Producing Hit Records: Secrets from the Studio


Book Description

Behind the scenes and topping the charts - today's most respected record producers share their secrets. From the Rolling Stones to Green Day to Norah Jones to the Dixie Chicks, record producers have always played an integral role in the success of an artist. In this fascinating account of how record producers shape the hits and the careers of major artists, author David Farinella talks to the men and women who've launched a thousand careers and pushed their collaborators to multi-Platinum success. He explores the chemistry between artist and producer and presents a treasure trove of sound practical tips for anyone wanting to produce. David John Farinella has been writing about music since 1990, concentrating his attention on performers, songwriters, record producers, and occasionally the personality that fuses them all. He's written for Rolling Stone, the San Francisco Chronicle, Billboard, Mix, Guitar Player, Spin, Alternative Press, Performing Songwriter, Modern Drummer, Hollywood Reporter and many others. Although Farinella has interviewed some legendary performers, it is the story behind the story that constantly fascinates him. Some of his most memorable professional moments have come in the studio as performers and producers put their hearts into the intricacies of a song.




The Self-Promoting Musician


Book Description

(Berklee Guide). This updated second edition will teach you how to take charge of your musical career with crucial do-it-yourself strategies. Filled with empowering resources and tips for self-managed musicians, including: How to write a business plan, create press kits, sharpen your business chops; Using the Internet to promote your music; How to customize your demos for maximum exposure; Secrets to getting your music played on the radio; 12 things you can do to get the most out of every gig; The most comprehensive musician's resource list on the planet, updated continually online!




The Ashgate Research Companion to Popular Musicology


Book Description

The research presented in this volume is very recent, and the general approach is that of rethinking popular musicology: its purpose, its aims, and its methods. Contributors to the volume were asked to write something original and, at the same time, to provide an instructive example of a particular way of working and thinking. The essays have been written with a view to helping graduate students with research methodology and the application of relevant theoretical models. The team of contributors is an exceptionally strong one: it contains many of the pre-eminent academic figures involved in popular musicological research, and there is a spread of European, American, Asian, and Australasian scholars. The volume covers seven main themes: Film, Video and Multimedia; Technology and Studio Production; Gender and Sexuality; Identity and Ethnicity; Performance and Gesture; Reception and Scenes and The Music Industry and Globalization. The Ashgate Research Companion is designed to offer scholars and graduate students a comprehensive and authoritative state-of-the-art review of current research in a particular area. The companion's editor brings together a team of respected and experienced experts to write chapters on the key issues in their speciality, providing a comprehensive reference to the field.




Strategies for Success: Self-Promotion Secrets for Musicians


Book Description

This book for professional and amateur musicians is an inspired cross between Stephen Covey’s wildly popular Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and Debbie Allen’s Confessions of a Shameless Self Promoter. Musician and rock journalist, Michael Gelfand (of the band, Fuller), shoots from the hip and tells his fellow musicians the straight truth about this business: It will chew you up and spit you out... all before breakfast... unless you’ve got a solid plan of attack. This advice is for every struggling musician out there who wants their band to gain momentum and break through the noise.




Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio


Book Description

Discover how to achieve release-quality mixes even in the smallest studios by applying power-user techniques from the world's most successful producers. Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio is the best-selling primer for small-studio enthusiasts who want chart-ready sonics in a hurry. Drawing on the back-room strategies of more than 160 famous names, this entertaining and down-to-earth guide leads you step-by-step through the entire mixing process. On the way, you'll unravel the mysteries of every type of mix processing, from simple EQ and compression through to advanced spectral dynamics and "fairy dust" effects. User-friendly explanations introduce technical concepts on a strictly need-to-know basis, while chapter summaries and assignments are perfect for school and college use. ▪ Learn the subtle editing, arrangement, and monitoring tactics which give industry insiders their competitive edge, and master the psychological tricks which protect you from all the biggest rookie mistakes. ▪ Find out where you don't need to spend money, as well as how to make a limited budget really count. ▪ Pick up tricks and tips from leading-edge engineers working on today's multi-platinum hits, including Derek "MixedByAli" Ali, Michael Brauer, Dylan "3D" Dresdow, Tom Elmhirst, Serban Ghenea, Jacquire King, the Lord-Alge brothers, Tony Maserati, Manny Marroquin, Noah "50" Shebib, Mark "Spike" Stent, DJ Swivel, Phil Tan, Andy Wallace, Young Guru, and many, many more... Now extensively expanded and updated, including new sections on mix-buss processing, mastering, and the latest advances in plug-in technology.




Against Art and Culture


Book Description

Offering a negative definition of art in relation to the concept of culture, this book establishes the concept of ‘art/culture’ to describe the unity of these two fields around named-labour, idealised creative subjectivity and surplus signification. Contending a conceptual and social reality of a combined ‘art/culture’ , this book demonstrates that the failure to appreciate the dynamic totality of art and culture by its purported negators is due to almost all existing critiques of art and culture being defences of a ‘true’ art or culture against ‘inauthentic’ manifestations, and art thus ultimately restricting creativity to the service of the bourgeois commodity regime. While the evidence that art/culture enables commodification has long been available, the deduction that art/culture itself is fundamentally of the world of commodification has failed to gain traction. By applying a nuanced analysis of both commodification and the larger systems of ideological power, the book considers how the ‘surplus’ of art/culture is used to legitimate the bourgeois status quo rather than unravel it. It also examines possibilities for a post-art/culture world based on both existing practices that challenge art/culture identity as well as speculations on the integration of play and aesthetics into general social life. An out-and-out negation of art and culture, this book offers a unique contribution to the cultural critique landscape.




What is Music Production?


Book Description

To produce a Grammy award winning album you need to know what goes into creating great music- both the business and the technical. What is Music Production takes a look at the process, looking at the art of producing and providing insight into the producer's lifestyle. Packed with information the book gives a step by step guide and insight into the process of music production. Whether you're are a professional or just starting out ?What is Music Production? will tell you everything you need to know from choosing the artist, songs, pre production, mixing, mastering to finance and budgeting. Combining the ?how to? with case studies, online assets and interviews the book arms you with the tools, techniques and knowledge to be a top producer.




Making Records


Book Description

Sinatra. Streisand. Dylan. Pavarotti. McCartney. Sting. Madonna. What do these musicians have in common besides their super-stardom? They have all worked with legendary music producer Phil Ramone. For almost five decades, Phil Ramone has been a force in the music industry. He has produced records and collaborated with almost every major talent in the business. There is a craft to making records, and Phil has spent his life mastering it. For the first time ever, he shares the secrets of his trade. Making Records is a fascinating look "behind the glass" of a recording studio. From Phil's exhilarating early days recording jazz and commercial jingles at A&R, to his first studio, and eventual legendary producer status, Phil allows you to sit in on the sessions that created some of the most memorable music of the 20th century -- including Frank Sinatra's Duets album, Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks, Ray Charles's Genius Loves Company and Paul Simon's Still Crazy After All These Years. In addition to being a ringside seat for contemporary popular music history, Making Records is an unprecedented tutorial on the magic behind what music producers and engineers do. In these pages, Phil offers a rare peek inside the way music is made . . . illuminating the creative thought processes behind some of the most influential sessions in music history. This is a book about the art that is making records -- the way it began, the way it is now, and everything in between.




The Song Machine: Inside the Hit Factory


Book Description

"An utterly satisfying examination of the business of popular music." —Nathaniel Rich, The Atlantic There’s a reason today’s ubiquitous pop hits are so hard to ignore—they’re designed that way. The Song Machine goes behind the scenes to offer an insider’s look at the global hit factories manufacturing the songs that have everyone hooked. Full of vivid, unexpected characters—alongside industry heavy-hitters like Katy Perry, Rihanna, Max Martin, and Ester Dean—this fascinating journey into the strange world of pop music reveals how a new approach to crafting smash hits is transforming marketing, technology, and even listeners’ brains. You’ll never think about music the same way again. A Wall Street Journal Best Business Book




Billboard


Book Description

In its 114th year, Billboard remains the world's premier weekly music publication and a diverse digital, events, brand, content and data licensing platform. Billboard publishes the most trusted charts and offers unrivaled reporting about the latest music, video, gaming, media, digital and mobile entertainment issues and trends.