Recording - March 2011 - 2

PUBLISHER:

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER:

Thomas Hawley Brent Heintz

EDITORIAL

EDITOR: Lorenz Rychner ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Mike Metlay WEB EDITOR: Justin Peacock MÚSICO PRO EDITOR: Fernando Curiel
CONTRIBUTORS

Songwriter Trends When will your song become a hit? You wish you knew. You polish your crystal ball, and the next time you look, it’s all murky again. How should you go about it? What to believe? Yesterday’s advice, no matter how thoughtfully it was delivered, is just a case of “that was then—this is now”. So we look for advice from people who are plugged into the here and now. Turns out that you, our reader, who—by definition—tends to be a recording musician, have a distinct advantage in this new songwriter reality. How so? Because you also know how to record and—presumably—produce and finish an entire project. Read what Tom Silverman (Tommy Boy) and Sebastian Arocha Morton have to say. I spoke to both, separately, probing the same topics, and heard—in essence—much the same message from both. Here are a few salient points that emerged: • • • • • • In this day and age of downloads, is the album dead? No, but... Has the significance of the demo changed? Yes... Will a label deal make or break your career? Only if you yourself... Does the live show matter? You bet... Are image and concept still important? Sure... How does being a recording producer figure in your songwriter career?

Paul Vnuk Jr., Bruce Kaphan, Darwin Grosse, John Rossi III, Todd Gascon, Mark Hornsby, Marty Peters, Gary Eskow, Devon Brent, Scott Dorsey
TAXI METER

EDITOR: Kenny Kerner
ART

PRODUCTION

ART DIRECTOR: Scott Simmonds PRODUCTION MANAGER: Colin Courtney PHOTOGRAPHY: Brent Heintz
PLAYBACK PLATINUM SERIES

EDITOR/PRODUCER: Lorenz Rychner
CIRCULATION

CIRCULATION MANAGER: Tiffany Sepe
ADVERTISING SALES AND MARKETING

DIRECTOR: Brent Heintz CLASSIFIEDS MANAGER: Stephanie King
ADMINISTRATION

ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE: Stephanie King
EXECUTIVE OFFICERS

Read the two interviews for the answers, and if you’ve been doing this songwriting thang for a long time, you may want to reassess where your energy is spent, and think about what new efforts are worth putting into it. Bruce Kaphan also emphasizes the effort it takes to bring your songwriting to the next level, in his article The 3 “Ps” of Songwriting: Present, Protect, Promote. May this all lead to your song becoming a hit! We came back from the NAMM show in Anaheim outside of Los Angeles, CA, that annual tradeshow that brings together an army of exhibitors and buyers and industry press, and swarms of looky-loos and show-offs despite its being closed to the public. The show was well attended, with lots of newcomers, and the mood was downright gung-ho in some quarters. The number of new products large and small reflects a willingness to ac-cen-tuate the po-si-tive (my favorite version is here: www.youtube.com/ watch?v=4IP9h40z0sk ...you’re welcome). We reserved nine pages for the show report, concentrating mostly on items of relevance to the recording musician, and we still could have filled an entire issue of the magazine. Bear with us if an item got overlooked. One exhibitor that doesn’t fit into our show report deserves a mention: The HEI House Ear Institute (www.hei.org) does more than just exhibit a product or—being a non-profit—solicit donations. The HEI conducts hearing tests at the show, and provides information and guidance about hearing loss and its prevention. That’s a topic you can appreciate when you’re walking around the show—noise levels can get out of hand, and the Noise Police always seem to be in the next hall over. “Noise Police?” Think I’m kidding? I spoke to one of the gents with the dB meters; it turns out he was a firefighter on loan to the Anaheim Convention Center who volunteered for a change in his routine. It is reassuring to see that people like him, trained in emergency measures as they are, walk the floor and try to keep noise levels down. And speaking of keeping noise levels down, wouldn’t it be nice for the welter of information on Facebook to contain one page of worthwhile recording news and information targeted to you, our readers? Well, now it does. Head over to Facebook and search for RecordingMag for more information! That’s it for now. We bring you much more in this issue for the recording songwriter and for the recording musician, in the hope that it all leads to much— Happy Recording!

PRESIDENT: Thomas Hawley VICE PRESIDENT: Brent Heintz
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(303) 516-9118 RECORDING MAGAZINE (ISSN 1078-8352; USPS 002-298) is published monthly, 12 times per year, by Music Maker Publications, Inc., 5408 Idylwild Trail, Boulder, CO 80301-3523. Tel: (303) 516-9118 Fax: (303) 516-9119 email: info@recordingmag.com

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RECORDING MARCH 2011

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IP9h40z0sk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IP9h40z0sk http://www.hei.org

Recording - March 2011

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