Home Recording News, Tips and Articles

Mississauga Songwriters: Enter the Port Credit 175 Anniversary Song Contest

2010-03-01T13:41:00.001-05:00

Port Credit in Mississauga is celebrating it's 175th anniversary in 2010. The PC175 Committee is looking for a theme song that captures the Port Credit spirit.

They will be holding a special "TOP EIGHT" evening in Port Credit in May. The eight top artists will be asked to perform their song in front of judges, Dave Antonacci producer, song writer (Marineland, Auto and Boat Show), Terry Brown producer (RUSH, Max Webster, Klaatu) and two more special judges TBA shortly. Please note, this contest is open To Mississauga residents only.

The winning song will be be placed in a time capsule and the winning artist will be asked to play the winning song during the Canada Day celebrations in Port Credit. It will be used during all PC175 activities after it is announced on Canada Day.

The winning artist will also receive a prize package from Ghost Rider Studios, the Guitar Shop and a home recording package from Revolution Audio. The home recording package will include a Yamaha Audiogram 3 USB Audio Interface with Cubase AI recording software, MXL 770 Condenser Microphone, 15' Marshall Electronics XLR cable and AKG headphones. Click here to enter the contest online at Sonicbids or drop your entry with contact details at Revolution Audio - The Deadline is extended until April 30th, 2010

Izotope Alloy / Ozone 4 Mixing Video

2010-02-24T14:42:00.008-05:00

iZotope Ozone 4 has been a standard around our studio for mastering. We are very excited about iZotope's new mixing plug-in suite "Alloy." Here's a cool video iZotope just posted showing how to mix and master with Alloy and Ozone 4. (Best viewed by selecting "full screen" and 720p)

Click here for more information and to purchase iZotope Ozone 4 Online here in Canada

More info and online purchase link for iZotope Alloy coming soon....

Would You Take Recording Classes Online? Please Give Us Feedback!

2010-01-28T13:19:00.001-05:00

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Free UAD-2 Solo PCIe Card with Twin-Finity purchase

2010-01-27T16:16:00.005-05:00

Purchase a New Universal Audio710 Twin-Finity Tone Blending Microphone Preamplifier / DI Box, and get a free UAD-2 Solo PCIe card!
Purchase a New 710 TwinFinity Preamp/DI from an authorized Canadian UA dealer like Revolution Audio by March 31st 2010, then fill-out this form. Next, mail it to HHB along with a copy of your receipt, and they will send you at no charge a Universal Audio UAD-2 Solo PCIe DSP card (a $670 value!).

Click more info on the Twinfinity or to purchase online

Click here for more information on the UAD-2 Solo PCIe Card

Great Recording Classes available at Number 9 Audio

2010-01-27T13:25:00.004-05:00

Number 9 Audio is a top notch professional studio and training facility located at 222 Gerrard Street East (Cabbagetown) Toronto. Revolution Audio has had their head engineer, Bernie, out to teach a number of times at Revolution Audio. If you are looking for deeper or full-time studies in Audio Recording, we would highly recommend Number 9's hands-on, 1-on-1 training. They offer both an introductory 101 and a complete recording course that rivals any full time studies on Recording in the country. And their training hours are flexible so it can adapt to your life and schedule.

Click here for more information on the Number 9 Audio School. Let them know Revolution Audio sent you and receive a 5% discount off their hands-on 101 or Complete recording course.

Click here for more info on their 101 Course
Click here for more info on their Complete Recording Course

Take the February RPM Recording Challenge!

2010-01-27T11:06:00.008-05:00

The RPM Challenge is simple: record an album in 28 days, just because you can. That’s 10 songs or 35 minutes of new material, written and recorded during the month of February. Many Revolution Audio customers are taking part. It's a great opportunity to challenge yourself just to get back in the studio a record something with a deadline.

This year, RPM celebrates its 5th anniversary and looks forward to its biggest year yet. Musicians across the globe are signing up now at www.rpmchallenge.com to participate in this year’s challenge. More than 6,000 bands from all seven continents have joined in since 2006, resulting in the creation of an astonishing 20,000+ new songs. Their music spans every genre imaginable—from electronic to experimental, from hip hop to heavy metal—and represents the work of all types of musicians: aspiring stars, working bands, hobbyists, students, and closet musicians.

While the annual challenge doesn’t begin until February 1, musicians who come aboard early can share their thoughts and trade ideas with an enthusiastic and tight-knit RPM community online. And local scenes band together to lend a solo, an amp, or a little peer pressure as they help each other to the finish line.

Visit www.rpmchallenge.com to sign up - it's free. Artists must postmark their RPM 2010 CDs by March 1 to the RPM office at 10 Vaughan Mall, Suite 1, Portsmouth, N.H. 03801. For more information, to see the participating bands, or to read the whole text of the challenge, go to www.rpmchallenge.com .  If you do the challenge please let us know via e-mail or to our facebook group.

New Cubase 5 Trial Version Download

2010-01-21T20:32:00.007-05:00

Now Available - a New Free Cubase 5 Trial Version

See more details below, but a Free Cubase 5 trial version is now available for download. Every wonder if it is worth the upgrade? Want to switch from your current recording program? Now is the change to check it out. The only catch is you either have to already own a Steinberg e-licence USB key or buy one (click here to view or purchase). But, it's better to spend just a few bucks and see if Cubase 5 if right for you or not. More details:

Cubase 5 Trial is a free trial version of the renowned music production software from Steinberg. The trial version comes with the same range of functionality as the full version — including all instruments, effects and sounds — and may be used without limitations for 30 days.

Get your version of Free Cubase 5 Trial

1. Request a download link and activation code from within MySteinberg. (Free signup if you don't have an account)
2. Download and install Cubase 5 Trial
3. Activate the trial license on the USB-eLicenser using the activation code.
Enjoy your Free Trial!

Note: The US and Europe have stated that they will credit you the amount of the Steinberg key if you purchase Cubase in the end, but no news from Steinberg Canada at this point to give the same offer. So, we have decided if you buy the USB key from us (Revolution Audio) for the free trial between now and March 1st, 2010, we will personally credit the USB key price towards purchase of a full version of Cubase 5 or Cubase 5 Studio.

Cubase Steinberg Updates for Windows 7 and OS X 10.6 Support

2009-12-14T11:23:00.002-05:00

December 11, 2009

Cubase Steinberg Updates for Windows 7 and OS X 10.6 Support

In September, Steinberg outlined its plans to ensure compatibility for its current product range and technologies to Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard and Windows 7, comprising a three-phase development and testing plan. Phase Three now provides updates to the software resolving any issues that may have arisen on the latest operating systems.

The following provides information on the current status of product compatibility and availability of updates:

The Cubase line of products fully supports both Windows 7 and Snow Leopard with the maintenance update release of version 5.1.1 for Cubase 5, Cubase Studio 5, Cubase Essential 5 and Cubase AI 5.

The Cubase LE 4 and Cubase AI 4 versions have been tested and certified for Windows 7, with no further updates required. To ensure compatibility with Snow Leopard, a patch is now available for Cubase LE 4 and Cubase AI 4.

Sequel 2 is certified to be fully Windows 7 compatible, with no further updates required. An update for full compatibility with Snow Leopard is now also available.

Updates for the hardware products CC121, MR816 CSX/X and CI2 now offer support for both Windows 7 and Mac OS X 10.6. Please note that running Cubase AI 4 together with the new Snow Leopard compatible MR /CC drivers is currently unsupported because it hasn’t undergone significant testing.

VST instruments HALion 3.5, HALion Symphonic Orchestra 1.5, HALion Player 3, The Grand 3 and Groove Agent 3 have been certified as compatible with Windows 7, with no further updates required. HALion 3.5 is already fully compatible with Snow Leopard, but the remaining VST instruments require an update which will be release in Quarter 1 of 2010.

The Steinberg developers are currently working on a Windows 7 compatible update for the WaveLab family of products which will be released in the Quarter 1 of 2010.

For details, please refer to the articles in the Steinberg Knowledge Base.

Snow Leopard

Windows 7

Fast Track USB II with Pro Tools Essential Feature Review

2009-11-25T12:18:00.004-05:00

The original M-Audio Fast Track and Fast Track pro are some of the best selling recording interfaces in history. Now M-Audio has come out with the new Fast Track II (Just called the Fast Track) which is a USB audio recording interface including a new innovation: Free Pro Tools M-Powered Essential Software - all for only $119 CAD (at the writing of this post).

Pro Tools M-Powered Essential software lets you create pro-sounding mixes with up to 16 mono or stereo audio tracks. You also get 60+ virtual instrument sounds to play and record, plus EQ and other effects to make your mixes sound professionally produced. It even comes with over 5.5GB of music-making tools to help you get started instantly. A great way to get started quickly and at a low price!

The Fast Track interface will work on PC or Mac. It has an input for one microphone (with phantom power for use with Condenser mics ) and one guitar or bass. The Fast Track is compatible with most audio recording software like Garageband, Cubase and others, so you are not limited to the Pro Tools Essential software if that's not what you want to use. The software is just an easy to use added bonus.

With price and features like this in one easy to use starter package, what is your excuse for not starting your recording dreams today? Click for more info or to buy online now: the M-Audio Fast Track with Pro Tools M-Powered Essential software at Revolution Audio

Your Christmas Song Needed for a Good Cause!

2009-11-18T09:09:00.004-05:00

Nov. 17 2009
Hey Recording Rebels

This is Jason at Revolution Audio with a question: would you like to use your recording talents to help give back to those with need this season?

Here's the brief idea: I need a few high quality Christmas song recordings to put into a digital album to raise money for the Mississauga Food Bank - our local food bank that helps people in need. (http://www.themississaugafoodbank.org) All proceeds will go to help the foodbank - no money will be kept for administration by Revolution Audio (some will be kept by the service www.noisetrade.com)

Interested? Keep reading:

Here are the details:
- It must be a public domain Christmas song or a song in which you control the complete copyright (aka your own original song) we don't have the time to clear songs and it would be cost prohibitive. Here are a few places where you can get ideas for public domain Christmas songs:
http://www.apra-amcos.com.au/musicconsumers/christmassongsandcarols.aspx
http://www.pdinfo.com/listPDsongs/PDChristmasSongs.htm
http://www.christmas-carol-music.org/Index_of_Titles.html
- You must be willing to sign a release for this song for this purpose with no expectation of monetary compensation from us
- It must be decent enough recording to sell - all styles will be considered - we can do some quick mastering to get the final correct level - if we get quite a few good ones we might group the songs stylistically

If you would like to participate - please send us your MP3 (preferably 192 kbps high quality) to preview by Monday, Nov. 23th 2009. Include contact information, full name, song name and any copyright info. If selected we will contact you with the contract.

You can send songs to us a number of ways:
- via e-mail to revaudio( ~ at sign ~)gmail.com
- to a dropbox at www.drop.io/revaudio
- via a service like www.yousendit.com

Please e-mail me personally with any questions revaudio( ~ at sign ~)gmail.com

Let's use what we enjoy to give back - please help!

Thanks!

Jason

The 5 Steps to Market Your Music

2009-11-02T12:01:00.017-05:00

by Jason Johnston

So you have yourself a new CD, now what? There is good news and bad news. The good news is everyone and anyone is making their own music at home and able to put it up for sale. The bad news is everyone and anyone is making their own music at home and able to put it up for sale. Did you catch that? This makes a wonderful creative situation but a difficult marketing challenge. Here is how to use the five P's of marketing: Product, Price, Place, Promotion and Persistence to sell your music online using direct a direct marketing technique.

1. Product
Music is the obvious choice for a product, since that is the point of being a musician. So crank out your CDs, digital EPs and live mp3's because this should always be the core product. And your core product should always be available in great supply. But fans and friends enjoy all sorts of content including homemade videos via youtube.com, pictures from your last show and reviews or stories posted in your blog. Some artists create merchandise like t-shirts, stickers and belt buckles. Make it meaningful to you and it should be meaningful to others as well and keep them coming back. Don't over polish it, it's more important to just get it out there.

2. Price
First big decision: Sell the content or give it away? Most digital content should be given away for free at first, or have a core product like your album which is pay only and make everything else around up for grabs. If you are trying to make a living or even just support your hobby, you will need a price tag on something. Some people give everything away online just to sell out their live shows. Do some research in your genre and demographic and don't be afraid to just try something and watch the results. At the writing of this article the typical price of on online, DRM free, album for sale is $9.99 US and $.99 for each single. This was mostly standardized by iTunes, but even they have changed their pricing scheme to offer three tiers of 69 cents, 99 cents and $1.29 per track. If you want to sell your content beyond the people who know you personally, price will have a strong effect upon their decision to buy or not to buy, so be thoughtful. And if it never sells at any price, you might as well give it away for free and get some promotion out of the effort of creating it. Musician hosting company Bandzoogle.com has a feature that allows customers to set their own price for your digital downloads, which can give you market research and sales at the same time!

3. Place
Place is about distribution. Where will you offer your products and content for free or sale? Your own domain name should be at the center. iTunes, Myspace or Facebook will come and go, but your domain could span decades. Build your main content in something that you can control and hopefully will last. As time allows put your product everywhere else too so the most number of people will be exposed to it. Sometimes you can post your free content in one place and simply provide links in other places, like www.youtube.com . There is no need for you to reinvent on your own website a feature that allows you to upload videos, simply create an account and post your videos there and then use the provided links to embed the video anywhere you want. YouTube.com will also bring its own traffic to your videos, which is an added bonus. Sill, you should embed the video into your own personal blog on your website and drive traffic there so you can develop long term relationships and eventually sales.

4. Promotion
Creating, pricing and placing the content is not the hard part. With Promotion, the work has just begun. There are many ways to promote your music, but none as consistently effective as direct marketing: Connecting with fans in a way you can communicate with them regularly and all at once.

Creating an permission based e-mail list is key. For the fan it must be easy to find and easy to join. For the musician it should be easy to administer and easy to send out updates. At the beginning BCC'ing the list from an e-mail account will work, but these e-mails can look like spam to in-boxes. The tools at Reverbnation are nice as well as the e-mail list incorporated into your own music domain site at places like www.Bandzoogle.com. Give your fans an incentive to start the e-mail relationship like a free giveaway of some sort. You can always fill these lists with a clipboard at your shows or through online widgets. Make sure you e-mail people who purchase your music to make sure they are on your list. They are your current customers, not just potential customers, so treat them well! Another way to direct e-mail is to friends or fans through Facebook, Twitter or Myspace. One tip based on the golden rule: E-mail others as you would have them e-mail upon you. Do not sent mass e-mails without permission: this is spam. Do not send the same e-mail four times in one month just asking for them to buy your album: this is greed (asking for more than you deserve). Rather only send e-mails when you have something interesting or meaningful to give them, show them or talk about. Add value to their lives and they will be happy to buy or at least put up with your relentless album promotion.

5. Persistence
Made it through all four steps? Great. Now go back to number one and do them all over again. Maybe change up the content and each time tweak the process to make it better. Always be adding to your list and your content. Make it new and be committed to do it over and over again. Yes, this is our blood, sweat and tears poured out in song, but this is also called the entertainment business for good reason. If we fail to entertain, we fail at the business. Keep on making the music, putting it out there and following this process and step by step it can happen.

Jason Paul Johnston lives in Mississauga, On, Canada and is a musician ( www.jasonpauljohnston.com ), teacher of music technology and owner of Revolution Audio Canada.

Yamaha Audiogram 3 or 6 1.0.1 Driver Update

2009-10-16T15:10:00.003-04:00

New Free Driver update for the Yamaha Audiogram 3 or Audiogram 6 from 1.0 to 1.0.1 - If you are looking for the current driver for the Yamaha Audiogram 3 or 6 for Mac OS X or Windows Vista (32 bit or 64 bit) then click below:

Yamaha Audiogram Driver at Yamaha.com

For more information about these great quality and very affordable home recording solutions click below:

Audiogram 3 or Audiogram 6 Details and Specs

Canadian Indie CD Release Package Checklist

2009-10-06T14:37:00.016-04:00

Canadian CD Packaging Checklist

If you are an indie artist trying to release their own CD, all the little items of business can be overwhelming. Hopefully this indie CD Package checklist will be helpful so you will not only release your CD in style, but with all the correct information!

On the front cover
- Artist name and title of CD.
- Something eye catching, something thematic. A picture of the artist often works best, especially in the beginning

Back of the CD Jacket:
- Number track list and length of each song given (especially if you will be shipping to radio)
- Your copyright notice (indicating the year of production, your name, and the © symbol), also, copyright notice referring to who owns the master recording (indicated with the (P) symbol)
- A statement prohibiting reproduction e.g. "All Rights Reserved. Warning: Unauthorized Reproduction, Copying and Rental of this Recording is Prohibited by Law."
- A bar code which is necessary if distributing to retail outlets (Most manufacturers can supply this)
- The MAPL logo (the Canadian content label as appropriate) if shipping to radio in Canada.
- Logos of any agencies from which you received funding, along with any other sponsor logos.
- The Distributor's name if you have a distribution agreement in place.
- Artist website url (you can leave out the http:// )
- Made in Canada is required by law if you want to export your CD. It must be equal in font size and weight to the artist contact info
- Other info like Producer or other important acknowledgments are nice

Items to print on the Spine
- Your CD title and Artist name - very clearly
- Your catalogue number (if you don't have a label, or you are the label just create a unique number/letter combination)

These items should be printed on the CD itself:
- Artist name and CD title
- The MAPL logo
- Your copyright notice
- The "compact disc" logo should be clearly seen
- Your catalogue number
- "Made in Canada" / "Fabriqué au Canada"

And inside the CD insert:
- If you have space, printing the lyrics out is appreciated for those reviewing or in radio.
- Songwriters, musicians and producers should be clearly indicated for each track.
- Clear copyrights for each song
- Contact info (As much as you can fit or feel comfortable with as an indie artist. Website, Contact e-mail, physical address and phone number are all good to have)
- Acknowledgments and thank you’s
- Production and Studio Information should be clearly indicated.
- Artist website url

In the end you typically want to make the Artist and CD Name clearly stand out. This is especially true for the new artist. You can afford to be obscure later in your career, but in the beginning you need all the help you can get. Think about how your product will be displayed on retail shelves and in pictures on the web and ask yourself or your friends how it will communicate and entice the listener.

Design Resources in Canada
Logos for CD Cover art including MAPL and the proper (c) and (p) symbols.

http://www.predisc.com/logos.htm

Places to consider for Manufacturing:

www.canclone.com
Just down the street from Revolution Audio. Superior customer service, speed and highly personable.

http://www.summitsound.com/
Located in Westport, ON - An honest, family owned business who can match prices for duplication with the best of them. Working via shipping is no problem. They also have in house design if needed.

SOUNDSCAPE PRODUCTIONS - www.soundscapeonline.com
Variety of great services including duplication, replication and download cards. Run by musicians for musicians. Ask for Howard and say you were referred by Revolution Audio.

http://duplium.com
A large, established company with an indie focus. Good quality short runs available.

www.predisc.com
Based in BC, these guys have great eco-designs, templates on their website and good prices

References:

Some information was modified from the New Brunswick Sound Initiatives (NBSI) website which was found on www.hiphopcanada.com

Monitor Your Mixes - Every way you Can!

2009-10-06T10:17:00.009-04:00

This month's tip is about monitoring your mix. In the store we often get question, "I have awesome home stereo speakers - can I mix on those?" The answer is yes and no. There are two main listening sessions you need to have to complete your mix. The first listening sessions for accuracy and a second set of listening sessions for translation.

Mixing for accuracy means you probably can't use your amazing home stereo speakers, or at least not very well. They are designed to massage the sound coming through so it sounds the most pleasing to the ear. Good speakers change the frequencies to smooth out any harshness and give you a pleasing listening experience. They are also overcoming their own weakness to detail with these changes. When it comes to mixing your audio, you need monitors that won't produce hyped lows or highs and give you accurate detail in between. These are typically called "Reference Monitors." and can be found for around $279 (at the time of writing) for a pair of M-Audio Studiophile BX5a Deluxe on the lower end, or the 8 inch M-Audio Studiophile BX8a Deluxe for $449. In the mid range we have sold a lot of the Yamaha HS50m and Yamaha HS80m monitors. Getting more expensive we like the JBL LSR4326P pair or JBL LSR4328P pair. All reference monitors will have inaccuracies, and most certainly so will your mixing room (Especially in the low end if it is a smaller room). So get to know your mixing area and its weaknesses by trying mixes again and again and listening to your favourite music in comparison.

When it comes to making sure your mix translates, that is, that your mix sounds good in the places where your friends and fans will be listening, this is the time when it is important to play your final mix in your regular stereo speakers. In fact, play the mix just about everywhere you can. At one time, the final listen always happened in the car. Now, with the changes in listening habits, perhaps the final listen should be on iPod earbuds. Wherever you take your final mix, don't trust it too much but use it to inform your mixing decision before giving it the final okay. Good luck and happy mixing!

Steinberg Yamaha CI2 USB Advanced Integration Studio Review

2009-10-05T21:39:00.004-04:00

The Steinberg CI2 is a USB-powered audio interface and controller with Advanced Integration features. Together, CI2 and the included Cubase AI 5 software present a complete recording system, providing a plug-and-play solution for recording and editing vocals and instruments with a computer in next to no time. With 24-bit resolution and a sampling rate of 48 kHz, the CI2 offers a professional digital audio recording standard that lets you record the music in studio quality.

When the CI2 was first demonstrated to our staff this last summer at the MIAC trade show, we were blown away by the intuitive nature of the Advanced Integration controls. Basically a lock, control and action button integrate into Cubase AI 5 to give you easy control over any parameter your mouse points to. One of the coolest features was the ability to assign the action button to repetitive, circular tasks, as seen in the photo. So simple, yet such a great feature that we have not seen in any other product.

The CI2 USB Advanced Integrated Studio would be perfect for the singer/songwriter, guitarist or the pro Cubase user who wants a small interface with some advanced controls. We were impressed and you will be too.

The Steinberg CI2 first Canadian shipment is mid October 2009.

Click here for more information about the Steinberg CI2 Advanced Integrated Studio!

Steinberg / Yamaha Cubase AI Upgrade Rebates

2009-08-31T23:05:00.002-04:00

Big rebates when buying upgrades with Yamaha Hardware!

When you purchase the Cubase AI to Cubase 5 Upgrade at the same time as a qualifying piece of hardware that comes bundled with Cubase AI (like the Audiogram 3 or Audiogram 6), you will receive a $150 rebate! Purchases made separately are eligible for a rebate of $100! If you purchase the Cubase AI to Cubase Studio 5 upgrade at the same time as qualifying hardware you will receive a $75 rebate. Purchases made separately are eligible for a rebate of $50.

Rebate claims must be made by March 1, 2010 for purchases made between September 2009 and January 2010.
NOTE: Upgrades from Cubase AI will require a Steinberg Key (sold separately) if you don't already have one to store the new license.

Please contact us with any questions!

The importance of YOUR Music Website

2009-08-31T12:18:00.013-04:00

There is no shortage of musician websites. Myspace, iLike, Reverbnation, iSound, and even facebook fan pages. They all can bring traffic to your music and serve their purpose. But the most important website is your own. A website with your own domain name (like www.your-name-or-band.com) as a central place for content, news and sales is the most important website to invest in for your music.

The biggest reason for this is consistency. If you are building a career, all the fad websites of the day will come and go. Sure, maybe your myspace.com/jasonpauljohnston address last year was the biggest thing, but don't put it as the only site on your CD cover or press release. You need real ownership. What happens if Myspace starts charging you or it gets sold to an evil force up to no good? You are just renting space for free from all these other sites and anything could happen overnight. In 10 years time you should still be selling your CD, but myspace may not even exist then.

After you obtain your own domain name (I use 10dollar.ca for .ca's and musicincanada.com for dot.com's) there are three basic approaches to doing your own website. Build/program yourself, hire a programmer, use an existing online service.

For the true DIY musician, a program yourself website might be the ticket as long as the website stays relatively simple. You can learn HTML fairly easily with all the online resources available and that is the kind of website you would use for posting some information, music and pictures. Paypal buttons can be used for sales but that is about the extent of it. If you want to have a dynamic website using any kind of database or interactivity you will need to learn PHP or another type of language. I would suggest you stick to doing music!

Some musician websites are based off of pre-made blog type websites. The advantage is you can update your news very easily and don't have to learn programming. They are harder to tweak in terms of design and difficult with some functionality like selling music downloads. For free blogging websites check out www.blogger.com or the slicker www.wordpress.org. For a paid blogging site typepad.com seems to be the site of choice, but I don't think it's worth the money in comparison. There are tons of free and paid templates and plug-ins for these blog sites that can make them look and act a little more rock n' roll.

If you hire a programmer to do your website make sure they have good design sense. Check out some other sites they have done and see if it matches your image and look. Expect to pay over $1000 for even a simple website with a few features. Many professional musician websites cost tens of thousands more plus maintenance fees. If you pay a programmer/designer I would suggest you make it a design you can update yourself so you can add reviews, concert dates and new songs as you desire. You don't want your website just full of old news. People might come back a second time, but probably not a third time.

Although I can do some programming myself, I decided to go with the online service called Bandzoogle for my website for a number of reasons. The main one is I didn't have the time to program my own site. I literally set up my basic site in minutes. I wanted to keep my focus on the music. Bandzoogle also had just enough design flexibility. It included a number of hard to find features like "pay what you can pricing" on downloads and Google maps showing where people live who are surfing your site. (Not the exact addresses of course!) It was also very dynamic and allowed me to update my site from any computer with an internet connection. You can check out my site here: www.jasonpauljohnston.com and see what you think. Click here or the banner ad below to try Bandzoogle for yourself.

In the end, check out some sites, make a list of the features and look you need, figure out what time and resources you have available and make your decision. But I encourage you to make your own website the central place for purchasing your music and finding out the latest news. Anything is better than nothing, just don't get lost in the web on your way to making and recording your songs!

What Les Paul Gave Recording

2009-08-31T09:44:00.025-04:00

by Jason Johnston

Certainly the first thought that comes to mind when you hear the name "Les Paul" is his greatest invention in the history of Rock n' Roll: the solid body electric guitar. But with his recent death, we should remember his equally amazing contribution to the world of audio recording and engineering. A part of his history many people don't know.

We must not forget on the outset, that Les Paul (born Lester William Polsfuss) was a talented musician who sold millions of records. They say necessity is the mother of invention, and his inventions were an outcome of his creativity matched with a need. He first invented the technique of overdubbing and used it extensively on these early recordings. The first was his 1947 recording of, "Lover (When You're Near Me)," where he used a method of mixing a new sound with the previous recorded sound on acetate disks (phonograph records). He would then use the new recording to mix with his new playing and record. The final song was made from eight separate guitar parts, each overdubbed on top of the other: the first in history. His extensive experiments also resulted in the first electronically produced reverb, delay and echo.

This technique of overdubbing grew into what became "multi-track recording" when he invested his own money and commissioned Ampex in 1954 to build the first eight track multi-track tape recorder. In the multi-track a recording head could record a new track and play back previously recorded tracks simultaneously. This idea of being able to record new sounds over top of the old may have come from his childhood when he would modify the player piano rolls by punching out new notes (surely much to the alarm of his parents). This may be the most influential invention in the history of recording. Les Paul was the Gutenberg of audio. After the first 8 Track Ampex multi-tracker was created and installed into Les Paul's home studio (Pictured here as the silver stack on the right) The invention was later known as the Ampex Sel-Sync (Selective Synchronization). This was the foundation of all modern multi-track techniques, even to today's most cutting edge multi-track software like Pro Tools, Cubase or Sonor utilizing computers and hard drives.

Les Paul said his greatest God-given gifts were perfect pitch, a love for music with the ability to learn it quickly, and the curiosity and persistence of an inventor who wants to know "how things tick." These gifts lead to many more gifts he left behind for the world of music and recording.

Sources:
http://www.reevesaudio.com/visitlesandmary.html
Les Paul, Recording-tech pioneer dies at 94, http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10309101-1.html
The Early Years of the Les Paul Legacy: 1915-1963, pg. 4-,Robb Lawrence, Hal Leonard Corporation, 2008 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Paul
http://www.biographybase.com/biography/Paul_Les.html

Buddy Miller recording with Robert Plant on the road

2009-07-24T09:10:00.003-04:00

Here is a great article talking about Buddy Miller recording with Robert Plant on the road using M-Audio gear like the Profire 2626, M-Audio Sputnik Microphone and Pulsar II microphones. Think you can't get pro quality with affordable recording gear? You should listen to Buddy Miller's new amazing album "Written in Chalk," read the article and then make your decision. Click here for the full article.

One-Minute Drum Mixing Tutorial

2009-07-21T13:49:00.001-04:00

Our One-Minute Mixing/Mastering Series of articles have been some of our most popular articles to date. So this month we are continuing with One-Minute Drum Mixing. To emphasize once again, getting a really good mix of drums will take you more than one minute. But if there is only a minute to mix, or someone wanted to make a quick mix for a quick reference, here's a step-by-step on what to do.

First, some preliminaries. Let's a assume one has recorded with a fairly standard and simple four microphone drum recording setup:
- Condenser matched Stereo Pair for overheads (L & R) (On the top end, the SE4 pair are recommended or the M-Audio Pulsar II Pair for half the price)
- Dynamic mic on kick (the AKG D112 is a standard mic or the Audio Technica ATM 250 for a tighter sound
- Dynamic mic on snare (the new AKG D5 sounds great)
With decent mics and good positioning you can achieve an excellent recorded source with just four mics. Adding more microphones can bring more mixing flexibility, but can also increase the chance of phasing. And always remember this equation for success: good source sound + good mic selection and placement = much easier mixing

Now for the Mixing step-by-step:

1. Create a stereo group or sub-mix called "drums" in your DAW (5 seconds if you know how to do it, but this will take longer if you have to look it up for your particular program)
2. Pull all 4 drum track volumes down to nothing and route the outputs into the group "drums" (5 seconds)
3. Kick Drum: Insert a compressor on the kick drum track. Put the ratio to around 4:1. Bring the kick volume up to around unity on the mixer (usually says 0) and pull up the make-up gain on the compressor until it is just starting to grab the kick and it has a solid gut or chest punch. (10 seconds)
4. Snare Drum: Insert an EQ on the Snare Drum Track and make a high pass filter starting at around 200hz. (Basically use the EQ to take out anything below 200hz). This will help focus on the snare and take much of the Kick out of the snare mic. Bring the gain level up to about where it sounds balanced with the kick. On the EQ you can also bump up a little of the frequencies at around 5kHz for an increase in the crisp sound of the snare, 10kHz for more of a snap, and somewhere between for a combination. Pan the snare about 1/3 to 1/2 way to the right. As a final touch, insert a plate reverb on the track and give the snare just a enough to make it linger. (20 seconds)
5. Overheads: Pan the Left hard left and the Right hard right. Put a high pass EQ on each of them at about 100Hz to leave the proper kick channel lots of frequency room. Bring both channels up into the mix until it fills out the sound to taste. (15 seconds)
6. Add a room or hall reverb onto the drum group and add just enough of the wet/dry mix to taste (don't overdue it, in one of our favourite reverbs, the UAD Real Verb Pro plug-in included in all UAD-2 cards, I usually don't take the wet mix above 5%). (5 seconds)

You can take these same principals, use a little more time and get an even better sound out of the drums. But if time is of the essence, we hope this one-minute drum mix will help.

Do you have a Music Hobby or a Music Career? What Susan Boyle can teach us.

2009-07-19T15:14:00.004-04:00

By Jason Johnston

Do you want a career or do you want a hobby? A hobby is something that takes time and your money but only gives back enjoyment for yourself and maybe some others. Hobbies are a great way to relax and spend time with a fellow musicians and fans and add great quality to life. Everyone should have a hobby and music is the best I know. But some musicians think their music is a career when it is not. What is the defining line? A career puts food on the table. It doesn't have to be a lot, or even your main bread winner, but until it pays you back you are not a professional musician and you do not have a career.

Of course, I can hear the justifications right now: I'm in it for the love. The money ruins it all. Music Business is an oxymoron. That is one stance, and if that is yours then maybe the hobby approach will give the least frustration while bringing the most enjoyment. Music as a hobby is certainly a less troublesome path and can be very fulfilling. There are many easier and more certain ways to make money than a music career.

Looking at a current example, is Susan Boyle a hobbyist, or a professional musician? Well, she certainly has a good set of pipes and is now world famous. Her Youtube videos of her blowing away the judges and audience of "Britain's Got Talent" earlier this year were watched over 200 million times. But where is the career? The sale of the song she sang 'I Dreamed A Dream' from Les Miserables has increase exponentially, but without her singing it. The sales of Les Mis tickets have seen a resurgence, but without her in a paying roll. In comparison, the previous Youtube champion, Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend", generated over 120 million views and was estimated at giving the Canadian singer at least $2 Million in revenue.(1) Susan has had more than her 15 minutes of fame, Youtube is basking in the hits, and "Britain's Got Talent" is certainly profiting from the Cinderella type story, but where is Susan Boyle's cut? And since coming in second place in the reality show, where is her career?

You don't need to be greedy, but if you are serious about making some money and subsequently a career from your music, what are you going to do when opportunity strikes? When you have your 15 minutes of fame, will you bask in the glory or think of your music like a business and ask yourself, how can I build a career from this moment in the spotlight?

Sources:
(1)http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/04/susan-boyle-nev/

Home Made Hi-Def Speakers? Putting Sound Physics to use.

2009-07-01T15:26:00.002-04:00

Want to make your own speakers? Here's a video with 2.5 Million views and a string of lies.

Don't bother even trying: It makes no sense from a physics standpoint. The electrical impulses need to be turned back into vibrations in order to move air, which is the way a speaker works. Putting the two wires on the back of a penny is a lie.

Here is Myth Busters taking this myth on (it's pretty funny):

There are some examples of homemade speakers that will work and will teach us about the necessary laws of physics that we all must follow. Here is one that makes sense:

There are others out there with variations of a theme ussing plastic cups, etc. Will they sound as good as your Yamaha's, JBL's or M-Audio monitors? I can pretty much tell you for a fact, no. But it will be a good learning experience even if it's not a good listening experience.

Top 10 Free Indie Music Marketing Sites

2009-06-12T10:55:00.000-04:00

by Jason Paul Johnston

As an independent musician myself with an upcoming album, I'm looking for the best way to harness the amazing power of the web to get my music out there and heard by the masses. It seems like there are hundreds of music marketing tools on the web and the list is growing every day. Some sites will make the indie musician feel like it is the secret portal into universal stardom (Don't believe the hype - btw). Most are not an end-all solution, but rather just one more way you can get yourself and your music in front of people who might care. These are my top ten Free sites that can be used for marketing your music:

Twitter :: There is too much hype about twitter, but it can be a good way to stay in constant contact with your fans and friends (in 140 characters or less). Use it to promote shows or many artists will tweet from shows to remind last minute "maybe" guests.

Myspace :: It is slipping from its dominance in social networking, but still king in terms of musician pages. If you are a musician right now you must have a myspace. Use it for promoting shows, free streaming of your music and interactive connection with fans. Now, myspace friends do not necessarily make fans but you can utilize tools like the bulletins help eventually monetize the relationship. (Like come to a show or buy a song) Make sure you sign up as an artist here not just a regular person (because we are different you know...)

Reverbnation :: Great site for making a free e-mail mailing list and widgets to promote your music. If you do a lot of gigs, adding shows is so easy here compared to the other sites. There are some paid services there as well, but I'm not sure they are worth it. Like with all of these sites, you can't blame them for trying to make an honest living! But use all the free services first before you pay out. One great tool is to advertise a free download just for signing up as a fan - you can get my new single "Willows Motel" FREE by clicking here. (See it works ;)

Nimibit :: Free widget for selling CD's, digital downloads and e-tickets with fair commission based pricing. This is the only sales widget you can use directly on Myspace. Caution: Do not get locked into digital distribution with any company who (in the fine print) say they will remove your songs from iTunes if you stop paying their monthly or yearly fee. There are better ways like CDbaby.com

Gydget :: A free widget that can be used for streaming audio and video. The key here is how easy it is for fans to put this widget on their own social networking site (facebook, etc.) and therefore spreading the word virally.

Artistdata :: The tag line is "Musicians should only enter data once." I agree. Once you get a few of these sites even changing the date on a show becomes and hour job. Artistdata.com allows you to enter blogs, your status or concert dates only once and then update other sites of your choice like myspace, facebook, purevolume, sonicbids and twitter. I find it is still not as easy as it makes it out to be, but it's a step in the right direction.

My Band (For Facebook) :: If you are on Facebook and especially if you already have a Reverbnation setup, the My Band application will do everything that Reverbnation will do, except it's all in facebook and much easier for your music to spread from profile to profile. Sign up for Reverbnation first and it will sync your profile.

Broadjam :: There are free and paid options. The free option still allows you to create a mini site, upload and sell songs, and submit to industry opportunities (for a fee).

iLike :: iLike is very active as an application in facebook (45 million users), but is not that same thing as facebook. Like many of the others, you can post songs, but these songs can be "dedicated" to people on their facebook profiles that give it some viral strength. You can also use iLike to post across some of the other music sites.

Last.fm :: For original songs, this is a great way to get some internet radio play. Make sure you sign up in the artist/labels section here so you can upload your music for the world to hear and gain some new fans along the way. The bad thing is that Last.fm is not that active in Canada because of the monthly user fee Canadians need to pay. But it is a great way to penetrate the US market and get paid for play if you sign the agreement.

It would be impossible for an indie musician to keep up with all ten of these sites. You should pick a game plan for how you will focus your fans. Maybe pick one or two sites where you make the most money from downloads and that has the most up-to-date info. Then use the other sites to point to these focus sites. In the end, all these sites will come and go so I think it is really important for a musician to have their own website with their own domain name and steer people back to that site for sales and connections. Now go and upload some songs and pictures and let the world hear your music!

One Minute Mixing: Singer/Songwriter

2009-06-12T00:25:00.002-04:00

Last time we talked about "one-minute mastering" and it was a very popular article. Either people don't have a lot of time on their hands, or they were looking for something that breaks mastering down into some simple steps.

This month I wanted to give a quick and dirty one-minute mixing session. We'll have to keep it simple. But say you are an acoustic guitar player and singer and are just cutting some demos. You have your three tracks: 1 vocal and 2 mono left/right microphones on the acoustic guitar. You don't have much time but you want it to sound okay. Quick! Time is wasting! Do these steps!

Start playing the song.
Vocal:
1. Add a compressor to the insert channel of the vocal. Try 4:1 ratio and bring down the threshold until it starts to engage. There should be a make-up knob as well, so increase it to make the vocal nice and strong but without clipping the master fader (10 seconds)
2. EQ the vocal to drop out anything under 100 Hz, unless you are a low bass singer (This is called a high-pass filter). While you are there maybe boost just a little at 3 kHz to help the words pop out (10 seconds)
Guitar:
3. Create a bus or group track in your software (you may need to look that one up). Hard pan Left and Right the two guitar microphone tracks and route them into the new group track you created. Adjust the volume level of the group to sit just under the vocals. (15 seconds)
4. If the guitar is a little boomy use the EQ to take out some lower mids (250-400 Hz). That is usually the first place to cut. Boost at the very top end of the EQ 10 kHz + to add a little sparkle. (10 seconds)
Reverb:
5. Create a send effect or "effects channel" with a nice reverb - maybe a plate or a hall you like. (10 seconds)
6. Go to your mixer window and send a little of the vocal and a little of the guitar group to the reverb. (5 seconds)

You're finished! Export your one-minute masterpiece. Doing it in this amount of time will take some familiarity with your software, but it can be done and it's not a bad place to start. Here's a way to do it even faster the second and third time: Make a template out of your final mixed project by making a backup copy first and then using whatever "make template" selection your software has (it's a little different in each one so check the manual). Then you a have a pre-mixed, blank template you can record into. That's even quicker than one-minute!

Cubase iC - iTouch iPhone remote control for Cubase 5 - download app now for free

2009-06-04T23:25:00.004-04:00

Cubase iC - Remote Control Application for iPhone and iPod touch - now available for Free download

A couple of months ago we reported one of the coolest products that we didn't see at NAMM, well it's now available for free download in the Apple App store: Download Cubase IC FREE in the App Store

Transport View

Arranger Track View

A Few Details:

Cubase iC transforms your iPhone and your iPod touch into a powerful remote control for Cubase 5 and Cubase Studio 5. Whether you are using Cubase in the studio or on stage, Cubase iC gives you fast and precise control of essential functions from anywhere within your Wi-Fi network’s range. Cubase iC gives you access to basic transport functions, allows you to monitor playback position and control the unique Arranger Track.

Notes:
1.This will only work with Cubase 5 and Cubase 5 Studio.
2. You also will need a local wireless network that is setup with your host computer.
3. You also must download and install the Steinberg SKI Remote control extension for Cubase 5 and Cubase Studio 5 - available here