Today's post is a guest post from How To License Your Music.com's resident Music Production and Engineering expert, Gary Gray.
Gary.... Take it away!
Trash vs.
Cash
How the Music
Licensing Industry has Drastically Changed.
And How it
has Remained Exactly the Same.
By Gary Gray
Resident Award-Winning Producer/Engineer
for
HowToLicenseYourMusic.com
Winner 2013 UK Songwriting Contest -
Finalist
Clients Include Multi-Platinum
Recording Artists and Disney
Aaron
Davison and I released two important courses within the last year: "How To
Produce Music That Will Get Licensed and Make You Money," and "Mysteries Of
Mastering Solved." With Aaron's help, I
also released a book called "30 Years In 30 Days - Discover 30 Years of Music
Production and Audio Engineering Secrets - In Just 30 Days!" I've been working
with students all over the world who have signed up for these courses and
purchased the book and the results have been incredible.
Here's
a direct quote from the course "Mysteries Of Mastering Solved." During an interview with Aaron, he asked me,
"How important would you say the quality of a recording is in terms of closing
licensing deals?"
"Production quality is the first thing
Music Supervisors and Publishers listen to. You could create the perfect song;
the perfect music - that could have been the theme song for a Major Motion
Picture and it'll go in the trash if it's not produced and mastered well."
In
fact, I have taken my own words to heart and have recently completed many hours
of research on how to even more effectively and efficiently raise the standards
of music production quality without
wasting time.
But
before I go any further, since this is the Holiday Season, I figured I would
offer a gift to you. Between now and
December 31st, 2013, I will give you a personal written critique of
one of your tracks. Email me at gary@LearnAudioEngineering.net
with a SoundCloud link to your music and you will receive a free detailed
written pdf critique of your production, with suggestions on how to improve it,
if necessary. The first 25 people who
email me will also receive a free 15 minute Skype Consultation. This will help me tremendously on research
for my upcoming book.
I
noticed something interesting amongst the many students and clients that I
service around the world. Some may or
may not have a problem with finances regarding their career. But even those who DO have the money to sink
into their careers share a single dilemma with those who consider they DON'T
have enough money to sink into their careers:
Not
enough time.
Most
people who are working on building up a career in Music Licensing -- until
they've "made it" -- have to pay their
bills doing other things than working on their own music. So that leaves only part of a day left over
to work on their music career.
And
since music production is so thoroughly computer-centric, all kinds of
frustrations and problems can arise which Waste Time. And Wasted Time (not lack of money) is the
biggest demon that can tear down even the most patient, passionate and
dedicated Soldier of Sound.
One
key theme that weaves through both courses and my book, is the subject of how
to identify and stay away from several areas of False Information that are
still taught in the field of Digital Recording, Mixing and Mastering. Once you learn what areas are False, Unnecessary
and in some cases Counter-Productive --
I teach you the workable approaches to Music Production and the
truth. And this SAVES A LOT OF TIME (not
to mention headaches, frustration and in some cases the decision to give up).
The
biggest inspiration that keeps me going and gives me the tools to succeed has
been and continues to be Aaron Davison and his website
HowToLicenseYourMusic.com. I appreciate
the opportunity given to me by Aaron to help the members of his International community
with my area of expertise: Music Production and Audio Engineering.
So,
in order to help Indie Musicians eradicate wasted time and frustration while
pursuing their goals in Music Licensing, I've been doing extensive new research
for a new Course and Book that I am collaborating with Aaron on for release in
2014. It covers how the Music Licensing
world is drastically changing - AND how it's staying exactly the same. However, I will let you in on some of the initial
findings and how you can use this information right now in order to use your
time much more wisely and productively.
How The Music
Licensing Industry Is Drastically Changing
This
is a story we've all heard before and it's nothing new. Technology and the
Internet are creating both incredible opportunities and formidable challenges
for Indie Musicians. Licensing Deals, Publishing Deals, Corporate
Opportunities, Deal Structuring, Pay Scales, Royalty Rates, Collaboration
Agreements, Copyright Laws and Unique Business Practices, Business Models & Arrangements seem to be changing on an
almost daily basis!
Thankfully,
HowToLicenseYourMusic.com exists. The
way to stay on top of these changes is to utilize the golden resource of this
website and Aaron Davison, who has dedicated himself to making sure you benefit
from his vast knowledge and the fact that he keeps his finger on the pulse of
the Music Licensing world daily. If you
ever have the opportunity to take one of his 90 day Challenges and/or to receive
a Skype Consultation with Aaron, believe me - it is definitely NOT a waste of
time. It's a process that you should do
and re-do throughout your career in order to stay on top of all these changes,
thereby putting the odds in your favor to continually improve your successes
and earnings with Music Licensing.
How The Music
Licensing Industry Has Stayed
Exactly The
Same
The
Music Licensing Industry, along with the entire Music Industry has stayed
exactly the same (and I predict it always will) -- in this way:
High
Quality Music Produced Professionally Rises To The Top
It's
amazing, in fact, how unstoppable the above scenario plays out in real life.
There
are countless examples. Here's a great
one:
Gotye,
a previously totally unknown Indie Musician from Australia wrote and recorded,
in his own home studio (in a barn) a song called "Someone That I Used To Know." The song became a #1 Hit in 18 Countries and
won two Grammy Awards this year.
Gotye
built his success by writing great songs produced extremely well in his own
home studio. He even did his own
promotion and distribution by sending his recordings to Australian radio
stations. One particular station played
and promoted his music regularly. When
he released "Someone That I Used To Know," Ashton Kutcher and Lily Allen both
happened to hear it and Tweeted about how good it was online. And from there, the rest is history.
There
is ample hope for you and I believe that any Indie Musician who works hard and
smart can rise to International Success.
Like
Gotye did, you just need to learn how to create quality music, how to produce
and engineer it professionally, and how to navigate the business world.
To
help you on your way in terms of professionally producing and engineering your
music, I'm including some of the initial results of research that I've just
completed with many students around the world and what problems they are
running into and how to solve those problems:
1. The World of Computers and The
Quality of Your Music.
I
have found that Indie Musicians who have slowed down their dream or who have
given up altogether, often were unable to jump over this hurdle: Computer Limitations. These limitations are divided into two areas,
a.
Limitations of Computer Education and/or
b.
Limitations of Their Computer itself.
Some
Indie Musicians were total geeks who knew how to get a computer to drive a car,
but had a limited budget and couldn't afford a better computer to do even the
basic requirements needed for Digital Music Production. This caused great frustration and countless
hours of wasted time "waiting" for their computers to compute. I am very familiar with this problem, because
I put up with this for a year when I first started out in Digital Music
Production.
And
some Indie Musicians had the budget for incredible computing machines, but
lacked the Computer Education of how to set it up for optimal recording and
how to operate their recording programs.
For
those who are geeks without a budget, the solution is easier said than done -
but it IS THE solution. I know because
when I finally did it myself, my career took off like a rocket. The solution?
Do whatever you have to do to save up for a good computer and buy
one. But before you do, MAKE SURE you
find a friend, a family member, a colleague, anyone close to you, who KNOWS
computers inside and out. Make sure you
get good advice on WHAT computer to buy and what recording program will suit
your needs best before you buy them. My
computer tech is my BEST friend. Believe
me.
Once
you get a decent computer, enroll in the courses "How To Produce Music That
Will Get Licensed And Make You Money," and "Mysteries of Mastering Solved." On purpose, Aaron and I ensured that the cost
of these courses remain very low, so that the Indie Musician could afford them.
2. The New Secret of PROPER A/B'ing.
I
found that many students around the world were not confident in knowing whether
their recordings were good enough to compete with commercial recordings. The subject of A/B'ing (comparing your
recording with commercial recordings) is covered in detail on both
courses. However, I'm going to give you
a tip that I recently developed that takes A/B'ing to a much higher level and
also saves even more time, so you can get the quality you want much quicker.
Rather
than A/B'ing your mix to a commercial mix during the mixing process, and then A/B'ing your master to a commercial
master during the mastering process,
I've developed an assembly line that ensures that your recordings will
end up totally competitive when they are completed - and much more quickly. It goes like this:
a.
Early on during your mixing process,
when you have a decent "rough mix,"
export the mix and fully master it.
Even if it's just the intro of your piece and you have nothing else completed. A/B that master to the commercial master recording
your are using (all commercial A/B recordings you use should be somewhat
similar to the sound and style of your recording).
b.
Burn a CD of your mastered recording and of the commercial recording and listen
in the living room, your car, your friends house, etc., and compare those two recordings, taking notes
of any differences that you hear about your recording that are bothering you.
c.
Address those differences by working with your MIX, making any necessary
adjustments, and then mastering what you have mixed again.
d.
Repeat a, b and c above throughout the course of your project - NOT JUST
AT THE END OF YOUR PROJECT. The amount of time saved is amazing and the quality
will be awesome. Guaranteed.
3.
Measure Thrice Cut Precise.
Many
students did not spend enough time on important aspects of Mixing/Mastering and
spent too much time on unimportant aspects of Mixing/Mastering.
When
I was growing up and worked in the construction industry while building up my
music career, I ran crews of workers on construction projects, many of which
involved building high quality furniture (which is very similar to the process
of Mixing and Mastering). I was told by
my bosses that those who worked under me had to "Measure Twice and Cut Once" -
because of constant problems with workers making inaccurate initial
measurements, cutting wood wrong, and then having to go back to do double work,
wasting time and resources.
I
found this to be such a big problem that I came up with my own saying, and
enforced it -- which earned me a promotion:
"Measure Thrice, Cut Precise."
In
the Mixing and Mastering world this is translated this way:
Important
Priorities Of Mixing and Mastering:
a.
Laying down instruments/voices which are IN TUNE and IN TIME. Rhythm and Pitch are MEASUREMENTS of music. Laying down sloppy rhythmic performances
and/or out of tune instruments/voices, causes double work, wasted time and
wasted resources. AND WILL LOSE YOU
LICENSING DEALS! If you are going to spend time on production and engineering,
here is where to spend the bulk of your time.
It will SAVE you time and trouble in the Mixing and Mastering process
and allow you to record more recordings with higher quality.
b.
EQ'ing individual tracks WHILE LISTENING TO THE ENTIRE MIX rather than EQ'ing
tracks solo'd until they "sound great" will save you enormous amounts of time
and will increase the quality of your tracks.
I call the process of listening to the entire mix while working on
individual tracks COMPOSITE PERCEPTION, or listening to the whole, rather than
the parts. Yes, there are times when you
need to solo tracks to work with them, but usually this is way overdone with
way too much time wasted on working tracks solo'd. Once you pull up the entire
mix again, your "great" track doesn't sound so great with everything else
playing.
4.
A New Secret To Getting Great Vocal Recordings
The
quality and price of the microphone you are using is way less important than
how well the singer sings and how well the engineer and producer do their
jobs. I've said this before. But recently I discovered a not-so-small
detail that will immediately allow you to get Major Record Label quality vocal
recordings in your own home studio:
The
problem? I was watching a local student
recording vocals recently. I was sitting
back just observing. I then listened to
the tracks and was helping the student Mix and Master. No matter what I did to that vocal track, it
sounded inconsistent. We could not get
the chorus to match the quality of the verse no matter what. The vocal production on the verses sounded
awesome, but the choruses were sounding thin and washed out - and yet the
choruses were LOUDER than the verses.
So
I watched the singer very carefully.
This singer was very experienced on stage but did not have much
experience recording in the studio. When the louder choruses were being sung,
the singer stepped back from the mic (stepping back from the mic a little
bit is ok in the studio, but not like when you are on stage).
I
had gone over this with the student engineer and the singer, but it was such a
habit, that the singer still stepped back too much.
So,
I played back the vocal track for the student and singer and had them listen to
exactly what was going on. The verses
sounded rich, warm, bright, breathy and real (the singer was singing closer to
the mic) but the choruses sounded thin, weak, distant and less emotional.
Here's
the solution:
a. Before recording vocals have the singer sing
into the mic, telling the singer to sing the loudest section of the song. Adjust the input level accordingly so that it
doesn't distort.
b.
Do NOT then think that the rest of the recording will be too soft. THIS is where students were going wrong. They would then fiddle with the adjustment
just made, and/or tell the singer to step back away from the mic during the
loud sections. There is a law of digital recording which is mostly NOT taught
out in the real world: that recording levels which were necessary for TAPE
recordings are NOT NECESSARY FOR DIGITAL RECORDINGS. The specifications of TAPE RECORDING are
STILL BEING TAUGHT TO DIGITAL PRODUCER/ENGINEERS!! A "low" level recording of a vocal (or
anything for that matter) is NOT a problem with digital technology. Why?
Because there is no TAPE NOISE to compete with like their used to
be. That's why with tape, you had to get
the level of recording up to near distortion even during quiet passages
(especially during quiet passages!) so that you wouldn't hear the hiss and
rumble of the tape and tape machine. It's
called the Signal To Noise Ratio.
c.
Just because you have asked the singer to sing the loudest part of the song for
you during your input signal testing and adjustment DO NOT THINK YOUR ARE DONE
ADJUSTING.
Now
- get the singer to show you where the loudest part of the song is on the file
itself. Have them actually do a test recording
of that part of the song, making sure you have the level of the music
comfortable for them to sing to. You
will find that no matter how loud they sang when you first tested the loudest
passage without the music playing, that they WILL sing it LOUDER when you are
actually recording with the music playing.
Re-adjust the input of the microphone during this test recording
process. IMPORTANT NOTE: Tell them (nicely) that they are not singing
on stage and that during the recording process it is vital that they do not
back off from the mic during loud passages as much as they would during a live
performance.
If
they need to practice that for awhile, have them practice it. It will be more than worth it when you go to
Mix and Master. Believe me. People will start commenting on how well and
consistent your vocal tracks sound - and you will land more licensing deals!
Summary
It
is possible to professionally produce extremely high quality productions in
your home studio quickly. But it takes
work and practice and know-how. Aaron
and I will continue to do all we can to supply you with the know-how. Now it's up to you to work and practice until
you can nail a high quality production with a stiff deadline breathing down
your neck!
As
mentioned at the beginning of this blog, as a gift to you for the Holiday
Season, I am offering any member of HowToLicenseYourMusic.com a free critique
of one of your tracks. Simply email me a
SoundCloud link of your music to gary@LearnAudioEngineering.com.
I will also give a free 15 minute Skype
Consultation to the first 25 people who email me. Your gift to me will be
invaluable information from you on what is working for you, what frustrations
you have, what problems you are running into and what you need and want - which
will help us produce future courses that give you exactly what you need and
want.
And if you haven't already, be sure to check out our existing courses:
"How To Produce Music That Will Get Licensed And Make You Money"
http://www.howtolicenseyourmusic.com/production-course.php
And...
"Mysteries Of Mastering Solved"
http://www.howtolicenseyourmusic.com/mastering-course.php
Comment on the article on my blog:
http://www.howtolicenseyourmusic.com/blog/how-the-music-licensing-industry-has-changed-yet-stayed-exactly-the-same
Happy
Holidays!
Gary
Gray
Los
Angeles, CA
Dec
2013
