David Crowder Band filmed a live CD/DVD that is releasesed, August 19th.
For more information follow the link below:
http://www.sixstepsrecords.com/remedyonenightonly/
If you live near a theater that is showing it, you can watch it on the big screen
You’ve got the band members you want and the rehearsal process sorted out so now you’re ready to put your set together. This is where jamming and songwriting come into play.
To play it’s first gig a band is going to need songs to play. Lets assume that you want to write 15 songs as a starting goal. 15 songs will be enough for the band to play a 30 minute set at a double or triple bill somewhere.
As the bands songwriting process is going to be intergrated into the rehearsals it is going to be even more important that rehearsals are well organised and are efficient uses of everyones time and effort.
First of all everyone in the band needs to understand that the sooner a set of songs is written and rehearsed the sooner the band can go out and play gigs.
Here are some suggestions:
1. Make it a rule that everyone in the band comes into rehearsals with at least one lyrical or musical idea
If the lyrical and musical ideas are together then that’s even better. Bear in mind that bringing songwriting ideas to rehearsals will require a certain amount of confidence from each band member and some will be more comfortable doing this with others.
If this is the case:
2. Don’t be hard on the members that don’t bring along any songwriting ideas.
Be encouraging and make them feel comfortable in perhaps bringing something (even some scrawled lyrics on paper) to the next rehearsal.
(Oh, by the way. If you or your band members are finding it hard to come up with songwriting ideas you might find my FREE eReport “11 Ways To Eliminate Writers Block FOREVER!” very useful)
Eventually the band member dynamics will sort themselves out and the songwriters and the players of the band will become apparent.
Generally if the band has a lead singer then the lyrics will mostly come from him/her. Musical ideas will generally come from either the guitarist or the keyboard player as these instruments deal more with chords which lends itself to song arrangement issues.
Of course there are exceptions to the rule. One example that comes to mind is Neil Peart, the drummer from “Rush”. He writes most (if not all) of their lyrics so there’s no excuses.
3. Bring a recording device to every rehearsal
Whether it be a tape recorder or a Zoom H4, it’s important that everybody has a recording of the rehearsal so they can listen to the songs and the songwriting ideas being introduced in their own time at home. Everything needs to be recorded.
4. Start the rehearsal by giving some time to every songwriting idea introduced
How much time you give to every songwriting idea is up to you but I would say 20 minutes could be a good starting point.
If you have five band members with one idea each then you are talking about the first hour and a half of your rehearsal being used in this way.
5. Once a songwriting idea has been worked on for the time limit allowed , stop and go to the next songwriting idea
You will also have a record of the songwriting jam on tape so don’t worry about trying to remember what you have done.
6. Once all songwriting ideas are intoduced, played and recorded it’s time to work on last weeks ideas
Of course miss this step for the first rehearsal but for every rehearsal after that this will be an important step.
In listening to the rehearsal tape over the week something would have stood out as a song to be looked at more closely by the band if this is the case then start jamming the idea more intensely and start trying to piece the puzzle together
7. End the rehearsal with a free for all jam
This is where anything goes, an aural brainstorming session by all of the band members. This is done for a bit of fun but also as a good stress release.
Make sure that you record these sessions as well because I have always been amazed at what comes out of these free for all jams.
How much time you devote to these steps is up to you but in no time you will find a set of songs at your disposal that the band will be happy with.
Once this has been achieved your band is one more step closer to playing live.
Until next time,
Corey Stewart
Orangutang Music
Keywords: indie music, independent music, music industry, music business, music marketing, music promotion, band promotion, orangutang music, corey stewart
Extend Your Ipod For New Amusements Music, movies, pictures - do you think it is enough that you get from your iPod? Well, you can extend your iPod to many more functions. Read the article to get more from your iPod. ¶ Posted 06 October 2008 †Roberto Sedycias § Electronics ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: ipod, mp3, MP4
Yo La Tengo will be releasing its first studio album in three years. The album is titled I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass. It will be released September 12, 2006 on Matador. You can get a taste of the new record on the Matador site. You can expect to hear many of the new tunes on the band’s world tour.
DATE PUBLISHED: Not Available
AUTHOR/PRODUCER: Melissa Borowski
PUBLICATION: College View
SUMMARY:
Millions of college students download music illegally, and they do it for many reasons. Why purchase an entire CD when you only want one or two songs for instance? Why even pay for a song when you can simply get it for free? Some students think that just because it’s something that’s being downloaded, it’s not stealing. These students will all have serious consequences to pay if they ever get caught, as music piracy is a serious act against the law.
http://www.collegeview.com/articles/CV/campuslife/music_piracy_on_campus.html
When I interview folks, I periodically like to follow-up and get suggestions for other people they think I should interview. That’s how I landed an interview with Zak Champagne, a fellow music nut (in a good way) and a fourth grade math teacher at Mandarin Oaks Elementary School in Jacksonville, Florida. Shelby Miller of the Shifted Sound podcast recommended that I pick Champagne’s brain for his thoughts on teaching math and enjoying music. My thanks to Champagne for his time and Miller for the suggestion.
Tim O’Shea: What attracted you to teaching in the first place and math in particular?
Zak Champagne: First and foremost, I was going to be a rock star. Teaching wasn’t really in the plans until college. You see I had everything ready for rock superstardom except for the talent of playing or singing music. Now I was in a band…but we were much more into the superficial things about being in a band rather than actually being a band. But…I sort of knew towards the end of high school that I wanted to teach. Once I got into college (University of North Florida) I thought I wanted to teach high school. It seemed rather logical to me. But while I was preparing to become a teacher, I took a job at a youth center here in town and ended up working with K-2nd grade students. And it was during that time I had found my calling.
Now the math thing is a bit more interesting. Once in elementary school I saw a need to make mathematics meaningful to my students. I encountered so many young students who already hated mathematics. And to me that was not okay. I have to find a way to inspire my students to love mathematics for what it is. And I found one of the best ways to do that is to make it meaningful and fun.
(more…)
Brooklyn’s The American Dream Team (or, TADT) have returned and I’m feelin’ patriotic. This mix has me dancing to a whole heap of my favorite tunes. This mix has the same skillful execution as the first mix, ‘What Dreams Are Made Of’. Please enjoy v2.0, as mixed by the Team’s Code-D:
Tracklist:
MP3: The American Dream Team - What Dreams Are Made Of v2.0 [72:18 | 133mb]
From the mix above TADT have hooked up the VIP remix of ‘Money’, you remember the track with the chant to be about (”money, bitches, cars, clothes & weed”)? Now with added flavor from MCs Whiskey Pete & Andre Parnel (a.k.a. MC Dre):
MP3: The American Dream Team - Money (VIP Remix) (feat. Whiskey Pete & Andre Parnel)
See TADT clown on the decks like damned Globetrotters or somethin’. Assorted dates in Brooklyn & Manhattan are on the books, including tonight, at Crooked Disco, where they share the night with other special ppls Streetlab. Always current dates & dets on TADT’s MySpace tour page.
Visit The American Dream Team on MySpace.
More from The American Dream Team in the Missingtoof archive.
pls post the song so that i can play it in clubs! =)
