behalf and we hereby undertake not to hold ourselves out as having the right to do so. This is a very simple yet important clause to have in a management deal. It means that any decisions that are made about you as an artist must be approved by you first. This highlights the importance of sounding out the company and building an amicable relationship with them.

Many deals may not have this clause in them which would allow the company to involve you in events that might be more beneficial to them and not you. You will want as much exposure as possible but certain methods may not suit you.We shall have one irrevocable option to extend the term PROVIDED THAT the option will only be exercisable by us in the event that you have entered into an exclusive recording or publishing agreement approved by you during the term. This is another important clause, which shows that the Company must aim towards arranging a record deal for you. Most obligations on the Company will be quite vague-i.e. Arranging gigs and promotional events. This clause is much more direct and it puts the onus on them to achieve your ultimate goal. Many deals may not have such a fixed clause and in my opinion are not real management deals. If you do get such a deal with no real obligations it may be worth changing it to an agency agreement-this will mean that the Company do not have an exclusive right over you which allows you to work with others. Such a decision should not be taken lightly and it is vital that you get legal advice before you rush into anything.

Top Unsigned Band Advice

2011-01-16T11:45:00.001-08:00

Quick Advice
1. Pick your band members wisely (the easiest way to avoid bad band chemistry)
Talent isn't everything. Sounding good is only half the battle - you need to gel as a band. If you're having fun together, the audience will feel it. If the guitarist and singer can't stand each other, the crowd will pick up on that, too. You might be able to fake your way through it, but you better be great at it. Otherwise, your audience won't respond well.

2. Know your goals.
If you each know what you want out of the band, you'll have a lot less problems. If you agree on what you want (just playing locally versus becoming world famous versus something in between) then you're all set. But what if the drummer loves playing shows, the singer desperately wants to be famous, and the bassist is just hoping to pick up a date? Well, now you know that your drummer will say yes to any kind of tour, the singer will want to tour in big cities, and the bassist will want big crowds and post-show mixers. Know what will make everyone happy, and go for it.

3. Let go of the egos.

4. Know when to cut your losses.
If someone in your band isn't working out, know when to say goodbye. Don't avoid it because no one wants to be the bad guy. Draw straws if you have to, or approach it together, but take care of it. It's always better than the alternative - practices becoming further apart until one day you realize you broke up without knowing it.

5. Have fun.
It will solve virtually any problem.

THE Social Media Guide for Unsigned Acts

2011-01-12T03:01:00.000-08:00

Social media has become a massive part of our culture. In fact, it has changed our culture. It's changed the way we do business, how we talk to each other and how we entertain ourselves. It's also changed how music fans experience music and how they experience the artists behind the music. So if you are an artist promoting your music on the Internet and you're not already plugged into a social media outlet or two, it's time to jump in. If you're not connected, you are quickly becoming disconnected with what's going on around you, socially speaking.The explosive popularity of social media tools like Facebook and Twitter demand that you, as an artist, become more immediately accessible to your fans. It's not enough to have a web site or even a MySpace page anymore. Your fans want to know you, they want to follow you and they want to interact with you. They want to chat with you personally, comment on your music and see what you're doing right now. Your fans expect you to be part of their daily "friend-checking" routine. Your life is interesting to them. Your life is entertainment to them. Your life is a reality show and you didn't even know it!If you ask me, it's all getting just a bit creepy.On one hand, the level of personal interaction social media encourages is a good thing. When it comes to Internet marketing, developing relationships with your fans is a key element. It always has been. But now, as you get more involved with social media and start posting your "status update" several times a day for the world to see, things begin to get personal, perhaps a little bit too personal. How do you cope with this?Having been active in the social media world for a while now, I've discovered the importance of setting boundaries for what I do and do not post for the world at large to read. I have learned that if you cross these boundaries, there can be social consequences. Have you ever really thought about how the words you post come across to your fan base? What you post can drastically change your reader's opinion about you, in both good and bad ways. While a fan might be thrilled to find you on Twitter or Facebook at first, after following your posts for a while they may actually become bored with you, disappointed in you, turned off by you or even angry at you.Social interaction with your fans is a good thing... to a point. But it would be wise to give yourself a few rules to go by; rules to help protect you not only from yourself (you can be your own worst enemy), but also those who follow you that may or may not have your best interests in mind.Consider this a lesson in social media self defence.

Here we go:1) Measure Your Words Carefully.

And Then Measure Again. Think twice about every word you're about to post before you actually post. When you first get involved in social networking, the most natural thing do to is to just "be yourself" and post your true feelings, thoughts and opinions about everything under the sun. This can be a two-edged sword when it comes to how your fans perceive you. Your fans like your music because they relate to it somehow and as a result on some level they think they know and understand you. But the truth is, they don't know you at all. That means that with every word, thought or opinion you post there is the potential to taint someone's image of who you are. Always measure how your words match up with your public image. If you write beautiful love songs, but your posts are filled with cynical ramblings, crass language and sexual innuendo, how does that affect your fans image of you? Destroy your fans image of you and you will cost yourself future sales. So, before you post your opinions on this or that, always make sure what you post is truly how you want to represent yourself to your fans. This means you should…

2) Be Wary of Discussing Politics, Religion and Controversial Subjects.

That is, unless those very things define who you are as an artist. If your music is political by nature, you can be political in your commentary. If your music is not political, and you spout off in a negative, cynical way about politics or the leadership of your country, you'll likely put off some of your fans who may respond as if you are attacking them personally. The same is true about religion. If your faith in God defines you and your music, then by all means be that person of faith. Don't hold back. But if your music isn't defined by your faith, just know that if you start praising the Lord in your posts you might put off some of your fans. Politics and religion are potentially divisive topics, as are abortion, gay-rights, immigration and even extreme environmentalism. Being controversial can be good for publicity, but when you're trying to develop relationships with your fans, going on and on about your political, social or religious views can be the very thing that turns them against you. Be very careful not to use your status update as your own personal soapbox to preach from, unless you feel so strongly about those things that you don't care if you lose fans and sales over it. It may be that you don't care if you lose fans over expressing your opinions, and if you don't, then go for it. Be who you want to be. Your strong opinions will likely appeal to a few like-minded thinkers. Just be aware of what you post, how it might come across, and whether you're OK with how it effects others' perceptions of you. The question I always ask myself before posting something potentially controversial is; "does what I'm about to write define me as an artist and a person? or am I just venting?" My politics, for example, has nothing to do with my music. So I keep my thoughts on politics to myself, generally speaking. I am not defined by my politics. I am defined by my faith in God, however, so I, personally, have no problem praising the Lord in my status updates. I just do it tastefully. Not every post I write says "Hallelujah," but I'm also not afraid to thank God publicly for a beautiful day. It's all about balance, and being watchful of your public persona.SUGGESTION: When it comes to politics, especially, I understand how hard it can be to restrain yourself from venting your political frustrations in your status update. If you find you simply can't restrain yourself, let me suggest you create another outlet specifically for your political rants. Perhaps a Twitter account specifically set up to let you express your political views, one that doesn't have your name on it. Then you can have the satisfaction of expressing your opinions to the world at large without destroying your relationships with fans of your music that have an opposing viewpoint.

3) Stay Positive. Don't Worry. Be Happy. Listen, no one likes a complainer. Don't use your status update to tell the world how lousy you feel, how stressed out you are, how hard life is, how unfair you've been treated, how misunderstood you are or how much you hate your job. People tire of whiners quickly. Do you enjoy listening to people complain? Neither does anyone else. Complaining is the fastest way to lose friends and followers (in real life too). Whatever you do, when you post a status update, be positive and encouraging to others. Present your life as good, blessed and happy, even if it isn't at every single moment. If you are a joyful person, people will be drawn to you. When you post, do so with a smile, and you'll make your reader smile. Smiling is good.

4) Be Interesting. Be Inspiring.

If you're going to update your status to tell the world what you're up to, find ways to make your posts exciting to read, even if it's just the way you phrase something. Don't post an update that says… "checking e-mail" or "watching tv" or "just chillin'" Blah. Who cares? Be creative. Be imaginative. Be specific. Make every post count and mean something. If the post you're about to write isn't something you'd care about if someone else wrote it, then why bother writing it yourself? Make sure that, from your readers' perspective, you lead a very interesting life. If you don't feel like your life is very interesting, then do something about it. Don't just sit there staring at the TV. Make your life interesting. It's in your power to do so. Then talk about it in happy, positive ways. Make your life sound like the "dream life." Your fans don't expect you to be dull. Life is too short to be dull. Don't be dull!

5) Watch Your Back. Guess what?

Not everyone who follows you is a "fan." Did you know that people might follow you who don't care about you or your music? It's true! It's easy to forget this sometimes. You just happily post away assuming everyone loves you and thinks you're terrific. But you never know who's following you, and not everyone who follows you is friendly toward you. People who are curious about how you do business might follow you. You ex-girlfriend with a grudge, stalker boyfriend or an overzealous fan might follow you. People looking for ways to tear you down might follow you. People who want to test your integrity might follow you. People who are looking for good ideas might follow you. People who want to copy what you're doing might follow you. Always be aware that people might be following you who don't have your best interests in mind. So don't be giving away all those family/trade/business secrets and don't be too revealing about yourself. Don't give your enemies ammunition to use against you.

6) Keep Your Private Moments Private.

Doing something cool and fun with your family? Use social media to tell people about it after the fact, not before. Don't post a status update saying… "Taking my kids bowling at Lois Lanes in a few minutes. Should be fun!" That will just invite curious fans to come down and join you. Might be OK. Might be weird. Instead, wait until you've finished your fun family outing and then post a message about the great fun you had earlier in the evening. There are, of course, times when you want your fans and followers to meet up with you somewhere; when you're playing a show, or just a special meet and greet with fans, for example. But keep your private moments private.

7) Don't Ignore Your Fans. Respond With Enthusiasm.

When you start posting frequently, fans and others will respond with comments of their own. Respond back, acknowledge them and be positive, enthusiastic and encouraging. If folks respond to your comments and you repeatedly ignore them, some are bound to take it personally. Always engage your fans. If they comment on a song or an album of yours, thank them and let them know you appreciate it. Tell your fan their comment made your day and in doing so you'll make their day. Just think - every day you can chat with dozens of total strangers, encouraging them to share your music with their friends and family. Do you realize the power of this? If a hundred people are following you, that's a hundred people you can ask, via your status update, to spread the word about your music. With social networking, you always have a crowd at your fingertips. Work the crowd.Social media is a great thing, and a fantastic way to stay in touch with your fans on a day to day basis. But words are powerful, lasting, and shape people's perceptions of who you are. So always be watchful of how you present yourself in writing. Think twice before you post, stay positive, be enthusiastic and avoid being negative or boring.

2011-01-09T09:11:00.000-08:00

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Here is a simple check list of what your site should do to be one of the best in the business:

1. Loads fast
2. Looks good
3. Is in character
4. All links work
5. Is useful
6. Is interesting
7. Has purpose
8. Is different
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11. Does not use spurious methods for Spamming
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13. Offers something free
14. CDs are easy to buy
15. Accepts credit cards
16. Has a newsletter
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