Mega Music Talent

Archive for March, 2009

Perhaps no entertainment venture intended solely for a live audience has been seen as much as “Phantom of the Opera.”

The Broadway production of Phantom, playing at the Majestic Theatre, is the Great White Way’s longest running show of all-time. It surpassed the former record holder, “Cats,” on January 6th, 2006.

Phantom can still be seen in London’s West End at Her Majesty’s Theatre. It began its run on September 27th, 1986 and celebrated its 9,000th performance on May 31st, 2008. It’s the second longest running West End musical in history. Only “Les Mis?rables” has run longer.

The Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical has been seen by more than 80 million people in 124 cities in 25 countries, including Australia, Brazil, China, Japan and Poland.

A production in Argentina is scheduled to debut on March 19, 2009. And there’s a rumor of a Russian production of Phantom opening in 2009.

If you’re in Las Vegas you can see one of only two Phantoms allowed to deviate from the original staging. “Phantom: The Las Vegas Spectacular” is a 95-minute, intermission-less production of the show playing at The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino. The show features state-of-the art technology and a $40 million custom-built theater.

There are currently three touring productions of Phantom; one in the United States, one in Canada and the other in Southeast Asia.

In 2009, the American touring company will be performing “Phantom of the Opera” at the Temple Buell in Denver, Colorado; the Music Hall Kansas City in Kansas City, Missouri; the North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly, Massachusetts; the Bushnell Theatre in Hartford Connecticut; and the Orange County Performing Arts Center at the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa, California.

While Phantom is one of the most familiar musicals of all-time there are still several aspects of the show you may not know.

For instance, Jim Steinman declined Lloyd Webber’s offer to write Phantom’s lyrics because of a previous commitment to produce a Bonnie Tyler Album.

Lloyd Webber then enlisted the services of Alan Jay Lerner (“Gigi,” “My Fair Lady,” “Camelot”) but he died shortly after joining the project.

Before Michael Crawford originated the role of the Phantom, he was best known in England as star of the BBC comedy series “Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em” and in America as the star of the Disney movie “Condorman.”

When a theater is too small to accommodate Phantom’s large orchestra, the show uses pre-recorded tracks. These pre-recorded tracks are employed during the Overture and the first two verses of the title song.

Pre-recorded tracks are also used for most of the Phantom’s off-stage voiceovers and they are sometimes used for Christine’s high note at the end of the title song. The recording help protects the actress’ voice from the strain of singing that high note on a daily basis.

Rob Guest played the Phantom for 2,289 performances over a seven year period in Australia. That’s more performances of that role than any other actor including Crawford.

Sarah Brightman, who originated the role of Christine Daa?, was married to Lloyd Webber from 1984 to 1990.

The first Phantom production permitted to change the original staging began in 2003 at the Mad?ch Theatre in Budapest, Hungary. The production used original sets, costumes and direction.

“Phantom of the Opera” was adapted from the French novel by Gaston Leroux. The novel was first published as a serial in a French newspaper from September 23, 1909 to January 8, 1910.

Judy Kaye, who played Carlotta Giudicelli in the original Broadway cast of Phantom, later went on to star as Rosie in the original Broadway cast of “Mamma Mia!”

“Phantom of the Opera” has grossed more than $5 billion since it first premiered in 1986. It’s the most successful entertainment venture of all-time, even out grossing the world’s highest-grossing film “Titanic.”

Author Bio: Mark Andersen enjoys Broadway musicals and often writes about his impressions for ClickitTicket.com. Read original entertainment articles at ClickitTicket’s blog and article library and find cheap Broadway tickets.

With the recent merger of the two main pay satellite radio services Sirius and XM Radio many people are starting to wonder how radio can survive in a world dominated by video. People enjoy the occasional audio stimulus but there is always that eternal search for the video that goes with the audio, as people seem to find it easier to associate images with events rather than just audio. As video and photographic images become more popular and become the norm for any multimedia presentation found on the internet the question becomes whether or not people still have the imagination necessary to make radio popular or whether radio will just fade away and good audio will become a permanent slave to video.

Ever since the launch of Music Television, known more widely as MTV, people have come to expect a video presentation along with their music and in some cases the video presentation has become as important, or more important, than the audio itself. While radio cannot compete with the popularity of video images there is a convenience to radio that will always assure that music has a home on your radio dial. You cannot watch a video while driving your car, going for a jog, or shopping for groceries. Even with the introduction of the small screen video devices you still need to focus your eyes on more important things when you are doing these activities and for that reason there will always be a need for quality audio. Musicians have to focus just as much on the visual presentation of their music as they do on the actual music itself and that has changed the entire music industry but in the end it is still about the audio. Audio will always have a home in music and regardless of how that audio is presented there will always be people that will create a demand for quality audio.

But what about radio? How will radio as a medium survive these video times? It seems that one of the most basic of human activities has found a permanent and popular home on our radio airwaves and that basic human activity has not only helped radio survive but it has also helped radio expand. That basic human activity is talking. It costs a great deal more money to put on a television program that is interactive to people all over the country but radio has the ability to create conversation with people anywhere in the world for a relatively low cost and it seems that people love talking to talk show hosts on the radio.

The radio is becoming a pulpit for political pundits, a vehicle for sports figured to plead their case to the masses, and a way for civic leaders to gauge the opinion of their constituents. As long as people love to talk, and love to express their opinions, it appears as though there will always be a future for radio. Radio talk show hosts can sometimes cross lines like any television host can but it is up to the imagination of the listener to fill in the blanks left behind by this audio only medium.

Author Bio: For more information on radio, visit http://audiomicroblog.com and http://musicmicroblog.com.

These days, cell phones can do a lot more than just making phones. Most new phones being released each year have a number of added features, including ways to keep track of news headlines, as well as music software direct on your phone. Not only can you listen to your favorite music, but you can even download new tracks whenever you want!

No matter where you are, being able to listen to your own music is a great convenience. In many cases this means using a portable MP3 player, as well as bringing along your cell phone in case anyone needs to get in touch. But buying a cell phone will built in MP3 is a great way to meet all your needs by only carrying one device.

It can be hard to keep track of multiple devices like MP3 players, and it can be extremely easy to misplace them! For most of us, we always know where our cell phone is making it a lot more convenient to keep track of just our cell phone rather than an MP3 player as well. The phone provides one of our most important needs, and that is communication. Most of us rarely go out without our cell phones on us, making it extremely easy to remember our music as well ? since they are all on the same device!

If you have a cell phone that’s compatible with MP3 music then you will need to find a reliable download source. There are many of these websites now available due to the rise in popularity of MP3 phones. Many of them promise ‘free’ content but you have to look out for hidden charges such as costs of making phones or downloading on your cell phone. You could also choose paid music stores such as iTunes, though downloading a few albums can quickly add up if you go this route.

If you are looking to save money then you could choose a download service that allows you to pay a relatively small membership fee each month in exchange for the ability to download unlimited songs. These songs are yours to keep so long as you keep up the membership ? a small price in comparison to paying for each individual MP3! You can even find these mobile content sites that allow you to download videos and games on top of your MP3s, if your phone is compatible, making it a true multimedia experience that is really worth the cost you have to pay.

Cell phones with MP3 and games features are more expensive than basic models, and the chances are you are not making the most of everything that your phone has to offer. Since you have already paid a good amount of money for your phone, why not make the most of it by signing up to a mobile content site and having access to thousands of songs, games and videos?! It really is the simplest and most convenient option.

Author Bio: The article written by Zarqoo Zaimoo. Please visit Cell Phone Download for more information and other download info visit http://www.ezydownload.net

Do you remember the time when seemingly every music fan loved Michael Jackson? The self-proclaimed King of Pop, who first captured the world’s attention as the 11 year-old lead singer of the Jackson 5 in 1969, went on to sell 750 million albums and capture 13 Grammy awards. His 1982 masterpiece, “Thriller,” is still the best selling album of all-time.

For over two decades the hits were endless. Songs like ‘I Want You Back,” “Rock With You,” “Billie Jean,” and “Remember the Time,” became classics that are still often played today on radio stations across the world.

However, after 20 years of bad press from an ever-changing physical appearance to erratic behavior, health concerns, child molestation charges and financial problems, many critics have debated can Michael Jackson comeback?

In 2008, his brother Jermaine Jackson told the Australian Associated Press the much-anticipated Michael Jackson comeback would include his five brothers and sister, Janet, as the opening act.

“This has been a long time coming for the Jackson family to get back together,” Jermaine initially said. “It is just the timing, so what we’ve been doing is working on the music and all the logistics. It is going to be more like a family affair ?”

However, Michael immediately dismissed those rumors, stating that he wanted to focus on his solo career instead. “My brothers and sisters have my full love and support, and we’ve certainly shared many great experiences, but at this time I have no plans to record or tour with them,” said Michael. “I am now in the studio developing new and exciting projects that I look forward to sharing with fans in concert soon.”

Apparently, the Michael Jackson comeback concert is in the works, as sources have reported that the former pop star will soon announce a string of 30 shows at London’s O2 Arena, which seats approximately 20,000. Despite his past success, reportedly very few fans showed up outside his London hotel to greet the singer, and some that did stated that they were there only to obtain items that they could sell on eEbay.

“Because of what’s happened to him and how he’s lived his life over the last 20 years, he’s made it very difficult for people to out themselves as Michael Jackson fans,” said John Aizlewood, British music writer and broadcaster. “These concerts are a huge opportunity for rehabilitation.”

Jackson, who has not released a full-length album or performed in concert since 2001, had recently been in the news for the auction of some of his memorabilia during the peak of his career. The planned Michael Jackson comeback will take place in an arena known for reviving careers. Britney Spears plans to play the O2 Arena in June, Prince held a much-hyped 21-day concert series there and Led Zeppelin also performed at the arena.

Whether the concert is a “Thriller” like past concerts, the latest Michael Jackson comeback will either make or break the rest of his career because like the old Jackson 5 hit song entitled, “Get It Together,” the former musical sensation must get his career together or music fans will completely leave his music alone.

Author Bio: Todd A. Smith is the web master for ; Regal Mag The preeminent Online Magazine for African American Men. For more information on this subject visit our ; Entertainment Section To read about Michael Jackson comeback

With the renewed interest in vinyl records, an old friend is becoming more important again- album cover art. There have been tens of thousands of album covers created throughout the years and there are some that are instantly recognized, while some remain obscure, but one thing is certain, album cover art is part of our pop culture and the rock and roll lexicon.

Let’s explore a particularly innovative British art design company that specialized in creating instantly recognizable album cover- Hipgnosis. This creative group has made album covers for some of rock’s dignitaries, including Pink Floyd, Genesis, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Yes and the Scorpions, to name a few.

Hipgnosis primarily consisted of artists Storm Thorgerson, Aubrey Powell and later on, Peter Christopherson. In 1968, Thorgerson and Powell were asked to design an album cover for Pink Floyd’s second album called “A Saucerful Of Secrets.” They completed that project and soon commissioned additional work from EMI, which included photos and album covers for Free, Toe Fat and the Gods.

Being art and film students, the pair was able to utilize the darkroom at the Royal College of Art, but after they graduated, they had to set up their own facilities and in early 1970 they rented a space and built their famous studio.

Their unique company name came from graffiti found on the door to their apartment. They liked the word because it sounded like hypnosis and they combined two somewhat contradictory terms, “hip” for new and cool and “gnosis,” which related to ancient learning.

Hipgnosis’ novel approach to album design was strongly photography-oriented, and they pioneered the use of many innovative visual and packaging techniques. In particular, Thorgerson & Powell’s surreal, elaborately manipulated photos that utilized innovative darkroom tricks, multiple exposures, airbrush retouching, and mechanical cut-and-paste techniques were a film-based forerunner of what would, much later, be called photoshopping.

“We were self-taught,” writes Powell in the book,” For The Love Of Vinyl.” “What we did was come up with ideas based on the music. The design ideas were poorly sketched in the early days and required a lot of accompanying blag to be understood. Our usual strategy was to talk the job through with each other and then use photography as a means to express it.”

Hipgnosis got their real big break in 1973 when they were hired to do the cover for another Pink Floyd album, “Dark Side Of The Moon,” which is one of the most recognized album covers in the world. After the success with the Floyd cover, they were in high demand and soon took on jobs for Led Zeppelin, Genesis, UFO, Black Sabbath, Peter Gabriel and The Alan Parsons Project, to name a few.

Peter Christopherson joined the company in 1974 as an assistant and later on he became a full partner. The firm employed many talented assistants, of particular note were freelance artists George Hardie, Colin Elgie, Richard Manning and Richard Evans.

Another interesting side note is that the company did not have a set fee for designing a particular album cover, instead they asked the musicians to “pay what they thought it was worth,” a policy that would occasionally backfire according to Thorgerson.

Let’s explore some of the stories behind the album covers:

Pink Floyd- Dark Side Of The Moon (1973)

Probably Hipgnosis’ most famous work, the album was originally released in a gatefold LP sleeve designed by Hipgnosis and bore Hardie’s iconic refracting prism on the cover. Inside the LP were two posters, one bearing pictures of the band in concert with the words PINK FLOYD broken up and scattered about, and the other being a slightly psychedelic image of the Great Pyramids of Giza taken on infrared film. The album was also the first Pink Floyd album to have picture labels on the record where it depicted a blue prism with black background and the credits written either in grey lettering (European issues) or white lettering (US and Canadian issues). Also included was a sheet of stickers of the pyramids.

The album is the third best-selling album of all time worldwide (not counting compilations and various artists soundtracks), and the 20th-best-selling album in the United States. Though it held the #1 spot in the USA for only one week, it spent a total of 741 consecutive weeks-over fourteen years-on Billboard’s list of the top 200 best selling albums, longer than any other album in the history of music.

Led Zeppelin- Houses of The Holy (1973)

The concept for the cover was taken from Arthur C Clarke’s Childhood’s End. It is a collage of several photographs which were taken at the Giant’s Causeway, Northern Ireland, by Aubrey Powell. The two children who modeled for the cover were siblings Stefan and Samantha Gate. The photo shoot was a very frustrating affair and took ten days. Shooting was done first thing in the morning and at sunset in order to capture the light at dawn and dusk, but the desired effect was never achieved due to constant rain and clouds. The photos of the two children were taken in black and white and were multi-printed to create the effect of 11 individuals that can be seen on the album cover. The results of the shoot were less than satisfactory, but some accidental tinting effects in post-production created an unexpectedly striking album cover. The inner sleeve photograph was taken at Dunluce Castle near to the Causeway.

Jimmy Page has said that the album cover was actually the second version submitted by Hipgnosis. The first, by artist Storm Thorgerson, featured an electric green tennis court with a tennis racquet on it. The band was furious that Thorgerson was implying their music sounded like a “racket”, the band fired him and hired Powell in his place.

Atom Heart Mother- Pink Floyd (1970)

The original album cover depicts a cow standing in a pasture with no text or any other clue that it was an album from Pink Floyd, although some later editions have the title and artist name added to the cover. The concept was the group’s reaction to the psychedelic “space rock” imagery associated with Pink Floyd at the time; the band wanted to explore all sorts of music without being limited to a particular image or style of performance.

So the band requested that their new album cover have “something plain” on the cover, which ended up being the image of the cow. Storm Thorgerson, inspired by Andy Warhol’s famous “cow-wallpaper,” has stated that he simply drove out into a rural area near Potters Bar and photographed the first cow he saw. The cow’s owner identified her name as “Lulubelle III.” More cows appear on the back cover (again, with no text or titles), and on the inside gatefold. Again, an instantly recognizable cover, simple as it is.

Peter Gabriel (1980)

Peter Gabriel’s third album, it contains two of Gabriel’s most famous songs, the U.K. Top 10 hit “Games Without Frontiers” and the political song “Biko.”

This album is often referred to as “Melt” due to its cover photograph by Storm Thorgerson. The photo was taken with a Polaroid SX-70 instant camera, and subsequently modified by Thorgerson or Gabriel, and one side of the portrait of Gabriel seems to be melting; although Thorgerson does not recall whether he or Gabriel manipulated the image.

…And Then There Were Three… Genesis (1978)

A rather gloomy and dark cover; it is one that Hipgnosis was not real keen on as Thorgerson explains:

“We were trying to tell a story by the traces left by the light trails. It was a torch, a car, and a man with a cigarette. The band was losing members and there were only three of them left. The lyrics of the songs were about comings and goings and we tried to describe this in photographic terms by using time-lapse. So there’s a car going off to one side and then the guy gets out of the car, walks over to the front of it, and lights a cigarette. But as he walks he uses a torch and the car he was in leaves. There’s a trail left by the car, a trail left by him as he’s walking and then he lights a cigarette, which on the cover is where there’s a flash of his face.”

Still, whether the company was happy with the result or not, it is another amazing cover.

In Through the Out Door- Led Zeppelin

This original album featured an unusual gimmick: the album had an outer sleeve which was made to look like a plain brown paper bag and the inner sleeve featured black and white line artwork which, if washed with a wet brush, would become permanently fully colored. There were six different sleeves featuring a different pair of photos and the external brown paper sleeve meant that it was impossible for record buyers to tell which sleeve they were getting. The pictures all depicted the same scene in a bar (in which a man burns a Dear John letter), and each photo was taken from the separate point of view of someone who appeared in the other photos. In 1980 the album was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of best album package.

Storm Thorgerson recalls the design in his book “Eye of the Storm”:

“The sepia quality was meant to evoke a non-specific past and to allow the brushstroke across the middle to be better rendered in color and so make a contrast. This self same brushstroke was like the swish of a wiper across a wet windscreen, like a lick of fresh paint across a faded surface, a new look to an old scene, which was what Led Zeppelin told us about their album. A lick of fresh paint, as per Led Zeppelin, and the music on this album? It somehow grew in proportion and became six viewpoints of the same man in the bar, seen by the six other characters. Six different versions of the same image and six different covers.”

Hipgnosis’ ideology and concepts are still being utilized and will be copied for years to come. Thankfully, these young art and photography students understood the meaning of an album cover and the art and music worlds are a better place because of their insights and talent.

Author Bio: Author Robert Benson writes about rock/pop music, vinyl record collecting and operates http://www.collectingvinylrecords.com, where you can pick up a copy of his FREE ebook called “The Fascinating Hobby Of Vinyl Record Collecting.” Have your vinyl records appraised at http://www.vinylrecordappraisals.com.

Many music lovers want to go beyond the pure pleasure of just listening to music. There are people out there like myself that believe that way deep down inside them, they have the creative juices it takes to create and produce their own chart topping hits. The problem is most of those people like me just do not have the pocket books to accommodate the cost of expensive synths and a professional studio setup.

Having said all this you can imagine my joy when I stumbled across a system that would allow me to make the music I have always dreamed about. Of course, there are professional types on the market with the price tags of thousands of dollars. However, the beauty of this system though is that it is professional quality, priced at a reasonable level for beginners to start out. This is a review of “VSTPlatinum”.

The package promises a “push-button” and easy solution to start making professional music. My first concern was how much studio experience would I need? Within a matter of seconds, I got my answer. Absolutely none! Now I knew that within days I would be on my way to making my own music. Surely, it would be just the basics but that was ok, it’s a start. I was just thankful to find something outside of the professional VSTs price range.

As excited as I was, I was still a little skeptical. After all what credibility was there to this proposal? As I read about Greg Hoffman and his credentials, I knew he wasn’t going to risk his character on selling something inferior. After all, he’s a reputable sound engineer and after being in the business for 25 years there’s little doubt that he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. I was even further impressed when I learned that Greg had worked with renowned named companies such as Sony BMG Music. I mean to work for the big guns you had to know your stuff.

By now, I’m convinced that the VST platinum is soon going to be mine, now I wanted to hear about all that I was going to be able to do with it. With over 1700 plugins and 4000 sound effects, this is definitely an easy headstart for home studio enthusiasts. No longer do you have to mess with complicated hardware or overprice synthesizers.

VST Platinum promise that I would able to create great sounding music and sound samples easily and quickly with software based systems. It wasn’t also likely that I would outgrow the system in the near future as it has over 1700 VST plugins of superior plugins and 4000 sound effects.

At the price Greg is offering, I think it is a “no-brainer”. I went ahead and placed my order and I couldn’t wait to get my VST platinum DVD in the mail because I knew once I didn’t it wasn’t going to take days of reading manuals and constant learning. I would be at it within no time at all.

By not having all that extensive learning, hardware tweaking and jargon to follow, it meant more time for what I loved to do most – and that’s making music. Now with state of the art VSTs like those offered in VST Platinum – look out world here I come!

Author Bio: You can find out more about VSTPlatinum at : www.VSTPlatinum.com Grab over 1700 premium vst plugins at the official site now.

Akon, real name Aliune Thame, has risen to prominence with his own records and his many collaborations with other artists. His hip hop tunes are blended with the West African music of his heritage to create something unique and different from the rest of the current rap industry. He’s the only solo artist to hold the number one and number two spots on the Billboard Top 100 list simultaneously.

Akon was born in St. Louis in either 1977 or 1973. After his birth, his parents returned to Senegal in Western Africa. He spent most of his childhood split between Africa and New Jersey, eventually settling in New Jersey in his mid teens. His experience of growing up between cultures has influenced his musical style and helped him make his big break in 2004.

He recorded his first song at the age of 15 and started distributing demos in 2004. His LP “Trouble” was released by Universal records in 2004. The record showcased his unique blend of East Coast and Southern hip hop with tribal beats. The singles “Locked Up”, “Lonely” and “Ghetto” were all made hits due to their constant rotation on hip hop stations around the country due to Akon video. The album eventually reached the top 10 in the U.S.

His second album, called “Konvicted”, was released in late 2006. Akon collaborated with Eminem, Snoop Dogg and Styles P on the record. The song “Smack That” rose to number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed there for five weeks and the Akon video featured Eminem. “I Wanna Love You” was the second single and it reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 list. The other Akon songs from the album were “Don’t Matter” and “Sorry Blame it One Me.”

2006 through 2008 were full of collaborations for Akon. He performed on and produced the hit “The Sweet Escape” with Gwen Stefani. He created “Mixtape Messiah 2″ with Chamillionaire. He has also worked with Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, the Three 6 Mafia, Fabolous, Daddy Yankee, Menudo, Kat Deluna and even Michael Jackson. In total, he has done over 155 guest appearances on songs.

In addition to his many musical collaborations, Akon has started two record labels called Konvict Music and Kon Line Distribution. He launched a clothing line called Konvict Clothing in 2007 that includes blazers, jeans and other accessories for both men and women. He has a reality show with his nearly identical brothers in the works. Akon pictures show that his brothers, although not triplets, look almost identical to the rapper. The reality show will involve his brothers trying to get free tickets, meals and attention from women by pretending to be Akon.

Akon is also working his way into television and movies. He guest starred on CSI, Big Brother Celebrity Edition and WWE Raw. He is working on a feature length movie entitled Illegal Alien, which is based on parts of his life. Mekhi Pheifer is set to play the rap star.

“Freedom”, Akon’s third album, was released in December of 2008 with three scheduled singles. In addition to his solo album, Akon will also be producing a record for Pussy Cat doll Nicole Scherzinger, working on an album with rapper Flo Rida and collaborating with Nelly, Pharrell and T-Pain to form a rap super group in 2009.

Author Bio: Akon’s true age may be mysterious, but there is no doubt his music is Beautiful. His West African heritage brings interesting and unique flavors to the rap industry. Come check out the largest collection of music videos online, including Akon music videos, 50 Cent and Lil Wayne.

Hip Hop beat making has become a popular activity around the globe. With so many websites offering a variety of beats ranging from few dollars to thousands of dollars, many of the amateur beat makers are faced with difficulties in deciding what types of beats are suitable for their music. If you are one of those amateur beat makers, then you should realize the fact that the beat making is an important part of the music. You should be able to decide what beats you want to use in your music and bring in some creativity into your tunes.

There are thousands of websites, which offer the beats for sale. You can buy those beats after paying certain price. There are a variety of non-exclusive hip hop beats available on these websites, which you can use for your demo CDs etc. These non-exclusive hip hop beats are quite useful for the amateur beat makers as they can also be a source of guidance for them. As an amateur beat maker, you can use these non-exclusive beats to get an idea from them and create your own tunes.

If you need some professional beats, then you can use the exclusive beats. Although these exclusive beats cost higher, but you can use these beats in your songs and tunes. The exclusive beats, once bought, become yours and you can use them even for the commercial purposes like recording albums etc. However, if you have just started the beat making, then it will be a cost effective measure to use the non-exclusive beats to get an idea and then create your own beats and tunes by using some creativity.

The creativity along with some good quality beats and effective instruments and computer software, you can start your own studio, which will be helpful in saving your time and money. However, in order to create your own demo CD, you will need to put in some effort as it will be a source of your introduction to the independent record labels.

The hip hop beat making is an important part of the music production. Hence if you want to become a professional artist in future, then you can just start producing the music once you buy the non-exclusive beats through the internet. However, in order to ensure the quality of your beats, you should be able to distinguish between the good and bad quality beats. Also, by ensuring the good sound quality of beats, you can give yourself a satisfaction that your end product will be of a standard quality, which can lead you on your way to the top.

Lyrics also play an important role in your music. You should not forget about the uniqueness of your lyrics, while diverting your focus towards capturing the audience’s attentions. You should also not forget about the production quality. Your demo CD should contain beats and tunes that are of great quality and that can catch the producer’s attention. It is also very different when you are performing live as compared to when you are recording on the tape. You should show consistency in both.

Author Bio: Seth Willis is the webmaster for www.platinumsoundsets.com , a site dedicated to music producers, enthusiasts or anyone wanting to explore their creativity and Make your own beats. We provide Radio quality Wav Sound Samples for you to use , all are royalty free sound samples are ready for use.

You need to ensure that all of the songs you record will be playing back at the appropriate volume for the listener. To start with, set your monitor level. The better way to do this is to first listen to a song you are genuinely familiar with. Be sure it is a zero peaking song. Have it at the level it’s suppose to be at. An enjoyable listening level. Once you’re at this stage, don’t change the monitor levels but instead adjust the master track of the song you are working on.

It is suppose to sound at a suitable level for listening. Then check the meter levels to make sure they’re not on over-load. If it is on over-load then consider placing a limit rather than turning the level down. Make a note of the level setting that’s on the monitor. You’ll have this in future to refer to.

Try to bear in mind that it’s not how high you get the volume to, but the quality of the volume that’ll make the recording a success. Ideally, it will be to show the level of the instrument that it is meant to go to not beyond its means. Technology is a fantastic tool but it doesn’t beat common sense and instinct.

Dont lose sight of the fact there’s no need to record at maximal volume of a multitrack. Various people will argue then why is it necessary to have a sixteen bit dynamic range it you are not going to use it. A come back to that remark will be why bother trying to record the cabasa at precisely 16 bits when its never going to represent more than 12 bits anyway.

Some other issues of not wanting to have the sound cranked up to maximum is in the event you’ve to use a favourite. These are not precisely user friendly when having to be utilized at low level. But if you record at logical and practical levels you could avoid redundant time consuming headaches such as these.

You can end up with numerous large mixing problems if you are utilizing an analogue mixing desk long with some thing like hi-hat recorded at max, on digital multi-track. If numerous of the items are constantly peaking at 0 then when turned off, you’ll still hear them in the background. This’s in reference to items like hi-hats, cabasas or cymbals for instance
In this case, you should not be surprised to find every of that electrical leakage being reverb on the hi hat, as just one cause. Items like bass drum and snare drum are meant to be played loudly but not the top kit items or the quiet instruments.

What I’m trying to say is to bear in mind to find the moderate levels. From there you’ve some leverage to work with, either up or down as the situation or sound or instrument dictates. At the very end, you are going to end up with a superior piece of recording. After all music is every thing about sound.

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All his rowdy friends may have settled down, but Hank Williams, Jr. is still kicking up dust in Nashville’s country music scene. This weekend Williams was in attendance at the Broadcast Music Inc.’s 56th Annual BMI Awards, where he won the high distinction of BMI Icon. Joining the ranks of his rebel-rousing pals Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard, Hank Jr. won the crown of BMI Icon, highlighting his astonishing career as an Emmy and Grammy Award-winning, six-time platinum winning, 20-time gold winning redneck wonder. The BMI Awards capitalized upon Williams’ honky-tonk classics, as the country singer’s repertoire is filled to the brim with hit songs like “All My Rowdy Friends,” “Family Tradition,” “A Country Boy Can Survive,” “Dixie on My Mind,” “Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound” and more, all of which Williams wrote himself.

While ol’ Bocephus (as Hank’s father nicknamed him) was sitting pretty at this year’s BMI Awards, he was in good company with the fresh new face of country music herself: southern princess Taylor Swift. Swift showed the stark contrast in country music from when Hank Jr. started rising in the country music industry, but the sultry seductress took home the coveted BMI Country Songwriter of the Year crown, propelled by her hit single “Teardrops on My Guitar,” which earned the Robert J. Burton Song of the Year award. The other big winner of the night was Casey Beathard, who won Songwriter of the Year at the BMI Awards for his contributions to Rodney Atkins’ “Cleaning This Gun (Come On In Boy),” Kenny Chesney’s “Don’t Blink,” George Strait’s “How ‘Bout Them Cowgirls,” Billy Ray and Miley Cyrus’ “Ready, Set, Don’t Go” and Tracy Lawrence’s “Find Out Who Your Friends Are” (featuring Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw.)

While this year’s BMI Awards showcased Nashville’s new talents more than anything (Sugarland, Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban, to name a few,) Hank Williams, Jr.’s dominance at the awards show also demonstrates the country legend’s big-time status in the country music industry. Hank Jr. grew up in the shadow of his father, country music’s Hank Williams, but the younger Hank carved his own career separate from his father’s, ultimately taking the path of a roguish Southern country-rock act instead of just a honky tonk performer. Hank Jr. went to work in the late ’60s and ’70s garnering a fan base full of rowdy Southern rockers and country outlaws, taking his rebellious nature and independence from his father to the extreme with 1979′s “Family Tradition,” a Top Five Country Single that states, “Country music singers have always been a real close family/But lately some of my kin folks have disowned a few others and me/I guess it’s because I kinda changed my direction/I guess I went and broke the family tradition.”

Since the 1970s, Bocephus has palled around with other legendary traditional country music acts like Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard, David Allan Coe and Charlie Daniels, making his name one of the most popular and most controversial in Nashville. Through all the hell-raising bar anthems and beer-sloshing sing-along songs, Hank Williams, Jr. continues to stand atop the ever-changing country music industry, slowing down his rampant releases of albums but continuing to tour the nation with several Southern-fried live performances. If you haven’t seen Bocephus in concert yet, the time’s right to get Hank Williams, Jr. tickets.

Author Bio: This article is sponsored by StubHub.com and was written by Jenna Jay. StubHub is a leader in the business of selling Hank Williams Jr. tickets, sports tickets, concert tickets, theater tickets and special events tickets.