But this is also a business of good people, who?ll give you opportunities and chances and help you out when you least expect it. That?s why it?s so important that you, as musicians and as a band, act professionally and respectfully regardless of the behavior of those you encounter. You don?t have to be a pushover and of course, you have a right to defend yourself against the questionable actions of others, but the music community can be a very small town and the behavior you exhibit will follow you throughout your musical career.

On the flipside of that, there are musicians out there who, either knowingly or unknowingly bring negativity on themselves through their own actions. Short temperedness, egocentricism, brazen entitlement, compulsive lying and just plain old psychotic behavior can brand your band as troublemakers and deprive you of important opportunities that you need to move forward in this business.

So, how can you make sure that you?re doing onto others as you wish they would do onto you? What can you, as musicians do, to eliminate aspects of your personality that may be causing bad blood between you and the people you run across on your way to superstardom?

The following are a few tips that may help you to make sure you?re exhibiting professional behavior at all times:

1.)Be Timely And Courteous—Whether you?re playing out live or emailing booking inquiries from home, there is never a substitute for courteously or timeliness. At gigs, show up when you?re supposed to, be friendly, treat others with respect, set up quickly, end your set on time, break down quickly, be mindful of other bands on stage, compliment those around you and don?t forget simple things like, ?please? and ?thank you.? When you leave a positive impression in people?s minds, you?ll be high on their list when it comes time to fill an open booking slot, recommend a band for a review, etc.

2.)Make Sure Your Actions Match Your Words—It?s such a simple thing but you?d be surprised how many musicians seem incapable to doing what they say they?re going to. If you book a gig, show up and play. If you say you?re going to bring twenty friends and fans to your gig, do it. If you reserve an ad in a local music magazine, pay for it. If you write a check, make sure that it doesn?t bounce. If you say you?re going to send out a press package or a CD, mail it. It is true that many people in the music business are distrustful of bands that they don?t know, and with good reason in many instances. Build your good reputation in the industry by proving that you will do what you?ve promised. Start small. Once you?ve gain people?s trust, you?ll see more and more doors opening up for your band.

3.)Take The High Road—It may be tough but there?s nothing to be gained from returning someone?s improper behavior with a heap-load of your own. That doesn?t mean that you need to let every industry slime-bag from New York to LA ride roughshod all over your music project but there are ways to deal with the negative behavior in this business without branding yourself with a label equally as negative. Sending firm yet professional letters, making intelligent and informed phone inquiries and, if need be, taking legal action against those who have acted inappropriately are ways to handle unpleasant situations without drawing negative attention to yourself. Public scenes, yelling and screaming, long-winded and ranting emails, threats and accusations and spiteful actions may make you feel vindicated but it may chase away the good people as well as the bad and that just sets your band back.

4.)You Can?t Undo What You?ve Already Done—It?s much harder to undo past bad behaviors, or reverse negative reputations than it is to foster positive ones. It?s best when starting out to avoid acting rash as a rule. If you have a band member that is incapable of keeping his or her cool, perhaps it?s time to rethink his or her place in your group. The entertainment industry has a long memory and a spiteful tongue. Make sure when people speak of you, they?re speaking well.

This may all seem like such common sense that it isn?t even worth mentioning but you?d be surprised how many shows, interviews, tours, and record deals have never materialized because of burned bridges. You may have talent and great tunes, but if your attitude sucks you?ll get passed over time and again. No one wants to work with rage-aholics, egomaniacs or crazies. Don?t let anyone think that?s what your band is about. Sure it?s important to be creative geniuses but if no one likes you, you?ll be performing your masterpieces in the garage for grandma and her Pomeranian. Get smart and treat people right and you may find yourself rockin? all the way to the bank.

Sheena Metal is a radio host, producer, promoter, music supervisor, consultant, columnist, journalist and musician. Her syndicated radio program, Music Highway Radio, airs on over 700 affiliates to more than 126 million listeners. Her musicians? assistance program, Music Highway, boasts over 10,000 members. She currently promotes numerous live shows weekly in the Los Angeles Area, where she resides. For more info: http://www.sheena-metal.com.

But when you play it for others, you?re not getting the reaction you expected. Your friends, fans and family seem less than enthusiastic as they dully respond, ?Yeah. That was?um?good.? How could this be? You poured your soul into this piece. This was your ?Stairway To Heaven?! This was your ?Smells Like Team Spirit?! It?s a lyrically amazing ode about the persecution of pagan midwives in grass hut tribes! It flows, it breathes, and it?s seven and a half minutes of pure musical perfection!

Whoa. Stop right there, Mozart. You wrote a seven and a half minute song about the persecution of pagan midwives in grass hut tribes and you?re wondering why you?re thirteen year-old cousin fell asleep in the middle of the fourth verse? You wrote a seven and a half minute song about the persecution of pagan midwives in grass hut tribes and you?re confused as to why your drummer?s girlfriend began calling her friends on her cell phone before the song had reached its bridge?

It may be hard to believe when you?re penning an opus such as this, but the normal human brain is wired a little differently than an accomplished musician?s, like yourself. And although music is art, it?s also popular culture and the goal should be for others to enjoy your creative efforts as much as you do.

So, how can you make sure that your writing experience is as positive as your audience?s listening experience? What can you, as musicians do, to eliminate aspects of your songs that may alienate, confuse or just plain bore your fans?

The following are a few tips that may add success to your songwriting experience:

1.)After Four Minutes, It Becomes Background Music—Music aficionado?s aside, the average person has roughly the attention span of a young adult hummingbird. As a songwriter, you need to grab your audience?s attention and hold it until the end of the song before they flit off to something else more interesting to them. Although four minutes (or less) may seem like the blink of an eye when a songwriter is storytelling, it?s a very long time to expect your run-of-the-mill club-goer or web-surfer to stay fixated on your music.

2.)Tell Your Story As Directly As Possible—We all love allusions, allegories, vague references, and subtle metaphors but use them sparingly or become a beat poet. A little abstractness goes a long way when writing a popular song. Song lyrics fly into people?s minds as quickly as the bassist plucks out quarter notes. If you make your lyrics too complicated, then your audience may still be trying to figure out the verse when you?re already playing the chorus. This could prompt the average listener to tune out your masterpiece, order another beer and switch on their Ipod.

3.)If English Is Your First Language, Use It In Your Song—It?s great that you?re an educated, cultured, artistic intellectual sponge. But remember that most people who hear your music are not book worms or art whores. Big, involved words make for memorable song lyrics but use them occasionaly. It?s good for your fans to ponder the meaning of a particular lyric but give them too many to ponder and they?ll get so caught up in the words that they may forget your song.

4.)Obscure Musicality Can Be Confusing Too—Lyrics aren?t the only way to confuse the average listener. Obscure time signatures, discordant instrumentation and avant guard drum lines may seem like genius to your fellow musicians, but if your listeners can?t tap and/or hum along, you may find yourself only invited to perform in underground opium bars where the audience members have all had one too many hash brownie.

If you?re not sure where to begin, start simple. Write a short, but sweet, song that packs an emotional punch in a universal way. Write about something everyone is familiar with: love, politics, lifestyle issues or the sociology of being a human being on the planet. Once people have fallen in love with your music, it will be easier to get them to give the extra listen to your more complicated, artistic pieces.

Remember that just because a song is popular or easily understood, doesn?t mean that it?s not good creativity. Art is subjective, and truly in the eye of the beholder. Your least favorite song could be someone else?s favorite. You never have to stop being creative or artistic, just acknowledge that there?s an audience out there that wants to hear what you have to say?but they?ll need to be able to comprehend it first.

Sheena Metal is a radio host, producer, promoter, music supervisor, consultant, columnist, journalist and musician. Her syndicated radio program, Music Highway Radio, airs on over 700 affiliates to more than 126 million listeners. Her musicians? assistance program, Music Highway, boasts over 10,000 members. She currently promotes numerous live shows weekly in the Los Angeles Area, where she resides. For more info: http://www.sheena-metal.com.

The connection between music and individuals is primitive and deep, providing a level of communication that transcends language. (Music may in fact be the original language.) Music, when systematically applied, calms frayed nerves, helps people focus, encourages receptivity to new ideas, accelerates learning, and improves the performance of individuals. Here are some music application ideas.

Music Helps Learners Focus
Background music during learning discussions and solo reflection activities can be especially helpful. It creates a sense of privacy for small group discussion, making conversations more satisfying and your learners more likely to say what they feel; enters into memory and aids recall; and masks ambient noise from other groups. The steady tones and tempos of Baroque music make it ideal for this purpose. Much of it was in fact composed as background music for kings, emperors, and other dignitaries.

Music Changes Energy Levels
Music can change the dynamic of your learning environment at appropriate moments, encouraging people to move about, relax, calm down, or get excited, depending on the needs of your session. After intense concentration, play faster music in a major key to encourage better moods. After heated discussion, play slow, minor-key music with low-rhythmic activity to calm your learners down. After a depressing, worrisome discussion, play major-key music with high-rhythmic activity and short, quick notes to create a happy mood.

Music Creates a Positive Learning Environment
Providing pleasant emotional content to your learners will establish a link between you, your classroom, and the learners? pleasure. Music reaches deep into the brain?s limbic system, and creates pleasant emotions. Learners who walk into your classroom and immediately feel comfortable because of the music you play will be engaged to learn.

Music is not a replacement for effective content, nor is it the only resource available. Rather, music is one more tool effective trainers should have at their disposal. Music, by its very familiarity, does not draw attention to itself. Instead it works much as coffee comforts the morning, popcorn anticipates the movie, and baking bread remembers home; it awakens the recesses of your learners’ minds and calls the emotion to attention. Trainers, educators and presenters who harness the teaching power of music find that training does indeed have a beat!

Visit Lenn on line at www.offbeattraining.com. Blog with Lenn at http://offbeat-online.blogspot.com.

Lenn Millbower, BM, MA, the Learnertainment? Trainer is an expert in applying show biz techniques to learning. He is the author of the ASTD Info-Line, Music as a Training Tool, focused on the practical application of music to learning; Show Biz Training, the definitive book on the application of entertainment industry techniques to training; Cartoons for Trainers, a popular collection of 75 cartoons for learning; Game Show Themes for Trainers, a best-selling CD of original learning game music; and Training with a Beat: The Teaching Power of Music, the foremost book on the application of music to learning. Lenn is an in-demand speaker, with successful presentations at ASTD 1999-2005 and SHRM 2006; a creative and dynamic instructional designer and facilitator formally with the Disney University and Disney Institute; an accomplished arranger-composer skilled in the psychological application of music to learning; a popular comedian, magician and musician; and the president of Offbeat Training?, infusing entertainment-based techniques into learning to keep ?em awake!

When you put your heart and soul into a song it will become very important to you. The last thing you want is for your song to be thought of as trivial. Afterall, you may have revealed some very personal aspects of your life; things that have hurt you, or changed you.

As a songwriter, you have probably discovered that writing has a way of releasing all those pent-up emotions inside of you. There is a freedom that comes from singing the words you would probably never be able to speak. What joy! What liberation! Sometimes you want to sing it from the rooftops for the whole world to hear! But, let me ask you again, what if they don’t like it?

Being a songwriter isn’t easy. It requires a willingness to be vulnerable. It requires a willingness to be misunderstood and ridiculed. It requires a willingness to be on display for others to critique and judge. Are you willing to do that? Is it worth it?

The word vulnerable means: capable of being wounded or hurt; open to criticism; open to attack.

There have been times when I’ve been in front of an audience where I had to fight back the tears while singing a song I wrote. The words will hit me like a ton of bricks and I’ll wonder what in the world I’m doing singing about these things to strangers. They don’t know me. They don’t care what I’ve been through. Memories that I thought were dead and buried will rise to the surface again as if they happened yesterday. These kind of experiences often leave me feeling overwhelmed and exposed.

There have been other times however, when I have had to sing with all my might just to get people to listen to me. It’s almost like I’m not even there. People are talking, moving around, perhaps even bored. This can be very frustrating and humiliating for a songwriter to say the least.

Then there is always the human tendency that people have of comparing your song, your voice, your guitar playing, or whatever, with someone else they’ve heard before. One time, after I had just finished playing a guitar piece written by Bach, someone said something to me like: so and so plays that piece just beautifully, don’t you think? You can imagine how that made me feel…

But you know what I’ve learned? Being a successful songwriter isn’t only about what people think or say. Though you may have a desire for your music to be appreciated by others, that isn’t necessarily the bottom line. This became more clear to me when I was watching the Olympics recently. These gifted athletes spend years of their lives training for this special event. They want to have the chance to win a gold medal for their country. They want to have the chance to show the world they are the best. But even though they may truly be the best, something unexpected happens and their dreams are suddenly dashed. Does that mean they are no longer the gifted athlete they once thought they were? Does that mean they no longer have anything to offer?

Well, of course not! They still have very much to offer. In fact, they may have gained an even deeper insight into who they are and what they do because they’ve experienced such a great defeat. This may also give them an advantage in future competitions, or if they go on to teaching their skills to others. The real bottom line is they are an athlete first and foremost. That’s who and what they are.

In the same way, you are a songwriter. You are who you are, and you do what you do, because that is your interest, your passion. So take a lesson from the Olympians and put your whole self into it. Be the best you can be. Listen to constructive criticism, it can help you. Throw the rest away.

I’ve noticed that when I really put everything I’ve got into singing a song I’ve written, I usually get a better response from the audience. It’s as though they can identify with me and feel what I’m feeling. Perhaps they’ve experienced similar pain, joy or beauty in their lives which they can relate to. Whenever that happens, I know it was well worth the risk of becoming vulnerable to public opinion. But what about you? Are you willing to become a vulnerable songwriter too?

FREE Reprint Rights – You may publish this article in your e-zine or on your web site as long as you include the following information:

Kathy Unruh is singer/songwriter and webmaster of ABC Learn Guitar. She has been writing songs and providing guitar lessons to students of all ages for over 20 years. For free guitar lessons, plus tips and resources on songwriting, recording and creating a music career, please visit: http://www.abclearnguitar.com

But don?t think your job is done yet! The mixdown is just as important as recording. As an artist, you have to approach the mixdown from an artist?s point of view and stay on the ?creative? side of the fence where it?s still possible to shape and mold your songs throughout the mixdown process.

Remember the old ?Yin-Yang? principle which states, ?whenever you turn something up, something else disappears. Furthermore; whenever you turn something down, something else gets louder?. This applies to EQ, levels and almost anywhere you have two or more tracks.

The Beginning Of The End

STOP!! Don?t even think about starting your mixdown on the same day you finish tracking. Take a day off, have a break and then come back refreshed with a new perspective.

Now back to business…

First of all, let?s ?zero the board?. This is simply the action of bringing all the faders to the bottom (-∞) and centering all the pan knobs and effects sends.

I know what you?re thinking, you?re thinking ?but our mix sounded good when we were tracking!?.

OK, but did the mix actually sound good or were you just accustomed to hearing it that way? That?s why zero-ing the board is important. It flushes your memory and allows you to start from scratch. It might even be better to mix a song that you finished recording a while back.

1.Get Kicked.

This is where I prefer to start. Other people like to start with the vocals and build around them. But I?m more rhythm based and prefer to start with the kick drum.

One tricky part of any mix is getting a good gain-stage structure where you don?t clip the master faders at the end of your mixing session when all your instrument faders are raised. We must be careful to keep watching the master bus clipping lights to make sure they never get into the red. Here is why the kick is a good place to start.

Play your songs and watch the master bus VU meters. This is probably the only time you will ?mix with your eyes?. As you?re watching the master VU meter, slowly raise the kick fader until the master meter reads about -7dB. If you are a four piece band, then you can leave the kick there and move on. But if you have a really dense tune, then you may have to lower the kick to -8dB or so (to leave room for all the other instruments as they come up).

Now you are set to mix. The kick should be the only channel that you set levels by watching. Every other channel mixed into the song will be with your ears relative to the kick.

2.Moving On

From now on, it?s pretty much a free-for-all. Some people like to move on to the bass next, in order to find the balance for the low-end of the song. Other people like to keep working on the drum kit ?as a whole? before moving to other instruments. I prefer to move onto the drum kit over-head mics.

They say that a great drum kit sound can be captured using only two over-head mics, and a kick mic. And it?s true. Some of my tunes only use three mics on the final mixed versions, even though we had used up to ten mics for the recording of the kit.

If you placed your over-head mics properly (i.e.: so the snare sounds centered in the stereo image, and not skewed to the left or right speaker) then you will have a better stereo image of the drum kit when the mix is finished. Otherwise you might have to do some fancy panning or EQ to get a balanced image with the drum kit.

You can now bring in the rest of the kit underneath the over heads to fill out the sound. I prefer to leave EQ and effects to the very end of the mix, after all of the instruments are playing. Try to place your toms in the same panning position as the overhead mics recorded them. If your floor tom in the overheads is to the right at 3 o?clock then pan your individual floor tom fader to the same position.

And don?t forget to check your phase between your mics pointing down and your mics pointing up.

3.Big Bottom

Now I like to add in the bass. Nothing too important here if you have good source audio. I?m also a huge side-chaining fan. I LOVE to side-chain the bass with the kick so the low end frequencies wouldn?t fight for space in the mix. It just makes things sound ?tighter?. Sometimes you may have to eq the lowest of the lows out of the kick in order to make a little more room for the bass to sit in the mix.

4. Pads and More

Here is where I add the ?pad? type of sounds. These are sounds that usually have longer sustains and hold the chords of the song. Sounds like strings, sustained electric guitar chords, synth pads, and maybe even some rhythm acoustic guitars are great foundation instruments.

I like to lay these instruments on top of the drums and bass tracks we have already mixed. You can get very creative with the panning of these sounds and create a wide stereo field. This will help make your mix interesting by allowing your lead instruments and vocals sit in the center of your stereo image, attracting attention to themselves.

5. The Vox

Let?s finally add the vocals. I usually start off with the lead vocal, and then place all the harmony and background vocals underneath the lead. Sometimes, you can end up putting the vocal a little too high in the mix, and a great way to check this is to turn your monitors way down and listen to the mix at an almost inaudible level. This way of listening to your mix will surprise you, but you have to be confident and trust your ears. If something sounds disproportionately loud at this quiet level, then it is too loud. If you must, then you can compress the vocals too, but that really depends on the song?s style. Maybe a few fader rides are a better choice then some static compression.

6. The Rest

You can start adding effects and other fancy shmancy things to your tune. Get funky with automating some pan knobs, fade-in some pads etc.. Here is a good time to get creative.

It?s also a very good time to actively listen and re-adjust your mix. Is the kick too loud? Should I put some higher frequencies on the bass? Should I compress the backing vocals more? Is the coffee finally ready?

When you feel you have a good mix, burn it to CD and listen to it EVERYWHERE! In the car, in the bath, at home, on the TV set, at your friend?s place etc., and make a lot of notes. And at the end, if all your notes cancel out, then you are finished!

?2005 Richard Dolmat (Digital Sound Magic)

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About The Author

Richard Dolmat is owner, engineer and producer for the Vancouver based recording studio Digital Sound Magic. Visit his site at: http://www.digitalsoundmagic.com

Once you’ve saved enough money for this excursion, there are then further worries. Unless you are a regular visitor to recording studios, you may not quite know what to expect. You may not be able to communicate your ideas for your sound clearly to the engineer, who really only understands technical jargon.

As the hours tick by, you will be under the stress of wondering if you’ll be able to complete your project before your money runs out. Artists under stress don’t generally perform well, but you won’t hear this because you’ll be out there performing, instead of listening to the performance.

If you have also hired musicians in for the session, you’d also better be a good personnel manager. The longer they have to sit around waiting to be told what to play and how to play it, the more it is going to cost you!

It is in your best interest to use a studio that is the best you can afford. But have you taken the above problems into consideration? Have you planned out your time in the studio in the fullest detail? Do you know enough about the multitrack recording process to know exactly what tracks your song needs? Are you, or your band rehearsed enough to play every track on its own, and in perfect time with all the others in the arrangement? Can your drummer play to a click track? Or do you have detailed drum parts already programmed for your songs? Have you written detailed score sheets for all the session musicians? Do you know what kind of sound they need, and what style to play in? Have you already tried out various mix ideas and sound effects at home, and know how to explain these ideas to the engineer?

If not, you will most likely end up with a recording that isn’t quite what you expected. And it will have cost you a small fortune! At best, you will get a good recording that sounds something like you thought it would. But does it sound original to you? Has it captured your unique sound, and conveyed the essence of what you are as an original artist? Does it convey the emotion of the song correctly to the listener?

There is another way to approach the recording process that will solve all the above problems, and could even get you a professional recording made for FREE!

All the above jobs are part of the work that is generally done by a PRODUCER.

A producer is someone who has the experience to hear, not just the music, but the essence of what you are as an original artist.

A producer will know instinctively when you have made the perfect take, and will get you onto the next stage of the process without having to waste studio time playing back every take first.

A producer will have your whole sound in glorious 3D in their head before a single note is played.

A producer will have the technical knowledge to know how to translate every part of the process to something the engineer can understand.

A producer has a long list of business contacts who he can call upon at short notice to add whatever is necessary to make the sound you need … Session musicians, arrangers, writers, synth programmers, track editors, equipment rental companies, etc.

Sounds expensive, doesn’t it?

Not necessarily!

Although some producers will charge a flat rate for the job of perhaps several thousand pounds (or dollars). Many work from their own studios, with their own in-house session musicians for a royalty plus expenses. Therefore, they become somewhat like a record company. They will produce a recording for any artist they see potential in, in the hope that their recording will eventually be signed to a major label and make money. Of course, in these instances, you will still have to pay for the studio and session musician costs.

Sometimes they will even do the whole job for FREE, or for a minimal flat rate to cover expenses. How can they do this? Well instead of taking a royalty from your advance or sales, they take ownership of the copyright in the sound recording they make. This is fair, because, after all, they put a lot of their own money and special skills into the making of it. So what do you get in return? Of course, you get full use of the recording for your promotional needs!

Furthermore, many producers with their own studios, now also have their own record label. Wobbly Music is one such producer. Whilst you are looking for a recording or publishing deal elsewhere, or whilst promoting your record as an independent artist, your producer will have the right to sell the recording (from which you, as the artist or composer, will be paid royalties) in order to try and recoup their losses and profit from this mutual deal.

There are now a great number of producers doing deals similar to this. It means you can have a demo made, or release your own recordings for little or no money up front, whilst still retaining the freedom to sign with whoever you wish, or remain as an independent artist. So in effect, you will have a record deal working for you to earn extra royalties in the background, whilst you concentrate on doing what you do best, which is writing and/or performing great songs!

Since this kind of arrangement may not be costing you anything, it is worthwhile trying a few different producers to see whose ideas and style of production gel best with your own view of yourself and your sound.

All producers have their own unique style, just as you, as an original artist, have yours. This sound can be heard throughout all their productions with various artists. Look for a style that seems complimentary to your own. In other words, don’t use a Hip-hop producer to make your records if you are a Country artist!

Many good producers have a wide range of musical skills, and may also be able to write lyrics, compose melodies, write arrangements, or even play various instruments, such as guitar, piano or drums. All of these skills can be utilised to give your recordings an extra edge at minimal, or no extra cost.

Finally, now that you are off to find your own producer, here are some things to avoid…

Don’t rely on pictures of their studio, and lists of top quality recording equipment to tell you how good they are as a producer. Any piece of specialist equipment can be hired if necessary. A good producer can produce radio-ready recordings on even the most basic equipment, whereas a poor producer, will not achieve such good results on even the best and most expensive equipment.

Don’t sign with a producer who doesn’t make samples of their previous work available to you. You need to know what experience they have, and get an idea of the audio quality and styles that they can produce.

Don’t sign with a producer who comes solely from a DJ background. These producers specialise in remixes of existing records, or beats, not in the creation of a new artist’s unique sound, or a recording from scratch.

Don’t sign with a producer who specialises in a genre of music that is totally different to yours … Unless you want to change your style to that new genre!

Don’t sign with a producer who has no creativity or commercial flair of their own. You don’t want a producer who is just going to record everything exactly as you already have it, just to please you. A good producer will see things that you have missed, and will add hooks and sounds to your songs that will attract new listeners, and interest from music industry professionals.

Don’t sign with a producer who is asking you to assign publishing rights to your songs. You want to be free to sign your songs to record companies or publishers who may be able to do more for you in the marketing or promotion of them. Once you assign the copyright of your songs to someone, they have exclusive rights to them for the duration of your contract, or even for perpetuity! All a producer needs from you, is your written permission to record your songs, and perhaps sell their recordings or release them on their own label. If so, make sure you get at least the statutory mechanical royalties (currently 6.5%) from these sales!

Don’t sign with a producer who only works with one set of musicians. Although many have their own preferred set of in-house session musicians, there will be times when your music wont be suited to the way these musicians play. Make sure that your producer has a wide range of musical contacts to draw from.

Don’t sign to a producer who promises to make your song into a hit record. Even if the producer has already produced several hits, there is no guarantee that your song will be a hit. Marketing gurus and sales teams make hit records, not artists and producers!

Finally, some producers may ask you to sign an exclusive contract for a certain time period (perhaps 1-5 years). These producers must also be song-pluggers or promoters who need to protect their interest in you whilst they are working to get you a deal with a major label, using the recordings they have produced. Before signing any exclusive deal, always have the contracts looked over by a lawyer specialising in the music business. Make sure, by examining the production company’s track record, that their promise of a major deal looks likely to happen within that time period. You don’t want to be wasting five years of your life whilst your best songs are sitting on someone else’s shelf, doing nothing!

If you are a country music writer, you can go to a Nashville demo studio and get amazing sounding recordings using top country music session musicians. If you are only pitching songs to that specific market, that is great, but every recording they produce sounds like the last.

If, on the other hand, you think your music has wider appeal, or you are a performing artist yourself, you will want to be noticed in the crowd across a wider marketplace. You need to accentuate the part of your sound that is unique to YOU. A good producer will be able to recognise that which is unique to you, and will make sure that your recordings take advantage of that.

Lynn Monk has experienced over 30 years in the music business as a musician, concert sound & lighting engineer, DJ and record producer; and is now the proprietor of Wobbly Music. An indie record company dedicated to supporting the Mature Independent Artist. http://www.wobblymusic.net/

Its easy to forget the classical origins of our most cherished carols when the 9-year-old next door is hollering Batman Smells! to the tune of Jingle Bells. To most childrens (and adults) surprise those dead guys with wigs are responsible for many of their favourite holiday tunes.

German composer Felix Mendelssohn wrote symphonies, concertos, masses and hundreds of other works. Strangely his most recognizable piece, excluding his popular Wedding March, is Hark! The Herald Angels Sing. It was written in 1840 as a part of his cantata Festgesang that honored printer Johann Gutenberg and the invention of printing!

The original lyrics were written by Charles Wesley 99 years before the music, but were changed to suit the cantata. Ironically, Wesley had specifically requested slow solemn music for his words. To top it all off, Mendelssohn had made it clear that his music was for secular use only!

Though it was written 260 years ago, George Frideric Handels Messiah is the most performed Christmas work in symphonies around the world. Oddly enough, it was composed while Handel suffered partial paralysis on his left side as a consequence of a stroke and took only 3 weeks to write! Even stranger was the cool reception it received during Handels lifetime. It was only through annual Eastertide performances to benefit the Foundling Hospital that Messiah was heard at all!

Music historians have recently discovered an embarrassing credit error. Cleric Isaac Watts published Psalms of David, based on Psalm 98 of the Old Testament, in 1719. In 1839 American composer Lowell Mason decided to set Watts translations to music and Joy to the World was born.

The confusion came from Masons modest footnote, From George Frederick Handel, which was said to be a tribute to the late composer. A misunderstanding was soon accepted as truth and for 100 years Handel was given credit for writing the music to Joy to the World!

Other music greats such as Beethoven, J.S. Bach, Holst, Corelli, Saint-Sans and Vaughan Williams are responsible for lovely Christmas Cantatas, Oratorios, and Carols we hear every December. Whether they meant to or not, these beloved artists have inspired generations of carolers.

Yes, even the off-key 9-year-old next door.

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Till Time Is Right

a song:

1)
We sat at the kitchen table
as her tears most freely fell.
She said she’d like to tell me
of a friend she’d never met.
Her husband had left years ago
upon her own request.
but since that time she’s been alone
and alone is a lonely plan.

Chorus:

‘Till time is right
’till time is right
we only have one life to live
but still the rules apply.
We’ll wait
’till the time is right

2)
She had spied a stranger
while sitting in the sun.
The moment that their eyes locked
she felt her soul
undone.
A friend had planned a dinner
to introduce their lives.
Formal invitations
she waited
’till the time was right.

3)
One night she was out driving
along a lone ravine.
A car crash did seem suspect
a car that she had seen.
And when she called
and asked her friend
if what she feared was true
she said that yes..
he left a note to say
I’m lonely too.

Bridge:

Who knows why or when we’ll meet again.
If we’ll crawl or if we’ll fly.
But I know one thing
that’s clear fell from my mother’s eyes.

About the Author:

Kathy Ostman-Magnusen Hawaii, United States

Aloha! I am a figurative artist and Illustrator. If you check out my website you will see that I am very prolific in oils. My paintings are collected worldwide. I also do sculpture; images available upon request. I have illustrated for Hay House Inc. , Neil Davidson, who was considered for the Pulitzer Prize in feature writing, and several other publications. I also enjoy story writing and poetry. All of the paintings,stories and poems on my blogs and website are written by me.

Check out my website http://www.kathysart.com or one of my blogs at: http://kathysart.blogspot.com/

Aloha

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