A Tale of Two Computers

Image via WikipediaThe Set Up

When I was growing up in the 80's the thought of having your own recording studio was something that was beyond all but the people with the biggest pockets. This was back in the day when the project studio was just starting out and the most you could ask for was a simple set up and 8 tracks, if you were lucky. I remember getting my first four track recorder in the early 90's and having marveled at the fact that I could overdub more than one guitar track. Times have changed and it's not uncommon today for a musician to have a studio set up on their computer that exceeds the horsepower of a million dollar facility in the 80's. For a relatively small sum of money you can have almost unlimited tracks of audio and MIDI, not to mention a good assortment of effects processors and instruments, all living within your computer. Today the commercial studios now employ the best of the newest technology along with choice vintage gear to give modern recordings that old world warmth and depth. Every musician seems to have pieces of gear that they've picked up along the way that they cherish. Yet with all of the different pieces of gear and tastes there are a couple of studio set ups that most musicians seem to favor. Of course the tried and true is the cockpit version where the musicians position themselves behind a mixer or desk and have their computer monitors sitting a few feet in front of themselves. On either side of the computer monitors are their studio monitors and either on the desk or close to the right or left is their MIDI keyboard of instrument of choice. Usually any and all effects and outboard gear is kept close at hand usually on the desk or in a rack close to it.

This is usually a great solution for mixing but I found that for all of the things that I wanted to do in my studio, there were other alternatives that proved to be better in promoting creativity and getting things done.

Some Alternatives

When I first set up my studio this is the way that I had it set up and would pretty much do all of my music from the same general spot. Whether it was mixing, recording, or writing, the position was the same. Since I had my computer set up this way, it was pretty much my only choice if I wanted to get anything done on the computer. While this set up was great for mixing and mastering, it wasn't the best for other activities and I found myself spending more and more time away from the studio because it started to become tiresome sitting in the same spot day in, day out. If you do spend most of your time mixing, the set up is generally the same but you still may want to move around and get a different perspective on the mix. I find that most musicians use their studio for more than one thing and having different set ups for different situations may provide you with the best results. It may help you be more creative or at the very least it'll give you a different view once in a while. For a lot of musicians, most of the time you may be working on your own stuff and be involved in every thing from the initial writing to the final master. To help separate some of the processes and to help get the creative juices flowing, I would try doing some of the different things in different areas of the studio. For example, when I'm writing a song I usually find that I like to keep it relatively simple to begin with. I like to focus on the melody and lyrics and by eliminating all of the other distractions in the studio it's easier for me to keep focused on the task at hand. I used to sit in front of the small mixing deck I had and write songs on the computer. While this worked sometimes, once in a while I would find that either I would get stuck or end up tinkering with other things in the studio and not end up getting much writing done. Sometimes when writing with all of the toys right in front of you, it becomes too easy to end up doing too much editing and tweaking and not enough writing. I also found that staring at the computer screen for too long, I would start to go into 'edit' mode and get out of 'writing' mode. I wanted to focus on getting a great lyric or a great chord progression or a great melody and instead I would spend the time adjusting the drum sounds or eqing things.

So I decided that I wanted to try a different set up for writing. I also wanted to have a different set up for doing the business side of things and I wanted to have a different set up for other business activities.

My Set Up

What I ended up doing might not be the perfect situation for most but it may give you some ideas about how you may want to try different set ups when it comes to your studio. I really wanted to have a couple of different set ups; one for mixing and recording, one for writing and one for business and internet. I really didn't relish the thought of doing all of my surfing on the same computer that I was doing all of my intensive and very important studio work. I actually wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Generally, the less you install on your computer, the more stable it'll be. I've had a lot of computer troubles and crashes over the years and I find that the more I keep the one computer focused on audio only, the better and more reliable it is. So I ended up getting a laptop and designated the laptop as my writing and business tools and kept the desktop as my main studio computer. This kept the things on my studio computer down to the minimum because I didn't have anything on there that wasn't directly related to recording and/or mixing. I use the laptop for all of my business and internet needs and use it as a portable studio for writing and recording. It also allows me to take my studio 'on the road' in case I need to do some writing in another area or with another writer. I try to keep the stuff on the laptop to the minimum also, using a few choice tools to do all of my work. Not only does this keep down on the maintenance of the computer, it makes it easy to backup and keep updated. I have a whole system of things that I use for business that keeps things organized and running smoothly. I also have a basic recording set up on the same computer. It's nothing major since it's used mostly for writing and anything over the top would take away from its main purpose anyway.

The basic set up is this: I bought a small but well built external firewire audio unit for my laptop recording. Not only is it very small but it sounds great and is rock solid. It has 4 inputs, 6 outputs and MIDI in and out. I installed the basic software that came with the unit that covers all of my needs and more. It also integrates well with my studio set up since it comes from the same company. It's missing some features since it's the 'LE' version but nothing that I really miss. It also comes with a ton of plug-ins and instruments so I'm covered there as well. I didn't want to install too many extras as far as instruments and plug-ins because I wanted to keep the system streamlined so I could focus on writing and basic recording. I also use the hard drive on the laptop since I'm only recording one or two tracks at a time and rarely have many tracks to deal with. The software also came with a simple serial number so there are no dongles or anything hanging off of my laptop to worry about. Best of all, it really makes me focus on the most important parts of the songwriting process, right when I need to be focusing on that. It allows me to stay in 'writing' mode and keeps me out of 'editing' or 'mixing' mode. Generally I find that I do a lot of mixing along the way when I'm working on my own stuff but this keeps that to a minimum while I finish the writing. I do find too that when I'm staring at the computer screen I tend to 'hear with my eyes' and when working on a smaller laptop, I focus more on the sound and less on the computer screen.

The other things that I have on the laptop all have to do with business and keeping organized and in touch. Since I have a minimal recording set up and this is a secondary computer, I don't mind using it for all of my online activities. This frees up my main computer to do audio only and it also allows me to keep all of my business and networking separate and portable. I can do my surfing, emailing and correspondence from anywhere and I don't have to be nailed to the same spot in the studio all day. It allows me to leave the studio every once in a while and get a different perspective. I don't get tired of being in the same place all day and it keeps the studio a creative space. If I'm waiting for an important email and I have to do some studio work, I can have the laptop sitting beside me while I safely work on the studio computer.

If You Can...

For most people, having an expensive computer devoted to one task might be a bit beyond their budget but if you're serious about keeping your music safe and on a reliable system, the two computer system is the way to go. If you can't afford to get a laptop, you might want to look into getting a cheap desktop to use for your internet and business needs. There is an absolute need to be online and have a big online presence. It's simply part of the program for anyone who's serious about getting their music out there. Most computers today can handle all of your business and internet needs short of doing any intensive video editing so there's no need to go out and spend a ton of money on this. If you don't want to spend any money see if there are any people that you know who have an old computer that they don't use anymore and take it off their hands. One note of caution here though. Don't get an old computer and then start putting a lot of money into upgrades and extra computer parts. Unless you know what you're really doing, most of the time this is a costly and unproductive way to go.

One more note: I know some guys who have gone in the opposite direction and are happy with the results. That is, they use their laptop for their music and their desktop for their online stuff. Some musicians like the portability of the laptop and use it for gigs and DJing. Sometimes you may have no choice to connect the audio computer to the internet. I'm just suggesting that you keep it to a minimum to keep the viruses away. Without being constantly online, there is no reason to be running a lot of programs on your computer like firewalls, virus scanners and all things internet related.

Some musicians have successfully integrated both on the same computer but this always comes at a price and can result in crashes and a lot of lost work. It also makes it a lot harder to keep everything backed up and running smoothly. Most of all, if you're like me you'll find yourself getting more done and being more productive overall. I don't know about you but I think that the extra investment in time and money is well worth it.

The Wisdom of a Music Education

Image from WikipediaMore and more I hear students telling me that they don’t have music at their school or that it’s been delegated as an extra-curricular activity. It’s a shame because in my opinion a musical education can teach us much more than we ever thought about learning and succeeding. It’s much like sports where the lessons we learn have far reaching effects over all areas of our life. Sometimes the effects aren’t as tangible as say learning how to add or write a proper paragraph but it teaches us how to learn, work on our own and overcome difficulties on a weekly basis.

The Lesson
A music lesson usually consists of a weekly visit to a teacher who hopefully has a lot of real world experience in the craft. The teacher will review what was covered last week and make sure that the student practiced the necessary exercises. If the student didn’t practice, or didn’t improve enough in that particular exercise, then it’s left again for the next week. If the exercise is too difficult, it’s broken down or simplified and practiced until the student can complete the exercise to the teacher’s approval. While the student has a number of exercises in a couple of different areas, they all point to a common goal. Hopefully, the basic techniques will be covered and ingrained before moving on. Week by week the student goes through this, slowly building skills while the teacher ensures that the student improves and keeps focused on the material at hand. While this system may seem simple at first glance, it’s brilliant in its simplicity and very effective in getting the desired results. It’s the same method that is used in sports with the coach/athlete relationship and is now used in mainstream teaching on everything from math to social skills. Basically its learning one thing at a time, in incremental steps, while keeping focused on the big picture.

Big Dreams…What Are We Doing Here?
Whenever I start working with people and/or students, we usually begin with discussing all of the things that they want to accomplish and/or learn in the coming months. Somebody may just be there to get the basics and learn something about their instrument and how music works. Others have visions of mastering the instrument and playing in front of thousands of people. It doesn’t matter, it’s a personal thing: there is no right answer for this initial stage. I know that when I sit down and figure out my goals for the upcoming months I usually go over the top to begin with. While it’s easy to go over the top with what you’d like to do, I usually don’t put any limitations on this…initially. Whenever I discuss the same things with fellow musicians, it’s the same thing and I try not to put any damper on what they want to do. Initially, I’m just trying to decipher what their most important goals are and what we need to do/learn to get them to their goals. It’s not until I have a grasp of who they are and what they want that I start to make some decisions about what to do next and make some definite plans about what we may be able to accomplish and what we may have to put off until later. What students don’t know is that as soon as I figure out what they want and where they are now, I immediately start putting together a plan. What the plan is and what the next couple of steps are depends on the student and the situation.

For Example
If I get a student who really wants to learn how to improvise, I try to figure out what their musical knowledge is and what level they are at right now. If they are a beginner and have no knowledge of music theory, and they tell me that they want to learn how to improvise over jazz standards, I know exactly what has to be done and a basic estimate of how long that will take. It’s only experience of many years of teaching and playing that gives me this knowledge. If the student is a beginner, I know that we’re going to have to go through the basics before we get into any heavy improvising. I want to make sure that they have a certain amount of technique and knowledge of some basic music theory such as time and form before we even start memorizing any scales. The point here is that as soon as they start, whether they know it or not, there is a plan in place. Now, every student/musician is different and although there is a plan, the exact plan isn’t concrete because it isn’t clear immediately where the student’s strengths and weaknesses lie and that every student is at a different place as far as knowledge and ability. What most students don’t realize is that when learning a new skill, the skill is broken down into small, manageable steps. The harder the skill, the more steps are involved. For example, if a student wants to be able to sing a major scale, I have to make sure that they initially can sing any given note. That means just singing one note when I play it to them. If they can’t do this, then I give them exercises to master this. Once that’s done, we work on two notes and so on. Every student has his/her challenges and what may be difficult for one, will be easy for another.

One at a Time…a Little at a Time
The point of all of this is to learn a musical instrument but it can be applied to any skill. If you look at it, it’s really how we learn in the first place. We almost always learn from a teacher, be it your parents, a formal teaching situation or ad hock from multiple sources, a small piece at a time. We then acquire one small skill at a time until we master the thing that we set out to do. There may be times that we seem to learn on our own and master things quickly but they’re usually based on already acquired skills. We may find that we are gifted in some areas where others are difficult. A lot of the time these exist within that same skill set. For example you may be gifted musically but can’t dance to save your life. Or, you’re a great singer but have a hard time writing a song. The point I want to make here is not about what you’re good or bad at, but how we go about learning new skills and how we can use that knowledge to acquire new skills faster and easier.


A good teacher will a) be able to fully assess where you are and where you want to go b) figure out your strengths and weaknesses and figure out ways to work on these areas c) be able to devise a plan that allows you to complete your goals and d) be able to regularly review your progress and change the plan of attack according to your individual needs. This is the true value of a music education but we can apply this methodology to all other areas of your life.

Let’s look at these one at a time:

a) Assess where you are and where you want to go. Two of the biggest problems I’ve had in becoming a success are failure to plan and trying to do too many things at once. So it was either failure to plan, or failure to plan effectively. I know that this is a problem for most people and I think that in this day and age, it’s all too easy to multitask our way into ineffectiveness. When I look at how I teach and how I learned to master my instrument, I realize that the answer was there all along: one thing at a time. The great thing about having a teacher is that they have the wisdom to see where you are and your weaknesses. They have experience and know what steps are need to accomplish your goals, and they will focus on one area at a time until all of the needed skills are acquired. Like I mentioned before, most of the time, the student isn’t even aware of this.

b) Identify your strengths and weaknesses and figure out how to work with them and around them. We all have strengths and weaknesses. To succeed these days in the music industry you’re going to have to be able to do a number of different skills at any given time. This may include being a songwriter, an engineer, a producer, a computer specialist. Or you may have to some public relations, marketing, finances, and tour promotion if you’re releasing your own stuff etc. This is just a small list but you get the idea. There are a lot of different skills involved in each of these activities and I don’t know of anybody who can do it all. I wrote a post in here before about trying to do it all, and it’s not only hard but very counterproductive. The point is that whenever you take on any plan, it’s a good idea to figure out what you can do, what you can’t, and what you may be able to delegate to somebody else.

c) Devise a plan. It’s only after we’ve figure out what we want to do and what we can do that we can set down some possible plans. By knowing what it is we can be certain about where it is that we want to go. By knowing our strengths and weakness, we can assign certain objectives to ourselves and set out to get help on the ones that we can’t. When we get a basic plan together, we need a plan of action and deadlines to make those actions a reality. In a music education, the deadlines aren’t always written in stone since one objective usually relies on the completion of the one before it. But so it goes in life; especially a career in the music industry. Keep in mind that a plan is always a work in progress and that changes will have to be made. It’s simply a general road map, the exact directions have to be written en-route.

d) Review and revise. This is especially important and is never given enough thought. As soon as you get going with your plans, it’s essential that you sit down on a regular basis and figure out what worked, what didn’t and if you are still on course. This is where the wisdom of the music education approach really kicks in. The student and teacher get together once a week to review. Anytime you have a lesson, the first thing you do is review what you did last week and assess to see if you can move on to the next step. There are two important points here. First of all there is the weekly review. It tells the teacher if the student has worked on the material, if there any problems with the material or the student and if they are still on course. If the material was too tough, there may have be a change in plans. The second lesson is that whether the student knows it or not, the teacher has made the student focus on one single lesson and didn’t allow the student to go one without completion of that lesson. This is where the one pointed focus comes in. In a music education there are just too many things for a student to learn. They all must be taken one step at a time. When the student becomes proficient in one area, s/he can then move on into more advanced techniques. If the student was to take it all on at once, it would just be overwhelming and the chances of success would be greatly reduced.

One More Time...From the Top
The lesson here is that within getting a musical education, we learn certain things that we can apply to all other areas of our life. I’ve focused mostly on music and the music industry but these lessons can apply to almost anything. When we learn to play a music instrument, it’s imperative that we learn in incremental steps and use what we’ve learned to build upon. It’s also important to note that when learning an instrument, most of the work is done on your own. Most of the development happens when you take the time to work on the task at hand, on a regular basis. There are no shortcuts. It’s this regular, incremental work ethic that allows us to achieve things that in themselves seem impossible. If you’re unsure, just check out a great artist who has really learned their craft. It almost seems magical when seen live yet realize that that magic was the result of the ongoing daily work and learning ethic that we learned about here.

So You Want A Record Deal

Image via WikipediaOne of the things that I come across a lot is people who really want to make it in the music industry and think that if they're just standing in the right spot at the right time, then they'll get discovered and all of their dreams will come true. They dream of the day when they turn a corner and there is a music industry bigwig there to make them a star. We all know they story, it's permeated into our brains and then reinforced by the media and shows like 'American Idol'. The premise being that 'we will make you a star'. While this does happen it's rarely the case. Most of the time you hear of people 'getting discovered', they've spent many years working at their craft and were completely prepared when their time came. Part of the success of 'American Idol' is that it feeds this desire may people have to be a star, while taking away the personal responsibility to make your own career. It never ceases to amaze me when I see people with obvious talent subscribing to the thought that a record company will come along one day and make all of their dreams come true. I know because I held these very same viewpoints myself. I used to feel that 'it was going to happen anytime soon'; that this was going to be the year that I finally make a success in the music industry. The problem was that I didn't know exactly how I was going to do that; I didn't have a clue about what I wanted to achieve in the first place. I didn't even know the genre of music I wanted to be successful in because I had spent time touring with rock, country and jazz bands. All I knew was that I wanted to make music for a living and didn't really care in what capacity or exactly how I was going to do that. Is it any surprise to you that I never really had that much success in those years? It wasn't until I sat down and make some concrete goals that I started to see some success. The funny thing was that when I did finally sit down to make plans, the goal to get signed to a record company, something I thought would be the number one item on the list, was about number 20. I realized that if I wanted to become successful in what I wanted to do, I'd have to decide on exactly what it was that I wanted to do and then take responsibility to get it done. Although the thought that I was ultimately responsible for my entire career was scary, it was also very liberating.

The List
Once I had figured out my music career goals, I was surprised to find that getting a recording contract was quite far down the list. Don't get me wrong, it was important to me and it was one of the things that I wanted to accomplish but it was only after I had accomplished a few other things that a recording contract was even a consideration. After I knew what I wanted and had written it down, I got quite a bit done. I set up my own company, starting making money with my studio and put together a great band all within a year and a half. I started writing and producing tracks on a daily basis and made plans to get some gigs for my band. It was hard and a lot of work but it got done. In the end the band disbanded after a couple of years but it was one of the best bands I had ever played with. While I had the studio going I would spend a lot of time working and getting better at producing tracks. You see, to get the attention of the big record companies, I wanted to have a demo done, I wanted to have some shows under my belt and I wanted to have some credits as far as writing and producing. These were all things that I wanted to accomplish before I even contacted the record company. After a while, I wondered if I even wanted a record deal since I had done so many things myself. I had worked as a musician, a producer and a writer and wondered if I would have that kind of freedom if I worked at a record company. I realized that if you go out and make a career of it one your own, record companies will stand in line to sign you. You see, you've done all of the work and they can make money from that. Don't kid yourself, that's the extent of it. If they didn't think that they could make any money, or if they probably couldn't get a return on their investment within a reasonable amount of time, then they simply won't care. I wanted to write and produce, so I had to make sure that I had the chops before I put myself out there. So before you think that you're going to become a star but don't have a clue how you're going to get there, you may want to sit down and reassess where you are and where you want to go. Once you figure that out, you can take steps to make sure that when that music industry bigwig does cross your path one day; that you're good and ready to take on anything.

Paying Dues
There's the adage in the industry of one paying their dues; an artist who has spent time working at their craft through thick and thin. There's the image we have of a talented artist singing to an unsympathetic crowd in some run down club. If you get out there at all, you know exactly what I'm talking about. The truth is that no matter where you are there are always times where you will have to pay your dues. There is going to be a time when things are going badly and it seems everything is going wrong. This may be when you're just starting out, when you've finally had some success and realize that it's not all roses, or if you're just going through a difficult time in your career. The truth is that these things are all part of the music business and a lot of times the mark of a great artist is one that makes it through these times and still continues to make great art. I'm not here to discuss the darker side of the music business. I'm just putting it to you that if you want a lasting career in the music industry that there are a lot of things that you're going to have to deal with that aren't that pleasant. I would like to focus on how to still keep going and not lose focus when those hard times do come around.

Part of the Program
The sad part of the paradigm of paying your dues is that somehow we've come to think that this is a necessary part of the process. We've come to believe that being a poor, unappreciated musician is part of the program. This simply isn't true. Having to pay the bills and deal with everyday problems is part of life. There is the notion that great artists shouldn't have to deal with the everyday mundane things; that somehow, they're beyond this. I've held the notion that I didn't deserve to be waiting on tables; that I was a great artist and deserved to be treated so. The truth is that until you've gone out and made the way for yourself, you deserve to be treated like everybody else. Most musicians I knew never seemed to have any money; including myself. But then there were always those guys who seemed to have it together. These were the guys who were working hard at getting things going with the band but still kept their finances in order. A lot of musicians act irresponsible, like its part of being creative. The truth is that not paying your bills has nothing to do with creativity. Once you're a star and making millions, then you can be as much of a big diva as you like. You can be irresponsible and a pain, not because you're a great artist, but because you can afford to. It's a simply as that; it has nothing to do with who deserves what. You'll also find that if you're out there getting things done, some people will appreciate what you're trying to do and even show some support. You'll also find a lot of resistance, and I'll talk about this more in another article.

Walking the Path
A lot of what I've talked about in this blog actually deals with the 'paying your dues' part of the process. I put it to you that it's not so much paying dues as simply walking the path. And that's what this blog is about, helping you walk the path. If you've sat down and figured out what it is that you want to accomplish, and how you're going to go about doing that, it makes it a lot easier when hard times come around. If you've made a plan and are getting things done and something goes badly, you can deal with things better because having the plans there allows you to look at the bigger picture and see how everything fits in. It also makes you take stock of where you are and figure out if there's a better way to do things, or if you have to take a different approach. Most of all, when things go bad, you know that this is just a temporary situation and that you'll find some solution. A couple of times when things started to go badly and I had to take a different course or had to drop my current plans to deal with the emergency at hand, since I had sat down and made some concrete plans, I knew that this way just a temporary situation. This helped me deal with things in so many ways. If I had to take a part time job to pay some bills, I knew why I was doing it and that it was just something that had to be done for me to reach my goal. I wasn't any happier about it, but I knew why I was doing it.

The Choice
The thing I came to realize was that since there was so much I wanted to accomplish with my career, I simply had to work twice as hard as 'normal' people. I had the part time job to pay my bills, and I had my music. I came to view my music as my main job; simply to make it the most important thing that I spent my time on. For people who aren't musicians, they can have their job and then come home and have that free time. For artists, that free time is time to work on their craft. I never viewed this as a bad thing; I always loved what I do. There were times when I wasn't motivated of course, and I talk about this in other articles in this blog. If you have to have another job or you have to jump through a lot of hoops to get where you want to go, that's simply something that you have to do. Some people don't go through as much to get there, most go through a lot. Whether you're one or the other doesn't matter as long as you stick to the program. When it comes to finances you really have only two choices; have a full time job and carefully budget your time or have a part time job and carefully budget your money. Remember that in the initial stages, becoming an artist can be a costly affair. So even if you're making enough to pay your bills, you'll need extra to pay for gear, gas, web space etc.

No Time
Another misconception I find people have is that they have all the time in the world. When you're twenty years old you may feel like you have tons of time to get things done and try things out. Well, yes and no. This is the perfect time to try things and see what works for you. You probably won't have that many responsibilities and your cost of living may be lower than older folks. The problem is though, that you really don't have that much time. If you're playing in a pop or rock band, or are looking to become the next Gwen Stefani, these are the years were you want to take advantage of your time. Most recording acts these days are signed while relatively young and they're getting younger all the time. It's not unusual to see a teenager getting signed to a multi-million dollar deal. If you show promise at a young age, you're more likely to look appealing to a major label. A lot of the biggest acts we know today started out at a very young age and kept at it; usually with the guidance of an older person. So if you're in your twenties and think that you have tons of time to waste, you don't. I don't want to scare you or put older musicians out, I just want to put it to you that time, no matter how old you are, is always a consideration. If you've already decided on what you want to do and are getting it done, you are more likely to find yourself in the right spot at the right time.

It Can Be Tough…But
Sometimes when things aren't going well, it's easy to get down and feel sorry for yourself. The goal to become an artist can become incredibly hard at times. It's so easy to feel helpless and lose sight of your goal or give up. If you've done some of the things that I've written about in this blog and written down exactly what it is that you want to accomplish, it'll be easier to deal with and keep track of where you are. Don't let old tired misconceptions like the ones I've talked about here get you down or get in your way. Whether it takes you 5 months or 5 years to get there isn't important; just get it done. Once you start you'll find that even with all of the downs, it's all worth it in the end. I love making music. Nothing else gives me the same satisfaction that I get when I'm writing a song or playing my guitar. If you've ever done a great show in front of an appreciative audience, or just written your latest masterpiece, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.

The Big Plan

One of the hardest things that I've had to wrap my head around as far as managing my career as musician is the whole process of planning. A lot of things about being a musician I felt couldn't be planned. I had gotten to the point where I was pretty proficient at my instrument, gone to college and university, had been in a couple of bands and toured yet never sat down to make any sort of plan. I figured that if I had made it this far without a plan, why should I start now? I also felt that planning might take away some opportunities that I might miss or would take away all of the spontaneity and fun of being a musician. Most of all I really felt like being a musician was nothing that you could plan and I might turn the corner tomorrow with a new opportunity that I could have never planned in my wildest dreams. I really felt like as a musician, you basically had to ride by the seat of your pants.

No Plan At All
I'm sure that you've heard the story; a young band starts out, does a couple of shows, and in no time at all end up getting signed and selling a ton of records. It's the stuff that Hollywood movies are made of. It almost seems like some people seem to do much better without putting too much thought into it. I read an article by one of the members of the Grateful Dead who said that anytime they made a conscious effort to do anything and sat down to make some concrete plans, it would usually fail. Whereas when they just went ahead and did what they felt like, without much planning and forethought, they were successful. Some people, not just musicians, also seem to get far with this mindset; succeeding in life without taking any time out to make specific plans. The fact is that most successful people plan. Studies have shown that a critical factor in highly successful people is that they write down their goals.They focus on one thing and make the effort to get that one thing done.They do things intuitively that most of use have to learn and take time out to do. We are usually unsure about what it is that we want to accomplish how to go about making our dreams a reality. You simply have to write down what it is that you want to accomplish and then take action everyday to realize those goals. With music, art and life, there are also things that you could never predict; you can only prepare and plan and see how things turn out. The Grateful Dead were an incredibly successful group that sold millions of records and were one of the most popular touring groups of all time. Ultimately, you could never plan that. You may find that you can still get a lot done if you are motivated to get out there and do it.
Highly successful people write down their goals; the key here is the word 'write'.

The Problem With Problems
So can't I just take things as they come up? Why do I need a plan ? The problem arises when problems arise. Let me explain that. Anytime you take on any endeavor, you are inevitably going to come across some problems. You are also going to get to the point where you don't know what to do next. You may also be at the point where you realize that what you're doing isn't working and you either need a new plan of attack or a completely new plan. The point is that it becomes necessary at this point to make some sort of plan and make some decisions. Even though the Grateful Dead were never successful at making any grand business plans, they were successful in creating one of the most successful live bands of all time. You're going to come across a situation where you're going to have to sit down and make some decisions and figure out what the best things for you to do next. We all know the value of making plans. So how do we apply this to being a musician and mapping out the best way to become a success?

Looking at the Big Picture
There a couple of ways that you can create a plan that will ultimately help you get where you want to go. The key here is figuring out where it is that you want to go. Sitting down and making plans makes you start to look at the big picture and makes you ask yourself some serious questions. You want to sit down and figure out where it is that you are right now and where it is that you want to go. It's a good idea to be specific here. Saying that you want to be a superstar in the next 2 years just doesn't cut it. If you can describe exactly what you want to accomplish, you will be much better off in making those goals a reality. If you are a singer, you want to describe the style of music that you'd like to do, if you're going to write the material or get other writers, if you're going to have a band, etc. Some people start off and they have no idea what it is that they want to do; they just go in every direction hoping that something will click. Some people don't even care; they just want to be a star. I'm putting it to you here that if you want to take control of your career and have a greater chance for success, then you should have an idea of what you want and how to get there. You'll find that as soon as you get out there and start getting things done, you'll learn more about what to do next and you may find things happening as a result of your efforts.


The basic formula:
1) Figure out who you are
2) Figure out what is it you want to do
3) Create a plan to achieve your goals
4) Put that plan in action


Simple yet tough.


What Next?
If you're one of these people who isn't sure of exactly what it is that they want to do or are confused about what it is that they should be doing don't worry, make the plans anyway. The biggest point here about making plans for a career in music is that these plans aren't written in stone and they will change. We do want to sit down though and figure out what it is that we want to do and have some sort of direction. Just grabbing anything that comes your way may result in some success but you're really just playing the lottery and we all know what those odds are. Once you sit down and start making plans and getting things done, even if you're not sure of exactly what to do, it will become a little clearer of what it is you should be doing. You're usually much better off deciding on some sort of direction and making plans to see that plan to completion. Your plans may change but once you've accomplished something by planning and making it happen, it becomes easier the second time around. It's also helps in keeping focused on achieving what you want to do and not just reaching for anything that comes your way. That way, you are in control of the direction of your career and when something unexpected does come up (as they usually do) you'll be better equipped to deal with it more effectively.

Practice Time

Whenever it came to practicing I would usually pick up my guitar and just start working on whatever I felt like at the time. I would spend a lot of time working on separate styles and songs until I had enough. I would then put my guitar away until I felt like practicing again. I loved the guitar so picking it up at least a couple of times a day wasn't a stretch. There were times when I would work on specific lessons and songs but most of the time it was whatever goes. I spent a lot of the time just 'noodling around' without much focus. After a while, I realized that I could probably accomplish a lot more and improve a lot quicker if I was more disciplined about my practice time. I then read up and researched all that I could about practicing and how the great players practiced.

What

I found out that not only did the greatest players practice a lot, but they were also very disciplined about what they practiced. If you've ever read about John Coltrane's practice regimen you can see that he was not only hard working but thorough. He worked through everything in all twelve keys, working on every variation imaginable; a method well known among jazz players. I also learned that not only does this apply to the greatest players; it was also true of the great composers, songwriters and pretty much anybody else in an artistic discipline. It's not enough to practice; you must be disciplined in figuring out what it is that you have to know and then working through all of the necessary exercises to gain the required knowledge and ability.

There are a lot of ways to find out what it is that you need to learn and it's just a matter of asking the right questions and you'll find the right answers.

Most of the players mentioned had minimal education and some were completely self-taught. The point is that they figured out what it is that they had to learn then spent the necessary time to master those techniques. They were focused about what they had to do. You'll also find that although a lot of these players were self taught and had a style of their own, the method by which they went about learning their craft is very similar. For example, most jazz players go through the same method of learning scales to improvise over complex chord changes. This includes systematically going through all of the different variations of progressions in all keys, in different tempos, with different variations. No small feat that takes a considerable amount of time and focus. The same can be said of composers who learn the necessary theory and then go about working through all of the different ways that the theory can be applied to their craft. Ask Quincy Jones about some of the things he went through when learning his craft.

How

When I teach guitar, I usually treat the lesson like an actual practice session. In other words, I go through all of the things that you should be going through every time you practice. The following is a general list that I start with and then adjust according to the level of the student and their goals. For everybody the basic list is like this:

• WARM UP - 2 minutes
  
• PICKING EXERCISE - 2
  
• READING - 5
  
• EAR TRAINING - 5
  
• CHORDS - 10
  
• SCALE - 10
  
• SONG/REPERTOIRE - 10
  

Within each general heading there is a few things included that isn't listed in the title. For example chords and scales also include rhythms and theory. I always try to apply the theory to real world examples and songs that they're working on. The picking exercise includes arpeggios and finger-picking. The warm ups are to be done slowly to focus on the left hand and develop independence. This of course is the short list and depending on the student and genre, other headings would be added. For a jazz student, more time would be spent on scales and chords because this would include improvisation and comping. The times are a general indication of how much time to spend on each discipline within a 45 minute practice period. You would spend more time on specific areas when needed; before a big performance for example, the majority of the time would be spent on learning the pieces.

When

I'll be going into more detail about this in the weeks ahead but for now this is a basic outline to give you an idea of how you should approach your time practicing. For every different type of student the list will be slightly different but the idea is the same. Work in the areas that are the most important everyday. Take time out to evaluate what it is that you want to accomplish and then find all the material you can about it. Above is a list for learning a musical instrument; a songwriter's list would be slightly different. By having discipline and working everyday on the things that you know you should (generally your weakest areas) you will learn more and become better in a much shorter time. You will probably surprise yourself.

Optimizing Studio Time

So you’ve decided to go into the studio and get some tracks done. This could be a commercial studio, your friend’s studio, or your own home studio. These days there doesn’t seem to be much difference between some home studios and some of the commercial places. There are a few things that you should think about when taking this step.

The Plan
You would think that if you were going to do some work in your own studio that there wouldn’t be the need for any planning or preparation. It’s not like going into a commercial facility where you were paying by the hour and time was of the essence. The problem with thinking that you have all the time in the world to get things done is that you usually take all the time in the world. With this mindset, you may spend a lot of time playing around thinking that since it’s your home studio, it doesn’t have the urgency or even is as serious as something done at a professional facility. The problem arises when you go into the studio and spend a lot of time playing with the gear and experimenting without setting any goals or doing what you set out to do in the first place.

If you’re just starting out and are using the studio as a learning tool, then you can use that time to fool around and see how things work. But even this has its limits. There comes a time in the learning process when you have to get down to business and do things on a ‘need to do’ basis. That means doing projects as well as taking time out to learn specific disciplines and working on your craft. There is a huge learning curve when it comes to recording, mixing and professional audio that takes time and concentrated effort. To learn your craft, there is going to come a time when you’re going to have to stop experimenting and get down to getting things done.
There is always a level of experimentation in music that never goes away; the difference here is getting the essentials down so you can use time to experiment when you have it.
So let’s look at a couple of scenarios:

The Band

You’re in a band and decided that you’ve written a couple of songs that you’re really happy with and are ready to record. If you’re a band that has spent some time rehearsing, it’s a good idea to rehearse the songs that you are going to record until you all have a pretty good idea of what you want to accomplish when you go into the studio. Some bands just go right into the studio without even working on the material at all and figure that that’ll come later. It’s usually a better idea to work over the tunes in rehearsal because you end up getting really familiar with the songs and can work through a lot of ideas until you come up with something that you really love. After working through the song in rehearsal for a while, you may find that the song takes on a life of its own. Things may start to gel in a way that they can't when you're just laying down tracks quickly. Just jumping into the studio, you may get the entire recording done, and then realize later that you don’t like the sound or even the song. If you can, write a couple of songs together and see if you come up with a general sound that way. When you rehearse with the band, the sound will further be developed. The basic point here is to work through the songs until you come up with something that you really feel excited about instead of jumping into the studio and spending a lot of time creating recordings that you may not like or doesn’t really represent your sound.

Working on one thing at a time makes you focus on the songs first.

The Lone Gunman

What about if you’re a lone songwriter and are just working on material to demo or songs that you might want to play with a band at a later date? The same basic principle applies as far as working through the material and trying to find that sound that is yours. Too often, since we have the recording studio at our disposal, we’re all to eager to just write anything and get in there and start recording. If your main goal is to write great songs, this usually isn’t a good idea. Some guys will write a song and then start recording right away and work on the song that way. This may work for some people but the problems lies when you get caught up in the recording and arranging processes and lose sight of the song. How many times have you heard industry people complain that there very few great songs out there even though there are millions being recorded? The point is that if you’re determined to write great songs, then focus on that and make sure you have a great song before you spend tons of time and money making a demo, or even worse, a finished product. I’m not suggesting that you forgo the recording process entirely, just the opposite. I always write on the computer. The difference is that I always keep the arrangements bare bones until I have the song to where it can sit on it’s own without any fancy arrangements.

Composer/Arranger

If you’re an instrumentalist or you’re working on writing better arrangements, or trying to write in different styles, then this takes a different approach. Yes, you’ll want to go into the studio right away and get going on recording but you’ll still have to take some time and decide what it is that you want to accomplish. You want to make sure that you’re working toward something and not just messing around with your gear. Messing around with your gear isn’t a bad thing; in fact it’s a really good idea. You do want to limit this to a certain amount of time or you’ll be messing around with your gear for years…without really getting anything done. For this approach you will want to decide which style and what kind of song you’re going to work with in the first place. Is an original, or is an arrangement of a standard, or a remix? You get the idea. The thing about doing exercises like this is it’s close to what happens in the real world. You get a call to write something in a specific style, like so-in-so artist with strings added, for example. Of course there are always deadlines and you should include this in your exercise. You’ll need some examples from the different artists mentioned or something in the general style and then work from there. The good thing about exercises like this is that you can take the results and add them to your portfolio that you can include in a demo reel or play to perspective clients.

Studio Wonderland

The studio itself can be a huge distraction to you actually getting to work. I know quite a few guys that have an impressive amount of great gear but never seem to get any work done. They preoccupy most of their time getting the gear and then messing around with the gear. These are the type of guys that make great techies and engineers but unless that’s your goal, you may not want to spend all of your time on this. The best thing to do when it comes to gear is to be really selective about the gear you get and then learn that piece of gear inside and out. There is a learning curve with any piece of new gear that’s going to take time away from your current project. Some pieces of gear are worth the effort to take time out and learn properly but be selective about this. In the end, the point is to make your results better and more professional; and that’s what this article is about…results.

Crash Time

I recently had a crash on my laptop and thought I'd like to talk about computer crashes and back ups and how they're important to the working musician.

Two Systems

Now I'm sure by this point you're aware of how important it is to back up all of your important projects on a regular basis. It's a good idea to have two separate back up systems going. For example you could have an external hard drive for one and a DVD back up for the 2nd. You need both. They need to be different systems and preferably in different places. There are a lot of online back up systems available now and they're free. Most of them have lots of space (some up to 5Gb) and are easy to use. They are the perfect thing for musicians who need to back up crucial files on a daily basis. Once you get a recording done, you can back up the entire thing online with a touch of a button. If you're like me and don't have your main recording computer hooked up to the internet, it's a good way to make sure that you use that external drive or DVD. You can then use those to make the transfer on a connected computer.

Ghosts in the Attic

Since we're on the subject of crashes I'd like to mention Ghost. Ghost is a program by Norton that makes an image file of your hard drive. That way, in the case of a crash, you simply run Ghost and it returns your hard drive to the exact way it was before the crash. This is unlike system restore which simply makes adjustments to your existing system. The great thing about this is that you can setup your computer to where it has all of the necessary drivers and programs and in case of a crash, you can set it back to that exact point. I do this whenever I get a new computer because if I want to set it back to it's original settings, I can. This is also way less work for your computer since system restore running can take a lot out of your system performance. Some manufacturers (like Dell), ship some of their systems with a restore button (actually, a series of buttons that you press on start up) that restores the computer to its factory settings.

KISS

The last point I'd like to make about computer crashes is about keeping things simple. The crash in this case wasn't my main computer but my laptop. I use my laptop as my 'office' so it's just as critical to my business as my main computer. This is where I keep all of my important documents as well as all correspondence and internet related stuff. With all of this on a single computer, it's easy to get disorganized and lose track of things. The biggest problem with this aside from it being a time waster, is the fact that it makes it hard to back up. Here, more than anywhere is why it's important to keep organized and efficient. Herein lies the title for this section: Keep It Simple.

There are a couple of ways to do this: First of all try and get all of your emails from one place online. Most of the email programs now have systems where you can have all of your mail going to the one place. This makes it easy to keep track of, keep organized and most of all no need to back up. You can also use this space to save some of your important documents and even create the documents online. This saves you money and the need for extra programs to be installed on your computer. You can also use the planners online and send emails to yourself to remind yourself of important appointments.

Remember, if the files are really important, you still need two systems.

As long as we're talking about crashes and keeping things simple, we should try and apply that to the computers themselves. It's all too easy to overload your computer with a ton of extras that you don't really need that slow down your system and may cause a crash. This includes themes, animations, plug ins and widgets (browser and desktop), utilities, and programs. Try to find the best application for what you want to accomplish and stick with that. It's easy to get out of control. I once had a half dozen media players installed on my computer at one time. These things slow your system down and are time wasters in more ways than one. It also makes backing things up much tougher because you've got all of those extra files and file types to deal with.

Finally, since we seem to have so much drive space these days, there seems to be the need to fill up every inch of that space. If you come across some items that you feel you really need, then save them and archive them as soon as you can. Or, if it's an article that you really love, make a hard copy and delete the file. I have a binder that I keep as a reference for important articles and material. Get all of that stuff off of your hard drive. If you have a laptop or just the one computer, that's hard drive space that could be used for more productive things (like your projects and business files). Having your hard drive free of clutter is not only good for the drive, but it stops you from wasting time accumulating all of this clutter, then feeling the need to organize it, thereby wasting more time.

Not If...But When

Always remember that if you rely on computers, the case of a crash ever happening is not if, but when. Not only do you want to be prepared when it does happen but you also don't want to have all of your critical files, projects, songs and pictures on something so unreliable as a hard drive. Have two systems going constantly and do it on a regular basis. Keep your computer uncluttered and use it efficiently. When you have a crash, or transfer to another computer, the move won't be such a big deal. Most of all you'll have piece of mind knowing that in this area of your life at least, you're covered.