The Complete Singer-songwriter


Book Description

Written as an artistic, business, and technical guide for singer-songwriters, this book is full of advice and encouragement for aspiring troubadours looking to polish their craft. The book offers tidbits on performing, recording, booking, and working with managers, agents, lawyers, and record executives. The guide is rounded out by excerpts from interviews with seasoned artists such as Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon, Jewel, and Ani DiFranco. At times the book's advice only skims the surface such as its coverage of choosing, maintaining, and insuring gear, but the tips on songwriting and performing should be taken to heart by writers and performers at every level. Rogers is an author and freelance writer who has written for Mojo and Acoustic Guitar magazines. Of all the paths available to today's musicians, the life of the singer-songwriter remains one of the most alluring and popular. From songwriting and solo performing to recording and promotion, singer-songwriters wear many hats, and with all the challenges they face come extravagant creative rewards. The Complete Singer-Songwriter is the ultimate guide for the modern singer-songwriter, full of real-world advice and encouragement for both aspiring and accomplished troubadours. Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers draws on his own experiences as a performing songwriter and interviews with artists such as Joni Mitchell, Ani DiFranco, and Paul Simon to offer an invaluable companion for the journey from idea to song to stage and studio.







Project Management for Musicians


Book Description

(Berklee Press). Get organized, and take charge of your music projects! This book will help you harness your creativity into clear visions and effective work plans. Whether you are producing a recording, going on tour, developing a studio, launching a business, running a marketing campaign, creating a music curriculum, or any other project in the music industry, these road-tested strategies will help you to succeed. Music projects come in all sizes, budgets, and levels of complexity, but for any project, setting up a process for planning, executing, and monitoring your work is crucial in achieving your goals. This book will help you clarify your vision and understand the work required to complete it on time, within budget, and to your highest possible quality standard. It is a comprehensive approach, with hundreds of music industry-specific tools for keeping your work on track, mitigating risk, and reducing stress, so that you can complete your project successfully. You will learn to: develop work strategies; delegate tasks; build and manage teams; organize your project office; develop production schedules; understand and organize contracts; analyze risk; and much more.




The Craft of Songwriting


Book Description

(Berklee Guide). Take your songwriting to the next level! This book breaks down the processes used by hit songwriters and dives deeply into the craft of songwriting. Discover the tools and techniques for melody, harmony, lyrics, and form behind so many great songs. You will access the magic and come out more connected to your heart and craft. Online audio tracks illustrate these techniques in context, showing how they affect your song's overall impact.




The Bruce Swedien Recording Method


Book Description

A reference to capturing and mixing music from the music industry legend Bruce Swedien who recorded and mixed albums and hits for Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, the Brothers Johnson, and Nataline Cole.




Songwriting Strategies


Book Description

(Berklee Guide). Write songs starting from any direction: melody, lyric, harmony, rhythm, or idea. This book will help you expand your range and flexibility as a songwriter. Discussions, hands-on exercises, and notated examples will help you hone your craft. This creatively liberating approach supports the overall integrity of emotion and meaning in your songs. It will help you become more productive, versatile, and innovative in your songwriting. You will learn to: * Discover more ideas for songs song seeds and capture them in their most powerful and usable form * Overcome writer's block by having many more pathways through the writing process * Develop strong song structures by working independently with melody, lyrics, harmony, and rhythm * Write songs more easily, guided by your well-tuned "songwriter's compass"




Five Star Music Makeover


Book Description

(Music Pro Guide Books & DVDs). In order to achieve success in today's music industry, artists must first do a great deal of work on their own. Learning the required skills can take years of real-life experience, and hiring personal coaches, studio professionals, and consultants can be costly. But now, for the first time, there's an invaluable resource to help you meet these challenges. Five Star Music Makeover is an engaging all-in-one guide designed specifically for aspiring artists. Written by five experts with over 100 years of collective experience, both on and off the stage, this unique book covers five key skills every musician needs to succeed: (1) improving vocal production/technique; (2) writing memorable and marketable songs; (3) recording your ultimate EP; (4) navigating the publishing world; and (5) promoting music effectively. Also included are insiders' stories and anecdotes, helpful tips, creative exercises, celebrity interviews, and all the practical expertise necessary to develop a successful music career. Five Star Music Makeover is a complete and practical career guide a resource that transforms artists from good to great.




Understanding Audio


Book Description

(Berklee Guide). Understanding Audio explores the fundamentals of audio and acoustics that impact every stage of the music recording process. Whether you are a musician setting up your first Pro Tools project studio, or you are a seasoned recording engineer or producer eager to find a reference that fills in the gaps in your understanding of audio, this book is for you. Understanding Audio will enable you to develop a thorough understanding of the underlying principles of sound, and take some of the mystery and guesswork out of how equipment setup affects the quality of your recordings. Projects at the end of each chapter will assist you in applying these principles to your own recording environment. Learn about: * Basic and advanced audio theory * Cables and studio wiring * Recording studio and console signal flow * Digital and analog audio * Studio and listening room acoustics * Psychoacoustics * "In the Studio" insights, relating audio principles to real recording situations




The Singer-Songwriter's Guide to Recording in the Home Studio


Book Description

(Berklee Guide). Record songs in your own home studio! Today's smart singer-songwriter needs to be able to record high quality demo recordings. Whatever your budget, living arrangement, or technological aptitude, this book will help you acquire songwriter-appropriate home studio gear and use it effectively. You will understand the key concepts about how the recording process works, and how to get the best sound possible out of whatever equipment you own and whatever style of music you produce. This book makes recording easy so you can spend your effeorts thinking about creatieve songwriting and performing, rather than struggling with technology.




Songwriting in Practice


Book Description

(Berklee Guide). Become a more productive songwriter! Learn to organize the full range of your creative content, from starting inspirations to finished songs. This book offers pragmatic tools, resources, practices, and principles for managing the many kinds of creative materials gathered or generated across a song's life cycle. Organize your ideas and sources of inspiration, sketches and drafts, versions and revisions, to streamline your songwriting process. Create and use "song seed" notebooks and lists, song journals, and writing and co-writing session logs, as you develop your overall song catalog. You will learn to: * Capture and access inspirations of all types lyric, melodic, chordal, rhythmic, or concept in songwriting notebooks, journals, and lists * Energize and improve your creative work writing by organizing all your song ideas for easy access at every stage of songwriting * Manage the full lifecycle of your songs, from sketches and drafts, through versions and revisions, to "fair copies" and demos * Develop an efficient songwriting workflow that connects inspirations to opportunities and projects * Rapidly access your strongest creative material in high-stakes, deadline-driven writing and co-writing sessions * Develop your song catalogue to support publishing, administration, and licensing * Use the organizing process to gain insights for advancing your craft and range as a writer