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Snow-thaw-snow-thaw-snow; that's how the entry across the way was graced with this particular piece of icey majesty. Normally we stick with aural art 'round here, but I thought this was worth a look.
Spring... is... coming...
Last week marked the second meeting what I've dubbed The Guild, an informal gathering of local artists, producers and other musical well-wishers for a night of drinking, snacking and musical fellowship. I was thrilled to see a lot of new faces as well as plenty of old friends. Don't judge 'em by my fuzzy photo - some of these folks are really quite attractive.
After a plate of fresh cookies and a whole lot of shooting the breeze, we settled in for a great conversation on the challenge of finding an audience. That's my subtle code for the more imposing term "marketing," and it's something I'm certain we'll continue to talk much more about in the future.
Unsurprisingly, most of us are pushing music on the Web one way or another. We learned about Virb from willowfair, extolled the virtues of TD Clark's myspace page and debated the ethics of Greg Boerner's YouTube forays. We talked briefly about Search Engine Optimization - and I was intrigued to hear how much corporate work AcRock's been getting via school assemblies. Help from unexpected places...
The Guild will be meeting the 4th Monday of every month here at the studio in Aurora - so if you haven't made it by yet, plan on joining us soon. Our next get-together is March 24 at 7:30pm. See you there.
I do have folks track drums here from time to time, then go somewhere else (like the basement) to finish a project. It's pretty easy to transfer between platforms as long as your engineer's organized.
At the end of the day we're all pushing wav (or aiff) files around, regardless of which particular software platform we're choosing to push 'em with. So I can save my wav files with one program (say, Logic) and then import them as tracks in another (say, ProTools) and get crackin'. Plug-ins won't be there, just the actual audio -- so if I want to transfer an effect I'll need to print it to the audio track ahead of time. And then I won't be able to tweak or undo it in the new program.
The reason you (or your engineer) need to be organized for this to work is that there are a LOT of audio files created in the tracking process. Before exporting audio, label your files in an intelligent manner - and make sure you're exporting only the files you need, not outtakes - so you don't sit down at your basement studio and discover you've got 237 files called "audio1," "audio2," etc.
You'll also need to be careful with the start points of your audio files - different programs measure time slightly differently, so if you have an organ solo that starts after the second verse you may discover after switching platforms that it's now starting too early or too late. The safest workaround is to create files to export that all start at the very, very beginning of your song - even if that means your organ track is 2 minutes of silence before the solo kicks in.
Of course, we'd probably both be a lot happier if you just did your whole record here.
very thorough info. thanks!
when: 7:30pm Monday, February 18
where: Backthird Audio (click for directions)
who: people who play, write, record, or promote music in any way, shape or form
what: snacks, drinks and most especially people
plus: I'd be a rock star if it weren't for high school physics
Who are you playing for?
This time of year, I’m trying harder than usual to get other guys’ girlfriends back to my place for coffee. I’m in the wedding business – that peculiar arm of the entertainment industry that’s rife with glamor, excess and abnormally tall baked goods – and the months following Christmas are the ones that bring the most engaged women to my company’s doorstep. I pour them coffee. I listen to their wedding hopes and plans. I try to distance myself from Adam Sandler.
At some point, I start philosophizing about what we do. I love leading a wedding band. It’s a totally different experience from doing original music in a club, where each song is your precious child, and you’re praying that some person in the audience will resonate with this piece of your heart and find it meaningful. Wedding bands don’t have audiences – we have guests. A good night for me means singing “Safety Dance” exactly like Men Without Hats did in 1982, and finding a dance floor full of people who find it as hilarious and charming as I do.
I fight a shame reflex when I tell other musicians I play weddings for a living. It sounds impure, unoriginal. It sounds like I’ve sold out. But the truth is, I’ve learned a ton about music from booking and fronting a wedding band.
I’ve learned to think of art as service.
So who are you playing for? For me, at weddings, there’s no question: Like the caterers and bartenders and people who cut flowers for the tables, we’re there to serve the guests. They’re celebrating marriage – incidentally, a pretty worthy cause – and our job is to help them. We don’t play our favorite songs; we learn the bride’s. We don’t stare at our shoes or drift off to our special place; we look around the room to see who’s having fun. It’s not about us as performers, and it’s not – oddly enough – about the music. It’s about the people we’ve been hired to serve.
At its worst, this attitude – we’ll do whatever you’re willing to pay for! – is the epitome of artlessness. It’s the mentality that gave us N’SYNC and Hillary Duff. At its best, though, it’s what drives artists to put their own ego aside and create, not as an act of self-worship, but for a greater good. It gives us songs of praise and protest, music that makes a difference to someone besides the people on the stage. We don’t want art that’s soulless – but we don’t want it to be self-centered or narcissistic, either. We want artists who are true to who they are, but use that to offer something to the rest of us.
I fell in love with music for the way it made me feel. What keeps me coming back – and what earns me my living – is the way it can touch others.
So who are you playing for?
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(ask a question ) (answer a question)
How transferable is digital info? example... I want to track drums at Backthird to get the big room/ good mics and whatever, then do guitars and the rest at home. Do I need to be running protools with all the same plug ins, or can files cross platforms pretty safely?
Posted by: saturdave | February 24, 2008 at 09:11 PM