Top 10 DAWs For Songwriting

Songwriting is such a personal affair. Everyone does it differently and everyone has an idea on the best way to do it. These days, most people write with their favorite DAW to help them either flesh out the rhythm of the tune or simply remember any ideas. For some, that's a heartache in itself as sometimes there's more time spent on the technical aspect of the DAW than on the actual writing.

That said, here are the top 10 DAWs for songwriting as stated by songwriting.net.

1. PreSonus Studio One

2. Propellerhead Reason

3. FL Studio

4. Acoustica Mixcraft

5. Apple Logic

6. Sony Acid Pro

7. Steinberg CuBase

8. Avid Pro Tools

9. Cakewalk Sonar

10. Ableton Live

I'm not sure that I agree with everything on this list, especially the order, but then again, to each his own when it comes to DAW choices. I sometimes think that the easiest thing is a simple handheld recorder by Zoom, Tascam or even a recording app on an iPhone to capture the ideas. You can always flesh them out later on the DAW. Then again, if you're writing around beats and loops, then the songs starts in the DAW in the first place.

What's your choice?

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New Music Gear Monday: Aphex USB 500 Rack

One of the coolest pieces of audio gear that I've seen in a long time is the Aphex USB 500 rack. 500 series racks are all the rage these days and with good reason; they're a great way to get some fine analog processing in a small portable space without spending a huge amount of extra dough that would normally be spend on the individual boxes and power supplies for that EQ, mic amp or channel strip. The problem is that interfacing them with your DAW isn't always the easiest thing to do, especially when it comes to mix time.

Aphex takes the 500 series rack to a whole new level by adding a USB port to it so that you easily connect the rack to any DAW, plus they added an easy way to chain the modules to make an onboard channel strip, and included two high quality headphone amplifiers.

What really excites me about the USB 500 is the fact that now some analog modules can take the place of their software plugin counterparts. As cool as plugins are, you do have to constantly update them with every new version of the operating system or DAW, and that usually means you have to pay for it again. With the USB 500, you can always use your analog modules, which don't care about your software version. Plus we all know how much they can add to the sound.

Check out the informative video on the USB 500.

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The Quick Vocal Performance Guide

The voice is just as much of an instrument as any other instrument in the band. Like other instruments, it needs regular maintenance to stay in its best shape. Here are a few tricks compiled from How To Make Your Band Sound Great and The Music Producer's Handbook to not only get the best vocal performances, but to stay away from a sore throat as well.

1. Remember the 3 P’s – Pitch, Passion, Pocket. You need all three for a great vocal.

2. You’ve got to hear yourself at the correct level to stay in tune. Unless you have a lot of experience, you’ll most likely sing sharp if you’re not loud enough, and flat if you hear too much of yourself.

3. Avoid alcohol, dairy products, tea, coffee and cola before recording or a gig. All will make it more difficult to sing by either drying your throat or increasing your phlegm production.

4. Choose the best key for the song. Better to change the key than hurt yourself or sound bad trying to sing something that you’re not capable of.

5. Take care of yourself. Gets lots of sleep and drink plenty of water before recording.

6. Rehearse harmonies without the band first. It’s much easier to learn parts that way.

7. Phrasing is everything in background vocals. Concentrate on the attacks and releases to stay tight.

8. Pay attention to background vocals. If they don’t sound good, then neither do you!

Remember: If your throat gets dry while recording, try some warm water, tea with honey and lemon, or Superior Vocal Health's Throat Saver.

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McCartney "Maybe I'm Amazed" Isolated Vocal And Guitar

One of my all-time favorite songs is from Paul McCartney's self-titled first solo album called "Maybe I'm Amazed." Here's a great video featuring the keyboards, vocal and guitar solo (also one of my favs).

What I especially like is the double of the piano line on the chromatic line up, which is one of the McCartney arranging gems that only he would think of. Also listen to how compressed the vocal is.

Usually isolated tracks can be boring to listen to after the a minute or so but this one holds up as a great song all the way through.

It begins at 6 seconds and unfortunately cuts a bit of the outro off, but it's still very cool.

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Hearing Loss And Musicians

Loud sound is an environmental byproduct of being a musician - any kind of musician. While everyone always looks to rock bands as the loudest culprits, concert violinists actually have the most hearing loss, thanks to being located directly in front of the brass section in the orchestra.

For guitar players, it used to be that you had to really crank your amp in order to get that nice overdrive distortion and sustain, but those days are mostly over now that it's fairly easy to dial that in on most amps at whatever volume you want. That said, anyone who's ever played with a powerhouse drummer knows that you have to turn it up just to compete onstage, unless of course you're in a situation where you're wearing in-ear monitors.

That's why this infographic is so interesting. It shows just how many people (especially young people) have some hearing loss thanks to their passion. The part of the chart that stick out is the "Signs of hearing loss in humans" which reads:

• Ear pain, itching or irritation
• Muffled hearing
• Pus or fluid leaking from the ear (Ewww)
• Tinnitus (ringing, roaring, hissing or buzzing in the ear)
• Difficulty distinguishing words that people are saying

If any of these are happening to you, go see a doctor as soon as you can.

Remember that everyone around music or a loud environment should consider ear protection. I suggest the Etymotic Research ER20 ETY's. They're inexpensive and cut the level down without changing the frequency response. Since I found them, I won't go anywhere without them.

Otherwise, enjoy the chart.

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Could This Be The Future Of Audio?

All of my tech friends are excited by Google Glass. If you don't know what that is, it's a new user interface for the phone that incorporates a augmented reality head-mounted display that projects all the information you can want directly in front of you via a small set of glasses without having to look at the traditional smartphone display. Much of this technology has been used for years in heads-up displays in aircraft, but bringing it down to the consumer level is very new.

In order to get Glass right now, you need to be a developer that will submit an application stating what you would do with the technology, along with up to 5 graphics, plus a fee of $1500. You can check out more about Google Glass here.

Many think that this technology is going to revolutionize our daily lives, thanks to the amount of information instantly available without the disruption of you life caused by looking at a cell phone display, plus the vastly increased battery life thanks to the more efficient Glass display. I agree, but I'm imagining it as an audio display device in the studio.

The View From Audio Glasses

Here's quick mock up I did based on the problem that engineers often have, especially when they're producing at the same time. Imagine a tracking session where you need to look at the musicians playing, but you also need to look at the console/controller and DAW at the simultaneously. If you had a glass display, you could see the level of each instrument and if something is overloading, what the compressor on each channel is doing, if there are any frequency clashes that you need to attend to, as well as the meter levels. You could also see the monitor and delay levels.

Of course, you could also change the display (not shown here) to show the individual send levels both the the cue and effects, the EQ settings for each channel, and the fader settings so you can adjust it all without ever taking your eyes off the band.

Of course, what I've created here was done quickly so it's very crude, but I'm sure an audio company with some slick GUI designers can come up with a work of art that takes us to the next level. Gentleman, you have my blessing to use this Audio Glasses graphic as a seed to the next generation of audio interface.

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New Music Gear Monday: Neve Genesis Console

It wasn't that long ago when most home studios made the transition from being built around some sort of recording console to being totally "in the box." A few years ago things began to turn slightly as a new generation of controllers made it possible to control your favorite DAW using a few external knobs and faders, which would bring back some the tactile feel of a console that many missed.

The trend has now gone somewhat back the other way as many studios are now being built around a new generation of hybrid console/controllers that provide the best of both analog and digital worlds. You get the sound of analog, the no-latency monitoring, the analog summing buss and monitor section, along with the editing, plug-ins, and wide track count of digital all in one. Plus you're able to do tracking dates with ease.

One of the new hybrid desks leading the way is the new Neve Genesys, which provides at least 16 channels (depending upon the frame) of digitally controlled vintage 1084 EQs, 88RS mic amps and compressors, 8 aux sends, 2 cue sends, 8 groups, stereo and 5.1 monitoring, full talkback, and DAW control. A basic 16 channel configuration is around $50k, but there's certainly a huge bang for the buck. Plus, you can tell people that you have a Neve in your studio, which is never bad for business.

Considering that you'd probably pay around $30k for a rack of 8 vintage Neve modules, the Genesys seems like a bargain. Check out the video below.

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The Producer's Getting Paid Checklist

Today getting paid adequately for your services is one of the most difficult tasks facing a producer. It used to be that there was plenty of money for an advance, and the sort of sales that could eventually lead to a substantial reward for a producer's participation in a project. Of course, that was during the heyday of the music industry when the power of the major record labels was at its peak.

Today it's much more difficult for a producer to be compensated for his expertise. With budgets ever smaller (a small deal is now around $40-50k, down from around $200k) as a result of much lower music sales, just asking for a percentage of sales is like giving away your time in the project for nothing. That's why a producer today has to have a new strategy for getting paid, be it with a percentage of publishing or merch or a larger up front fee.

To help you make sure that you will get paid, here's an excerpt from The Music Producer's Handbook that outlines a few questions to ask of whomever is funding the project you're about to work on.

• Who’s paying? Is it a record label, the artist or band, or an investor?

• What’s my compensation? Will I be paid per song, on spec, hourly, a flat fee, or a percentage of sales for the project?

• Do I get an advance? How much is it? Can I get at least half up front?

• Can I get paid on something other than music sales? Since sales are pretty low these days, can I get a piece of merchandise or publishing?

• When am I getting paid? Do I get paid before the project beings or when it's complete? Half at the beginning and the other at the end? When I deliver the final product? Does that mean after mixing, mastering or manufacturing?

• How am I getting paid? Are you paying me in cash, by check or direct transfer to my bank account?

• Is my money part of the budget? Are you giving me the entire budget so I can pay the bills or am I giving you the bills for you to pay?

• Do I get paid from the sale of the first unit onward? Or will I be paid after any advance is recouped?

These are all good questions to ask before you take any production gig, even if it's on spec. Knowing the details up front will keep you from losing out later.

For read more book excerpts from this and other books go to bobbyowsinski.com.

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The Physics Of The Mosh Pit

Ever think that a mosh pit was just a bunch of young guys with too much testosterone that randomly beat each other up to the music of their favorite metal band? Well, think again as researchers from Cornell University have found a distinct correlation between moshers and gas particles.

Like a gas, moshers bounce off of one another when they collide (instead of sticking), and can flock and follow one another. They also found that the mosh pit has three distinct modes; random, a whirling vortex, and a lane formation as the moshers break through the crowd. You can see all three clearly in the following video, or you can play with the various parameters of the simulation itself here.

It just goes to show how wonderful science is in that it can take what seems to be such a random unthinking act and add meaning and structure to it (uh, I think that's good). Read more about it in this article at New Scientist.

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Fandalism: A Social Network For Musicians

Fandalism is an interesting social network designed especially for musicians. It's not like ReverbNation or BandCamp in that it's not designed around the business of being an artist; instead it's more like a cross between YouTube, where artists can upload videos of their performances, and Matchmaker, where compatible musicians can find each other.

To register, you answer basic questions like where you're located, what instrument you play, your influences and musical history. You can then share your work through photos, videos, lyrics or Soundcloud audio. After you've set everything up, you can follow other musicians, give them "props" (likes), and send them private messages.

One of the cool new features on Fandalism is the ability to distribute your songs to iTunes, Spotify and Google Play. It's cheaper than either Tunecore or CD Baby in that you get unlimited uploads for only $19.95 per year, as compared to Tunecore's $29.95 per album per year or CD Baby's $49 per album (plus a percentage of the sale). Fandalism also gives you the first upload to iTunes for free.

There's been a lot of attempts to create a musician's network and none of them have caught on. Fandalsim already has over 550,000 members and has the feeling of something that is simple and non-intimidating enough to finally break through in a big way. Here's a video overview.

Sorry for the cross-post from my Music 3.0 blog, but Fandalism applies to both.

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Hearing Music Is Learned Trait

Most of us believe that our enjoyment of certain types of music is something that we're born with, but apparently that's not the case. Researchers at the University of Melbourne have found that what we consider to be pleasurable is indeed a learned trait.

The researchers found out that we measure how pleasant a sound is to the ratio of dissonance that we perceive, which provides a degree of "roughness, harshness, unpleasantness, or difficulty of listening to a sound." When listeners in the study (even trained professionals) were played a chord they never heard before, they found it impossible to hear the individual notes that it was comprised of, and therefore it sounded dissonant and unpleasant. After the listeners where trained to identify the pitches present in the chords, they found it less objectionable, even if the chord was technically inharmonious.

It turns out that if we're raised around music based around a certain scale, we come to find that more pleasing than one that we're not exposed to. The Western 12 note "do-re-me" scale is a good example. It was mathematically derived by Pythagorus and not particularly natural, but Westerners adopted it and eventually found it beautiful, yet we have a hard time with semi-tone scales of Indian ragas or Arabic quarter tone intervals.

It's also the reason why a kid who grows up in a house with classical or jazz always playing in the background develops a love for that music, as opposed to someone growing up in a house filled with rock or hip hop.

As with so many other factors, our early environment forms our musical tastes for life. Remember that the next time you play music around your kids.

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

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New Music Gear Monday: MACHINA MIDI Controller Jacket

People have been hitting their bodies in rhythm for centuries and until recently, have relied on good-old fashioned acoustics for amplification. That's not easy, considering that these bags of mostly water that we call bodies don't resonante particularly well.

Now comes MACHINA, a MIDI controller that's actually a wearable jacket. The unit isn't on the market yet, but has a Kickstarter campaign to get the ball rolling. Check out the video and tell me if you think it's cool or not.

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

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