Marketing is the business process of creating relationships with and satisfying customers. Marketing pertains to all aspects of a business, including product development, distribution methods, sales, and advertising. All of our consumers look at our marketing scheme advertised in every avenue imaginable, and they see, hear, feel everything we want them to know, about who has created such a beautiful piece of art for them to try. As a matter of fact, this….. is marketing.

I probably don’t need to tell any of you much about this one, but it is a necessary evil. A performance, or your performance, is crucial to you in so many ways. First, it allows your audience see your talent and all the special pieces you put together, in order to wow the crowd. Second, it displays all the hard work you put in to give a great show. What you are doing now, is building your brand and growing followers who enjoy what you are putting down. A performance is the accomplishment of long rehearsals, late nights, unnecessary conflicts, and satisfaction when it’s done right. A performance shows that you care about how you are viewed and received, both during and after the show. In order to effectively gauge how your career is going to turn out, you must be able to give a performance that no one will ever forget. Here’s to all the hard working performers out there, giving the the public the best that you can give.

So I’m asked, how do you control bleeding in your tracks? Bleeding is a term used in music to describe when un-wanted noise from an instrument, voices or any outside noise, finds its way into your mix. What can be done to limit outside noise is proper sound- proofing of a sound room, or if multiple instruments are being recorded at the same time, you may want to isolate the individual pieces with gobos. Gobos are moveable sound diffusers or absorbers or both, that are designed to re-direct or soak in sound waves that are produced by another instrument or sound from anything else. There are many different types of gobos, and having the right one for you needs to be determined by a sound engineer who has the right equipment to check your room(s), but that’s another subject. Though you may not prevent all of bleeding when recording, there are some analog and digital instruments available to clean up any strays. I’ll describe more about absorption and diffusion in another blog. Also, feel free to ask questions about any topic concerning music or recording. I’d loved to hear what you may have.

So…. I’m probably touching on a very touchy subject, but it deserves conversation. Let me begin by stating that this is in no way an attempt to criminalize the use of drugs, because that is another issue in itself. What I would like to address is , why is the use of drugs so prevalent in the music community? Given the history of deaths, because of the misuse of drugs by some of our most famous and upcoming artists, why hasn’t something been addressed on how to correct whatever the problem may be? It’s puzzling to me that there doesn’t appear to be a movement on finding out what can be done to help resolve this issue. I do understand that the choice is solely on the individuals who use, but don’t you think that there is an underlying reason in why the decision to use, began? How about the families who suffered the loss of that love one, because of the misuse of whatever drug choice was made? Don’t you think that they deserve some type of explanation? Can we at least suggest offering some type of counseling to artists who feel they may need help? This isn’t an individual race issue, it’s a human race issue! Let’s do something!

Noise is unwanted sound. But in the music community, what is considered noise? Rock music can be a pleasurable  sound to one person and an annoying noise to another. Jazz music (traditional jazz music), utilizes so many theories when played, is beautiful music, but someone else may not think so. You can say the same thing about rap music, and the many different ways it’s performed. The same artists put in countless hours, honing their craft, to be able to express what is inside of them. And yet to some, it’s noise. I’ll refer back to the first sentence in this blog. Noise is unwanted sound. So if you don’t like the noise one niche is providing, then turn on the noise that pleases you!

Have you ever been driving, and out of the blue, a melody pops in your head? If you’re like me, you don’t want to forget the tune, so you hum it over and over, until it’s stuck there. As soon as you get to a place where you can write it down or play it out, you do so. I want to go just a little deeper than the melody. I wonder, if you can remember, what motivated the melody in the first place? Was it another tune on the radio, or somewhere you passed along the way? Whatever it was, remember that, and use the experience as motivation for future works. Your experience may be different from others, but it’s your experience, and no one should be able to take that from you!

Supply and Demand has been around, forever. Musicians who supply great material, pushes the demand for more of their product. Understanding how much the product is worth relies on the producer, and the purchaser. If the product is top quality, the purchaser may buy the product at a somewhat higher price, but if the quality is not as great, then the provider may have to sell at a discounted price. The same applies if the product is top quality and the purchaser wants to buy numerous amounts of the product, then the producer may want to sell the product at an inflated price, because of the greater demand of the product. Either way, supply and demand still exists. As a thought, consider the quality of a product before you complain about the price.

Today I would like to talk about how you view you relationship to music. I say relationship, because that’s what it is to me. I don’t treat at what I do with music like it is work, because work is work, and what I do is something I love doing, whether I received pay or not. My passion for music goes well beyond it being considered work for me. I have a genuine passion for music, and I’m sure that some, if not most of you do, too! When you start treating what you love as being work, then there’s no enjoyment in it, and you may as well stop participating in it. Don’t treat your love for music as if it is a chore, instead, keep it as a close friend that you never want to lose. Any response?!

I thought that I would dabble with #musicvenues today. What is it, and why does it matter? Broadly speaking, a music venue is any location used for a concert or musical performance. They vary in size and location, from an outdoor bandshell or concert hall to an indoor sports stadium. Typically, different types of venues host different genres of music. Opera houses, bandshells, and concert halls host classical music  performances, whereas public houses , nightclubs, and discotheques offer music in contemporary genres, such as rock, dance , country and pop. Music venues are a great way for you to find new artists in your genre of choice, and also where you can display your talent for others to enjoy. I would like to also include internet sites like YouTube, Instagram, etc.,. Music venues sometimes charge a fee for entrance, and sometimes there is no cover charge at all. But you should always consider the fact that these places cannot operate for free. So, next time you visit a music venue, whether free or with cover, show some love towards the place(s) that open their doors to you. It’s how they make a living.

Do you have someone who is interested in what you do? Do they hang-out with you all the time and never want to go home? If you were to ask them to help with setting up or tearing down in the studio, do they look at you strangely, or do they eagerly go to it without question? Then, you probably have a potential assistant engineer in your midst. And if so, then you should probably show them some appreciation for the help the render. It’s possible that they desire to learn from you, and that’s a compliment to you, because you have made a positive impression, and those are rare in some businesses and business owners. That’s the kind of bond every engineer should have with their acquaintances. It will build a strong business, and an even stronger relationship with your assistant(s), because they are going to tell others about how much of a joy it is to be working with you. Appreciation don’t cost you nothing but action. Try it, if you don’t already.