00000 0000

00UT $4.50 ET $5.00

Make your own bedroom studio

Music saved my lifeKate Parker tells her remarkable story

Music software Logic vs Reasonfind out which is best

£2.90

May, 2011issue

S o n g w r i t e r

Shure microphones sound the best, to be the best

How to set up a bedroom studio

Music Saved my l i fe - Kate Parker real life

story

Mini biography - John Denver

Songwriting learn your craft

What music software is out there?

Contents

What music software is out there?

Logic is a much more powerful pro-gram than Reason, but the learning curve is a lot harder.

It’s an interesting comparison. Logic has a lot of what makes Reason interesting, but Logic might actually be beating Reason yet, they are still neck and neck on pricing.

Reason’s strengths are low resource usage, decent stock sounds and instruments, and clever routing that is fun to work with. Logic beats Reason all day long on the qual-ity and quantity of it’s instruments and same for FX, it has far more sample content, and is remarkably resource friendly. It doesn’t have the jiggly wires like Reason though.

Reason is cool, but Logic will do more for you. A whole lot more. The two products, although costing more or less the same, are entirely different products because Reason really is just doing it’s own thing. There’s nothing else really like Reason. Logic is a major workstation like it’s coun-ter parts Cubase, Sonar and Pro Tools. Which we will cover in next months issue.

Logic’s synths seem to be infinitely bet-ter than reason’s either because Log-ics synths have better presets or just because of the way they are made.

One minor downside is that, Logic does have a steep learning curve, and you have to really be interested in wanting to produce good material and to be patient with it, for it to pay off and really learn how to use Logic fully however compared to Reason, which you can basically start making tracks within 20minutes of install-ing it, it does seem to take a long time to get to grips with it. Although compared with past generations of Logic it is a lot simpler.

Logic is brilliant with loads of voices to choose from as standard and its easy to sample beats etc from where ever you choose.

Reason is a synth-based sequencer with sampling and MIDI capabilities. That’s basically it. It does not have any audio tracks for you to record on. Reason might be better for a beginner to learn with, but Logic, its not a hard program to learn at all (well the basic processes) and the sound bank is awesome, not to mention the price you pay for it is very decent.

Logic is - in a nutshell - a software emula-tion of a sound desk, with all of reason’s features and more. Also it has more flex-ibility when you start dealing with racks, and external synths, recording, mixing, and mastering are light years ahead of Reason. Waves bundles (along with other synths/plug-ins/FX etc) can be utilised. I could not find a way to utilise external plug-ins with Reason.

REASON is not fully-fledged Music soft-ware. Like I said before, it has NO audio and will not have audio. Logic has audio and has just as good or better sounds. REASON does not have audio and that’s one of the reasons it has a smaller foot-print.

Another down fall is the price, Reason is the same price as Logic or they’re about at least but you still have to buy another music software to add vocals to your track. So be warned your overall cost may be more.

This month we are looking at Logic vs Reason

Only get Logic if you are willing to master your craft and take your ability to its high-est potential. I recommend you get Logic pro 9. It’s harder to learn than Reason because you can do a lot more. Reason is also a good program but it seems unfair to call it a music program when you can’t record music into it.

If you had to buy only 1 Music Software Program to complete an album, Logic would be the way to go because its pretty good at everything.

Depending on what kind of album you’re talking about - synths and real instru-ment emulation, I’d go for Logic first.

Its a very stable program, and is very easy to use. The instruments are incredible, and the loop library is great for when you need the odd sound effect here and there. They’re also really good quality recordings as well.

Make sure you get Logic Studio Pro, as Logic Express isn’t worth it. If your not wanting to record anything but you just wanted to make a dance track then Rea-son would defo be the software for you to buy. Asit is packed with all the snyths you would need.

By Sarah Brooks

above photo by Apple Inc, photo to the right by Proppellahead

How to set up a bedroom studio

First you need to decide what hardware you are going to buy. Are you going to buy a PC or an Apple Mac? Is it going to be a laptop or a computer? Once you have decided on this then you need to make sure that the computer/laptop can handle complex operations as it will need to process and edit large music files. As well as play many instru-ments at the same time. Choose a computer with at least a dual-core processor, and very large hard drive as this is what will ensure your work runs smoothly. Set up your computer near a corner of the room. By recording near a corner, you will achieve strong natural acoustics, which work especially well for vocals.Choose the right software for recording

USB or Firewire port of your computer. If the interface includes a CD-ROM, you will need to insert it into your computer and install the necessary drivers.

Plug your instruments and microphones into your audio interface using stan-dard music cables. For professional microphones, you may need to use XLR cables.

Set up the microphone stands near the corner, and place the microphones on the stands. For vocal recordings, hook a pop screen to your microphone stand and place the screen about an inch in front of the mic. A pop screen, or pop fil-ter, is a small, circular device that latches

onto your mic stand and filters your voice to eliminate the popping sounds caused by hard letters like “p” and “b.”

Plug your monitors into the audio interface. You will need a pair of profes-sional monitoring headphones in order to hear every nuance of sound when mixing music, and a set professional studio monitors in order to hear how the music will sound over a PA system. That way you can work out if it has too much base or too much treble and them ajust them accordingly. using the EQ services on your software and it will also help you to get the correct sound when master-ing and doing final mix down of all the instruments.

THE EASY WAY

BY Sarah Brooks

and mixing. If you want full control over your recording and mixing experience, you will want to install a professional digital audio program like Logic Pro, Pro Tools or Cubase. If you’re just starting out, you may want to begin with a simpler, more user-friendly programs like Garage-Band, Audacity, Sonar, Cakewalk, Reason or Mixcraft.

Next you need an audio interface with USB or FireWire capabilities. This device will allow you to hook up all of your instruments to your computer using a single box. If your budget allows for a more advanced interface, you may want to purchase one with a built-in mixing board, which will give you heightened control over your music.

Plug the interface into the corresponding

above cubase music software photo by Steinburg,

above photo of simple bedroom studio

above photo of keyboard

THIS YOUNG, UP AND COMING SINGER SONGWRITER HAS BEEN THROUGH SO MUCH ALREADY IN HER LIFE. AFTER HAVING LOST TOUCH WITH MUSIC AT AN EARLY AGE DUE TO GETTING HOOKED ON TO THE DRUG SCENE, SHE HAS MANAGED TO BATTLE HER WAY THROUGH IT AND COME OUT THE OTHERSIDE TO GET HER LIFE BACK ON TRACK AND TO WHERE SHE SHOULD BE WITH A MIX-TURE OF MUSIC, FAITH AND FRIEND-SHIP.

HERE SHE REVEALS HOW THEY’VE HELPED HER...

This singing siren has the most beauti-ful voice and first started singing when she was 6, “just along to The Carpen-ters and Cher”, she says. But she then she got her first guitar and started to make songs by the age of 10. Gradually progressing and begin-ning to master her craft, she achieved an A* in music every year at high school and was in the musicals and shows every year too. Thought of as a song-writing prodigy by her tutors, she went on to study at the Leeds College of Music for her A-Levels. After managing to achieve an A* for her AS-Level, things started to

go terrible wrong for her.

“I started to get to know more people and different kinds of musicians and then I started to get asked to sing on DJ

sets, I’d be going out to college all day and then rehearsing

afterwards till eight at night, and then hitting the clubs with the DJ’s, to sing on their sets.”

This was a regular occur-rence for Kate and soon she

started to notice she was getting too tired to sing at night and get up for col-lege in the morning. So just when she was going to give up getting herself well known on the scene musically, a friend

M U S I C S AV E D M Y L I F E“when

everyone around you is doing stuff, you start to wonder, what

the big deal is.”

M U S I C S AV E D M Y L I F Eof hers at the time offered her a pick me up. “ I didn’t know what it was, I wasn’t bothered at the time either, as I felt so tired. I was glad of anything that could let me work 20hour days, and it made me feel great. I didn’t do it all the time at first. It was just now and then or every other week. But then I started to enjoy myself when I went out keep in mind I was still underage, but people didn’t care, because I could sing so good, they all thought I was gonna be a star. It was just so easy to make friends. It was so easy to get sucked into the scene and

when everyone around you is doing stuff, you start to wonder, what the big deal is.”

She goes on to say, “I started doing it more and more,

I started going out not to sing but to meet up with these new friends that I had made, I

would stay out all night and morning in these clubs

specifically to do drugs and get drunk and just generally party with them. I forgot about the music.”

Kate started missing her lectures turn-ing up late for rehearsals and forgetting to hand in assignments, she went from

an A* pupil to an A* drop out. And that’s what happened she dropped out, she failed. “I felt gutted about not doing music but I didn’t care, I was having too much fun,” she said.

Kate had just gone 18, when she dropped out of College she was just tak-ing her first year again.

Two years later and Kate had hit an all time low after trying to commit suicide for the fourth time and almost succeeding, if it was not for her mom, dad and music. “ My mom phoned the ambulance just as the sleeping pills and painkillers had started to take affect, I got rushed down to the hospital where they had to resuscitate me. When I

“I felt gutted about not doing music but i didnt care”

woke I thought I was dead, all I could hear was this beautiful music, I thought I was in heaven. Until I saw the look on my moms face and it almost broke my heart as I could see hers was breaking.”

At this point she starts to well up and so do I, but she is still willing to carry on with the interview.

“ I want people to hear my story,” she says “even if it will only stop one per-son from making the same mistake I did, it will have been worth it.”

After this Kate stopped going out, her voice had started to suffer and she was no longer able to sing, “That was why I took the overdose,” she tells me.

It was a learning curve for Kate, she was unwilling to go out, not wanting to hurt her mom again but that was all she had known for the past four years.

“ I had no friends, the moment I stopped going out and stopped singing I stopped having friends. The major-ity dropped me straight away a few of them tried to still see me and keep in touch with a txt here and there but we were going in two different directions. I was growing up I suppose and they were still just staying the same old same old. But I however had remem-bered that I wanted to be somebody once, I wanted to make a difference in this world. “

“ I remembered the day I realised that, because I had this very peculiar dream about god and he said I forgive you…forgive yourself, and I remember waking up with this enor-mous warm feeling in my stomach and like a weight had just been lifted. I felt good, I felt content, which was weird because I used to believe in god and say my prayers every night before I went to sleep when I was young but then I just stopped, I lost my faith, but when he said he forgave me. I can’t really describe the feeling but all I can say is I felt like my old self again. That day I went up to my guitar and I just started to play, it was as if we’d never been apart and I started to cry.”

Kate still couldn’t sing at this point but seen as she was going to be 21 soon she decided she would go back to the

Leeds College of Music, if they’d have her, they did of course and slowly but surely she started to get her voice back after intensive vocal coaching. She started to make friends and started enjoying being at College again but made sure she stayed away from the nightclubs. In her second year at the LCM her voice was back and she was back on top form again, wowing the crowds and her tutors. “ It was as if I’d never left, “she said.

Her end of year performance made her top of the class with a standing ovation from everyone that came to watch and with one of her tutors Gary Hudson shouting out, “ that was bloody bril-liant Kate” as he rose from his seat to applaud.

Only once did she nearly slip back into old habits and that was when her and her new friends went out to celebrate after the end of year performance, and she bumped into her old friends. Who straight away offered her some drugs but with the help of her new friends she managed to say NO! “I found that very hard to say no to them, but then I just thought of my mom and my new friends and all the people I would be letting down. It also helped that my friends came running into the toilets to stop me once they found out what I was in there about to do.”

Kate managed to get fantastic referenc-es from her tutors, applied for universi-ty and got an unconditional for her first

choice. “I couldn’t have done it without those references

from my tutors, “ she said, “I am so great full to them and the Leeds College of Music.”

At University things started to get even bet-

ter for Kate, “ the people on my course were really nice and not one of them did drugs so I wasn’t afraid of going out with them to party like any other normal student. I was writing songs left, right and centre and with my ensemble groups I was comfortable playing them to them. They liked them so much that they all offered to play them in a gig for me and after months of rehearsing, on top of what we had at uni to do – and sometimes we weren’t

leaving uni till 11 at night – we got our very own gig. We were called ‘the fallen’. That night everything changed me and the band We started to play regularly at that club and soon word of mouth got round to other clubs, and before we knew it they were wanting us to play for them too. So I was constantly writ-ing, I don’t think there was a minute in the day I was either writing songs or playing them. “

In Kates second year at uni she opted for the composition module which opened numerous doors for her, “I nev-er believed just one person could write a whole song, just on a computer with strings, brass and drums all sounding real as if they had been recorded in.”

She managed to achieve a first in that module and in her third year took on writing an album all by herself and managed to get a first in that too.

She has now finished at university and the masters in composition that she took after that.

She is currently finishing an album and getting it ready to load up to itunes ready to sell, she is hoping it will come out in the spring of next year.

By Sarah Brooks

“I forgive you...

forgive yourself “

Mini Biography of the famous dead

John Denver

Born Henry John Deutschendorf Jr., on December 31, 1943, in Roswell, New Mexico, to parents Henry John and Erma. Henry John was persuaded to change his last name to Denver by record executives, partly in honor of the city and surround-ing Rocky Mountains that he treasured, and partly due to his clean living image.

Denver was an American popular music composer and singer, activist, humani-tarian, and pilot. As a teenager, Denver received his first guitar, a 1910 Gibson acoustic, as a gift from his grandmother. After growing up in numerous locations, in a military family, with his dad being in the air force. He attended the Texas Technical University from 1961-1964, but dropped out before completing his stud-ies. But after traveling to New York City in 1965 and successfully auditioning for the Chad Mitchell Trio, he began performing with the group until 1968 beginning his music career in folk music.

In 1969, Denver abandoned the band life to pursue a solo career, and released his first album for RCA Records: Rhymes & Reasons. Two years prior Denver had made a self-produced demo recording of some of the songs he played at his concerts. He included in the demo a song called “Babe I Hate to Go,” later renamed “Leaving on A Jet Plane.” Denver made several copies and gave them out as pres-ents for Christmas. Mitchell Trio manager Milt Okun brought the unreleased “Jet Plane” song to the high-profile folk group Peter, Paul and Mary. Their version of the song hit number one on the Billboard

Hot 100, and its success gave Denver a higher profile in the music industry. He signed with Mercury RCA Records in 1969 and released his first single, “Rhymes and Reasons.” In the next two years, he released four moderately suc-cessful albums, including Take Me to Tomorrow (1970) and Aerie (1971).

With his wholesome good looks and down-to-earth appeal, Denver was considered the golden boy of folk music. Soon he was playing to sold-out crowds in stadiums across the country. The most successful albums of his career included Poems, Prayers, and Promises (1971), which featured the hit :”Take Me Home, Country Roads;” Rocky Mountain High (1972), and Back Home Again (1974) featuring the title track, “Annie’s Song,” and “Thank God I’m A Country Boy.”

His greatest commercial success was as a solo singer, spanning from 1971 to 1975. Throughout his life Denver recorded and released approximately 300 songs, about 200 of which he composed. He performed primarily with an acoustic guitar and sang about his joy in nature, his enthusiasm for music, and relationship trials. Denver’s music appeared on a variety of charts includ-ing country & western, the Billboard Hot 100, and adult contemporary, in all earning him 12 gold and 4 platinum al-bums with his signature songs “Take Me Home, Country Roads”, “Rocky Mountain High”, “Annie’s Song” and “Calypso”.

In 1977, Denver made his film debut in Oh, God!, costarring George Burns. Even

though the film was a minor box-office hit, Denver’s acting career was thereafter limited to television until 1997, when he starred in Craig Clyde’s outdoor adven-ture film Walking Thunder. John Denver and the Muppets (1980), The Christmas Gift (1986), and Higher Ground (1988) are among the numerous television specials in which he either hosted or starred.

As a renowned environmentalist and humanitarian, Denver’s membership in many organizations included the National Space Institute, the Cousteau Society, Friends of the Earth, Save the Children Foundation, and the European Space Agency. In 1976, he cofounded the Windstar Foundation, a non-profit wildlife preservation agency. In addition to founding the World Hunger Project in 1977, he was personally appointed by President Jimmy Carter to the commis-sion on World and Domestic Hunger. He became a chair member of the National UNICEF Day in 1984. In 1987, President Ronald Reagan presented Denver with the Presidential World Without Hunger Award. That same year, he won an ad-ditional six awards for Rocky Mountain Reunion, his documentary about endan-gered species. In 1993, he won the Albert Schweitzer Music Award for humanitar-ian efforts.

Among numerous awards and recogni-tion for his musical achievements, he received the Top Male Recording Artist Award from Record World magazine for 1974-75. Also in 1975, he was named the Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year.

In 1967, Denver married Anne Marie Mar-tell, a psychotherapist. Together they had two children, Zachary and Anna Kate, before their divorce in 1983. Denver was married to Cassandra Delaney from 1988 to 1991. Together they had one child, Jesse Bell.

A longtime aviator, Denver died on Octo-ber 12, 1997 when the plane that he was piloting went down over Monterey Bay, California, killing him instantly.

H o w t o w r i t e a s o n g i n a d a y

Step 2: Now that you’ve decided what Major or minor key you want it time to choose one of the these keys C,D,E,F,G,A,B.

I am going to go with the C key to start you off with it’s a nice simple key and cause it’s a C Major and it’s relative minor (it’s opposite) is Aminor. I am going to go with C Major. Both these keys are the only ones that don’t have any black keys on a piano played in them or sharps and flats on other instruments.

Step 1: Lets assume you don’t already have a tune. The first thing you need to do is work out how fast you want your song to be. This is the bpm of the song.

Then you need to think what key you want it to be in, so that ‘s either Major for a happy song or minor for a sad song.

Step 3: The structure to a song is very important you need to decide, are you going to start with the C chord or are you going to start with what we call the dominant key which is always the 5th in any key - for example you could have the intro - 4 bars of C Major or you could have 4 bars of G Major.

Once you’ve decided that, your ready to start struming at your guitar or playing on your piano.

I am going to start with C MAJOR.

My intro will be 2 bars of C 2 bars of G.

Try it yourself.

Next we are gonna add one more chord the 4th note in the key, which is F Major.

Here is a structure for you to follow - intro C C G G verse C F G F C F G F chorus G G C C G G C C F G

x2 Step 6: Now all you need to do is add a simplle drums if you can whilst playing ie if you have some recording equipment.

Or you can move on to adding the bass part this is to add an-other depth to your music. Adding bass also ensures that your song doesn’t come out to top heavy, you need some low tones in there to ensure it’s not too high.

You could start off with just changing when the chord does or you could change every 2 bars.

If your feeling that that is too easy then you could try grac-ing over notes that are with in the chord, it’s all a case of just listening to what you play, and whether it goes or not. You will be able to tell.

You could even try doing a walking bass.

To listen to the song that i have made visit www.myspace.com/songwriter

Step 4: So once you’ve repeated the verse and chorus twice. Then we need a bridge, now this is normally the place when you slow the tempo down or just change the rhythem of what your playing, for example a guitar could go to picking the strings instead of strum-ming them. Or a piano could go to hold the chords down for the whole bar, this means 4 beats seen as we are playing in 4/4 time signature.

Next we’ll go bk and put a verse in and then another 2 choruses but fade out on the last.

Due to using only 3 chords it’s better that we try and change the rhythem as much as we can so that the song doesnt end up sounding too boring. Tip change the rhythem on the second verse.

Step 5: Writing the lyrics is often found as being really hard to some people, yet to others it is the easist part. Do not fear if you find it hard, there are many tricks you can use to help you to get inspira-tion.

For instance try just writing simple things like a nursury ryhme, just a few lines like ie I

I love my dog, although he’s a hog.

Simple and to the point.

Or try writing about someone you love, many great song have been written about the one they love.

Just try something simple again for instance,

you have a smile that lights up the entire room and when you walk in my heart goes boom.

Wi t h S a r a h B r o o k s

Songwriting is a craft, and those who are serious about being the best they can be will seek out a quality education at a good songwriting school or music university. Although songwriting school isn’t for everyone because it requires an absolute change in your life for a time, every songwriter should spend some time learning formally, even if it is only occasional classes online. But there are many options available from a traditional Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree, to certificate programs, casual songwriting classes, songwriting workshops, songwriting camps and yes, even private songwriting lessons.

Delivery methods are just as varied as program type. Universities and private music schools make up the bulk of formal classroom offerings, but there are several good songwriting classes online as well as correspondence classes (by mail) and even one-on-one coaching by telephone. No matter who you are, where you live or what your current level of songwriting proficiency is, there is training available for you. Songwriting classes may give you that extra boost to make money with music!

Songwriting Classes

Songwriting classes are at the heart of learning. All degrees and certificates are comprised of songwriting classes along with other material. At the same time, those people with a specific interest, a lack of time or who just want to test the water can enroll themselves in songwrit-ing classes without having to commit to a more formal program. This is a great option for everybody and is extremely important for those who are gradually working on their skills while they perform or write. I think everyone tries classes at one point. Some examples of songwrit-ing classes include Lyric Writng, Writing Songs for Film and Tv, Commercial Song-writing, and more.

Delivery of songwriting classes is usually the same as certificate programs with Universities, adult education, community colleges and private schools all available. Recognizing the impact of the Internet

on the music industry, even traditional schools are starting to offer online class-es in songwriting. This is a great method of delivery because you don’t have to uproot your life, move to a larger center and enroll in a formal program. It works for a far larger number of people than formal classrooms do. For example, you can enroll yourself in an online song-writing class with Berklee Music and work at your pace in your home. It is the best option for many people.

Songwriting Courses

What are songwriting courses? The terminology is confusing, sometimes muddied even by music schools themselves, but a course simply means “a path, “ “direction” or “route.” There-fore a songwriting course is simply a path to a goal. The path is defined for the most part by the school itself who thinks that to obtain a goal you must pass through several markers, or classes. This path usually takes you through several songwriting classes and in the successful end you reach the goal and are awarded a certificate or degree. In other words, a songwriting course is just a series of songwriting classes. People who take individual songwriting classes may or may not achieve the same goal, depending on if they know the correct route to take. For those who are uncer-tain of the path, or want more than just bits of knowledge, or who are doing more than just filling in gaps in their un-derstanding, then a formal songwriting course is definitely the route to take.

Songwriting schools

Songwriting schools offer both song-writing courses and classes, they typi-cally offer a more formal education than other options and are usually found at accredited Universities or private music schools. Additionally, they offer traditional degrees, like a Bachelor of Arts (BA), and the scope of programs available is larger. Some degree pro-grams at popular songwriting schools and universities include Commercial Songwriting and Music Publishing.

Private music schools usually have cer-tificate programs that focus specifically on songwriting instead of a more liberal education you’d find at a University. That means you can focus on what you want, and get it done faster. A typical program may last 6 months to 2 years. An example of a private school is Musician’s Institute (MI) in Hollywood. Although they don’t offer specific songwriting certificates at this time, songwriting classes are incor-porated into other certificates like the In-dependent Artist certificate. This is great if you wish to be a songwriter for yourself or your band, as opposed to writing for other artists, film and tv, or advertising jingles.

Many of these schools require attendance in formal classrooms, but several have begun to offer their degrees through online courses that can be done at home. As well, adult continuing education is offered by some.

Songwriting Workshops

Songwriting workshops take on all kinds of forms depending on who the leader is. Typically they are presented in a conference form with a number of topics being covered over 1 or 2 days. Some workshops are focused around a single speaker (for example, the fabulous Jason Blume), and others, like the super cool Taxi Road Rally span several days, are held annually and feature many industry greats in several sessions. Songwriting workshops are important because they not only give you a chance to hear from those in the business and take home some new songwriting tips, but they let you rub shoulders with others in the same boat as you, and that’s always an invaluable experience. Songwriting workshops should become part of your extended learning and attended regu-larly. Depending on your level of song-writing proficiency, your credits, who you know and your local market, you may even consider organizing a songwriting workshop for songwriters in your area and help them out too.

Try something new today.

Songwriting learn your craft

71 Paradise Ally Devon

Tel: 0113 77777996 Fax: 123-456-789