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The Muse's News |
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Issue 2.11 - February 2000
ISSN 1480-6975
[ Back to The Muse's News Index ] [ Home ]
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I n T h i s I s s u e :
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@-- Editor's Musings
@-- Q&A with Nancy A. Reece from Carpe Diem Copyright Management
@-- Music Reviews - by Ben Ohmart
@-- Featured Article - FROM A DREAM TO A NIGHTMARE...AND BACK
by John Taglieri
@-- NEW! - Song Spotlight & Critique - Help your fellow songwriters
improve their craft by listening to a song and making
suggestions to the songwriter directly. Read here for more.
@-- Musical Notes - Songwriting Contests & Market Info.
@-- Muse's Clues - by Irene Jackson
@-- On Site Featured Article - An article already online for your
viewing pleasure.
@-- Classifieds & Useful Services
@-- Contact information
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ISSN 1480-6975. Copyright 1998 - Jodi Krangle. For more contact
information, see end of issue.
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If you enjoy The Muse's News, why not suggest it to friends?
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For web hosting or UNIX consulting, please contact
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website at http://www.samurai.com/ .
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Also sponsored by:
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IT'S A GLOBAL ECONOMY. NOW WE OFFER GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION!
Distribution of your music is the key to reaching new audiences
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It and Global Pipeline has teamed to offer the "killer app" for
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----------------------------------------------------
Please visit The Muse's News sponsors as they help to make this
publication possible. Thank you!
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E d i t o r ' s M u s i n g s :
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Another month has passed... Of course, you don't need me to tell
you that. ;-) I *did* think I'd tell you about two songwriting
contests that have posted their 1999 results.
The John Lennon Songwriting Contest:
http://www.jlsc.com/winner.html
The UNISONG Songwriting Contest:
http://www.unisong.com/usic/1999/winners99.htm
Good luck to all of you that entered! And it's quite a month for
the start of year 2000 contests so have a look at the Songwriting
Contests & Market Information section later on in this newsletter
for more on that. Or you could check the web site at
http://www.musesmuse.com/contests.html for the latest open (and
closed) contests.
This month's newsletter is a little shorter (though my Musings is
much longer than it has been previously. Ack!) than some mainly
due to the fact that there is no Songwriting Spotlight. I wasn't
able to get one together in time to make this latest newsletter & I
apologize. The interviews are conducted through e-mail and a large
number of the people I've been trying to interview are currently on
tour, making it difficult for them to respond. However, if you
feel you or your band deserve to be spotlighted and you have a
great story to tell about your songwriting that you think others
would be interested in hearing, please do contact me and let me
know about it, ok? Maybe I can prevent this from happening again
next month. ;-) Write to editor@musesmuse.com.
Our winner in this month's raffle is Matthew Humphreys of Toronto,
Canada. Matthew has won himself a copy of Moses Avalon's
CONFESSIONS OF A RECORD PRODUCER. I decided to raffle this
particular book off this month because when I asked about
suggestions for book reviews in last month's newsletter, several of
you wrote to tell me how excellent Moses' book was. I thought the
newest winner deserved to have a look for himself. So there you
go, Matthew. Enjoy! For those of you that are interested, a full
review of this book can be found at
http://www.musesmuse.com/2.4-July99.html#bookreview. It IS an
excellent book for any performing songwriter and I recommend you
pick it up if you're able.
As mentioned to you all after last month's newsletter, there's a
new section of The Muse's Muse called "The Muse's Muse Music
Resources" located at http://www.musesmuse.com/links/pages/ .
There are already over 400 links posted there - all of them well
worth looking through. If you know of a web site that you feel
would be useful to musicians and songwriters, that's definitely the
place to submit it to. The Music Resources section replaces the
links pages of The Muse's Muse and is much more interactive
besides.
Updates to The Muse's Muse continue with the creation of two new
columns! John Taglieri (who has an article appearing here in the
newsletter this month) will be talking about digital music formats
and how they affect us as songwriters in his column called "The
Wide Wide World of Electronic Music: And How Songwriters Fit In".
Has the MP3 format helped or hindered you as a songwriter? Do you
still prefer streaming real audio over the MP3 format? Why? Do
you know of any other digital music formats that you feel will
revolutionize the industry? Have a read through John's column and
please do send him comments on it, questions or comments on any of
the topics mentioned above. Further information on John (and his
latest article online) can be found at
http://www.musesmuse.com/musicformats.html .
Tyler Tullock is the second new columnist. His column is called
"Right Brain > Left Brain: Writing, Recording & Marketing". He'll
be discussing the changing music industry and how it affects the
average songwriter who is now forced to record and market his/her
own music. His articles will provide simple, effective solutions,
ideas, and a forum where everyone can learn from one another. His
first article (and a great idea for those of you wanting to get
more exposure for your music!) is located in his column section at
http://www.musesmuse.com/rblb.html .
A couple of new Songwriter Spotlights have been added to the web
site at http://www.musesmuse.com/songhome.html. Featured are
Christina Fasano (who's also one of our newer columnists!) & Josh
Max's Outfit. Both have produced fantastic CDs that you'll find
are a joy to listen to.
As always, other updates to the site can be seen by dropping by
http://www.musesmuse.com/whatsnew.html .
One more thing of note: You'll notice that on some of the pages,
there is now a multiple-pieced banner at the top of the page that
contains three indie band banners and two sponsor banners at the
top and the bottom. This is a new service offered by
Bandvertising.com - offering inexpensive advertising to indie
bands, labels and services catering to them, on sites like my own.
Please take a moment and click through a few of those banners if
you have the time. You might just find a real gem of an indie band
and you'll help support the artists. That's what sites like The
Muse's Muse are really all about, right? Have a look at
Bandvertising.com if you get a chance. It's a great program and
one that all of us together could really make effective for both
the sites hosting the banners and the indie bands that need the
exposure.
As always, thanks for subscribing! If you have ideas for future
issues, I'd love to hear from you about it. Meanwhile, make lots
of music and enjoy yourself doing it!
All the best,
--Jodi
Back to Menu
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C o p y r i g h t & P u b l i s h i n g Q & A :
with Nancy A. Reece of Carpe Diem Copyright Management
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Dear Nancy,
I have a publishing company who's is interested in publishing 2 of
my songs. They have sent me a separate contract for each song and
have a space on it for copyright #. I have not copyrighted the
songs as of yet. Is that something they can do for me, or should I
do it and send the contracts back with a "pending" copyright #?
--Gregg C.
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Happy New Year Gregg and Congratulations on what sounds to be two
Single Song Agreements.
You are more than likely referring to the "Assignment of Copyright"
exhibit. If you have previously registered the composition, then
the new publisher would need that number to properly inform the
copyright office of the transfer of ownership.
If you have not registered the copyright then leave it blank. The
new publisher will then register the composition on their behalf
and get the number. If there is a reversion clause on your
Agreement, be sure to remind yourself to get the registration
number when the song reverts back to you, sot hat you, in turn can
re-register ownership.
As with any contract, have a competent entertainment attorney look
over the agreement before signing it.
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Hello.
I don't quite understand the circular 50, it's kind of misleading I
should say. I just don't understand entirely. I'm trying to help my
friend copyright her demo, they are all original songs. Someone
else did the music production. The first question, is she the
copyright owner on the entire recording? Secondly, would this be
considered a sound recording? I get that so confused because I'm
thinking they are just talking about the music when they say "sound
recording" or are they including the singer's voice as well? And
thirdly, do I submit the lyrics just typed out along with the CD?
Thanks so much for your help. God bless.
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Know that you can always talk to a real person at the US Copyright
office if you need further assistance.
If she paid for the recording and there was no written document
with the producer (or any third party) that indicates that they own
or have a lean on the sound recording(s), then yes, she owns them
and therefore is the copyright holder of the sound recording(s)
If you are filing for registration of only the sound recording, you
would use an "SR Form". If you are filing for registration of
only the composition, use a "PA Form".
The sound recording is what is actually sonically on the CD,tape,
whatever(as long as it is "fixed" onto something. You could record
a bubbling brook and register the sound recording (as long as it
was original in someway, like a frog every 10 sec or something)
Just follow the instructions and you'll be fine.
--Nancy.
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New Questions & Answers for January 2000 can be found at:
http://www.musesmuse.com/pub-december99.html
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*****
Carpe Diem's owner and president, Nancy A. Reece has been
involved in the music business since 1983. She was the president
of an independent advertising agency for eight years as well as a
successful personal artist manager for nine years. She
represented the careers of several recording artists and
songwriters including those with EMI, Zomba and Liberty Records
as well as Benson, Starsong, WoodBridge, Temple Hall and N'Soul
Records. She also represented, for a number of years, a Grammy
and Dove nominated record producer. Reece has won awards of
excellence in print magazine advertising and has been named as
one of 2,000 Notable American Women (1995) as well as being
listed in the International Who's Who of Professional and
Business Women (1993). She was also named Cashbox Magazine's
Promoter of the Year (1989).
**If you would like to ask Nancy a copyright or publishing
question for our continuing Q&A section, please send your e-mail
to nreece@musesmuse.com. She can't guarantee she'll get to all of
the questions, but she'll certainly try.**
Back to Menu
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M u s i c R e v i e w s : by Ben Ohmart
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T.C. Smythe - A Place In My Heart
A half hour of pop/folk songs from 1999 Songwriter of the Year
(Fort Bend Songwriters Association) Ms. Smythe. She's a nice
success story - the kind I always believe in. Conquering the world
is a pain in the neck, and only a handful of people can be on top
at once. Best to sell over 600 cds yourself at performances as
T.C. has done in Houston. The only way to really accomplish
anything in This world is to do it yourself.
Her musical style is basically simple guitar and voice, letting the
songs themselves speak instead of huge production. 'A Spirit All
Her Own' reminds me vaguely of Helen Reddy, but with a trill on the
ends of some words. She's a good folksy guitar player with a fine
down to earth lyrical blend. 'when I look at her, I'm really
lookin' back at me / I'm remembering a child I used to know /
though our differences are many, the similarities / tend to bring
it home - she has a spirit all her own.' Ditto for Smythe.
If folk and introspection are your hobbies, why not give this one a
try, and help the arts out.
jjsht@email.msn.com
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OTHER NEW MUSIC REVIEWS SINCE LAST MONTH INCLUDE:
Apologetix - http://www.musesmuse.com/mrev-apologetix.html
Adrienne Jones - http://www.musesmuse.com/mrev-jones.html
Steven B. Eulberg - http://www.musesmuse.com/mrev-eulberg.html
Jennifer Haase - http://www.musesmuse.com/mrev-haase.html
Steve Hurley - http://www.musesmuse.com/mrev-hurley.html
Friction Farm - http://www.musesmuse.com/mrev-frictionfarm.html
Eddie Skuller - http://www.musesmuse.com/mrev-skuller.html
VoiceBox - http://www.musesmuse.com/mrev-voicebox.html
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******
Ben Ohmart has had 100s of stories and poems in zines and
journals, and had 4 plays produced last year. His lyrics will be
on 2 CDs this year, 1 a gothic album, the other a rock album.
He's currently writing films, with hopes of having one done in
Malaysia soon, and is also trying to break into the prison of
television. He's white, 26, single and loves British comedy. He
lives in Boalsburg, PA, and enjoys watching rabbits eat his
garbage. Contact him at: ohmart@musesmuse.com .
**Ben has kindly consented to do music reviews for this
publication and also for The Muse's Muse itself. If you have an
independently released CD or tape that you'd like to get
reviewed, send it off to: Ben Ohmart, P O Box 750, Boalsburg, PA
16827 or drop by his Music Reviews web section at
http://www.musesmuse.com/musicreviews.html for more details.**
Back to Menu
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F e a t u r e d A r t i c l e :
FROM A DREAM TO A NIGHTMARE...AND BACK - by John Taglieri
© 2000, John Taglieri/Leap Dog Music. All Rights Reserved. Used By Permission.
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There comes a time in every musicians life when you look in the
mirror and ask "Do I have what it takes to make a career out of
music?" That's why we do this, isn't it?? To not have a "real" job
and to play music for the rest of our lives? I asked myself that
question about two years ago. I have been there, done that with
most situations, from touring to studio work to cutting albums with
past bands. It always seemed to be missing that one ingredient to
make it successful. It always seemed that someone else made the
mistake that ended what I though was another chance at making it.
So, one day I was faced with the question*was it them or was it me?
I decided that I had to find out, and made a decision to write,
record, mix, produce, master and distribute my own CD. It took a
year and a half, but on January 12th, 1999, "Leap Of Faith" was
released. The CD, aptly titled, was my leap of faith to find out if
I could be a real musician or a "wanna-be". Within the first few
weeks, I had a great CD release party, had the CD in all the major
retailers, had my own web site up and running with E commerce set
up on it, got major and college radio play and was doing interviews
almost daily. Everything seemed perfect. The CD was doing more than
I ever hoped it would.
In this day and age of the internet, the opportunities for
independent artists to promote themselves are so much more
available that it makes it easy for anyone willing to really work
to gain some measure of success. I was finding this to be totally
true. On a small scale, but one I was happy with, I had made and
marketed a successful CD. It got to the point where I was having
trouble keeping up. Like most independent musicians, I still have a
day job and the time constraints were making it impossible to keep
up with all the follow-up and responsibilities of effectively
promoting a CD. I felt it was time to look for help and to me that
meant management.
I found a manger through an ad in a well known music paper in my
area. She was looking for new talent to develop and I sent in a
press kit. After speaking to her, I thought I hit the mother lode!
She had been around a while, managed some major acts, had many
connections and the ability to get me in front of people who could
make a difference. She loved my music and said I definitely had the
potential with the right game plan. I was skeptical about handing
my career, which was going well, to anyone else. I eat, live and
breathe my music, and wasn't sure if she would do the same.
One of the first things she did was send my CD out to some
connections to "bounce opinions off of". All of the opinions were
great, except they didn't like my name. She advised me to change
it. So I did. I wanted this to work, so I figured "hey, it's a
stage name". It never sat right with me and this was the first of
many questions that snowballed into what eventually happened. Over
the next few months, there was much talk of bookings and agents,
labels who were interested, PR Firms that retainers were needed
for, Press agents that retainers were needed for, musicians union
dues, and money for one thing or another. I gladly paid into what I
thought was an investment into my future. But then things just
started to not make sense. Every time something was supposed to
happen, it was canceled. Fortunately though, as one canceled,
something else bigger came up to keep my attention. Little by
little, I began to suspect that something was really wrong. I had
never spoken to anyone she had told me was interested and all I
ever saw were memos that came from her, never the person that they
were said to have come from. This is when i found out she was lying
and stealing from me from day one.
I know that one of the rules is you don't go behind your manager's
back and check up on what they are doing, but I had far too many
questions and more everyday. I started calling some of the people
to whom she had supposedly spoken, only to be told that they didn't
know who I was or who she was. I called the booking agents who were
booking my upcoming tour, only to find out that they too had never
heard of me or her. Everything I checked on was the same, so now
what? I was under contract and couldn't just go and accuse her of
these things. So I carefully collected evidence and started keeping
detailed notes of everything that happened. After a few months, I
confronted her, only to be hung up on. I went to my lawyer and
presented him with all I had. He was surprised and we immediately
looked over the contract to see if I had a way out. Luckily I did.
Letters were sent to her to terminate our agreement, only to find
that her P.O. Box had been closed, her phone disconnected and her
web site taken off the web. She had run for cover. I had her home
address and luckily the letters were delivered. She was gone, and I
got scammed, and I learned a good, hard lesson.
If you have a belief in your music, stick to it. No one can tell
you what your music should be or what your dreams and visions of
your career should be. Only you know that. It's what is inside us
musicians and it's what drives us to want to succeed at what we do.
I let someone make promises that clouded my vision of why I started
this whole journey in the first place, instead of sticking to what
I knew in my heart was what I wanted for myself and my music.
Since I left her, I have gotten back to why I did the CD in the
first place. I am now on a good course and happy with my career. I
am back to using my name and I am in the process of hiring a solid
PR firm who will help me take it to the next level. I have label
interest from some indie labels. I am getting great press and
reviews again and the CD was named "Male Pop CD Of The Year" on one
independent web site, and made the Top 5 on another. Is my CD a
success? Absolutely. Did I sell a million copies? No. But it has
done more than I hoped it would and answered all the questions I
ever had at the start, which is what it was all about. I learned to
not let anyone ever take control of your career if they don't have
the same visions, dreams, goals and hopes that you did from the
start. If they don't, they're not the right person and you don't
need them. I may never have a gold record, but if I'm happy, my
career will be a success. And to me, doing my music my way and
being happy is what it's all about.
Keep The Faith!!
******
John is our newest columnist and will be contributing new articles
about the digital music revolution and how it affects songwriters.
Check his section at http://www.musesmuse.com/musicformats.html for
more details. And please do send him questions!
******
John Taglieri is a 32 year old singer, songwriter from NJ. He has
released several albums, toured, written jingles, and had songs
used in independent movies. His current CD, "Leap Of Faith" (which
can be purchased from his web site), was just voted "1999 Male Pop
CD Of The Year" on Kweevaks Tracks website, and has been getting
great press all over the world. Stop by his web page at
http://www.leapdogmusic.com/ and be sure to email him with any opinions on
this article at Jtaglieri@aol.com .
Back to Menu
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New!
S o n g S p o t l i g h t & C r i t i q u e :
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Unfortunately, I didn't receive many responses from last month's
critique - though I'm hoping that Luana did, and the individuals
who wrote to her simply neglected to cc' their comments to me.
That's ok. We'll give this another try. In fact, I'm happy to
just keep giving you guys urls to check out, even if I never see
any e-mails from anyone about them. I still think it's serving a
useful purpose and that these folks should get some encouragement
and constructive criticism to help them along.
So here we go again. :-)
If you're going to respond to this latest offering, please make
sure that your criticism is constructive and that you cc' your
messages to me at critique@musesmuse.com if you don't mind those
comments being printed in this newsletter or on the web site.
Here's the Spotlight for this month:
*********************
Michael Bracey - Heaven
Lyrics & Music are in the same location at:
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Cafe/1427/HEAVEN.html
Send your critiques to Michael Bracey at mickeyminor@vision.net.au
*********************
Back to Menu
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M u s i c a l N o t e s : Songwriting Contests & Market Info.
In the interest of conserving space, I will only be including
changes to this listing in this newsletter. All other contests
and market information that have already been listed here, are
displayed at http://www.musesmuse.com/contests.html &
http://www.musesmuse.com/markets.html . Please check there
regularly for updates!
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2000 SONGWRITERS CONTEST
The 2000 Songwriters Contest is now open for all unsigned original
songwriters, composers, bands, singer-songwriters and solo artists.
There are 13 categories (see entry form) that will be awarded.
There is a $30.00 (U.S. currency) per song entry fee. Entries are
accepted up until June 30, 2000. No entries will be accepted after
that date, no exceptions. All qualified entrants (see rules) will
receive one copy of the winners on CD. Winners will have their
songs distributed to the top 25 radio stations in the US and top 2
stations in the UK for play in those areas. A management contract
will be awarded to all winners. We will send the winning songs to
several record labels A&R Departments. Also the winners will
receive a certificate with their name and category.
For Official Rules and Regulations and printable entry form e-mail
encoreproductions@worldnet.att.net
Or send SASE to: Encore Productions Inc.
5402 Brantford Rd.
Memphis, TN. 38120-2440
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THE GREAT AMERICAN SONG CONTEST 2000 is an innovative song
competition designed to help songwriters open doors in the music
business. This contest provides various networking and educational
opportunities, and features a long list of prominent music-industry
judges--hit songwriters, publishers and recording artists. Entry
fees are low. Multiple awards and prizes are provided in every
music category so more people can win!
Contest Highlights:
ALL participating songwriters receive helpful and clearly useful
benefits; ALL entries are thoroughly reviewed by qualified
professionals in the music business; ALL participating songwriters
receive individual evaluations of their work; ALL participants
receives a summary of the contest and a complete list of winning
songs.
The Great American Song Contest is sponsored by Songwriters
Resource Network. To find out more, visit our website at:
http://www.greatamericansong.com/ Or e-mail SRN at info@songpro.com
DEADLINE : October 18, 2000
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NEW YORK MUSIC & INTERNET EXPO COMING SOON!
This event to be held at the New Yorker Hotel Grand Ballrooms on
Friday, Saturday & Sunday, March 3,4 and 5th, will focus in on
productive promotional opportunities for the musician and music
industry. It features some of the top leaders of the music and
Internet worlds - focusing in on the music. Keynote speakers
include: Ice-T, Herbie Hancock, Robert Fripp, Thomas Dolby
Robertson, plus special appearances by artists such as Chuck D of
Public Enemy, Chris and Tina of the Tom Tom Club who performed with
Jerry Harrison (currently of Garageband.com) in the Talking Heads.
Industry keynotes include people such as Les Garland, (who with Bob
Pittman helped shape MTV and VH1) and whose company Sputnuk 7 is
making waves in the new media worlds--- people such as Al Teller
who ran Columbia Records and MCA Records and who gravitated to the
Internet World to create Atomic Pop---and people like Danny
Goldberg who ran Atlantic and Mercury Records, managed artists such
as Nirvana and Bonnie Raitt, who created Artemis Records--and
people like Gene Hoffman whose company, EMusic.com, is making a
major splash in the music community.
For more information on how this expo can help you with your music
career, drop by the web site at http://www.newyorkexpo.com/ . Tickets can
be secured at the bottom of that page or by going to
www.newmediamusic.com/ushop/ . Tickets are $50 for a three day pass
and $20 per day per person for those who can only attend the event
for one or two of the days. But hurry - attendance is limited and
the tickets are going fast! If you're serious about promoting your
music career, this is one conference you don't want to miss.
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LAYER III CONFERENCE & FESTIVAL
On the behalf of the Layer III Conference and Festival, we are
proud to present our conference and festival to held at
Jacksonville, Florida June 22 through the 25 of the year 2000. The
Conference is to be held June 23 to the 25. The conference is about
the music industry and where it is going on line as well as off
line in the near future. It is open to the independent artists
through the national known record labels artists, as well as the
general public. The conference is going to be a three day event.
The conference will cover topics of the music industry, promotion,
gigs, press kits, and more.
The festival part is for the bands (unsigned and independent labels
musicians)that wish to play for this conference. The festival is
going to be a four day event with all styles of music to appeal to
anyone and everyone. To be held at the Jacksonville Fairground in
Jacksonville, Florida June 22-25, 2000. The Fairground can hold up
to 50,000 people with one main stage.
We are looking forward to this event and the future events to be
held here. Please contact me if you are interested in either events
for speakers or sponsorship. Thank you for you time.
E-mail: layeriiicorp@usa.net
Phone: (904) 278-6986
Web Site Address: http://www.layeriii.iwarp.com/
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SONGWRITING WITH JASON BLUME
1. BMI presents "Cruisin' For a Latin Song," a songwriting cruise
geared to the Latin market March 31 - April 3rd. Sailing on the
"Sovereign of the Seas" from Miami to the Bahamas, the participants
will have seminars on publishing, music law, creative writing
sessions and demo critiquing. For information, contact
dalmodovar@bmi.com or visit www.jasonblume.com.
2. Songwriting with Jason Blume Seminars, March 4 in Los Angeles
and March 11 in San Diego, CA. Based on the lessons in his book 6
Steps to Songwriting Success: The Comprehensive Guide to Writing
and Marketing Hit Songs (Billboard Books), Blume covers the steps
in depth with examples and exercises. The afternoon session
includes critiques of selected songs brought in by the
participants. For more information, visit http://www.jasonblume.com/.
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ONLINEROCK IS A WEB-BASED COMMUNITY FOR MUSICIANS, MUSIC
PROFESSIONALS & DIE-HARD MUSIC FANS:
Visit OnlineRock and build your free Web site, post classifieds
on our musician's 'sounding board,' learn about the latest music
gear, recording technology and more. OnlineRock's mission is to
empower musicians so that they can promote, distribute (and soon
sell) their own music to fans anywhere in the world. Drop on by
http://www.onlinerock.com/ when you get a chance.
(You can sign up for a free web site with OnlineRock directly
through The Muse's Muse!
Have a look at http://www.musesmuse.com/onlinerock-form.html )
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ONE LYRIC A MONTH CONTEST (OLMC)
http://www3.sympatico.ca/charles.crepeau/Lyricont.html
This year first monthly subject for the Songwriters 'Drive-In OLMC
contest is: "It happened last Night" No entry fee and a free
evaluation to all contestants. Check the rules at the URL above.
And good luck to everyone.
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M u s e ' s C l u e s : by Irene Jackson
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I have two sites to recommend this month for songwriters who still
haven't figured out how to put their wonderful songs on the
internet! Though you may only want to put up short clips of your
songs, you still need to figure out how to create them, upload
them, and make them easy to play for anyone wanting to check you
out.
Even if you've never worked with audio files, if you've been on the
internet for any length of time Real Audio will be familiar to you.
It's a relatively easy-to-use software program that will allow you
to create audio samples that take up less space than many of the
other audio file types do. Not only that, but you can make them
"stream"...in other words, rather than downloading a whole file
first, it will play as it's being downloaded. This is something
that hasn't yet been made possible with the more recent and popular
mp3 format.
The first site is from North Carolina State University:
http://www2.ncsu.edu/ncsu/cc/pub/multimed/realaudio/tutorial/create
.html
This is an easy-to-read explanation and "how to" website that
begins with the creation of a .wav file, using software that is
already built into your PC, and a microphone. It then takes you
through the process of making the .wav file into a RealAudio file
and ends with an explanation of how to put your audio files onto a
website.
A site that I came across quite awhile ago has been a great help to
me in using Real Audio and another audio editing software program
called Cool Edit '96. Jim Hartley's site is a good tutorial for
both of these, including screen samples...sometimes the pictures
make it easier to understand :-) You'll find it at:
http://www.jimhartley.com/ratutor.html
Cool Edit is a great audio software program that I've used quite
extensively. It looks very technical, but it's actually quite
simple, and one of the ways I've used it is to create a medley of
songs by editing pieces of them together. Not only that, but it
also has a "noise reduction" option to take the hiss out of those
cassettes you're trying to record from :-) Just like RealAudio,
there is a free version, but you can also purchase a version with
more options. Jim Hartley's site above, has a link to download
both Real Audio, the Real Audio Encoder, and Cool Edit.
Songwriters are now using software to compose and write together
online, sometimes in real time, and the technology seems to change
faster than it takes to write a song these days! Now you can jump
on the bandwagon and expand your own possibilities!
******
Irene Jackson is a performing songwriter from Victoria, BC in
Canada. Aside from writing, recording and performing, she also
maintains a website for songwriters that includes tips, articles
and more links of interest. Her latest CD "Motor Scooter" has
had attention everywhere from Japan to South America, and a new
release is due out sometime in 1999.
Songwriting Tips: http://www.irenejackson.com/tips.html
Homepage: http://www.irenejackson.com/
Songs on MP3:
http://www.mp3.com/artists/20/irene_jackson.html
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=================================================================
" O N S I T E " F E A T U R E D A R T I C L E :
Miscellaneous Music Organizations, Associations, Conferences, etc.
compiled by Jerry Flattum
http://www.musesmuse.com/misc-orgs.html
I'm fairly certain I've featured this particular link before -
however, I thought it was worth a re-mention because it has been
recently updated. If you haven't already had a look at this
particular article on The Muse's Muse, I highly advise that you
do so. Jerry's done a great job and many of these organizations
will be *very* helpful in your songwriting endeavors.
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C l a s s i f i e d s & U s e f u l S e r v i c e s :
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SONGLEADS/SONGPITCH
http://www.alanpublishing.com/
SongLeads - professional tipsheet for songwriters regarding who's
looking for what songs around the world. All the majors use this
one. SongPitch - will do all the work for you by developing a
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WANTED...
Completed R & B or Hip Hop songs for an upcoming Compilation album.
Only serious artists need respond. For mor information please
message Water to Wine Records and Hood Studios at SW4AHAND@AOL.COM
or call 510-544-1032.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
LOOKING FOR COUNTRY SONGS
Looking for country songs that would be used for a young up and
coming female singer. Email: tsr@schoollink.net
-----------------------------------------------------------------
COUNTRY MUSIC CLASSICS FREE WEEKLY NEWSLETTER:
If you like old-fashioned, traditional country music
from the 1950's thru the 1980's, COUNTRY MUSIC CLASSICS
is for you. It's a FREE weekly newsletter, all about
country music--back when it was really country!
Stories behind the songs, questions and answer section,
contests and more. If you prefer Jim Reeves, Webb Pierce,
Buck Owens, Ray Price and Patsy Cline--rather than Shania or
Garth--then you'll enjoy Country Music Classics!
To subscribe:
mailto:Subscribe@countrymusicclassics.com
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DISCOVER SHAREWARE MUSIC MACHINE and explore the a world of
software which will help make writing and recording your songs a
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Jodi Krangle editor@musesmuse.com..................... EDITOR
Kathryn Obenshain kobensha@runet.edu.....GRACIOUS PROOFREADER
Bryan Fullerton bryanf@samurai.com.......SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR
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The Muse's News is a free monthly newsletter for and about
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Back issues and other information will be available at:
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