Here is something interesting for vocal coaching:
Ear Training for poor singers yields better results with human voice vs synthetic singing models.
Results and Conclusion of a scientific research study: Results showed that poor singers were significantly helped by the human model.
I am gratified to know that this research finding correlates with results I have noticed in my singing lessons. Students score higher in pitch-matching when I am singing as compared to when I am playing a note on a piano.
That makes me feel good knowing that I am on the right track helping my students improve their ear training using human voice versus a piano or other synthesised sound.
And if you are looking to improve your pitch acuracy through ear training I am happy to report that my students scores for pitch acuracy after my ear training program have improved from 3/10 to 8/10.
And best of all they say it's a lot of fun too.
For more information email songcoach at artecsound dot com dot au.
Twitter Updates for Singers
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Some Vocal Consequences of Sleep Deprivation
Sleep deprivation reduces vocal quality.
Croaky, husky 'bedroom voices' may be the result of sleep deprivation were the findings of a recent study.
However in this research article (cowritten by the owner of Voicecraft Voice Training Alison D. Bagnall) there are reasons to believe that with certain voice training such as Voicecraft that voices can possibly be fatigue proofed.
Some Vocal Consequences of Sleep Deprivation and the Possibility of “Fatigue Proofing” the Voice With Voicecraft® Voice Training
Croaky, husky 'bedroom voices' may be the result of sleep deprivation were the findings of a recent study.
However in this research article (cowritten by the owner of Voicecraft Voice Training Alison D. Bagnall) there are reasons to believe that with certain voice training such as Voicecraft that voices can possibly be fatigue proofed.
Some Vocal Consequences of Sleep Deprivation and the Possibility of “Fatigue Proofing” the Voice With Voicecraft® Voice Training
Thursday, August 18, 2011
World Voice Day: Voice Warmup
World Voice Day: Voice Warmup
Every year on April 16th is World Voice Day and Otolaryngologists want to remind us on the importance of a healthy voice.
Here are seven great warm up tecniques they suggest.
For World Voice Day and everyday, it is important that you put your best voice forward. Remember that your voice is part of your appearance. Effective verbal communication depends not only on what you say, but also on how you sound.
When you speak, you make sound in your larynx (voice box) with your vocal folds. Your vocal folds are soft tissue folds that consist of muscle, ligament and mucous membrane.
Certainly, when you exercise, run, or play sports, a healthy warm up is a good way to prepare, improve your performance, and prevent injury to yourself. The same holds true when you use your voice. A short vocal warm up improves the quality of the sounds you make and helps prevent vocal injury, keeping you in good voice and making your voice production feel better. Many people use warm ups everyday. You should use vocal warm ups before vocally intensive activities like public speaking or singing, classroom teaching, or exuberant social events.
There are many ways to warm up your voice, and listed below are several examples to get you started.
*Special Note: Windows Media Player is required to view the following vocal warm ups.
Warm Up #1
Breath Relaxation: Releases tension often associated in the breathing mechanism that can interfere with effective voice production. Ordinarily, if there is tension when breathing, that tension radiates to the voice box muscles. Take a normal breath and then exhale. Make sure your shoulders and chest are low and relaxed. Repeat many times making sure that your breaths are focused low in the abdomen and that there is not associated chest, neck, or shoulder tension while breathing. You can place one hand on your abdomen to remind you to keep the focus low and away from the chest and shoulders. Hold an “s” sound like in hiss when you exhale.
Warm Up #2
Jaw Release: Reduces tension in the mouth and jaw area during speaking and singing. Place the heels of each hand directly below the cheek bone. Pushing in and down from the cheeks to the jaw, massage the facial muscles. Allow your jaw to passively open as you move the hands down the face. Repeat several times.
Warm Up #3
Lip Trills: Release lip tension and connects breathing and speaking. Releases tension in the vocal folds. Place your lips loosely together release the air in a steady stream to create a trill or raspberry sound. First try it on an “h” sounds. Then repeat on a “b” sound. Hold the sound steady and keep the air moving past the lips. Next try to repeat the b-trill gliding gently up and down the scales. Don’t push beyond what it comfortable at the top or bottom of the scale.
Warm Up #4
Tongue Trill: Relaxes the tongue and engages breathing and voice. Place your tongue behind your upper teeth. Exhale and trill your tongue with a “r” sound. Hold the sound steady and keep the breath connected. Now try to vary the pitch up and down the scale while trilling. Again, don’t push beyond what is comfortable at the top or bottom of your scale.
A tongue trill
Warm Up #5
Two Octave Scales: Provides maximum stretch on the vocal folds. Start in a low pitch and gently glide up the scale on a “me” sound. Don’t push the top or bottom of your range but do try to increase the range gently each time you do the scales. Now reverse and glide down the scale from the top to the bottom on an “e” sound. You can try this on the “oo” sound also.
A sample glide
Warm Up #6
Sirens/Kazoo Buzz: Improves the resonant focus of the sound and continues work with maximal stretch on the vocal folds. The mouth postures are easily made by pretending you are sucking in spaghetti with an inhalation. On exhalation make the “woo” sound. It will be a buzz like sound. Hold the sound steady for 2-3 attempts. Now use the woo sound to go up and down the scales.
An example of sirens/kazoo buzz
Warm Up #7
Humming: Highlights anterior frontal vibrations in your lips, teeth and facial bones. Begin with lips gently closed with jaw released. Take an easy breath in and exhale while saying “hum”. Begin with the nasal sound /m/ and gently glide from a high to a low pitch as if you were sighing. Don’t forget your vocal cool down after extensive vocal use. Gently humming feeling the focus of the sound on the lips is an excellent way to cool down the voice. You should hum gentle glides on the sound “m” feeling a tickling vibration in the lip/nose are. Warm Up #8
Cool Down: Don’t forget your vocal cool down after extensive vocal use. Gently humming feeling the focus of the sound on the lips is an excellent way to cool down the voice. You should hum gentle glides on the sound “m” feeling a tickling vibration in the lip/nose are. Click here for an example of a cool-down.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Cowriting Like a pro
Cowriting Like a Pro.
Zelda Sheldon asked the best and brightest in songwriting education for their top 3 cowriting tips.
Here is the complete unedited transcript.
Please note: This article is used with permission by the contributors. If you wish to use this for any other purposes other than education you’ll need to request permission from me and also from the contributors first.
Enjoy!
For more info check out my blog
http://songcoach.blogspot.com/
www.artecsound.com.au
ROBIN FREDERICK
GO AHEAD... COLLABORATE
I just checked through the top five songs in the Rock, Country, AC, and Urban genres and, guess what... in all four genres at least four of the top five songs were collaborations. In the Country genre, all five were collaborations!
Collaborating has so many benefits that it's worth putting some real effort into learning how to do it and finding compatible songwriting partners to work with. It may take some time, maybe a few false starts, but it can more than repay you in the long run.
There are many reasons to collaborate: A collaborator can offer new ideas and nudge you out of old habits. If you fall in love with a line that isn´t working, a collaborator can point that out and keep the song moving forward. Working with a collaborator gives you added motivation, energy, and goals to meet. Chances are you´re stronger in one area (lyrics or music) than another; a collaborator can add strength where you're weak. The cost of demoing your song can be half what it would be if you wrote it alone.
So, why not collaborate? Do you resist collaborating because you're afraid that you're not good enough, or afraid you'll come up with dumb ideas... or no ideas? I totally understand. We all share those fears. Here are a few ideas that can help you get past them.
=> Give yourselves a chance to warm up. Start by playing a a few songs for each other. Find out where your tastes lie. Are they similar? Different? Agree on a style you want to write in to begin with. If your collaborator writes Classic Rock melodies and you're writing a Modern Pop lyric, you may have trouble fitting the lyric and melody together.
=> Create plenty of raw material to work from. Start by suggesting titles to each other. Use a newspaper or magazine and find short phrases that appeal to both of you. Choose a phrase to work on and make a list of questions you might answer in the song. Then make lists of words and phrases that the title phrase suggests: images, actions words, associations, opposites, whatever strikes you. Create more material than you think you'll need. Then, together, start assembling your chorus lyric. Try singing some of the phrases and start your melody.
=> Work long distance. You don't have to be in the same room. Plenty of collaborations take place on the Internet. Organize folders and files so you can easily find mp3s and lyrics for each song you work on. Make sure it's easy for you to receive music files.
There are interesting sites like Dropbox (http://www.dropbox.com/features) that make it easy to share files. Use Skype for phone chats; it's free and has better sound quality than a regular phone.
=> Swap songs. Work on more than one song at a time, so that each of you always has a song to work on. Trade songs every few days.
=> Give yourselves permission to do a job. Too often we think of songwriting as something we must be brilliant at all the time. It's just a job, a hard job. Some days you do it better than others. Talk with your collaborator about experiences and expectations.
WHERE TO FIND COLLABORATORS
Clubs and music venues: You can find potential collaborators at clubs in your area. Try an open mic night. You'll find singer-songwriters in a variety of styles. If you can, play a few songs of your own so people get a chance to hear what you can do.
The Internet: You don´t have to limit yourself to songwriters in your area; the Internet makes long distance collaboration easy. Do your research. Look for established web sites with forums where songwriters meet to share songs, get feedback, and find collaborators. The Muse's Muse web site (http://www.musesmuse.com/) has a good one. Click on "Songwriting Message Board." Spend some time getting to know the regular contributors. Listen to their songs, read their lyrics, check out their melodies. When you find someone you think would make a good collaborator, go ahead and contact them. You can also check out the "Collaboration Corner" on the TAXI forum (http://forums.taxi.com/).
Now, go find somebody to play with!
For more info: http://www.RobinFrederick.com.
___________________
JASON BLUME
Collaboration Tips.
Be clear up front with your musicians about whether you are indeed collaborating—or have hired someone to contribute as a paid musician on a “work for hire” basis. If two writers sit in a room together to begin a song it’s clear cut that they are writing a song together. It gets fuzzy when you hire a programmer or musicians to record a demo. If they come up with a great lick; a memorable bass line; a hooky guitar riff; a unique groove, etc. are they credited as a writer?
Lady Antebellum freely credits keyboardist Mike Rojas with contributing the opening piano lick that became an instantly identifiable signature of their international #1, Grammy-winning Song of the Year, “Need You Now.” So … is Mike listed a songwriter? No. Because it was clear that he—and all the musicians—had been hired to contribute radio-friendly licks to the recording—not just to play the notes written on a lead sheet or chord chart. Musicians routinely make critically important contributions to recordings; that’s their job.
These kinds of “make-or-break” contributions are the reason to hire the best musicians possible—even if you are recording in your own home studio. Put your ego aside and ask yourself, “Am I the best musician for this job?”
There are no “rules” regarding what constitutes collaboration. The key is to address the writers’ percentages BEFORE the recording session. When I write a pop or pop/R&B melody and lyric to an existing musical track or “bed,” in many instances this is considered a 50/50 split. But what if I write the entire melody and lyric and then hire someone to produce the musical track?
To a large extent whether the musicians are credited as writers is contingent on the style of music. Urban, hip-hop, dance, and some styles of pop music rely heavily on the track. The beats, bass line, and drum sounds are crucially important in these genres. But in country music, folk, acoustic music one would be far less likely to credit a musician as a writer.
Bottom line: be clear in advance whether your musicians are to be credited as collaborators—or considered hired help. If you’ve agreed that this is a work-for-hire, then your musicians make a contribution that you deem worthy of a writer’s credit they won’t argue if you want to add their name after the fact ;-)
It’s important to remember that you might need to kiss a lot of frogs before you find a collaborator who brings out the best in you. I’ve written with at least a hundred different collaborators (including Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys) but I’ve only found that elusive magic or “chemistry” a handful of times. Of course there are political and business considerations in choosing collaborators—but without the creative spark that leads to truly exceptional songs, you won’t have hits.
When I’ve written with Karen Taylor-Good, music and lyrics have come out of me that would not have come out if any other writer had been in the room. That’s what you want.
I like to come in prepared for a co-writing session. I don’t want to take the chance that I might not be feeling particularly creative or might not come up with something brilliant that day. Being a positive thinker, I bring a file folder titled “Future Hits.” In that folder are song “starts”—titles, images, and lyric phrases that I’ve collected. I also bring recordings of my melodic ideas.
But remember you’re there to collaborate. So stay open to give and take—and go where the muse takes you.
Don’t be afraid to stand up for lyrics and melodies you believe in. But ultimately, all the writers have to be in agreement.
Also, be assertive during the writing and demo process. If you need ten minutes of quiet, tell your collaborator that you write best if you can think quietly for a while.
So … what if you don’t agree on a line, a concept, or a melody? Hopefully, you can explain your issue and tell why you don’t like it -- then come up with a solution that pleases all parties. If not, you can each record your own version and get objective feedback. But … can you say, “I hate this and I want my title back?”
In the U.S. the answer is “No,”—unless both writers have agreed to this in writing prior to the writing of the song. The analogy is an egg; it can’t be unscrambled. So, the best way to protect yourself—so that you can feel confortable contributing your best ideas—is to have a simple written agreement that if both writers are not pleased with the end result, either one can “unscramble” the egg and take back their contributions.
Remember …. The vast majority of successful songs are co-written—and collaborating allows you to expand your contacts and get instant feedback.
Everyone wants to write “up”—meaning with someone who is farther along; someone they believe can further their career. When approaching someone a notch ahead of you on the ladder be sure to bring something to the table (a title; groove; track; instantly memorable melody, etc …) to give them a reason to want to write with you.
And the most important tip:
Remember that success is possible. Every person who is now a successful writer started out with a dream. It’s not only about getting lucky; write undeniable songs.
Good luck!
Jason Blume
Jason Blume’s songs are on Grammy-nominated albums and have sold more than 50,000,000 copies. His songs have been included in films and television shows including “Scrubs,” “Friday Night Lights,” Disney’s “Kim Possible” and “First Kid,” MTV’s “Next Thing” and “Taking the Stage,” “MVP,” “Barbie of Swan Lake,” “Dangerous Minds,” “Kickin’ it Old Skool,” “Fame,” “The Guiding Light,” “The Miss America Pageant,” and many more.
Jason is the author of 6 Steps to Songwriting Success: The Comprehensive Guide to Writing and Marketing Hit Songs, Inside Songwriting: Getting to the Heart of Creativity, and This Business of Songwriting, (all published by Billboard Books).
Acknowledged as one of the world’s top songwriting instructors, Blume teaches workshops for BMI, IMRO, and the Nashville Songwriters Association. He has presented a master class at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (founded by Sir Paul McCartney) and taught at conferences, colleges, and universities throughout the U.S. and in countries including Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Ireland, the U.K., Canada, Bermuda, and Jamaica.
For additional information visit www.jasonblume. Blume’s music can be heard, and a list of upcoming workshops and events can be found at www.myspace.com/jasonblumesongwriter
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STEVE SESKIN
FYI... There is a 35 minute video on cowriting on songwork. We're going to launch in March. I'll keep you posted so you can announce it to your members. Meanwhile...
1. It is extremely important that before you choose a cowriter that you take a moment to be honest with yourself and make a list of your strengths as a writer and your weaknesses. This will enable you to choose someone who matches up well with you. This extends to more than just a simple delineation of lyrics vs music. As a lyric writer, are you better at emotional lyric writing or coming up with imagery that paints picture. Are you better at big picture chorus ideas or specific verse ideas, storytelling? From a process standpoint, do you start a lot of songs but can't seem to finish any or are you a writer who comes up with very few ideas but finishes them all? Musically...are you good at playing grooves but not as good at finding a melody to go with them? There are so many variables but it's mainly about choosing someone who matches up well with your weaknesses.
2. Have breakfast or lunch before you commit to write so you can find out if there's anything there. If you make a writing appointment you will spend 4 to 7 hours in a room together. You might want to find out if you like each others company. It's a little like dating before you get married. It will save you a lot of mediocre co-writing sessions.
3. In a writing session, remember you are not there by yourself. Do everything you can to make your cowriter feel comfortable so they can do their best work. Don't dismiss a co-writer's idea too quickly but don't accept an idea that you think is not very good. This process is not about compromise, it's about coming up with a hybrid effort that has the stamp of each writer on the song and ends up a song you both love.Speak up when you think the direction isn't going anywhere but do it in a nice way that doesn't alienate your co-writer.
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PAT & PETE LUBOFF
Three top collaboration tips:
1. Have fun! Maintain a playful attitude. You and your co-writers are infinitely creative. Play in the sandbox of possible ideas together. When an idea pops out that everyone loves, it will be obvious. No one has to say no to any of the ideas as they flow. That will stop the flow.
2. Use a chat (like Skype) to send your ideas back and forth, even though you are in the same room. That makes it so easy for everyone to see the idea, take it into a word processing program, morph it and send it around again. At the end of the day, copy the whole chat into a word processing program and save it as proof of how the song developed.
3. NEVER, fight for things to go YOUR way. Keep on putting out ideas. Eventually, someone will come up with an idea that everyone likes. Once the song begins to form, it has a life of its own and everyone in the room is a servant to the song. You are like parents nurturing a child. Let it grow up to be what it wants to be, not what you thought it would be when you gave birth to it.
Write On,
Peter & Pat Luboff
Pea Pod Music
615-578-2035
http://www.writesongs.com
___________________
BARBARA CLOYD
Here are my top three tips:
1. Negotiate the business ahead of time.
In Nashville the standard practice is that anyone who writes on the song gets an equal share, but that is not always the practice other places. Some people say that the words are half and the music is half, so if one person writers the melody and then collaborates with a second writer on the lyrics, the melody writer gets 3/4 of the song. Some people try to decide how many lines each person wrote and divide the song accordingly. It doesn't matter how you do it, but it can lead to terrible conflicts if cowriters go into it with different assumptions.
Other issues that need to be discussed include demos (will one be made, what kind, where, what's the budget, who pays?), and publishing (does each writer control his portion of the publishing, if one writer sign his portion to a publisher does the other writer give some of his to that writer, what if a publisher wants 100% of the publishing?).
2. Establish a common vision for the song.
It's a lot easier to move the boat if everyone is rowing in the same direction. Don't start writing an idea until you feel confident that all the cowriters have the same end result in mind. What is the musical feel you're going for? What kind of artist would cut it? Should the lyrics be conversational or is there room for more poetic language? What is the main point you're trying to express?
3. Don't shoot your cowriter down.
Rejection isn't fun and it makes people shut down. As much as possible, be positive and encouraging. If your cowriter throws out a line you like, be complimentary. If it's a line you don't like, be gentle and specific in your response. Statements like, "I like what you're saying but I wonder if we could find a fresh, new way to say it," or "I was thinking it might be more important to the story to bring in some different information at that point" feel better than, "That's such an overused cliche" or "That's completely off the subject."
For more information visit: http://www.barbaracloyd.com
_______________________
PAT PATTISON
Co-Writing: The "No" Free Zone
The best advice I ever got on co-writing was from Stan Webb, my first professional co-writer. When Tom Casey, a VP at SESAC in Nashville, set the appointment up for me, he asked Stan to talk to me a bit about the Nashville co-writing process, a process that dominates the songwriting culture there.
I was waiting in the SESAC writer's room with my notes and titles, some complete lyrics, song ideas, and I was feeling nervous. I, after all, am a big-time Professor at the biggest time music school in the world - Berklee, where I teach lyric writing. What if I can't come up with anything? What if he thinks all my ideas are dumb? They don't look too good to me right now either... What if he thinks I'm a fraud? Not only would that humiliate me, but it would put my students' credibility in question too, and it'd be all my fault. Why am I here? Maybe I should leave while there's still time. Couldn't I say I have food poisoning?
Too late. The door opened and there stood Stan Webb, my co-writer for the day, a guy with hits. Stan is a burly guy. He looked a bit shaggy, wearing bib overalls, a tattered t-shirt, and work boots, looking like he'd just come off the farm (which, in fact, he had--he owns one, bought with songwriting royalties). He came in and did something curious: he shut the door, re-opened it, shut it again and then pushed hard to make sure it was closed. Hmmmm. Was he worried about folks listening and stealing our good ideas? I was deeply concerned just with having a good idea. It would have been a relief to have an idea good enough that a secret listener would want it.
He sat down opposite me on a couch and seemed to size me up. He grinned and said, "Is that door closed?" Yikes. "Yes it is," I answered carefully, not knowing where he was going with this. Was it a secret initation? "Good, I'm glad it's closed," he said, "because you can probably tell by looking at me that I'm gonna say some of the dumbest things you've ever heard." I stayed quiet. I was more worried about what he thought of me. He went on, "And if you do your job right today, you're gonna say some of the dumbest thing I ever heard, professor or not." "No doubt there," I thought. He grinned again and said, "But, as long as that door is closed, nobody needs to know how dumb both of us are. I won't tell if you don't."
He told me that he hoped I didn't mind, but Tom had asked him to talk to me about the co-writing process in Nashville, so he wanted to tell me just a couple things before we got going on a song. I told him to take his time.
He said, "SAY EVERYTHING that comes to your head. Say it out loud, no matter how dumb it is. Don't censor anything. If you say something really dumb, you might give me an idea that's not quite as dumb. And then I might have a decent one that gives you a better one that gives me a great one. If you'd never said the dumb one, we would never get to the great one."
"So that means that we'll never say "no" to each other. A co-writing room is a "NO" FREE ZONE. If you say something and I don't like it, I just won't say anything. Silence is a request for more, more, more. It says 'just keep throwing stuff out there.' When either one of us likes something, we'll say YES. Otherwise, just keep going."
We had a great writing session. I lost my fear of looking like a fool. I came up with a lot of dumb ideas, and my dumbest idea of all led us to the best part of the song. We really did say everything. And the silences were golden - what a great way to ensure that we always get the best out of each other: nobody has to defend anything, and the only ideas that make it into the song are automatically ones we both like. The "NO" FREE ZONE gets the best out of both writers: there are no arguments, and there never needs to be compromise.
I've always been grateful to Stan for his wise advice that day. It helps me every time I co-write, but also every time I write. My inner critic (most frequent co-writer) has also learned to abide by the "NO" FREE ZONE. And Stan's words still echo in the songwriting classrooms at Berklee College of Music, where literally hundreds of students have worked in the "NO" FREE ZONE and have had great co-writing experiences because of it.
Thanks buddy.
I've added some advice of my own to Stan's, because, in Berklee writing classes, we talk ABOUT writing a lot. Lots of process, lots of techniques. And it really helps their writing, learning about what goes into it - what tools are available. My students learn to talk about writing very well. They are good technicians as well as good writers.
Thus, my advice: never talk about writing in a co-writing room, especially about technique. You're supposed to be writing, not talking about it. Stay inside the song, inside the characters. Don't run away to the intellectual level. Most people are tempted to talk about those wonderful technical effects in their lines - assonance, rhythm, deep thoughts or metaphors-- out of fear -- to cover their bases and try to dress up what they're afraid might be a dumb idea, in academic robes. A dumb idea is still dumb, even with professorial robes on. Just write. And write fearlessly.
One final thought: in terms of SAYING EVERYTHING, I hereby grant you permission to write crap. Lots of it; all the time; the more the better. Remember: crap makes the best fertilizer.
http://www.patpattison.com
____________________
SVEN TYDEMAN
TOP 3 - CO-WRITING TIPS
1. Write with people better than you
This is possibly the best thing you could do as a song writer (apart from writing songs). Work with people that are better than you, but challenge yourself and ask questions to learn! When I started out, I sucked at lyrics, so I found lyricists and other song writers that were awesome in the lyric department, people way better than me. Not only did I get to watch them at work, but I got to inundate them with questions about why they wrote this, that? How did they get so good? etc...
2. Be prepared
Be open to ideas, suggestions, etc but BE PREPARED, it really is weird when you are sitting around doing nothing but twiddling your thumbs. Bring in some ideas to the writing session, titles, chord sequence, melody, anything? It doesn't mean that you will use your ideas but, at least you got an idea, which may trigger another idea.
3. Business First then Creative!
Hate to say it, but I would strongly recommend talking about the business side of things. I am sure you and your co-writer are on the same page, but it is good too Just clarify how you guys are going to split the song and what to u both intend on doing with it. Who is going to register it? etc.
Because business and creative don't work well together, I personally try and read the situation as to when the best time is to discuss percentages. Having said that, most of the time I bring it up at the start, just stating that I am there for the good of the song and I work the song not ego, wo therefore I personally split the song evenly with my co-writers. It usually takes the pressure off them and it also means we can both work the song to the best of its ability.
I have had occasions whereby percentages have not been discussed and I have found that some writers may insist that they use there ideas because 1) they want more percentage 2) they think that if they don't contribute enough you will get the bigger slice of the pie.
Obviously every situation is different, but I generally bring it up in conversation at the start and state that I am looking forward to writing a smash song with them.
____________________________
And now for some bonus articles I found while researching the world’s most successful producer cowriters. These articles were found on About.com and Wikipedia and Max Martin Appreciation Facebook. This is a totally different approach to cowriting.
MAX MARTIN
Martin Karl "Max Martin" Sandberg (born February 26, 1971) is a Grammy-nominated, Swedish pop-dance music producer and songwriter. He was born in Stockholm, Sweden and is best known by his artistic name Max. Breaking into the USA pop world in the mid 90s he's now the songwriting and producer name behind some of the biggest hits for Katy Perry, Pink, Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, Kelly Clarkson, Avril Lavigne, Celine Dion and other global superstars.
"I want to be part of every note, every single moment going on in the studio. I want nothing forgotten, I want nothing missed. I'm a perfectionist. The producer should decide what kind of music is being made, what it's going to sound like- all of it, the why, when and how" Max Martin.
ABBA PERFECT MELODIES BEFORE A SINGLE WORD IS WRITTEN
Here's what a forum I am always fascinated by the fact how he went from zero knowledge (his own statement) about writing, producing, mixing etc. to master class in just 2-3 years (1994-1996). It's even more fascinating when compared to legions of wannabe-producers worldwide that go nowhere for years.
And his mentor, Dag Volle aka Denniz Pop also came from DJ backgrounds - thus they both didn't knew much about production/songwriting stuff.
One of the reasons for such success of Swedish producers is knowledge spread (they interchange info and practices freely), but above mentioned is still mystery to me. Is it share talent only?
If you check the credits you'll see that Max has a lot of great partners. So in addition to all the skill he has, he clearly knows how to work as a team creating a wider range of strengths and possible filling in some weakness gaps.
Max's secret seems to be that he spends A LOT of time on his songs. He only produces very few artists, compared to other producers, but the ones he works with end up selling a ton of records. ALWAYS. I mean.. he spends what.. 1 week to 1 month on just mixing a song? INSANE!
_____________________
STARGATE - cowriters of Tik Tok, Firework etc
And here's an article on Stargate I found in About.com
Stargate is a Norwegian record producing and songwriting team, composed of Tor Erik Hermansen and Mikkel Storleer Eriksen, based in New York City. The team's genres include R&B, pop and hip hop. Stargate was established in Trondheim, Norway.
Stargate broke into the American recording industry in 2006, with the release of the Billboard Hot 100 number-one single, "So Sick", produced and co-written by the team and performed by singer Ne-Yo. They also produced and co-wrote with singer Beyoncé Knowles her worldwide hit single "Irreplaceable", which topped the Billboard Hot 100 for ten consecutive weeks, becoming the biggest song of 2007 and giving Stargate their most successful single to date.
The team has worked with various American artists and received mainstream awards including the Songwriters of the Year accolade at the 2007 ASCAP/PRS Awards and the 2009 ASCAP Pop Songwriters of the Year. #1 Producers of the Year on the Billboard Hot 100 Year End Chart 2006 and 2008. Hitmakers of the Year in Rolling Stone magazine 2008.
In their usual production style, Stargate first creates an instrumental backing track—also common in pop and hip hop productions—from which a collaborator would write lyrics and add vocal melody into. In an interview with About.com, the team explained their style:
"We always start out with a musical idea. Great effort goes into creating a solid melodic core. We both play the keyboards and program, but in general Mikkel plays the instruments and controls Pro Tools, while Tor has the executive overlook as well as lyrical input. However, we both are hands on and have no rules or limitations. When we have some killer beats and musical starting points, we hook up with one of our favorite topline writers, who gets cracking on the lyrics and melody. We make sure there's a lot of melody in the track, so it can inspire the writer.
Together with the topline writer we work, often tweek and simplify the song, and never quit before we feel we've got a killer hook."
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Article by Zelda Sheldon
Zelda Sheldon is the founding coordinator of the first Australian Chapter of NSAI
Nashville Songwriting Association International
She is a singer songwiter, coach and passionate lifelong learner. She coaches singing and songwriting and Ukulele for beginners.
www.blogger.com/songcoach
www.artecsound.com.au
Zelda Sheldon asked the best and brightest in songwriting education for their top 3 cowriting tips.
Here is the complete unedited transcript.
Please note: This article is used with permission by the contributors. If you wish to use this for any other purposes other than education you’ll need to request permission from me and also from the contributors first.
Enjoy!
For more info check out my blog
http://songcoach.blogspot.com/
www.artecsound.com.au
ROBIN FREDERICK
GO AHEAD... COLLABORATE
I just checked through the top five songs in the Rock, Country, AC, and Urban genres and, guess what... in all four genres at least four of the top five songs were collaborations. In the Country genre, all five were collaborations!
Collaborating has so many benefits that it's worth putting some real effort into learning how to do it and finding compatible songwriting partners to work with. It may take some time, maybe a few false starts, but it can more than repay you in the long run.
There are many reasons to collaborate: A collaborator can offer new ideas and nudge you out of old habits. If you fall in love with a line that isn´t working, a collaborator can point that out and keep the song moving forward. Working with a collaborator gives you added motivation, energy, and goals to meet. Chances are you´re stronger in one area (lyrics or music) than another; a collaborator can add strength where you're weak. The cost of demoing your song can be half what it would be if you wrote it alone.
So, why not collaborate? Do you resist collaborating because you're afraid that you're not good enough, or afraid you'll come up with dumb ideas... or no ideas? I totally understand. We all share those fears. Here are a few ideas that can help you get past them.
=> Give yourselves a chance to warm up. Start by playing a a few songs for each other. Find out where your tastes lie. Are they similar? Different? Agree on a style you want to write in to begin with. If your collaborator writes Classic Rock melodies and you're writing a Modern Pop lyric, you may have trouble fitting the lyric and melody together.
=> Create plenty of raw material to work from. Start by suggesting titles to each other. Use a newspaper or magazine and find short phrases that appeal to both of you. Choose a phrase to work on and make a list of questions you might answer in the song. Then make lists of words and phrases that the title phrase suggests: images, actions words, associations, opposites, whatever strikes you. Create more material than you think you'll need. Then, together, start assembling your chorus lyric. Try singing some of the phrases and start your melody.
=> Work long distance. You don't have to be in the same room. Plenty of collaborations take place on the Internet. Organize folders and files so you can easily find mp3s and lyrics for each song you work on. Make sure it's easy for you to receive music files.
There are interesting sites like Dropbox (http://www.dropbox.com/features) that make it easy to share files. Use Skype for phone chats; it's free and has better sound quality than a regular phone.
=> Swap songs. Work on more than one song at a time, so that each of you always has a song to work on. Trade songs every few days.
=> Give yourselves permission to do a job. Too often we think of songwriting as something we must be brilliant at all the time. It's just a job, a hard job. Some days you do it better than others. Talk with your collaborator about experiences and expectations.
WHERE TO FIND COLLABORATORS
Clubs and music venues: You can find potential collaborators at clubs in your area. Try an open mic night. You'll find singer-songwriters in a variety of styles. If you can, play a few songs of your own so people get a chance to hear what you can do.
The Internet: You don´t have to limit yourself to songwriters in your area; the Internet makes long distance collaboration easy. Do your research. Look for established web sites with forums where songwriters meet to share songs, get feedback, and find collaborators. The Muse's Muse web site (http://www.musesmuse.com/) has a good one. Click on "Songwriting Message Board." Spend some time getting to know the regular contributors. Listen to their songs, read their lyrics, check out their melodies. When you find someone you think would make a good collaborator, go ahead and contact them. You can also check out the "Collaboration Corner" on the TAXI forum (http://forums.taxi.com/).
Now, go find somebody to play with!
For more info: http://www.RobinFrederick.com.
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JASON BLUME
Collaboration Tips.
Be clear up front with your musicians about whether you are indeed collaborating—or have hired someone to contribute as a paid musician on a “work for hire” basis. If two writers sit in a room together to begin a song it’s clear cut that they are writing a song together. It gets fuzzy when you hire a programmer or musicians to record a demo. If they come up with a great lick; a memorable bass line; a hooky guitar riff; a unique groove, etc. are they credited as a writer?
Lady Antebellum freely credits keyboardist Mike Rojas with contributing the opening piano lick that became an instantly identifiable signature of their international #1, Grammy-winning Song of the Year, “Need You Now.” So … is Mike listed a songwriter? No. Because it was clear that he—and all the musicians—had been hired to contribute radio-friendly licks to the recording—not just to play the notes written on a lead sheet or chord chart. Musicians routinely make critically important contributions to recordings; that’s their job.
These kinds of “make-or-break” contributions are the reason to hire the best musicians possible—even if you are recording in your own home studio. Put your ego aside and ask yourself, “Am I the best musician for this job?”
There are no “rules” regarding what constitutes collaboration. The key is to address the writers’ percentages BEFORE the recording session. When I write a pop or pop/R&B melody and lyric to an existing musical track or “bed,” in many instances this is considered a 50/50 split. But what if I write the entire melody and lyric and then hire someone to produce the musical track?
To a large extent whether the musicians are credited as writers is contingent on the style of music. Urban, hip-hop, dance, and some styles of pop music rely heavily on the track. The beats, bass line, and drum sounds are crucially important in these genres. But in country music, folk, acoustic music one would be far less likely to credit a musician as a writer.
Bottom line: be clear in advance whether your musicians are to be credited as collaborators—or considered hired help. If you’ve agreed that this is a work-for-hire, then your musicians make a contribution that you deem worthy of a writer’s credit they won’t argue if you want to add their name after the fact ;-)
It’s important to remember that you might need to kiss a lot of frogs before you find a collaborator who brings out the best in you. I’ve written with at least a hundred different collaborators (including Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys) but I’ve only found that elusive magic or “chemistry” a handful of times. Of course there are political and business considerations in choosing collaborators—but without the creative spark that leads to truly exceptional songs, you won’t have hits.
When I’ve written with Karen Taylor-Good, music and lyrics have come out of me that would not have come out if any other writer had been in the room. That’s what you want.
I like to come in prepared for a co-writing session. I don’t want to take the chance that I might not be feeling particularly creative or might not come up with something brilliant that day. Being a positive thinker, I bring a file folder titled “Future Hits.” In that folder are song “starts”—titles, images, and lyric phrases that I’ve collected. I also bring recordings of my melodic ideas.
But remember you’re there to collaborate. So stay open to give and take—and go where the muse takes you.
Don’t be afraid to stand up for lyrics and melodies you believe in. But ultimately, all the writers have to be in agreement.
Also, be assertive during the writing and demo process. If you need ten minutes of quiet, tell your collaborator that you write best if you can think quietly for a while.
So … what if you don’t agree on a line, a concept, or a melody? Hopefully, you can explain your issue and tell why you don’t like it -- then come up with a solution that pleases all parties. If not, you can each record your own version and get objective feedback. But … can you say, “I hate this and I want my title back?”
In the U.S. the answer is “No,”—unless both writers have agreed to this in writing prior to the writing of the song. The analogy is an egg; it can’t be unscrambled. So, the best way to protect yourself—so that you can feel confortable contributing your best ideas—is to have a simple written agreement that if both writers are not pleased with the end result, either one can “unscramble” the egg and take back their contributions.
Remember …. The vast majority of successful songs are co-written—and collaborating allows you to expand your contacts and get instant feedback.
Everyone wants to write “up”—meaning with someone who is farther along; someone they believe can further their career. When approaching someone a notch ahead of you on the ladder be sure to bring something to the table (a title; groove; track; instantly memorable melody, etc …) to give them a reason to want to write with you.
And the most important tip:
Remember that success is possible. Every person who is now a successful writer started out with a dream. It’s not only about getting lucky; write undeniable songs.
Good luck!
Jason Blume
Jason Blume’s songs are on Grammy-nominated albums and have sold more than 50,000,000 copies. His songs have been included in films and television shows including “Scrubs,” “Friday Night Lights,” Disney’s “Kim Possible” and “First Kid,” MTV’s “Next Thing” and “Taking the Stage,” “MVP,” “Barbie of Swan Lake,” “Dangerous Minds,” “Kickin’ it Old Skool,” “Fame,” “The Guiding Light,” “The Miss America Pageant,” and many more.
Jason is the author of 6 Steps to Songwriting Success: The Comprehensive Guide to Writing and Marketing Hit Songs, Inside Songwriting: Getting to the Heart of Creativity, and This Business of Songwriting, (all published by Billboard Books).
Acknowledged as one of the world’s top songwriting instructors, Blume teaches workshops for BMI, IMRO, and the Nashville Songwriters Association. He has presented a master class at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (founded by Sir Paul McCartney) and taught at conferences, colleges, and universities throughout the U.S. and in countries including Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Ireland, the U.K., Canada, Bermuda, and Jamaica.
For additional information visit www.jasonblume. Blume’s music can be heard, and a list of upcoming workshops and events can be found at www.myspace.com/jasonblumesongwriter
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STEVE SESKIN
FYI... There is a 35 minute video on cowriting on songwork. We're going to launch in March. I'll keep you posted so you can announce it to your members. Meanwhile...
1. It is extremely important that before you choose a cowriter that you take a moment to be honest with yourself and make a list of your strengths as a writer and your weaknesses. This will enable you to choose someone who matches up well with you. This extends to more than just a simple delineation of lyrics vs music. As a lyric writer, are you better at emotional lyric writing or coming up with imagery that paints picture. Are you better at big picture chorus ideas or specific verse ideas, storytelling? From a process standpoint, do you start a lot of songs but can't seem to finish any or are you a writer who comes up with very few ideas but finishes them all? Musically...are you good at playing grooves but not as good at finding a melody to go with them? There are so many variables but it's mainly about choosing someone who matches up well with your weaknesses.
2. Have breakfast or lunch before you commit to write so you can find out if there's anything there. If you make a writing appointment you will spend 4 to 7 hours in a room together. You might want to find out if you like each others company. It's a little like dating before you get married. It will save you a lot of mediocre co-writing sessions.
3. In a writing session, remember you are not there by yourself. Do everything you can to make your cowriter feel comfortable so they can do their best work. Don't dismiss a co-writer's idea too quickly but don't accept an idea that you think is not very good. This process is not about compromise, it's about coming up with a hybrid effort that has the stamp of each writer on the song and ends up a song you both love.Speak up when you think the direction isn't going anywhere but do it in a nice way that doesn't alienate your co-writer.
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PAT & PETE LUBOFF
Three top collaboration tips:
1. Have fun! Maintain a playful attitude. You and your co-writers are infinitely creative. Play in the sandbox of possible ideas together. When an idea pops out that everyone loves, it will be obvious. No one has to say no to any of the ideas as they flow. That will stop the flow.
2. Use a chat (like Skype) to send your ideas back and forth, even though you are in the same room. That makes it so easy for everyone to see the idea, take it into a word processing program, morph it and send it around again. At the end of the day, copy the whole chat into a word processing program and save it as proof of how the song developed.
3. NEVER, fight for things to go YOUR way. Keep on putting out ideas. Eventually, someone will come up with an idea that everyone likes. Once the song begins to form, it has a life of its own and everyone in the room is a servant to the song. You are like parents nurturing a child. Let it grow up to be what it wants to be, not what you thought it would be when you gave birth to it.
Write On,
Peter & Pat Luboff
Pea Pod Music
615-578-2035
http://www.writesongs.com
___________________
BARBARA CLOYD
Here are my top three tips:
1. Negotiate the business ahead of time.
In Nashville the standard practice is that anyone who writes on the song gets an equal share, but that is not always the practice other places. Some people say that the words are half and the music is half, so if one person writers the melody and then collaborates with a second writer on the lyrics, the melody writer gets 3/4 of the song. Some people try to decide how many lines each person wrote and divide the song accordingly. It doesn't matter how you do it, but it can lead to terrible conflicts if cowriters go into it with different assumptions.
Other issues that need to be discussed include demos (will one be made, what kind, where, what's the budget, who pays?), and publishing (does each writer control his portion of the publishing, if one writer sign his portion to a publisher does the other writer give some of his to that writer, what if a publisher wants 100% of the publishing?).
2. Establish a common vision for the song.
It's a lot easier to move the boat if everyone is rowing in the same direction. Don't start writing an idea until you feel confident that all the cowriters have the same end result in mind. What is the musical feel you're going for? What kind of artist would cut it? Should the lyrics be conversational or is there room for more poetic language? What is the main point you're trying to express?
3. Don't shoot your cowriter down.
Rejection isn't fun and it makes people shut down. As much as possible, be positive and encouraging. If your cowriter throws out a line you like, be complimentary. If it's a line you don't like, be gentle and specific in your response. Statements like, "I like what you're saying but I wonder if we could find a fresh, new way to say it," or "I was thinking it might be more important to the story to bring in some different information at that point" feel better than, "That's such an overused cliche" or "That's completely off the subject."
For more information visit: http://www.barbaracloyd.com
_______________________
PAT PATTISON
Co-Writing: The "No" Free Zone
The best advice I ever got on co-writing was from Stan Webb, my first professional co-writer. When Tom Casey, a VP at SESAC in Nashville, set the appointment up for me, he asked Stan to talk to me a bit about the Nashville co-writing process, a process that dominates the songwriting culture there.
I was waiting in the SESAC writer's room with my notes and titles, some complete lyrics, song ideas, and I was feeling nervous. I, after all, am a big-time Professor at the biggest time music school in the world - Berklee, where I teach lyric writing. What if I can't come up with anything? What if he thinks all my ideas are dumb? They don't look too good to me right now either... What if he thinks I'm a fraud? Not only would that humiliate me, but it would put my students' credibility in question too, and it'd be all my fault. Why am I here? Maybe I should leave while there's still time. Couldn't I say I have food poisoning?
Too late. The door opened and there stood Stan Webb, my co-writer for the day, a guy with hits. Stan is a burly guy. He looked a bit shaggy, wearing bib overalls, a tattered t-shirt, and work boots, looking like he'd just come off the farm (which, in fact, he had--he owns one, bought with songwriting royalties). He came in and did something curious: he shut the door, re-opened it, shut it again and then pushed hard to make sure it was closed. Hmmmm. Was he worried about folks listening and stealing our good ideas? I was deeply concerned just with having a good idea. It would have been a relief to have an idea good enough that a secret listener would want it.
He sat down opposite me on a couch and seemed to size me up. He grinned and said, "Is that door closed?" Yikes. "Yes it is," I answered carefully, not knowing where he was going with this. Was it a secret initation? "Good, I'm glad it's closed," he said, "because you can probably tell by looking at me that I'm gonna say some of the dumbest things you've ever heard." I stayed quiet. I was more worried about what he thought of me. He went on, "And if you do your job right today, you're gonna say some of the dumbest thing I ever heard, professor or not." "No doubt there," I thought. He grinned again and said, "But, as long as that door is closed, nobody needs to know how dumb both of us are. I won't tell if you don't."
He told me that he hoped I didn't mind, but Tom had asked him to talk to me about the co-writing process in Nashville, so he wanted to tell me just a couple things before we got going on a song. I told him to take his time.
He said, "SAY EVERYTHING that comes to your head. Say it out loud, no matter how dumb it is. Don't censor anything. If you say something really dumb, you might give me an idea that's not quite as dumb. And then I might have a decent one that gives you a better one that gives me a great one. If you'd never said the dumb one, we would never get to the great one."
"So that means that we'll never say "no" to each other. A co-writing room is a "NO" FREE ZONE. If you say something and I don't like it, I just won't say anything. Silence is a request for more, more, more. It says 'just keep throwing stuff out there.' When either one of us likes something, we'll say YES. Otherwise, just keep going."
We had a great writing session. I lost my fear of looking like a fool. I came up with a lot of dumb ideas, and my dumbest idea of all led us to the best part of the song. We really did say everything. And the silences were golden - what a great way to ensure that we always get the best out of each other: nobody has to defend anything, and the only ideas that make it into the song are automatically ones we both like. The "NO" FREE ZONE gets the best out of both writers: there are no arguments, and there never needs to be compromise.
I've always been grateful to Stan for his wise advice that day. It helps me every time I co-write, but also every time I write. My inner critic (most frequent co-writer) has also learned to abide by the "NO" FREE ZONE. And Stan's words still echo in the songwriting classrooms at Berklee College of Music, where literally hundreds of students have worked in the "NO" FREE ZONE and have had great co-writing experiences because of it.
Thanks buddy.
I've added some advice of my own to Stan's, because, in Berklee writing classes, we talk ABOUT writing a lot. Lots of process, lots of techniques. And it really helps their writing, learning about what goes into it - what tools are available. My students learn to talk about writing very well. They are good technicians as well as good writers.
Thus, my advice: never talk about writing in a co-writing room, especially about technique. You're supposed to be writing, not talking about it. Stay inside the song, inside the characters. Don't run away to the intellectual level. Most people are tempted to talk about those wonderful technical effects in their lines - assonance, rhythm, deep thoughts or metaphors-- out of fear -- to cover their bases and try to dress up what they're afraid might be a dumb idea, in academic robes. A dumb idea is still dumb, even with professorial robes on. Just write. And write fearlessly.
One final thought: in terms of SAYING EVERYTHING, I hereby grant you permission to write crap. Lots of it; all the time; the more the better. Remember: crap makes the best fertilizer.
http://www.patpattison.com
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SVEN TYDEMAN
TOP 3 - CO-WRITING TIPS
1. Write with people better than you
This is possibly the best thing you could do as a song writer (apart from writing songs). Work with people that are better than you, but challenge yourself and ask questions to learn! When I started out, I sucked at lyrics, so I found lyricists and other song writers that were awesome in the lyric department, people way better than me. Not only did I get to watch them at work, but I got to inundate them with questions about why they wrote this, that? How did they get so good? etc...
2. Be prepared
Be open to ideas, suggestions, etc but BE PREPARED, it really is weird when you are sitting around doing nothing but twiddling your thumbs. Bring in some ideas to the writing session, titles, chord sequence, melody, anything? It doesn't mean that you will use your ideas but, at least you got an idea, which may trigger another idea.
3. Business First then Creative!
Hate to say it, but I would strongly recommend talking about the business side of things. I am sure you and your co-writer are on the same page, but it is good too Just clarify how you guys are going to split the song and what to u both intend on doing with it. Who is going to register it? etc.
Because business and creative don't work well together, I personally try and read the situation as to when the best time is to discuss percentages. Having said that, most of the time I bring it up at the start, just stating that I am there for the good of the song and I work the song not ego, wo therefore I personally split the song evenly with my co-writers. It usually takes the pressure off them and it also means we can both work the song to the best of its ability.
I have had occasions whereby percentages have not been discussed and I have found that some writers may insist that they use there ideas because 1) they want more percentage 2) they think that if they don't contribute enough you will get the bigger slice of the pie.
Obviously every situation is different, but I generally bring it up in conversation at the start and state that I am looking forward to writing a smash song with them.
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And now for some bonus articles I found while researching the world’s most successful producer cowriters. These articles were found on About.com and Wikipedia and Max Martin Appreciation Facebook. This is a totally different approach to cowriting.
MAX MARTIN
Martin Karl "Max Martin" Sandberg (born February 26, 1971) is a Grammy-nominated, Swedish pop-dance music producer and songwriter. He was born in Stockholm, Sweden and is best known by his artistic name Max. Breaking into the USA pop world in the mid 90s he's now the songwriting and producer name behind some of the biggest hits for Katy Perry, Pink, Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, Kelly Clarkson, Avril Lavigne, Celine Dion and other global superstars.
"I want to be part of every note, every single moment going on in the studio. I want nothing forgotten, I want nothing missed. I'm a perfectionist. The producer should decide what kind of music is being made, what it's going to sound like- all of it, the why, when and how" Max Martin.
ABBA PERFECT MELODIES BEFORE A SINGLE WORD IS WRITTEN
Here's what a forum I am always fascinated by the fact how he went from zero knowledge (his own statement) about writing, producing, mixing etc. to master class in just 2-3 years (1994-1996). It's even more fascinating when compared to legions of wannabe-producers worldwide that go nowhere for years.
And his mentor, Dag Volle aka Denniz Pop also came from DJ backgrounds - thus they both didn't knew much about production/songwriting stuff.
One of the reasons for such success of Swedish producers is knowledge spread (they interchange info and practices freely), but above mentioned is still mystery to me. Is it share talent only?
If you check the credits you'll see that Max has a lot of great partners. So in addition to all the skill he has, he clearly knows how to work as a team creating a wider range of strengths and possible filling in some weakness gaps.
Max's secret seems to be that he spends A LOT of time on his songs. He only produces very few artists, compared to other producers, but the ones he works with end up selling a ton of records. ALWAYS. I mean.. he spends what.. 1 week to 1 month on just mixing a song? INSANE!
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STARGATE - cowriters of Tik Tok, Firework etc
And here's an article on Stargate I found in About.com
Stargate is a Norwegian record producing and songwriting team, composed of Tor Erik Hermansen and Mikkel Storleer Eriksen, based in New York City. The team's genres include R&B, pop and hip hop. Stargate was established in Trondheim, Norway.
Stargate broke into the American recording industry in 2006, with the release of the Billboard Hot 100 number-one single, "So Sick", produced and co-written by the team and performed by singer Ne-Yo. They also produced and co-wrote with singer Beyoncé Knowles her worldwide hit single "Irreplaceable", which topped the Billboard Hot 100 for ten consecutive weeks, becoming the biggest song of 2007 and giving Stargate their most successful single to date.
The team has worked with various American artists and received mainstream awards including the Songwriters of the Year accolade at the 2007 ASCAP/PRS Awards and the 2009 ASCAP Pop Songwriters of the Year. #1 Producers of the Year on the Billboard Hot 100 Year End Chart 2006 and 2008. Hitmakers of the Year in Rolling Stone magazine 2008.
In their usual production style, Stargate first creates an instrumental backing track—also common in pop and hip hop productions—from which a collaborator would write lyrics and add vocal melody into. In an interview with About.com, the team explained their style:
"We always start out with a musical idea. Great effort goes into creating a solid melodic core. We both play the keyboards and program, but in general Mikkel plays the instruments and controls Pro Tools, while Tor has the executive overlook as well as lyrical input. However, we both are hands on and have no rules or limitations. When we have some killer beats and musical starting points, we hook up with one of our favorite topline writers, who gets cracking on the lyrics and melody. We make sure there's a lot of melody in the track, so it can inspire the writer.
Together with the topline writer we work, often tweek and simplify the song, and never quit before we feel we've got a killer hook."
_______________
Article by Zelda Sheldon
Zelda Sheldon is the founding coordinator of the first Australian Chapter of NSAI
Nashville Songwriting Association International
She is a singer songwiter, coach and passionate lifelong learner. She coaches singing and songwriting and Ukulele for beginners.
www.blogger.com/songcoach
www.artecsound.com.au
Friday, March 11, 2011
Outliers and other Lies or How to Make $50k per year as a musician.
How to Make $50k per year as a musician.
http://www.musicthinktank.com/blog/how-to-actually-make-50000-a-year-as-a-musician.html
by Zelda Sheldon
I LOVED this article posted in Music Think Tank because it's just good plain common sense.
Sure there are always those 'Hey! I got discovered from posting a youtube vid from singing in my bedroom now I'm loaded' type stories but these are OUTLIERS - right at the edges of the bell curve of 'normal' - achievable, predictable and therefore expectable.
I like that word 'outlier.'
While I was studying psychology at uni studying what I always referred to as 'the worse university subject ever - 'Research Methods and Statistics (ughhhh!!) I learned to label occurences that existed yet were random events that no one could predict and therefore duplicate in any result as 'Outliers'.
So now when I see 'teenager posting a song from their bedroom and now making a gazillion bucks and is the hot new pop star riding the charts (Justin Beber comes to mind here) I like to think of the word 'outliers' - something lying way out of the range of what could be normal and achievable.
Another though comes to mind - 'winning the lottery'.
So, I'd argue that nobody in their right musical mind expects to 'win' a lottery.
Sure you buy a ticket, have a flutter - be in it to win it - that kind of thing - but to stake your life on it - or pin all your hopes on it would be a foolish career strategy.
Yet sadly this is what so many starry-eyed musicans and wanna be pop stars do. They see the outliers and they think this can be easily duplicated and therefore achievable. WRONG! WRONG AND SO WRONG!
These are outliers. Lying way out there! Unpredictable and unlikely to be ever repeated.
In my job as a coach for singer songwriters (yes I too am a multi-stream income musician) I recommend singers have a music career strategy that includes a financial plan that allows earning enough to cover all their living expenses and in particular investing in their music education and development.
Relying on trying to score an advance from record and publishing companies is another 'outlier'.
Yes it happens - but the odds are so massive you can never rely on it being achievable.
Instead it's a much wiser career strategy to focus on what you CAN do. What you CAN achieve as a musician - the daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly development of your music skills with solid education and coaching - to be a better singer, songwriter, actor, dancer and stage performer.
Do that and you will have much better odds at being the right kind of marketable musician that the business expects.
Zelda Sheldon
For more information see
Song Coach
http://songcoach.blogspot.com/
www.artecsound.com.au
http://www.sydneysinginglessons.com.au
http://www.musicthinktank.com/blog/how-to-actually-make-50000-a-year-as-a-musician.html
by Zelda Sheldon
I LOVED this article posted in Music Think Tank because it's just good plain common sense.
Sure there are always those 'Hey! I got discovered from posting a youtube vid from singing in my bedroom now I'm loaded' type stories but these are OUTLIERS - right at the edges of the bell curve of 'normal' - achievable, predictable and therefore expectable.
I like that word 'outlier.'
While I was studying psychology at uni studying what I always referred to as 'the worse university subject ever - 'Research Methods and Statistics (ughhhh!!) I learned to label occurences that existed yet were random events that no one could predict and therefore duplicate in any result as 'Outliers'.
So now when I see 'teenager posting a song from their bedroom and now making a gazillion bucks and is the hot new pop star riding the charts (Justin Beber comes to mind here) I like to think of the word 'outliers' - something lying way out of the range of what could be normal and achievable.
Another though comes to mind - 'winning the lottery'.
So, I'd argue that nobody in their right musical mind expects to 'win' a lottery.
Sure you buy a ticket, have a flutter - be in it to win it - that kind of thing - but to stake your life on it - or pin all your hopes on it would be a foolish career strategy.
Yet sadly this is what so many starry-eyed musicans and wanna be pop stars do. They see the outliers and they think this can be easily duplicated and therefore achievable. WRONG! WRONG AND SO WRONG!
These are outliers. Lying way out there! Unpredictable and unlikely to be ever repeated.
In my job as a coach for singer songwriters (yes I too am a multi-stream income musician) I recommend singers have a music career strategy that includes a financial plan that allows earning enough to cover all their living expenses and in particular investing in their music education and development.
Relying on trying to score an advance from record and publishing companies is another 'outlier'.
Yes it happens - but the odds are so massive you can never rely on it being achievable.
Instead it's a much wiser career strategy to focus on what you CAN do. What you CAN achieve as a musician - the daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly development of your music skills with solid education and coaching - to be a better singer, songwriter, actor, dancer and stage performer.
Do that and you will have much better odds at being the right kind of marketable musician that the business expects.
Zelda Sheldon
For more information see
Song Coach
http://songcoach.blogspot.com/
www.artecsound.com.au
http://www.sydneysinginglessons.com.au
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Start Right with a Vocal Assessment
Do you dream about being a singer?
Do you wonder if you've got what it takes?
If you answered YES to both questions the NEXT STEP for you is:
'A VOCAL ASSESSMENT'
A vocal Assessment gives you the answers you need such as:
1. I think I can sing but can I find out for sure?
2. Do I have what it takes to make it in the music industry?
3. What are the best songs for my voice and my range?
4. Can I increase my range and sing those high notes without breaking up?
Here's how it works:
All you need to do is email an mp3 of you singing ONE song and Song Coach Zelda Sheldon will review and assess your voice and give you the answers to these questions.
At only $40 USD it's a super convenient and affordable way to take the next step in your singing journey.
Email your details to get started: songcoach@artecsound.com.au
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Super Quick Warm Up
Vocal Warm-Ups
Why are warm ups important before you sing? For the same reason that athletes warm up their body with gentle stretches before a workout.
Bringing blood flow to the muscles and changing pitch undoubtedly stretches the muscles. Many singers report improved vocal functioning following warm-ups.
Warm-ups should not be confused with vocalises (tasks aimed at acquiring a particular skill - usually scales and drills). The purpose of a warm-up, as in weight training, is to STRETCH THE MUSCLES TO PREPARE THEM FOR WORK WITHOUT INJURY.
So before you start a vocal workout practice session or performance try giving your tender vocal folds a treat with a set of gentle warm ups - like this 5 minute 6 step model.
ZELDA'S FIVE MINUTE SIX STEP GENTLE VOCAL WARM UP (as used by some of the world's best vocal coaches)
1) Soft Crackles - or soft croaky crackly 'vocal fry' sounds in gentle little scoops. (Sound like a quiet frog). Do 12.
2) Kisses - gently "ha-ha-ha" on 1-3-5 of a scale to encourage vocal fold flexibility - or try little scoops. Do 12.
3) Nings - gentle quiet 'nings' - slow to fast. Do 20.
4) Bubbles - lips together and blow make soft rumbling sounds - Do 12.
5) Trills - tongue at the back of the top row of teeth on the hard palate - make a quiet little series of 'Spanish like rolls. Do 12.
6) Humming: Lips together and hum gently - feel a tingling in your lips. Do 12.
For more information or to enquire about Zelda's singing coaching send a Skype message "zeldasheldon".
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