Thursday, July 5, 2012
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Your school grades you 0 to 100%. But what does a real-world client think of your work?
There is a big difference between a school or college, and the real-world working environment. One is helpful and supportive, the other is harsh and takes no prisoners. Guess which is which?
I've been involved in audio training for a long time, since 1985 in fact. There is a phrase I have heard many times in the context of practical project work... "The student will learn practical skills in the context of a simulated working environment". That statement can be formulated in a number of ways, but the essence is that students should be given tasks that are typical of processes that take place in commercial industry, and they should perform them in a context that is similar to industry.So, for example, a student bricklayer will learn to lay bricks and a tutor will take the place of the foreman, telling the student whether his work is good enough.
This is fine. But the modern educational environment is meant to be helpful and supportive. So if the student lays a brick out of line, the tutor has to point this out gently, not hurt the student's feelings, and guide them towards a better placement.
In the real world of work however, a bricklayer learns of the foreman's dissatisfaction through a stream of expletive, shouted at high volume. And if he doesn't get it right after that, he doesn't get to work on that site anymore.
So, as you can see, there is a big difference between education and the real world of work.
The problem is compounded in private education, where students pay for their own training entirely, without any other financial support. In a school, college or university that is supported by the taxpayer, endowments, donations, commercial spin offs and other means, then although the student may pay a fee, much of the cost of their tuition is paid by someone else. So the school always has a lever over the student - shape up or ship out, effectively.
But when a course is completely paid for by the student, then it is difficult to speak to that student in real-world terms. And you can't 'ship them out', because they have paid for their course and would demand a refund. That wouldn't be a good way to do business.
Let's move into the audio world. Almost always in the world of audio, a musician, producer or engineer is working for a client. That client in turn is being paid by someone who also has to be satisfied, who - for the purpose of this article - I will call the 'superclient'. The chain might be longer than this, but in this instance I will consider that the superclient supplies the market directly.
Let's say that the superclient has a project that requires a variety of different pieces of work. They have a relationship with the client, so the client is asked to supply some of the product. By chance, you have left your calling card with the client recently, and they decide to give you a try.
But when they hear your work, they don't like it. So what happens next? Well it could be any of these scenarios...
- The client doesn't get back to you. Eventually you call and ask what happened. The client fobs you off with, "It just wasn't right for us", or something like that. You never hear from them again.
- The client analyses your work in great detail and breaks down the areas where you have gone wrong. He calls you and suggests you take notes.
- The client calls you and screams and shouts down the phone, telling you you had better fix the problems (which he doesn't specify in detail), or else...
Scenario 3 wouldn't be common early on in a working relationship. However, as you do more work for a client, they come to rely on you more. If you don't fulfill their expectations on a particular job, then you may well expect verbal abuse. It's no use whimpering that this shouldn't happen in the workplace. Maybe it shouldn't, but that's not the world as it exists in reality.
No, Scenario 1 is what is most likely to happen in the real world. Scenario 2 is what should happen in education. But the student should also be made aware of what would probably happen in industry.
There are two things you can do to succeed in the real world. One is to analyze work that does please the client. So, whoever you are working for, if you can find examples of previous output and imitate that, you are far less likely to go wrong.
The second is to 'get inside their head', to use a cliche. The more you know about the client on a personal level, the more likely it is that you will develop a close understanding of what they want, even if they can't explain it clearly in words to you. Developing a range of social skills will help massively.
In summary, the real world of industry is a very different place to education. No matter how close any educational establishment attempts to imitate real-world practices, there is always the limitation that they have the requirement to be helpful and supportive. Industry can't afford that. They'll just get someone who can already do the job better.
So in education, you might have one tutor who is helpful and supportive. Fine, learn all you can from them. You might have another tutor who just says, "I don't like it" and gives you a low grade. Take that as an example of what you will encounter in the real world. A combination of both might just be the key!
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
One song, arranged four ways
A good musical arrangement can make all the difference to the presentation of a song. Of course, it helps if it's a good song in the first place...
Here's an interesting clip of audio. Take a listen...Kia-Cee'd
It's taken from a TV commercial for the Kia Cee'd. It's a car, if you didn't know. In the commercial, French band Nouvelle Vague (which is French for 'New Wave') perform Ever Fallen In Love?, originally by The Buzzcocks.
In the commercial we hear the song first performed only with guitar accompaniment, then with shaker and tambourine mixed in, then with more guitars, and then the full gig arrangement.
As an illustration of the arrangement process, this is an excellent example. It shows how a good song can work in a variety of arrangements. It shows how skilled performers can make a song sound good even in a minimalistic arrangement. And it demonstrates, in the last example, that modern mastering techniques are completely inappropriate to New Wave music. Well, that's my opinion.
You might have heard an odd edit in the middle of the clip. This is where the visuals suddenly switch from an interior shot (inside the car) to an exterior, then back again. It doesn't work for audio-only, but it's fine in the correct context.
In summary, great song, good arrangements, polished performances, clever editing, fantastic car.
Er... we don't actually know about the car...
The commercial...
And a version by the original performers, The Buzzcocks...
Publication date: Tuesday July 03, 2012
Author: David Mellor, Course Director of Audio Masterclass
Monday, July 2, 2012
How to collect royalties from your music
Is your music earning you money? Here's how it could earn you money while you sleep.
I am proud to be a member, a full member indeed, of the UK's Performing Right Society. This means two things - Firstly I receive royalty payments four times a year. Secondly I am not invited to Slashdot conventions ;-)Every civilized country has its equivalent of the PRS so, wherever you live, there is a good chance your music could be earning royalties too. So how can you do it?
Firstly, you have to identify an area where music is in demand and is being paid for. The obvious place is in sales of physical products and downloads. If you can get your song recorded by -- insert the name of your favorite artist -- then you will be able to earn royalties, both on sales and performances of your song.
Unfortunately this is probably the most competitive area of the industry and it is fantastically difficult to get in. The best chances are in the smaller niches, but the money is of course less.
But there is a huge market that is overlooked by many - broadcasting. TV and radio stations use massive quantities of music, much of it not sourced from commercial releases. And all of this music, well almost all, is paid for. So there's money on the table and you could get some of it.
Some of this music is quite high profile and even the average TV viewer will have noticed it - theme tunes and background music. It's a rare program that doesn't have any music at all, even news. Much of it goes unnoticed however. It's just background and the viewer isn't meant to pick up on it.
High profile music is generally commissioned. This means that the producer of a new game show, for instance, will go to some composers he or she already knows and ask them to submit demos. The winner gets the commission, writes and records the music, then settles back to collect the royalties. (Well, it's not quite as easy as that in the details, but in overview that's how it works.)
Low profile music is generally sourced from production music libraries. These are publishers who get composers to write and record music for them, probably for no upfront payment, and then try and get that music placed as often as possible. (In some localities, the music is sold as licences for unlimited use. In the UK, royalty payments generally prevail.)
If you can therefore persuade a TV or radio producer to commission you, or a production music company to take on your music, you will become eligible to receive royalties.
At this point you can sign up with the equivalent of the PRS in your country, sit back and watch the money roll in!
I first had my music published in 1985 and many of my tracks are earning regular royalty payments even now!
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