Music

Archive for the ‘Music’ Category

Florists in Devon were celebrating last month after the bravery of one of Plymouth’s best known florists raised over £500 for St Luke’s Hospice.

Heidi Blake, who is the manager of Yvonne’ s in Plymouth, faced her fear of heights and performed a skydive from 15,000 feet to raise the money. Staff and florists applauded her efforts and were keen to emphasise just how scared of heights she actually is.

Joining florists in Oxford, London and all over the country in raising money for charity, Yvonne’s dedicates a lot of its time to charities like St Luke’s Hospice, Breast Cancer Care and The Poppy Appeal every year.

Its fundraising efforts normally comprise events such as sponsored charity walks in and around the area, but the manager this year really added a new meaning to the phrase ‘the sky is the limit’. Skydives and florists don’t normally go in the sentence, but Ms Blake has done plenty to challenge that this year.

A skydive of 15,000 feet is an impressive thing for anybody to complete, but it is especially impressive for somebody with an intense fear of great heights. It took great bravery for Ms Blake to complete the jump, which makes every penny of the cash raised even more worthwhile.

Yvonne’s has been well established for over four decades now and continues to integrate itself with the local community. The florist uses the best flowers Exeter and Plymouth have to offer in a variety of community events, including the Mutley & Greenbank Festivals in May and December every year, providing the local community with the best floral delights and some of the most useful tips in the world of floristry.

For many years now, Yvonne’s has worked closely with the leading flower experts in the UK, Interflora, to improve floral design and passion in the local area. The florist is dedicated to working with the local community to spread the word about the wonderful world of flowers. Moreover, it is still dedicated to its annual pursuits of fundraising for the above charities.

Of course, the bar has now been set pretty high by Ms Blake, so who knows what is in store for next year’s fundraising events.

The first time you launch a CD with your band, you’ll want to show your music to the world especially to those who haven’t listened. How you attract these people to actually want to listen is by creating a killer CD cover, as a good first impression. Although there’s no right or wrong regarding to artwork, here are some basic guidelines when developing your CD cover.

- Catch the customers’ eyes. In other words, think about appealing color combinations. A little bit of insiders’ fact: reds and yellows tend to draw the most immediate attention. Not your favorite colors? No worries, there are plenty of other ways to make your CD cover eye-catching. As long as the colors reflect the tone, mood and genre of your music, you’ll be fine.

- Make it readable. The common mistake of every ‘design’ is that sometimes artists put a little too much ‘art’ and ignore the functionality of their design. Same goes with CD covers. Ask yourself when you see the sketch: is the text clearly visible against the backdrop? Is the font readable enough? Avoid color combos that could affect people with varying degrees of color blindness (e.g., red/green, red/blue combo)

- Simple designs work best. By simple, we meant structured and uncluttered. Your artwork will appear on a small square and if it conflicts with your text, doomsday is coming. Squeezing too much into a small space will just leave your artwork look messy. Keep the text only to the basic necessary information, both front and back.

- Make it look professional. The key to making a graphic work professional-looking is to use high-resolution colors and images, because they will stand out better on a small square. If you decide to use photos, make sure they have high-resolution. Make sure that the company duplicating your CDs is capable of doing quality printing of the cover as well as the CD. Covers looking blurred or messily photocopied will not help your CD to sell.

The thing about developing your CD cover is don’t hesitate to hire a professional to do it right. Because like we stated above, the cover is the first impression to your fans, and could possibly be the determining factor of your band’s future.
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Songs chosen, recording done, and post-production on the tracks is also done. Now your band is ready to have the CDs made. There are still a lot of things to worry about, and lots of decisions to make as each decision will determine how your CDs will sell. But here are some of the most important factors you’ll need to consider.

ALBUM ART

The CD Cover is very critical and important because it will be the first thing a person sees-and it will also determine whether that person wants to pick up your CD and actually consider buying it. Your CD cover needs to be catchy, appealing, and consistent with the overall vibe of your project. The design is one thing to decide on, but whether you’re going to include photos in the album art, what colors are best suited for the cover and how much text will be included, still need to be decided. And also don’t forget to decide if the CD itself will carry a similar design, and if it will be printed directly onto the CD or onto a label to be pasted to the CD.

PACKAGING

These days, CD packaging is not limited to the classic plastic packaging. Your CD can be packaged in a simple printed cardboard sleeve, or a fold-over cardboard wallet, or a multi-fold digipack. There’s also a choice of slim jewel case, or a flexible plastic case. You’ll also need to decide if you’re going to include an insert or booklet, and how many printed panels it will have. Will your lyrics be printed, or just “thank-yous”? Will the final package be shrink-wrapped? These things are based on your budget. One thing to remember: your CDs don’t have to look too fancy, just professional will be enough.

DUPLICATING

If you decide to distribute your CDs in larger quantities, duplicating them is recommended. It takes less time and is recommended for small runs. While replication is the pressing of your CD from a glass master; which takes more time and money up front, but is recommended for larger quantities. In the end, there’s no difference in the sound quality between these two methods; you just need to decide what’s best for you.

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The internet has become very popular especially these days when it seems that everything you want to know and learn about can easily be found when you simply go online. Say for example you are interested to know and gather information about whatever topic you have in mind, chances are, you would become truly successful with it by simply going online and conducting your research from there. Of course the benefits of the internet did not escape the instruments that you might be interested to learn more of.

For instance, if you are interested to learn how to play the piano and you are looking for ways on how to go about it more conveniently, then all you just have to do is go online and from there, you will find a lot of information on your part.

Once you are online, you might find some information about rocket piano as this is one of the most famous and most used programs that helps people learn how to play the piano at the moment. And because of its popularity, you might also chance upon several rocket piano scam online.

Since rocket piano is truly very popular, a lot of people have taken advantage of this kind of situation. This being said, a lot of people have created scams or those known to be a false way of learning how to play the piano. To those who do not really have any idea as to what it is that they are doing, chances are they would find it difficult to know and figure out just what is a scam from what is not. This is why it would be best for you to be very particular.

Before checking and purchasing this piano program of your choice, be wary first that you are not actually purchasing a rocket piano scam out there. Remember that this kind of product has been made available widely online that is why there is a big chance for you to be wronged when it comes to this kind of situation. Therefore, remember to be very particular with your choice.

Since you are familiar with the use of internet, what you can primarily do is to research with more caution than ever before so you can avoid these kind of problems on your part and not experience any of it anymore in the end and finally learn how to play the piano as well.

THE MACCABEES – Walking In The Air

First of all, we would like to apologise for reviewing this a week late. Maybe a Electric Banana review would have caused this cracking cover version to hit the top spot instead of Matt Cardle? Probably not, but we shall sadly never know! Anyway, the lovely festive classic (sung by Aled Jones – although, not in the actual film version) is given a brooding indie make-over by The Maccabees.

The south London five-piece recorded their version during a recent live recording session for On Track With SEAT for Channel 4, which was on the telly on 8th December and received such a great response from fans that a Facebook campaign was launched to get it released…and here it is. Now, you probably suspect that Orlando Weeks vocals are not as strong as Mr Aled Jones. Well, you are right, but he uses his moody voice perfectly to create an atmospheric triumph. Brilliant!

Rated 4 out of 5

MONO – Trouble On The Way

Do you remember when Kings of Leon were 60% band and 40% moustache? Yeah? They were pretty great weren’t they? These boys are from the same neck of the woods (Nashville) as their older homies and offer a pretty good replacement for the exciting and raw 2003-era KoL stuff that has gone missing from the Followill’s own music since they started experimenting with Gillette products.

They’ve got that (classic rock) southern rock sound that made KoL so popular when they first broke out, but also (singer and Joe Strummer lookalike) Nick Brown’s vocals sound uncannily like Caleb Followill, which makes it almost impossible to see a Mono review over the next few months without seeing a mention of Kings Of Leon included. So, if you liked Youth and Young Manhood, then whack this onto your Christmas (download) list.

Rated 4 out of 5

THE BEES – Winter’s Rose

Recent interviews with the The Bees over recent months has seen the band big up the “psychedelic ayahuasca plant” that they claim has broadened their horizons and is directly responsible for this Simon-&-Garfunkel-stoned-off-their-faces-esque track. Now, we don’t condone drug use at all, but we may have to have a rethink after listening to this blissed out little gem.

Winter Rose appears on The Bee’s fourth album Every Step’s a Yes, and is an indie reggae track (hold on, don’t judge it too quickly) that turns it into a hypnotic delight. The brilliance might not be immediate, but give it a few listens and let it intoxicate you.

Rated 4 out of 5

HURTS – All I Want For Christmas Is New Year’s Day

Again, this was released last week (what the hell were we doing?) and sees the 1980s Bros-lookalikes release a song that is rammed full of Christmas cliches, but somehow manages to be avoid being completely rubbish.

And if you know your Christmas pop, then you’ll know that piano and a snowy video is the key to all things Christmassy. Double tick. However, despite it being a decent effort at an original Xmas song (which is very rare) – it can be almost be lumped into the same file as Westlife or Take That, as it sounds a bit phoney. Are we being a bit too harsh here? Also, why is Robert De Niro (or lookalike) dressed as Santa on the cover? Scary.

Rated 3 out of 5

THE HUMAN LEAGUE – Night People

The Human League’s Don’t You Want Me has been played to death by TV advertising, La Roux, Little Boots, and probably every artist (slight exaggeration) who has released a song in 2009 and 2010 – due to the great electro renaissance. Therefore it really is no surpise that they have decided to make a comeback and strike while the iron is hot! Well, maybe lukewarm, as we are all getting sick of electro and 1980s-inspired keyboarding aren’t we?

Yes we are, but despite this actually sounding like a camp 1980s version of a Kraftwerk song with rubbish lyrics that may make you laugh out loud, it is an OK tune for those of you who can still stand all this electro nonsense and silly pointless lyrics.

Rated 3 out of 5

KATY B ft. MS DYNAMITE – Lights On

Everybody (with the winning combo of working ears and brain) knows that Dubstep is the worst thing that has ever happened in the history of popular music. FACT.

So, here is the girl responsible for making it come out of our radios far too often than it should. Damn her! Katy B (Katie Brien), Peckham’s finest musical export, releases a song that continues the commercial brand of Dubstep that ALMOST makes it bearable to listen to. However, it needs to (dub)step completely away from Dubstep for most of you to get any enjoyment out of this.

Hello Friends, this subject of “guitar cables”may or may not be something you’ve given much thought to as a real influence on your core guitar sound…But truth is, guitar cables can profoundly affect the overall outcome of our guitar tone.

When it comes to creating the ultimate guitar tone, there are many factors that account for this carefully calculated recipe of tone. Yet, who’s to say what the best guitar sound is? This is completely subjective to the person being asked. However, there are common key elements that are present in most every great guitar tone, and a full spectrum of frequencies are indeed one of those key elements.

Today, we’re going to look at guitar cables and examine what this simple little lifeline is (or isn’t) doing for our core guitar tone… (Core Guitar Tone or CGT, is simply your guitar plugged directly into the front of the amp with absolutely nothing else in the signal chain anywhere.)

The first thing we must accept is that guitar cables do indeed affect the signal and the tone of your sound. One simple single guitar cable can be responsible for good or bad quality immediately. This is exactly why I recommend that you spend some time working with different guitar cables to pin point the one you like best. You’ll only have to do this once, because after the initial time is spent narrowing down your choices and making a decision, you’ll want to use that type of cable throughout your entire signal chain to maintain consistency.

So, talking from experience and knowing what helped me to quickly overcome this process of cable comparisons and eliminations, I simply spent a couple days rounding up and locating as many different types of cables as I possibly could. This includes cheap ones and expensive ones and everything in between. I was able to borrow tons of different brands of cables from a local music store I worked at. I also rounded up all the cables I personally owned and ones that my friends personally owned.

This may sound like a crazy thing to do, but it was one of the best things i ever did to educate myself on cables regarding signal loss and tone robbery. I would never have thought to even do something like this if it weren’t for months and months of wondering why my guitar sound would change now and then, when I wasn’t changing any components in the rig. I would notice gain loss, or presence loss and the worst of all saggy bass instead of tight focused bass. You can imagine how this can drive you crazy, when your trying to achieve Great Guitar Tone.

One day, I was swapping out a simple patch cord and noticed a difference immediately in my entire guitar sound. It then dawned on me that the patch cord was affecting my overall guitar tone. That’s when I started experimenting with my cords and realized the huge amount of influence my cables had on my core guitar tone. Keep in mind, i was using all kinds of mixed matched cables at the time. This didn’t help the scenario any.

This is why I spent the time going through tons of different cables to discover what worked best for me. As i mentioned, you’ll only have to do this once if you spend the time gathering as many cables as possible, then do it all in one day.

I advise you to record your audio auditions of each cable and document the brand so when you can play them back, you be able to further analyze each cable. But… odds are you’ll know when your playing through the cable right then and there if it sounds right, and feels right. Yes, you’ll feel it in the guitar as well.

You’ll notice differences in things like

* Frequency drops or frequency harshness
* Loss of gain or enhanced gain
* Loss of clarity or enhanced clarity
* Saggy low-end or tightly focused low-end
* Big roundness of frequencies or narrow nasal frequencies
* Massive loss of sustain or increased sustain
* Dull responsiveness from the guitar or making the guitar feel Alive
* Non- transparent and cloudy or crystal clear with sheen

All of these things are what you’ll notice when you’re able to rapidly examine at least 20 different types of cables through the same guitar and amp rig in one simple setting.

More on this subject when we dive into part 2.

Be sure to read part 2. of “Guitar Cables and Tone Manipulation”

Coming Soon…

Bob Molton
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