Strategy and Planning: Get Ahead By Knowing Where You Want To Go
Author of “1,2,1,2: A Step By Step Guide To The SA Music Industry,” Dave Chislett offers Music industry tips for aspiring bands and musicians
Most artists’ plan for their careers can easily be summed up as follows: Become famous, sell lots of records. While this is a great end objective to have in mind, a plan implies a series of steps that are designed to take you towards that end point. And this is where many fail themselves when it comes to reaching their goals and dreams in the real world.
It’s easy to spot the ones that had a plan of action, a real strategy. They are the big names: Goldfish, Good Luck, Skwatta Kamp, Flash republic, Watershed. Basically the music industry falls neatly into two parts: those who have a plan and those who don’t have a clue. You can up your chances of succeeding overnight just by making a plan of action with a clear strategy for your year. Unless of course you’d rather spend more time telling people at the bar just how under-rated you are…?
Having a strategy can best be described as having a plan of action for a defined period of time that aims to achieve a specific result. Set up a goal, figure out what needs to be done to get there and what methods you need to employ and go for it. So, the result is the easy one. You want to be the best band in town; you want each gig to earn you more than 10K, that kind of thing. But how do you get there? Everyone you know probably has a similar goal and we operate in a small market. How do you cut through the clutter to make your goals possible?
Firstly, you need to analyse the terrain, Where is the clutter? Is everyone playing the same gigs? Do they all look the same, sound the same and promote in the same ways? Then look for blue sky… open space where no-one is competing. If everyone is playing the same style right now, take it one step further, or break it down 5 steps back. Find new venues to play, find new artists to play with, new sounds to experiment with. The key here is to differentiate yourself. Why listen to one artist over another when they are all much the same? But when one is clearly different, clearly recognisable, the game changes. Make sure your image and your marketing cannot be mistaken for the herd. Become a front runner not a sheep.
From that brief description you will see that some forethought can go a long way to buying you space in which to shine when your contemporaries are still sharing bills as the same local venue.
So what you need to do is get specific. Define your end goal as precisely as you can, down to rands and cents, appearing on specific bills, releasing a certain amount of material and selling a specified amount of copies. Then plot out over a month by month time line WHAT you are going to do WHEN and HOW in order to achieve those goals. You will find that, once you know WHERE you are going, it’s much easier to figure out HOW to get there.
The primary error most ambitious young artists make is that they do not articulate their ambition in specific enough terms and it is therefore hard to see what is needed. Once you are clear, the road opens. Once you have a clear strategy is becomes the simple matter of moving from bench mark to bench mark doing everything you have identified as necessary as well as you possibly can. Then all that is required is the leg work. And lots of it. But that’s another advice column.
AUTHOR BLURB
David Chislett has been in the SA music industry for 25 years. Bassist, journalist, manager, publicist, film maker, author and consultant, he has gotten his hands dirty.
His book 1,2,1,2: A Step By Step Guide To The SA Music Industry is an easy to understand, no holds barred self-help book for anyone wanting to do better in the business.
It is available from Exclusive Books, Look & Listen stores and all good independent shops.
He also hosts workshops and private consultations to help artists get ahead.
TUNING PROBLEMS
We have all run across guitars with tuning problems, which continually slip out of tune while playing or are difficult to get into tune. Often players just accept them as being “difficult” instruments. Sometimes they might try changing the tuning machines and, when this is unsuccessful, either sell the guitar or decide to live with the issues. However, in 99% of cases, the cause of these issues can be quickly identified and fixed.
Intonation vs. Tuning
This is actually a separate issue to tuning problems. Intonation problems are where the guitar can be tuned and will stay in tune, but will play out of tune in different places on the neck, particularly in the upper registers, towards the body of the guitar. I’ve covered intonation adjustment before and it is beyond the scope of this article.
Tuning issues are where the strings themselves do not stay in tune, where they are constantly slipping out and need continual tuning. These problems are almost always down to one or two issues and are usually simply identified and fixed.
Strings
I can’t stress this enough: Strings are the #1 cause of both tuning and intonation problems. The first recourse in any tuning issues is to change the strings, regardless of how new they are. The usual issue is strings that are uneven, as uneven strings cannot vibrate evenly and will introduce odd harmonics that clash with the fundamental tone. Unevenness is often a result of old and worn out strings as not only do strings gradually stretch over time (and rarely stretch evenly), but they wear unevenly on the frets the more the guitar is played. Unevenness is not limited to old strings though – occasionally manufacturing defects will cause a string to be unevenly stretched or wound right out of the packet.
Incorrect Fitting
The simple rule of fitting strings is to make sure you have as short a length of string as possible. To do this, make sure you have as few string winds on the tuner capstan as possible and, in the case of a nylon string guitar, on the bridge too. Excess windings on either side will not only make for a longer string length to stretch, but can shift and catch with changes in tension – particularly on electric guitars with vibrato systems. Strings will also settle when first fitted and excessive windings slow the settling process down.
Nut
Strings binding (catching) in the nut is a common cause of tuning issues. It is often easily identified as it usually causes creaking or “ping” noises as the strings move while tuning and often while bending them during play. This is caused by badly cut or worn nut slots and can often be temporarily cured by applying a dry lubricant such as graphite powder to the slots. Ideally the nut should be re-cut or replaced by a professional for a permanent cure.
String Retainers
The strings can also bind on the string retainers (string trees) used on Fender style electric guitars (which bring the string height down so the strings wind evenly on the tuners and press down adequately in the nut). The best solution for this is replacing the existing retainers with Fender’s own roller string trees or with the Graph Tech Black Tusq versions.
Tuning Machines
Worn-out tuners are the most often suspected cause of tuning issues, but are seldom the cause. Still, even the best tuners wear out over time and inexpensive tuners do not wear as well. Bad tuners will usually be indicated by the pitch slipping down, never up and the cure is simple replacement.
Vibrato Bridges
Occasionally a vibrato bridge will not return to “zero” (pitch) due to wear on the knife edge or the studs that it pivots against. However, care should be made in making this diagnosis, as it is often binding in the nut or string retainers rather than the vibrato unit itself. The fix is simply to smooth out any rough areas on these two points of contact.
PLAY BETTER BASS: How to Choose the Right Bass Guitar
Choosing the right bass is not always as easy as one would think, but with some research, and if you have a good idea of what you are looking for in a bass, you will probably find an instrument that satisfies your needs.
Some very important questions to ask yourself are the following:
1. What is my budget?
2. Is the bass comfortable to play?
3. Can I handle the weight? (Some basses are heavier than others).
4. Four string or five string? (Five string basses are more difficult to play, but you can learn on them and with a lot of the modern styles it might be a must have.)
I would not recommend six, seven, nine-string etc. basses for beginners. If you are a more advanced player you will also bring fretless/fretted into the permutation, especially if you are adding another bass to your arsenal.
It is important to get a bass that is easy and fun to play. The easier it is to play, the more hours you will be able to put in on your instrument. The action of your bass can be set to suit you style of play by lifting or lowering the saddles on the bridge, or by tightening or loosening your truss rod. Any reputable Bass dealer should be able to help you with this.
Most electric bass guitars are solid-body electrics. But if you’re looking for a rounder and more acoustic sound you should buy a semi-hollow-body bass instead. There is also the option of an acoustic bass guitar with a built in pickup, but remember that feedback could be a problem when amplified.
If you’re looking for a warm, natural sound, you need a bass with a darker and more wood fretboard. Like rosewood or ebony for example; lighter woods like maple generally produce a brighter sound.
The type of neck you choose is dependent on the size of your hands. There are different shapes for you to choose from including round to flat back, and anywhere in between. Four string basses usually come with smaller necks than five string or six string basses.
The scale length is the distance between the nut and bridge saddle. The longer the scale the more distance there is between the frets. The scale length chosen is important because it is what influences the tonal quality of the notes and the tension of the string when a note is played.
Neck with fret-board removed to expose truss rod.
A short scale of 30 inches, medium scale of 32 inches, standard scale of 34 inches, 5 string long scale of 35 inches, or an extra long scale of 36 inches? It all depends on the instrument you’re thinking of getting and the tone you desire. If you have small hands, a short scale bass is probably the best bass guitar for you. Longer scale necks give more definition to low (thicker) strings.
A vital area to pay attention to is intonation. This is what determines whether the various notes on your bass play in tune. On some basses, the distance between the frets can be a little off and as a result these basses don’t play in tune, usually when you pass the 12th fret. These basses are useless and you shouldn’t waste money on one.
Ensure that you get a decent tuning head on your bass. Enclosed machine heads are better than open tuning machines. They resist rust and airborne corrosives and you therefore don’t have to maintain or replace them often.
The number of frets you choose is also a matter of personal preference. You can choose between 21, 22, or 24 frets.
No matter how good the wood of the bass is, if the pickups are not up to scratch it defeats the object. There are many pickup models, both active or passive.
You also need the right combination of strings and pickup.
In terms of neck, the best bass for you is all about your personal preference. If you want one that is stronger, has better sustain and note resolution, buy a neck-through bass. But for punchier sound, nothings beats a bolt-on neck; the only limitation is that they are more prone to having dead spots.
Choice of wood is important. The wood you choose will affect the tone and weight of the instrument. If you are to be standing up to play it’s wise to have one that is lightweight. Swamp ash wood is a lightweight soft wood that produces low Mids and a punchy tone. Alder is another lightweight wood except that the tone it produces is crisper. Although you should pay attention to the weight of the instrument, it’s all about whether or not you like the sound.
You can choose any finish you like since it doesn’t really affect the sound of your electric bass. As long as you have a clear understanding of what you need it should be easy to find the right bass guitar.
When tuning, the strings may become very tight as they pull on the headstock; this in return curves the neck slightly, like a bow and arrow. Because of this bow and arrow motion, the strings may be close or not–so–close to the fretboard, commonly referred to as the action of your guitar. The lower the action, the easier it will be for you to play your bass. However if your action is too close to the fretboard, you will get fret buzz.
Choosing the right Bass for your style of music you play is crucial. May your search for the right bass be a fruitful one.
Play Better Guitar Vibatro and Bending
Welcome to play better guitar. I have decided to choose a topic that many beginners battle with and to be honest I have seen experienced guitarist also struggle with this; I am talking about bending and vibrato and the combination of the two together. Let’s start with vibrato.
What is Vibrato?
Vibrato is a musical effect consisting of a regular, pulsating change of pitch. There are two factors that determine your own Vibrato and these are how wide the pitch varies either side of the target note and the speed of your Vibrato. It could be narrow and fast or wide and slow, and we will use these different variants to add nuance to the note that we would like to focus on. We will look at a couple of examples of where vibrato is used later on in the lesson.
In most modern guitar styles we have got two different types of vibrato, namely classical vibrato, which is a parallel movement to the strings, and we have a horizontal type vibrato which is a lot wider than the classical type vibrato; the second type is employed by most contemporary musicians.
Classical Vibrato will be from left to right and generally, only using one finger to create the vibrato.
The type of Vibrato used in contemporary music generally uses all the fingers in support as there is usually vibrato added to a bend, but this is not a rule, you need to find what works for you! Here in this picture we can see the fingers supporting each other. Also remember this type of vibrato will have a Horizontal movement. Once again you can determine the speed and the depth of the vibrato by how fast you move the string horizontally and how far you bend it.
What is Bending?
Bending is: A bent note is a musical note that is varied in pitch. Once again this can be done on any instrument and each different instrument would require a different technique.
As a guitarist we all prefer our different string gauges and obviously the heavier the gauge the more difficult it can be to bend the string. At this point I must state that over practicing of this technique can lead to RSI (repetitive strain injury) so please do not over do it!!!
The Technique
The most important part of bending technique is to realise that the strength to bend the string comes from the wrist and not the fingers. Your fingers alone are not strong enough to bend alone but rather use your wrist and the strength from your arms. Remember you can bend the string up or you can pull it down, once again this will be player preference.
Here you can see how the fingers support each other and how the thumb is also used, once again remember that the strength comes from the wrist!
Bending can happen using less fingers in support. This will totally depend on the position of your note that you are bending.
ApplicationsThe most important aspect to any guitar lines is how you start them and how you end them. Here is a lick or a run that uses a bend with vibrato at the end as a way of releasing the line and being as musical as possible.Here we have a lick that employs a run into a bend then a vibrato is added. Please note that the vibrato should only be added once you have bent to the desired note, which in this case is a semitone above the last note played. Once you have reached the pitch you can release your vibrato. Here you can try different types of vibrato, shallow and fast, deep and wide. Try and find your own voice with this technique.
ConclusionThere are no hard and fast rules to where you can and can’t use a bend or vibrato, this you need to explore. I would definitely check out the Blues player licks of Stevie Ray V and fusion player Eric Johnson and listen carefully to where they use these techniques to enhance their notes.Once again this is not an easy technique so it may take a while to understand and do properly. Good luck till next time, where we will look at a whole lot of licks in different musical styles using bends and vibrato.
Copyright Kurt Slabbert | Bluenoise Productionskurt_slabbert@hotmail.com
Basic room treatment for the home studio
A few years ago in a previous article (Drum recording techniques for the home studio Part 1) I spoke briefly about some basic room treatment ideas for the home studio. In this article I want to take another look at some cheap and effective ways of controlling the response of your recording space in your home studio. Of course the treatment that you decide on really depends on what you want to record and what genre of music your are working with. The main point to remember is that the more reflective your room is the more “live” your recordings will feel. Conversely the more absorption you use in your room, the tighter your sound will be.
There are many companies that produce very effective professional room treatment solutions if you have the budget. However we’re going to explore of few cheaper DIY options that will allow you to control the sound of your recording room at home.
Using any kind of absorption at your disposal
When it comes to sound in a room one of the first problems you will encounter are parallel surfaces and in a home studio these are everywhere! These parallel surfaces will lead to some frequencies reinforcing in amplitude and will therefore cause more of that particular frequency to be emphasized in your recordings. In simple terms this could mean, for example, a boost at 100Hz in all your recorded elements leading to a “muddy” un-focused low end in the mix.
One solution to this problem is to try and break up parallel walls by using some kind of sound diffusion (don’t forget that your floor and ceiling are likely to be parallel too). A neat trick for breaking up parallel walls can be to place a shelving unit, with multi-angular objects on the shelves, along the walls. This works because it will cause arriving sound waves to be reflected off in many different directions rather than reflecting back and forth between the parallel walls and reinforcing. This concept of diffusion can be a very useful tool for smoothing out the frequency response of your room. Have you ever seen those multi-angular wooden walls at the back of professional recording studios? That is diffusion at work.
DIY absorption kits are readily available
Another way of controlling the sound waves reflecting around the room is to use sound absorptive material on the walls. This will provide a tighter, closer sound by preventing sound from bouncing off reflective surfaces creating a long reverb tail that will colour your recordings. An old thick carpet or rug (even curtaining or drapery) hung on the walls will help to absorb high frequencies. In order to control lower frequencies however you will need some kind of bass trapping. The 90° corners of a room are an area where bass frequencies build up and you will need a fairly thick absorptive material for treating these areas. Another useful DIY trick is to place an old couch, mattress, futon or even a large stack of thick cushions in the corner, if possible reaching from the floor to the ceiling. This will effectively trap the bass frequencies and prevent them from being reinforced in your recordings.
The last two areas that you can treat are the ceiling and floor. Any drapery tacked to the ceiling will help to absorb sound and may help to control any standing waves. Most engineers prefer a wooden floor but with any floor, movable carpeting will help with absorption. It’s nice for example to be able to place a drum kit on a carpet to prevent reflections from the floor entering your microphones.
The key to remember, when treating your room, is that you can always add artificial reverb to create size and space in the mix, but it is impossible to remove any room ambience once it has been recorded-in. So often it is a safer bet to over-treat a home recording space and then a dd ambience later on in the mix.
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