The LyPhyS Music Blog

There are many hidden costs in music, from gear and gear maintenance to recording hardware and software to web and releasing fees and more. But I want to address the fear of not having the right equipment and how to not let that stifle your creativity. I started with a $40 Radio Shack mic, Audacity, a laptop, cheap earbuds, and music partners across the world helping me. I had my piano at home and blank staff paper for writing. I had no tablet, no smart phone, so no quick capture apps. But I was creating. I was recording. I was releasing very basic scratch tracks. It was not ideal of course given the kind of music I would eventually create. There’s a song on a collab site that was released in 2012 that sits comfortably at number 1 in their chart at the time of me writing this. So what’s the point of this story? I made do with what I had at the time and didn’t let it stop me from writing, recording, collaborating, and releasing. My next step involved some gear and software upgrades ...

I’ve written plenty about collaborations but never really got into the nuts and bolts. From how to send a song to a remote collaborator to speaking up on both sides, here we go! 1. The song is well underway and maybe you’ve got vocals and some instruments roughed in enough to send it to another musician to add some of their own magic. But how and what do you send? First, your mix needs to start from the start. As in, don’t merely grab a portion and send it. You want to be able to take that new track in without having to line it up. 2. Send it a couple ways at least: one without vocals or melody line and one whole for example. I’ve also been asked to remove other lines that could be distracting (sometimes arps or ornaments). 3. Make sure that what you are to receive (or send to another to mix) are either standard format or you understand the format (44.1 and 16 bit for example). Explain if anything is roughed in or final. In a word... COMMUNICATE 4. If you are recording for anot...

Recently I’ve been creating themed Spotify playlists to bring various artists together that might not otherwise be on one playlist, provide independent artists that may not fall into traditional popular categories the opportunity for plays, and broaden my own reach and network. I chose Spotify because it’s well-known, and while it pays only a pittance, those who are on Spotify have accepted this for now and are often seeking additional plays. (We are not debating the benefits or evils of Spotify with this post though.) All-in-all the experience has been positive. I’ve heard a lot of new music, met some very talented artists, and hopefully made a little bit of an impact for those artists as well. As I promised my Twitter pals, I’m going to break down a few things I’ve learned that may help other  artists submitting music. Some of these tips are also things I’ve learned from submitting to shows, lists, blogs, etc. For my own playlists I usually ask for submissions via Twitter and g...