When producing music, whether for a band, a film, an album, or an instrumental ensemble, musicians have a tendency to stick with what they know. And while sticking to a particular genre will help you develop your distinct musical style, branching out to styles you are unfamiliar with will not only expand your horizons, but also will make you more marketable.  When working on a new project, I always ask myself what kind of style would work best? In 2002 I wrote some music for up and coming director Kalup Linzy 's film series  "All My Churen ". He wanted a dance music score. I didn't have much experience in dance music, besides some fiddling with a synth in class. Fortunately, there was a local dance music radio station which I tuned into for three months straight. Not only did I get the beats, I also learned how to change my vocal pitch to match the thin tones of many of the artists. The title track, World Order #1 , is still one of my more successful "pop"...

10 Tips on Creating a Quiet Acoustic Recording Environment in Your Home Music Studio Chances are, you don't have a ton of money to make your home studio into top of the line, soundproof, professional-level, recording studio. Doing so would most likely involve tearing down your whole house and beginning from the ground up with top architects specializing in acoustics.  Yet, home studios are giving professional studios a run for their money, as professional level consumer software makes the PC (or Mac), one's own audio/video editing workstations. So, how can you better soundproof your studio affordably? Here are some tips: FIND THE QUIETEST ROOM IN YOUR HOME/APARTMENT . Look out for things like air conditioners, being too close to the street, a noisy neighbor, an uninsulated window that lets in outside noise. And, while the garage is great for band practice, for recording, you want to be somewhere that you can control both the temperature (for the equipment) a...

Percussion 101: Percussion Families When most people ask what I play, I say "Percussion". They usually look at me with a questioning look, and a "Oh, that's nice". Then I say, "I play the drums." The lightbulb hits. "Oh, you are a DRUMMER!" Percussion is more than Animal banging on a set of toms. It is more than "More COWBELL!" and it is definitely more than that little monkey that plays the cymbals. There are several different groups of percussion instruments. Since percussion instruments essentially include anything you hit or shake to make noise (including noisemakers like bird whistles, car brake drums, radios, and the kitchen sink), being able to include every instrument seems like a daunting task.  Generally musicians group percussion into pitched and non-pitched percussion. Here are some basic pitched Percussion Instruments:  Pitched Metals : Bells, Crotales, Vibraphone, Chimes Pitched Wood : Marimba, Xylophone Pitched Drum...

Let's say you are aspiring to be the most memorable singer/songwriter/performer of all time, but it's the first time in that you have been in the studio and you are creating your first masterpiece.  Whether you are slamming together some sweet dance beats , crooning out a ballade, trippin' on rock n roll , composing your first string quartet , or trying to be the next Jordin Sparks, there are some things that will guarantee that your latest CD will end up at the bottom of the discard pile. So here you go, in no particular order: 20 Tips on How to Create Crappy Music 1) Make sure that your demo tape sounds like you recorded it at a construction site . The extra racket from the bulldozers and jackhammers will add a little bit of finesse to your delicate lyrics. 2) Make sure every lyric rhymes with the word " blue ".   3) If you can't afford a real musician to play the sick guitar solo, practice Guitar Hero  until you are blue in the face and then record your new...

With the advent of You Tube, almost anyone with a computer and a webcam can become a director. Here is something to think about: 70% of a viewer's movie enjoyment lies in the quality of the sound Not 5%, or 25%, or an even 50-50%. In other words, most viewers prefer watching a cruddy movie with an AMAZING soundtrack than watching an inspiring and well-written story that has a junky soundtrack and the noise of jets from the nearby airport wrecking ever-so-inspiring dialogue.  Another over-done mistake by You Tube and amateur directors is including the latest Top 40 hit as their soundtrack. Unless you have worked out copyright and license arrangements with the artist, while your video may have Oscar-worthy performances and a compelling script, it is no more than really good fan-art. Popular soundtracks have their own popularity and their own cultural connotations, which means use of these tracks already taints your work with the image of the artist. Besides, without the rights, you c...

In these hard economic times, many composers cannot afford the costs of having their scores professionally bound. At the local printshop, scores can cost anything from $5 to $25+ each, depending on size, paper quality, number of pages, graphics, etc. I have saved myself literally thousands of dollars by learning how to print my own scores. With an initial investment of about $100 for a binding machine, coils, and paper, within the first month, I made back twice that amount of money. Not only is is great to save money, it is extremely convenient for creating last minute copies for submissions, forgetful musicians, interviews, etc. A binding machine is also great for grant proposals and job applications. What you will need: A Binding Machine A standard manual comb binding machine, adjustable for letter-sized and up to 50 regular 24 lb. paper usually runs less than $100. There are extremely inexpensive hand punching models, but these are limited in that they only punch a limited number of...

Musical inspiration doesn't always come easily. There are days when you get a concussion from hitting a creative brick wall repeatedly or days when you look at the last month's worth of writing, hit DELETE, and start all over again. Here are a few ways that I try to push the inspiration along. Take a break. Sometimes hitting the grind over and over only produces a lot of shlock. Instead, take a break from your music for an hour, a day, or even a week or so, and explore other avenues of creativity. Get references. Visual artists often have a scrapbook full of references (pictures and photos of people, buildings, plants, etc.) which they refer to as they are creating their latest masterpiece. For the piece I am composing right now for an upcoming Halloween concert, I bought a book of ghost stories, a CD of scary music and sounds, surfed You Tube for freaky videos, and went shopping at Goodwill for inspirational artifacts (like a super creepy painting of a Victorian era girl). Don...