Songwriting Resources

I found a few goodies to share with you on songwriting and how to write a song. Here's a good resource to go and learn more about the craft and opportunities for writing songs.

You can find great songwriter info at Addicted to Songwriting, which includes interviews, links and articles on songwriting.

Great Write Up On Google+

I know there are still many who are confused and perhaps even frustrated by the presence of Google+ and are having a hard time understanding how and why to use it.

This a great article that will shed some light and give you a better explanation of how it fits in and why it matters.

http://evolvor.com/2012/01/17/google-plus-marketing/

DIY Indie Artist Series

There’s too much back and forth about who’s finding success and why in the DIY independent artist scene, so we’ve decided to go out and do some deep investigative research to pull all the info i can together, and focus on deep patterns and strategies across several facets of how successful DIY’ers have put their career together, what they’re doing, how they manage it, and hopefully uncover what some of the underlying reasons why it’s all working for them, are.

Purpose = Going beyond “surface level” exploration, research, and interviews, on the successful indie artists and bands that are thriving today. Cluster and define correlations and key strategies that are common and prevalent, as well as highlight the business models that are working today. Get candid and get to the “core” of what actually is THE THING that is making some people succesful today and why as Independent artists in the new music business…

Theres a lot of doom and gloom out there… There are a lot of skeptics, naysayers, and doubting thomases out there that perpetuate a vibe of hopelessness in regards to the DIY movement… This is not only unhealthy but destructive, and it ain’t where or what we should be focusing on.

My aim is to get to the CORE stuff. Get past the pleasantries, and really try to get to the heart of what is working for those that have been successful, to identify the patterns, and try to put together the correlations so that we can all try to learn these things, and do it in a modern way.

What do you think? Is this is a good idea? Is this project something you’re interested in hearing more about?

I need you to let me know of any succesful indie artists you know of who should be included, and/or you’d like to learn about…

Also, if you have any (factual/reliable) stats, figures, percentages, links, or anything else that’s relavent to this project on the DIY independent  that you could contribute, we’d appreciate it!

I have been compiling all the names of succesful Independent Artists/Bands and stories from the DIY/Indie industry innovators like Ariel Hyatt, Bob Baker, Derek Sivers, Viny Ribas, and have been polling and surveying groups and my online audiences. If you have any pieces of info or names to contribute please let me know. just comment below, or email: me @ jamieleger dot com.

If you want to be notified via email with updates you can go to http://www.jamieleger.com and subscribe and i’ll keep you in the loop.

God Bless

Jamie

For daily tips on creating and leveraging better content, music marketing tips, DIY brand development, traffic, leads, and sales…. Follow me on Twitter.

Connect with me on LinkedIn

Join Me on Google+

Jamie Leger is a Singer Songwriter, and Internet Business Coach. He specializes in helping people turn their knowledge and experience into an online business that gives them the lifestyle they desire - through private training and step by step instruction. He has been making music in his home recording studio and writing content for various online publications since 2004. Please enjoy his free guide to the Home Studio.

Understanding MIDI

MIDI, (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) a sequential series of zero’s and one’s, trigger a digital measurement of an analog audio signal. This is called midi. Midi data is recognized by your computer. MIDI communicates with digital platforms and music software, through a programming language that has advanced greatly over the last few years. This flexible new digital format allows seem-less manipulation by your midi sequencer. Inside your digital audio sequencer, midi offers a more practical and intuitive way to edit and perfect the details of your digital tracks.

To learn how analog audio, digital audio, and midi work together in a home studio read the following ---

Understanding Digital Audio and Midi.

Analog to Digital conversion, the improvements of Midi, plus the modest cost of today’s DAW software, has opened the doors to production in a home-based recording studio to people of all income. The home or project studio is more affordable now than it has ever been.

Studio Monitors For the Home Studio

Studio Monitors are those fancy looking speakers that you want to call speakers, yet you know that they are a bit more than that.

Also known as reference monitors, their job is to translate the sounds of your mix as ACCURATELY and non-biased as possible.

The ideal is as close to as flat, or neutral response as you can. 

The environment you record in can interfere with both the sounds that are recorded, and the way these sounds are heard. Thus, a true set of near field reference monitors can be your best guide to judging the production quality of your mixes. In addition to getting better sounding productions, getting to know your monitors will help develop your production techniques.

Here is the full article on understanding Home Studio Monitors.

Also, here is a full article series on Home Studio Setup.

Audio & Midi in The Home Studio

Audio and Midi

 The differences between digital audio and its original sound source are an essential part of understanding how digital music is produced. Midi, (musical instrument digital interface) can alleviate some of the heavy workload that processing audio files can require. Digital audio, midi, music software synthesizers and samplers; can all coordinate to provide a digital audio workstation that caters to your creative preferences. In this section, I will explain key points of audio and midi, including the fundamental differences between audio, audio signals, digital audio, and midi data - as they relate to music production in a home recording studio.

In a digital audio workstation, audio is received in one of the two following forms by an audio device before it can be recorded.  

Sound Waves - Are vibrations through the air. (What you hear) The frequency of an audio recording is graphed as a waveform. 

Electrical Signals are varying amounts of voltage that carry carrying musical information through the signal path. (I.E. Recording into a microphone converts the audio into an electrical signal, or, an amplifier transmits analog signals.)

                                                                                

                                              Microphone Recording: 

1) Acoustic instruments emit sound waves that are recorded into a microphone.

2) Microphones transfer the sounds into electric voltage, which is called the signal. 

(The amplitude and frequency are the same as the sound wave being recorded into the microphone.) 

Analog signals must be converted into a digital file before it can be recorded onto digital audio tracks, and stored on a digital medium. However the analog signal can be sent to an amplifier and external speakers to be monitored in its current format. Further, it can be sent to an analog recorder (i.e. reel-to-reel) for printing the audio onto cassette tape.

Analog recorders, and multi track tape recorders - have been the standard for audio recording and music production - only up until recent advances in digital audio over the last several years. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a computer-generated data protocol that triggers tones and tells them when to start and stop, how loud to play these tones, (velocity) and other informational commands. It is important to understand that MIDI is not audio, and cannot be processed or edited the same way. 

MIDI has been used since it was introduced in 1983. The last couple of decades have made it a standard computer format that is universally compatible. Midi has become very efficient for composing digital music since it uses much less hard-disc space or processing power than audio file formats. 

In review, audio is a live sound. Audio is received by a microphone and transmitted as a signal. Audio is the original vibrations made by an acoustic guitar, a vocalist, etc.

It is sent as an electrical signal to any desired destination, such as a recorder, amplifier, etc. Recording the original audio signal using music software - is done by converting the audio signal into a digital audio file. This conversion happens when the signal passes through an analog to digital converter in an audio interface or soundcard. This is a hardware device needed to translate the analog signal into a digital audio recording.

Midi is computer data that is recorded and read back on command by your computer. This information is used to triggers sounds, then together record both elements using an audio and midi sequencer. The song file and all relative audio file components are stored onto hard disk for the convenience of random access editing. 

MIDI uses significantly less computer resources for track recording and mixing. It is now a standard music composition tool. Midi has advanced over the last couple decades to now being a revolutionary composition and production tool.

Next up, here is a full article series on How To Build A Home Studio.