Putting music "out there"

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This is my latest thing to try - putting my music "out there" in the marketplace. Now, I'm nowhere near "signing a label contract" - nor am I interested in that. For that matter, a label wouldn't be interested in what I do anyway, so it all works out! I've put tracks from the two tom&co albums into snocap - so anyone can purchase and download tracks from both albums. Seasons has been available since 2003 at cdbaby. I placed Brethren - our first album from 1999 - on cdbaby in the fall of 07, but didn't want to make it available digitally because two of the tunes are covers. The amount of paperwork to keep track of when selling covers online is more trouble than its worth fro may particular project. However, using Snocap means I can pick and choose which tracks are available, which is nice. So this is yet another experiment in using technology in music. It has the added benefit of being able to tell the tale to my music classes, and makes things interesting. You can never tell what I'll put up in my Snocap store. As of this writing it's only tom&co stuff, but there will be different things down the road.

Making a CD: Technologies and Process

Another post in the continuing story of making a CD for my student. Today: a look at the technologies used. This is not the only process possible - indeed, there are easieer ways to do this. However, I decided to use what I had available. I should note that it wasn't one CD - it was 9 different CDs, each student received a CD with only their perofrmances on it, plus it had their name and song titles printed on them (along with a neat graphic of a piano keyboard). The first of the technologies used is actually fairly old: MIDI. [I remember when it first came out - I got married when MIDI was still in diapers]. MIDI is basically a "language" (the computer geeks call it a protocol) that allows a computer to memorize what notes were pressed when, and how hard. It also can keep track of things like sustain pedal presses, when the sound was changed on the keyboard, and more. So I had the computer "memorize" what keys the students played when. This allowed me to easily transfer the MIDI data down to the outhouse using - gasp! - a FLOPPY DISK. [the outhouse = my studio back at the house. It's the little house out back.......yes, my family enjoys puns.] MIDI files are ridiculously small - you could fit all the parts for all of Beethoven's symphonies on one 1.4 megabyte floppy. That same floppy will only hold something like 6 seconds of CD quality audio. The DISadvantage is that the quality of the "box" - synthesizer, soundcard, etc. - actually making the sound when "fed" the MIDI file is what determines how good the music sounds. Another technology: a sample playback keyboard - specifically, a Roland RD-700sx, with 88 weighted keys and a very nice sound. This was used to actually create the sound that was eventually recorded. The audio was recorded using a Mac Mini with an M-Audio Firewire audiophile box attached to it. I used Apple's SoundTrack Pro to record the audio, but there are other options available (for me, Traktion from Mackie, or the free Audacity software would have worked as well.) Other technologies used: the internet and email - used to transfer the audio files to a friend's commercial studio. He then used a CD burner and printer to actually make the CDs. Then, of course, there is the United States Postal Service, which took care of delivering the packages to my students. That's an overview of what was used. Next posting - details on how this project was accomplished.

What I tell Parents about Digital Pianos

I teach piano in a music store (one of my many "jobs"), and often have parents ask me about their kids taking piano, but all they have is a digital keyboard.

I tell them several things:

1. An excellent quality acoustic (i.e. grand or upright, not a spinet or console) is the best choice - BUT they have price and maintenance issues that many people don't want to deal with.
2. Second choice would be an excellent quality digital - with 88 weighted keys, excellent quality speakers. They will need to add a piano-style sustain pedal and a keyboard stand (if the keyboard doesn't already have one). The downside is that it will last around a decade, whereas an acoustic will last the rest of their lives. (For some, this last statement is a disadvantage of acoustic pianos!)
3. Third choice, and definitely last, is the el-cheapo keyboard that is so common. For some parents, though, all they want to spend - indeed, all they may be ABLE to spend, is $150 on a little dinky one. I explain the limits they are putting on the child - and I require that the keys be full-size. I also explain that the child will outgrow it in less than a year, but $150 is all some parents can spend on the keyboard.

I am also trying to get parents to hook their keyboards up to the computer, explaining the capabilities that gives the child. I have had limited success, because most of my parents have Windows machine, which are difficult to setup for MIDI operation. The Mac side is so much easier, so my Mac-using parents are more likely to take advantage of it.

Studio Setup: the next chapter

I am a firm believer in using things - especially technology - as long as it is practical. That's why I have been using a powerMac 8500 for my writing and transcription work for a good long while.

I bought it off of eBay for $150 to replace a Mac clone that got fried by lightning. I use it for digital audio work, sequencing, and Finale stuff.

I purchased my first ever new Mac in February - a Mini. For a long while it has stayed in the living room, perched on top of a 10 year old IBM 17 inch monitor that was absolutely huge - it was quite funny looking, but very functional.

I don¹t' want to lose what I have with the 8500, so today I moved the mini down to the "outhouse" (it's a 12x16 ft little house out back with my studio and workshop). I'm using a KVM switch (the 8500 has a usb/firewire card installed), and the 2 machines are networked together (with a crossover cable, of course. Why spend $ on a switch when I already have the cable?)

So I'm working with one machine running MacOs 8.6 - running Finale, EZ Vision, and assorted audio utilities (like Soundmaker from Micromat) - and the other running MacOs 10.3.

Gotta love it! A Very functional studio using a blend of the old and new.

Is this a good place to mention the Mac Classic running MacOs 7.1 that I use in the piano studio at the store? (I use it for basic sequencing in my piano lessons). It brings new depths of meaning to the word "slow"!

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The MaconMacMusicGuy

http://www.tomrule.info/

http://www.tom-and-co.com

http://www.youngamericamusic.com --------------------------------------

Performing: What it Takes

Last week and this week I have had/will have performances with the Grapevine, Joey Stuckey Band, the Earle Barnette Group, and of course tom&co.

This is a plethora of styles and situations. Grapevine is what we called in South Carolina a "beach band" - there are few charts, and everything is done by ear. I was sitting in for their regular keyboard guy - who had moved to guitar because their regular guitarist couldn't make it.

I'll be with the Joey Stuckey band in Cordele playing jazz in a trio setting Friday - with some homemade charts that serve as reminders. They are definitely NOT note-for-note (in some cases, not even chord-for-chord!).

Earle Barnette's group plays a more traditional form of jazz - it's a small ensemble, with charts that look pretty good. Lot's of chance for improv, but not as many as in a trio setting.

................and then there's tom&co, which will have the usual personnel changes that happen week to week, and will have some new praise and worship stuff to learn. We are also rehearsing a new song just written for this summer's Vacation Bible School Xtreme - we have to get it recorded in the next 3 weeks.

So why do I bring this up, I hear you asking? (I have a good imagination.) It points out the necessity to be flexible and good at what you do if you are going to be successful as a musician. The more skills you have - in my case this week, those skills include improv, good ear skills, ability to fake my way out of a musical jam (pun intended), and a facility with my ax of choice (keyboards, especially multiple keyboards).

Those skills, along with my ability to get along with people and my reputation for consistency and keeping my word - mean that the bands will hire me.

It isn't just the musical skills. It's also the people skills.