A small tube amp, the right room, a good signal chain – these are just some of the ingredients for getting inspired guitar tracks without a whole lot of fuss (or funds). Yes, having a really fine instrument will certainly boost your chances of getting really luscious results, but if there… Read more...
Back in the days when songwriting success was a distant dream, each time I met with a music publisher, I was a nervous wreck leading up to that meeting. I hoped the publisher would instantly recognize that my songs were destined to be GRAMMY-winning hits, and I would be offered a… Read more...
Marketing and advertising studies show that we are better able to remember ads we are exposed to multiple times. When we see or hear something once, we are likely to forget it. But with repeated exposure it is more apt to stick in our brains. This also applies to melodies. In… Read more...
No matter how long you’ve been at it, understanding the recording process is really a lifelong journey, thanks to the seemingly endless list of techniques you can employ during any given session. Here we review some of these random strategies, from working with click tracks to getting a fuller sound out… Read more...
While good writers may vary in their approach to the craft, over the years one theme seems to stand out as universal—that the most enduring songs tend to come quickly and are often finished in a single sitting. For those of us who regularly fish the waters of creativity hoping to… Read more...
It would be hard to look at a list of current hit songs without noticing a trend: the growing use of featured artists. A featured artist is one who makes a guest appearance on another artist’s recording to create a collaboration. What’s the difference between a duet and a song with… Read more...
Prior to the pandemic only a small percentage of my songwriting students engaged in long-distance, online collaborations. But when COVID-19 arrived it brought most in-person co-writing sessions to a screeching halt. Instead of writers meeting at one of their homes or publishers’ offices, they met in Zoom rooms or used FaceTime… Read more...
If you find yourself constantly plugging and unplugging cables in order to accommodate all of your recording apparatus, chances are you could benefit from having a central connection hub. In the audio business, that job is typically handled by a patchbay, one of those rare relics that hasn’t become obsolete over… Read more...
A few weeks ago, a talented writer/artist asked me to write a song with her to fill a specific niche missing from her repertoire. She wanted a lyric that would convey strength and resolve; words that would empower listeners. She hoped we would write a melody that would showcase the power… Read more...
As songwriters, we’re constantly confronted with the frustration of how to reach the right music industry decision-maker for our songs. A lot of the answer resides in the slow and steady development of our network of friends and acquaintances but, from time to time, we have to be brave and put… Read more...
