Last Saturday night I was setting up to play with my buddies at a coffeehouse in a church in Mesquite, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. Church-sponsored coffeehouses are a time-honored tradition in Dallas, the oldest of which is the famous Uncle Calvin’s. Church or no church, things can get pretty raucous at these events, so you still hear some pretty edgy stuff, albeit usually on acoustic instruments.

In the middle of set-up we ran into a problem with the direct boxes, or so we thought. Direct boxes or “DIs” are boxes that let you plug your guitar-style quarter-inch plug into a three-pronged low-impedance input called an XLR or Cannon connector (like a microphone cable ), which is what all the snake inputs are. Our sound technician couldn’t get the DI-fed acoustic guitar channels–10 and 11–to make a sound, either in the mains or the monitors. He switched the direct boxes out three times with no change in result.

I took one of the guitars and plugged it into a guitar amp just to make sure it wasn’t the instrument, but the guitar worked perfectly in the onstage amp. Meanwhile the two channels were still dead. Not a sound when we plugged the guitar back into the direct boxes.I said, “Guys, it has to be at the board.” The sound engineer protested, saying that the board was set up right. I asked if I could look it over. “Go ahead,” he said, as if to say, “You won’t find anything.”

I checked the channels for muting. I compared the cannels to the channels around them. I checked the bussing switches to the mains and the sub-mixes. I checked the faders. I glanced in the back where there was no light, but saw something disturbing.

“Would it cause a problem if the snake wasn’t plugged into channels 10 and 11?” I asked.

“Oh, sh*t,” was the response.

Problem solved. Next.

While my friend, C. Aaron Moore and his band “The Issues,” performed the first set, I got into a “discussion” with a fellow band-member about problems with the mix. He was hearing one of the vocalists louder than the others. Now, I’d been all over the room and the mix was pretty good, but my friend just couldn’t stand what he was hearing.

I worked to get the sound right, which was complicated by the fact that the PA board was in the back of the room in the corner, in a box with an open window to the performance hall. The sound in the hall was fully twice of what it was in the booth, but the booth sound was surprisingly pretty mixable. After I got the “vocal in question” to sit in the mix a little better, I realized at least part of the problem. My fellow band-member was sitting 10 feet from the back wall of the hall. He was in the worst seat in the house, with the sound waves reflecting from the back wall and cancelling a lot of the frequencies–possibly even reinforcing others. Once I walked into the sweet spot in the middle of the room, the vocals were actually now a bit low in the mix.

What else helps vocals sit in the mix? Well, vocals are one of the most dynamic “instruments,” meaning the can be very loud, very soft, somewhere in between, and can change on a dime. Great for emotional delivery, but it drives the person at the mixer crazy trying to get the vocal to mix well with the rest of the music. The answer is a compressor. The compressor will turn the loud sound down (in a fraction of a second) and the soft sound up. This more even sound lets you pretty much set and forget the vocals, because where you mix them is where they tend to remain in the mix with the other instruments.

Want to know more? For a FREE whitepaper report on phase cancellation, click here. For lots of equipment, promotion, songwriting and music career management knowledge, go to http://www.GigsterClinics.com/merch.htm.

Seth Godin writes:

“What if your new rock group appeals to fans of the B52s? Or if your new book is just perfect for people who like Brad Meltzer? If you have a CD or a book or an idea that will appeal to a certain psychographic, it might not be so easy to reach just those people.

[…]

Go buy a bunch of B52s CDs. Then list them (brand new!) for sale on Amazon and eBay. Price them ridiculously low, like a dollar. The only people who are going to buy a copy are focused fans. Then, when you ship out the CD, include your new CD in the box as well. You’ve reached exactly the right people (purchasers! who spent money! who are fans!) at exactly the right moment. Why not include two or three in the box? Fans know fans, and they like spreading the good stuff around.”

This reminds me of a similar tactic people were using on iTunes for awhile. Suppose your band would appeal to Dave Matthews fans. When when you release an album and sell it on iTunes, encourage your fans to also buy a Dave Matthews song or two. This way, the next time someone visits a Dave Matthews album on iTunes, your songs will be listed in the section that says, “People who bought Dave Matthews also bought [your band name here]. It’s only $1-$2 more for the purchase, and if it is your core fans it is very likely they will go the extra mile for you.

Derek Sivers: “When I was promoting my own music years ago, I decided I wanted to be in Rolling Stone magazine. So I bought a Rolling Stone and looked in the tiny fine print on page 6 where they publish their contact info. I knew that if I asked Rolling Stone which publicists they like, then I’d know which publicists could get me into Rolling Stone. But before calling the main number, I thought, “Hmm… I want to get through to the editorial department, so I don’t want to sound like a novice. I’ll bet if I sound like the people who do this all the time, they’ll patch me right through.” So I called up and the receptionist said, “Rolling Stone,” and I said in my best weary impatient voice, “Editorial, please,” and she patched me right through. Once on with the guy in editorial, I just politely asked, “I’m not promoting anything today, just calling from a label that’s looking for a new publicist. Wondering - which ones would you recommend?” The guy was quite nice and gave me a few names. I thanked him and now I had my specific road map for how to get in Rolling Stone!” (Full transcript)

Put Yourself in Songwriting Mode
Orlando at SongwriterAdvisor has a great two-part series on getting in “songwriting mode”. He mentions Sting’s own account of how he came up with the song “Every Breath You Take” in about 30 minutes. He continues, “So how does this happen?  It certainly doesn’t happen by accident to just anybody who has no interest in writing a song.  It happens to songwriters who put themselves in what I call “Songwriting Mode,” which is the ability to train your brain to subconsciously create any [number] of [conditions]. Part 1 | Part 2

My personal favorites are How to Write Songs on Guitar: A Guitar-Playing and Songwriting Course, and John Braheny’s The Craft & Business of Songwriting.

What I would like to do is put together a list of Blogging Muses “Reader Recommended” books on a Resources Page (a page I am working on now) and would like your input.

To participate, put your favorite book in the comments below. Also provide a one or two paragraph summary of what you like about the book.

If you have a website of your own you would like to promote, put that in the URL field and I’ll definitely give you a link back to your site as a thank you for helping build the resources page.

Authors

Even if you are an author of a book and want some self promotion, that is fine too, just put together a real good one or two paragraph summary of what you think makes your book great.

This should be fun. Ideally I am hoping some readers will introduce other Blogging Muses readers to books they might not have hear about before. I think everyone will benefit.

Happy Songwriting!

Well, kind of…

This article is the official “chapter after” you’ve written and recorded your song.

There’s no doubt that being a great songwriter and having beautifully recorded versions of your songs is an admirable goal in and of itself. However, if you’re interested in having your songs see the light of day then your work is really just beginning. Until the people who can actually do something with your song (i.e. music industry professionals) have heard it, it might as well not exist. I know this sounds obvious but I think you’d be amazed at the number of songwriters out there who have great song demos that very few, if any, music business people have ever heard. Creating the music is one thing but getting your music out in the world requires an entirely different set of skills. The skills I’m going to focus on are networking, professionalism, persistence, persistence (yes, I know I wrote it twice…) courtesy and patience.

Networking

Like any business, it’s not only “what” you know but “who” you know that gets you ahead. What this means in the music world is getting yourself out there to open mics, writer’s nights and any industry events you can find. For those of you in music cities like New York, Nashville and Los Angeles there are an almost endless stream of opportunities.

(Editor’s Note: For more information on NYC and Nashville songwriting communities, read Cliff’s previous article The Differences Between Songwriting in NYC and Nashville.)

For everyone else, you might have to look a little harder or travel from time to time to one of the cities I just mentioned. I think it’s a universal truth that this kind of stuff isn’t always that much fun but especially when you’re starting out, it’s essential.

Let’s put it this way, all things being equal, if you’ve met someone from a record label or publishing company in a social setting and assuming you’ve had a nice exchange, there’s a much greater likelihood that they’ll not only remember you when you call but will make more of an effort to help you out if they can.

The point is that the more you’re out there, the more people you’ll meet and the greater the chance it will pay dividends down the road.

I’d also recommend remembering a few basic social skills while you’re at it. For instance, do not immediately launch into your 10-minute, spoken-word bio when you meet someone. It’s a much better idea to find out a little something about the person you’re talking to by remembering to ask a few questions as well.

Professionalism

Did I mention we’re talking about the music business? This means it’s in your best interest to be professional about how you approach people in the industry. When reaching out to someone in the music industry, call or email first. Make this first contact short and to the point. In other words, let them know why you’re calling/emailing (i.e. to schedule a meeting, to see if they’re accepting CD’s, to ask whether you can submit an mp3, etc.). This is not the time to have a long discussion. If you’ve been referred by someone they know (see “networking” above) mention this as well.

Also, while it’s great to be excited and even confident about your material, it rarely pays to tell someone that you’ve got a “great” song or you’re an “amazing” songwriter. Let your music speak for itself. Once you’ve gotten approval to do so, then submit your song or bring it to the meeting. It really doesn’t make sense to send out CD’s or mp3’s without first getting approval as they usually end up at the bottom of a pile or even worse, the person who hasn’t asked for it considers it an intrusion. Don’t kill the messenger here, I’m simply saying that the odds are that if someone isn’t expecting your material, there’s a good chance it won’t get heard.

By the way, if you’ve never seen the office of an A&R rep or music publisher, I’m here to tell you that it’s wall-to-wall CD’s. We’re talking hundreds and hundreds if not thousands of them. Make sure that your CD is clearly labeled with a few simple elements: Your name and contact information (phone and email), the name of the song or songs and possibly - if it’s a song for an artist - the name of the person you’re pitching it to. Also, make certain that every part of the package is labeled. This means put your information on the CD and on the CD sleeve or jewel case. Make sure that if the CD itself gets separated from the case, the information is the CD, too.

Also, if you’re using a jewel case, make sure there’s information on the spine. Remember the part where I said there are thousands of CD’s in these folks’ offices? When your CD ends up on a shelf with all the others, the spine of the CD will be the only way for them to identify it.

Finally, I can think of no good reason why any submission should be more than three songs. If you’re pitching a song to an artist, they’re not hoping for a “bonus track.” If you’re pitching to a publisher, three songs is a good way to show them you’ve got more than one good song without overdoing it. If they want more, believe me, they’ll ask. It all comes down to putting yourself in the position of the industry person. If they’ve got a desk full of CD’s to listen to and have to choose between a CD with two songs on it or one with nineteen songs, which one do you think they’ll pick?

Persistence…Persistence

Let’s say you’re fortunate enough to reach someone by either phone or email and they’ve agreed to let you mail in a CD or email them an mp3. Here’s what you should expect:

Nothing.

In other words, it’s extremely rare that you’ll hear anything back quickly after you submit it. (See “thousands of CD’s” above…). As a matter of fact, you should put in your calendar to follow up two or three weeks after you’ve submitted something. This follow up should be even shorter than your initial contact. Email is probably best for this. A simple email saying you wanted to make sure they’d received your submission is enough.

Also, don’t be surprised if the response you get back (if you’re lucky enough to get one) says they haven’t gotten it and would you mind resending it. (See “persistence…persistence” in the above heading.)

Resending material is something that you should expect to do. Following up every two to three weeks (unless you’re asked not to) is perfectly acceptable if you’re polite and to the point. I’m not a cynic and I don’t believe that anyone has an agenda to ignore submitted material. I’m a realist and the sheer number of submissions makes it almost impossible for anyone to stay on top of things. Anything you can do to help remind someone is in your best interest and generally appreciated.

Courtesy

I think it’s important to realize that no one in the industry owes you anything. This may sound harsh but it’s an important point. You may very well have great songs and it would be in the best interest of the industry professional you’re pursuing to listen to them, but there are a lot of great songs out there and only a limited number of opportunities for them. All this to say, if your song isn’t listened to right away or even if it’s lost or ignored, don’t take it personally. I’m a songwriter myself so I know exactly how important your songs are to you. It’s not easy to submit them for judgment and tougher still to wait around hoping someone will actually listen. However, you’ll only do yourself a disservice by being rude or impatient with someone and heaven help you if you get a reputation in the industry for being difficult or unpleasant.

Patience

Given that there are so many artists, songwriters and songs out there vying for a limited number of spots, it all comes down to patience. Patience with yourself as you improve your musical skills and patience with the industry people you’re soliciting as they make their way through all of the material in line ahead of you.

My recommendation is to have as many irons in the fire as you possibly can at all times so that you’re not waiting for any one thing to happen or not to happen as is so often the case. The more people you get to know, the more opportunities you explore and the more submissions you make, the less likely you are to get discouraged and the more likely you are to start having success.

Good luck!

IAMA is open to all independent artists and labels. Unlike other music industry competitions, IAMA focuses on developing new markets for Acoustic artists, labels and with or without CD releases. Past year’s winners include Charlie Dore (UK), Randy Kohrs & The Lites (USA), Craig Bickhardt (USA), etc.

Win prizes in 8 different categories: Folk/Americana/Roots, AAA/Alternative, Instrumental, Open, Bluegrass, Best Male Artist, Best Female Artist, Best Group/Duo. There will also be an Overall Grand Prize winner awarded to the top winner worth over US$11,000, which includes radio promotion to over 250 radio stations in US and Canada. Winning songs will be heard on radio! Winners and runner-ups will be featured on our CD compilation. Also, we feature up to 10 different artists get featured and promoted on IAMA website every month, which provides a review, ratings, CD information and more. The sooner, you enter, the sooner you get featured!

Judging is based on excellence in music performance, songwriting/composition/song choice, Music production and originality.

All entries must be postmarked by November 10 or earlier. Ways to enter:

1. For the regular entry form, please visit our site
2. Or enter online here to get the FREE Sonicbids subscription worth $18
   here

FREE EARLY ENTRY BONUS:
The First 1,000 entrants will each receive a
FREE subscription to Sonicbids worth $18.00 (first 1,000 entrants, must
be entered by Oct 31st or earlier, so hurry!) :
http://www.sonicbids.com/iama2008

If you were born and raised in modern society, than it is likely that the majority of your day is spent thinking about the past or future. Asking questions like “Why didn’t I do that?” for the past or perhaps “This is my goal and how I’m going to reach it” for the future. Now I’m in no way shape or form saying this is a bad thing…it’s never bad to learn from the past or plan for your future. However, with that said, when we are writing music and composing we HAVE to be absolutely present in that particular moment. That doesn’t mean you can’t write on topics that have previously happened or are yet to come into existence, but it is essential to understand that the muse only flows fully and gently through those who are completely in and aware of the now.

To help bring our consciousness into the now, and thusly increase the chances of “Getting into the Flow” or having the muse flow through us, I will list a few things to do and be aware of below.

1. Breathe
   Most of the time we are unconscious of our breathing; it is just something that we do naturally without thinking or being aware of. However, when we take our consciousness and place it on our breathing, a few things may happen.

   A. You may notice your breathing pattern. Perhaps you take very shallow and rapid breaths normally. Try instead to focus and take larger more filling breaths.

   B. When we are focused purely on our breathing, it is hard for our minds to wonder and think about the past or future. It “forces” our awareness into what is happening right now…your breathing.

2. Feel
   Author, Eckhart Tolle, asks for us to feel our “inner body” in his book “A New Earth.” While that book doesn’t have anything specifically to do with being an artist or creating, it has everything to do with being a human being and bringing our consciousness into the present moment.So what Mr. Tolle is referring to when he says, “feel your inner body,” is to place all of your awareness on feeling the life that runs through your body (your hand to begin with). If you think about it, of course it may be a weird concept, but I ask you to refrain from letting your mind think in this instance. Just feel and be aware of the tingling sensation of your hand when all of your attention is placed on it.

   On a side note, Pianist and Composer Carlos Campos always asks for his students to do a similar practice, because a higher level of focus, and thusly a higher quality result, can be attained by shifting all of your awareness to the present moment and as he would say, having “body awareness.”

3. Be Open
   Last, but certainly not least, be completely open to anything and everything that flows through you. Once your “In the Flow,” don’t stop by critiquing or questioning what you’ve just written down or played (whether it be lyrics or music). There is a time and a place for you to come back, refine, polish, and critique your piece, but NOW is not the time.I always recommend having some way of recording yourself (handheld recorder, Protools, etc.) while you’re “In the Flow,” because just taking the time to write notation down or the lyrics you were currently singing may be enough to hinder or completely stop the “flow.” So by clicking a single button, you can record everything you play/sing and then write it down at a later time.

Now I realize that there are some of you who are completely turned off by these ideas, whether it be because they seem to simple to work or because it almost sounds like something a Pseudo-Hollywood Hippy would say. However, I ask that before you pass judgment on these ideas, take them seriously and put them into practice when you are going through your creative process. If for some reason this “method” doesn’t work for you then the only things you have lost are the stresses and worries of your day, because your consciousness was focused on the only thing we truly have.

Now.

Copyright © 2008 Kole (Kyle Hicks). All rights reserved.

Andrew Bird Talks Songwriting
But if I like my record too much does it mean I’m getting complacent? Or am I just getting better at making records sound the way I want them to? It worries me because what I love about songwriting is that there is no guaranteed formula for success. I’m hoping that getting better at making records means, for one thing, that I am learning how to leave room for serendipitous moments. I always want to hear how things didn’t go according to plan. [Read More]

Multitasking is a songwriting killer (Adventures in Songwriting)
When I write, there are some times when I just pick up the guitar and play someting new, jotting down what I’ve just played. Similarly, there are times when I can just sit down and type out lyrics into Notepad. I rarely write with a pen these days as my office is as close to a paperless office as one I’ve ever heard of. The fact is, I’m writing lyrics only at that point. [Read More]

Used and new lap steel guitars
I started a carefully cultivated list of used and new lap steel listings on eBay on a domain name I don’t use. I filtered out bad listings and categorized them in custom categories. Check it out: lap steel guitars

Here’s David Lynch on ideas:

It’s like there’s a man in another room with the whole film together, but they’re in puzzle parts. And he’s flipping one piece at a time into me. At first it’s very abstract I don’t have a clue. More pieces come, more ideas are caught, it starts forming a thing. Then one day there it is. It’s LIKE it existed before. But ideas are like fish. You don’t make the fish you catch the fish.

On the “suffering artist”:

Suffering is really misunderstood. A lot of artists think that suffering is necessary. You can see why they think that. So they can tell the story, so they can make it real through their own experience. But in reality, the artist doesn’t have to suffer to show suffering. You just have to understand the suffering. Any kind of suffering cramps the flow of creativity.

View the whole video for more snippets of inspiration:

One of the coolest things in the following video is a clip from 1967 of a very young and very clean cut Donavon playing a song for Bob Dylan, who says, “Hey, that’s a GOOD song man!”

Here’s a few more choice quotes:

How did I know I could [write music]? I didn’t. I just knew I was a voice. The very first songs I started writing spoke of this early bohemian lifestyle that would take over popular culture.

I meditate because I always wanted to find out how. […] As soon as I got it, my songwriting became deeper. I became aware of where I’d come from.

Going around the patterns of music with no thought in mind and slowly it’s opening this portal … where if I step back on not concentrate too much … I start hearing these melodies. You could catch them. I would catch a couple, and that would become a melody. And then I would be feeling something and that would become the words.

These songs come out when you open the portal of creativity. I could open it magically with music.

He goes on to talk about a conversation with a Pagan priest that sums up the concept of affecting people with your music nicely.

You’ll have to watch to hear it though:

Wanna see more songwriting videos?

Click the video tag below for more cool songwriting videos in the BloggingMuses archives:

So I wanted to put together a blog carnival on Blogging Muses. For those of you that are not familiar with the concept of a blog carnival, head on over to BlogCarnival.com and read through their FAQs.

In short, I would like to launch the carnival on August 1, 2008. So submit your best songwriting tips, articles, or video tutorials.

I think this will be a great way for our current readers to (a) find out about more songwriting blogs, (b) meet other songwriting bloggers ourselves, and (c) strengthen the online songwriting community.

Submit your articles here: