BMI is proud to support Song Arts Academy’s new Fall four-week Songwriting Workshop. Taught by Berklee NYC Faculty Songwriting Professor Billy Seidman, this is an established workshop with proven results to write your best songs and network with new co-writers, while learning the “Advanced Craft” tools used by today’s chart-topping songwriters.… Read more...
I recently forwarded three songs to a list of publishers who have agreed to listen to songs that I screen. One of the publishers responded, “This song is very well written and commercial. But I’ve already got this kind of stuff by the dozens. Seems that most writers are all caught… Read more...
Some further ideas for getting the best final mix possible, from digitally fixing recording flubs to ridding tracks of extraneous noises, and more. Read more...
I was recently asked how the tools and techniques I teach today differ from those I have taught in the past. Have I noticed any recent changes in successful songs and in the processes of writing them? I looked back over the thirty years that I have been teaching songwriting, and… Read more...
Whether it’s switching microphones or switching off reverb, one thing I try to do is avoid using the same recording mechanics from song to song. This is particularly true of mixing—if the tendency is to have nearly identical ingredients in the same spot on every track, your album is likely to…well,… Read more...
Some basic ideas for seamlessly cutting up tracks Read more...
If we were collaborating on a song and I suggested that one particular line of lyric – and the melody that accompanies it – be repeated eighteen times, would you think that would be entirely too repetitive to be successful? How about if, in the same song, I insisted that an… Read more...
Since, in my experience, the songwriting journey is a never-ending process of learning your craft, I thought it was time for adding a few more things that I’ve learned as a songwriter since my last article on the subject. So much of a career as a songwriter is about… Read more...
Audio mixing can be defined as the process of combining individual tracks from a multitrack recording into a finished product. It includes determining the volume and adding effects such as reverb, delay, compression, and equalization to each track. In stereo and surround sound recordings, mixing also includes placing each track in… Read more...
Whether tracking an amplified instrument or capturing the sound of percussion, even a minute difference in the way a microphone is aimed at a speaker, a shaker, or even a singer can substantially alter the recorded sound Read more...
