Question?
1. What do I need to know about beat making software?
2. How can I do a home setup?
3. How do I find a good recording studio in my area if I don’t have my own setup?
4. When recording and mixing, is there a difference between rappers and singers?
5. How do I get into the music production industry?
6. When should I get a manager?
7. How important is networking to my music career?
8. How can I get noticed in the music industry?
9. Do I need a music publisher?
1. What do I need to know about beat making software?
Beat making is the process where you create the rhythm and music track that supports your vocal performance. This is not quite the same as an accompaniment track, which is usually a musical performance in itself. A beat track focuses more on the rhythm.
Beats can be as simple as a drum track, or can contain various melodic components for emphasis and effect. It can be the same pattern looped over and over for the length of the song, or can be varied to accommodate shifts in mood, content and other performance considerations. Basically, it is customized to provide the background for whatever the performer is going to do.
Many beat tracks are produced using professional rigs with special mixers, samplers and keyboards to make the process easier, but very sophisticated beats can be produced on your PC or MAC with easy to use beat making software packages.
The software components take the place of the hardware often found in a professional music studio. While most software can handle the full track creation process, some tasks are made easier with the proper pieces of hardware. Many of the software packages will also integrate with commercial mixers, synthesizers and samplers to allow you to expand your studio one piece at a time.
Beat making software allows you to create each track of the beat separately and meld them together into a cohesive performance. Good beat software will have a variety of rhythm tracks to choose from as well as the ability to create your own. The software will allow you to cut and paste sound segments, change tone and add effects, and set sounds up in repeating patterns, called looping.
Beat making software will allow you to make sure that each sound or group of sounds is perfectly in sync with the rest sounds in the piece.
A good package to start with is Sony Acid Pro. It’s intuitive user interface is great for the first time track maker.
When you are ready for a more powerful system, Fruity Loops offers one of the most complete set of sounds and loops available. It is easy to use and powerful, but also needs a good processor and lots of memory to run properly.
Pro Tools music software is a professional level package. You will want to know what you are doing before you tackle this one, or you could get lost in the options.
For a better idea on the mechanics of beat making, check out some of the videos on You Tube.
====
2. How can I do a home setup?
Basically, you can start simple with just a computer, some music and beat making software, and a good set of earphones. Software that will allow you to create the sounds that you want are available for PC and MAC computers.
While most beat software can provide all of the sounds that you need, you may want to use a synthesizing keyboard to make entering new beat tracks easier.
Since the sounds are being created electronically by the keyboard or the computer, you don’t need to worry about soundproofing, unless you want to include acoustic sounds into your tracks.
If you plan to go the professional route, you may want to make sure that there is room for additional mixing boards, specialized keyboards and other equipment. But in the beginning, it’s best to start simple. Once you have mastered creating tracks on your computer, you can consider investing in the more sophisticated equipment.
The basic equipment list begins with a computer. Which Operating system depends on what you ultimately want to do. While most professional music producers use MACs, good software packages are now available for both the MAC and Windows platforms.
For acoustic recording, there are a lot of software packages out there, but consider some of the free open source options when starting out. The Audacity Recording software is powerful and easy to use and will allow you to develop the basic skills before you move on to more professional levels.
=====
3. How do I find a good recording studio in my area if I don’t have my own setup?
Finding a good studio is both important and tricky.
First, set your price point. How much can you pay for studio work?
The best in town will also be the most expensive, and if you are just starting out, that may be out of your price range. There are often many talented artists with their own setups who are more reasonably priced that can help you out.
Find out who is out there in your area. Do a local web search or check the phone book to get familiar with the names of the players.
Get to know the work of the local studios. Buy locally produced CDs and if you like the production values, make a note of who did he recording. Network with other talent in the area and find out who they have used and who did a good job for them.
Don’t select a studio based only on their web page or yellow pages add. If you don’t know about their product, don’t give them your money.
Contact BOSX1NERECORDSPH@GMAIL.COM for this information.
====
4. When recording and mixing, is there a difference between rappers and singers?
Yes. The equipment is different, the techniques are different, and the skills are different.
Traditional singing is all about the melody and the harmony and the balance between the voices. It is important to have a good working knowledge of harmonic theory and know how to balance the vocal sounds against the instrumental sounds to get the effect that you want in the mix. Most good music schools will offer classes in theory and harmony that will help you understand the components of the music that you are trying to record and how they work together.
Rap is more of a rhythmic art form, where beat is emphasized over harmony and most performers work in a very narrow vocal range. You will need to get microphones that are designed handle the percussive nature of rap singing. Recording rap music needs just as discriminating an ear as any other kind. An awareness of the timing, the underlying beat, and the mix of each sound is still crucial to a good recording.
As the recording engineer, it is important to train your ear to discern the different elements in the recording mix. Ear training is a misnomer, as your ear is performing just fine. What you are training is the center of your brain that interprets the sounds. Ear training will help you determine if someone is off key, and what intervals are needed to get the effect that you are looking for.
There are several web sites and commercial programs available that will help you train your brain to hear music at a deeper level.
To begin the process, good-ear.com offers free online ear training that can get you started and earmaster.com has software for Mac and Windows that will help.
Don’t think that hip-hop recording makes you exempt from the need for ear training. The complex rhythms and tight sounds of these genres makes a trained brain just as important as for recording
show tunes and ballads.
The microphones should be selected for the vocal characteristics of the performers, to make sure that the entire range of each voice is covered and reproduced accurately.
The Shure PG48 and PG58 microphones are good choices for both studio and performance use. For Rap and Hip Hop, Neumann TLM 103 and KMS 105 mics both get good reviews.====
5. How do I get into the music production industry?
There are many ways to get in, but it is important that you prepare and develop the skills you will need when you get there.
First, listen to the kind music that you want to produce. Listen with a critical ear, trying to determine how the person who produced that performance worked his or her craft. Get to know the artists, the styles, the back up performers, the production teams. If you really love music, this should be the easiest part of the process.
Become familiar with the industry. Get a hold of trade papers and magazines for your segment of the music industry. Check out web sites and blogs from established producers and learn what they have to say.
Start making your own productions. Music software is fairly affordable, and you can learn a lot about producing music by doing it yourself.
Schools that offer music production coursework are available if you have the time and the money. They can give you valuable hands on practice with equipment and software that you could not afford to buy yourself.
Hook up with an established local producer. Be an apprentice. Make the coffee, carry the cables, whatever it takes, just as long as you can be around when the music is being made. Learn from those who already know what they are doing.
Once you have the basic skills, start trying to market yourself. This is the hard part, but everyone has to do it.
If you are not already hooked up with a a performer or group, check out the local talent in your genre and see if you can find some that will make a CD with you. Sell it in person to local music stores, or sell it on the street if you have to.
Have a good web presence. You don’t need to spend a fortune. Just something effective that is easy to update and tells people who you are and what you can do. It should have ways to download some of your work and an easy way for interested people to respond to you.
Read about others in the industry that made it in. They may give you some ideas, or at least inspire you to keep on trying.
And the keep on trying part is the key. No one is waiting for you to show up. You have to earn your place in the industry.=====
6. When should I get a manager?
The talent and the manager. A relationship that dates back centuries to the age of patronage. The question of getting a manager will eventually turn up as you pursue your career in music.
Some performers and producers get managers early in their careers. Some manage themselves until the details become too time consuming. There is no hard and fast rule.
But managers can be a real asset to anyone in the entertainment industry. They have contacts, knowledge and resources that can help connect you with work you would never have found yourself.
Many of the top names in music and entertainment owe their careers to good managers. If you can hook up with a good manager, it can definitely help your career.
But getting a manager is a problem. You don’t just pick one. They need to pick you. And they are not likely to pick you just on the basis of your CD or audition alone. You will need to try and get some professional credit on your own before you begin looking for management.
It’s like getting a loan. You can’t get one unless you prove you don’t need one.
A manager needs to know that you can go the distance and really deliver in a performance situation.
When you meet other performers and producers, try and find out who manages them. Create a reference file of the best managers in your area.=====
7. How important is networking to my music career?
Just less important than your talent. But not much. There are plenty of people out there who are talented and unknown. And many people of lesser talent who are successful because they know how to work a room.
In the music industry, like in all of entertainment, it’s who you know that counts. Sure, there are the people who are ‘discovered’ by someone and rocket their way to fame, but they are as rare as winning lottery tickets. Most people who get anywhere got there through someone they knew.
So get to know people. Talk to the crew and the producers when you go to a concert or a club. Show up when people in the industry are giving talks at the local library. Hook up with people in the music business through their web sites and social networking sites.
Don’t be a pest, but let your self be known.
It’s important that you yourself are accessible.
Business cards are still an effective and inexpensive way to get your name in someone’s pocket. Sure, the first 2,000 will just collect dust at the bottom of a desk drawer, but card 2,001 may just lead to a call for your next job.
Everyone does business on the web. Get a web domain and an associated email account that represents you. It should be catchy but show that you mean business. No one cares what kind of car you drive or what your dates think of you. It should be simple, clean and not have anything like gmail or msn or yahoo on the end.
Consider the social networking sites, especially as ways to keep in touch with your hopefully growing fan base. Every time you connect with an individual, you have the potential to make a fan.====
8. How can I get noticed in the music industry?
This is a hard question to answer. And some of the answers may be hard for you to hear.
The first step to being noticed is to be someone who is worth noticing. I am not talking about your essential worth as a human being, but do you have something worthwhile to bring to the music industry? If not, keep on working until you do. You won’t get noticed until you can give them a reason to.
But assuming that you have the chops to make it in this business, you still need to cross the desert of obscurity to get to that promised land. And frankly, an awful lot of people who try never make it across.
One way to get noticed is to get work. I know, to get work you need to get noticed. It’s called a conundrum and the music business is full of them. But you need to prove to the people out there that you can do what they want done. Entertain a crowd. Whether you are the talent behind the mike or the producer behind the talent, or a combination of both, getting your street cred is a big step to getting noticed.
Get your CDs out there and get your tunes on web sites. The more you are listened to, the more likely the right person will be doing the listening.
Get your work on Youtube and the social networking sites. If you can develop an online fan base, that can turn into real world recognition.
Use networking to get your name in as many places as you can. Name recognition is a big part of success. Someone you met a year ago may see your name on a bill or a CD cover and, because of name recognition, just might give you a listen.
Get a good professional reputation. Sure, some of the big names got their rep as bad boys and girls, but most managers and promoters are looking for someone who will show up and do the gig.
=====
9. Do I need a Music Publisher?
Like the manager, music publishers can be an important part of your music career. In the modern music world, the music publisher’s job is mostly to handle the legal and copyright issues related to your music. While they are still involved in the marketing to a degree, it is the legal details that make up most of their daily tasks.
The traditional relationship between artist and publisher involves a long term commitment where the publisher buys into the career of the artist. As a result, the publisher will get a percentage of the royalties on the artists work, past, present, and future, within the limits of the contract.
In return for their share in the royalties and a certain level of control over the material, the publisher usually pays and up from signing fee and will agree to handle all of the legal issues involving copyrights, production, radio and video spots, and covers.
This can be a big deal. In order to make money, the publisher must diligently protect the rights of the artist.
But in many cases, the publisher has been guilty of taking too big a bite of the royalties and too large a share of the control. It is important that you look for a publisher that has a reputation in your area for dealing square with their stable of artists.
Getting a good traditional publishing deal is similar to good, traditional manager. You need to find a publisher who believes that your body of work has or will have value. That takes a lot of leg work, a lot of networking, and a lot of knocking on doors. If you have one, your manager should have connections that will make this process easier. A publisher is more likely to listen to an established manager that just some kid who shows up at the office Monday morning.
Another option is to handle go in a work for hire situation, where you partner with publishing houses in a ‘co-production’ mode, where the publisher agrees to protect your rights for a specified amount of money or royalties, but leaves the control with you.
While this leaves you without the connections of a well established publishing firm, is also helps protect you from exploitation.
1. What do I need to know about beat making software?
2. How can I do a home setup?
3. How do I find a good recording studio in my area if I don’t have my own setup?
4. When recording and mixing, is there a difference between rappers and singers?
5. How do I get into the music production industry?
6. When should I get a manager?
7. How important is networking to my music career?
8. How can I get noticed in the music industry?
9. Do I need a music publisher?
1. What do I need to know about beat making software?
Beat making is the process where you create the rhythm and music track that supports your vocal performance. This is not quite the same as an accompaniment track, which is usually a musical performance in itself. A beat track focuses more on the rhythm.
Beats can be as simple as a drum track, or can contain various melodic components for emphasis and effect. It can be the same pattern looped over and over for the length of the song, or can be varied to accommodate shifts in mood, content and other performance considerations. Basically, it is customized to provide the background for whatever the performer is going to do.
Many beat tracks are produced using professional rigs with special mixers, samplers and keyboards to make the process easier, but very sophisticated beats can be produced on your PC or MAC with easy to use beat making software packages.
The software components take the place of the hardware often found in a professional music studio. While most software can handle the full track creation process, some tasks are made easier with the proper pieces of hardware. Many of the software packages will also integrate with commercial mixers, synthesizers and samplers to allow you to expand your studio one piece at a time.
Beat making software allows you to create each track of the beat separately and meld them together into a cohesive performance. Good beat software will have a variety of rhythm tracks to choose from as well as the ability to create your own. The software will allow you to cut and paste sound segments, change tone and add effects, and set sounds up in repeating patterns, called looping.
Beat making software will allow you to make sure that each sound or group of sounds is perfectly in sync with the rest sounds in the piece.
A good package to start with is Sony Acid Pro. It’s intuitive user interface is great for the first time track maker.
When you are ready for a more powerful system, Fruity Loops offers one of the most complete set of sounds and loops available. It is easy to use and powerful, but also needs a good processor and lots of memory to run properly.
Pro Tools music software is a professional level package. You will want to know what you are doing before you tackle this one, or you could get lost in the options.
For a better idea on the mechanics of beat making, check out some of the videos on You Tube.
====
2. How can I do a home setup?
Basically, you can start simple with just a computer, some music and beat making software, and a good set of earphones. Software that will allow you to create the sounds that you want are available for PC and MAC computers.
While most beat software can provide all of the sounds that you need, you may want to use a synthesizing keyboard to make entering new beat tracks easier.
Since the sounds are being created electronically by the keyboard or the computer, you don’t need to worry about soundproofing, unless you want to include acoustic sounds into your tracks.
If you plan to go the professional route, you may want to make sure that there is room for additional mixing boards, specialized keyboards and other equipment. But in the beginning, it’s best to start simple. Once you have mastered creating tracks on your computer, you can consider investing in the more sophisticated equipment.
The basic equipment list begins with a computer. Which Operating system depends on what you ultimately want to do. While most professional music producers use MACs, good software packages are now available for both the MAC and Windows platforms.
For acoustic recording, there are a lot of software packages out there, but consider some of the free open source options when starting out. The Audacity Recording software is powerful and easy to use and will allow you to develop the basic skills before you move on to more professional levels.
=====
3. How do I find a good recording studio in my area if I don’t have my own setup?
Finding a good studio is both important and tricky.
First, set your price point. How much can you pay for studio work?
The best in town will also be the most expensive, and if you are just starting out, that may be out of your price range. There are often many talented artists with their own setups who are more reasonably priced that can help you out.
Find out who is out there in your area. Do a local web search or check the phone book to get familiar with the names of the players.
Get to know the work of the local studios. Buy locally produced CDs and if you like the production values, make a note of who did he recording. Network with other talent in the area and find out who they have used and who did a good job for them.
Don’t select a studio based only on their web page or yellow pages add. If you don’t know about their product, don’t give them your money.
Contact BOSX1NERECORDSPH@GMAIL.COM for this information.
====
4. When recording and mixing, is there a difference between rappers and singers?
Yes. The equipment is different, the techniques are different, and the skills are different.
Traditional singing is all about the melody and the harmony and the balance between the voices. It is important to have a good working knowledge of harmonic theory and know how to balance the vocal sounds against the instrumental sounds to get the effect that you want in the mix. Most good music schools will offer classes in theory and harmony that will help you understand the components of the music that you are trying to record and how they work together.
Rap is more of a rhythmic art form, where beat is emphasized over harmony and most performers work in a very narrow vocal range. You will need to get microphones that are designed handle the percussive nature of rap singing. Recording rap music needs just as discriminating an ear as any other kind. An awareness of the timing, the underlying beat, and the mix of each sound is still crucial to a good recording.
As the recording engineer, it is important to train your ear to discern the different elements in the recording mix. Ear training is a misnomer, as your ear is performing just fine. What you are training is the center of your brain that interprets the sounds. Ear training will help you determine if someone is off key, and what intervals are needed to get the effect that you are looking for.
There are several web sites and commercial programs available that will help you train your brain to hear music at a deeper level.
To begin the process, good-ear.com offers free online ear training that can get you started and earmaster.com has software for Mac and Windows that will help.
Don’t think that hip-hop recording makes you exempt from the need for ear training. The complex rhythms and tight sounds of these genres makes a trained brain just as important as for recording
show tunes and ballads.
The microphones should be selected for the vocal characteristics of the performers, to make sure that the entire range of each voice is covered and reproduced accurately.
The Shure PG48 and PG58 microphones are good choices for both studio and performance use. For Rap and Hip Hop, Neumann TLM 103 and KMS 105 mics both get good reviews.====
5. How do I get into the music production industry?
There are many ways to get in, but it is important that you prepare and develop the skills you will need when you get there.
First, listen to the kind music that you want to produce. Listen with a critical ear, trying to determine how the person who produced that performance worked his or her craft. Get to know the artists, the styles, the back up performers, the production teams. If you really love music, this should be the easiest part of the process.
Become familiar with the industry. Get a hold of trade papers and magazines for your segment of the music industry. Check out web sites and blogs from established producers and learn what they have to say.
Start making your own productions. Music software is fairly affordable, and you can learn a lot about producing music by doing it yourself.
Schools that offer music production coursework are available if you have the time and the money. They can give you valuable hands on practice with equipment and software that you could not afford to buy yourself.
Hook up with an established local producer. Be an apprentice. Make the coffee, carry the cables, whatever it takes, just as long as you can be around when the music is being made. Learn from those who already know what they are doing.
Once you have the basic skills, start trying to market yourself. This is the hard part, but everyone has to do it.
If you are not already hooked up with a a performer or group, check out the local talent in your genre and see if you can find some that will make a CD with you. Sell it in person to local music stores, or sell it on the street if you have to.
Have a good web presence. You don’t need to spend a fortune. Just something effective that is easy to update and tells people who you are and what you can do. It should have ways to download some of your work and an easy way for interested people to respond to you.
Read about others in the industry that made it in. They may give you some ideas, or at least inspire you to keep on trying.
And the keep on trying part is the key. No one is waiting for you to show up. You have to earn your place in the industry.=====
6. When should I get a manager?
The talent and the manager. A relationship that dates back centuries to the age of patronage. The question of getting a manager will eventually turn up as you pursue your career in music.
Some performers and producers get managers early in their careers. Some manage themselves until the details become too time consuming. There is no hard and fast rule.
But managers can be a real asset to anyone in the entertainment industry. They have contacts, knowledge and resources that can help connect you with work you would never have found yourself.
Many of the top names in music and entertainment owe their careers to good managers. If you can hook up with a good manager, it can definitely help your career.
But getting a manager is a problem. You don’t just pick one. They need to pick you. And they are not likely to pick you just on the basis of your CD or audition alone. You will need to try and get some professional credit on your own before you begin looking for management.
It’s like getting a loan. You can’t get one unless you prove you don’t need one.
A manager needs to know that you can go the distance and really deliver in a performance situation.
When you meet other performers and producers, try and find out who manages them. Create a reference file of the best managers in your area.=====
7. How important is networking to my music career?
Just less important than your talent. But not much. There are plenty of people out there who are talented and unknown. And many people of lesser talent who are successful because they know how to work a room.
In the music industry, like in all of entertainment, it’s who you know that counts. Sure, there are the people who are ‘discovered’ by someone and rocket their way to fame, but they are as rare as winning lottery tickets. Most people who get anywhere got there through someone they knew.
So get to know people. Talk to the crew and the producers when you go to a concert or a club. Show up when people in the industry are giving talks at the local library. Hook up with people in the music business through their web sites and social networking sites.
Don’t be a pest, but let your self be known.
It’s important that you yourself are accessible.
Business cards are still an effective and inexpensive way to get your name in someone’s pocket. Sure, the first 2,000 will just collect dust at the bottom of a desk drawer, but card 2,001 may just lead to a call for your next job.
Everyone does business on the web. Get a web domain and an associated email account that represents you. It should be catchy but show that you mean business. No one cares what kind of car you drive or what your dates think of you. It should be simple, clean and not have anything like gmail or msn or yahoo on the end.
Consider the social networking sites, especially as ways to keep in touch with your hopefully growing fan base. Every time you connect with an individual, you have the potential to make a fan.====
8. How can I get noticed in the music industry?
This is a hard question to answer. And some of the answers may be hard for you to hear.
The first step to being noticed is to be someone who is worth noticing. I am not talking about your essential worth as a human being, but do you have something worthwhile to bring to the music industry? If not, keep on working until you do. You won’t get noticed until you can give them a reason to.
But assuming that you have the chops to make it in this business, you still need to cross the desert of obscurity to get to that promised land. And frankly, an awful lot of people who try never make it across.
One way to get noticed is to get work. I know, to get work you need to get noticed. It’s called a conundrum and the music business is full of them. But you need to prove to the people out there that you can do what they want done. Entertain a crowd. Whether you are the talent behind the mike or the producer behind the talent, or a combination of both, getting your street cred is a big step to getting noticed.
Get your CDs out there and get your tunes on web sites. The more you are listened to, the more likely the right person will be doing the listening.
Get your work on Youtube and the social networking sites. If you can develop an online fan base, that can turn into real world recognition.
Use networking to get your name in as many places as you can. Name recognition is a big part of success. Someone you met a year ago may see your name on a bill or a CD cover and, because of name recognition, just might give you a listen.
Get a good professional reputation. Sure, some of the big names got their rep as bad boys and girls, but most managers and promoters are looking for someone who will show up and do the gig.
=====
9. Do I need a Music Publisher?
Like the manager, music publishers can be an important part of your music career. In the modern music world, the music publisher’s job is mostly to handle the legal and copyright issues related to your music. While they are still involved in the marketing to a degree, it is the legal details that make up most of their daily tasks.
The traditional relationship between artist and publisher involves a long term commitment where the publisher buys into the career of the artist. As a result, the publisher will get a percentage of the royalties on the artists work, past, present, and future, within the limits of the contract.
In return for their share in the royalties and a certain level of control over the material, the publisher usually pays and up from signing fee and will agree to handle all of the legal issues involving copyrights, production, radio and video spots, and covers.
This can be a big deal. In order to make money, the publisher must diligently protect the rights of the artist.
But in many cases, the publisher has been guilty of taking too big a bite of the royalties and too large a share of the control. It is important that you look for a publisher that has a reputation in your area for dealing square with their stable of artists.
Getting a good traditional publishing deal is similar to good, traditional manager. You need to find a publisher who believes that your body of work has or will have value. That takes a lot of leg work, a lot of networking, and a lot of knocking on doors. If you have one, your manager should have connections that will make this process easier. A publisher is more likely to listen to an established manager that just some kid who shows up at the office Monday morning.
Another option is to handle go in a work for hire situation, where you partner with publishing houses in a ‘co-production’ mode, where the publisher agrees to protect your rights for a specified amount of money or royalties, but leaves the control with you.
While this leaves you without the connections of a well established publishing firm, is also helps protect you from exploitation.