Managing debt - take a look at the solutions
“I’m in debt. What are the solutions?” It’s a common question these days, and a problem that’s not made easier by today’s financial troubles. But whatever debts a person is facing, likely to be at least one solution suitable for their situation.
We’re going to take a look at just a few debt options: debt management plans; debt consolidation; IVAs and Protected Trust Deeds. To some, they’re only words - but to others, they are the path to debt freedom. So how do they work? What’s the difference between them? Perhaps most important: which one could be right for me?
Rather than struggling to keep up multiple payments to multiple debts, some debtors decide to consolidate their debts - applying for a consolidation loan that’s big enough to pay all their smaller debts off. This means they’ll only have one payment to make per month, thus reducing the risk of missing payments (and the charges and damage to their credit rating that can result).
A form of insolvency, an Individual Voluntary Arrangement is a legally binding agreement between the debtor and their creditors. If you owe around £15,000 or more to more than two unsecured creditors, an IP can tell you whether an IVA might be the best way for you to get out of debt. If they think it is, they can draft up an ‘IVA proposal’, detailing how much you can afford to pay towards your debts every month for the next (normally) five years, once you’ve taken your essential expenses into account.
If enough of your creditors agree to the proposal, the IVA can start. You’ll agree to make those monthly payments (and usually free up some equity in your home, if you’re a homeowner), and the creditors will agree to freeze your debt, hold off on any legal action (such as trying to make you bankrupt) and write off any outstanding debt once the arrangement has successfully concluded. Please note: an IVA will have a serious impact on your credit rating, potentially making it harder to borrow money for the next six years.
A Protected Trust Deed is similar to an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA), but only available to residents of Scotland. In most cases, a Protected Trust Deed will last for three years.
Who a Protected Trust Deed is right for: residents of Scotland who owe three or more unsecured creditors a total of around £10,000 or more and can’t afford their monthly repayments - but can afford regular smaller payments.
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This months tip deals with micing kick drums.
You wouldn’t believe how many people ask me about micing their kick drums. It leads me to believe people really don’t know how to.
-ON SOAPBOX-
It became so fashionable in the mid-90’s through the early 2000’s to use MIDI or sampled dum sounds in productions that many people now have no idea how to record a “real” drum when the “band” or “live” sound came back in.
-OFF SOAPBOX-
So, first things first. You need to make sure the actual sound source, in this case the drum, sounds as good as it can sound. You might have to “sell” the idea to the drummer that just because his drum set sounds or works a certain way in a live setting, that might, (probably) won’t sound good in the studio.
One of the initial assessments you must make is determining the value of the drum. This isn’t a precise science and if you are not a drummer, this probably won’t be common knowledge. But it is pretty easy to learn. The next time you are in your local music store drooling over the latest TC Electronics piece, work your way over to the drum department. Pay close attention to the difference in the shells between the inexpensive sets (say $1000 or less) and the more expensive sets (those over $1000). If the shell is pure wood, like maple or birch, it typically needs less muffling in the recording process. If the shell is some type of wood or fiberglass wrap, as commonly found on less expensive kits, they normally require more muffling for recording purposes.
Less muffling usually means keeping the front (non-beater) head on. This way, the drum can vibrate fully and resonate completely. The ringing may sound like too much, but most of the ring will be lost in the mix. Again, this is a different mindset than live. In a live situation, you would want to control the ring as much as possible to avoid feedback. If you start recording and the drum is still ringing too much for your taste, start muffling a little bit at a time. A thin blanket laid inside the drum will usually do the trick.
With less expensive drums that need more muffling, take the front head completely off or at least make sure that there is a good size mic hole cut into the head. Muffle with pillows and/or blankets.
There are beater, or back, heads that come pre-muffled. If possible, use a head that is not muffled. These muffled heads work great in a live setting but do not give you as much control in the studio. Add or take away muffling as needed. Keep this in mind, though, although much of the ringing will still be lost in the mix, the tone that an inexpensive shell puts out is not nearly as “sweet” as a better shell. It is usually in your best interest as an engineer to cut as much of this ring without losing all of the tone.
The second aspect of micing a kick drum is the mic itself. Usually, a dynamic mic with the largest diaphragm you can find is the best bet. My all-time favorite mic for kick drums is the EV RE20. This mic is fairly expensive for a dynamic mic, though, and many home studios do not have them in their mic aresenal. The AKG D112 is a good choice. Sennheiser has its E series that is pretty good. If all else fails, you can always use a Shure SM57. You need a couple of these in your studio anyway.
The last part of micing your kick drum is the mic placement. A few inches one way or another can make or break your recording, so experiment, experiment, experiment! As a general rule, the more muffled your drum is the deeper inside the drum you want to place your mic. Start with the mic flush with the front head with the mic facing the beater and keep moving the mic further and further into the drum until you get the perfect balance between tone and the “slap” or “click” of the beater.
Here are some tricks that I have personally used with good results:
- to get more “click” or beater sound
Switch beater from cloth to wood. These can be bought at your local music store.
On top of pillows or blankets, sit a cinder block. It gave me a “punchier” sound.
Use a seperate mic in back of the kick drum by the drummer’s foot facing the beater.
- not enough low end
Set a chair a few feet in front of kick drum and drape a heavy blanket from the drum to the chair. (You may need to use a bit of duct tape to get the blanket to stay on the drum.) Set the mic under the chair facing the kick drum. This tends to focus the low end and let it develop a bit more before it reaches the mic.
Whew! That’s alot of work, huh? Again, don’t be afraid to experiment.
Philip Langlais is the founder of iKnowAudio.com, the site for affordable, practical online audio production training. We specialize in teaching you the art of digital recording, mixing, editing, mastering, how to use compressors, eq’s, reverbs, etc. Visit us at http://www.iknowaudio.com.
You won’t gain any muscle at all with a half-hearted effort. That is just a simple fact. Anyone who tells you any different is probably after your hard-earned money. You just need to accept it and get back to what really counts when trying to build muscle fast.
Someone once said that success is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration. Well when it comes to building muscle fast - it’s more like 100% perspiration. And that’s a good thing to keep in mind if you’re not seeing the kind of muscle gains you want.
So make up your mind right now to change that. Make up your mind to start putting every bit of intensity of effort you can muster into every repetition of every exercise you do in your current program. No exceptions.
But understand that what we mean when we say hard work, is not working out for hours at a time and dragging yourself through exercise after exercise. We mean following a simple but proven program and working hard on each individual exercise.
When we finally understood the difference between simply working out and working hard, our muscle gains started going through the roof. And that’s because no program no matter how good will ever work unless you do.
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In most cases when you purchase some form of stereo equipment the speakers already come with the system. The quality of speakers will depend on the type of stereo system and how much you pay for it. The cheaper and less expensive system usually do not have a high quality speakers. The speakers will wear out easily and quickly. In most cases if you turn the volume above half way then you will probably blow your speakers.
If you are not satisfied with your speakers then you can buy new ones to fit your system. These are usually more costly, once again it depends on the cost and quality of the speakers. Speaker manufacture speakers for two types of listeners: those who want accurate reproduction and those who want a more vivid colorful reproduction.
Many people are looking for a set of speakers that will produce a great sound and a loud noise. However, they are not sure what they are looking for or how to buy these speakers. Here are some tips for buying new speakers for you stereo system.
1. If you are not sure what you are looking for, seek the assistance of someone who is has experience with speakers. This could be a person who works in the electronic department of your local department store, or you could seek out some information from magazines or from the Internet. This information will help you decide what type of speakers that you are looking for. 2. Speakers are no good without cables and wires to hook them up. In some cases the cables do not come with the speakers and you may need to buy them extra. Before leaving the store with your new speakers, ensure that you have checked for the necessary cables and wires, if they are not included in the package then buy them as required. This could cost a little extra so you should have this money allotted. 3. You should also look for speakers that have what is called a bass reflex. These are also called ported speakers. These is good if you want a lot of bass. This is available on the a large selection of models and types of speakers. On your speakers you should also have acoustic suspension. This will give you a clean, tight and accurate bass. This improves the sound of your speakers.
Where you shop for your speakers will depend on the type of speakers that you want to buy. If you are looking for inexpensive speakers then you can shop for these in your local electronics store. If you want high fidelity speakers, then you should shop at a specific audio store.
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Playing in front of a congregation each Sunday is no easy feat. Make sure you are well prepared before giving your best for God and before others.
1) Practice the piano and more preferably the songs you will be playing early in the week and often.
2) Sing while you play so you can have a feel for how well your playing will mesh with the singing.
3) If you use sheet music make sure it is organized and ready to go. Write up your introductions and endings or make sure the ones you have used before are the ones you will want to use this time.
4) If you are accompanying a soloist make sure you set aside good time to practice.
5) If you are still working on your craft then make sure you are studying your piano lessons and practicing those in ADDITION TO practicing your Sunday songs. Don’t stagnate. Add to your skills. Learn new songs or new ways of playing old favorites.
6) If you are the worship planner also a nice resource to have is an index that lists songs by scripture,by topic, and by key.
7) Don’t give up because you don’t have a piano. A keyboard will keep you going until the Lord sees fit to bless you with a piano. Truly. This happened to me.
Do you want to play in a particular style? You could just purchase music that is arranged in the style you want to play. But an easier option is to learn what specific notes or chords are making that special sound.
Use these ideas for how you can keep yourself together so come Sunday morning you can concentrate on making a joyful noise for the Lord!
See more ideas for a beginning church pianist in my book The Struggling Church Pianist
K Quinn is a church pianist and author of the book The Struggling Church Pianist. Visit her website and download some free musician tools at…
http://www.strugglingchurchmusician.us
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Your piano is your soul mate. Once you start playing it, you two are hopelessly entwined, enjoying a world of your own, mindless of what goes on outside your world. It is therefore absolutely important that you take care of your piano properly.
Taking care of your piano does not only entail having it tuned up every two to five years. It would also appreciate a daily maintenance from the owner himself. What good would it do to a piano if it would just be left at one corner of the house, untouched for sometime? Absolutely nothing, and it would just gather dust and rust.
One of the best ways to maintain its good condition is to play it often. Just like a human being, this piece of entertainment equipment needs exercise so as not to expire soon. Through regular playing, you are not only practicing to become a better pianist, you can also play and check if your piano is still in perfect tune.
It feels great to let your fingers glide over smooth and shiny ivory keyboards. It can’t be helped though, especially when you have little kids at home, to have little sticky hands pounding on the keys from time to time, unless you have strict off-limits rule on your piano. So, to keep your keyboard clean, shiny and non-sticky, try wiping a lemon or lemon-salt paste over the keys and then rinse with clean, wet cloth then polish with dry cloth.
Check out some of the things you must do in cleaning and taking care of your piano:
The Keys: It is recommended to clean the keys with a light soap solution preferably that of Ivory brand
The Cabinet: Some pianos, especially those with high-gloss finish should be handled with utmost care. Use a new soft cloth to wipe the cabinet. Do not use old towel converted into rags as the rough fabric can scratch the finishing. And the small particles, even dust can leave permanent graze over the glossy cover. To clean, wipe a damp rag over a small portion and then immediately wipe the area with dry cloth. The wet portion must not be left wet for more than a minute. Repeat process until the entire cabinet is cleaned.
To polish the cabinet it is best to use piano polish. Furniture paste wax will do as well. An old upright piano with an old wood finish may be cleaned with one of those new orange spray cleaner/polisher. Do not use the usual aerosol cleaner on a piano as it contains alcohol that will react with the finishing or tarnish the varnish or lacquer paint on your piano surface. You can buy specially designed piano polisher and polishing cloth as well in most piano stores.
The piano should be positioned by the wall of the home and not along a concrete block or floor as they can cause unstable temperature due to dampness. Constant changing of temperature can cause your piano to go out of tune. But the foremost cause of the change in tune is the change in humidity.
Having a piano at home is achieving a lot of goals. Other than it being an attraction, most of the time, visitors tend to assume that when a homeowner has a piano in his home he is not only musically inclined but also knows how to belong in the elite society. It is because a piano is still seen as a classical and very important musical instrument.
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Divide and Conquer: The secret to booking gigs
Most everything you are told about booking gigs is wrong. An average band hears so much advice from so-called experts they can write a book about it. Most misconceptions are harmless. The ones that cause the most damage are the ones that are the most popular. Popular opinion should almost ALWAYS be avoided when dealing with the music business. This report is meant to deprogram you and tell you what no one will share about really booking better gigs.
It is important to attack the root of misconception fast. Therefore I will take a stab at it now. If you are a good band playing horrible gigs it is most likely because you have a skewed perspective of “time line”. This article will be littered with the term “maintaining time line”. This is not some trendy “industry term”. This is simply the best way to describe your main priority in the quest to tour on your own 4 wheels.
What is “time line”?
Time line is a concept. It doesn’t really exist. You have to think of it as rule that governs your music business habits. If your time line is too short, your success at gigs will be sporadic. If your time line is too long you will remain stagnant. You have to handle your gigging schedule with precision and thought. You must tweak your time line in order to correct what ails your band.
LESS IS MORE
This may be a cliché you hear tossed around a lot in the music business, but it is seldom followed. Playing too often in any market will kill your draw. That is the bottom line. Don’t listen to anyone who tells you otherwise. I will spare you all the metrics and sterile accounting speak that proves this point. You must break free of the shackles of saturation if you are going to maintain time line and reach booking zen.
THE WAR
You want to think of booking your band like a war. There are territories you must win. From here on out we will refer to these as markets.
You have to find a way into each market and begin your campaign. For the remainder of the report these will be referred to as gigs.
You must find allies that align with your intentions and best interests. In other words, bands.
You must find a marketplace that has something to gain from your war. This report will refer to them as promoters.
WHO WILL HELP YOU THE MOST
The one thing that will probably surprise you the most is where to start getting better gigs. Many of you started out “cold calling” clubs out of the phone book or local rag and ask for a gig. Although this smash and grab attempt can create some lucky opportunities here and there, it will destroy your time line. The truth is, bands that are already successful in that venue will be your greatest ally. If already have some “cherry popping” gigs under your belt, or a demo, this will be crucial in forging a relationship with bands.
Many good drawing bands will have very strong connections with local promoters. Promoters are drawn to them because these bands are a vital commodity in their industry. Club owners and promoters plan to have these bands a certain many times in the year and account for so much business. Usually, in this type of relationship the band can book virtually at will and many times can create bills, or cards. Your best bet is to align with such a band. If you can do this it will launch your time line correctly.
WHEN TO DO IT YOURSELF
Assuming your first gig at a venue was under the circumstance outlined above you should make sure you meet the promoter and/or club owner that night. You want to make an impact. When a promoter feels like giving you a bone he doesn’t want to throw it. Your initial gig at a venue via another band is the best time to see if the promoter was even paying attention. If they were they might need you for another bill, but you have to come to them.
LEVERAGE
Your draw in your home market will determine your leverage against other markets. In other words, a following in your market will create opportunities in others. This does NOT mean “create buzz here and then everyone will beg for us elsewhere”. This means you can now find other bands in other markets that are successful and trade shows, or “swap gigs”. Other bands that want to break into your market will want to align themselves with you. Repeating this across multiple markets, and applying a solid time line, will create success. You will also always have a good show supporting locals who draw at least as much as you do on other markets. Creating this leverage, by raising your draw, will be the key to routing better gigs across markets. How does one do this? Simple. Maintaining time line.
HOW OFTEN SHOULD YOU GIG IN ONE MARKET
When you are fist starting out, it is important to play whatever gigs you can to get the hang of how it works. Think of those early gigs as practice. Think of the gigs you do supporting better drawing bands as where you really iron out your craft. Eventually you are going to want to test the waters and see what you are really worth. A band will, at some point, have to go out on its own and try to “headline”, or put their own bill together as the “biggest” band. The first couple of times you do this it should be no more than once every 6 weeks. When your time line is ready to be set at optimum performance you should not headline any one market more than 4 or 5 times a year, or once per season. That’s right, your time line gets longer, not shorter. When everything is working properly you will play less gigs, but with significantly more draw at each.
CHOOSING THE RIGHT VENUE
You want to fight battle you know you can win (we will talk more about battles in a moment). You want to play where you are confident you can draw. If you know a certain venue is famous for having death metal bands, and your name is DECAYING FLESH, you should probably put that club high in the running to become your home venue.The venue you draw the most at should be the one you concentrate on in the market.
WAR IS MADE UP OF BATTLES
As General, it is important to have a keen sense of delegation. You must be aware that the entire campaign is on your shoulders, but you have resources and a team of people to help you. Your band may not seem like an awesome war machine now, but you have to think logically. You have to delegate.
The easiest way to start creating a draw is to first hit your friends via your band mates. Delegate a realistic amount of responsibility to the other players in your band with a real value. You should start with “heads”, or people they bring. Every member of your band should feel they are responsible to bring 20 heads that pay to get in. Instead of looking at your promotional campaign as a daunting war you will gain more ground with your band fighting smaller battles at once.
Some of the members of your band will have 20 cousins who will love to come. Some of your band members will have to resort to begging ex-girlfriends they dumped. Most of you will go the traditional route and hand out fliers at shows. No matter how, you each must meet your goal of 20 heads.
The PR and marketing front is a whole other battle. The Internet has made it possible to have your music heard, gigs found, and pictures seen across the world in hyper-speed. Properly presenting your image will be very important on this front. If you feel you need help in presenting your image you should refer to my previous article “The Truth Behind Press Kits, Bios, and Controlling Your Image”. Remember, there are bands in other markets looking for bands to swap with, so make sure you are easy to find on the Internet.
OPTIMIMIZING YOUR TIME LINE
At first, you might be surprised that you do not meet our goal of 20 heads per member. Do not be discouraged. But when you finally create that watermark you are ready to begin stretching your time line and playing less gigs. You should reserve your headlining events for once a season and only break that rule for an opening slot for a national act or a great promotional opportunity like a benefit.
GROWTH
At this point you should be concentrating only on creating new fans. Think of the first wave of friends as your new soldiers. Delegate some task to them with a real value. A good starting point is having all your friends get at least 2 people to the next show or to at least sign up for the mailing list on your website. You have a website with a mailing list don’t you?
You should not neglect historical methods of creating interest. Giving away free tickets to people who sign up to your list always gets some response. Promoting the fact you are giving away something for free at the next gig works too.
The actual venue that you play is often overlooked as a great place to promote. Not just by handing out fliers to patrons, but perhaps posters and banners. Most clubs will not have a problem with you putting up promotional materials around the venue. Always get a professional artist or art student to create your posters and fliers. This is the first thing many people will see promoting your band, make sure it counts.
MERCH
If you can afford merchandise, or “merch”, like apparel and stickers, it can be a great revenue stream for your band. But again, you have to apply time line to your stocking habits. You want to be able to create and sell a new item at every couple of shows. Even if all you can afford are some new stickers or a new style button, do it. So if you really want to get those expensive glow-in-the-dark sweaters that say your band’s name when you press a button make sure you have enough to get some more new merch soon.
New merch is a great way to train your fanbase. You have to train your fanbase to bring money to your gigs. When your fans are expecting new merch they are more likely to come prepared, or “armed with dough”. Go to Scenejumper.com for more info
DIVIDE AND CONQUER
Use your newfound leverage to repeat success across multiple markets. Trade shows wisely and always do your research. Always make sure a gig swap is really worth it. Choose your markets carefully. It should be practical and affordable to gig other markets. You want to move out from your home base logically. Eventually you will be able to easily route yourself across your surrounding markets. Applying the proper time line and work ethic you can do mini-tours every season.
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A compressor is probably the most misunderstood of all tools in the recording studio. Ironically, it’s also one of the most powerful tools when recording or mixing. While there are many aspects of a compressor that could be written about, I’m going to explain how a compressor can make an audio track louder.
So you want to learn how to use a compressor? Well good luck. It takes years to get even a decent feel for a compressor. I’m just now getting where I feel that a compressor will tolerate me playing with it’s settings. In the past, it was just laughing and mocking me because I just didn’t understand how to use it to improve my recordings.
So let’s talk about how a compressor can make an audio tracker louder. Ironically, a compressor actually knocks the volume down on a track, but then has a makeup gain knob that boosts it back up. To understand how a compressor can make something louder, you need to understand the difference between peak loudness and average loudness (also called RMS). A peak is just what it says it is. It’s a spike. The signal starts very low and goes very high. A good example of peak loudness is a snare drum hit. Average loudness is sound that occurs over time. Imagine hitting a low E on a bass guitar and letting it sustain. This is an almost constant sound.
One other concept is the volume ceiling. In other words, in digital audio we have a volume limit. It’s called zero. For whatever reason they measure volume in negative numbers with 0dB being the absolute loudest. If a track has a peak that jumps up to zero, we can not push the volume up on that track even if the other portions of the track are very low in volume (without volume automation).
Now let’s take an audio track that can be both peaky and constant. A vocal track is a great example. A vocal can jump up very quickly but it can also sustain. Let’s say it hits 0db at one point, but most of the track is sitting well below that. You’ll find that when the vocal is set at maximum gain before clipping, the many of the words are unintelligible. This is because they are simply too quite. Assuming there are no extreme problems, the first thing I’ll usually do is grab a compressor. I’m go ahead and smash those peaks down and then I’ll push the volume back up with the make up gain on the compressor. Now the vocal is evened up quite a bit. The vocal will sit in the track much better and will sound fuller.
When mastering a record, compression is almost always used to make the volume of the cd louder. Most of the time, the cd is already hitting zero, so it’s peak volume will not increase. However, it’s RMS or average volume can increase substantially. When we put a compressor on stereo mix, we can smash the song down into a smaller dynamic range. It uses up less volume. While this can be a bad thing as the dynamics are decreased, these days overall volume seams to be more important (I’m not sure who decided this). After the compressor does it’s thing, the makeup gain is used to boost the level of the track up the desired amount.
When you are learning the audio mixing process, I recommend using more compression than you think you need. Hit everything very hard. If it sounds distorted, back off. I think that compression is the opposite of reverb. While many beginning home recording enthusiasts will use too much reverb, they often times, do not use as much compression as the big boys. Experiment. This is different for everyone.
In summary, a compressor is used to to knock off the top (loudest parts) of an audio signal and then uses it’s makeup gain to push the volume back up. It takes lots of time to master using a compressor. Keep in mind that you can do much more with a compressor than make things louder. As always, don’t be afraid to experiment.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Darrel Andrews Releases New Album Spider Soul
Shreveport, LA –November 14, 2005– Darrel Andrews began his lifelong musical journey in Louisiana playing the Trumpet. When Andrews was in school music was not a part of the curriculum and there was no band room so he often found himself outside with other band members practicing under an oak tree. That kind of determination and perseverance would pay dividends in the years to come.
During the 70’s, the late great Ray Charles sponsored a recording session of seven of Andrews’ tunes, and two tunes were recorded by Bobby “Blue” Bland. There would be many more defining moments in the career of Darrel Andrews and fast forwarding to present day brings us to his latest achievement Spider Soul.
A tune titled “Spider Soul,” originally released in 1971, garnered tremendous interest recently, and inspired Andrews to re-record the tune along with many others he had composed in the 60s and 70s. Now there is a wonderful album with the same title available, which brings all of those songs to life again. The CD offers 14 tracks filled with home cooked rhythm & blues and soul, reminiscent of Isaac Hayes and the like. Andrews’ musicality and sensibilities drive each track while his past shines brightly through the instruments and his contagious vocal exercises.
Ironically, the one tune that got all the attention and spurred this project on was the title track, an instrumental gem. Booker T & The MGs and Jimmy Smith (one of the pioneers of the Hammond Organ sound) come to mind while getting your groove on listening to the track. The rest of the album is pure sweet pop, soul, and R & B vocals. There are times in life when bringing up the past can be a good thing and it was a blessing for this artist and everyone that will be listening to the CD.
Andrews also found Stretch The Skies, a full service independent musician’s resource to help bring him into the present day to market his CD. Their Music Button technology, now everywhere in the U.S. with Trans World Entertainment via their music stores Coconuts-Music and Movies (LocalEyez), Planet Music, Strawberries, F.Y.E.- For Your Entertainment, and Wherehouse, is part of selling and tracking the release as it gains momentum for the artist. The marriage of new technologies and music are no longer strange bedfellows, they are necessary for the success of an independent artist. It looks like Mr. Andrews is off to a great start.
Contact:
Darrel Andrews 2222 West Algonquin Trail Shreveport, LA 71107-5410 Tel: (318) 221-5393 Fax: (318) 221-0105 Email
Website
Stretch The Skies Profile
PR Created and Distributed By MuzikReviews.com for Stretch The Skies<
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Why is it easy to compose piano music?
Because you have to start from where you are. This should be
fairly easy; otherwise you have not started from where you are.
A suggestion is to start writing piano pieces for beginners in a
progressive order. The idea is that as the pieces get more
complicated for the player they will also become more
complicated for you to notate and compose and you will
subsequently learn as you write.
How is composing beneficial for your piano playing?
One important reason is that your compositional endeavours will
make you more and more aware of intrinsic musical subtleties in
the music of other composers. When you start to think and feel
like a composer you will also become a better performer as well.
Performing is also a creative process similar to composing.
Compose and become a better sight reader
. I remember an assignment I had many years ago writing music to
my first musical. It made me aware of many notational problems I
had not taken the time to solve for myself before. When I
started to play my piano music again I was astonished when
realizing it was much easier for me to sight read complicated
piano sheet music. The reason for this I concluded must have
been my concentrated effort to notate my own piano music. The
process to play something with my fingers and and then try to
notate the music on manuscript paper was so to speak a reversed
sight reading exercise
What about manuscript paper?
Notating sheet music is very cheap or very expensive. You can
buy a more or less expensive notation program as I have done or
you can write on paper or use both approaches. I suggest that
you start writing on paper the way that composers have done for
centuries. It is cheap and it is an effective exercise to use a
pencil and writing the various sheet music symbols by hand. Very
often I jot down musical ideas on ordinary white paper after
drawing five lines by hand. It works fine if you can’t find your
manuscript paper. You can buy manuscript paper for sheet music
or print out your favorite format on the site
http://www.blanksheetmusic.net
It’s of course up to you but, composing piano sheet music can
become a natural part of your daily practice routine. Spending
half an hour a day composing your own sheet music can help you
increase your musical knowledge and help you become an even
better musician and most important; it is fun!