Formation of a Song (Recording)

As industry insiders, we sometimes forget that when discussing the Recording process, the rest of the world really has no idea what we are talking about. Hopefully this will provide an explanation of the song formation process in laymans terms so that there may be less disconnect between the professional and the consumer.

As with any creative process, there is no absolute hard and fast procedure that must be followed stringently, but there is a logical development that all Recordings must go through, which includes:

Composition
Arrangement
Recording
Editing
Mixing
Mastering

That being said, this is an explanation of that general process and what takes place during each of these steps.

Composition

Composition is really where a song or piece is born. Preceding this step may be brainstorming and idea formation, but the song actually begins to take a real form and become an entity in itself during this stage.

This is what separates ideas and melodies floating around in the air from actual well-formed songs. There isnt a whole lot to be said concerning Composition, other than it consists of forming a melody (and often basic accompaniment) that flows chronologically from a start to a finish. Lyrics (if applicable) will also likely be written at this time.

Arrangement

Arranging is taking the Composition that has been created and determining what instruments will be used for the Recording, writing the parts that those instruments will play, and the tempo (speed, beats per minute) that the song will be played in.

To best illustrate this point, think of the song What a Wonderful World. The most famous version of this song is arguably the one sung by the great Louis Satchmo Armstrong. Compare this to the Ramones version of the same song. Both are based on the same Composition, but with entirely different results based on the fact that they are Arranged differently using very contrasting instrumentation and are at vastly different tempos. (You can use any number of examples to illustrate this principle; Yesterday, Happy Birthday, etc.). Arrangement, as with Composition, may range anywhere from informally assigning parts to instruments to drafting the parts using Musical notation, all dependent on the preferences of the arranger and the formality of the project.

Recording

Now we start to get a little more technical.

The term Recording is often used to refer to this and the following three steps as a whole, but for simplicitys sake, the term Recording is used here to mean putting performances to tape (or as is the case now, a Digital format). This is also referred to as Tracking, Cutting Tracks, etc.

Recording Studios have long been somewhat of a mystery to industry outsiders, but basically what takes place during Recording is microphones and various (expensive) sound altering equipment are used to capture a sound being produced in an acoustically tuned room or environment and storing that sound information onto some sort of media (be it magnetic tape, a computer hard drive, or, in the old days, acetate discs).

Generally, a process called Multi-Tracking is used for commercial Recordings in which each microphone (and hence, each sound, be it vocals, guitar, or cello) is printed discretely to the storage media to be manipulated at a later time.

To simplify it a bit, the normal stereo Recording that a consumer would hear is comprised of two tracks or channels, the Right and the Left. During the Recording or Multi-Tracking stage, there are virtually innumerable quantities of tracks or channels that can each be controlled separately from the other tracks. For instance if you have recorded a vocal part on on e track and a guitar part on another, because they were recorded discretely in a Multi-Track setting, the volume of the vocals can be increased or decreased without affecting the sound or volume of the guitar track whatsoever.

In a typical session, what you would be left with after completing the Recording stage is any number of discrete tracks each containing an instrument. An example of a track listing for a rock song might be:

Track 1: Kick Drum
Track 2: Snare Drum
Track 3: High Tom
Track 4: Low Tom
Track 5: Overhead Left
Track 6: Overhead Right
Track 7: Bass Guitar
Track 8: Electric Guitar
Track 9: Acoustic Guitar
Track 10: Keyboard Left
Track 11: Keyboard Right
Track 12: Lead Vocals
Track 13: Background Vocals

Meaning that each of these tracks had a microphone assigned to it for the specific purpose of Recording the desired source. (Notice that tracks 1-6 are for various parts of a typical drum set).

Also (not to complicate things further, but) these instruments need not be recorded at the same time. The bass guitar player could record his/her part on Thursday, and the vocalist might lay down tracks a week later. Basically, because they are on separate tracks, the Musicians do not have to be playing at the same time or even in the same place to create a finished product that sounds like they were looking right at each other. This also enables a multi-instrumentalist to record all the instruments themselves and create their own virtual band where they are the only member.

Editing

Had this exercise been written 15 years ago, I would not have included Editing as its own section as it generally takes place during Recording and Mixing on an as needed basis. But with the evolution and general industry acceptance of Digital and non-linear Recording formats, Editing has become a much more important and functional stage in the creation of a Musical work.

Simply put, Editing consists of changing the original Recording by way of altering the timing, pitch, or speed of an individual track, or tracks to change the performance. One such common practice is referred to as comping. Comping is the idea of Recording multiple takes of one instrument with the intent of compiling all of the takes into one cohesive take for the purpose of eliminating errors or creating a perfect take.

For instance, a vocalist may sing the same part over and over again making mistakes in different parts on each take. Rather than continuing to search for a complete perfect take, or settling for the best take and having to live with the mistakes, the Recording engineer (the guy turning all the knobs ?) will choose the best take and then after identifying each mistake within that take, pull the line, phrase, word, or even syllable from another take where the mistake did not occur and paste that into the correct spot on the best take essentially elim inating the mistake and making it sound like it was performed and recorded without it.

Digitally, this process is simple and can be completed with just a couple of mouse clicks. Using analog tape, it becomes much more cumbersome and requires a series of meticulous tasks to record to a third track while muting and un-muting the source tracks, or pulling out the old razor blade and slicing away.

This is just one example of the use and purpose of Editing. To go into the virtually infinite uses would be long and redundant as the editing limits in the Digital domain are nearly limitless.

Mixing

The Mixing stage is necessitated by the differences in the format that is used in the Recording stage and the format that the end consumer is able to use. If you recall, when we finished the Recording stage, we were left with (for example) 13 different tracks, each with its own instrument. Each of these tracks by now has been edited to contain the best possible performance during the Editing stage, but they are still individual tracks and not one cohesive song that a consumer can pop in the CD player. For arguments sake, we will only discuss Mixing down to stereo and not touch upon surround sound, 5.1, 7.1, 9.1, or any other format as stereo is currently the most generally accepted format (for now). Mixing is the process of taking all of these individual tracks (in our example, 13) and by way of using sound altering effects, changing volumes, and manipulating perceived position Left and Right (panning), creating a stereo (two track) Recording. Think of it in terms of a funnel. The individual tracks are the wide end, and they must be brought together to form two tracks (the narrow end).

Again, we will not go into the intricacies of Mixing in practice, but in order for all of the tracks to sound good together (play nice kids), they must be twisted, manipulated, affected, squashed, and combed so that they sound just right an d like they are all playing together in one space just for the listener instead of all separately and in padded booths like they actually were.

Once this is accomplished, we are left with a stereo (two track) Recording with all the instruments sounding great together and the song is nearly finished.

Mastering

This is the final and most often overlooked step in the song creation process. In fact, if you were to ask a group of Musicians what Mastering is, chances are a good portion would not be able to tell you what it is and why it is so important.

Essentially, Mastering is preparing the final stereo Recording for commercial consumption by pumping it up to a usable volume and making sure that the song will sound good on any sound system it plays on, from a home theater system that costs thousands of dollars, to your little tiny, terrible laptop speakers.

Mastering is most important if you have multiple songs and are creating an album or if you are preparing your Recording for commercial release. This is because when the Mixing stage is complete, the stereo Recordings you are left with were mixed to sound good on the speakers that they were mixed on regardless of how that sound translates to other spaces and speakers. A lso, in the case of making an album, you dont want Song #1 to be a whole lot louder than Song #2 or even Song #15. Have you ever listened to a CD where you were constantly adjusting the volume just to maintain a consistent pleasant playback level? This is a CD that has not been mastered (or was mastered poorly). The same applies for making the songs sound like they belong together in that you dont want one song to sound tinny (a.k.a. too much high end equalization) and another boomy (a.k.a. too much low end).

So that explains why Mastering is important for album, but what about commercial releases? Imagine if your un-mastered song were on the radio between two wonderfully mastered songs. You would get swallowed up. Your song may be too quiet, or have too much low end and basically just sou nd unprofessional by comparison.

As mentioned before, Mastering will also make sure the final product sounds good no matter where it is played or what system it is played on. When making a presentation of your final product to a client, record label, or even friend, you dont want to say, Sorry, I can only play this through Yamaha NS-10 speakers. And you certainly dont want to be taken by surprise and find out that it sounds bad everywhere but in the studio.

So there you have it. The real deal on how a song is created from Composition to Mastering and now the final product. No more mystery and technical jargon. So now that the cat is out of the bag, everyone can do it all on his/her own right? Wrong. Just knowing an automobile works on an internal combustion engine doesnt mean you can start building your own cars. Audio professionals have spent years learning what to listen for and how to make things sound right. Not information that can be gained in a four-page discourse. Contact your local Audio professional to get your project started, but at least now, youll know what youre in for.

Ben Blakesley is the Chief Engineer for Philadelphia based Javboy Records, which specializes in creating custom Music solutions for production. Visit them at http://www.javboyrecords.com

Author:: Ben Blakesley
Keywords:: Music, Recording, Digital, Audio, Mixing, Mastering
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Sing Powerfully Without Strain or Vocal Blowout

Have you ever had a Voice teacher tell you if you sing (insert your favorite genre of popular music here. . . Rock, Blues, R&B, Gospel, Musical Theater) youll ruin your Voice? Ive spoken to more singers than I can count whove had this experience and its distressing! It can also cause singers to shy away from Vocal training.

Well, Im happy to tell you that this does NOT have to be the case.

Certain styles of music use a Vocal styling that some call Singing hard while others call it belting. Whatever you call it, the bottom line is that these styles of music call for Vocals that are full, rich, and yet natural sounding. While this style of Singing may be more vigorous it CAN be done without hurting your Voice. Its not the sounds you make its the WAY you make them. Lets look at this in more detail.

1) Singing hard works your Vocal muscles more vigorously. However, its not this vigorous workout that creates Vocal fatigue and Blowout, muscle tension and manipulation are the offenders.

This muscle tension can occur in various parts of your body including your lips and face, tongue, jaw and abdomen, which then creates tension in your throat. After Singing with this extra effort for a period of time, the tiny muscles that create your sound become exhausted and voila! Vocal fatigue or Vocal blow-out. If you knew how to let your Voice work free of muscle tension and manipulation, you could sing the way you want (sound and style) without hurting your Voice. Eliminating these types of muscle tension will help your Voice work freely and will help you to sing for long periods without fatigue or hoarseness.

2) In addition to muscle tension and manipulation there is another major cause of Vocal Blowout - pushing out TOO MUCH air when Singing.

Making Vocal sound requires breath. Some sounds require more or less breath than others, but whatever sounds youre making, your Vocal instrument requires a proper balance of air to work effectively and easily. This balance is dependent upon a well-regulated (controlled and varied) air stream. If a singer forces out too much air, his Vocal instrument will be thrown out of balance and consequently, the muscles react by tensing. From there, manipulation tends to be used to create the sounds that would have been so much easier if the correct balance of air had been used.

Achieving a well-regulated air stream isnt difficult but it does require proper exercises all of which are taught as part of the Deva Method. This method has found the key to achieving a natural and automatic regulation of air so that you dont have to think about breathing at all. It allows you to better trust your Voice and to know that you can put your all into your performance with self-confidence that your Voice will do what you want it to do.

3) Most singers I talk to know the importance of warming up their Voices before Singing. However, what a lot of singers dont know is the importance of cooling down their Voices AFTER Singing. It seems logical enough, but is often missed.

If you think of yourself as an athlete, it makes a lot of sense. After all, would a runner, immediately after running the marathon plop himself down on the couch? He may WANT to, but the runner knows that if he doesnt cool down his body, by stretching, walking, etc, the muscles of his body will stiffen. The same holds true for the muscles that create your sound. A good Vocal cool down gets the muscles that are used to create sound back to their normal resting state.

4) Lastly, some Vocal styles simply require more Voca l development than others. Strong, hard hitting sounds can be created easily when the muscles are well developed through proper Vocal exercise. Would that same athlete attempt to run a marathon without training for it first? A good athlete knows that he needs to exercise his body first and develop the muscles necessary. So in addition to all that Ive mentioned above, know that correct Vocal exercise is another very important step that you can take to enable yourself to sing the way you want without Vocal fatigue and Blowout.

While private Vocal lessons are the best approach to developing your Voice, we do offer some very effective home study materials and Vocal technique seminars. I highly recommend the Deva Method Vocal Warm-ups and Cool Downs CD which is available on our website (see below) or by calling Jeannie Deva Voice Studios at 617-536-4553. You can also receive, FREE of charge, a booklet of our most recommended Vocal warm-ups and cools downs. Simply go to our website www.DevaStudiosBoston.com for more information.

I wish you much success!! Please feel free to contact me at the above number or at Jennifer@DevaStudiosBoston.com if you have any questions. Im here to help!

Copyright 2006 Jennifer Truesdale. All Rights Reserved.

Jennifer Truesdale is the Director of Jeannie Deva Voice Studios in Boston. She is a professional Vocal coach, certified in the Deva Method, and a professional music career coach. An 18-year veteran of the music industry, she has performed internationally and has worked with hundreds of singers, helping each to achieve their own personal goals. Jennifer is a published songwriter who has written, produced and performed on recordings for major network television shows including: All My Children, Soul Food, Melrose Place, S unset Beach, One Life to Live and The Young and the Restless. A former record label-marketing executive, Jennifer has earned Gold and Platinum Albums and uses her music business expertise to advance her own career as well as those of her clients.

Author:: Jennifer Truesdale
Keywords:: Singing, Voice, Vocal, Vocal disorders, sing powerfully, sing without strain, Vocal strain, Blowout
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Led Zeppelin Posters: Still Great After All These Years

Rock music fans wept from heartbreak on September 25, 1980. On that date, John Bonham, the talented drummer for the band Led Zeppelin, died from symptoms caused by an alcohol overdose, and concluded the reign of musics greatest heavy metal band. While the story of Led Zeppelin rightfully revolves around the bands music and their antics on and off stage, Led Zeppelin Posters also have a firm place in rock history. The bands contribution to the image of rock music as portrayed through the bands Posters was monumental. Led Zeppelin took rock and blues influences to new heights with their music, and captured the imagination of a generation with their Poster art.

There are so many great Led Zeppelin Posters; it's tough to pick a favorite. Certainly, one of the best would be the Swansong Poster ar t of Apollo (not Icarus) above the Runes. The composition is so simple, but the emotional power behind the art is undeniable. Of course, Apollo's mane of hair makes it a rock Poster classic. While the meaning of the Runes is still subject to debate this day, depending on your source, the most widely accepted version is that each member chose a symbol to represent them on the album cover. Robert Plant's symbol of a feather in a circle comes from an ancient mythical Mu civilization, and represents truth for Plant. John Bonham's rune of the three interlocking circles has a mysterious origin, but Plant has said that he thought it implied the trilogy of man, woman and child (or it was the emblem of Ballantine Beer inverted). John Paul Jones's symbol of a circle overlaying three ovals represents unity and family. The meaning of Jimmy Page's zoso symbol has not been disclosed to the public.

Some mistakenly attribute the symbols and Runes on Led Zeppelin Posters to an involvem ent by one or more band members in cults or alternative religions, and delusional rumors about satanic subliminal messages in the Stairway to Heaven played backwards have been spread for years. Though, these wild accusations often show that their fundamentalist accusers were more warped than the band. While many Led Zeppelin songs do demonstrate an attempt by the band to put people in touch with their spiritual or mystical sensitivities, nothing the band produced conflicted with basic Judean-Christian philosophies. The Led Zeppelin Poster Writhing Angel should evidence the bands belief in the struggle of good against evil. Listen to Led Zeppelin yourself. You will find the lyrics to Immigrant Song, The Battle of Evermore and Whole Lotta Love and any others, are just pure rock.

Led Zeppelin hypnotized a generation around the world with powerful rock anthems. They synthesized wild combinations of musical influences and defined hard rock for the 1970's. Despite the f act that the band has produced a magnificent collection of Poster art, it is interesting to note that the plane photo Poster of the four band members in front of their airplane is still one of the most widely demanded rock music Posters. In the same stature as the Beatles and Elvis Presley, Led Zeppelin fans will not let go of this band. Their music means too much. In the end, the tremendous weight of success was too much for drummer John Bonham. But even with his passing, we can still buy the Stairway to Heaven. Maybe that's enough for this life.

In addition to being a collector of Led Zeppelin Posters and a lifelong fan of the band and its music, Rock is the editor and publisher of Rock Poster Review. For more Poster reviews, news and rumors about your favorite artists, please visit http://www.rockPosterreview.com.

Author:: Rock S.
Keywords:: Led Zeppelin Posters, Poster, Runes, Stairway to Heaven, subliminal messages, rock music, Swansong
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A Guitar Lesson to Help You Develop Your Vision

Have you ever done any of the following?

1. Made excuses for not practicing because you didnt have time?
2. Practiced the same licks and exercises that you did last year?
3. Felt like you had hit a brick wall in your progress?
4. Felt unsure as to what to practice?

Unless your name is Steve Vai, chances are youve done at least one of the above!

They are all symptoms of having a lack of vision.

What do I mean by vision? Vision in this context is having a clearly defined picture in your minds eye of how you would like to play. It must be a crystal clear, exciting and inspiring picture!

Without an absolutely clear picture of what you would ideally like to sound like, you will not know what you need to practice in order to realise that vision. You will also probably lose the drive and motivation to practice daily for many years until you can play like your vision. You may even start using the losers mantra which is I dont have time to practice.

Exercise One:
Think about how you would like to play in 10 years time. Close your eyes and try to see yourself playing exactly how you would like to play. Write down what you see now.

Make sure that it is detailed. What Techniques are you a master of? What songs can you play? What bands are you in? How many students do you teach? How does it feel when you play like you do?

Exercise Two:
Now write down what areas of your playing you will need to start working on in order to reach your vision. What Techniques do you need to start practising? What chords do you need to learn? What music theory do you need to start learning about? Do you need to start doing ear training? What books, teachers, CDs and other tools will help you realise your vision? How much time every day do you think you will need to practise in order to play like you want to play?

Exercise Three:
Spend 10 minutes a day for the next 30 days imagining yourself playing exactly how you would like to play. Do this with your eyes shut. Dont worry, it wont make you want to start eating tofu or go around the neighborhood hugging trees!

At the end of every time you do this, write down one small new detail about your vision. By the end of 30 days you should be feeling so excited that you'll want to practice 24/7!

Copyright2005 by Craig Bassett. All Rights Reserved.

Craig Bassett (The GuitarSolutionsExpert) is a professional guitarist, guitar tutor and author.
http://www.pentatonic-guitar-lessons.com

Author:: Craig Bassett
Keywords:: guitar lesson, Technique, Tuition, guitar tutor
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Czerny Finger Exercises and Piano Playing

When I first began playing Piano... now over 16 years ago, I thought the best way to begin was to read Music and play simple finger exercises so I could get used to the instrument.

Turns out I was just a little right. Some of Czerny's exercises are very good for developing finger strength and dexterity. When I have nothing better to do, I'll practice five note finger patterns on the white keys.

But now, I don't practice scales, exercises or any other kind of technique exercise. Why? Because I've discovered a better way to warm up and get the fingers going. Of course I'm speaking about improvisation. You know, the great thing about improvisation is that technique is invented when it is required.

Learning rote fingering will never make you a good Piano player. Trusting your intuition and let ting your fingers guide you will serve you much better.

Using finger exercises to warm up is not a bad idea at all but will not give you the dexterity and adeptness that just improvising will. This is because the former way is rote while the latter is spontaneous creation from moment to moment. The fingers will follow the heart and will lead you to new combinations and ways to express. In fact, through improvisation, you'll come up with entirely new fingerings!

Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music's online Piano lessons. He has been helping students learn how to play Piano in the New Age style for over 14 years and works with students in private, in groups, and now over the internet. Stop by now at http://www.quiescenceMusic.com/Pianolessons.html for a FREE Piano lesson!

Author:: Edward Weiss
Keywords:: Piano playing,Piano,Music,Piano lessons,Music lessons
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Home Piano Lesson Books for Young Children Spark Musical Imagination

Kids wonder about everything. Why did you do that? What are you doing? Whats that for? If the questions are stArting to get to you, it just means its time to use this energy to fuel your childs musical imagination. Piano lesson books for children use illustrations from everyday life to get musical ideas across to children. Heres ten questions to help your young child explore musical ideas. If your child doesnt know the answer, just ask them, What do you think it would be if you did know? This is a great activity to get kids to use their imaginations even more. Just remember that all your childs answers are okay.

1. Why do birds sing?

2. Where does music come from?

3. Why does it sound pretty when people sing together?

4. Why does a Tuba sound like a Tuba?

5. Why does a Pi ano sound like a Piano?

6. What kind of an animal would sing a lullaby better, a Bear or a Bunny.

7. How come this music makes you want to dance?

8. Why does this music sound sad?

9. Why do you think children sing the alphabet song to learn their letters?

10. Why do children like music?

Piano lesson books use all kinds of illustrations to get musical ideas across to young children in piano lessons. Birds Singing, Jumping Rope, Skipping, Ballet, Baseball, and Furry Animals are just a few. So dont be afraid to ask your child some silly questions to spark their musical imaginations. They ask you enough silly questions!

For great home piano activities parents can use to help children ages 5 to 11 develop their musical talent, visit Piano Adventure Bears Music Education Resources Youll find a treasure box filled with piano resources to create an exciting musical adventure for your child - right in your own home! Visit their website a nd subscribe to their free internet newsletter so you can download free piano sheet music and mp3s of original piano compositions.

These exciting stories, games, piano lessons, and inspirational gifts feature the Piano Adventure Bears, Mrs. Treble Beary and her new piano student, AlbeArt Littlebud. Young students follow along with AlbeArt to learn what piano lessons are all about in a fun way that kids readily understand appreciate. Click here to visit PianoAdventureBears.com For a wealth of information about piano lessons, visit tallypiano.com

Author:: Cynthia VanLandingham
Keywords:: beginner piano lessons,piano lessons for child ren,piano lessons for kids, children's piano books
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How To Match The Melody Notes Of Any Song To A Chord In Your Left Hand!

If you've ever wondered how you can know which chords go with which melody notes, I've got good news for you!

It's easier than you might think to learn how to go about matching the melody notes (the tune) of any song to the appropriate chords. It's really a simple 2-step process, once you understand it, but if you don't know the secret, you can wonder about it for years. But if you learn it now, you will know it the rest of your life.

Back when I was a teenager learning to play the Piano, it used to puzzle me which chords to use with which melody notes:

I wonder how those top pianists know which chords to use? I mean, they don't always use the C chord to harmonize the C melody note, or the D chord to harmonize a D in the melody, and so on -- so how do they do it?

A few years later I had the extremely good fortune to find a teacher in Hollywood by the name of Dave. He was THE teacher -- he taught many of the recording artists and names you would recognize -- plus a young aspiring Piano player named Duane (me). And he showed me how to go about matching the melody notes of any song to the appropriate chords.

That changed my Musical life. I didn't have to wonder any more -- I knew for sure which chords went with which notes, and when and why.

It's really a simple process once you understand it, and it has to do with knowing just 2 facts:

Fact 1: There are 3 basic chords that will harmonize any note, and that note is a member of all 3 chords;

Fact 2: These 3 chords rotate as the melody moves through the song, so pick the chord that has that melody note in it.

These 3 chords are known as the primary chords for a reason: they are the home boys for that song. Lots of other chords can be used in a song, but you can get by with just these 3 home boy chords.

Then once you master them, you can widen your scope to cousin chords and neighbor chords and color chords and all kinds of other e xciting variations, and then the sky is the limit in terms of improvising and making up your own Musical sounds.

Duane Shinn is the author of over 500 Music educational materials such as DVD's, CD's, Musical games for kids, chord charts, Musical software, and Piano lesson instructional courses for adults. His course in How To Match The Melody Note Of Any Song To a Chord In Your Left Hand! is being used by pianists all around the world. He holds advanced degrees from Southern Oregon University. He is the author of the popular free 101-week online e-mail newsletter titled Amazing Secrets Of Exciting Piano Chords & Sizzling Chord Progressions with over 72,430 current subscribers.

Author:: Duane Shinn
Keywords:: Music, Piano, Songs, sheet Music
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