Almost everyone has heard about the massive crack down on Internet music piracy that has been occurring over the past few years. Napster was taken down (although it has now returned as a pay service), other file sharing programs now require users to pay for a license and the RIAA and other similar organizations are doing their best to hunt down copyright offenders and put an end to their crime sprees. The consumers on the other hand argue that their actions hurt nobody, that there is no damage done to anyone by their not buying an album. Furthermore, they claim, MP3s allow them to sample a CD before purchasing it, thus actually helping sales.
I'm not here to argue the pros and cons. Basically it's not worth it, as neither side of the argument will ever see the opposition's point of view. What I'd like to do is take a look at the completely free and legal alternative to 'stealing' music. Those wonderfully talented musicians who are willing to put their creations online to download for free, solely for the joy of spreading their creations to the masses.
Free music is surprisingly easy to come by, even music by famous bands. Sometimes it needs to be 'streamed' from the Internet, meaning that you can only listen to a song while you're online, but with the ever-growing popularity of broadband Internet this is really no longer a problem. Sites such as MP3.com and purevolume.com provide free music by almost any band you can think of, although there is a large amount of it that has to be streamed and not downloaded. A search for 'free legal MP3 downloads' will reveal a huge number of pages to visit.
For something specific, try visiting the artist's website, or the site of their record label. These will often offer a few sample tracks to download for free. It's not quite as convenient as having access to every song that you want, but it's not a bad alternative.
But how about we forget about the mainstream for just a while and move towards the alternative? Towards the hopefuls, the talented bands that have yet to be 'noticed'. There are a huge number of these smaller bands out there that are sticking their stuff online for any and all to listen to, just so that they can be heard. These can be easier to find, because most MP3 sites will be filled with these smaller acts. A great place to start is http://www.garageband.com/ or the aforementioned http://purevolume.com
The great thing about smaller bands is that you can often find bands that come from your local area and then go and see them play live. Being able to see a favourite band live more than once a year (or lifetime) without expending huge amounts of money and time is pretty cool. Many music search engines will let you search for bands of a particular genre in a particular area, which makes it all quite easy.
A fairly major contributor to the online music scene is the remixer. These people take other tunes and redo them, often in a techno style because one person can do this competently. Chief among the tunes selected to be remixed are those old ditties that used to play through the simplest of sound chips on now aging consoles: the video game theme songs. People now go and grab the main tune line from an old favourite and fill it out, making real the work our imaginations used to do for us to turn the single tone melodies into orchestral masterpieces. A few good places to start are http://remix.kwed.org and http://remix.overclocked.org as well as a personal favourite band http://machinaesupremacy.com
I hope this has given you something to think about. It's not hard to come across illegal MP3 rips, in fact it's often hard to avoid them, but if you give the free music scene a look you may find something completely different and new that will really do it for you. With web hosts already being penalized hugely for illegal content being stored on their servers (having an entire server taken down because of one inconsiderate user is damaging and irritating beyond belief) and moves being made to charge ISPs for the content being accessed by their users, it makes more sense than ever to get out there and grab yourself an awesomely original and completely legal music collection.
By Daniel Punch
Senin, 16 Juni 2008
Free, Legal Music Online
Motorhead Inferno
Motorhead-"Inferno"-Review by Les Lewellyn
When David Grohl of Nirvana and Foo Fighters fame release the sensational CD "Probot" this year it rekindled my metal tastebuds. For those of you not familiar with his project I'll explain. He recorded songs on which he played all instruments and he had guest vocalists come in and sing as well as write the lyrics and play whatever instrument they might also play. The cd features vocalists such as King Diamond, Snake from Voivod, and many other great singers/musicians. The whole cd flows like it was a gift from God or at least the Heavy Metal God. On that cd Lemmy from Motorhead does a fantastic job on the tune "Shake Your Blood". On first listen I was excited to hear Lemmy singing on such a awesome tune and the excitement was enough for me to do some google searching and that is where I found out that the boys were back and had a new CD released on the indie label Sanctuary entitled "Inferno". Like Monster Magnet, being on an indie has enhanced their sound big time!
Always a rough and tough rocking band, Motorhead has never rocked like they do on this CD. What's amazing is how great Lemmy's vocals sound. I have loved the band since their beginning and my fondness for Lemmy dates back to his Hawkwind days. I have to say I have enjoyed Motorhead whenever I've bought a cd and listened. But NEVER have I been entrapped into their sound like I am today.
The opening song, "Terminal Show", features Steve Vai on guitar. I have to admit even though I'm a guitarist I respect Steve Vai but I just can't get into the instrumental cds he's released. Actually, I dig them I just don't find myself playing them very often. But Steve takes hold of "Terminal Show" and sounds like he's in the band. He refrains from overplaying his part and he fits Motorhead like a glove. Philip Campbell, Motorhead's guitarist, allows Steve Vai to play with no conflicts and it's sweet as honey! But Philip Campbell then goes on to play lead on all the rest of the tunes like a banshee in heat except the end of "Down On Me" on which Steve Vai returns. What's cool about this is the fact that the two tunes on which Steve Vai plays guitar are not necessarily the best on the cd. It's a seemless collection of tunes that will rock the toughest crowd. I can only imagine how great they sound live and I can't wait to catch them on their current tour.
Mikkey Dee returns on drums and this cat pounds the hell out of them. Lemmy attacks the bass like a maniac and his vocals are his best to date. The cd never gets politcal but it does paint a dim look at life in these troubled times. It's really kind of creepy how convincing Lemmy sounds on the tune "Killers". Obviously the dude is fascinated with murder because he sings three tunes about the topic. I'm glad he's got his bass and band to keep him busy!!!!
I know I claimed Monster Magnet have the best cd this year but I have to say that Motorhead are coming in with a tie at least! "Inferno" is a must buy cd for any hard rock fan. From start to finish the album soars past and demands repeated plays. I am sure that Motorhead's old fans will freak out over this cd and also they've created a cd that will hopefully get them some new young fans.
Tips for a Great Recording Session
You know your songs are great (and so does your girl/boyfriend, family, pets etc), and you finally decided to record an album in a real studio. That's great! But what actually happens when you get there?
When you finally do pick the perfect studio, one that you feel comfortable at, there is a certain routine that must be followed in order to get the best performance and the best recording for your budget.
1. Tune Your Instruments. This also includes your drums and any tunable percussion instruments you may have. There is absolutely nothing worse in the world than to have a perfectly written song with a perfect performance be ruined because someone didn't take an extra 2 minutes to check their tuning. Tuning takes a few minutes; a recording lasts forever.
2. Be Well Rehearsed. You'll be surprised how many bands suffer shock when they get the final recording bill. The main reason for this is because they confuse rehearsal time with recording time. Rehearse at home, in the garage, at your uncle's house; anywhere but at the recording session. When you arrive at the studio, you should know your songs inside-out and be ready for the red light.
3. Practice with a Click Track. A lot of drummers aren't able to play with a click track. Make sure yours can. A click track is essential in getting a good basic rhythm track that the rest of the band can lock in to, and to sync-up loops and delay times.
4. Be Early. Many studios start charging their clients from the exact time agreed to in the contract. Just because you decide to show up late, doesn't mean that the studio should give up that time for free. Be early and be ready to go.
5. Get the Sound Right. Never, ever try to "fix it in the mix". It doesn't work like that. Take an extra few minutes to tweak the sound before recording it. Turn that knob, tighten that string, have another sip of water. Remember again, tweaking may take an extra minute, but the recording will last forever.
6. Know When To Quit. Recording often leads to diminishing returns. Spending 20 hours in a row at the recording session isn't going to make your song twice as good as spending 10 hours. This rule also applies to mixing. If you're tired, call the session and come back the next day fresh and ready.
7. Record Alone. Don't bring your friends, family, parents or anyone else into your sessions. As fun as it may be, you are there to do a job and record the best music possible. If you are a millionaire, then by all means, have a party at the studio, but don't count on getting anything done.
8. Mix and Match. After letting the engineer do the first rough mix alone (which he should) do an A/B comparison of your mix to some of your favorite CDs. Remember that the production CDs you are listening to have already been mastered. But it's a good way to compare levels and panning.
9. Bring Spares. Always bring spare strings, drum heads, bass strings, water bottles, throat lozenges, etc to a session. You'll always need the one thing you forgot to bring, so bring it all and leave them at the studio until your recordings are finished.
10. Have Fun! This is THE most important point of all. Creating and recording music isn't rocket science. Although there is a science involved, you should let the engineer worry about that. If you're not having fun, then you're in the wrong business!
By Richard Dolmat
How Has Eminem Risen to the Top?
How is it that a little white boy from Kansas City has become the most well known rapper in the world? Starting from nothing and eventually moving up to a multi-millionaire, Eminem over the past seven years has been in the eye of the public everywhere you look. He has essentially entered a black man's business and gone to the top over the course of a few years, but how?
On October 17, 1972 Marshall Bruce Mathers III was born in St. Joseph, MO by his 15 year old mother Debbie. Six months later his father was gone and this began the struggle for Marshall and his mother; one that was just the beginning. Throughout the course of his childhood Marshall and his mother moved numerous times into different houses from Kansas City to Detroit. The maximum time spent in one house was only 3 months, which caused Marshall to attend many different schools making it difficult to cope to the different surroundings and make friends. Every new school he attended he was bullied as he was the new kid. This was something that he could not change as he was never stationed in one school for a long period of time. At the age of 12 he and his mother finally settled in a house in Detroit. He would later use the bullying to his advantage fueling him to get back at all his bullies through songs.
By the age of 4 Marshall was already beginning to rap and put words together rhyming them. At school he was rather successful considering the circumstances, but it was lunchtime that he enjoyed as he often battled schoolmates through freestyles. At the age of 14 Marshall began to get serious about rapping and felt that he had a shot in the business. When he got to the ninth grade he failed it three times before eventually dropping out as he felt school was not for him.
When he turned 17 he came up with the name M&M for himself by combining the first letters of his first and last name, which later was changed to Eminem. Now that he didn't have school as a distraction, he focused solely on rapping with the goal of making it to the top. He faced constant struggle on the way to stardom as he was continuously rejected by most rappers because of his race, despite his true talent. This grew anger inside of him that he uses in his music today. Knowing that it wasn't going to be easy and that he would have to work, Marshall forced himself onto radio shows and freestyle battles to prove everybody wrong. He eventually got a first album titled "Infinite", but it only sold 1,000 copies. It wasn't until 1997 that Marshall would make a name for himself.
In 1997 he was married with a child trying to support his family with very little cash to do it with. He went to the Rap Olympics in Los Angeles hoping to win the cash prize of $1,500 for first place, but instead was spotted by a few sponsors from Interscope. Furious that he had come in second, he later found out about the sponsors and he gave them a copy of the "Infinite" tape, which was later sent to Dr. Dre. Dre was extremely impressed with the talent of Eminem and got contact of him, where the two recorded his second album; The Slim Shady LP. This album set the tone for his style of rap, as he lashed out on everyone that had bullied him throughout his life. It was a different style than anyone had ever heard, which brought him to stardom.
Eminem is by far the most popular rapper that is seen most in public. He has been seen in Rap Pages, VIBE, Rolling Stone, Spin, The Source, URB and Stress and continues to strive for more. He became the first white person to ever be on the cover of The Source. Throughout his life he has starred in the movie "8 Mile" based on his life growing up, has had over 20 guest appearances on TV, has featured on numerous different rappers CD's, and has recorded 5 CD's of his own. His second LP, "The Marshall Mathers LP", sold over 8 million records in the United States alone, 1.76 million copies in the first week setting a record for a solo artist. This album became the first rap album ever to be nominated for "Album of the Year" at the Grammies. He would go on to win 3 Grammies for the album that night. In the year 2002 he made $29 million in earnings of his fourth album "The Eminem Show LP" and touring for it. Then on March 23, 2003 the song "Lose Yourself" from his movie "8 Mile" became the first rap song to ever win an Academy Award.
While being known for his explicit behavior and horrendous lyrics on his albums and in the eye of the public, it is difficult to overlook all that he has achieved. Coming from where he did and rising to where he is currently, it is remarkable what he has done not only for himself, but the rap world as well. While it is hard for most to like him, there are not many that do not at least respect him for what he has achieved as of now, and what he may do in the future to come.
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By Jeff Schuman II
Is it Possible to Download Music Legally Anymore?
Throughout the past few years downloading music on the internet has increased in popularity. At the same time though, it has become illegal through many companies to download music as musicians and artists have been losing money on their CD sales. With many people being sued in the past couple years for downloading music, is it really possible to download music legally anymore? If so, at what price will it cost you to download music?
As music sites such as Napster and Kazaa and many more have attempted to create sites to download music for free, they have just increased the problem that much more. Some of the users of these programs have learned the hard way that music does not come free, as they were sued for illegally downloading music.
Today there are many sites in which you can download music at where they claim it is 100% legal. The latest music file formats used are Windows® Media (WMA), Advanced Acoustic Coding (AAC) and Atrac 3, and are very popular as it increases the sound quality making it closer to an actual CD bought in stores.
Another great advantage is that many sites such as SonicSelector Service on MSN allow you to preview the music before buying it. Many sites today also offer a three-day trial of their music downloading site, and then after that you will have to begin paying a monthly fee. So it is possible to download music legally online, but at what cost?
Pressplay.com offers unlimited music for a price of $9.95 per month and then you also have to install the software from their site. The downloaded music is non-burnable and once your subscription runs out you no longer have access to any of your songs. Rhapsody at listen.com also charges $9.95 per month for non-burnable music, but instead of downloading the music you download a music player that gives you access to the songs.
Now you can download music and you know the basic price per month for non-burnable songs. However, most people download music so that they can burn their favorite CD with a variety of songs. Transferring these songs onto a CD or a personal MP3 player will cost you even more. Many sites offer packages for songs capable of burning as oppose to a set price per song.
For example, Pressplay offers 5 burnable songs for $5.95, 10 burnable songs for $9.95, 20 burnable songs for $18.95, and then on top of those prices you are still required to pay the monthly fee to use the program. MusicNet offers a package for $17.95 a month that comes with unlimited downloading music and 10 burnable songs.
There are other sites such as apple.com/itunes that is priced at 99 cents to download a song and there is no monthly fee, but you must own a Mac in order to do this. Sites such as mp3.com, peoplesound.com, and soundclick.com all offer free music to download and burn. The catch is that these sites offer a majority of unknown artists and songs.
With the exception of the last few sites I have mentioned, you will find a relatively large selection of music to choose from in all of these sites. Not one of the sites offers less than 300,000 songs to choose from with all of the biggest names in the music industry such as Eminem, Britney Spears, and even oldies such as Elvis, The Beatles, and Frank Sinatra.
There are websites out there that are 100% legal for you to download music at. The question now is how much money are you willing to pay to download all of the hottest songs today, and are you willing to pay extra to put those songs onto a CD?
By Jeff Schuman
Guitar Tuning Tips
Most new guitar players and even some experienced ones have trouble staying and playing in tune. I'll try listing here some of the common mistakes and there solutions.
When putting new strings on your guitar you must always make sure you stretch them as you tune them to pitch. I always hold them down on the neck around the 24th fret with my left hand while pulling them away from the guitar body with my right hand. You don't have to use too much muscle, a few firm tugs should do the trick.
Whenever you tune a string down in pitch, be sure to use the string stretching technique described above. Remember ALWAYS TUNE UP! It's always better when tuning down, to get close to the note, stretch the string and then tune up to the intended pitch.
You should purchase a quality tuner from a music store like zZounds.com . You don't need to spend your life's saving. An inexpensive tuner should be fine to start out. Remember, this thing will be traveling to gigs and jam sessions with you. I would recommend a good Boss tuner or Korg tuner. Both brands have low cost tuners that will do the job just fine.
If your guitar has a tremolo bridge, always remember that each string that you tune will go down in pitch as you tune the next string. One solution to this is to over tune the strings. That is to say, you may need to tune your low E string to an F in order to have it be around an E note by the time you finish tuning the other strings. Over time you'll get a feel for how much you need to over tune each string and it will become second nature.
If you play in a band, it is a good idea to always tune to the same pitch. Standard pitch is 440 but some bands like to tune down to 430 or even 420 for the heavier sound or vocal reasons or both. My point is that if you're practicing at 430 then you have a gig and your band tunes to 440, everything will suddenly sound different, your singer might not be able hit all the notes he or she did at practice, your solos might even sound wrong. This is because everything is now a half step higher in pitch. Make things easy on yourself, pick a pitch and stick with it, at practice and gigs.
Free online guitar lessons presented by guitarmetal.com
By Edward D Cupler
Downloading MP3s Made Easy
The MP3 movement started out with a huge audience of music enthusiasts on the internet. The MP3 digital music format has had, and will continue to have, a huge impart on how people, gather, listen to and share music.
The MP3 format is a compression system for digital music that helps reduce the size of a digitized song without disturbing the sound quality. Digital music is converted to MP3 format and made available for use, usually via the web. MP3 files can be downloaded onto your computer from the internet and special software, either commercial or freeware. Using your computer and software you can convert digital music from a CD into MP3 format.
MP3 files can be played in three different ways:
1. They can be played directly onto your computer.
2. They can be decompressed and recorded onto a CD.
3. These files can be played on a portable MP3 player.
The advantage of MP3 players is that they are small, lightweight and rugged. They are a great way to carry your MP3 files with you!
With a portable MP3 player, a personal computer, and the appropriate software, you can do the following:
1. Obtain free or low-cost music from the web.
2. Create your own mix of music by downloading MP3 files from the web and converting the tracks from CDs.
3. Listen to near-CD quality music wherever you go.
4. Listen to more music (up to 10 hours' worth).
If you want to convert your songs from your CDs into MP3 files, you can use ripper and encoder software. A ripper copies a song's file from the CD onto your hard disk. The encoder compresses the song into the MP3 format. By encoding songs, you can play them on your computer or take them with you on your MP3 player. The ripper and encoder software may come with your MP3 player.
The specific instructions will vary with the individual software programs, but the following steps will definitely take place:
1. Place the CD from which you want to convert songs into your drive.
2. Select the track(s) that you want to convert to MP3 format.
3. Convert the selected track(s).
4. Copy the new MP3 files on to your computer's hard disk.
Now you are ready to download these MP3 files into your portable MP3 player.
Once you have MP3 files on your computer, you can use the software that came with your MP3 player to download the files into your MP3 player. Again, the specific instructions will vary depending upon your software program and player, but you will:
1. Create a playlist from your MP3 files.
2. Plug the player into your computer's parallel of USB port.
3. Transfer the MP3 files according to the instructions.
Once you have downloaded the MP3 files into your portable MP3 player, you are ready to take your music anywhere. Most MP3 players are small, lightweight, and solid-state. Because most players are solid-state, there are no moving parts to break down or skip, so the sound quality is uninterrupted regardless of your physical activity. MP3 players are equipped with various types of headphones or earpieces.
Portable MP3 players can play music longer than a portable CD player. The length of play for a CD player is about 74 minutes, the length of one CD. However, the length of play for an MP3 player depends upon its memory capacity, which can be upgraded on some models. A standard MP3 player can play for about half an hour (32 MB) to a few weeks (40 GB)! Some models can be upgraded with additional memory devices.
By Keith Kingston
How I Learned How To Play The Guitar After Giving Up In Disgust
I was 17 at the time (the Beatles era), and it was considered cool to play the guitar. I had a little training in music in elementary school where I had learned how to play the trumpet. I remember that the only reason I started the trumpet was because my daddy had run across an old beat up horn that a woman was selling for $10.
So, in my junior year of high school I set about to teach myself how to play a few chords so I could strum along with "Love, Love Me Do" and "I Want To Hold Your Hand". However, it never occurred to me that learning how to play the guitar might just be a little different than learning the trumpet.
Actually, what happened was that I gave up after about 2 weeks and threw the old guitar that my daddy had given me in the corner and in frustration declared "I don't see how anyone can play a guitar".
It's funny how I remember thinking those very words. I didn't know it then but my difficulty with learning how to play was because my guitar strings were about a half inch off the fret board and it was extremely difficult to mash the strings down. After about 1 week I was developing thick calluses on the tips of my fingers on my left hand.
My desire to play eventually overcame my initial frustration and I did go on to conquer the instrument to become quite proficient. Eventually I ended up attending the Berklee College of Music studying guitar.
If you have a desire to play the guitar my advice is to not give up, Eventually you'll succeed if you don't quit.
By Steve McArthur
Establishing Your Mix
Now that you've spent hours and days and weeks and months recording your musical masterpieces (and you've also read my article "Tips for a Great Recording Session"), you have arrived at my favorite time in the studio; The Mixdown.
But don't think your job is done yet! The mixdown is just as important as recording. As an artist, you have to approach the mixdown from an artist's point of view and stay on the 'creative' side of the fence where it's still possible to shape and mold your songs throughout the mixdown process.
Remember the old "Yin-Yang" principle which states, "whenever you turn something up, something else disappears. Furthermore; whenever you turn something down, something else gets louder". This applies to EQ, levels and almost anywhere you have two or more tracks.
The Beginning Of The End
STOP!! Don't even think about starting your mixdown on the same day you finish tracking. Take a day off, have a break and then come back refreshed with a new perspective.
Now back to business...
First of all, let's "zero the board". This is simply the action of bringing all the faders to the bottom (-∞) and centering all the pan knobs and effects sends.
I know what you're thinking, you're thinking "but our mix sounded good when we were tracking!".
OK, but did the mix actually sound good or were you just accustomed to hearing it that way? That's why zero-ing the board is important. It flushes your memory and allows you to start from scratch. It might even be better to mix a song that you finished recording a while back.
1. Get Kicked.
This is where I prefer to start. Other people like to start with the vocals and build around them. But I'm more rhythm based and prefer to start with the kick drum.
One tricky part of any mix is getting a good gain-stage structure where you don't clip the master faders at the end of your mixing session when all your instrument faders are raised. We must be careful to keep watching the master bus clipping lights to make sure they never get into the red. Here is why the kick is a good place to start.
Play your songs and watch the master bus VU meters. This is probably the only time you will "mix with your eyes". As you're watching the master VU meter, slowly raise the kick fader until the master meter reads about -7dB. If you are a four piece band, then you can leave the kick there and move on. But if you have a really dense tune, then you may have to lower the kick to -8dB or so (to leave room for all the other instruments as they come up).
Now you are set to mix. The kick should be the only channel that you set levels by watching. Every other channel mixed into the song will be with your ears relative to the kick.
2. Moving On
From now on, it's pretty much a free-for-all. Some people like to move on to the bass next, in order to find the balance for the low-end of the song. Other people like to keep working on the drum kit "as a whole" before moving to other instruments. I prefer to move onto the drum kit over-head mics.
They say that a great drum kit sound can be captured using only two over-head mics, and a kick mic. And it's true. Some of my tunes only use three mics on the final mixed versions, even though we had used up to ten mics for the recording of the kit.
If you placed your over-head mics properly (i.e.: so the snare sounds centered in the stereo image, and not skewed to the left or right speaker) then you will have a better stereo image of the drum kit when the mix is finished. Otherwise you might have to do some fancy panning or EQ to get a balanced image with the drum kit.
You can now bring in the rest of the kit underneath the over heads to fill out the sound. I prefer to leave EQ and effects to the very end of the mix, after all of the instruments are playing. Try to place your toms in the same panning position as the overhead mics recorded them. If your floor tom in the overheads is to the right at 3 o'clock then pan your individual floor tom fader to the same position.
And don't forget to check your phase between your mics pointing down and your mics pointing up.
3. Big Bottom
Now I like to add in the bass. Nothing too important here if you have good source audio. I'm also a huge side-chaining fan. I LOVE to side-chain the bass with the kick so the low end frequencies wouldn't fight for space in the mix. It just makes things sound "tighter". Sometimes you may have to eq the lowest of the lows out of the kick in order to make a little more room for the bass to sit in the mix.
4. Pads and More
Here is where I add the "pad" type of sounds. These are sounds that usually have longer sustains and hold the chords of the song. Sounds like strings, sustained electric guitar chords, synth pads, and maybe even some rhythm acoustic guitars are great foundation instruments.
I like to lay these instruments on top of the drums and bass tracks we have already mixed. You can get very creative with the panning of these sounds and create a wide stereo field. This will help make your mix interesting by allowing your lead instruments and vocals sit in the center of your stereo image, attracting attention to themselves.
5. The Vox
Let's finally add the vocals. I usually start off with the lead vocal, and then place all the harmony and background vocals underneath the lead. Sometimes, you can end up putting the vocal a little too high in the mix, and a great way to check this is to turn your monitors way down and listen to the mix at an almost inaudible level. This way of listening to your mix will surprise you, but you have to be confident and trust your ears. If something sounds disproportionately loud at this quiet level, then it is too loud. If you must, then you can compress the vocals too, but that really depends on the song's style. Maybe a few fader rides are a better choice then some static compression.
6. The Rest
You can start adding effects and other fancy shmancy things to your tune. Get funky with automating some pan knobs, fade-in some pads etc.. Here is a good time to get creative.
It's also a very good time to actively listen and re-adjust your mix. Is the kick too loud? Should I put some higher frequencies on the bass? Should I compress the backing vocals more? Is the coffee finally ready?
When you feel you have a good mix, burn it to CD and listen to it EVERYWHERE! In the car, in the bath, at home, on the TV set, at your friend's place etc., and make a lot of notes. And at the end, if all your notes cancel out, then you are finished!
By Richard Dolmat
Guitar Buying - The Pros and Cons of Vintage vs. Reissue
To most people, owning the "genuine article" is the only thing that will suffice. As a guitar player, and one who appreciates classic "vintage" instruments, I can fully understand this point of view. I can't think of a single guitarist who wouldn't absolutely adore playing a real 50's Les Paul or Stratocaster. However, becoming the proud owner of a true vintage instrument does have its drawbacks.
First of all, there's the price of admission. The increasingly strong demand for vintage instruments has driven their prices through the roof and out of reach for most of us. Top quality, well taken care of original instruments from the 50's and 60's can approach the cost of a new car, or in some cases a small house!
Another problem facing vintage instruments is their questionable reliability. Although they were built to stand the test of time, a vintage instrument will almost always prove to be more delicate and fragile than a later, more modern version. This may not be of great importance to a guitar collector, but if you're planning to gig with a 50 year old, highly valued piece of guitar history, you may want to think again.
Fortunately there is an alternative for those of us who love vintage instruments, but find them either too expensive or too impractical for our purposes. I am referring to the latest crop of vintage guitar replicas, or as they are better known, "reissues".
Both Gibson and Fender maintain separate production facilities known as "Custom Shops", were they produce replicas of our favorite oldies with great skill and care. These guitars are made of the finest woods, and are almost entirely built by hand using time honored techniques. The electronics are custom manufactured to be as true and faithful to the original instrument as is humanly possible.
The cost of these Custom Shop guitars are high when compared to their production line variants, but they are still far below the cost of the real thing. They come complete with a full warranty, the durability of a new instrument, and sparkling clean looks. I own several reissue guitars from both Gibson and Fender, and can truthfully say that I am very impressed with the quality and painstaking level of detail that these guitars possess. The use of high quality woods give them a tone which is a cut above the norm, and knowing that parts are readily available helps add some peace of mind.
When all things are considered, buying a reissue guitar is in most cases the next best thing to owning the original. Although nothing will ever replace the "vibe" and nostalgia associated with the real deal, the high cost and impracticality of a vintage instrument for everyday use, makes owning a reissue a very attractive alternative. Will a reissue ever sound like its well aged 50 year old counterpart? Probably not, but for us players with an appreciation for classic instruments, a Custom Shop reissue from the original manufacturer is very hard to beat.
By: Michael Casamento
14 Ways Musicians Can Increase Their Tips
I was listening to NPR the other day when they did a report on tipping in the restaurant industry. One they had a list of tips on how wait staff can increase their tips.
That got me brainstorming and surfing the net for other ideas to boost tips. That combined with lots of performances at Renaissance Festivals helped me to develop my own list of ways musicians can improve their tips.
1. Introduce yourself by name
Too often musicians forget to introduce themselves on stage. Make sure you tell the audience your band name, but to really boost your tips, you should also introduce yourselves individually. Let people know who you are as an individual and you'll see greater tips.
2. Go out into the audience with a tip jar
You really can't be passive when it comes to getting tips. You have to walk out into the audience with some visual reference that says "Tip Me!", and they will tip you.
3. Meet your audience at their level
Take the time to talk to your audience members at their level. Holding a discussion from a stage puts a wall between you and them. So instead, go out into the audience and talk to them face to face. Kneel if they're at a table, so you're at eye level. And if you have ayour tip jar with you, you will you will not only gain a fan, but you will also improve your tips.
4. Make your appearance personal
We wear kilts to most of our gigs. A kilt adds a very personal touch It links us to a certain culture and makes people take notice. Course you don't have to go that route, instead find some piece of clothing that reflects your personality and you will boost your tips.
5. Recommend your favorite CD
If you have multiple CDs, your audience will always ask for your favorite. Tell them what it is. If you only have one, you can do the same by recommending other artists that you like. That adds a two-fold advantage of helping your audience find music they like and helping your fellow musicians.
6. Smile
A bright, confident smile will bring fans back again and again with lots o'big tips.
7. Involve your audience in the music with a joke or game
Next time you're up on stage, see what happens when you joke around with the audience. Your personality will glow all the more and so will your tips.
8. Chat with fans by name
Music fans love nothing more than to be recognized by the bands they love. So do your best to remember their names. They will feel that much more attached to your music and feel like your friend. And these friends will tip you better for the courtesy.
9. Touch your audience
When you're out socializing with your audience, touch them (in a non-sexual way). Whether you shake their hand, pat them on the shoulder or back, or just brush against them, wait staff find that that even that will boost their tips 50%. And it will yours too.
10. Use tip jars with the VISA/Mastercard Logo
According to studies done in restaurants, just seeing those logos is enough to encourage customers to tip more. I know it sounds crazy, but give it a try. You may be pleasantly surprised with the results.
11. Give your audience something in return for their tip
People love feeling like they're getting their money's worth. And many people don't realize you should tip bands. So give something in return. It could be something as big as a sticker or magnet, or as simple as a business card that might include a $1 off your CDs. Or hey what about feeding their sweet tooth with a piece of candy. Whatever the case, that little gift will mean big tipping results.
12. Draw a picture
On a similar note, if you give them a business card, draw or make a comment on it. That piece will be more valuable to them and will result in bigger tips.
13. Make tipping a part of the show
Why wait until the end of the set to ask for tips. Sing a song about tipping, or get your audience involved in the tipping process by shouting something. Or offer a prize to the first tipper. But integrate it into your show and it won't seem like you're just begging for money, rather you're making it fun to tip.
14. Thank your audience
No gig would be complete without an audience. So thank them for taking the time to watch you perform. They will feel the personal touch and respond when you ask for money.
15. Bonus Tipping Suggestion:
If the change is five dollars, never return a five-dollar bill. Always give back five ones. This allows the customer to tip you with some of the dollar bills you returned. You will rarely get a $5 tip and returning a $5 bill will turn off tippers. In general, it's good to return all ones if the change is less than $8. You want the customer to have at least two ones so they can give it back as the tip.
By Bard Marc Gunn
One Way to Improve Your Music Journalist Relationship
Boy, I really detest how some people do websites. Bands are some of the worst. Seems like any band that wants to look "professional" feels they must create a website using pop-ups and flash. Why? Cuz that's what the Majors do?
I tried to go to a friend's website today to find his email address. He's in a band. "Click here if you have a pop-up stopper." Now is that a stupid way to start a website or what?
So I clicked... dreading the outcome... For the next minute the minute flash loaded... A MINUTE!
Meanwhile, I was enjoying some wonderful music by Angelo Branduardi, a wonderful Italian world folk musician. Then "BLLAAAAARRRR." The frickin flash program was trying to play music that was causing problems with the music I was enjoying... All I wanted was an email address, not a headache!
I find it intriguing. Do you really WANT to alienate journalists?
I publish this newsletter and the Celtic MP3s Music Magazine, and I have to steer clear of Flash websites, because they cause problems. I skip them. NO Band is so good that I'm willing to put up with that crap!
Not to mention Flash websites hinder my ability to review the band. You see, when I start researching a band, I go to their website, copy and paste some info about the band, finish my comments, and voila! There is NO copy and pasting available with Flash. Again, you've cut your opportunities for getting decent reviews in half.
I know you want to take advantage of the cool technology available, but technology is useless unless it is used with intelligence. So seriously folks, lay off the Flash websites!
By Bard Marc Gunn
Sheet Music - Violin and Other String Instruments
The violin is a bowed stringed instrument and is the highest pitched member of the violin family. It sits along side its cousins - the other members of the violin family - the viola, cello, and double bass. The bow of the violin is a narrow, slightly incurved stick of Pernambuco about 75 cm long, with a band of horsehair stretched from end to end of the bowstick. The violin has four strings tuned a fifth apart, to the notes g, d', a', e'': On early violins the strings were of pure gut. Today they may be of gut, gut wound with aluminum or silver, steel, or perlon.
Sheet music - violin is often provided to students by the conductors of their orchestras or their private teachers who wish to learn to play this fine instrument. For players who aren't officially students anywhere, however, there are a wide variety of sources from which to obtain sheet music. Very recently, the Internet may actually have surpassed music stores as the best place to find new pieces to play.
An enormous variety of violin sheet music is available for free download from the Internet. Violin players of any skill level should be able to locate the sheet music they want online, and in some cases, even for free. Sheet music can be free to share online if two qualifications are met. First, it must be seventy years or more since the piece was composed; after this amount of time, creative works enter the public domain. Specific editions of a work can still be protected by copyright, however, as editors and arrangers maintain their own copyrights over versions they have created.
Digital sheet music is available for a wide variety of genres, so if you're playing on your own, you won't have any restrictions on the type of music you work on. There is certainly a great deal of classical sheet music - violin and other stringed instruments similarly, available online, and you might want to try some of the pieces that are considered great classics. If they are really not your preferred style, however, you can find anything from pop to jazz to bluegrass fiddle parts.
Some of the most popular selections of sheet music - violin are, in fact, for pop and rock songs. Take, for example, the Dave Matthews Band, who gave a global fan base for their unique sound which prominently features the violin. If you want to learn Boyd Tinsley's parts, you can search the Internet for legitimate copies of the sheet music to purchase.
Another time when it can be great to have the option to find sheet music - violin online is if you are listening to a piece and you want to be able to refer to the score. Even someone who can't play the Sibelius violin concerto himself may be able to read or understand a musical score well enough to benefit from looking at the music while listening to the piece. This can enrich the listening experience of anyone with a musical background, as well as helping you build your own reading ability in ways that ultimately benefit your playing.
A Guitar Lesson to Help You Develop Your Vision
Have you ever done any of the following?
1. Made excuses for not practicing because you "didn't have time"?
2. Practiced the same licks and exercises that you did last year?
3. Felt like you had hit a brick wall in your progress?
4. Felt unsure as to what to practice?
Unless your name is Steve Vai, chances are you've done at least one of the above!
They are all symptoms of having a lack of vision.
What do I mean by vision? Vision in this context is having a clearly defined picture in your mind's eye of how you would like to play. It must be a crystal clear, exciting and inspiring picture!
Without an absolutely clear picture of what you would ideally like to sound like, you will not know what you need to practice in order to realise that vision. You will also probably lose the drive and motivation to practice daily for many years until you can play like your vision. You may even start using the loser's mantra which is "I don't have time to practice".
Exercise One:
Think about how you would like to play in 10 years time. Close your eyes and try to see yourself playing exactly how you would like to play. Write down what you see now.
Make sure that it is detailed. What techniques are you a master of? What songs can you play? What bands are you in? How many students do you teach? How does it feel when you play like you do?
Exercise Two:
Now write down what areas of your playing you will need to start working on in order to reach your vision. What techniques do you need to start practising? What chords do you need to learn? What music theory do you need to start learning about? Do you need to start doing ear training? What books, teachers, CDs and other tools will help you realise your vision? How much time every day do you think you will need to practise in order to play like you want to play?
Exercise Three:
Spend 10 minutes a day for the next 30 days imagining yourself playing exactly how you would like to play. Do this with your eyes shut. Don't worry, it won't make you want to start eating tofu or go around the neighborhood hugging trees!
At the end of every time you do this, write down one small new detail about your vision. By the end of 30 days you should be feeling so excited that you'll want to practice 24/7!
by Craig Bassett
Guitar Players...Get a Balanced Guitar Practice Diet
Do you have a wide variety of things that you practice. Or do you like to binge? (You know...the type of player who practices sweep picking for a kazillion hours a day but only know three chords)!
Having a balanced practice routine is essential if you want to become a versatile guitarist. If you just practice one or two things, sure you'll get great at those things...but you'll be weak in other key areas.
In this lesson you'll learn how to create a practice routine that is well-balanced and will help you work towards your ultimate vision of how you would like to play.
I generally categorise what I practice into one of seven areas:
Technique.
Repertoire (Covers).
Composition.
Improvisation.
Ear Training.
Theory.
Music Reading.
Everything that you practice will fit into one or more of the above areas. For example, if you are learning a very challenging cover tune by transcribing it off the CD you are essentially working on your technique, repertoire and ear training at the same time. If you also write down the song in standard notation, you will also be developing your music reading skills.
Now?do you have to practice things in all seven areas? I believe that you don't have to if your vision doesn't require it. For example, if someone wants to become an awesome classical guitarist and has no desire to improvise, then I believe that they don't need to practice things relating to improvisation. We all have limited time available for practice, so it's a waste of time working on things that don't specifically help you reach your goals.Let's go through a few exercises?
Exercise One:
Think about the vision that you have for your playing for a few minutes.How would you like to play in ten years time. Make it exact!
Once you've done that, brainstorm as many things that you need to practice in order to play like your vision. What specific things do you need to learn, develop and practice? Write them down now.
Exercise Two:
Next to each of the things written down for Exercise One, write down a category next to it. For example, if you wrote "I need to be able to play faster" then write technique next to it. If you feel that something you wrote belongs to more than one category, then write down all the categories it could belong to.
Exercise Three:
Look at your answers for the previous two exercises. Once you've done that prioritise the categories shown below. For example, if you feel that technique is the most important thing you need to work on to reach your vision then put a 1 next to it.
Practice Area Priority Level (1-7)
[Note: 1 is the highest priority].
Technique
Repertoire (covers)
Composition
Improvisation
Ear Training
Theory
Music Reading
Now here's the important point. You should spend the most time practising your number one priority. I know it's pretty obvious, but you'd be amazed at how many people don't do this! I know a few guitar players who would like to be able to play incredibly fast, yet they don't do a lot of technical practice. Talk about setting yourself up to fail!
Exercise Four:
Decide how much time every day you will spend on each category. Write it down below.
Practice Area Time Invested Daily
Technique
Repertoire (covers)
Composition
Improvisation
Ear Training
Theory
Music Reading
All done? Great!
So what's the next step?
The next step is to decide on a specific activity for each practice area.Make sure to write them down.
Here are a couple of examples of what someone might put down...
Technique: I will invest 10 minutes a day on alternate picking exercise one. I will start with the metronome at 80 beats per minute (bpm) and increase it by 4 bpm daily (as long as I can play it perfectly).
Ear Training: I will invest 10 minutes daily a day on A minor pentatonic ear training exercise one.
Got the idea? You would have one specific activity for every practice area. If you have a lot of time to practice you could set more than one activity per practice area.
Give this method a try. I'll think you'll be more than happy with the results!
By Craig Bassett
"Who Else Wants to Get Screwed When Signing a Recording or Songwriting Deal?!?!"
You've got your recording (or songwriting) contract in hand and everything's coming up roses, right? You get your check, finally, but it's not quite what you expected. If you sign not knowing what's owed you then you might be shorted some well-deserved income. So make sure that anything you sign contains a statement to the following areas (preferably in your favor):
Performing Rights - this means you get a chunk of the change when your songs are played over the radio, television, Internet and at some public venues like concerts and such. And who keeps tabs on this? Check out ASCAP-http://www.ascap.com/index.html, SESAC- http://www.sesac.com/home.asp and BMI- http://www.bmi.com.
Mechanical Rights - This is the most commonly known. It includes anything physical such as tapes, CDs, etc. The Harry Fox Agency is nearly 80 years old and for artists with 2500 or less recordings they can learn more at http://www.songfile.com/ regarding small licensing.
Print Rights - Exactly that - anything in print like lyrics or sheet music.
Foreign Rights - Again, anything that deals with foreign publishing and licensing.
Synchronization Rights - Ever heard a Garth Brooks or Rolling Stone song in a movie or television show? That's synchronization and it can mean big bucks although some artists overlook this very important right when signing.
If you fail to have some or all of these areas covered when signing a contract it can mean the loss of big money for you. If you can afford it hire only the best entertainment attorney to handle your contracts. A good attorney can be expensive, especially if he has to do all the legwork but you can save time and money by looking into products such as the 101 Music Business Contracts software at http://www.MusicContracts101.com . This easy to use, contracts creation software features over 100, professionally drafted, music business contracts and agreements. As with any contract you sign - be it a house loan or a recording contract - it's best to have an attorney look the documents over before doing a final signing. However, a great money saver is arming yourself with knowledge, like 101 Music Business Contracts, before you ever set foot in a law firm.
by Ty Cohen
How To Make Money On A Music Website Through Pay-Per-Click?
Interested in making money while you're asleep, or making money while you're not even on the computer? Well here is a way that you can do that, clicks!! Once you have gone through godaddy.com and purchased your domain name for a cheap $9.20 per year, and found a hosting company such as GoDaddy.com for $3.95 per month, you are set to begin building your website and making money.
It is possible to make money by joining affiliate programs and selling companies' products as mentioned in my previous article, How to Make Money on a Music Website through Affiliate Programs found at:
http://www.best-mp3-music-downloads.com/articles/article13.html
Now how exactly do you make money through people clicking on your website and links on your website? The first step is to get a FREE affiliate account with 7search at 7search.com. What this will allow you to do is place 7search ads and other websites dealing with your topic, in this case music, on your website.
On the 7search affiliate page you will be able to manage your account viewing how many clicks a day you are getting and how much money you are making. How you make money is by placing pay-per-text links on your website. Through 7search you will want to go to:
http://www.best-mp3-music-downloads.com/7searchkeyword.html
This will allow you to look at the price you will make for different keywords that you use. The difference between music and free music for example, results in a change of cost that websites are paying to get their website higher on the search engine.
When creating your pay-per-text once you have come up with a keyword that you want to use, come up with a short sentence or phrase to let people know what they are clicking on. For example, use Top 10 music websites or Best free music websites, to reel them in to see what the top 10 music websites are. You will also be able to choose how many sites you want to come up on your list, from 1 to all that are available. You will want to keep it at 10 or under as the lower down the list the site is, the less you get paid each time a surfer clicks on the link.
As you create this pay-per-text, 7search will give you a code that you place in your web panel creating a link. The great thing about 7search is that there is NO limit to how many pay-per-text links you place on your website, so you can have one on each page of your website or more. It is recommended however, that you don't place more then a couple per page as it will begin to appear cluttered with pay-per-texts. Once you place the pay-per-text links on your website, you are set to begin making money 24/7.
Now that you have a way to make money by people clicking on links on your website, how do you get people to come to your website? You want to get your website out on the internet and get it known. You can run ads through other peoples' websites or on various companies' websites, but this will cost you money varying from website to website. If you want to make money without spending too much money, the way is by exchanging links with other people.
Exchanging links with other people allows you to get your website out on other peoples' website so that when surfers go on to their website, they may see your website and be intrigued. By exchanging links, you are giving your website to someone else to have them place it on their website and in return, you place their website on your website.
The two link exchange companies that I use are infowizards.com and linkmarket.net. Infowizards is free to join and allows you to trade multiple links with people in all categories with no limit. You will want to keep your link exchanges as close to your topic as possible. For example, don't trade links with someone that has a website based on relationships if you have a music website.
The other link exchange company that I use, linkmarket.net, is free to a limit. You may only request 5 links per day for free, or you may request unlimited links per day at the cost of $18.85 a year, which is highly recommended. The linkmarket.net website offers far more links than the infowizards website, and is much easier to maintain and keep track.
Another good way to get traffic to your website is by writing articles on various topics relating to your topic in some way. You then submit your article to as many places as possible such as goarticles.com, article-emporium.com, or ideamarketers.com. If you can submit your articles to 30-50 places, you will create traffic to your website in a hurry. Now you know what to do and the places to join to get money flowing if off of your music website while you aren't even working on it.
By Jeff Schuman II
The Irish Harp
The harp that once through Tara's halls the soul of music shed, now hangs as mute on Tara's walls, as if that soul were fled. So sleeps the pride of former days, so glory's thrill is o'er, and hearts that once beat high for praise, now feel that pulse no more
To tell the history of the Irish harp is to tell the history of the Irish people. This ancient folk instrument with its beautiful, delicate sound is played today despite being ignored, derided and proscribed for centuries. Harpers, who in earlier days would have been hanged for their art, now flourish throughout the world, as do the Irish themselves
Legend tell us the first harp was owned by Dagda, a chief among the Tuatha De Danaan. At one time during a war with the Fomorians, the gods of cold and darkness, his harp was stolen but later recovered by Lugh and Ogma. When it was returned it had aquired two secret names and the ability to call forth summer and winter. From then on, when Dagda played, he could produce a melody so poignant, it would make his audience weep, he could play an air so jubilant it would make everyone smile, or bring forth a sound so tranquil, it would lull all who listened to sleep. So thus did the harp became the dispenser of Sorrow, Gladness and Rest.
Harps are played throughout much of the world. From ancient artworks, epic tales and poetry, we learn of harps in Babylonia and Mesopotamia. We see them in the tomb of Pharaoh Ramses III , votive carvings from Iraq and sculptures of ancient Greece. From Africa, which has more than 100 harp traditions, the instrument travelled north to Spain and soon spread throughout Europe. Strung with sinew, silk or wire, harps vary in size, structure and decoration according to the physical and technological environments of their origins. African harps have been made from wood and gourd covered with cowhide, the Burmese sang auk has an arched soundbox similar to the Turkish ceng while European harps feature a triangular frame, There is one feature that all harps share: the strings run vertical (rather than parallel) to the sound box.
Griffith of Wales employed harpists in his court at the end of the 11th century and the monk-historian Geraldus Cambrensis admired the great skill of the Irish harpers and remarked that some even considered the Scots to be better players. For Irish and Scottish harpers commonly visited each other's countries to study, to learn and exchange tunes and their music was admired throughout Europe. Another twelfth century archivist, John of Salisbury, wrote that " ... had it not been for the Irish harp, there would have been no music at all on the Crusades."
These harps were quite different from the large pedal harps we see in modern symphony orchestras. They were much smaller, originally held on the harper's lap, leaning against the left shoulder, had no pedals, and usually were carved in one piece from bog wood. The Trinity College Harp and Queen Mary's Harp are the oldest surviving Celtic harps and both date from the 15th or 16th centuries and illustrate the similarity between the Irish and Scottish harps. A distinguishing characteristic of these Gaelic harps was that they were wire-strung, rather than gut strung. The word "harp" has its roots in the Anglo-Saxon, Old German and Old Norse words which mean "to pluck." In Gaelic they were known first as cruit and later as clarsach or cláirseach.
The harp isn't peculiar to Ireland but subsequently became its national emblem. (Nowadays you can even see it on the Guiness label) Harpers were highly trained professionals who performed for the nobility and enjoyed political power - so much so that during the 16th century, Queen Elizabeth I issued a proclamation to hang Irish harpists and destroy their instruments to prevent insurrection.
Sadly, while this oldest emblem of Ireland is still with us today most of the ancient airs and melodies it once produced are long gone, but younger harpers are taking up the challenge to reawaken the pride of former days.
By Susanna Duffy
The British Invasion
The Kasabian concert at the Kool Haus seemed like a concert somewhere in England (even though I haven't been there). This band out of Leicester pumped out amazing electronic, rock beats with an amazing light show. I've heard them on the radio with their hit "Club Foot" and have noticed them gaining more and more interest of us fellow Canadians.
After mingling in the crowd during the opening bands and at intermission I met Jeremy, straight from London, England who arrived to Toronto the night before for business. Finding out about the concert the day of, he was shocked that Kasabian was playing a venue like the Kool Haus. "Kasabian is one of the top bands in the UK. They're brilliant!" he said over and over.
"Brilliant" and "fantastic" were the popular words of the evening as I numerously heard not only Jeremy say, but also many others after almost every track ended.
Tom Meighan, the lead singer and the three other band mates all had the British shag and a killer sound to go with them. There is nothing better than hearing a band in concert and being exposed to the songs that you don't hear on the radio especially when you know that they are massive somewhere else in the world.
For those of you who are wondering the same as I was about 'what the heck does Kasabian mean?' they named themselves after Linda Kasabian, who was Charles Manson's getaway driver. That is about how American these boys get, everything else other than their name seemed strictly Brit.
I think that we will be hearing more of Kasabian in the future and who knows maybe their huge fame in England it may make it here to Canada, just like it has for many UK bands.
By Farris Green
Jumat, 06 Juni 2008
5 Sure Fire Ways to Get Radio Play for Your "Independent" Music!
First, don't buy that. You're one of hundreds, maybe even thousands depending on your city. Your disc will probably end up in the trash or, for more enterprising DJ's, on Ebay in a one-cent CD sale. If you want to be heard and make potential sales, you have to stand out from the crowd, and in this jewel of an article, I'll show you Five(5) Knock 'em Dead Ways to Do Just That!:
#1 - Get your CD into the right hands. The intern that's too busy to getting coffee or typing up a report for the station manager isn't going to be the one making the airplay decision. So find out who the head honcho is in that department and touch base with them. If the club you're playing at charges an admission or you have a show coming up offer to send the stations tickets to give away to listeners. Now keep in mind you can't give the tickets to the staff, since that's illegal and called payola, but you can offer free giveaway items to your potential audience.
#2 - If you've got one station in your pocket, then drop names. Let them know that WABC is playing your music and it's getting a great response.
#3 - Make genuine friends in the business. If you've got a disc jockey that's got you in rotation and really likes your sound, get to know them. Find out why they enjoy it and see if they've gotten any responses from listeners. If they haven't, ask if perhaps they might Q & A their callers about your music so you get a feel for your target audience. It's not a bad idea to ask them for a testimonial or quote if they're well known in your area if you know them personally. People help people. That's a fact so if you treat your area disc jockeys like a living and breathing human and not dollar signs, that's a foot in the door. Another good source is club owners. If they play your music and the fans go nuts ask them to say a few words about your sound that you can pass along to prospective stations, but be sure to sit down for a drink with them. Ask them about the picture of him and the woman and two kids behind the Magic Kingdom. Don't be fake, but be genuinely interested.
#4 - Network. Find out if someone you know (or someone they know) has connections to the music stations. Remember six degrees of separation - you're only six people away from knowing anyone on the planet and yes that includes station managers, concert promoters and record execs. The trick is it takes a great deal of work and time, but if you're serious, it's well worth it.
#5 - Go local, state, national. Don't think you're going to skip your local and state stations and be the next Matchbox Twenty. It doesn't work that way. Start small and then get big.
Making contacts and getting names can be tough, that's why you should start with a tested and proven music industry resource like The Industry Yellow Pages - Music Industry Contact Directory at http://www.theindustryyellowpages.com/
The TIYP is helpful and loaded with contacts you can start using immediately without doing all the legwork yourself.