Some bands only play cover tunes, others record them, and still others play, record, and remix them! I recently finished producing a band know as The Ineloquent who did exactly that. They wrote a new arrangement of a popular theme song and thereby created a remix.

The greatest advantage of creating this type of remix for the indie artist can be boiled down to one thing – exposure. Record a cover version (and preferably a remix (a version with your own flair added) of a popular tune and publish it in places that are highly indexible by search engines.

Here is a link to the download.
Fresh Prince of Bel-Aire Theme Song

Tanacea is The Music Spazz and you can follow him @tanacea.

While listening to this track you will not only hear the cherished pop and fuzz that only comes from vinyl, but you will also hear, especially at the end, a horrible buzz generated from compute/recorder noise. Please listen through the buzz as I was a total recording nOOb at the time of this remix. I did the remix using Stevie Wonder’s Past Time Paradise and a Jungle Break album I picked up while living and DJing in Germany. I have no idea who did the breakbeat, as I no longer have the vinyl. I hope you enjoy.


Past Time Paradise

Tanacea is The Music Spazz and you can follow him @tanacea.

If you happen to be one of the select few bands that I let grace the front of my camera, here are some of the things you should expect/should bring/should think about.

// Great locations.

When consulting with a photographer I would be very keen on making sure he at least has a few locations scouted out and isn’t just going to bring you into the studio with a cheesy backdrop or take you out to the alley to shoot you against the cliché red brink wall. I like to get my clients out into some pre-scouted locations that are as unique as possible. Input on the part of the band is especially helpful – since I don’t want to scout a bunch of urban locations if they want their photos in front of a barn. Scouting takes a great deal of time, but the end product is worth the extra effort. If you are hiring a good photographer, expect to go to some pre-scouted, pre-visualized places.

// Passion.

I know ‘passion’ can be a very pretentious buzzword, but honesty, if your photog is not passionate about your band and about his ideas then the photos will show it. Find someone who loves and specializes in band photography. This will translate into the energy and creativity that you need.

// Coordination.

Make sure Tom the bass-player doesn’t come dressed in jnco’s and a fuzzy top hat if the rest of you are going to are going to be wearing girl jeans and combat caps. I’ve seen way too many band photos that miss the mark simply because their was no consideration to the fact that these aren’t just snapshots – this is your brand. This is what you are going to be selling yourself as. Also, make sure and sit down AS A BAND with the photographer and coordinate expectations. You don’t want certain members of the group to have doubts or different expectations of the photoshoot while it’s going on.

// Quality.

I would go farther than just ‘expect’ – I would say that you need to demand quality from your photog. You are paying him a good chunk of money to get images that you’re going to be putting out there as a representation of your brand. Make sure and know the photographers work beforehand, have consultations with him/her and dialogue until you feel comfortable that they are not going to under-deliver for you. For my clients this means I’m taking my studio lights on location with an assistant, I’m pre-visualizing my shots, I’m making sure the shoot is going to be fun and not overly formal, and I have locations in the queue so that they can see that I really do know what I’m doing.

Next post: Step by step through a shoot.

Graeme is the owner of Pitman Photography. You can contact him @graemepitman.

One of my favorite forms of music expression exists as a mashup. Also know as the remix, music mashups allow one creative expression to be interpreted and then merged with another.
Three examples of my favorite remixes are:

Bob Marley: Dreams of Freedom: Ambient Translations of Bob Marley in Dub
The Cure: Mixed Up
Jaydiohead: The Encore

What I love most about these particular albums is the cross genre appeal and creative exploration. All three albums leave their original genre to be merged with another, thereby opening previously released music to a whole new market of listeners and diving into new forms of expression. This is great for the musician, especially indie artist, as it broaden their fan/listener base.

While mixing and mastering Andy Zipf’s Cowards Choir, I fell in love with the track Should Have Told You. I kept hearing a remix that had to be made or it would have burned in me for the rest of my life every time I heard the song. Using Pro Tools and Reason, I went to work.

The song is written with an AABAB form, which I was careful not to build too aggressivly. In order to accomplish this, I only used subtle variation in the A section of the song which allowed his story to take precedence over the remix. Because Andy’s poetry and voice commands the attention of the listener, this particular remix also required that I leave the whole of the vocal track in tact. My goal for this remix was not to change the core message, but to add the piece of expression the song led me every time I heard it.

Below you will find both the original mix and the remix my soul demanded.
02 Should Have Told You
01 Should Have Told You – Tanacea Remix

Tanacea is The Music Spazz and you can follow him @tanacea.

Enjoy this track titled Pummel from Doby’s latest album 22. Pummel

You can download the full album here.
Photo by Graeme Pitman.
Tanacea is The Music Spazz and you can follow him @tanacea.

Stephen Smith

Oftentimes, as a musician, it will be important to share digital audio and other files with the people you’re working with. You may need to distribute marketing materials or transfer session tracks from one studio to another. There are a variety of technologies available to help you do this and just as many hosts who will provide the server backend for it: HTTP, FTP, if your studio really loves you: SCP, if you have more fans than bandwidth: BitTorrent, etc.

However, most likely you’re going to end up using File Transfer Protocol (FTP) or it’s more-secure counterpart SSH File Transfer Protocol (SFTP). Setting up and running your own FTP server is way beyond the scope of this post, so we’re going to talk about how to connect to someone else’s.

So someone just handed you a piece of paper with some gibberish on it and told you to upload the files to the FTP server. What now?

First you verify that you have all the information. You need three things before you can use an FTP server:
1. Server – What computer are you connecting to? This will either be a URL (such as ftp.example.com) or an IP address (like 123.45.67.89).
2. User name – What name will you type in when prompted to log in?
3. Password – What password will you type in when prompted to log in?
It’s also possible that the server is configured to allow anonymous access, which means you won’t need a username or password.

Next, you need an FTP client. Most operating systems come with one built-in, but sometimes these aren’t very good. If you find that your system’s built-in FTP client just isn’t working, try finding a 3rd party solution.

This is probably the most complicated part of using FTP. A good client can make all the difference between a pleasant and an excruciating experience. Investigate different FTP clients, and pick the one that seems to work best for your needs.

I’m a masochist who likes to think he’s smarter than everyone, so I personally mostly use a command-line FTP client (Either Linux’s ftp command, or Cygwin’s version of the same.) If you’re 1337 enough to do that, you might as well stop reading this. I have nothing to teach you.

The point of that aside was to inform you that I don’t really know which FTP client you should use. I’ve heard good things about Cyberduck for the Mac and Filezilla for the PC (and Mac too), but I have no experience with either.

Now to connect to the server:
First, you’ll boot up your client. Most clients have a text bar at the top (similar to the URL bar in Windows Explorer or your web browser). Connecting to the server is usually as simple as typing the name of the server in that bar. Sometimes, you’ll have to preface it with “ftp://”.

For example, if you’re connecting using Windows Explorer to connect to example.com’s FTP server, you would open any explorer window and type “ftp://example.com” (without the quotes) into the bar near the top.

If the server is anonymous, you’re done! You should now be able to view the folder the same way as any other folder on your computer and drag and drop folders between the two.
There is a caveat to this: It’s possible the server is set up with multiple access levels. If a password prompt comes up even though you’ve been told that the server is anonymous, you may have to do one of several things depending on configuration.
1. Type in a username. A lot of servers expect you to identify yourself in some way even if it doesn’t care who you are. Try typing in some username at random and connecting like that. You may also try “guest” and “anonymous”.
2. Cancel out of the prompt. It might be that the server or your client brings up a prompt even if it isn’t neccesary. Try canceling it and moving on.

It’s also worth noting that very few FTP servers allow anonymous write access.  This means that if you’re connecting this way, you will probably be able to download files that others have posted, but you will not be able to upload any of your own.

If the server isn’t anonymous, once you connect to the server initially, it will prompt you for a user name and password. Type in the user name and password that you were given, and you should be good to go. If it doesn’t work, try it again. Some servers are finickity and reject your first login attempt on general principles. Make sure you spell everything exactly the way you were told to. If you were given a username of the form user@example.com make sure to include the @example.com part; a lot of servers insist on that.

That’s it. A good administrator will make sure that the connection information you get for the server will be correct. Just type it in correctly, and you’ll be able to connect no problem.

And if in doubt, RTFM.

Session Production Elements:
This session is affectionately called Melody First because I built the beat/rhythm section around the melody. I started with a bright piano patch using the NN-19 sampler and filled it out with an NN-XT synth patch. I enjoyed the way the two instruments interact with each other as they swap carrying the melody. This interaction between the two parts help to create interest in a rather simple melody.

The Beat itself was programmed using the two ReDrum machines. One ReDrum has a few percussion hits only in it. While the other carries the core beat. Instead of just programming the drums using the ReDrum step pattern sequencer, I actually performed them using trigger pads. This adds life to the performance giving it a more authentic drum feel, by recording the actual velocity changes in the performance.

The bass was done using the Malstrom synth with quite a bit of grit added to it to give some edge that cuts the mix. I also recorded a mod wheel automation that opens the bass up at the end of phrases.

Finally, I am opening the loop with a pickup beat that uses two SubTractors to create some interesting texture. These effects are bussed to a delay to give them a huge sound and massive sustain.

Melody First

Download the .wav and Reason 4 file here.

Tanacea is the music spazz and you can follow him @tanacea.

Melody First by Tanacea is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license are encouraged and are easily accessible by contacting @tanacea.

Session Production Elements:
In this session I open the track using the Redrum drum machine to lay the core beat, the Malstrom synth for my bass, the NN-XT sampler with a clarinet sample loaded up in it, and a Dr. Rex acoustic guitar sample that I panned all over the place to create interest and depth. The clarinet sample is bussed to the Scream 4 processor to add some gritty texture. The breakdown at bar seven/eight was created by combining the use of the Dr. Rex filter and a solo automation on the mixer. Finally I layered a second rhythm track with the second Dr. Rex loop player to fill out the beat and add life to the track.

Automation Discovery

Download the .wav and Reason 4 file here.

Tanacea is the music spazz and you can follow him @tanacea.

Automation Discovery by Tanacea is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license are encouraged and are easily accessible by contacting @tanacea.

Most every band and DJ who provide their own PA for gigs have their favorite active (or “powered”) speaker. In my job, I talk to nearly a hundred musicians a day, so it’s a pretty regular thing to hear people brag on their Mackies, JBLs and other house cabinets.

A few months ago, I had the unique experience of getting to hear most of the world’s best-selling boxes lined up and compared. I expected to be listening for fine nuances – clearer high end here, less breakup at high volumes in the mids there. But no. The winner was so obvious, so far and above the hands-down superior, so ridiculously better, it actually made me wonder how the other companies were going to stay in the active speaker business.

The best of the bunch was the K-series by QSC. Yes, QSC – the amplifier people. I’d never heard anybody bragging on their QSC speakers before. But now that the K-Series has been released, I expect to be hearing that – a LOT. Because in truth, I was BLOWN AWAY. So stunned was I, that the same day I replaced my own band’s JBLs with QSCs. And from the very next gig, I began to regularly get compliments from musicians, sound guys, and audience members about the stunning quality of our sound.

The QSC K-Series is a product line of three speakers and a subwoofer: the K-8, K-10, K-12, and K-Sub. Each of the speaker boxes feature either a single 8″, 10″, or 12″ driver, along with a 1.75″ compression driver (or “tweeter”). And there’s none of the traditional “the speaker gets better as you move up the line.” Every one of them uses the same quality speakers, and each has the same 1,000-watt Class D digital power amp.

The subwoofer is also a thousand watts, powering two 12″ speakers. Now, before you think that twelve inches isn’t enough to thump people in the chest, let me tell you I gig out with this sub every weekend, and it’ll easily cave in the ribcages of everyone on the club dance floor!

In fact, the whole product line defies everything you think you know about PA speakers. Last night, my band played a club that had it’s own “killer” PA. After giving it a listen, I informed the management we’d be loading in our own. Just two K-12’s and one K-Sub. The staff must have thought I was insane.

It took two of us to get each of the ridicuously heavy passive speaker boxes off of their stands. But at just 41 lbs, the K-12’s went up easily with no assistance. Sure, they didn’t look as impressive as the beasts that’d been up there previously, but I also hadn’t plugged them in yet. Once the system was hooked up, all doubt clearly left the room. With the QSCs each turned up less than halfway, we were rocking the place with 107 dB of the best sound that room’s ever heard.

I don’t know all the engineering secrets of how QSC has built small lightweight boxes to sound like monster cabinets, but part of the wizardry is in the extensive DSP inside them. This signal processing ensures that there is even frequency coverage across the entire dispersion angle (translation: when you walk across the dance floor, you don’t hear any EQ change, an annoying trait that every other speaker cabinet has). It also makes constant adjustments to give a flat power response so you don’t think, “Wow, this is a really bassy box,” or “Listen to that high end.” It just sounds RIGHT.

These speakers have TRS, XLR, and RCA connections, and basic mixing abilities. They’re perfect pieces to base a new PA on, since they can be modularly expanded through daisy-chaining. The 10’s and 12’s can even be used as floor monitors. With a six-year warranty, they’re dependable as well as transportable.

If you’re looking for active PA speakers, it really would be foolish to consider anything on the market besides the K-Series by QSC.

Ron Daniel is a professional musician (23 years), holds a degree in electronics engineering, and is currently a Sales Engineer for Sweetwater Sound. You can contact him or get daily gear specials @rondaniel.

In this Spazzcast listeners will hear about preamps, EQs, and Compression.

Listen to Lu and Tanacea discuss some of the gear (pres, comps, and EQs) they use when recording. From budget to high-end gear, @Lu and @tanacea discuss gear features, recording technique relating to acoustic guitar, and more in this Spazzcast.

Bad photography can destroy someone’s perception of your brand.  Period.  Whether you’re a band, a bank or a bakery.  You can have the slickest flash website with the coolest logo out there, but if your photos are under par people’s perception of what you’re offering WILL suffer.  I’m saying this not only as a photographer, but as a consumer.  I’m a sucker for good packaging.  Heck, I think I’m using the daintiest lilac-honeysuckle-meadow breeze soap on the market right now, because I was a sucker for the design.  This is especially true for packaging involving photographs.

Photos draw the viewing in a very personal, relatable way.  They can convey a variety of emotions – cool and dramatic, peaceful and serene.  But in order for them to communicate what you want them to…they have to be GOOD.

Since this series is primarily geared towards bands that’s where we’ll be focusing.  Below are three steps you can take to achieve quality photographs for your band.

// Hire a professional

Your friend Jimmy may own a digital camera, but that does not qualify him as a good picture-maker.  Look for a photographer with a good portfolio in the genre and a good report with their past clients -someone whose work really impresses you.  Spend the extra few bucks to get a great photographer instead of a mediocre one.  Remember, this is your IMAGE that’s beyond portrayed through these photos.  Do you want them to say ‘mediocre’?    If you have a bad feeling about the photographer – find someone else!

// Let the photographer know what you’re thinking.

The process for getting great photos is usually a collaborative one.  Although I like when a client gives me total control, it’s usually best to get at least some ideas of what they want.  After discussing I can usually take it the rest of the way and come up with the finished idea.  Don’t be too domineering with the photographer either.  He’s a professional (see point above) and you’ve hired him because you trust his vision.  Don’t try to map out every shot and run the show.   Good input might look like this: ‘We’re a punk band.  We are a bit grittier.  We would prefer an urban setting.  I liked these photos of band X.’

// Be consistent with the photos.

Don’t get your shots taken every month by different photographers with different styles.  Remember, this is part of your branding. People will get confused if you change too often. Use the same professional photos for a year or so before getting new ones.  If they are great photos they will easily stand up that long.  Another time to have a new photos session would be when your next album is being developed.  We aren’t talking about candid fan photos – feel free to plaster those all over your myspace etc.

Next week I’ll be discussing what to expect at a band photoshoot if you hire a professional.
—
Graeme is the owner of Pitman Photography. You can contact him @graemepitman.

In this Spazzcast listeners will discover practical approaches to recording the acoustic guitar.

Ever wonder how your pick selection will change your recorded sound? How about a one inch movement of your microphone to change the thickness of your tone? @Lu and @tanacea discuss these elements and more in this spazzcast. Additional topics include guitar and string selection, microphone types, placement, and techniques.

Create incentive for fans to visit your merch table. Bob spent a lot of time preparing his merch. He shopped around for a great buy on T-shirts. He decided to go with a download card instead of buying CD’s since his first full length album is not yet complete (a wise decision in my opinion). At some point, every new indie artist just has to make the initial merch investment. The initial investment seems totally overwhelming, but the return is great. Bob made this investment and he did it wisely. The Ts turned out great and the Download card was beautiful – Bob was ready to go!

I know of at least one indie band, The Ineloquent, who, after opening their first show ever for a national act, sold over $1,000 in merch! They didn’t accomplish this by giving a sales pitch between every song, but they gave incentive for fans to stop by their table. They did two simple things from stage:

1. They invited fans to stop by and meet them. They genuinely wanted to talk to the fans.
2. They also offered something to every fan who stopped by to say hi – a free sticker.

Unfortunately, while Bob was on stage, not only did he fail to mention that he would be at his table after the show because he was interested in meeting everyone, but he didn’t even mention that he had merch at all! It would have been wise for Bob to have told the audience that he had a free something for anyone who sopped by to say hello, be it a download card, sticker, or a cool pin. All he had to do was crate incentive for fans to visit.

Since a friend had set up the download service for free, the card cost him cents. In Bob’s particular case, giving the download away would have given incentive for fans to visit his merch table. Once the fans arrived, Bob could have requested fans to join his mailing list, promoted his music by giving it away, and make a few bucks in T-shirt sales.

In a single sentence: Create incentive for fans to visit your merch table.

Tanacea is the music spazz and you can follow him @tanacea.

In this Spazzcast listeners will discover a new approach to funding their next music project.

Indie rocker Andy Zipf, who “believes that music isn’t something that’s meant to be encapsulated, homogenized and programmed into a commercially viable product,” describes how his business model raised $45k to produce The Long Tail with industry veteran James Barber (Ryan Adams, Hole, Guns N Roses), through a series of fund raising concerts, house shows and investor parties.

“Music transcends commercialism and is meant to be experienced live.” -Andy Zipf

Please download this track from Andy’s The Long tail for your music library. Easier to Crumble

Tanacea is a music spazz and you can follow him @tanacea.

Many musicians create a twitter account and give up on it rather quickly. Nielsen reports a 60% twitter quitter rate within the first month of using the service.  Another study, by Rapleaf, shows that 65% of tweets originate from the web interface (as opposed to from mobile phones or desktop applications). Musicians only using the web interface probably contributes to them giving up so quickly – Twitters web interface is a clunky user experience.  I was absolutely in the dark when I first started tweeting, which was exclusively from the web or by texting, until I discovered the wonders of the third party twitter app. If you want to understand how to harness the power of twitter, do not go to the web site, but download a third party app.

The Twittervers is a big place, and there are many third party apps available. Simply Google Twitter app or Twitter widget and you will have your pick at any number of possibilities.  To spare you the headache of having to figure out what apps to use, below are a few suggestions. I have no specific reason for suggesting these apps, except that I have found them to work quite well at enriching the Twitter experience. If you have thoughts on better options please share below.

Desktop: TweetDeck was the application that completely changed the Twitter experience for me. It is written in Adobe Air so you may have to install that first as part of the install process. The app works with all major operating systems and is actively developed. For a nice tutorial on how to use TweetDeck, view this link. The best part about tweet deck is that it allows you to update not only twitter, but multiple social sites at the same time, including facebook and myspace.

Mobile: You can keep in touch with your fans who follow you on Twitter while on the road from your hand held device. I have found my mobile Twitter app very helpful when making updates and sending pics, etc while on the move. Most touring musicians I know are using either an iPhone or a BlackBerry and there are very good twitter apps for both of these devices.

• iPhone: The mobile version of TweetDeck.
• Blackberry does not have as many options, but I have found great success with UberTwitter. This app is still in beta, but it has proven to be quite stable. If you would prefer a non-beta app you can always try out the less feature rich TwitterBerry

Mashable has a list of 21 desktop apps if you are interested in reading up on a few more.

Tanacea is the music spazz and you can follow him @tanacea.

1. I tweet regularly, I’m not really sure what-the-heck I’m doing but I do it anyways because I’m “supposed” to. I have a modest following but haven’t really seen real results for all my efforts.
2. I tried it for exactly 3 days and didn’t get it at all and gave up.
3. I’m a proud hold-out and won’t even attempt to sign up for another retarded gimmick till I’m certain it isn’t going to harm my reputation for rejecting the trends and plowing a new and better road for the generations to come…and even then, I’d rather my manager take care of that for me.

No matter where you fall, there is no denying the numbers. Twitter is a powerful tool in well-trained hands, a tool to make money.

Consider the following guidelines as you exploit the real benefits of this social phenomenon (no matter how annoying you may find it):

1. Open a dialogue with your fans. Don’t just tell people what you are doing, ask questions. Surprisingly, people love to jump in and help, especially if they are a fan of yours. They will claw at each other to be the first to give you advice at the chance that you will remember their name! This creates loyalty and a sense of ownership in your fans that is priceless and not easily shattered. Consider asking them what they think about your next song idea, video, or where to play next. Ask them what type of project they would like for you to do next. My friend @AndyZipf does a great job of  asking his fans what they want with simple opinion polls and encourages interaction by asking simple questions like “What book should I read next?”.
2. Keep your posts interesting. Nobody want to hear that you ate corn flakes again for breakfast unless it’s, somehow, incredibly interesting. Give me something to laugh about or look at. Use a third party service like twitpic to send a picture of what was so amazing about your cornflakes. Give us a sneak peak of your upcoming album cover or a post to an almost-finished track. All these things will keep the fans coming back and wanting more.
3. Make your posts useful. Announce important events such as a new tour or a cause that you support, but make sure you provide a link back to your own web sit where fans can get more details on that information. I often see bands announce a new show but they don’t link back to their official web site tour schedule. By not doing this you might be missing out on a T-shirt sale.
4. Promote other bands or artists. Your fans love your music and they want to know what inspires your music. Doing this lets them into your mind a bit more and you are providing useful information (point 3) by suggesting music they might like. Additionally, you will make friends with other artists who in turn may support your music on Twitter.
5. Don’t be to “markety.” But don’t neglect the chance to sell them your music and merch either. Don’t beg them to “Buy our new album” too often or distastefully. If you want to sell the music, link to somewhere I can hear it AND buy it. Compel me to check it out by posting a series of funny pictures, or videos of locations where we should listen to your music. This site has thousands of public domain (free to use for whatever you wish) videos that you could overdub with your songs to create an entertaining piece that your fans will enjoy and pass on (viral marketing). These look interesting: controler ses emotions, merry_melodies_fresh_hare, Shake Hands With Danger.

There it is, five simple things you might want to consider before your next tweet.

Please comment any opinions, tips, or advice you may have from your experiences with Twitter.

Tanacea is a music spazz and you can follow him @tanacea.

Loving the new We Were Promised Jetpacks album. Everything about it is stellar in my opinion. The simple but solid cover design drew me in and I wasn’t disappointed by the music in the slightest.

Hear the album and read a solid review over at Pitchfork.