NAMM!!!

OK Everyone,

Sorry it has been a while, but its finally here. My adventures at NAMM 2008.

For those of you who don't know what the National Association of Music Merchants show is all about... It is considered the largest music products trade shows in the world. It is held in my hometown of Anaheim and this was the first year that I ever got to go. It is not open to the public. I would like to thank SKB www.skbcases.com for hooking it up with the weekend badge.


Here our journey begins.....


First off... lets stat with the cool guitars.

One the coolest booths there was James Trussart

www.jamestrussart.com

These guitars look like they kick so much ass. I have never wanted a guitar as badly as I want one of these. They are made of metal and are 100% custom made. They are not cheap, but check out some of the artistry on these babies.










Another great guitar booth was Sparrow Guitars

www.sparrowguitars.com

They are a Canadian company that hand-paints their guitars.

Here are some samples. Very nice. Custom paint.


This is my uncle with Sparrow Guitars.





Here are some other unique custom guitars.






Guitars from the Ibanez booth. They really had some great stuff. Here you get to see all the guitars that AREN'T in Guitar Center. Check out these babies.

The George Benson Signature


The Dragonforce Signature models



Some high-end wood finished Ibanez's. I was drooling over these as well.








Now this section will be the UNIQUE and NOVELTY guitars. Stuff you may have never known even existed. Check it out!

Goldfish Guitars.


Gumby and Pokey Guitar






(sorry about the pic alignment- I'm having formatting problems)

Creativity

I'll admit it. I thought that when I first got into recording that I would be all the musical talent that I needed. Ha ha. But I get stuck in creative farts all the time. I am always looking for someone to collaborate with. I love working with other people on their projects; but adding my own style and creativity to others. I guess it takes someone else to get an idea out and get the ball rolling.


I mean sure, music is self expression that comes from within; but I've learned that you can't be a hermit, lock yourself in the studio, and expect creativity to just flow. Music is about life and emotion; and sometimes its life's pains and troubles that bring out the best in musicians and artists.

You always have to watch and listen to other artists for inspiration; but sometimes you just have to experience life. I guess, as 2007 comes to a close, I just can't wait to bury some bad events that happened to me this year. But in reality, I haven't felt this alive and determined in a long time.


Here is to the future and creativity. Doesn't have much to do with music directly, but I thought it was interesting and kind of funny.

Do Schools Today Kill Creativity?



Thyla Thwarp on Motivation and Creativity:


So I guess with that said... here's to the future of a new year, new adventures, and new music.... and fuck you 2007. :)

Vocal Tracks- very important

You can have great musicians bust out an incredible track and amazing songwriting; but if your vocalist can't pull through and sell the track, you don't have much. The vocals are the main part of any song. They are the main part of the composition and are always at the forefront of the mix.





In this diagram, the center of the diagram represents the acoustic "presence" of the sound in relation to frequency range and stereo mix. When listening to your vocal tracks in the studio, it should sound as if the singer is literally right in front of you, in between your left and right monitors. To me, it also represents what a mix would literally look like in your head as you are hearing it. When you close your eyes and listen, you can also hear the microphone proximity.





Although I don't use Cakewalk. This video is interesting to see how much we can do with software these days.



Now, to get into how to sing properly, here are some more videos of professionals. Obviously, I'm not one to give advice on how to sing; but I know when I hear someone who can't sing (much like watching American Idol). Anyway, I found these two great singing technicians: Melissa Cross and Brett Manning. Check out their videos, and if you are serious about being a singer, I would buy their teaching products because you can't afford them in person.


Melissa Cross: The Zen Of Screaming (How to sing/scream properly)


MelissaCross.com



Brett Manning: Full Voice, Head Voice, and Whistle Voice


SingingSuccess.com


Here are some VOCAL EXERCISES to increase your strength; by Brett Manning
Vocal Exercises


And lastly, I just kinda thought this was cool.

Songwriting

The hardest part about being in the studio is working with a song that hasn't been developed. There is no need to start record production if a song has not been worked out as fully as possible. However, I find that there is a certain amount of songwriting "finalization" within the recording process. Some people think that recording is only done after a song has been worked out or "jammed out" with the band; that all there is left to do is to put some mic's in front of you. If that is all that I did, my job would be pretty boring. Its my job to refine the song in any way to make as great as possible.... to add instrumentation or musical ideas that were not there before... and of course to bring out the emotion in each musician's recorded performance.



This guy (Jason Blume) has several helpful books out there on songwriting. I love to work with songwriters, perferably good ones that can sing their own demo too. But I suggest checking out his books. Anyone who considers themself a writer should check it out.

Staying Inspired

I have found that being inspired is one thing, but STAYING inspired is another. It is crucial to always feed yourself inspirational material in order to stay motivated in the music industry. This is one of the hardest parts about trying to get into such a tough industry. I highly recommend joining any mailing list, web site, or web group that has forum style information where members can post their own material. I found this great new site http://www.guitarplayerzen.com that has posts regarding new artistry for guitar players. Check it out.


Of course it ALWAYS helps to remember why you got into music in the first place....

Music Production 101

Expanding my equipment base has had a direct impact on the style of music being produced. I found that I quickly needed to collect various instruments in order to have a more diverse sound. This not only meant major instruments such as my Fender Telecaster, but things as simple as a Remo pocket shaker (which lately I've been using to death on my tracks). As far as using MIDI and plug-in's go, I use them sparingly. They can be very convenient, but I advocate the real thing. I use when I have a need for some low orchestral strings or for some moody sound effects. Otherwise my music production is all musician performed.

Lately I have been working with incorporating the Akai MPC with my Mapex acoustic kit. I have always loved the snare crack's of Quincy Jones on the Michael Jackson albums or Timbaland with Justin Timberlake. As much as I love drum machines, I don't think that I will ever be able to produce a track without some aspect of a live acoustic drummer. And of course, being a drummer originally, the kick is nearly THE single most important sound that I always spend time perfecting. I also like to add a lot of thickness to my kick, making it almost like a hip-hop kick depending on the track that I am working on. I also started adding two kick drum tracks for some rock/hip-hop songs. I think I first heard this when I was listening to Ludacris's 'Red Light District' album. Its fairly typical in hip-hop now to just have your regular kick playing while a TR-808 plays less frequently, such as on the 1 of every measure. I use this same technique by overdubbing a second kick track and running it through a 'lowpass' effect to boost the 45-50 Hz range. It will have that TR-808 feel to it, but you can control the overall effect, making it more subtle.

Having good equipment is important, but knowing how to use it is even more essential. With any new piece of studio equipment, spend time with it, read the manufacturers technical specifications, and learn how to optimally use it.

First Order of Business

Well, its my first blog after I first got the idea to start this record label 6 months ago. I must say things have moved much more slowly than I anticipated. My first order of business was to file my "DBA" with the county clerk, buy up my domain names, and open a business line of credit at my bank. It hasn't been easy getting this thing off the ground. I have been working two jobs to produce extra spending capital for the studio. The hard part is actually getting "in" to business, hopefully running it will become much more routine once things start flowing. Recently I have been researching the legal side of my record label. My next step is to possibly hire a lawyer or buy some artist/publisher business contracts. I have met some entertainment lawyers and am keeping in touch with them. My production goal is to work with a different artist one day a week every week. I currently have one, but I have three more songwriters/bands scoped out. Things are looking much better lately.

www.blackrabbitrecords.com
www.myspace.com/officialblackrabbitrecords