Musician’s Notebook

The new KISS album “rocks big time”, according to their guitarist Paul Stanley.

For anyone who follows the painted legends, there can be no doubt!

According to Paul’s statement on their site,  www.kissonline.com:

“We’re about four days from finishing the new Kiss album. Eleven tracks, and it is everything I’ve told you. It is classic. It is all written within the band. And it rocks big time!
“Tommy [Thayer, guitar] and Eric (Singer, drums] both handle lead vocals. The songs, sound and playing will knock your socks off. You will all be as proud and excited as we all are. Oh…and WAIT till you see the cover!
We ARE just getting started!”

The KISS armies around the world are pleased, of course … but also amazed! I mean, here’s a band who’s been around for decades but, while others from 20-years-back are drying out, these guys refresh, reinvent, or whatever, themselves to bounce back to the top again and again!

Stanley’s hyperbole was matched by bassist “Demon” Gene Simmons’s comments earlier this month:

“This might be the best new record we’ve done since [1976 album] Destroyer. In fact, it has a similar sound – Rock And Roll Over-meets-Love Gun kind of a record.”

The album, by the way, is due for release in September/October.

Amy Winehouse, The Killers and The Rolling Stones have decided to work with a group of Cuban musicians on an album that’s being recorded to fight climate change.

They’ll perform duets with Rhythms Del Mundo on the CD, titled Classics, and the proceeds from the album will go to fund climate change projects as well as natural disaster relief around the globe.

The album will have some spectacular musical moments with The Killers singing The Eagles’ Hotel California, and The Rolling Stones doing The Drifters’ classic Under the Boardwalk.
But you’ll also hear Winehouse’s covering Sam Cooke’s Cupid and, on a track that’s destined to stand out,  Fall Out Boy and John Mayer getting together to cover Michael Jackson’s Beat It.

The first Rhythms Del Mundo album was released three years ago and included an all-star cast of Cuban musicians as well as the Arctic Monkeys, Dido, U2, Coldplay, Sting, Jack Johnson, Maroon 5, Franz Ferdinand and Kaiser Chiefs. Proceeds from the CD went to the non-profit environmental  org,  Artists Project Earth.

The new CD is due for release in July.

Def Leppard’s 1983 breakthrough album “Pyromania” and their 1992 multi-platinum “Adrenalize” are ready to be reissued on June 8th, the week that the band headlines this year’s Download Festival!
These will also include second-takes, acoustic versions and B-sides, and are expected to chart easily on the strength of the Festival.

Now, The Rolling Stones will also do some reissuing, but it’s of 14 (right: fourteen!) re-mastered albums throughout the summer (the first batch came out on May 4).

They’re set to be released in three batches with release of a special, mega-box set (including all 14 albums) in the works. And, yes, each one of the albums will be made available digitally.

First batch (just released):
Sticky Fingers
Goats Head Soup
It’s Only Rock ‘N’ Roll
Black And Blue

Second batch (due out on June 8):
Some Girls
Emotional Rescue
Tattoo You
Undercover

Third batch (coming out on July 13):
Dirty Work
Steel Wheels
Voodoo Lounge
Bridges To Babylon
A Bigger Bang

Yeah, I know that’s just 13 — but they’re expected to announce the release of a re-mastered version of their mega-hit, 1972’s Exile On Main Street, though no definite date has been set as of yet.

Between the two bands, there’s definitely gonna be some great music on tap for the summer! And, once again, proof that rock, in its most savage form, is still king of the music hill!

Y’know, it’s a cryin’ shame when ignorance stands in the way of a good, danceable record and some serious airplay.

For example, when The Five DuTones recorded their hit, Shake A Tail Feather, some Bible belt radio dropped them from their playlists because they didn’t think “Bend over, let me see you shake your tail feather” was nicety-nice … and that the lyric hook was a slang word for a certain … er, female anatomical part!
But, if ya listen closely, you’ll find that particular word is actually a build-up into the word “WATUSI!”, in which … the female dancer, er, “bends over and … shakes her tail (feather)!”

But these same zealots ripped the first big hit of soul artist Brenton Wood (the Oogum-Boogum song) because, again, they said the last lyrics into fade were slanging that anatomical part (geez … do these cats obsess or what?).

WRONGGGGGG! Look … courtesy the Relic, here are the actual words:
“I just says, Who got the boo, says, Who got the boo, says. Who got the boo, now, Castin’ your spell on me. Now I says, Oo ga ka boo, says, Oo ga ka boo, says, Oo ga ka boo, now, Castin’ your spell on me.” Remember — the dude’s under a spell, and, if ya read the last line, you’ll see she’s “castin’ (her) spell on (him)”. He’s repeating her spell, so the listener can know what she’s doing! That’s all …

Of course, the most famous of the alleged “red label” songs is the late Richard Berry’s hit as first recorded by the Kingsmen: Louie Louie. For years, many have thought it had some sexual meaning behind it.

Hey … the truth is, it’s a song about a guy at sea! No more, no less. He’s wantin’ to get back with his girl, who’s waiting for him. Simple — no muss, no fuss, no bother.

In today’s world, we’ve had everything from Dr. CC (Clarence Carter) doing We’ve Got To Funk to Sir Mix-A-Lot’s Baby Got Back, Madonna’s Like A Virgin and a carload of newer stuff making it to the airwaves. Yet, many of the “oldies” stations still won’t play the songs listed above, although (1) Ray Charles — with the Blues Brothers — did “Tail Feather” in the Brothers’ movie, (2) Brenton Wood had a monster hit later with “Gimme A Little Sign” and (3) almost every group (including the Raiders!) covered Louie Louie over the years (it’s been called the classic garage band rocker).

But, at least now the lyrics are given their props (hey … check ‘em yourselves, okay? Google all ya want!). So let’s get ‘em back on the air, huh??

And with that, I’m outta here until next time. Til then, remember: Keep your eyes on the skies, your feet on the ground, your heart with the music … and I’ll see ya on the flip side!

Got a question from a Rockaholic down in PA way (hmph … I had a Pa once. He was a good man …): What’s the difference between “oldies” and “classic” rock? Or IS there one?

Man, lemme ask ya: Is there a difference between a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich and a big, juicy hamburger? I mean, both are filling, but one’s got a little meat to it!

Lemme put it this way: Back-in-the-day, there were thousands of cool 45’s twirling around the turntables, and some dynamite entertainers backing ‘em up onstage. Many were danceable, some could turn your lovin’ up a notch or two, and a few could make ya wish you had a beer to shed a tear in …

Aaaaah, then there were those whose deep lyrics, churning rhythm, heavy guitar bridges, and flexing vocals just got deep in your soul and embedded themselves there. They were the product of overall frustration with the establishment (man, did we ever wear out that word back then!), the war (ie, Vietnam), social injustice, or even themselves. They got deeper into everything, it seemed. And they were by performers who we could depend on for follow-up hits. These are the true “classics”.

Lemme give ya an example or two: Anybody remember Poison Ivy by the Paramounts? (okay … I know some of our readers from UK do!) Cool, but a cover. Classic?
Now … check out A Whiter Shade of Pale by Procol Harum. Classic? In the best sense, right?? Well … (Relic’s got a seeeeeecret …) It’s the same GROUP! Just years later … with a little more meat!

Or Go Now! by the Moody Blues (with Denny Laine). Good, listenable, killer piano … but classic? They took a little time off, then hit with Nights In White Satin, I’m Just A Singer (In A Rock & Roll Band) and the Relic’s fave, Question. New flavor, ’cause there’s more meat!

So there ya have it. Gimme your feedback, okay? What’s “classic” to you? Drop a few examples while you’re at it, if you wanna.

‘Til next time, remember: Keep your eyes on the skies, your feet on the ground, your heart with the music … and I’ll see ya on the flip side!

Well, we’ve brought the band this far in our ongoing saga … but now comes the recording of your first, all-important CD!  Rehearsals are becoming more frequent in preparation, and there’s some anxiety building inside each member.

But what, exactly, does it take?

First of all, be sure you’ve got your songs down pat.  Since “time is money” in a studio, you wanna make sure you have as few re-takes as possible.  And that takes practice!

When you’re ready, you should scope out the studios in your area.  Not only do you want one that has reasonable rates (at this stage of the game, you’re probably not able to spend thousands of bucks in one or two sittings!) but also one that has a good reputation.

Once you’ve found the studio you want, check out their engineer .. the guy who knows the consoles and computer programs that are necessary to get “just the right sound” for you in-studio.

You’ll also need a decent producer, who can check out the instruments, try you in various combinations or added instruments, and offer suggestions to make the sound better.
If you’ve got those two bases covered (along with costs) and have rehearsed the songs you wanna record to a tee, then you’re ready.

Now, you’ll most likely be allowed to pay by the hour — but, despite it sounding less expensive, it’s much better for your band to pay for a block of time (generally, four hours is good if your band is tight, confident, and listens to the engineer and producer).

Once the session’s over, be sure to get a CD of the songs you’ve recorded (on occasion, the producer will provide the full session tape at a reasonable price).  This is the one that’ll be used to press others from.

Now, I’ll continue this in our next session, which comes up in about 20 hours.  So, ’til then, I’ll see ya on the flip side!

A studio of your own? For only a C note? Yep … with Alesis Company’s “Studio-in-a-Box” , you can get on the microphone and podcast yourself!

Packaged with headphones and a CD copy of Audacity (a great recording tool!  I’ve used it often myself), Alesis’ podcasting kit is as close to a studio-in-a-box as you’ll get for a hundred bucks.

The mic installs easily and, unlike others that’ve been tested, it has a gain knob right on the body—no need to wade through software to adjust your levels. It sounds great, too, rendering full, rich tones.

WIRED: Best features-to-price ratio. Stand has a rubber mount so your coffee-fueled foot tapping won’t jack up your ‘cast. Bundled headphones sound decent and save you some startup cash. Comes with 30 days of free hosting at cyberears.com.

TIRED: Deep voices lose some resonance. Audacity’s user interface is confusing, and it crashes often. But hey—it’s free, right?

So, if you’re into recording or even broadcasting yourself, this package is meant for you! And with Audacity packaged with it, how could ya go wrong?

GIG UPDATES

Despite the death of keyboard player Billy Powell, Lynyrd Skynyrd’s previously announced UK tour will go ahead as scheduled.
While it’s as still unknown who will replace Powell in the band, Live Nation (who, just yesterday, officially confirmed its merger with Ticketmaster) has confirmed that the dates will go ahead as scheduled.

And Coldplay will kick off a North American summer tour July 10 at the Amphitheater at Clark County in Portland, Ore. So far, 14 dates are set through early August, with more to be announced. The British band made a lot of headway in the Grammys on Sunday with their album “Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends” and song “Viva La Vida,” so they’re pumped up and ready to rock!

Okay … that’s it for this edition. More coming up in about 24, so I’ll see ya on the flip side!

It’s been called the ultimate ‘cheat-board” … a ‘proprietary audio processor’ created by Antares Audio Technologies that corrects pitch in vocal and instrumental performances and disguises inaccuracies and mistakes to produce more precisely tuned recordings. In fact, sometimes it’s used as an effect to deliberately distort the human voice!

Probably best-known for Cher’s use of it in her 1998 hit, Believe, it’s been panned by most rock artists as a “cheap way out” for performers who don’t want to take time to rehearse their vocals — or are basically “tone deaf” anyway.
At the same time, it’s been praised for its economical side — cutting down on studio time, mixing and more.

Performers as diverse as T-Pain, Reba McIntyre, Faith Hill and Cher have used these to save re-takes and give their songs the “perfect pitch” it calls for. They don’t have to worry about missing notes or whatever, because this program can make even the worst singers sound heavenly!

Here’s what it says on the Antares Tech page:

“Auto-Tune is used daily by thousands of audio professionals around the world. Whether to save studio and editing time, ease the frustration of endless retakes, to save that otherwise once-in-a-lifetime performance, or to create striking special effects, Auto-Tune Evo is the tool of choice.”

Now, I’ve been in the business for thirty-plus years, and, quite frankly, I see this thing as a poor substitute for adequate vocal/instrumental rehearsal. If you’re good, you’re good. If not, keep on rehearsing until ya get it right! Don’t depend on a machine to correct your mistakes, because, onstage, you might not have it to rely on!

If the greats from all genres didn’t have to use it (Beatles, Stones, James Brown, Johnny Cash, etc), why do acts need it now?

Heck … all they did was rehearse until they got it right. And, if they had a vocal or instrumental “glitch” onstage, it gave the gig even more substance, because the fans knew they were seeing it all live and raw … they loved the fact that their musical heroes were human and not fed through some machine that did their work for them!

‘Course, that’s just my opinion. I’d like to get yours. Just give me a shout-out by comment or email and let me know what you think.
I’ll be happy to print your feedback here …

standard press kit

THE VALUE OF A PRESS KIT

We’re continuing the topic on “building your band”.
Now, the most important tool you’ll need, outside demo CDs (those that have samples of your music), is the press kit or press pack. It’s important because you’re gonna need this to show (or mail to) prospective agents, radio stations, venue managers and A&R reps (those who can get you a record contract!).

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

Actually, the first order of business is to be sure at least 75% of your lineup is permanent. The prospects will need to see your roster as stable.
The second is to have a number of successful gigs (or venues; places you’ve performed) under your belt. Y’see, whoever you mail your press kit to will wanna see your onstage experience. With that, you’ll increase your chances of being hired, played or signed!

Now … that being accomplished, get someone to write up a professional-looking biography of members and band.  Adding a small photo beside each member’s profile will allow the recipient to “see” the person it’s written about.
Don’t go into elaborate detail; basically, list name, age, hometown, which instrument(s), if any, he/she plays, when that member joined the band, and influences.
About the band:  Be sure to include formation date and a brief history of the band up to the date you’re sending the kit. Make at least a dozen copies of each, plus one for your file and further copies.

Next, get as many reviews of your performances as you can.  If you can get some professionals (such as owners/managers of the venues you’ve played) to write one, all the better!  Again, make a dozen copies (plus the one you’re saving for your file and further copies).

Then, have someone take some good photos of your band in performance, and good atmosphere shots (taken at good locations, posed).  You’ll wanna make copies (not computer printouts) to include with each kit.  Remember: these must be real photos — not computer printouts! Places like Wal-Mart can do these for you. Initially, get at least a dozen of your favorite two shots printed.

Now … if you’ve recorded any of your songs onto a CD (and they have a good sound quality), burn at least twelve of these. The songs must be in .mp3 format.
Place these in clean, scratch-free CD cases. On the front of the case, place a sticker with the band’s name and date originally recorded. Include the “playlist” of the CD, along with each song’s length.

Okay … we’re gonna continue this within 24 hours, so stay tuned!  

Now, before we move on to the next session, maybe you’d like to find out how your forefathers of rock — the ones from the legendary British Invasion — “made it”:

Y’see, it wasn’t easy to start a rock act back in the late Fifties in England. While the BBC frowned on America’s new “rock-n-roll” and promoted what they called trad music (sort of a traditional Dixieland jazz), parents had pulled out an old vaudeville style that kids could afford to play — something called skiffle.

So young people started getting acoustic guitars, washboards and tea-chest basses and, after learning some rudimentary chords, set up on street corners and wherever they could find an audience to play old standards and “covers” of some stateside favorites.
Finally, one of the bands (known first as The Drifters and then The Shadows) traded in their primitive set-up for electric guitars and drums! Other skifflers (who’d moved up to parties, dances and other small venues) began to follow suit.

But it wasn’t easy; the electric guitars were costly — and hard to handle!  Here’s what Ron Ryan — singer/songwriter (he wrote hits for the Dave Clark Five), founder of London’s Riot Squad (in which he introduced Mitch Mitchell, who later became the drummer of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, to the stage) — says:

“First gear, the Yanks were spoilt!! They could walk into any music shop and buy a Fender or a Gibson guitar right off the wall.
In the late 50s (when most of the Bands who made up the Invasion started) to the early Sixties, we could not get them here. You would not believe the crappy guitars we had to learn on!!! The strings were so far away from the fretboard our fingers used to bleed after every practice session. Also, the strings we could get were so heavy!! Where you could get 10-46 in the USA, the lightest we could get were ‘Black Diamond’ 12-52, put them on a crappy guitar and, boy, you had to work so hard to play it!!!

We developed playing styles akin to the old Black Blues Players, where they played cheap guitars and heavy strings. Also most of the ‘Invasion’ Bands were ‘Blues Bands’ before they turned to Rock. So we listened to the Blues, and (learned to) play Rock in that style. That meant with plenty of attack, and ‘get in quick and grab the crowds attention from the first few notes of a song.”

And, with upwards of 1,200 young people in bands in Liverpool alone, you can imagine the rush to find gigs before the other ones got ‘em!
Remember: they didn’t have YouTubes, iPods, cell phones, etc.  They had to do it with live auditions and a lot of footwork!  Sometimes they’d get the gig, sometimes they wouldn’t.

Soon, the bands learned the value of having managers promoting them to different potential venues.  If they went over well, then they could pick up more appearances at the clubs, or, if they were really good, they might even be chosen as a support act for visiting U. S. acts who’d already made it big in the states.

As their fan bases grew, they’d also cut demos — largely, reel-to-reel tapes of their music — and their managers would hand-deliver these to record companies, give them a big pitch, and hope for the best.  Meanwhile, they’d perform long hours at dingy bars, pubs, or clubs — sometimes, the noise made by drunken patrons would drown them out, so they had to become louder … even improvise tunes in order to be heard.

Now, I could go on and on with this, but I think you’re seein’ how easy it is today as compared to the British bands that really started it all 45 years ago.  The main thing ya need to learn from all this is: never, ever give up!  Play wherever you can, build a good fan base, get good management … and, combined with what we’ve talked about in past posts, you stand a great chance of making it on the scene.  Maybe you’ll only glean a regional following … or maybe you’ll go international … but one thing’s for sure:  You’ll definitely be on your way as an established, popular act that’ll become the favorite of many!!

Y’know, I’ve been in the music biz for almost half my life now, and have seen loads of acts come and go — from AC/DC to ZZ Top, Animals to Zombies, great acts and musical laxatives both.
But what makes a rock band big? I mean, what makes ‘em popular? Here are a few pointers I’ve gotten from two important sources: Observation and Interviews … both of fans and with some of the rock legends:

If you wanna start a band, be sure you’re into it all the way! If you’re not ready (note: I didn’t say just “willing”) to put 100% into it, don’t do it. Stick with your regular job.
It’s very important to get members who not only know their instruments, but are on the same page as you concerning the type of music you wanna play. Equally as important is that you all must get along well with each other.
Before your first rehearsal, be sure you know your area’s “noise laws” perfectly. Otherwise, find a place to rehearse that’ll mask most of your rehearsing.
Also, have a short list of songs you can start with. Make ‘em easy and ones that the others would know, whether it’s Sweet Home Alabama, Iron Man or the classic Johnny B. Goode.
Be sure everyone shows up at the rehearsal on time and with equipment.

Okay … now that you’re all together, go over the first song with everything unplugged at first. That way, you’ll get a feel for how you’ll mesh: Will the rhythm be stronger than the lead? Is the tempo right? Are you all in the same key and in tune?
Once that’s all evened out, plug in and try the song a few times to see what you’ve gotta workon (yeah, add the drummer this time!). Now, it’s important to be patient during your rehearsals, ’cause, chances are, the song’s not gonna sound right until after the first four or five tries.
If you’re adding vocals and have your mic hooked up, be sure you’re not too close to it. Sure, the singer should be over the instruments, but he/she shouldn’t hog the mic. Rule of thumb: For high or loud notes, move away from the microphone by about six inches, with the mic just to the left of right of your mouth. Then, for lower or soft note, lean into the microphone … but just long enough to get the right note out!

Once you’ve gotten the song down to at least a workable style, go back and try another one, using the same techniques as ya did the first time.

Now, tonight, we’ll continue this … and get into the sound itself. Sooo …

I’ll see ya on the flip side!

HEY!! (Just wanted to see if you were payin’ attention …)

Beginning this Monday, we’re gonna be runnin’ something a new and (IhopeIhopeIhope …) exciting here on Notebook:

Naturally, we’ll be goin’ over the business end for anyone who really wants to rock (or do Country-Western, or other genres), talk A&R, labels, and stuff that you cats can use.
But we’re not gonna drag here; if ya want totally serious, there are loads of news sites that’ll sourpuss ya to death! Yep, there’s a lot to cover here, but we don’t haveta be so serious in talkin’ about it, right? I mean, the readin’ oughtta be an enjoyable experience!

First, we’re gonna take a look at what really makes a successful rock band tick! You’re gonna get the 411 from one of the fastest-growin’ and most popular bands in the UK, The Fore — and a coupla vids to boot!But you’ll also be gettin’ upclose with gigs and venues from some of your favorite artists, old (yep … quite a few still around) and new!
Natch, you’ll be readin’ my chicken-scratchin’ here, too — I’ve been in the music biz for thirty-years-and-change, and got a lotta good, up-to-the-minute stuff to share with ya!

So stay tuned on Monday evenin’ for the first episode of the NEW Musician’s Notebook! ‘Til then …
I’ll see ya on the flip side!

It takes a talented and experienced musician to write hit-quality songs and coordinate a band and it’s repertoire, but everybody has to start learning somewhere. In the digital age, there are many ways to learn to make music with little to no skill and non-musicians can play with these tools either just for fun, or as one of the first steps to building a sense of rhythm and melody, and especially arrangement. Every Mac owner gets a copy of Garageband for free, and there are other similar programs like Ardour and Audacity that PC and Linux users can get there hands on for free as well. It’s a bit unusual to start learning music like this, but it makes it easier to pick up an instrument when you already have a sense of rhythm, melody and arrangement.

FYI: I believe there are serious problems in the music industry and popular music culture at this point in history and that our airwaves are overrun by people who just don’t know a damn thing about music. I am not condoning that with this article. This article is for those who wish to learn and cannot yet begin learning an instrument.

1. Melodyne

Melodyne is a helpful program for musicians and non-musicians alike. It’s billed as a tool that allows you to edit soundwaves with a piano roll interface. What this means for non-musicians is that if you have a melody in your head, you can sing it to Melodyne to determine which notes it uses. These melodies can be exported as MIDI files for manipulation as virtual instruments; so, if you have a bass line, flute melody or guitar riff in your head, record it vocally and fiddle with the MIDI in Garageband (or any other consumer level audio program) until it sounds like a melody for the instrument you have in mind.

2. Drum loops

Drums can be confusing for many people, including musicians who write songs who are not primarily drummers. So it’s doubly difficult for a non-musician to work them out with a drum machine such as Reason’s ReDrum. Thankfully, there are plenty of websites out there that offer free, and premium paid, drum loops. Check out ccMixter as your first stop.

3. A good rhyming dictionary

If you haven’t written a great deal of songs, nor have you had experience with poetry in the past, it might be difficult to grasp the mysterious, intertwined elements of rhythm and rhyme in the lyrics to your home-made music. A good rhyming dictionary such as Rhymezone will help you get started while you learn to think in terms of the sounds words make, as well as their various meanings and connotations.

4. A blog or frequently updated website

Whether you get some hosting with the affordable GoDaddy internet hosting company and install WordPress there, or use the free WordPress.com blog hosting service, you can release your new-found love for amateur masterpieces on a blog and have those tunes heard. Sure, they may not be the next chart hits, but what’s the point of a songwriting hobby if nobody ever hears the stuff?

5. A digital audio input

Once you’ve started getting into the hobby a bit more and have perhaps brought home a MIDI keyboard, a bass or a guitar, it’s worth purchasing one of the more affordable digital audio inputs so that your sound quality isn’t as terrible as the recordings you get from the computer’s default analogue inputs. Start out with something cheap like the FastTrack USB which can handle microphones, guitars and various other live instruments. If you’ve bought a MIDI-capable instrument such as a keyboard, you may have to pay a few more dollars to get something that does audio and MIDI.

With the above tools, I’ve seen a completely untrained non-musician make a song that didn’t sound half bad. You won’t be making masterpieces, but you’ll be having fun and getting a sense for songwriting and arrangement in the progress. Keep up some music lessons, either from a teacher or from books alone like I did, and given time those strange jingles of yours may just become the hit songs for the remainder of this century. Just remember when you’re using your voice to hit Melodyne with your next bass line: warm up first so you don’t screw it up before you begin!

Disclaimer: I do not have any financial or promotional connections with any of the services I have suggested above. I’m simply attaching to these suggestions the software and services that I use in my own songwriting and recording work with my band.

Create Digital Music has an excellent tutorial on creating a foot pedal from a QWERTY keyboard for use with Ableton Live so you can record hands-free. Check it out at Create Digital Music. If I knew of something like this for Logic and Reason, I’d be building it right now!

I’d like to see an implementation that accounts for the small key size; maybe some kind of modification that makes the pushable area larger. If you’re an Ableton user, head on over and take a look. I think it’ll be worth your time.

Update: Michael Una, the author of the tutorial, left this useful comment:

Hi Joel. With a little bit of ingenuity, you can apply this DIY footcontroller to any DAW.

The trick is all in the key scripting programs I mention in the article- you can very easily script any combination of keystrokes and mouse actions to be triggered by the push of a single key.

So, with a little fiddling, you could assign each of the buttons on the footcontroller to a different function, such as play, record, mute, solo, etc.

Also, it’s a bit hard to see in the pictures, but I did hot glue some larger bits of plastic to the keys to increase the surface area of each button. I used a transparent plastic so I could still read which key was which, but you could really glue anything on there.

One of the first Midnight.Haulkerton tunebacks, Overclocked, was written in honor of work by Cory Doctorow, a from that time on, we’ve released all the tunebacks under Creative Commons licenses. Since we allow derivatives, we even go as far as releasing the raw tracks for some of our songs, for remixing. We’ve so far had two (one, two) remixes just from Overclocked.

Creative Commons encourages musicians to provide the materials that get listeners involved, and listeners who get involved are, as fans, much more loyal, dedicated, and committed to the band and its music than those who just whack it on in iTunes once in a while.

Technically, all you have to do is put a song up under Creative Commons (they can attempt the remix just using the MP3) to give listeners more options. Of course, it’s much more viable to remix from source tracks, but nevertheless, there’s one reason that Creative Commons is great for bands.

A guitar-playing friend of mine is dabbling in the art of on-the-cheap home recording and asked me a question about getting a decent signal. He was going through his computer’s built in line-in and could only get a very small signal that sounded quiet and weak, and if he tried to fix this he got a clipped and distorted signal.

I’m not a recording expert, but I do know it’s important to get the signal right! It’s possible to go directly with the line-in through your computer (my friend didn’t know that input volumes could be adjusted in Windows XP’s software volume controls just like output volumes), but I recommend to anyone who is even half-serious about home recording to at least get a cheap pre-amp. Better yet, get a Behringer Eurorack–you can get them with two phantom-powered microphone/analogue inputs and built-in pre-amps for about AU$100, so it would be well below the $100 mark in America.

From there, all you have to do is turn up the volume, make sure it’s loud enough, and bring it down (or up) enough until the red “Peak�? LED stops blinking when you play. Check that you’re getting a similar signal in your computer’s digital audio workstation–loud enough, but the signal metre isn’t hitting red. You’ll have a clear signal with no clipping.

For XP users with no pre-amp or mixer, skip to measuring volume directly in the DAW. For Mac OS X users you don’t even need to check the DAW meter. The input volume settings provide a good signal gauge.

Of course, nothing beats a decent digital input with a built-in pre-amp to get great sound quality, if you have the extra money!