Category Archives: musics

Equalization Tips for Electronic Music Production

EQ (or Equalization) is a fundamental part of dance music production. This tutorial will analyse the use of EQ to solve some common production problems.

If you solo the individual parts in a dance music piece, it becomes very obvious to the human ear where the particular fundamental frequencies lie on the sonic spectrum. Basslines may have a large concentration of low end frequencies at 60 Hz, whereas other percussive elements commonly have a presence at 1-6 kHz. Percussive sparkle is found in the 8-12 kHz area, which is a range not typically occupied by bass. Making sure that instruments do not overlap their frequencies is key to producing a balanced sonic landscape.

Unmasking the Frequencies

Parts that share certain frequencies can cause serious problems when mixed together. Commonly called ‘frequency masking’, this can result in sounds losing their structure and an introduction of unwanted gain.

In order to effectively counter the unwanted side-effects of frequency masking is to apply EQ to strip away the problem frequencies from one or more of the instruments. This will help to carve a space in the sound spectrum frequencies that may then be occupied by other parts.

A common example of frequency masking is when a bass instrument and kick drum overlap on a beat. It is not uncommon for two parts such as these to share bass frequencies which can cause problems when they are played simultaneously. If this issue cannot be resolved by changing the programming of the notes, a degree of Equalization can be applied. Reducing the volume of the bassline at approximately 60 Hz by using an Equalization cut could prevent the frequencies of the kick drum from being masked by the bass at around 60 Hz in the mix.

Using EQ in this manner can help to achieve greater sonic balance in music productions, as every instrument is given its own space to exist within the frequency spectrum.

Rap Beats – Get Your Music Heard! – Music Marketing 101

Rapping Beats

Marketing of your music product (mixed and mastered vocals on Rapping Beats or R&B Instrumentals) is probably the most important part of the music BUSINESS. In this Rap Beats and Instrumentals support article Ill give you an intro in the MASSIVE world of Music Marketing. This article is part of a series on how to become a successful Rapper or Singer. You can view all the articles in this series on the authors page.

You can have the craziest lyrics and the hottest rapping beats and R&B instrumentals in the world, but if no one knows about you and your music, it makes NO difference. You can even have distribution with the biggest distributors in the world. But without proper marketing it wont mean anything. If you dont promote your music heavily, youll get lost in the ocean of rappers and singers that are online and in stores. Ill give you an intro here, but the topic is way to huge to discuss in one article.

Q: Once my song is ready, where and how can I promote it and get it heard?

A: Like I said earlier this is a big subject which cant be explained in a couple of paragraphs. But once you have a fully mixed and mastered song with solid lyrics on a really HOT rapping beat or R&B instrumental, youre ready to get it out there into the world. (Remember, as important as marketing is, music quality still matters). One thing you definitely want to keep doing is constantly learn all you can about Music Marketing. The key is to get AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE to hear (to actually listen to) your song. Post your music up everywhere online. Give it to all your friends and tell them to make copies and share it with their own friends. Hand CDs out at clubs and concerts where they play music similar to yours. When youre first starting out dont be afraid to give your music away for free. Yes I said FREE. (well Almost free, the only thing you should ask for in return is the persons Email Address more on this later.) People wont pay to listen to a song from an unknown artist they might not like. They have to trust and like you before they buy from you. Trust me, giving away your music to gain a true fan will PAY OFF in the end.

The next thing to do is get your music on the internet and let the world hear. Upload your music to any music related website you know of. POST IT EVERYWHERE YOU CAN! Some good ones to focus on are iLike, ReverbNation, MySpace (yes MySpace still matters), Last.fm, Jango and BandCamp but the list goes on and on. After that get on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter and socialize with different people tell them about your music! Its important NOT to be annoying and spam people with ads of your music. That is one SURE way to get potential fans to HATE you. (Do you ever click on those kinds of posts? Didnt think so) You have to start or join in conversations and build personal relationships with people. Thats the key to social networking Its hard work, but it WILL pay off.

Another thing you dont want to forget about is having your OWN website it looks professional and will give you credibility as an independent artist. Having a MySpace of Facebook Page is great but you need a HOME your personal website will be your own store-front where you can gather fans. A good solution for this is BandZoogle. You can easily design a professional looking website with them and get your own domain (something like www.YourArtistOrBandName.com). BandZoogle also has a great Mailing List application that will let you collect all your fans email addresses so you can keep in touch with them. This is VERY important. When you give your music away to fans, make sure to get an email address in return and keep them updated on all your new releases. Its much easier to keep old fans (customers) than it is to get new ones! Well this is the longest article in the series so Ill leave it at that for now! Keep learning about Music Marketing Its Important! Hope this helped.

Holla @ ur boy!

DatPaki
Producer/Songwriter
PBE Music

iPod Vs. Zune Music and Video Download Sites

There are many folks that hate both Apple and Microsoft portable media products. Apple makes i pod an Microsoft makes Zune.Fortunately for the consumer, there are other good portable media players out there now but do not have the same visibility as Apple and Microsoft products. Discussion about these other portable media players like SanDisks Sansa series and Creatives Zen series devices are beyond the scope of this article. This article is about basic iPod and Zune similarities and differences. In addition, sources for purchasing music online for iPod and Zune will be briefly discussed.

The iPod is a portable media players designed and marketed by Apple and released to the public in 2001. Currently, as a digital audio player, the iPod is the best-selling music player in history. Zune is Microsoft’s digital audio player, released in 2006, directly competing with Apples iPod. Each of these portable media players deliver what it was intended to do which is to play music or audio, display images, and play video. Each has their pros and cons.

There are many Zune and IPod similarities and I will list major ones. They each have the same starting price of around $249, disk storage, picture capacity, screen resolution, and aspect ratio. They play audio, pictures, and video. They have USB connection (to another device, typically a computer), battery, and similar battery life.

Both devices support MP3, MP4, M4A, M4B (for audio), and MOV (for video) file formats. The Zune favors Windows Media Audio (WMA) while iPod has its protected AAC format. When it comes to exchanging files, you will need software tools to convert your iTunes files to MP3 or convert Zune WMA files to MP3. Both systems support JPGs (for still images) and MPGs (for video).

There are advantages that Zune has over iPod. Approximately 60 hours more video can be stored in the 30GB version. Zune has a larger screen size and is capable of portrait mode display. Zune has wallpaper, FM radio, wireless connectivity, and faster battery charge. Zune Plays WMA audio formats and WMV video formats. It has one more standard case color: brown!

There are advantages that iPod has over Zune. iPod plays games, is compatible with the Audible, Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV audio formats. It plays H.264, M4V, MP4, MOV, MPEG-4 video formats. It is slightly smaller and lighter than Zune. The iPod software works on PC and Mac. Zune only works with PCs. The primary websites for music downloads are iTunes Store for iPod and Zune Marketplace for Zune. Both sites offer music downloads of 0.99 cents per song. With Zune Marketplace, you can buy a monthly subscription for $14.99 a month for unlimited downloads as long as you have a subscription.

But there are other online music stores out there so you are not limited to Apple and Microsoft. Do an online search for “online music stores” and determine what works for you.

Common Instruments In R&b

Rhythm and blues is a variety of related but different types of music combined in to one. We will discuss some information on rhythm and blues and the main instruments that are commonly used in this type of music.

The most common types of instruments used in this type of music is a drum set, bass, a piano (an organ can often be used instead of the piano), and the guitar, while the horn section features saxophones, trumpets, and sometimes trombones. The importance on horns in most styles of this type of music has been one of the ways in which the music
has been historically recognized differently to that of white rock music.

What is musical instruments used in rhythm and blues known as

Today, rhythm and blues has become known as R&B and many black Americans have taken a major interest in this type of music. Rhythm and blues has gone more towards rap than the old style; many songs are now released that are classed as R&B when they are mostly rap. However they often do have a R&B melody in the background, but, it is no where near the same as this type of music once was.

Musical instruments used in rhythm and blues today

Today, the rhythm and blues style of music is ruling the musical scene once again. In the past has it has experienced several peaks of popularity, but, it normally dies out for a while after each peak. The 1950s are classed as a peak point for rhythm and blues; however, in the early 1960s it was replaced and died in popularity due to the huge popularity of soul music.

The popularity of musical instruments used in rhythm and blues

In the early 1980s, rhythm and blues peaked in popularity again, ruling the music industry alongside disco. The music then died out again. Recently, the music has become popular again with artists like Black eyed Peas, Mariah Carey, Jennifer Lopez, and other famous artists. If you trace the music style back over the decades, you will find it has had its peaks in popularity over the many decades, starting from the early 1950s.

From 2000 in to 2007, this style of music has been ruling the charts, maybe we will see a die in this type of music, however, with the current trends, and the way society is today, this music will likely continue to soar over in to the next decade. Only time will tell which type of music will rule the industry in the next few decades. This summarizes our musical instruments used in rhythm and blues article.

Kids Music – Audiation And Learning

An important building block for learning music skills and concepts is audiation. You may be familiar with the term inner hearing. The term audiation (inner hearing of music or silently hearing music) was coined by music education researcher Edwin E. Gordon.

Audiation is Gordons term for hearing music in the mind with understanding. It is the process of thinking music and comprehending music in the mind. Gordon describes audiation as the foundation of musicianship.

Audiation is the process of mentally hearing and comprehending music, even when no physical sound is present. It is a cognitive process by which the brain gives meaning to musical sounds. In essence, audiation of music is analogous to thinking in a language, as said by Edwin E. Gordon

Mary Ellen Pinzino states that audiation is a way of knowing in melody and rhythm. It is a unique human capacity outside the realm of words. To audiate is to “think” music, but in melody and rhythm rather than in words. Audiation is another way of knowing. Audiation is the musical imagination. It is the man-made music of the mind. It is the sound fantasy that provides the framework for understanding the music we listen to, the music we perform, and the music we read and write.

Audiation is a process. It is the construction of meaning in music. It is the process of making musical sense of the music we hear, perform, read, and write. Just as thinking is essential to speaking, listening, reading, and writing language, audiation is essential to tuneful and rhythmic performance, music listening, reading, and writing. Audiation is the whole of music literacy, as said by Mary Ellen Pinzino

Audiation or inner hearing takes place when we silently hear and give meaning to music without the sound, i.e., thinking a melody, clapping a rhythm pattern from a song while thinking the melody. The development of audiation is basic and invaluable in building all musical skills. We should always strive to cultivate the audiation of rhythm and tonal patterns, melodic lines, and phrases. Audiation must be the first step in ones music experience prior to introducing notation, and other aspects of music theory.

Try this exercise to experience audiation or inner hearing. Silently think the melody of Mary Had a Little Lamb. Did you think one note at a time? Or did you think groups of notes. Did you internally hear the notes as a pattern?

We do the same thing when we silently hear language. We hear words, not letters one at a time. The more words we have in our vocabularies, the better we hear and comprehend the meaning of what we are hearing. Just as we give meaning to language, we must give meaning to music through relevant patterns of tones and rhythms. Likewise, the more tonal and rhythm patterns we have in our music vocabularies, the better we will hear and comprehend the meaning of the music. To help your child or student develop music listening and speaking vocabularies, have the child listen and move to a variety of tunes. Invite them to sing many different melodies.

It is very important to develop audiation or inner hearing and listening skills in the early years of a childs life. What a powerful gift and music foundation to give a child.