10 Money-Saving Tips for Musicians: Create Music Without Breaking the Bank  1. Work from a home studio . Snapshot of my home studio. You can literally save thousands by investing in a basic home studio. You can start with just a quiet room (or a room padded with rugs to insulate), a computer, and some basic software. You will have to look into what you need. Do you mostly mix beats with some sampled vocals? Then a PC and a good mic is probably all you need. Do you work with video and music? Then you will need a faster computer and software that allows for scoring to music. Do you have a live band? Then look into a home studio set up where the recording equipment and the band are separated by a room (or dividers, at least). While it is ideal to be able to record with top-notch engineers in a sweet acoustic space, most folks do not have the cash to back it. Instead of letting your project sit and get stale, get your hands dirty and learn how to record from home. Then release...

Lucinda McNary (Exclusive NMR Interview with Director, Animator, and Machinima Guru Lucinda McNary) NMR: Tell us a little bit about yourself. When and how did you become involved in filmmaking and machinima? McNary: I was born in Kansas City, Missouri and both my parents were artists and my father was also an architect.   All I ever wanted to do was draw and paint and then I discovered film making and found I loved animation because of the artistic element.   Machinima Film Vautrin I went to college and majored in Biology as at one time I wanted to be a doctor. I moved to San Francisco in the mid sixties and then New York in 1968. Then I came back to Kansas City in 1981. I met my husband Mark here and we moved to St. Louis in 1994 and moved back here about 6 years ago as he got a good job here.  I am married and have 18 year old twins, a boy and a girl who we adopted when they were 6 years old.My husband is Mark McNary and he is a DBA and Sy...

Composing for Tape/Multimedia and Live Musicians Composing for tape, media, and live performers is closely related to composing film music. Just like a live orchestra must have a score perfectly synced to what is happening in the film, a score for multimedia and live performers has to be perfectly timed and in sync for the performance to succeed. This usually means: 1) Including Time Code in the score 2) Including audio and/or visual cues in the score 3) Many hours syncing up measures and notes with time code 4) For rehearsal (and possibly concert purposes), a practice CD or DVD with a click track for each performer and the conductor 5) Neat, legible, and professional quality music scores 6) As much communication as possible between composer and the ensemble during the creative process 7) It is up to the composer, not the ensemble, to make the entire composition understandable and performable by providing clear instructions, legible scores, and playable music. A note here: There ...