tag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:/blogs/tumblr-393e6c3f-af3c-4b55-a5ed-a6b037d79d2f?p=2Blog2019-09-30T14:48:53-04:00Ghostly Beardfalsetag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/59104752019-09-30T14:48:53-04:002020-08-26T04:34:32-04:00The royalties maze, or how creators' money is getting skimmed along the way<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="628" data-orig-width="1200"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/247015/bb2fb428332c7ab3230e4df20695aea4c3ae3ed4/original/music-royalties.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="image" /></figure>
<p>If you're an artist wondering what's the deal with receiving quarterly royalties checks that aren't worth a coffee cup, or fans who are wondering why artists complain about not being able to make ends meet, you should have a look at the chart below, which attempts to clarify the meandering ways royalties are prevented to go into your pocket and instead end up in multiple third parties each taking their "royal" cut. </p>
<p>This chart below from TheMusicMaze.com is specifically about the US, and to be honest, I'm not quite sure how the recently passed MMA bill is going to make things better, but just be aware that each country has its own byzantine way of screwing up artists when it comes to collecting royalties... The names of the entities involved will differ, whether you're in Canada, Australia, the UK or the EU, but everywhere the principles are the same: when it comes to royalties, why make it simple when it can be complicated enough to skim money from artists along the way?</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/247015/2242abdccd4b54047c9747a95d8ec49cf45a9de6/original/the-music-business-life-of-a-sound-recording-1-1.png" class="size_orig justify_center border_" /></p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/57608462019-05-20T06:34:28-04:002019-06-04T09:44:19-04:00In defense of production<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="628" data-orig-width="1200"><img src="https://66.media.tumblr.com/5dee939d6bba5e160ea8f982793038ac/tumblr_inline_pqwoz3F4kQ1ul1pg1_540.png" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="image" /></figure>
<p>I’ve often heard the argument that production is the bane of “authentic” music and that one should not waste too much time to record and release music. This can be summarized as a “Get on with it and move on!” mindset (which I read someone say as a philosophy that I cannot say I adhere much with). Let’s take your iPhone, record your band practice and release that!</p>
<h2>Is production bad?</h2>
<p>Some will also argue that this is how it’s always been with early folk music and country music and their motto of “3 chords and the truth”… I would say that the 3 chords in that case hardly account for music, when what matters here is the poetry or the message, not really the music which is mostly used as a simple background.</p>
<p>There’s also two points raised by the proponents of the quick and dirty philosophy: 1/ look at punk music and how it effectively fought against the over-produced music of the late seventies (mainly hair metal and disco), and 2/ look at today’s top 40 music and how it makes up for its lack of substance by over-production.</p>
<p>Note that in both cases, the point is raised against “over” production. But to me these two points fail to recognize that over-production is actually bad production.</p>
<h2>Over-production</h2>
<p>As much as I agree that polishing a turd, which is what a good percentage of mainstream music is about, is not working that well and no matter how much production tricks are (ab)used, a bland song will always remain a bland song (and note that in these cases most over-hyped pop “songs” also rely on 3 chords for the most part), there is still something to be said against releasing raw recordings, and making sure your song is arranged and recorded properly and shines as much as it should. It seems to me like a good idea to produce a good recording, if only to give you an edge against the millions of badly recorded songs that are inflicted upon us by amateur enthusiasts with little background in music, recording and production, the end result of which would have been called demo in another era, something that hints at what the song could end up being if it were properly done, except it isn’t.</p>
<p>I contend that recorded music is an art form in itself, and I will argue that recorded music is also totally different from live music.</p>
<h2>Live music vs recordings</h2>
<p>Live music has for itself the sheer excitation of high volume, anticipation of a crowd, communion of spirits, spontaneity of improvisation. Yet more often than not, it is blasted from bad mono PA in less than ideal places and with a sound that is less than pristine, and with performances that are not always up to par…</p>
<p>In contrast, a record is (supposed to be) the ultimate expression of an artistic point of view, it is often the result of days, weeks, months of efforts to capture the best performance with every nuance, deliver the best sound, with clarity and power, and nothing is spared to achieve this goal.<br>A record should stand for itself as an expression with its own value, one that can withstand the test of time, and as such it is very different from a live performance.</p>
<h2>What is production?</h2>
<p>Ultimately production is nothing but a way to achieve the best possible result, to shine a light on what makes a song special, highlight the mood and vibe, and perfectly capture the musical spark, that special moment in time, that combination of song-writing talent, arrangement and performance, and make it timeless.</p>
<p>And it’s not at all about cheating (which in some extreme case like nowadays pop, it unfortunately is), aligning to a grid or auto-tuning to death. In effect, a good production might actually mean keeping the human errors, the idiosyncrasies of an artist performance, instead of correcting them: perfect production doesn’t mean robotic perfection, quite the contrary. The idea is to preserve the artist’s expression conveying the fullest emotion, which is the crucial thing that production is meant to highlight.</p>
<p>To those who say production is inherently bad, and is basically killing music’s “authenticity”, I say you’re talking nonsense.</p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>I realize that this is my opinion and it’s not shared by everyone, and that’s fine.<br>Personally, I stand by timeless masterpieces like “Dark Side of the Moon” and many other records of equivalent perfection of sound and emotion. There’s a difference between The Beatles “Sergeant Pepper” and a live recording at the Shea Stadium, and I believe the former is infinitely more listenable than the latter.</p>
<p>The world doesn’t need more of the tired litany of poorly recorded acoustic covers, half-baked mashups, back-alley recording and YouTube iPhone after-thought rehearsal boring delivery, and I will defend the relevance of good production while trying to achieve myself, with my limited home studio means and abilities, the same kind of timeless output as some of the greats… </p>
<p>I’m not saying I will ever rise to such level, but I sure will continue defending what seems to be a dying art in this era of fast food recordings and mindless consumption on streaming platforms. As usual, YMMV.</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/56799552019-03-14T09:26:12-04:002020-08-26T04:34:21-04:00Are you a brand or a mouse?<table border="0"><tbody> <tr> <td><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/247015/9f7366e89e20ee701c4c1ff64d1aa7069b6205ab/original/brand.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>A new blog post on Music Think Tank that you can read here:</p>
<p><a contents="http://www.musicthinktank.com/blog/are-you-a-brand-or-a-mouse.html" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.musicthinktank.com/blog/are-you-a-brand-or-a-mouse.html" target="_blank">http://www.musicthinktank.com/blog/are-you-a-brand-or-a-mouse.html</a></p> </td> </tr>
</tbody></table>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/56618462019-02-27T13:24:41-05:002022-04-29T23:45:20-04:00Is the proliferation of indie streaming platforms hurting unsigned artists?<table border="0"><tbody> <tr> <td><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/247015/9d576305e856bd7d0fd9592c3558e966386be105/original/streaming-media.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_left border_" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>A new blog post on Music Think Tank that you can read here:</p>
<p><a contents="http://www.musicthinktank.com/blog/is-the-proliferation-of-indie-streaming-platforms-hurting-un.html" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.musicthinktank.com/blog/is-the-proliferation-of-indie-streaming-platforms-hurting-un.html" target="_blank">http://www.musicthinktank.com/blog/is-the-proliferation-of-indie-streaming-platforms-hurting-un.html</a></p> </td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
<p>FYI, here's a list (probably far from exhaustive) of streaming platforms, from big corporate to independent (I'm not advocating any of them but this is just so that you get a sense of the "proliferation" I'm talking about):</p>
<p><strong>Big corporate platforms:</strong><br>https://itunes.apple.com/ <br>https://www.spotify.com/ <br>https://play.google.com/ <br>https://music.amazon.com/ <br>https://www.deezer.com/ <br>https://www.iheart.com/ <br>https://napster.com/ <br>https://www.pandora.com/ <br>https://www.shazam.com/ <br>https://tidal.com/ <br>https://music.youtube.com/ <br>https://www.facebook.com/ </p>
<p><strong>Outsiders:</strong><br>https://bandcamp.com/ <br>https://www.reverbnation.com/ <br>https://soundcloud.com/ </p>
<p><strong>Focused on licensing but also streaming:</strong><br>https://www.taxi.com/ <br>https://www.indabamusic.com/ <br>https://www.musicxray.com/ <br>https://www.songtradr.com/ <br>https://www.musicgateway.com/ <br>https://musicvine.com/ <br>https://artlist.io/ <br>https://www.musicbed.com/ <br>https://www.marmosetmusic.com/ <br>https://soundstripe.com/ <br>https://songbay.co/<br>https://www.epidemicsound.com/ <br>https://www.soundsnap.com/ <br>https://www.audiosocket.com/ <br>https://www.soundvault.tv/ <br>http://brandsforbands.com/ <br>http://www.instantlicensing.com/ <br>https://meta-music.com/ <br>https://www.synchtank.com/ <br>https://www.sourceaudio.com/ <br>http://www.fliktrax.com/ </p>
<p><strong>Pure streaming/discovery:</strong><br>https://www.whoozl.com/ <br>https://drooble.com/ <br>https://www.melobeemusic.com/ <br>https://qwaqq.com/ <br>https://louder.me/ <br>https://noisetrade.com/ <br>https://www.jamendo.com/ <br>https://8tracks.com/ <br>https://www.indiesound.com/ <br>http://streamsquid.com/ <br>http://free-music-playlist.com/ <br>https://www.humbolt.rocks/ <br>https://www.orfium.com/ <br>https://fanburst.com/ <br>https://www.jango.com/ <br>http://groovesharks.org/ <br>https://audiocabin.com/ <br>https://www.di.fm/ <br>https://www.newsounds.org/ <br>https://www.akazoo.com/ <br>https://www.anghami.com/ <br>http://inprodicon.com/ <br>https://www.jtvdigital.com/ <br>https://www.kkbox.com/ <br>https://www.jiosaavn.com/ <br>http://www.touchtunes.com/ <br>http://feature.fm/ <br>https://audiomack.com/ <br>https://clyp.it/ <br>https://hearthis.at/ <br>https://www.datpiff.com/ <br>https://www.soundclick.com/ <br>https://www.damixhub.com/ <br>https://mymixtapez.com/ <br>https://rhythmic-rebellion.com/ <br>http://mpg.dnset.com/radio/ <br>http://musicmetropolis.co.uk/ <br>https://www.broadjam.com/ <br>https://artistrack.com/ <br>https://openmicartists.com/ <br>https://www.tradebit.com/ <br>http://www.touchtunes.com/ <br>https://www.slacker.com/ <br>https://www.jiosaavn.com/ <br>http://www.mndigital.com/ <br>https://music.line.me/ <br>https://www.kkbox.com/ <br>http://inprodicon.com/ <br>http://www.imusicacorp.com.br/ <br>https://www.7digital.com/<br>https://gimmeradio.com/<br>https://www.ursamusic.com/<br>https://www.cleartracks.com/<br>https://www.timbredio.com/</p>
<p><strong>Coin based platforms:</strong><br>https://musicoin.org/ <br>https://choon.co/ <br>https://emanate.live/ <br>https://www.emusic.com/ <br>http://www.bittunes.org/ <br>https://www.voise.com/ <br>https://ujomusic.com/ <br>https://atomcollectorrecords.com/</p>
<p> </p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/56441522019-02-14T22:44:17-05:002019-02-14T22:46:47-05:00Dirty money and the starving artist<table border="0"><tbody> <tr> <td><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/247015/ca055dcafdbdb717ccdd2aee822bc82484ea10e2/original/guitar-busker-2584186-large.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsImxhcmdlIl1d.jpg" class="size_l justify_left border_none" alt="" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>A new blog post on Music Think Tank that you can read here:</p>
<p><a contents="http://www.musicthinktank.com/blog/dirty-money-and-the-starving-artist.html" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.musicthinktank.com/blog/dirty-money-and-the-starving-artist.html" target="_blank">http://www.musicthinktank.com/blog/dirty-money-and-the-starving-artist.html</a></p> </td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
<table></table>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/55793602019-01-03T13:24:06-05:002022-07-19T18:53:33-04:00Does indie music really mean shitty music?<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="430" data-orig-width="640"><img src="https://66.media.tumblr.com/c37fb62b1a5e6bdc281c55deca92167a/tumblr_inline_pkrootf23D1ul1pg1_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="image" /></figure>
<p>I’ve heard it often: Indie music means bad sounding music, in other words, it’s shitty!</p>
<p>First, indie music is often confused with music recorded in a garage by inexperienced musicians with little or no knowledge of recording and mixing, and sometimes less than adequate equipment. </p>
<p>It’s also confused with a genre that would be some kind of lo-fi punk alternative.<br>This is why, more often than not, I would use the term “unsigned” rather than “indie” to talk about independent music, recorded by talented musicians and producers all around the globe, in every possible genres you can imagine.</p>
<p>Now, while it’s true that some of it can sound bad, it’s detrimental to think that all of it does, and I would argue that more and more, with the prices and quality of recording gear and digital audio workstations (DAW for short) being so affordable nowadays, and tons of resources on how to record and mix, the end result is getting better and better and more and more unsigned artists are producing quality music.</p>
<p>Still, there are some things that contributes to the myth:</p>
<p>1/ the fact that people are listening on devices that are less than adequate to get a good sound (phones, tablets and laptops speakers are not meant to be hi-fi, and even most bluetooth smart speakers are too often synonym of lo-fi, no bass, mono sound)</p>
<p>2/ streaming platforms and internet radios are using low rates* mp3 quality to air the music, this is because bandwidth has a cost, in terms of speed, and also in terms of prices when it comes to the power of computers able to sustain hundreds or thousands of listeners in a continuous stream. This power cost also translates directly to services costs that radios are subject to.</p>
<p>* streaming rate is measured in kbps, short for kilo bits per second, this is the amount of data that is used to reproduce the sound - the higher the better, up to 320 kbps which is the upper limit and almost lossless.</p>
<p>Now there is a reason why most streaming platforms (like SoundCloud, Spreaker, or even Spotify in their free tier) and most internet radios are streaming at 128 kbps mp3 or more. They have recognized that this is the absolute minimal limit when it comes to listenable quality. Anything under that rate is creating so much artifacts and distortion to the sound that it’s barely recognizable anymore.</p>
<p>Check out this example of a snippet compressed at 128 kbps and the same snippet compressed at 64 kbps. You will hear the enormous difference between the two, check out how muffled the 64 kbps mp3 sounds, how much the cymbals are drowned in a kind of swirling phase artifact, and how horrible this truly is, it’s even worse that cassettes were back in the 80s…<br>No matter what device you are using I bet you will be able to hear the difference!</p>
<p>You can go back and forth between two snippets in the player below (opens in a new tab/window):</p>
<p><a href="https://bandzoogle.com/albums/247015/886515866/973672.html" target="_blank">Compression comparison</a></p>
<p>To me the 64 kbps version is hardly listenable. I wouldn't want my music to sound this bad, I bet most indie artists will agree.</p>
<p>Anyway, when you’ll hear a shitty sound don’t just assume the source music itself has been poorly recorded and mixed, check that the streaming rates you are served are not below the minimum of 128 kbps, I and every unsigned artists striving to produce great sounding records will thank you!</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/54755082018-10-18T15:29:39-04:002021-06-26T04:17:38-04:00The indie radios dilemma<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="615" data-orig-width="922"><img src="https://66.media.tumblr.com/52c34da571d36c77ec8b35f890e62f9c/tumblr_inline_pgt4nx1eIO1ul1pg1_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="image" /></figure>
<p>On Facebook today, I read the post of an indie radio owner asking an interesting question, and as much as I wanted to reply directly, I thought there were many aspects to this that couldn’t be summed up in a simple reply to his post.</p>
<p>The question was along the line of “is it fair some play by the rules while others advance by flying under the radar?“ This was referring to the fact that this particular radio was licensed (a laudable move, really, and much appreciated by the artists being played there) and was competing against others who aren’t, and thus are playing music without paying a dime of royalties. This is more common than you would think, whether it’s actual 24/7 radios or simple podcasts.</p>
<p>The thing is that these radios/podcasts are telling artists that they can’t afford paying any royalties, but that this is exposure anyway. That’s right. It’s the good old “<a contents="exposure bucks" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://ghostlybeard.com/blog/blog/exposing-the-exposure">exposure bucks</a>” yet again! Now as much as I don’t like the idea of radios using that trick, I believe there are 2 distinct kind of radios that are in this case.</p>
<h4>Case 1 / the crooks:</h4>
<p>I’ve <a contents="already written" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://ghostlybeard.com/blog/blog/exposing-the-exposure">already written</a> about how artists should pay very close attention to the terms and conditions, and licensing/rights grants that some radios are running under. Whenever you submit your music somewhere, you need to be aware of these terms and conditions, and if you ever read things like “<i>You grant xxx <strong>WORLD-WIDE, ROYALTY FREE, IRREVOCABLE, PERPETUAL</strong> license, … to <strong>use, copy, modify, publish, edit, translate, transmit, publicly display, publicly perform</strong> … <strong>SUBLICENSE </strong>such rights through <strong>MULTIPLE TIERS</strong> of sublicenses … <strong>without any obligation to you</strong>, whether by way of compensation, attribution or otherwise … applies to any form, media, or technology now known or hereafter developed.</i>” (this is taken from real terms of use from a real “platform” in case you’re wondering) then you know 2 things:<br>1/ these guys actually paid a lawyer to make sure they will own your music and will be able to do anything they want with it,<br>2/ they will profit from your music and you will not. Sometimes they ask you to click a checkbox saying you agree to these terms which are usually miles long and in fine prints, sometimes they will even send you a PDF to sign and return.<br>In any case, you know you don’t want to go there.</p>
<h4>Case 2 / the little guys</h4>
<p>Here is the little guy in his garage, who is passionate about music, and effectively doesn’t have any money to pay royalties, doesn’t have any sponsor and is doing it on his free time for the love of it. He might not have such a reach anyway, and there’s not even any terms or conditions to be found on his site, he might not even know of his obligations. Now, I know it’s not an excuse, but I consider that it’s different from case 1 and that he’s not really a big threat to you. Most likely his reach will not be that big and he will probably not bullshit you about the exposure, he just wants to play some music. In this case, I’d say why not? I mean it’s really up to you to see if you want to support this little guy or not. Because that’s what you will be doing by submitting your music to him, and maybe pointing some fans to his show. Perhaps later if this guy gets bigger, will you poke him gently and tell him that he should do the right thing...</p>
<h4>Case 3 / the monsters</h4>
<p>Now, as much as I hate the scammers of case 1, and how they will undoubtedly misuse your music and profit from you one way or another, it’s not even close to the biggest crooks of them all, the streaming platforms. The one that actually make billions of profit for their shareholders when artists see pennies, you know the ones… And yet, unsigned artists pay (via distribution platforms) to be featured there, and expect the famous exposure bucks that are really nothing more than a pipe dream, when these platform’s "search and discover" algorithm are bend towards the mainstream and big labels’ music.</p>
<p>So I believe the most immediate threat to indie radios are not the little guys, not even the scammers, although they could be perceived as such, but really these monsters who are hell bent on creating a monopoly and dictate what you should listen.</p>
<h4>AM/FM</h4>
<p>And BTW there’s another thing to know about internet radios competitors: did you know that in the US, terrestrial broadcasters (AM or FM stations) do not pay performers or sound recording copyright owners; they only pay the songwriters. That’s another unfair advantage that works against indie internet stations.</p>
<h4>The MMA</h4>
<p>Now will the Music Modernization Act that just passed as law in the US make a difference there?<br>Not in the slightest.<br>There are indications that a lot of unclaimed royalties (for songs which are not registered directly with the US Copyright Office) will go to a black box that will later be redistributed based on market share, meaning that the 3 big labels will get the lion share again. They will also have a seat on the non-profit government agency that will create the database related to the owners of the mechanical license of sound recordings, so they will have little incentive to find the authors of these unclaimed royalties, because in the end it will go in their pocket.</p>
<h4>The NOIs</h4>
<p>It was already the case with millions of address unknown NOIs (Notice Of Intent of usage) filed by streaming services, which are cases where these services claim they didn’t find the owner of a song they use. There is actually <a contents="a search tool" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://noi.sx-works.com/login" target="_blank">a search tool</a> you can use to search this database (you'd have to register there, but it's free to use) You will see that Spotify for example can’t always find Ed Sheeran or Bruno Mars or The Beatles. Doesn’t seem to me they are looking very hard…. Do you think they will put much effort in finding Ghostly Beard??? (Turns out I have a few NOI in there!).</p>
<h4>Show me the money!</h4>
<p>Finally, one final fact that is troubling about the internet radios licensing. After being played on some of these radio who claim to pay royalties , I have yet to receive one cent from SoundExchange or SOCAN, and this is a year and a half after releasing my first EP which was widely played… So what’s up with that? </p>
<p>My guess is that although the radios are paying the royalties, these are just going into another giant pot and redistributed based on market share again. If that’s not the case, then I should at least have seen records of what’s been played even if it did earn me portions of a cent…</p>
<p>So where does the money go?</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/54669622018-10-12T13:42:45-04:002018-10-12T13:45:28-04:00Deconstructed<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="605" data-orig-width="1079"><img src="https://66.media.tumblr.com/65a8827c350cd1d4d747caeff2441d9c/tumblr_inline_pghxs1Dstc1ul1pg1_540.png" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></figure>
<p>Tomorrow, Saturday, October 12, at 3 pm EST, I’ll launch a new series of videos on my YouTube channel called “Deconstructed”. From then on, every Saturday there will be a new video.</p>
<p>The idea is to take very well known songs from very well known bands and artists of many genres and many era and listen to the multi-tracks to discover how this was recorded, what makes them sound good and also talk about a few production/songwriting tips and tricks that anyone recording could use to make their song better. So we’re really going to be deconstructing songs, track by track and listen to what’s been recorded in detail.</p>
<p>This should interest indie artists, producers, engineers, but also any curious music lover, as I intend to let people hear things they might not have noticed in these recordings and point out why this makes a difference, and how it worked within the context of the song.</p>
<p>Now, some might say that it doesn’t go well with my fight against streaming platforms… after all, YouTube is the biggest one of them, and the one who’s paying the less in royalties. But I consider YouTube as a video channel more than anything, and a great platform for learning, and this is what this series is going to be about… whether it’s a fun fact, or a detail in a song you’ve never noticed although you know the song by heart, or about some tips for recording and mixing, it’s a way to share my love of this music that has been part of my life and most likely yours too. </p>
<p>Anyway, the bands and artists will get any little royalties coming from their “deconstructed” songs, because these videos will most likely be monetized on their behalf (or their label’s). Some videos might be taken down from label’s DMCA, and if so, I’ll possibly put them on a private site, with a password protection, so that people really interested will still be able to access later. We’ll see how it goes.</p>
<p>In any case, I hope you will like this new series, whether you’re just curious about music, or serious about learning of songwriting/production.</p>
<p>So don’t forget to subscribe <a data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/c/ghostlybeard?sub_confirmation=1" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/c/ghostlybeard</a> and hit that “bell” button to be notified each week when a new video comes up!</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/53631762018-07-26T17:45:47-04:002018-07-29T18:28:35-04:00The power of non-power chords<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/247015/a91022669b28186331b59c5bf526284db51c34fc/original/indie-music-bus-logo-full-color.png/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_none border_" /></p>
<p>A guest post on Indie Music Bus that you can read here:</p>
<p><a contents="https://indiemusicbus.com/the-power-of-non-power-chords-by-ghostlybeard/" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://indiemusicbus.com/the-power-of-non-power-chords-by-ghostlybeard/" target="_blank">https://indiemusicbus.com/the-power-of-non-power-chords-by-ghostlybeard/</a></p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/53630952018-07-25T18:00:00-04:002018-07-26T17:44:00-04:00Apocalypse, altruism and the future of music<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/247015/c0f61448198c475a35dee3a456d1724f6f00df91/original/happy-logo.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_none border_" /></p>
<p>A joint interview/conversation with Rods Bobavitch, that you can read on Happy Mag here:</p>
<p><a contents="https://hhhhappy.com/the-future-of-music-apocalypse-or-altruism/" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://hhhhappy.com/the-future-of-music-apocalypse-or-altruism/" target="_blank">https://hhhhappy.com/the-future-of-music-apocalypse-or-altruism/</a></p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/53592662018-07-23T22:06:06-04:002018-07-23T22:07:03-04:00Strange discovery at the Louvres<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="1920" data-orig-width="1433"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/f2dfc5ca3f2ee67595a7bcd1abb6a576/tumblr_inline_pccl2gAMtO1ul1pg1_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></figure>
<p>The Mona Lisa’s smile has always puzzled historians and searchers, who have extrapolated many theories about the identity of the mysterious Gioconda.</p>
<p>This week another piece might have been discovered by a group of engineers who experimented with a new technique called “quantum displacement”. This basically agitate atoms at the quantum level to reveal hidden pattern, a technique that is still relatively new but has already had a few success, revealing for example the silhouette of a a fourteenth character in another famous Leonardo’s painting, “The Supper”…</p>
<p>This time the team has projected their quantum beam on the Mona Lisa, and what has been revealed is now the subject of many new theories… What is this mysterious shape under the painting? Is that a beard? A ghost? A UFO? A mask? An alien? Who knows? Will we ever be able to decipher the riddle?</p>
<p>Another hidden clue seem to have been found (as seen above) with the mysterious “GB WAS HERE” message on the lady’s mantel lapel. Perhaps a message from Giovanni Battista, a famous musician, friend of Leonardo at the time, who’s well know to have opposed the streaming giants of the time, Spotificanti, Gioggli and Appolo.</p>
<p>Hopefully as the historians and scientists are working on more clues we’ll learn more about this soon.</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/53494202018-07-17T08:35:29-04:002018-07-17T08:39:43-04:00Aurora Borealis reveals strange pattern<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="477" data-orig-width="900"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/273fd8a3bf302c03a254fe8e83d8c7e0/tumblr_inline_pbyvo9rb8I1ul1pg1_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="image" /></figure>
<p>In an extraordinary turn of event, the site of Giza's pyramids was the center of an incredible weather oddity, but what this lead to is even more astounding and baffles the entire world.</p>
<p>The phenomenon occurred on Saturday, July 14th as everyone was gazing at the stars during that night. A tourist noticed a strange pattern forming on one face of the Great Pyramid and took this amazing picture, which quickly went viral and piqued the curiosity of many in the scientist community, spreading various conspiracy theories, even used by UFO proponents as proof of an imminent invasion.</p>
<p>Witnesses on the spot also spoke about and eerie feeling, some talked about strange distortions of their field of vision and many said that some soothing sounds were emanating from the pattern…</p>
<p> A team of scientist has been sent to Egypt by the U.N. to study the pattern to try and find its origin.</p>
<p>According to Sarah Talbot, head of the department of Egyptian mysteries at the University of Montreal, the discovery had been made possible by the unusual ionization of the atmosphere during this exceptional aurora, a phenomenon so rare that it might take a few centuries before it appears again in this region… </p>
<p>“It’s a chance someone took pictures of the phenomenon from that angle, allowing the pattern to be seen for the first time in millennia…”, said the excited scientist, “now it’s up to the scientist community to study this major finding and ponder its significance. For now we are left to conjectures of course, but I would gather that it will shed a new light to the mysteries of the pyramids and lead to new revelations soon!”</p>
<p>No doubt there will be more news to come, so stay tuned!</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/53312062018-07-04T15:52:03-04:002018-07-04T16:07:51-04:00Article 13, MMA, are we confused yet?<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="335" data-orig-width="670"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/403afba237fecec606188e284a139a14/tumblr_inline_pbcvdhe5VV1ul1pg1_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></figure>
<p>There’s a lot of talks in the unsigned world, and indeed in the world in general about two proposed pieces of law that could be changing some rules in the music industry. </p>
<p>Now I’m not a lawyer so I have a hard time, like the majority of us, to understand all the fine prints and hundred pages of articles these proposed law changes are supposed to accomplish, but I’m trying hard to follow these things, because I believe that they are crucial to the future of recorded music in this world which has short changed creators in favor of Silicon Valley mega corporations.</p>
<p>First the <strong>Music Modernization Act</strong>, or MMA for short, which is a US Bill that comprises several pieces of legislation, mainly the <strong>MMA</strong>, the <strong>AMP</strong> act and the <strong>CLASSIC</strong> act. It has first been unanimously voted by the House of Representatives, and is now under scrutiny by the US Senate (which just released several amendments).</p>
<p>The MMA has been widely acclaimed as a necessary and important step in the right direction to clarify and standardize copyrights licensing of music and the various entities that are involved in managing publishers and mechanical rights. Problem is that this bill, from what I could read, is far from perfect and leaves some big gaps that streaming platforms in particular are going to exploit to further down their influence and wealth at the expense of creators, which is why I believe it’s a first step (although a possibly evil one in some details), and hopefully not the end of it… There is for example a problem with the minority of artists representation, when labels and streaming platforms have double the ranks when taking decisions. Then there is this proposal of a black box, that is going to hold unclaimed copyrights revenue, which will later be distributed based on market share to labels. Problem is that this creates a situation where the holders of this big pot will have no incentive to find the right owners, one could even say they will have every incentive not to find them, thus spoiling further the unsigned artists who are misrepresented and lack the legal power to enforce their rights.</p>
<p>So, as of now, this MMA bill, is both a blessing and a curse for unsigned artists, because it will regulate some of the Wild West situation in the US when it comes to copyrights, but will also create a new situation (that labels and streaming platform will deem ideal, of course) where they might have even less chances to get compensated correctly. If you are outside of the US, you might think this doesn’t affect you, but if you are a modern musician, chances are that you release your music worldwide, so this will affect your royalties anyway.</p>
<p>Now comes the <strong>Article 13</strong>, which is a EU directive that could affect the way some platforms have been hiding behind a “safe harbor” outdated law to avoid licensing costs or pay a lot less than others. Google/Youtube in particular, which is by far the biggest music platform, has been using this for 20 years to create an empire based on copyrights infringements.</p>
<p>Turns out that not that long ago, an Austrian court found Youtube liable for doing the very thing that they deny doing and that would give them the right to hide behind this safe harbor: they filter, edit, link, transform content every second of every day. They even have in place a system called Content ID that allows them to identify anything you post and monetize it, by putting ads on your videos. They hide behind DMCA rules, which puts the responsibilities of right owners to issue a take down notice when finding an infringement, when they should be held liable for the content they filter, edit, link and transform. Send a take down notice to Youtube and the content will possibly disappear, but will reappear the next day and Youtube will do nothing about it, in fact it will monetize it and make money out of it…</p>
<p>Following this Austrian ruling (which Youtube will most likely appeal), the European Commission has pushed further their Article 13 proposal, which aims to abolish in the EU the safe harbor for platforms that are clearly making editorial decision and are not just “transparent” user platforms. Of course Google/Youtube right now is pushing everyone with its enormous lobbying power (whether openly or under many disguises) to call out their MEP to vote against this directive…</p>
<p>Behind this directive though, many artists defense organizations, and even high profile artists are standing to support what could be a game changer in ending the value gap that YouTube has been exploiting for 20 years now, and has ripped off so many rights holders, among them unsigned artists being the most fragile and endangered of all, as they are being swept out as collateral damage for the good of the Silicon Valley monopoly.</p>
<p>You will read from Google subsidies that Article 13 is a danger to freedom of expression (which is the old claim that pirates have always held dear), or that this will kill internet memes, and other nonsense like that, when the article is including all sorts of provisions to ensure this is not the case. I believe the Google lobbying machine has no shame spreading lies to keep milking their golden goose, and they do so under many disguises.</p>
<p>I advise all songwriters and creators to look closer at the real content of these 2 pieces of law with objectivity and try not be influenced by the lobbying campaigns the various stakeholders are pushing at us. It’s time to open our eyes and fight for our artistic rights!</p>
<p><i>* In this post, I’ve left the links out because there are too many to choose from, a simple search in your preferred search engine (try something else than Google for a change and you’ll see different results, funnily enough, especially when it comes to Article 13, which menaces to take down their beloved safe harbor).</i><br> </p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/52951312018-06-14T08:59:58-04:002022-05-06T16:42:46-04:00Exposing the exposure<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="451" data-orig-width="608"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/573b777cc7074071e2507bf689b0a6da/tumblr_inline_paa7mn2l131ul1pg1_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="image" /></figure>
<p>If you are into any kind of arts related circles, you’re bound to have encountered the mythic <b>exposure bucks</b>: It’s the kind of money that is offered by promoter/scam artists who want to use your art for no payment at all. Of course, by doing so they will themselves get some money, sometimes even asking you for it! </p>
<p>Now that’s an offer that is hard to refuse, right? You get “exposure bucks” for a few dollars (or euros, or pounds or whatever your <b>real money</b> is). The rate is always fluctuating, and is set by the “promoters” themselves, it’s almost like <a data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://ghostlybeard.com/blog/blog/beware-of-the-coin-men" target="_self">crypto currency</a>, and it’s been around even before that crypto scam was invented! And nowhere more than in the unsigned music world is it more prevalent.</p>
<p>It’s hard to navigate the unsigned world, but it gets even harder as soon as you encounter these people who will send you emails and private messages on social media, telling you about their “wonderful” opportunities, when it so happens that they have a promotion for you! (That’s right! They always have a fantastic/brand new promotion just for you!). </p>
<p>But I would be very wary of anyone contacting you to “promote” your music. Spoiler alert: This is NOT how it works!</p>
<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="315" data-orig-width="475"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/723d8c5289604a3147f4590196c2939d/tumblr_inline_paa91kRA3X1ul1pg1_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="image" /></figure>
<p>Now of course these con artists are just a little nuisance compared to the more greedy and powerful of them all: the streaming platforms. These platforms who manage to make you believe that they are going to pay more in the future (I actually heard some artists believing and repeating that!), when <b>simple arithmetic</b> will tell you that it’s simply <b>not possible</b>: the rate they pay is primarily based on what the average song value is, which is itself based on the number of songs they have in their catalog divided by the number of paying subscribers they have (minus all the expense they have, which are big, including royal payments to themselves). </p>
<p>Problem is that <a href="http://ajournalofmusicalthings.com/youll-be-stunned-at-how-many-songs-are-added-to-streaming-music-services-every-day-i-was/" target="_blank">EVERY DAY more than 24000 new songs</a> are added to streaming platforms, and although they are adding new subscribers most of them are free listeners or get some kind of discount, so of course these corporations keep hemorrhaging money in every corner. How do you think their rates are going to get higher? Is that magical thinking from desperate artists? No, of course not, because this is where the mighty <b>exposure bucks</b> come to the rescue! Yay!</p>
<p>They will just tell you that you shouldn’t look at the money anyway… <br>No, really! You should take into account the exposure they allow you to get. What with their millions of people listening, eh? Now that would be so true if their algorithms were not meant to discard you little ones in favor of the big ones from the big labels that they push on top of every searches. If they didn’t have big ties with labels to push the same artists on all their playlists. That might be true if the vast majority of the listeners weren’t listening to the same decades old catalog.</p>
<p>In the end, it still comes down to this: whether they are little con artists or big crooks, it’s really up to you to say no to exposure bucks, because one thing is for sure, you won’t be able to pay your rent with these.</p>
<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="512" data-orig-width="696"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/09d27ae8f1dc80954737aa9d2034c81e/tumblr_inline_paa92z8pTz1ul1pg1_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="image" /></figure>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/52420972018-05-17T23:33:25-04:002020-03-25T20:28:00-04:00Beware of the coin men!<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="690" data-orig-width="1496"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/4feeb0d6358d77e55846f74d427f3012/tumblr_inline_p8wgn1RoAK1ul1pg1_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="image" /></figure>
<p>I’ve been reading about Blockchain lately… You’ve probably heard of it, at least you must have heard of Bitcoin, and have heard the latest crypto babble that the media enjoys so much. After all a good jargon is the wet dream of every journalist.</p>
<p>Now this technology is supposed to be the remedy to everything… Yes! Even the music industry! And well, if it can cure that, surely it will cure cancer!</p>
<h3><strong>Enter Musicoin and co</strong></h3>
<p>In the unsigned world, I see some people rave about <b><a href="https://musicoin.org/" target="_blank">Musicoin</a> </b>for example, and how this wonderful platform is going to pay out more than any streaming platform and materialize money out of thin air, without any ads, while still being <b>totally free for listeners</b>. That’s pure magic or I don’t know what!</p>
<p>Turns out that Musicoin is only one of the many new platforms with more white paper than sense, apparently. (Boy! Do they love their white papers! They are all chock full of technical jargon that is mostly included to confuse you even more than you were). Digging a bit, without too much effort, I then found out about other platforms like <a href="https://www.artbyte.me/" target="_blank">Artbyte</a>, <a href="http://soundchain.org/" target="_blank">Soundchain</a>, <a href="https://emanate.live/" target="_blank">Emanate</a>, <a href="https://token.emusic.com/" target="_blank">eMusic</a>, <a href="http://www.bittunes.org/" target="_blank">Bittunes,</a> <a href="https://www.voise.com/" target="_blank">Voise</a>, <a contents="Choon" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.choon.co/" target="_blank">Choon</a>, <a href="https://ujomusic.com/" target="_blank">Ujo </a>(this one is funny, with Imogen Heap herself having released her “<a href="https://davidgerard.co.uk/blockchain/imogen-heap-tiny-human-total-sales-133-20/" target="_blank">Tiny Human</a>” song which sales amounted to a grand total of $133.20!) plus all these exotic new “currencies” dedicated to music like <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/musicoin/" target="_blank">Musicoin </a>but also <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/audiocoin/" target="_blank">Audiocoin</a>, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/songcoin/" target="_blank">Songcoin</a>, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/metal-music-coin/" target="_blank">Metal Music Coin</a>, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/bitshares-music/" target="_blank">Muse</a>, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/beatcoin/" target="_blank">Beatcoin</a>… looks like they invent a new coin every day. Check out <a href="https://www.tokenpedia.com/" target="_blank">this website</a> which references 1916 of these entries (as of today anyway!) Actually there is even a <a href="https://www.blockchainappfactory.com/cryptocurrency-development" target="_blank">platform </a>that allows anyone to create their own! <b>Time for a BeardCoin?</b></p>
<p>My first contact with Musicoin was from links that some indie enthusiasts were sharing. Being curious I tried to listen, but the player would never want to play, so I went to the website and it looked rather messy to me. Not a really good impression overall. But OK. That’s another beta platform, right? <insert big sigh here></p>
<p>Since their claim to being able to pay a decent amount per play was pretty extra-ordinary, I decided I would dig further… But I’m going to tell you straight up: I didn’t like what I found. At all.</p>
<h3><strong>Monkey money, monkey business</strong></h3>
<p>First, the value of Musicoin is in fact so <b>fluctuant </b>that what you read on their platform about the supposed earnings of the artists is never even close to reality. You see, first you have to exchange $MUSIC currency into another more accepted crypto currency (Like Bitcoin or Ethereum), using a convoluted process involving trading on a coin market or another (there are only a couple that can do this at the moment). The process is so ridiculously complex, involving installing a wallet application on your PC, opening an account on a couple trading sites, juggling with obscure hashes and calculating decimals, and gauging whether the time is right to “sell” your precious coins, that only seriously chronic nerds are going to want to go near it. I’m not joking, see this <a href="https://steemit.com/musicoin/@grizzle/tutorial-how-to-convert-your-musicoins-into-steem" target="_blank"><b>tutorial</b></a>.</p>
<h3><strong>The real cost of Blockchain</strong></h3>
<p>The recommended process to ultimately withdraw your few Musicoin earnings is to trade them first against Bitcoin. Of course you will have to pay big fees to do so because the computing of your transaction involves a lot of computers in a pool, and it gets increasingly more complex as days go by, involving increasingly more processing power, and ultimately, increasingly more electricity. Fact is, Bitcoin today is already <a href="https://grist.org/article/bitcoins-energy-use-got-studied-and-you-libertarian-nerds-look-even-worse-than-usual/" target="_blank"><b>using 0.5% of the world’s electricity</b></a> and by late next year, will be <b>consuming more electricity than can be produced by the entire world solar panels</b>. Let this all sink in for a moment. </p>
<p>And then of course, once you get your Bitcoins fractions, you will have to trade them again on another coin market into some real money, which means a lot more transaction fees (up to 50% from what I’ve seen) and a lot more electricity consumption…</p>
<h3><strong>Techno magic</strong></h3>
<p>Reading further on the Blockchain craziness, it turns out there is a lot of approximation and misinformation around (but of course there is, it’s a big buzzword in the press, and most journalists have no clue about the underlying technological issues, which are apparently numerous). I also found some articles that took to debunk all this hype, for example <a href="http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2018/05/emusic-dont-go-blockchain-david-gerard.html" target="_blank"><b>this one</b></a> about eMusic (a Musicoin competitor). Let’s just say that I don’t have all the background that this guy has, but I have the general feeling again (thanks Mom, wherever you are!) that when something looks too good to be true, it generally is! Anyway, the guy wrote a book about the Blockchain scam.</p>
<p>So, to sum up: you get your tunes on a platform that’s pretty buggy (it’s <b>beta</b>), people are going to listen to them <b>for free</b>, you get paid <b>virtual coins</b> that you need to exchange against <b>other virtual coins</b> using a complex process, opening many accounts on <b>various platforms</b>, leaving more of your <b>private information</b> everywhere, <b>trade on a virtual market</b> that is bound to spiral down when all is said and done (remember the internet bubble burst? I do) and is consuming electricity at an <b>exponential rate</b>, which will ultimately eat all our planet resources… what’s wrong with this picture?</p>
<h3><strong>The worst of it</strong></h3>
<p>All of this and I still have another issue with this whole thing. And it’s another big one: turns out that this whole mess is again making everyone believe that it’s perfectly normal to listen to music for free, that no one needs to pay for it. Aren’t we all tired of this refrain?</p>
<p>If the fact that it’s all based on more hype and technological magic than reality, the fact that it’s unsustainable long term, the fact that it’s endangering our planet resources, if all of that wasn’t bad enough they are also basically saying that music is not worth paying for. </p>
<p>Finally, the terms of use pertaining to license grants on most of these new platforms were alarmingly similar to the ones I advised everyone to <a contents="stay away from" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://ghostlybeard.com/blog/blog/license-to-steal" target="_self">stay away from</a>…</p>
<p>In conclusion, you know what? I wish you all good luck with this, but you can count me out. I mean until they come out with something really significant of course, like a <b>BeardCoin</b> for example, at which point I might trade my Monopoly money for it.</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/53631942018-05-15T17:50:00-04:002018-07-26T17:48:42-04:00Ghostly Beard talks production and song-writing<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/247015/6f6d94dd1442e30acc509435c8d733a357b3bdf5/original/unsignedchatlogo.jpg/!!/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_none border_" /></p>
<p>A guest post on the Unsigned Chat blog that you can find here:</p>
<p><a contents="https://unsignedchat.weebly.com/blog/ghostly-beard-talks-production-and-songwriting" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://unsignedchat.weebly.com/blog/ghostly-beard-talks-production-and-songwriting" target="_blank">https://unsignedchat.weebly.com/blog/ghostly-beard-talks-production-and-songwriting</a></p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/52276352018-05-10T20:55:38-04:002018-05-13T14:34:29-04:00License to steal<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="700" data-orig-width="1049"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/99942e96c512b8dd2a47236d345f3267/tumblr_inline_p8jez77HDU1ul1pg1_540.png" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="image" /></figure>
<p>The indie world is full of wonders! No, really! Every day, if you are an unsigned artist, you will get at least a dozen of marvelous opportunities in your mailbox, or via social media private messages… It’s amazing how everyone wants you on their platforms or radio, amazing how many people want to promote your music, and bring you in front of millions of potential fans!</p>
<p>Turns out that all of these so called opportunities are click baits and you will soon learn that for the discounted price of $$$ (they accept Paypal!) you will be the new star of a social media no man’s land, guaranteed!</p>
<p>I must be getting old, because I will repeat what my mama used to say: when it sounds too good to be true, it usually is! That’s right, if you look closer, all of these wonderful opportunities turn out to not much… but hey, they are at a discounted price!</p>
<p>If you are new to this business, you will quickly learn to discard all these scams, they are not that hard to distinguish, really!</p>
<p>What might be a bit harder to wrap your head around are the countless platforms and radios who are not asking money upfront. You might think: “Great! These are not the scammers, finally! These are real genuine music lovers and they are going to help me reach an audience”.</p>
<p>Now is the right time to read the fine prints. </p>
<p>They usually have that kind of things on a form you will need to sign or agree to when you submit, or as a “terms of use” on their website. Don’t skip that reading! There’s a lot of boring boiler plate stuff, but there’s usually a paragraph about Intellectual Property, or Ownership, or License, or License Grant, or something that defines who owns what, and what you agree to when submitting as pertaining to your content.</p>
<p><b>USER TERMS - LICENSE</b></p>
<p>Here’s one of these paragraph, taken randomly from a radio website (that shall remain unnamed - XXX below -, but believe me, there are countless of the same clauses in the “terms of use” everywhere on a big majority of these platforms and radios), so here is just one example:</p>
<p><i>“With respect to any Content posted by or in connection with the Products and Services, you hereby grant XXX a <b>WORLD-WIDE, ROYALTY FREE, IRREVOCABLE, PERPETUAL license</b>, alone or together or as part of other information, Content and/or material of any kind or nature, to <b>use, copy, modify, publish, edit, translate, transmit, publicly display, publicly perform</b>, and otherwise <b>EXPLOIT </b>such Content (specifically including through <b>streaming, podcasting, online/broadcast and satellite radio, suggested playlists and user playlists,</b> but specifically excluding through phonograph records), to publish and promote such Content in connection with the particular Products and Services (including, <b>without limitation</b>, for advertising and promotional purposes), to publish and promote such Content <b>elsewhere </b>within XXX or any other XXX website through links to XXX, and to <b>SUBLICENSE such rights through multiple tiers of sublicenses</b>, all <b>without any obligation to you</b>, whether by <b>way of compensation, attribution or otherwise</b>. Such license shall apply with respect to <b>any form, media, or technology</b> now known <b>or hereafter developed.</b>”</i></p>
<p>I have highlighted here the part that they especially DON’T want you to pay too close attention to. Read it again. Let it sink in!</p>
<p>What this basically says is that you are granting these people the <b>perpetual, irrevocable</b> right to do <b>anything they want with your music,</b> to use as they see fit on their platform/radio or any other that they might be affiliated to and might create later. They might use it and license it somewhere else, without your knowledge and you will have no recourse against that. <b>They will have NO obligation to you, not even the obligation to say that this is YOUR music</b>. In short, it’s the good old “all your data are belong to us” again!</p>
<p>So I suggest you read all these “term of use” very closely. Each time you submit your music somewhere. You might have already submitted somewhere with these kinds of terms. I’m pretty sure you did, because they are everywhere. Now is time to think of how much you want that supposed exposure, are you prepare to forfeit your rights to your own music <b>perpetually </b>and <b>irrevocably</b>? What kind of compensation will you actually get from it?</p>
<p>So, again, think long and hard about where you put your music, because otherwise one of these days you will realize that they might not have a license to kill, but you might have granted them a license to steal!</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/51972922018-04-23T11:30:14-04:002019-12-04T14:21:26-05:00How much is fair?<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="654" data-orig-width="1000"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/b576c5a11686f6fee7f1eb4f2ee0f315/tumblr_inline_p7k0mhjGeK1ul1pg1_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="image" /></figure>
<p>On twitter this week, <a href="https://indiemusicbus.com/" target="_blank">Indie Music Bus</a> asked an interesting question to artists: What do you think is a fair amount of money to stream 1 of your songs?</p>
<p>I thought about it and I will try to elaborate my reasoning here.</p>
<p>Let’s say the average number of plays for someone buying one of your tune on iTunes or others at a price of $1 (let’s forget the taxes and such to make this simpler) is about 50. That’s a generous number, because I would think that most people will get bored with your tune before hearing it fifty times, some songs might get more love, but most would get less, so let’s keep it simple again, even if this is a gross exaggeration…</p>
<p>Now let’s say that on average the artist gets 50% of the $1. Again that would be an average, because if you sell on your own site, you will get 100%, on Bandcamp you would earn 85% on iTunes, around 35%. So it really depends where you would have sold the song in the first place… But let’s say that you get 50%… this means that you should get $0.5 for about a 50 plays, right?</p>
<p>So to me, the logical, basic, common sense answer on the artist side is $0.5/50 = $0.01 per stream… Now, compare that to the average (ponderated among <a href="https://informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/spotify-apple-music-tidal-music-streaming-services-royalty-rates-compared/" target="_blank">all streaming platforms</a>) of $0.0016 and you will see that we’re far from what would be considered fair right now.</p>
<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="395" data-orig-width="669"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/66b4df004e2405b2c9b49d74c527510c/tumblr_inline_p7n9ltjajo1ul1pg1_540.png" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></figure>
<p>You would say: but these streaming platforms have servers and development costs, employees to pay, offices to rent, etc. Of course! And I would never imply that they shouldn’t take their cut and cover their expenses and costs.</p>
<p>But let’s take Spotify for example: because they keep offering freemium subscriptions (which they have said <a href="https://work.qz.com/1218831/spotify-is-doubling-down-on-an-unprofitable-strategy-as-it-prepares-to-go-public/" target="_blank">will increase</a>), spend their money on <a href="https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Employer=Spotify/Salary" target="_blank">huge paychecks</a> and <a href="https://uproxx.com/music/spotify-office-lease-566-million-dollars/" target="_blank">royal accommodations</a> while losing <a href="https://www.statista.com/chart/4894/spotify-revenue-vs-costs/" target="_blank">millions of dollars</a> and letting <a href="https://qz.com/1212330/a-bulgarian-scheme-scammed-spotify-for-1-million-without-breaking-a-single-law/" target="_blank">scams</a> undermine their own business model, it looks like their cut is never going to be enough. And this is why they are paying <a href="https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2017/05/16/spotify-audiam-low-rates/" target="_blank">less and less royalties</a>, use <a href="https://musictechpolicy.com/2018/03/18/you-cant-find-what-you-dont-look-for-google-cant-find-the-beatles/" target="_blank">loopholes and lies</a> to avoid paying royalties and <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/wixens-16-billion-spotify-lawsuit-what-you-need-to-know-w514878" target="_blank">are sued for not paying</a> altogether… </p>
<p>It’s hard to believe that they are acting towards making things right, nor that they have the will to do so in any foreseeable future. I don’t see streaming platforms in general working towards paying artists fairly, quite the contrary, and because of that, I believe we, artists, should not support them in any way.</p>
<p>So in the end, before asking what’s fair for artists, perhaps we should start exposing how unfair the current situation is and make every music lover aware of it.</p>
<p>EDIT: also check out this article on ConsumersAdvocate.org comparing the "Best streaming services" that has some interesting facts about "<a contents="Fairness in royalties payments" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.consumersadvocate.org/music-streaming-services#toc-fairness-in-royalty-payments" target="_blank">Fairness in royalties payments</a>"</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/51780042018-04-12T12:40:54-04:002020-05-27T10:35:30-04:00Questions, questions<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="304" data-orig-width="636"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/732023a6f2d5908a0fcdfe3b8df14335/tumblr_inline_p72y8jAwcv1ul1pg1_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></figure>
<p>Since I’ve started this thing on social media and reached out to many people in the unsigned world, I’ve virtually “met” countless passionate individuals both sides of the mic.</p>
<p>I’ve been interviewed a few times, and each time I enjoyed the conversation, as much as I hope people listening or reading have enjoyed it…</p>
<p>Still I’ve always felt that I needed to know more about the one behind the mic or the email, because as much as it’s fun to be asked questions about your passion, it’s also a bit frustrating because it only goes one way.</p>
<p>So I’ve started thinking (yes, this happens to me sometimes, I try to reduce that to a minimum, I assure you!), and came to the conclusion that I would like to reverse the roles for a moment, basically interview the interviewers… Not quite sure yet what form this will take, could be a written interview via email, or a Skype conversation, and it could be published in writing or as a podcast, or both.</p>
<p>I’ll probably need to add yet another section to this website which is becoming a monster hub of many things (hopefully fun!), but I think it would be nice to hear about these people that I call partners: Radio hosts, bloggers, promoters, etc… How they got the bug, how they started, how they operate, what are their goals and ambitions, what they think about the state of the music industry… I believe there are a lot of subjects that could be discussed and this could shine a light on those unsung heroes of the unsigned world.</p>
<p>What do you think? Do you have any suggestions? Are you a partner that would like to give this a try? Let me know in the comments below…</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/51312032018-03-15T23:37:44-04:002018-03-23T09:04:09-04:00Piracy vs streaming<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/247015/78eede443a9b5390ba9baa6fc27f9072a98e6eb3/original/chartoftheday-8910-prevalence-of-music-piracy-n.jpg" class="size_orig justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>One of the argument I hear often about the marvelous benefits of streaming is how it has been the music industry savior, after the Napster years of generalized piracy which killed the cash cow that labels were enjoying, selling CDs and CD re-releases at prohibitive prices…</p>
<p>Perhaps it’s true for big labels, who, although they’ve seen their margins drastically reduced since their heyday (but truth is that they were pretty guilty of milking that cash cow much too much), are now enjoying some renewed revenue from streaming, thanks to their partnership contracts, allowing them to collect most of the revenues generated (<a href="https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2018/02/14/spotify-apple-music-top-songs/" target="_blank">the top 10% of the streaming catalog from all providers is collecting 99% of the revenues</a>). Not so surprising when the search algorithms and big playlists pushed to streaming platforms users are carefully tweaked to favorite the big labels and their artists.</p>
<p>Once again, it’s the independent labels and the unsigned artists who bear the brunt of the industry debacle. And I would argue that the supposed streaming savior has made no difference at all for these 90%, who are truly the collateral damage of this digital economy, as Maria Schneider, five time Grammy award winner, points out in her <a href="https://thetrichordist.com/2018/03/02/guest-post-by-schneidermaria-an-open-letter-to-david-israelite-of-the-nmpa-and-anyone-interested-in-the-music-modernization-act/" target="_blank">open letter to the NMPA</a> (National Music Publishers Association) outlining her perspective on the MMA (Music Modernization Act). </p>
<p>And not only didn’t streaming made any difference for independent artists, I would also say it made things worse.</p>
<p>But hey! Piracy has been vanquished, hasn’t it? Well, there are some indications that it’s actually not the case, as you can see in the <a href="https://www.statista.com/chart/8910/prevalence-of-music-piracy/" target="_blank">chart above</a> which lists the percentage of various types of copyright infringements by age group (based on consumer research from IFPI - the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry). </p>
<p>Combine Youtube free-for-all, – knowing they are by far the biggest streaming platform nowadays, with a pay per play rate far below any other thanks to infamous “Safe Harbor” loopholes –, with a rise of “stream ripping” tools, allowing anyone to download what’s played from free accounts on any streaming platforms, and you get a much more insidious kind of piracy, one that takes the guise of legality and one that is mostly benefiting the streaming giants.</p>
<p>Again, if big labels, and indeed streaming platforms can brush that off as simple losses compensated by their ad-generated huge profits, it cannot be the case for unsigned artists who are seeing their work stolen, or abused at a pay per play rate <a href="https://informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/spotify-apple-music-tidal-music-streaming-services-royalty-rates-compared/" target="_blank">so low it’s laughable</a>. What artists lose by believing in the streaming golden mirage is real physical and download sales that is fair pay for their craft, investment, time and efforts.</p>
<p>In the end, I would argue that piracy was better for unsigned artists, as it was mostly touching big labels, and it was after all, illegal, so actions could be taken against it. Nowadays, streaming is little more than legalized piracy and there’s not much we can do about it, or so it seems, short of opting out and educating our fans. I believe that opting out is our only option because it is our work that is exploited… Remove the work and that could ultimately force the industry to reconsider the digital economy landscape. If they don’t do it, then I suppose it’s time we do it ourselves.</p>
<p>But until we all remove our copyrighted work from all these places where everyone can access it and pirate it freely at no cost and with no consequences, there’s no doubt we are in fact just feeding the monster…</p>
<p>Ready for a change?</p>
<p>EDIT: Also see, published today, <a contents="this article from Digital Music News" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2018/03/22/music-piracy-spotify-netflix/" target="_blank">this article from Digital Music News</a></p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/51111912018-03-05T00:46:12-05:002018-03-05T15:33:07-05:00The true story of royalties<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="315" data-orig-width="640"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/b40ee1200236ff86e9cf739f071fb449/tumblr_inline_p53qymXh8N1ul1pg1_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="image" /></figure>
<p>I wanted to share my experience, what I call “the true story of royalties for unsigned artists”…</p>
<p><b>First, </b>know that <b>Radio airplay</b> is considered a public performance. Public performances generate performance <b>royalties</b> for songwriters, which are collected by the PROs (BMI, ASCAP, SESAC in the US, SOCAN in Canada, PRS in the UK, SACEM in France, basically every country have their own Publishing Rights Organization). There’s an issue with FM/AM radios in the US not paying performance rights, only songwriters rights, but that’s a story for another day.</p>
<p>Now I’ve had various discussions lately with artists and some radios hosts, and some people argued that right now the issue with internet radios is that the vast majority of them is not paying any royalties. It should be illegal, right? For sure, but the reality is that there is so much of them that no law enforcement action is taken against them because of lack of clear regulations (some loopholes being used?) or simple lack of resources for the law to be enforced in the first place.</p>
<p>The internet is really like the old Wild West, and when it comes to trying to defend the artists copyright, there’s basically no sheriff you can turn to. In the US for example, if you really want to make a case of it, you’d have to sue in a federal court, which is going to cost you such a huge amount of money that it’s basically not practically possible.</p>
<p>But then, there is also another problem… The fact is that whether these radios you are played on are paying their dues or not is not going to make any difference for you. <b>You will not see a cent from the airplay anyway!</b></p>
<p>That's right! Believe it or not, being played on a radio that pays royalties or not is not making any difference for unsigned artists right now! Even radios who are playing nothing but unsigned artists are actually not paying royalties back to the artists they play, they are just sending checks to big labels. How screwy is that?</p>
<p>All of this is because basically the radios (or their internet providers paying royalties out of the radio subscription) are paying a “blanket” license for all the airplay. These blanket licenses represent X amount of songs played during X amount of hours. This is paid to the PROs, and what do the PROs do with that money? Well, they are not looking at who has been played, it would be too much of an effort, right? So they are paying a pro rata to labels based on their market share. Yep, you got that right! It basically means big labels get the big checks, the little labels get little checks, and guess what kind of check the independent artists get? </p>
<p>The result of this is that since I’ve released my first EP, in June last year (almost 9 months ago!), I have received 0 cent from airplay, even from radios that I know for sure are paying royalties. I just went again to my SOCAN royalties statement who is still desperately blank, 9 months and many airplay later…</p>
<p>So really, there is a dire need for radios to do things right. But first, the legislation that governs the copyrights and the blanket licenses should be amended so that the true owners of the copyrights are compensated for each airplay and not as a pro rata of their market share, because truly they get nothing from that.</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/50812712018-02-15T13:06:33-05:002018-03-02T09:36:39-05:00The value of music<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="1000" data-orig-width="1500"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/e7bb275a772d46c408f6d52fdc8bf853/tumblr_inline_p47b1gUcdX1ul1pg1_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></figure>
<p>You will hear it everywhere, from all sorts of sources: people don’t buy music nowadays! And truth is, why would they? When you can stream music for free everywhere, right?</p>
<p>Still there are indications that there are some people still buying music, which gives some hope for its future.</p>
<p>First was a report from Bandcamp (an indie music store) that boast <a href="http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2018/02/bandcamp-reports-stellar-2017-.html" target="_blank">73% revenues increased for 2017</a> - so surely some people have bought some music…</p>
<p>Another trend (and something I would myself call a fad, but one that is significant of a slight change in listeners’ habits), is the unlikely <a href="https://thevinylfactory.com/news/vinyl-sales-q3-2017/" target="_blank">rise of vinyl records sales</a>. Personally, I don’t believe at all that vinyl sounds better, because it’s a <a href="https://phys.org/news/2016-07-music-vinyl-cds.html" target="_blank">proven myth</a> that has no scientific justification, but the fact that people are buying them again is significant to a certain attachment to an object, and what it represents… Albums in particular were once seen as treasures and something we enjoyed discovering, something we placed value in. </p>
<p>Anyway, again this proves that some people are buying music and are finding value in it and in the artists who have made it.</p>
<p>So I believe that if artists stopped devaluating their own music by giving it for free and for streaming altogether, this would further incite people to buy their music. If artists started seeing value in their own music, others too would see it again as something of value. </p>
<p>Now that’s a thought!</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/50632682018-02-04T18:52:31-05:002018-02-08T15:31:14-05:00Inward - early feedback<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="1000" data-orig-width="1000"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/c3a2442eb2063b62b0c3fa26e29b2f17/tumblr_inline_p3ng08enJe1ul1pg1_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="image" /></figure>
<p>As you might know, I’m going to release a new album soon, called “Inward”, the date is set for May 4th with a pre-order date as soon as March 2nd</p>
<p>I believe this is my best album to date. It contains what I consider some of my best songs and defines my own sound and style, which is a blend of many influences from many genres and the result of years of practicing and learning my craft. I believe it is also my best sounding album, where I’ve been able to truly find the sound I was looking for along the years...</p>
<p>I have sent a preview to a few close friends to get some early feedback on the last mastering, and have been blessed by some truly humbling comments. Here are a few (excuse their French!).</p>
<p> </p>
<p><b>Al Yardy (<a href="http://kbradio.ca/" target="_blank">KB Radio</a>)</b></p>
<p><i>“This is fantastic. blown away.. I am hearing so much in here. You should be very proud. I truly am very impressed. Friends or not, I wouldn’t blow smoke up your ass. I might be diplomatic, but I won’t give you glowing accolades if I don’t mean it.”</i></p>
<p><b>Lee Pugh (<a href="https://thepusspussband.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">The Puss Puss Band</a>)</b></p>
<p><i>“Production is absolutely fucking beautiful man….really exquisite job it must be said and sooo many sweet progressions, and groovy soulful changes man. . For me though personally Let Go is my favourite. It’s so hip it almost hurts :D”</i></p>
<p><b>Lakisha (KiKi) Skinner (<a href="http://klefnotes.com/" target="_blank">Klef Notes</a>):</b></p>
<p><i>“Ghost?? Ghost?? Just drop the mic. You have done it again bruh! I too really love the overall quality of the production and direction of this new stuff.“</i></p>
<p><b>Clare Shorthouse Fowler (<a href="https://www.dandelioncharm.com/" target="_blank">Dandelion Charm</a>):</b></p>
<p><i>“The production is delightful, really clear and wide, this is a fantastic sounding record. Love the lyrics and vibe and the guitar sounds and playing are just stunning!! I love how good music reveals its gifts with repeated listening.”</i></p>
<p><b>Virginie Lacour-Puiboube (<a href="http://laughingwiththeraindrops.com/" target="_blank">Laughing at the Raindrops</a>):</b></p>
<p><i>"As usual, superb production (some choices are surprising) , and I hear cohesion, accessibility and similarities with previous work with is a good thing (a sign of strong musical identity). The great thing about Ghostly Beard is there is always one tune you WILL really really like!”</i></p>
<p><b>Veronica Philips (<a href="https://veronicamariephoto.photoshelter.com/index" target="_blank">Photograph</a>):</b></p>
<p><i>“It’s spectacular!! Absolutely in love with your guitar playing. Well done sweetheart! You’ve got every reason to be proud of yourself. The guitar is masterful throughout – I hear hints of Pink Floyd and even a little ELO. It’s a beautifully constructed album.”</i></p>
<p><b>Chris Leon (<a href="https://soundcloud.com/chrisleon" target="_blank">Your Music Radio</a>):</b></p>
<p><i>“I can understand why you are proud of this album, because it’s really great! Somehow it’s exactly what I expected of what you told me before. Really getting some cool unplugged Eric Clapton vibes. The songs are great and they give me a warm feeling actually. I really can feel the love you’ve put into this album.”</i></p>
<p><strong>Elizabeth O.S. Chute (<a contents="Passion and Meaning" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://passionandmeaning.com/" target="_blank">Passion and Meaning</a>):</strong></p>
<p><em>"It's absolutely awesome on an emotional, musical, lyrical, instrumental level. What I like so much about your work is the different layers that you are able to create which blend on a 3 dimensional level - from foreground to background and the overall enveloping intimacy. And what can I say about your lyrics? - they are so poignant. Together all of this is an experience which flows so well from each song to the next, and leaves your ear wanting for more... Also because your instrumentals are rich, complex and subtle at the same time - on each listening to get a new experience. For me that is so important, that there is always something new to experience to take away from a song."</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>So there you go. I asked permission to reproduce these quotes because I’m proud to have touched these people, all good friends, with this album and to know they have been loving it, and of course to make you, the reader, want to hear it!</p>
<p>So be prepared and watch that space! The album will be available for sale on my website (as downloads and CD), and on Amazon, iTunes, Bandcamp and CD Baby. Best place is here of course because no one is taking a cut.</p>
<p>And remember that all net proceeds from sales of the album (whether download or CDs) are going to benefit <a contents="MusiCounts" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.musicounts.ca/" target="_blank">MusiCounts</a>, so not only will you get great music, but you will do good as well by helping children get a musical education!</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/50497162018-01-28T00:41:29-05:002018-01-30T12:48:50-05:00Giving back / MusiCounts<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="129" data-orig-width="363"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/e83d491934c2fd6c0e18965bf7be54a5/tumblr_inline_p392ppBEKn1ul1pg1_540.png" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="image" /></figure>
<p>As I’m preparing to release my third album “Inward”, which I believe is my best work to date, I was wondering how I could give back in a significant way…</p>
<p>If you’ve heard about me, you’ve probably guessed that the album itself will NOT be available for streaming, for reasons I’ve already outlined in a few blog posts: I believe streaming platforms are hurting indie artists by not redistributing their wealth to the rightful copyright owners. Actually, let me rephrase that: streaming platforms are ripping off artists to make a profit!</p>
<p>So, the album will be available for sale only, as download and physical CD, on my website as well as iTunes, Amazon, Bandcamp and CD Baby. The release date is set to May 4th but it will be available for pre-order as soon as March 2nd.</p>
<p>Now, I’ve always said that I was not doing it for the money, so why not giving it for free, would you ask? The reason is that I strongly believe that music shouldn’t be given for free… In the mind of too many people, music has become a disposable item, which has no value, and I believe it’s wrong! It’s hurting artists, especially indie artists, who put their own money and time and efforts in producing it to give you the best musical experience possible.<br>Getting it for free is basically stealing it, and depriving artists of their way of life.</p>
<p>If I don’t care about the money, but don’t want to give my music for free, what’s the best option? I figured that the way to go was to give all the Net proceeds from sales of the album (whether download or CDs) to benefit a charity here in Canada. For this I have chosen MusiCounts, because their mission is dear to my heart.</p>
<p><b>But who is MusiCounts? </b></p>
<p>MusiCounts is a Canadian music education charity associated with The JUNO Awards that aims to keep music alive in schools and communities across Canada.</p>
<p>MusiCounts’ mission is to ensure that all children and youth in Canada have access to music education.</p>
<p>What they do is to put instruments into the hands of children who need them the most.</p>
<p>MusiCounts achieves its mission through the Band Aid Program, the MusiCounts TD Community Music Program, the MusiCounts Teacher of the Year Award, Scholarships, The Fred Sherratt Awards, the MusiCounts Inspired Minds Ambassador Award, and other music education initiatives.</p>
<p>I believe it’s a charity worth supporting!</p>
<p>You can find out more about MusiCounts on their website: <a href="https://www.musicounts.ca/" target="_blank">https://www.musicounts.ca/</a></p>
<p>And follow them on Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MusiCounts/" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/MusiCounts/</a> and Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/MusiCounts" target="_blank">@MusiCounts</a></p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/50356032018-01-21T19:59:49-05:002018-01-21T20:00:53-05:00Compression #7 - wrapping up<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="183" data-orig-width="449"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/1cc597f8f9346d3191ab0c342e6d5d9f/tumblr_inline_p2xmlcrHC21ul1pg1_540.png" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></figure>
<p>I hope you’ve learned a little bit about compression, what it’s used for and how it’s misused as well.</p>
<p>As a listener you should be able to hear over compression and ask your favorite radio hosts to ease off on it if you ear them overdoing it. You can point them here on this blog if that helps. There’s also tons of reference literature on compressors and compression all over the internet.</p>
<p>Here’s a little audio example that should make you clearly hear the destructive aspects of over-compression:</p>
<figure class="tmblr-embed tmblr-full" data-orig-height="344" data-orig-width="459" data-provider="youtube" data-url="https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D3Gmex_4hreQ"><iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="405" id="youtube_iframe" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3Gmex_4hreQ?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque" width="540"></iframe></figure>
<p>One way I’ve read compression described was that it was similar to a boxer kicking a boxing bag as opposed to a concrete wall (with no compression). The sound is splattered and rounded the same way. The problem is that music needs concrete walls too!</p>
<p><b>Radio concerns</b></p>
<p>Don’t mistake over-compression (which sounds like there’s little difference between the low levels and the high levels of a song and everything seems to have been smashed against a rubber wall) with file compression or streaming compression (as we said earlier, most radios air at 128 or 192 kbps), the effects of file compression is often that the sound is a bit phase-y, like the left and right side of the stereo image are a bit off and you get that impression that the sound source location is hard to pick up, the sound kind of swirl in your ears. Bad but unless the bandwidth gets higher (to 256 or 320 kbps) there’s nothing much to be done. But audio over-compression can and should be avoided.</p>
<p>For radio hosts, compression has its use when it comes to your own mic levels, because you want to be heard loud and clear and this will help evening out your voice and put it on top of any background. However, when it comes to music you should be very wary of your compressor/limiter settings. If in doubt, avoid compression and especially limiting.</p>
<p>Since most music sent to radios is already mastered, no compression should be needed.</p>
<p>If limiting is applied, it should only be used as a brick-wall to avoid digital distortion from peaks that would go over 0 dB, depending on how hot the masters you receive are and how you push your faders. But it should never be reducing more than 1 or 2 dB and it shouldn’t be working all the time… if it does, you’re doing it wrong!</p>
<p>In short, please give a chance to the dynamics of songs you are playing. If the songs you get have already been over compressed that’s not your problem, but some songs are mastered to their best level and they shouldn’t be penalized by over compression after the fact.</p>
<p>Remember how tricky it is to assess the quality of a sound when louder always sound better, so you will be fooled by your own ears thinking you’re making it sound bigger and better. More than anything remember that the ultimate level control is up to the listener, so trying to make things artificially louder is going to be futile in the end, and will only be detrimental to the sound quality. When your radio is played quietly, the effect of over compression will make it sound bad, and there’s no reason for it.</p>
<p><b>The new loudness standards</b></p>
<p>There is now a general standard in audio land, and indeed most streaming platforms have adopted it as well as most TV and FM radio broadcasters. The consensus nowadays is to use loudness compensation to bring down everything around -14 LUFS (Loudness Unit Full Scale – I will not go over the details of this norm but there is plenty of literature on the subject all over the internet and I invite you to research a little bit about it).</p>
<p>The fact is that a lot of internet radios and podcasts shows I hear nowadays are playing around -8 LUFS, sometimes even less, sometimes a lot less! Which means that on average they are 6 LUFS (roughly 6 dB) under the generally accepted level of dynamic range. Their sound is over-compressed way more than necessary, and if you remember that a difference of 3 dB is perceived as doubling the level, you will understand that 6 dB of lost dynamics is huge.</p>
<p>Finally, my advice to all radios and podcasts is: have a look at your compression and limiting settings, and when in doubt, avoid it entirely. Your listeners will thank you in the long run. I sure will!</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/50323582018-01-19T12:05:22-05:002018-01-19T12:06:31-05:00Compression #6 - over-compression<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="373" data-orig-width="590"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/1c57dc92aa178f62c4eb68adca4e9a7a/tumblr_inline_p2tbclIAXT1ul1pg1_540.png" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></figure>
<p>With audio technology becoming more and more sophisticated, and the advent of digital audio in particular, some limitations of the analog world stopped being an issue and compressors and compression techniques started to be more and more used to try and grab the listeners’ attention.</p>
<p>We said before that given two identical sounds, if one is played louder it will sound better to our ears. There’s probably some anthropological explanation but the fact is that play something quiet, then follow it by something else louder and most listeners will prefer the louder part…</p>
<p>This is why compression was used more and more during airplay on TV and radio to try and bring out the commercials at a louder level than the movie or songs played before and after, as an attempt to capture the attention of the listeners.</p>
<p><b>The loudness war</b></p>
<p>Audio engineers and studios caught up with that idea and started to apply more and more compression to songs during the mastering phase. This is why most of the digital remasters done during the 90s for CD re-release were more compressed than the original. This went so far that it’s been coined “the loudness war” (more compression = more overall loudness).</p>
<p>For example, let’s have a look at a graph comparing an original with 2 remastered re-issues:</p>
<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="271" data-orig-width="300"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/141c5dfb61dcdae8241eb5615e064a55/tumblr_inline_p2tbdacz9D1ul1pg1_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></figure>
<p>You can clearly see that the amount of compression applied went totally crazy. Now the problem with that is that a lot of details of the original were lost in the process. A lot of the transients were leveled, and everything is basically at the same level… There is a huge loss of <b>dynamics</b> (the difference between the loud parts and the quiet parts), when dynamics is what makes music. It’s hard to appreciate something loud all the time, it’s better if the music is flowing and there are ups and downs, quiets and louds…</p>
<p>Another thing to realize is that over-compression is fatiguing to the ears.</p>
<p>Remember that sound is basically air waves that are expanding and contracting and finally trapped by our ears. So, increasing the compression increases the air pressure sent into our ears. This can sound more immediately pleasing but in the long run it creates an ear fatigue that is pretty damaging and just plain boring.</p>
<p>In the next episode we’ll wrap up with some final thoughts about compression and why you should care. See you then!</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/50253022018-01-15T21:44:34-05:002018-08-28T18:30:45-04:00Compression #5 - parameters<p><iframe frameborder="no" height="370" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/playlists/423816758%3Fsecret_token%3Ds-x5H67&color=%23ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true" width="100%"></iframe><br>We’ve seen that a compressor is acting based on a <b>threshold</b> (of Amplitude) to know when it should start compressing. We’ve also seen that with a <b>gain</b> control we can rise the output level of the whole signal after compression.</p>
<p>Let’s have a look at 3 other parameters that are going to change the way compression works: <b>attack</b> time, <b>release</b> time, and <b>ratio</b>.</p>
<p><b>Attack time</b></p>
<p>The first one, <b>attack</b> time allows to dial how fast a compressor is going to react to signal that is over the threshold. It can be very long (up to 500 milliseconds for some) or extremely short (down to 1 nanosecond). Changing the attack time will mostly change the way the attack of a sound will be treated. This is where we can say to a compressor: as soon as you hear a transient over the threshold you need to reduce it, or we can say, take your time to let the transient play over the threshold before you reduce the sound. So, in effect we can reduce the transients or emphasizes them relative to the sustain of the sound using that parameter.</p>
<p>For example, let’s look at a typical snare sound again, this whole sound will take 480 ms to ring, now if we setup an attack time to 220 ms we allow the attack/transient of the snare to pass through, but we reduce it’s sustain, so we make the snare sound ‘thinner’ which is the opposite of our example of last week, where we’ve reduced the attack/transient (with a fast attack), then added some gain to the whole signal to make it sound “fatter”.</p>
<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="163" data-orig-width="309"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/63bac79854394281d05c389ddc855e15/tumblr_inline_p2j99lvWX21ul1pg1_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="image" /></figure>
<p><b>Release time</b></p>
<p>The next parameter of a compressor is the <b>release</b> time, and it will tell the compressor how much time it will take before getting back to normal (letting the signal untouched). Dialing the release time is often used in EDM (Electronic Dance Music) to make the whole sound ‘pump’ (go up and down) in rhythm with the tempo, because it can be used to reduce the sound for a certain time between each new beat.</p>
<p>In general, if you want a compressor to act more naturally, you will want to dial a shorter release time, but it’s often dialed according to the tempo for the reason above. The longer the release time, the more compressed the overall sound will be, but if the release time is too short comparatively to the sustain and the beat, it will give the effect of sound levels pumping up and down, also too short release (not leaving time to the compressor to stop compressing) can create audio artifacts and too much pressure.</p>
<p><b>Ratio</b></p>
<p>The next parameter that is important to define how a compressor is going to process sound is the <b>ratio</b>.<br>The ratio is expressed as 2 numbers like 2:1 or 5:1 or more. The second number is always one, but the first number defines of how much decibels the compressor will reduce the sound <b>for each decibel over the threshold</b>. It is a divider.</p>
<p>A radio of 1:1 there’s no compression. For 1 dB of input there will be 1 dB of output. With a ratio of 2:1 when a sound is 2 dB over the threshold, it will be reduced to 1 dB, if it is 8 dB over the threshold, it will be reduced to 4 dB , if a sound is 1 dB above the threshold, it will be reduced to 0.5 dB . With a ratio of 5:1, a signal at 10 dB over the threshold will be reduced to 2 dB.</p>
<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="368" data-orig-width="500"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/ed8e630a75f8b0dba597b7e85fd59074/tumblr_inline_p2j9ar8Ijs1ul1pg1_540.png" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="image" /></figure>
<p>When the ratio is over 20:1 up to infinity:1 we’re talking about <b>limiting</b>. At infinity:1 this is also called brick-wall limiting, because no signal over the threshold will be able to pass (depending on the attack time some transients might be able to pass through briefly, but they will be reduced to the threshold level as soon as the attack – wait – time is over).</p>
<p>The ratio is an essential parameter, it defines how hard a compressor will compress the sound.</p>
<p><i>(Some advanced compressors also have a <b>knee </b>parameter, that defines how much of the compression is to happen around the threshold, allowing the compression to bleed bleed under it to avoid any sharp difference between compressed and uncompressed sound. But this is really advanced and its effect is subtle enough that it shouldn’t be a concern in radio land anyway)</i></p>
<p>As we’ve seen before it can be beneficial to compress a sound, so high compression is not necessarily a bad thing, it does change the sound though, and this is where the issue can arise, especially when it happens in radio land where the sound is supposed to have been dialed as best as possible in the mixing and mastering stages already…</p>
<p>More about that in our next episode where we’ll look at the disastrous effects of compression and limiting.</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/50115022018-01-07T17:19:23-05:002018-01-08T16:25:40-05:00Compression #4 - usage<p><iframe frameborder="no" height="370" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/playlists/416863982%3Fsecret_token%3Ds-xKQ9D&color=%23ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true" width="100%"></iframe></p>
<p>We talked about the main components of a sound when it comes to Time and Amplitude: Attack (or Transients) and Sustain. Then we examined how the sound is stored in digital land and how we cannot go over 0 dB.</p>
<p>So, a compressor will be essential to store (and reproduce) more significant sounds without distorting. Making sure nothing goes over it, and making sure every sound that we want to hear is pushed forward enough within the absolute limit.</p>
<p>A compressor’s main purpose is to reduce the Amplitude (level) of a sound during its lifetime.</p>
<p>You can think of it as a fader or volume control, but one that is automatic and can act extremely quickly, reducing the level of the sound at various phases, depending on a few parameters…</p>
<p><b>Evening out levels</b></p>
<p>This can be very useful for sounds that vary a lot, like a vocal for example… It’s not unusual for a vocal to have a lot of variation in amplitude, even during of one single vocal line. For example, look at this vocal take:</p>
<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="201" data-orig-width="900"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/50ad7a768765e7b26815cdf65891c2d5/tumblr_inline_p279i9BLq71ul1pg1_540.png" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></figure>
<p>Compression here is going to help evening out the performance by lowering the highest parts (the peaks) … Once everything is at a similar level we can then make the whole thing louder and upfront as it should be in a song.</p>
<p>If we tried to raise the level of this sequence as a whole, to bring out the lowest parts, the highest parts would go over the limit of 0 dB, so they would be clipped and distort (the nasty sort of distortion). By first lowering the highest part (evening out the whole sequence) with a compressor, we can then raise the level of the sequence without going over the limit and without distortion!</p>
<p>This is the typical and simplest way to use a compressor. And it’s used A LOT during the mixing phase.</p>
<p><b>Fattening a sound</b></p>
<p>Now, another way to use a compressor will be to even out the difference between the attack and the sustain inside a single sound/a single note (not a whole performance like above), making it appear “fatter”. How so?</p>
<p>Remember that a compressor can act very very fast (some modern compressors can see the peaks before they even appear and play – it’s called look-ahead -, and they can react in mere nanoseconds), so it can act during the lifetime of a single note at a time, and this is where it will be used to alter the sound and make it fatter.</p>
<p>Let’s see how this goes. First, you need to understand one of the main parameters of a compressor which is its <b>threshold</b>. The threshold is the volume level over which a compressor will start acting. The picture below should tell you what a threshold is:</p>
<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="169" data-orig-width="585"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/94255faeea0c678d1674d37aeea2d31e/tumblr_inline_p279nfFv0P1ul1pg1_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></figure>
<p>Everything that is over the threshold will be processed by the compressor. Everything under it will stay untouched. So, with the threshold parameter, we can tell the compressor which parts it should work (reduce) on and which ones it should leave alone.</p>
<p>Let’s have look at a typical snare hit before compression:</p>
<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="216" data-orig-width="300"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/d23114d19c4eca402745c32c59993dc7/tumblr_inline_p279o6oBfe1ul1pg1_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></figure>
<p>If we were trying to make this snare hit louder as it is, it could go over 0 dB which is not desirable.</p>
<p>But if we apply a fast compression, we can reduce the attack peaks, like this:</p>
<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="114" data-orig-width="300"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/1dd24c1c304dfc9142ad9798c5763aa9/tumblr_inline_p279pfBlCS1ul1pg1_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></figure>
<p>You can see that the threshold was set so that the Attack of the snare was reduced relative to its sustain (which was left untouched). Now, because the attack has been reduced, we can actually make the whole sound louder and it will not distort. If we do so now (using another parameter of the compressor, called <b>gain</b> which is applied AFTER the reduction and will raise the overall output level), it will look like this:</p>
<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="216" data-orig-width="300"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/1ec2985956d97f38eacd80660276ef08/tumblr_inline_p279pzwJhp1ul1pg1_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></figure>
<p>The initial attack is back roughly to where it was, but notice that the sustain has been made louder, thus making the snare sound “fatter”!</p>
<p>Next time we’ll look at some other usage of a compressor and a few other parameters that are used to alter a sound, mainly attack time, release time and ratio. Then we’ll talk about limiting. And finally, we’ll talk about loudness, the loudness war and why it’s important to know about it. See you then!</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/49880622017-12-21T12:46:16-05:002018-07-23T08:15:46-04:00Compression #3 - digital sound<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="360" data-orig-width="455"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/e7456e66df416aa5052f54cea5dd70cb/tumblr_inline_p1bnlk1Yru1ul1pg1_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></figure>
<p>To understand one crucial role of compression, which is to avoid digital clipping, you also need to understand a little bit(!) how sound is stored and processed in digital land.</p>
<p><b>Then and now</b></p>
<p>In analog land, when music was stored on tape and vinyl, the sound waves were truly waves, and they were captured and played by components that could reproduce the air pressure that is truly the nature of sound. Waves were at the start, they were stored as waves and reproduced as waves…</p>
<p>The digital revolution has changed that. We are now storing sounds (and images and anything on a computer) as bits: 0s and 1s. There’s no real in between (at least until quantum computers are mainstream but that’s another story!)</p>
<p><b>Storing sound</b></p>
<p>The way a wave is stored on a computer is by cutting it into discrete pieces of information usually by grouping 8, 16, 24 or 32 (and even 64) bits together. These are called <b>bytes </b>and they can store a maximum range of information, no more, no less. For 8 bits, we can store 2<sup>8</sup> values, so between 0 and 255. For 16 bits, 2<sup>16</sup> so 0 to 65535, etc.</p>
<p>A sound is stored by analyzing a wave in time and determining its amplitude, from 0 to x (depending on the number of bits used). The sample rate will determine how fast that analysis happens, it’s called “sampling” (taking a sample of the amplitude of a sound at a given time and storing it in a byte).</p>
<p><b>Sampling</b></p>
<p>Typically, a sound from a CD is sampled with 16 bits at 44.1khz, meaning there will be 44100 values (ranging from 0 to 65535) per second. There are all sorts of other sample rates and bit rates, but let’s keep it at that as our reference. Just know that the higher the sample rate and the closer the bits of discrete information are, thus more capable of a smoother reproduction of the initial sound wave. The higher the bit rate and the more discrete differences in amplitude (dynamics) we can store*.<br>But know that the 44100 range values between 0 and 65535 per second are more than capable of reproducing the waves that our ears are able to discern (that is unless you truly have golden ears, which might be the case of a truly gifted 0.000001% of the world population).</p>
<p><i>* The <b>16</b>-<b>bit</b> compact disc has a theoretical un-dithered <b>dynamic range</b> of about 96 dB, however, the perceived <b>dynamic range of 16</b>-<b>bit</b> audio can be 120 dB or more with noise-shaped dither, an advance technique taking advantage of the frequency response of the human ear. </i></p>
<p>As you can see from the picture above, the values of the waves are transformed into discrete little samples, and these sample will only be able to store up to a maximum amplitude value. This maximum value is called 0 dB. dB is short for decibel and it’s the measure of amplitude of a sound (to note that it is not a linear scale, but a logarithmic one: A difference of 3 dB in a sound is generally perceived by the human ear as twice louder).<br>Every measure of sound level is always minus something… 0 dB being the absolute a sound can be stored, in 16 bits, it is going to be the value 65535. We go from 0 (which is -infinity) to 65535 (which is 0 dB).</p>
<p><b>Clipping</b></p>
<p>In digital land, there’s no way we can store more than 0 dB, because a byte of 16 bit will not be able to store more than that value of 65535. If a sound goes over this limit, it will be “clipped” meaning its value will still be stored as 65535.</p>
<p>This was not the case in analog land, when we were pushing an amplifier, it was distorting the sound but in a way that we’ve become accustomed to, what some people call the “warmth” of analog sound, this is especially true of tube amplifiers which were overheating and distorting the sound in very pleasing way. Of course, if you were truly going over a certain level you could also blow your amplifier and get a nasty sort of distortion. But in general, you could achieve a great sound with distortion, and indeed this has been used to great effect by every guitarist in the rock world, as Jimi Hendrix could have told you!</p>
<p>Now the problem is that in digital land, you cannot really push a sound over the limit, it will just be “clipped” and the result of it is a nasty sort of distortion that is not at all pleasing to the ears. Think high pitch noise that could come from a robot in a bad sci-fi movie, or something that is more like white noise and hissing dirt in your ears, not at all pleasing.</p>
<p>All of this to say that one crucial role of compression will be to avoid clipping and digital distortion. We will see in a next part how this is achieved with some audio example as well… stay tuned!</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/49819452017-12-17T23:17:08-05:002020-02-20T00:45:46-05:00Compression #2 - properties of sound<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="275" data-orig-width="602"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/92e451f04546b25497f2b700c1e59abc/tumblr_inline_p12gse5cBn1ul1pg1_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></figure><p>To understand compression, what it is, how it works, why
it’s used and its effect on sound, one must first understand a little bit about
the properties<b> </b>of sound. Bear with
me there as it can be a bit technical, but I will do my best to explain things
a simply as possible.</p><p>It’s actually easier than it looks on the schema above and
we’re going to simplify it in even further in our explanation, because unless
you aim to be a sound engineer or someone who is designing sounds on a
synthesizer, you really don’t need to go too far into the details…</p><p>Each sound we hear can be described by many factors, but 2
of the most important ones (and the ones affected by compression) are <b>Time</b> and <b>Amplitude</b>. Time being how long the sound plays, and Amplitude being
its volume/level.</p><p>Now during the “life” of a sound there are many phases. In
synthesizer parlance this is called ADSR, or Attack/Decay/Sustain/Release. For
our purpose we can forget about Decay and Release and simplify it into two main
phases of the life of a sound by talking about <b>Attack</b> and <b>Sustain</b> only,
the red and green parts below:</p><figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="498" data-orig-width="927"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/da249c1af8e87fce8629830168859515/tumblr_inline_p12gsxmQRM1ul1pg1_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></figure><p>Think of a single snare drum hit. The main hit will be the
Attack and the ringing of the snare will be its Sustain.<br>
The Attack of a snare will be very fast and short, it will peak very fast to
its highest level, but it will not stay long at this high level, instead it
will very shortly decay and what we’ll hear is the Sustain or the “tone” of the
snare, which can be long or not (and can be enhanced by the natural
reverberation of the room it’s been recorded in).</p><p>For other sounds it might be different, for example a flute
will have a rather long attack, and its sustain will be short or long depending
on how much breath the musician has. In any case these two main phases will
differ greatly depending on whether a sound is percussive or not.</p><p>The attack part of a sound is often referred to as <b>Transients</b>. As it turns out, one of the
compressor’s purpose will be to work on Transients vs Sustain, affecting the
relative levels of these two in various ways, thus changing the sound.</p><p>A compressor will affect the Amplitude of a sound in time, at its core it’s nothing but a volume control! But one that can act extremely fast and affect different phases of the sound independently.</p><p>We
will see that it also changes the perceived <b>loudness</b> (and <b>dynamic range</b>)
of a sound, because it can affect the Transient differently than the Sustain,
making it sound bigger (but not necessarily better!).</p><p>To note finally, that when it comes to bigger/better, our ears are
such that when we hear the same sound at different volume levels, we’re always
going to prefer the louder sound, even if they are perfectly identical. In a lot of cases, given a sound A and B, even
if A is sounding better than B, when B is played louder there is a good chance
we will prefer B. That’s how our brain works and how the effect of compression
is going to get really tricky… </p><p>Tune in to learn more about that as we go along!</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/49705352017-12-10T00:51:05-05:002017-12-15T16:59:10-05:00Compression - part 1<figure data-orig-height="205" data-orig-width="246"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/c1ac66c68a87fc526699884f08da1041/tumblr_inline_p0qdalzmsI1ul1pg1_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></figure>
<p>Compression is a great tool! When used during mixing and mastering especially, it has many uses. But during airplay it’s very rarely beneficial, especially when you have no idea what you’re doing…</p>
<p><b>A land of confusion</b></p>
<p>But when talking about compression, the first thing we need to define is what type of compression we’re going to look at. Because when it comes to audio, there are 2 types of compression that people might talk about. Welcome to the land of confusion! Hopefully, I’ll be able to help clear things up a little bit…</p>
<p>The first type of compression is the one we’re going to look at in details. It is the one used during mixing, mastering and also during airplay. It affects the audio directly, and you might see it referred to as <b>dynamic range compression</b>. Another term that we’re going to see used for compression is <b>limiting</b> (or even brick-wall limiting), which is nothing else but audio compression with extreme settings.</p>
<p><b>File compression</b></p>
<p>The second type of compression that you might hear about is file compression. This is the difference between a .wav (or .aif) file and a mp3 for example.</p>
<p>There are various types of file compression, some are lossless (because they will not affect the sound in the end, no information will be lost because these formats will be de-compressed when played) others are lossy (some information is lost during the compression process).</p>
<p>Think of lossless as a zip file. It is a compressed file, but you can always decompress it and get the contained files intact after the process. Lossy compression though will remove some information based on clever algorithms that analyze the sound to get rid of whatever is deemed non-essential to reproduce it. It’s based on the physics of how we perceive sound and what frequencies are more important than others, and on various other factors. How much the sound is compressed with lossy compression depends on the bitrate per second, measured in kbps (Kilo Bits Per Second), the maximum for mp3 being 320kbps, which is almost (but not quite) lossless.</p>
<p>So, in audio land you can have:</p>
<ol> <li>raw files (not compressed at all), like .wav or .aif </li> <li>lossless files like .flac or .ogg </li> <li>lossy files like .mp3 or .aac</li>
</ol>
<p>Although lossy compression affects the sound (and the lower the bitrate the more it will), this is not what we’re going to look at. The reason being that most radios will play at a rate of 128 kbps or 192 kbps (some use 64 kbps which is hardly listenable), and although of course this means a loss in quality compared to raw files (for 128 kbps it can mean as much as 90% of the initial information lost), it is bound to the bandwidth they have, that bandwidth itself being based on how much they pay and how many listeners the stream provider can support at that rate. So, in short, there’s not much they can do about it…</p>
<p>What online radios can work on to improve the quality of their sound is the first type of compression, which is audio compression (and limiting). So, this is mainly what we’re going to examine in detail, in the hope that it will give everyone a clue as to what they hear and whether too much compression is damaging it… </p>
<p>Tune in next week to start diving into the wonderful world of audio compression!</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/49496672017-11-26T17:41:47-05:002017-12-02T13:16:03-05:00Compress or impress?<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="251" data-orig-width="317"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/0c579eda2dea7b5318ac8dbf599da3f4/tumblr_inline_p01oyydXUk1ul1pg1_540.png" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="image" /></figure>
<p>There’s a lot of misconceptions about compression, how it works, how it affects the sound, what are the benefits and how to use compression (or avoid it) in mixes but also during airplay. What’s the “loudness war”? What are the standard nowadays? How can compression damage the sound?</p>
<p>Routinely, I hear radios who are over-compressing, actually limiting, tunes that have already been compressed and limited during the mixing and mastering phase. This doesn’t help the sound, in fact it’s badly hurting it! Add to the fact that most internet radios and podcasts are streaming at 128 kbps which is quite a low bit rate, already damaging the sound, and you get a lot of shows where the sound is pretty atrocious.</p>
<p>This week, I was also asked my opinion on a tune that is to be released for Xmas and is supposed to be a cover of a pop song, I was surprised to hear such an amount of compression and limiting in that tune that it was sounding more like Metallica in its worst days than a light-hearted pop tune for a young audience… that mixing and mastering engineers made such mistake in their assessment of the amount of compression for the genre is rather disturbing.</p>
<p>This really made me think that I should try and write a few articles on compression, what it means, what it can do, how it can help the sound but also how it can damage the sound irreversibly. Dynamics is a vast subject and very misunderstood, even by some novice sound engineers (and apparently some seasoned ones!) and indeed by a lot of radio hosts as well.</p>
<p>Now, the trick will be to find a way to explain this complex subject with something anyone can understand. I’m thinking of a “compression for dummies” kind of refreshing course in a series of articles… If I can pull that off, maybe this will help radios (and even listeners) recognize the effect of over-compression and make them strive for a better/more natural sound.</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/49381972017-11-17T23:20:00-05:002018-05-19T13:04:44-04:00Streamyopia<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="300" data-orig-width="447"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/48ccd5d3fee8510f6df73646116ac67c/tumblr_inline_ozlfwfTwh61ul1pg1_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="image" /></figure>
<p>I confess that I’m affected by a rare new disease, and I’m afraid it’s incurable. It started developing when I realized how much streaming platforms were the true enemy of indie music and artists.</p>
<p>I tried to get away from it, as I wrote in a <a contents="previous blog" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://ghostlybeard.com/blog/blog/opting-out" target="_self">previous blog</a> where I said I was opting out and told my reasons for it. But it looks like it was not enough.</p>
<p>BTW, I’m talking about Spotify, Apple Music, Google Play, Deezer, Pandora, you know, these platforms who strive by screwing artists from their royalties, right? Surely, you’ve heard of them?</p>
<p>For those of you who don’t know yet, they are the ones who would make you believe that the pipes are more important than the water you use, the cables more important than the electricity, the plate more important than the food, the server, software and network more important than the content. Because from what they are paying the content owners, it sure is what they mean.</p>
<p>Now it got to a point where the more I receive these kinds of links, - be it in DM from bands I just followed, or in my stream, or anywhere really -, the less I see them… I think I am at the last stage of streamyopia! Meaning I’m afraid I will no longer be able to repost/share any of these links anymore, sorry! I might still love the bands/artists who are pushing them, but I cannot help my blindness, so I call it a change of perspective instead.</p>
<p>Actually the only links I see are to bands’ websites, or radios and shows and blogs and supporters of indie music, these look crystal clear to me, so I will keep posting them and sharing them and pushing them as much as I can.</p>
<p>Who knows? We’re still in the early discoveries of this affection but it might be contagious! Now wouldn’t it be something?</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/49322212017-11-14T13:37:13-05:002018-01-17T02:20:55-05:00Pick of the week<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="533" data-orig-width="800"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://kbradio.ca/" target="_blank"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/2dc798bfcf3b2a21a53ee20aaf0faf82/tumblr_inline_ozf6wiPbb91ul1pg1_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></a></figure>
<p>Starting this Wednesday I will appear on KB Radio “The House Party” during the indie show that airs from 8pm EST to midnight.</p>
<p>For those of you who don’t know KB Radio and this particular show, its motto “What Radio Used To Be” sums it up nicely: it is a radio that air great music 24/7 like it used to be. With a veteran host, Al Yardy, who cares deeply about music and has decided to share his passion all over the globe animating shows with his legendary laid back approach that is sure to please all listeners.</p>
<p>The indie show itself is 4 hours of interview, new indie submissions, top 10 charts and fun banter on twitter. You have to be there to believe it, it truly is "The House Party"! :)</p>
<p>I’ve been in touch with Al for a while because we share a similar vision (and taste) when it comes to indie music and I proposed to do a short segment every Wednesday where I will introduce a new song every week. Al graciously embraced the idea. I will choose a song from an artist that has not been played on KB Radio but that I believe should be heard, it might also be a deep cut/different song from an artist/band that is already familiar to KB Radio listeners.</p>
<p>I hope this will give KB Radio listeners a taste of some more great music to discover. To that effect, I will host a <a contents="page here" data-link-label="Pick of the week" data-link-type="page" href="/pick-of-the-week">page here</a> on my website where I will put links to the artists/bands I presented, for you to follow and explore.</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/49076982017-10-26T17:11:49-04:002023-10-16T10:51:19-04:00The Extreme Tour<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="197" data-orig-width="336"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/9261f44470f20866b0961d9e925c1184/tumblr_inline_oyg7a7Q5X71ul1pg1_540.png" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="image" /></figure>
<p><strong>WARNING:</strong> <em>I haven't had any direct experience with these guys, except for a couple email exchanges. It looks like they are asking for a submission fee for an audition which I'm not sure I agree with, but they justify it in their FAQ. See the exchanges below in the comments with a few artists who have been dealing with them one way or another and make your own opinion...</em></p>
<p>A little while ago, I’ve received an email from the “Extreme Tour” to perform and take part in their worldwide tour, they said they were researching artists and came across my website… The irony of it is that, as I’ve said before, I don’t gig and have absolutely no intention to do so.</p>
<p>First, I’m a recording artist, and my pleasure is in writing, arranging, recording, producing, mixing in my studio. I’m a studio rat, and this will likely never change. Add to that the fact that since I’m performing all the instruments it would be a little bit difficult to do on stage. And quite frankly I’m not one to do simple acoustic/vocal tunes either. It’s just not my thing.</p>
<p>So, I was sorry to have to decline the opportunity, especially when I learned a bit more about what these people are doing. They propose to make the world a better place with indie music. I mean that is pretty great a goal and I’m all for it, really, so I decided that I would support them any way I could.I thought that it would be a good to write this blog post to point this out to other artists that could be interested.</p>
<p>The idea is that they create events all over the globe, inviting indie musicians to take part and perform. All the proceeds of these concerts go to help local communities and especially associations that aim to “reach at-risk and counter culture youth with services and resources that would assist them in making positive, as well as healthy, decisions for a successful life”. I’d say that a worthy cause.</p>
<p>As artists, you would not get paid for these concerts, but you would get “food and lodging provided for at each performance date”, and you can decide what dates and what places you can/want to go to. So as well as doing a good deed and not being out of your pocket for it, you could perhaps also find a new audience at these events!</p>
<p>So if anyone is interested, I suppose the best is for you to check the <a href="http://www.theextremetour.com/" target="_blank">Extreme Tour web site</a> - they have a <a href="http://www.theextremetour.com/faq.html" target="_blank">FAQ page</a> that should explain things better than I do, then you can apply <a href="http://www.theextremetour.com/application-process.html" target="_blank">online here</a> or contact them via email for more information at <a data-link-label="" data-link-type="email" href="mailto:xtartistrelations@gmail.com" target="_blank">xtartistrelations@gmail.com</a></p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/49020702017-10-22T13:35:26-04:002018-01-18T00:46:43-05:00Eclectic Underground<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="1200" data-orig-width="1183"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/6761ae5774629fe481ab8ae8fd93d2be/tumblr_inline_oy8ivgezXN1ul1pg1_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></figure>
<p>Today I thought it was time to tell you about the <b>Eclectic Underground</b>…</p>
<p>I have always said everywhere that I was proud and happy to be independent. Meaning no label is going to tell me what music I should record, no producer is going to tell me how it should sound, no one but me is responsible for the music I do.</p>
<p>I cherish that freedom and would not trade it for all the fame and money of the world. As an artist I want to be able to explore my own ways, my own sounds, my own style. One example of that is the new album that I just released which is resolutely different from the previous EP. I know people might not follow me on that but genres are irrelevant to me. I do the music I love, and I leave you to call it whatever you want…</p>
<p>So, you might ask why I joined this collective of artists who all come from different background, different music and different tastes? Is it a label?</p>
<p>The fact is that I also share a lot of ideas with these people. Mainly that we, as indie artists, want to share and care and that we’re all in it together. I wrote a few times about that already and still believe it strongly.</p>
<p>So I totally adhere to the Eclectic Underground motto, which is “A collective of like minded but musically individual indie bands and artists. Not so much a label more a mutually beneficial musical commune.”</p>
<p>As Erin At Eleven said so well on her own <a href="https://erinateleven.com/blog/blog/eclectic-underground" target="_blank">blog</a>: “We believe in writing, recording and producing our own music. We support one another & other independent artists we like.” - Yay to that!</p>
<p>You can find us on Bandcamp at <a href="https://eclecticunderground.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">https://eclecticunderground.bandcamp.com/</a> and hear a sample of the diversity in our collective here: <a href="https://eclecticunderground.bandcamp.com/album/eclectic-underground-sampler" target="_blank">https://eclecticunderground.bandcamp.com/album/eclectic-underground-sampler</a></p>
<p>I wish more indie artists will join us soon and share and care with us!</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/48930772017-10-16T01:12:43-04:002017-10-16T16:28:25-04:00The Beards Corner<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="685" data-orig-width="748"><img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/fc2bf6c79eb8ecd563df895c18df4303/tumblr_inline_oxwg08lWuh1ul1pg1_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></figure>
<p>As MusicTalks.xyz is launching today its new music page "The Beards Corner" <a href="https://www.musictalks.xyz/music-reviews" target="_blank">https://www.musictalks.xyz/music-reviews</a> where I will be reviewing music every two weeks (hopefully!), I thought it would be good to talk about my motivations for embarking in this risky endeavor…</p>
<p>Tracey Arbon, who is the amazing brain behind Music Talks, asked me a few weeks ago if I would be interested and at first, I said that I didn’t think it was such a good idea… I mean I’ve seen bad reviews (I’ve had one myself, ah!) and I know that they can be upsetting, depending on how much of a thick skin you have, especially when they are coming from someone you know nothing about. Plus, music is an art form that is hugely subjective after all, so what would qualify me to voice my opinion on my peers?</p>
<p>I took the time to think about it though, and it seemed like it could be a cool way to shout out to great bands and artists and give them thumbs up (and beards!) and have their music exposed to anyone who’d like to discover something different… I started to see this as another occasion to share the love of indie music.</p>
<p>What’s for sure is that I have no intention to be the judge and jury of any artists around, or to pose as an arbiter of taste. </p>
<p>I have my own tastes and distastes of course, like anyone else, but my intention is to say what I love about the songs that I came to listen to and appreciate. My angle will probably be more on the music and production side of the tracks I review, simply because I’m passionate about music and production; and they will be biased this way, as I’m usually less focused on lyrics for example; but in any case, I intend to focus on the positive always, so you will most likely never read a bad review from me, my condition was that I would not review something if I don’t like it, and Tracey understood that and gracefully accepted.</p>
<p>All I hope is that it will help good artists get a little bit of extra exposure in the music world. Wish me luck!</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/48786172017-10-05T13:33:34-04:002018-05-24T17:30:03-04:00Demo-tivation<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="420" data-orig-width="630"><img src="https://68.media.tumblr.com/ab8020b33510dc7c983a5a9d4f1cf5b5/tumblr_inline_oxd0w01zLu1ul1pg1_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></figure>
<p>I often see (or rather hear!) bands and artists releasing demo tapes and unfinished songs on SoundCloud or ReverNation or Bandcamp or any of these free sites where people upload music, and it always makes me wonder…</p>
<p>It can be a pre-pre-version of a song (which finished version will more often than not never see the light of day), a sing-along recording done with an iPhone in a bathroom (for the acoustics, right?), an acoustic guitar strumming + vocal jam thing with barely recognizable vocals, a recording done on a laptop in a hotel room while the room service is ringing at the door, a booze induced racket with your pals at the pub… or anything in between.</p>
<p>Fact is, guys, I hate to tell you, but <strong>no one really wants to hear that!</strong> </p>
<p>I mean you can record anything you want and maybe a couple of your die hard fans will drink it like honey milk, but quite frankly they will be alone. There is so much good music around, of great sound quality, done with taste and with hours and hours of careful thinking and good recording, that your last recording at the park with a ukulele when dogs were barking in the background and complete with birds accompaniment is not going to cut it.</p>
<p>What you need to realize is that putting too much of your scrapes out there is not helping you. It just feels unprofessional and people will get bored easily if you’re releasing half-assed ideas and bad recordings.</p>
<p>If you want feedback on your demos, send it to other artists for useful feedback, don’t send it to your family or close friends for honest feedback, they will likely praise it (whether they’ve listened to it or not). For honest feedback, ask your peers, or find forums where people exchange about music, there are a few around… </p>
<p>I’ve been on one of them for years and have learned a lot from it… it’s been discontinued now but most of the people from there are now on another platform called <a contents="Indie Recording Depot" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://indierecordingdepot.com/" target="_blank">Indie Recording Depot</a> - worth checking out if you want to achieve better recordings.</p>
<p>Do yourself a favor and delete these demos from the face of the internet. High quality music is what you want to be known for! #JustSaying</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/48634052017-09-24T16:12:42-04:002017-10-06T06:02:16-04:00The "genre" question<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="900" data-orig-width="900"><img src="https://68.media.tumblr.com/44a51056d3785714e83099ee619ea7ca/tumblr_inline_owswb7Mbi21ul1pg1_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="image" /></figure>
<p>You get that question every time you put your music online, whatever the platform, whatever the site, the submission form…</p>
<p>What genre does your music fit in? What sub-genre?</p>
<p>Quite honestly, as an artist, I resent that question. I spent my life listening to all sorts of music, from all sorts of “genres”. And I like listening to one thing and then to something totally different next. That’s what life is all about, that’s what music is all about, isn’t it?</p>
<p>And, as an artist, I claim the right to play any kind of music I want. That’s also why I like being an independent artist. I can play a rock tune one day, a jazz one the next, a folk one to follow. No one is going to tell me that I should restrict myself to re-do the same kind of tune that I just did… That would be so boring. And that is probably what is boring in the commercial music of today.</p>
<p>I can imagine that fans could have a hard time with that although in the long run, they might get used to it and appreciate the variety… As for me, I value eclecticism in music. And I resent being put in any kind of genre box.<br>Unless there was a “<strong>good music</strong>” genre? Then I’d try to fill that box.</p>
<p>I remember a time when there was no limit to what bands would put on an album. There could be a rocking tune followed by an acoustic ballad, followed by some crazy psychedelia. And fans at the time were digging it, they were following the artist’s journey through sound and broadening their taste at the same time. It was always a discovery… you never knew what you would hear next.</p>
<p>This is why I have so much troubles answering the “genre” question. What kind of music do I do exactly? I have been doing progressive rock, jazz fusion, jazz ballads, soul, pop, blues, classic rock, all sorts of things. What box should I tick???</p>
<p>My next album that will be released soon, is going to reflect that. It’s much more jazz oriented than the previous EP, but you will find lots of influences from many different places as well. And I hope listeners will come along with me on that journey. I really do.</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/48540972017-09-17T14:40:12-04:002018-03-01T10:49:41-05:00Opting out<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="1004" data-orig-width="1750"><img src="https://68.media.tumblr.com/f7b29ed91c29dd8f81fa7705429fff12/tumblr_inline_owfqrasavF1ul1pg1_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></figure>
<p>Things are not going well in the music industry…. That’s an understatement. The truth is that things are pretty screwed up in the music industry… That’s also an understatement!</p>
<p>More people need to realize what artists get paid by streaming platforms for their hard work. More people should care!</p>
<p><b>The cold numbers (per play)</b><br>Napster pays $0.0167<br>Tidal pays $0.0110<br>Apple Music pays $0.0064<br>Google Play pays $0.0059<br>Deezer pays $0.0056<br>Spotify pays $0.0038<br>Pandora pays $0.0011<br>Youtube $0.0006 (IF you monetize)</p>
<p>To get on these platforms you also have to go through a distributor, for example CD Baby, which takes 19% of these royalties… On top of the fixed price for the entry ticket of course, which varies between $49 and $89 for an album. And of course to withdraw that money, you will have bank or Paypal fees…</p>
<p>So in average among these platforms, you get $0.0065, minus the 19% that’s a whooping $0.005265! Meaning for 10,000 plays you get roughly $50</p>
<p><b>Sleeping with the devil</b></p>
<p>So, I see indie artists trying to work around the system one way or another, trying to aggregate playlists to be played in loops all day on a desktop (sound muted) by all the people featured… And for what exactly? Hopefully they’ll get a burger by the end of the year. Who has even been truly listening??? What kind of interaction have they gained from being there, do they even know, do they even can contact the fans who have played and liked their music on these platforms? Nope.</p>
<p>I see countless artists, even radios, linking to Spotify and Deezer and Tidal on social media, actively promoting their links and playlists! And I’m thinking “I’m sure these platforms are really pleased that your fans are sent to them to listen to YOUR music.”</p>
<p>There’s a name for it, I believe. It’s called “Sleeping with the devil”.<br>Every day these platforms are petitioning in court to try and pay less and less royalties to artists, and put more money in the hands of their shareholders. They have no trouble using your content to do so. They will not promote you in any way, they are bound to big labels who couldn’t care less about indie music.</p>
<p><b>And then what?</b></p>
<p>I have decided that I will no longer condone any of these platforms, link to them or put anymore of my music on any of them. I’m just tired of endorsing crooks and bend over to get screwed a bit more, and say thank you while I’m at it… It’s not going to make that much of a difference in my revenue anyway, that’s for sure.</p>
<p>And I sincerely think all indie artists should do the same.</p>
<p>You will be able to find my music on my own website where I’ll get 100% of the revenues, on Bandcamp, CD Baby, iTunes and Amazon (they all take a cut).<br>But also especially you will be able to hear it, alongside many great indie artists, on indie radios and podcasts and shows, and read about it on indie blogs and magazines… All of the true distributors and dispensers of today’s indie music that we should all support, link to and recommend.</p>
<p>Fans should stop using these platforms. Radios should stop promoting any links to them. Their only aim is to create a monopoly and eliminate all the little guys, they will kill any creativity that’s left. Let’s not play their game!</p>
<p><b>But we don’t have a choice!</b></p>
<p>The main objections that I hear from artists are:<br>“You have to be there to be found…” - really? And who is finding you there, except the fans you’ve pointed to, to begin with?<br>“You don’t have a choice” - hum, isn’t that how dictatorships are made?<br>“If you don’t do it, others will” - again, isn’t that how the 3rd Reich’s atrocities happened?<br>“If you’re not there, no one will want to promote you” - I don’t believe the people in the indie world are really looking at Spotify to find the music they play and review and promote.<br>“It’s not that bad!” - go back and read these numbers from the beginning again, please!</p>
<p>Perhaps not many artists will find that worthwhile, and perhaps not many will change anything and they will keep linking to Spotify and the others, but as for me, I’m just tired of sleeping with the devil… I’m opting out! I think you should too!</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/48513672017-09-15T01:09:42-04:002017-09-15T19:28:46-04:00Invisible release<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="1500" data-orig-width="1500"><img src="https://68.media.tumblr.com/f602d4e7a1644240660efdda4ec1cc62/tumblr_inline_owb24fLL091ul1pg1_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></figure>
<p><b>Montréal, QC, Canada - October 20th, 2017</b></p>
<p>On this date, Ghostly Beard will release his second album “Invisible”.<br>The songs collection forms a unique blend of jazz, fusion and soft rock.</p>
<p>The eleven-track album opens with the up tempo “Upper Hand”, a tasty blend of jazz and soft rock, complete with horns section, the second track “Set Me Free” is resolutely jazz-rock fusion with keys and guitar solos, “How Can I?” mellows into soft rock, when “A Reason to Leave” is catchy jazz oriented pop rock. The “Blue” ballad is a heartwarming fatherly love song, while “Lazy (from Time to Time)” jazzes it up. “The Odds of Our Lives” ventures into Bossa-Nova with a twist, while “I Dream of You” is a chill down-tempo ballad, then followed by the lively jazz of “Along the Road”. The comedic “Fool” offers smile inducing self-deprecation, and the final “Someday” ends it all with an acoustic tone and soft harmonies.</p>
<p>Various videos will be produced for the occasion, starting with an official video for "Blue", which will start the release promotion ahead of time.</p>
<p>Make sure to mark the date to taste it all while it’s fresh!</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/48455942017-09-11T13:50:31-04:002017-09-12T01:16:21-04:00I fight for darkness<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="612" data-orig-width="612"><img src="https://68.media.tumblr.com/1adac6d1ad9b4be2ed4ee4b5e24d0129/tumblr_inline_ow4bfei1UL1ul1pg1_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="image" /></figure>
<p>Well, maybe not exactly the way you think… but let me explain!</p>
<p>This week-end I’ve received the masters of my new album from my mastering engineer. He’s great and has a really good ear, for example he has found little issues in my mixes that I had totally overlooked, like some overbearing hiss on the drum part of one song, or a click in the middle of a word on the vocal track of another. I’ve listened to these a thousand times and was rendered blind to these details…</p>
<p>But one thing is that his masters tend to be quite bright, and me, well, I’m more on the dark side…</p>
<p>I suppose it’s a sign of the times, but it makes me think that when people moan that CDs and digital sounds bad, and mourn the good old days of vinyl and the warmth of analog gear, perhaps all they are really longing for is a darker sound.<br>To be honest, the good old days were riddled with noise and distortion and many unwanted issues, and the sound was suffering from it.</p>
<p>Fact is that vinyl has limited frequency range compared to digital: it’s true of the low end that cannot be extended to the kind of subs the EDM crowd is used to, but it also has limited range in the high end, which generally equals a darker overall sound… </p>
<p>With the advent of CDs and digital, there are no such limits anymore, and we can render up to 20Khz and even more (which is pretty pointless actually) and this makes for more clarity in the high end, extended subs, etc. </p>
<p>Add to that the extreme compression that the recent loudness war has accustomed our ears to, and the fact that people listen to their cell phones, laptops with ear buds, with little low end, and all of that makes for a modern sound that is generally very bright.</p>
<p>Me, being the old dinosaur that I am, I tend to favor a darker, mellower sound, I even suspect that some amount of mud in a mix is necessary for a better sounding overall listening experience, something that doesn’t fatigue your ears and caresses instead of hammers your eardrums.</p>
<p>So in the end, I have asked my mastering engineer to add some mud back and to embrace the dark side. I’m sure Darth Vader would be proud! :D</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/48387822017-09-06T01:17:17-04:002017-09-07T11:05:29-04:00The essential studio accessory<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="407" data-orig-width="634"><img src="https://68.media.tumblr.com/4fec5766a25c08ce156b1bb7fb3d7f1a/tumblr_inline_ovuemloGuS1ul1pg1_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></figure>
<p>When I started getting back to music, I knew one thing I really needed to learn was audio engineering… It’s one thing to write songs but another to record them properly and yet another to mix them nicely.</p>
<p>You can get all the best recording gear in the world, build yourself a great sound treated studio, buy the most powerful computer, the best DAW (Digital Audio Workstation if you wonder what that means), but the one thing that you really need is to actually learn how to use all that.</p>
<p>And it takes time, because you need to train your ears. Critical listening is the one essential skill you need beyond the basics of learning how to operate a DAW which is a pretty complex and powerful piece of software. You can learn about EQ, compression, delays, reverbs, but you will get nowhere if you don’t know how to listen critically.</p>
<p>Now as I’ve said elsewhere, one thing you learn as a mixing engineer is to close your eyes, because it’s easy to get tricked by what you see… for example, say you are EQ-ing a track, and you look at the EQ curve, your brain will trick you to hear a change even if you’re actually EQ-ing another track, or even if that track is muted… It happened to me more than once, and it happened to most of the audio engineers I know. So best close your eyes if you want to avoid any false stimuli…</p>
<p>Which is where the essential accessory comes into play! Every studio worthy of this name needs one.. I’m talking about the Lava Lamp!!! Yes, if you look at recording studios, you will see all sorts of gear, mixing console, effects rack, cables, audio monitors, etc… But in the coolest studios, you will also likely see a Lava Lamp.</p>
<p>Personally, I feel that it’s very inducing to creative mixing. Just looking at the lava bubbles blowing up is fascinating and when I’m doing work on a mix and don’t want to close my eyes, I look at it instead of looking at the screen. Plus the light is really cool and not aggressive so you can sustain more time in your little sound bubble with it…</p>
<p>So if you really want to get into audio engineering, think about this essential mixing accessory! Your studio won’t be the same without it! ;-)</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/48339762017-08-31T23:52:49-04:002017-09-09T17:44:51-04:00You’ve been bearded!<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="344" data-orig-width="421"><a contents="" data-link-label="gb-award.png" data-link-type="file" href="/files/302425/gb-award.png"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/247015/2e595c439b869e17b6bb06768d9e5b567f1ce7cf/medium/gb-award.png?1504408308" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></a></figure>
<p>As many things do, it all started with a silly joke! </p>
<p>I was urged to show my face by some people on the internet (yes, you, you will recognize yourself!) but as I’ve said many times, I don’t have a public face, I’m invisible and intend to stay so, as I believe my music is there to speak for me and all the rest is unimportant and uninteresting… </p>
<p>But the pressure was such that I took the image of a fellow artist, and Photoshop-ed a beard on him… That pic is now infamous and I deeply apologize Codie Prevost! I hope you have a sense of humour, it wasn’t meant to be a joke on you in any case, and I do love your music! Let’s just say you were the first but you will certainly not be the last!</p>
<p>Because this made me think, and I was also prompted by my good friend Walter Hargrave from Indie Music Bus, that I should use that as a recognition award.</p>
<p>I really mean a recognition award, not a Top 10 or “best artist”, or anything like that, but as a token of my appreciation for the good music and the artist/band, or even for some great indie supporters, radios, blog, anyone active in the indie scene that deserve thanks for all they do for the love of music.</p>
<p>So from now on, I decided that I will give that award from time to time, here and there, (and I’m afraid there will probably be an accompanying pic, yes!) to shout out to great people, so that anyone who follows me will also know that I’m thankful to these people and that they deserve a following, a listen and some love back…</p>
<p>So, watch out because anyone worthy might get bearded!<br>And you might well be next! </p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/48279502017-08-27T21:58:35-04:002017-08-29T00:05:16-04:00The importance of a street team<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="300" data-orig-width="300"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://indiemusicbus.com/indie-music-force-central/" target="_blank"><img src="https://68.media.tumblr.com/0be8f640913b785c3feb293a91cf838b/tumblr_inline_ovdfuwLYsh1ul1pg1_540.png" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></a></figure>
<p>This blog post was inspired by two things that happened today, kind of a coincidence, really!</p>
<p>The first one is a post by the amazing Walter Hargrave of Indie Music Bus, about a cool new idea he has launched, which is to help and reward indie music fans with various promotion goodies and a chance to steer the bus wheel…<br>See <a href="https://indiemusicbus.com/indie-music-force-central/" target="_blank">Indie Music Force</a> for more info.</p>
<p>Another one was conversations with 2 big fans of Codie Prevost (a great Canadian songwriter, see my “<a contents="friends" data-link-label="Friends" data-link-type="page" href="/friends" target="_blank">friends</a>” page to know more) who have each been creating a twitter account to post news about Codie and support their favorite artist, engage in friendly banter with many people and generally get some attention around their idol.</p>
<p>It made me think again about the importance of a street team. We all know about the old concept of enrolling your friends, family and fans to distribute your flyers for a concert, now the same thing applies to social media.</p>
<p>A street team is a group of people who will tweet about you, post content on social media, interact with other potential fans and artists, bring more attention to your content and your music, vote for your songs, they do it because they love your music and your attitude, they do it because they are here to support you!</p>
<p><b>So how does one creates a street team?</b></p>
<p>If you’re doing gigs, it’s probably easier because you can interact with the audience after the show and when they tell you they loved it, you can ask them if they would help spread the word. If you’re an online artist it’s perhaps a little bit more complicated, but I think it all comes down to the same idea again: human connection.</p>
<p>After all, isn’t it the ultimate goal of music? To share and make us all feel part of the same family, people with similar taste, enjoying the same music without barrier, without frontier and without care for any difference of race or gender or religion or political ideas, just being human beings after all?</p>
<p>One of Codie’s fan asked me what I was thinking of her supporting endeavors and I had to remind her that Codie is very fortunate to have her, because music means nothing if there’s no fan to listen. Yes, they are one of the main reason we do it in the first place!<br><b>Does music even exist is there’s no one to listen?</b></p>
<p>I engage all the music fans to do what they do best, love and care for music and for the artists, buy their CDs and merch, go to their concert, share their music and news on social media, vote for them on radio charts, spread the word and the love! </p>
<p><b>We love you back!</b></p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/48169702017-08-17T01:54:11-04:002018-08-01T12:33:24-04:00Win+Win<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="420" data-orig-width="560"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/247015/af255490d8bde2fe3cb4b11ed6f607ccd646b033/original/network.jpg?1502987387" class="size_l justify_left border_" /></figure>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The more I think about it the more it makes sense to me…<br>And I sincerely hope it will also make sense to you too!</p>
<h2>The old vs the new</h2>
<p>In too many cases, bands/artists have kept the old “battle of the bands” mindset and ported it on the internet and the world of social media. But what ‘could’ make sense on a local scene when there’s little venues to play for and a lot of great bands to ‘compete’ with, doesn’t make any sense on the internet where the virtual ‘scene’ is worth hundreds of millions of potential listeners and fans…</p>
<h2>The challenge of social media</h2>
<p>Actually, the challenge there is entirely different: It’s not about competing to get a coveted place on stage any more (the stage is yours already!) it’s about finding your crowd, moreover it’s about captivating that crowd with ever renewed content and keep them entertained 24/7 with quality stuff.</p>
<p>So how does one do that? By sharing the same songs every day? The same videos? By posting random pseudo philosophical quotes? Or posting cats and boobs? Put yourself in the shoes of potential fans (and music lovers are truly out there, and in huge numbers even!) and try to think of what they are looking for… They want new songs, new bands, new videos, cool blog posts, radios to listen to, hear about concert/events to go to… Are you capable of posting that kind of renewed content every day, all the time? Can you do it alone??<br>Of course you can’t!</p>
<h2>A change of mindset</h2>
<p>Now what if you were forgetting about the old “battle of the bands” idea and shared content coming from many fellow artists that you like instead? If you think about it, there’s tons of great content posted every day on social medias… Each fellow band/artist is going to post their own stuff regularly of course, so then what about appropriating that cool content and make it yours to share? The more you would do that, the more you would keep your own followers interested, right? But then, what if they follow these other artists? Well sure, but so what? What are you afraid of? Remember that the music lovers out there are forever hungry for more, meaning that if they follow other bands, that doesn’t mean they will stop following you! Even better: what if other bands were actually all doing the same thing, and were also sharing your content, along with theirs and many others? Win+Win</p>
<p>I truly believe that it is the way to go. I even think that it’s the only way to go online if you’re an indie artist and you want to keep growing your following the right way and ultimately find your own crowd… Forget the competitiveness and adopt a sharing attitude! We, unsigned artists, don’t have a big label to do our promotion, we don’t have much money to put on ads that won’t do us any good anyway, we don’t have much money to put into expensive PR… So why not enroll fellow artist to do that for us, the only thing we have to do is to do it for them too…</p>
<h2>What we can ALL do</h2>
<p>To put that into practice, I have created a “<a contents="friends" data-link-label="Friends" data-link-type="page" href="/friends" target="_blank">friends</a>” page on my website to showcase indie artists that I like and want to support. What I truly have in mind is to create the same kind of network that you can see on some blogs with their “blog rolls” links. Each blog links to other blogs and a visitor could follow any of these links and find new content that would fit their taste, if they end up on a site where that same kind of sharing exist they could follow more links… I propose we all do that and create our own indie network of bands and fellow artists friends.</p>
<p>I also propose to feature an artist on my monthly newsletter, and if we all do that, we could all extend our reach… It’s not about stealing others’ fans, it’s about sharing a crowd of people who would like music of the same kind/same quality.</p>
<p>And of course online, on Twitter, Facebook, whatever your social media platform of choice, when you don’t know what to post any more to keep your hungry followers happy, instead of posting the same old link, or cats and boobs, why not share other bands quality content? You get happy followers plus happy fellow artists who will be happy to share your content when the time comes. </p>
<h2>Win+Win</h2>
<p>So now, are you in with a sharing mindset or are you out doing it alone with an old and inadequate 'battle of the bands’ mentality? <br>It’s an easy pick, really!</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/48047982017-08-06T22:26:37-04:002017-08-07T17:53:48-04:00Indie Music Bus<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="288" data-orig-width="300"><a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://indiemusicbus.com/" target="_blank"><img src="https://68.media.tumblr.com/b2f244fc85e017881b3e7bfa641861c0/tumblr_inline_ouakvtIuPf1ul1pg1_540.png" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></a></figure>
<p>Since I’ve started my incursion in the wonderful (and pretty confusing) world of social media I’ve encountered (meaning virtually “met”) a lot of people in the indie music world, lots of artists of course, but also radios hosts, bloggers, fans, and a few people who act daily with no other goal than to help indie artists for the love of independent music. Pretty cool. right?</p>
<p>One of the leader in the selfless helping crowd has been at it since 2000, and even before, if I read correctly his amazing <a href="https://indiemusicbus.com/indie-music-bus-press-kit/" target="_blank">Press Kit</a>, I’m speaking of none other than the famous “<a href="https://indiemusicbus.com/" target="_blank"><b>Indie Music Bus</b></a>”… </p>
<p>Founded by Walter Hargrave, seemingly with the aim of redressing all the wrongs in the music industry (and there are many!), the guy relentless work have made him and his bus an unavoidable station and vehicle towards success for any serious music artists.</p>
<p>Walter has been networking with many influential people in the industry, built powerful software tools to help managing and showcasing indies, always with goal of helping them through countless promotions using various social media accounts. Personally I’m a fan, and I’m in awe of everything he has achieved already and eager to see what next move he’s preparing!</p>
<p>So, if you don’t know the <b><a href="https://indiemusicbus.com/" target="_blank">Indie Music Bus</a></b>, I’d say it’s time to catch up, because this bus is unstoppable!</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/47984632017-07-31T23:28:22-04:002017-08-03T02:16:26-04:00Let the little fish live<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="360" data-orig-width="640"><img src="https://68.media.tumblr.com/be0c898f79dd8b2925877f93f07f1e30/tumblr_inline_otzk9d5W0R1ul1pg1_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></figure>
<p>Once again, I’m inspired by the indie world of unsigned artists and in particular those who are supporting them. I mean radio hosts, bloggers, podcast hosts, indie activists of all kinds and ultimately fans.</p>
<p>I’ve met some really cool people lately who share a passion for music, in a world where passion seems like the ultimate endangered specie: these people are still not entirely in-sensitized by media overload and/or social media indigestion.</p>
<p>Just right now one tweet of mine (where I was sharing music and trying to tell people that they will get free tracks to download for a subscription on my newsletter) got re-tweeted by a big shot TV/Radio show host with millions of followers who just happens to care about indie artists and is doing a lot to help out. I heard from some other people in the indie world that he’s been at it for years and is actually doing so much because he really cares. How cool is that? </p>
<p>You would think that this guy is a shark in the big media pond, right? He’s going to eat us all indie little fishes, looking at our social media numbers and immediately think when he sees me: “this guy is not worth my attention… He doesn’t have millions of followers so this must mean his music is lame”</p>
<p>But, as I’ve talked about in a previous post, it so happens that numbers don’t tell the whole tale, IMHO. And it’s pretty cool that some people in the music business do realize that. </p>
<p>It just made me think that maybe this guy is just doing it right. He reacts just like any good fisherman have learned to do: don’t eat the small fishes, because if you do, one day, there will be no more big fishes and we’ll all starve. Send them back to the sea, give them a little push and let them swim away safely…</p>
<p>And if you help them and feed them, one day, they might turn up big fishes too and help feed millions too. That’s the crucial role of these indie radios, bloggers, podcast hosts, indie activists and general fans have in this world. Help feed the indie musicians, otherwise there will be no music tomorrow!</p>
<p>So many thanks to the big fish who didn’t act like a shark and managed to keep some human connection with the indie artists around him. I feel honored to have stolen a few seconds of his attention, and blessed by that gentle push!</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/47943272017-07-27T14:25:40-04:002017-08-03T15:45:34-04:00Are you listening?<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="798" data-orig-width="1000"><img src="https://68.media.tumblr.com/cc444136b80ad2fcddfaa37af56e406b/tumblr_inline_otrgvjnK9G1ul1pg1_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></figure>
<p>I’ve spent quite a lot of time lately connecting with people in the indie music world. Yes, it’s a world! And it’s actually pretty amazing how much great people are in it!</p>
<p>One thing that really warmed my old beard was to see how much passionate people there were still. Which is really reassuring because sometimes things look pretty dire, when you realize how music has became such a disposable thing nowadays in the eyes (the ears, really) of the general public.<br>It’s the thing most download for no money, most share without thoughts, most hear without listening.</p>
<p>But there are people who do care. And people who do listen.</p>
<p>Radio hosts sharing their passion for good music on the air, sparing no expense of their time to discover new music and playing it online, preparing programs where they showcase artists, doing interviews, chatting with everyone, sharing the love. </p>
<p>Bloggers with a gift for words, crafting cool reviews of their favorite releases, most of the time outside of their day job, trying to get readers interested and to make them care like they do.</p>
<p>People online exchanging links and tweets and videos and music, people trying to find new ways to feature good artists and their work.</p>
<p>I can’t put a list of all of them here. But they will recognize themselves if they read this.<br>All unsung heroes in a world of apathy and indifference. And they even support my music, what can I say if not thanks?</p>
<p>Me? I do my own music, but I also stand in the camp of the listeners. I spend a lot of time listening to other artists as well, and I’ve discovered a lot of true gems by doing so, and I treasure them, and I try to buy their music when my no budget allows. And I’ve also decided to showcase them on a new page on my website simply called “<a contents="friends" data-link-label="Friends" data-link-type="page" href="/friends">friends</a>”. Because that’s what they are, really: fellow artists friends who deserve your time and your ears…</p>
<p>So, are you listening?</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/47848272017-07-19T13:37:18-04:002017-10-08T06:43:06-04:00Giving back<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="533" data-orig-width="800"><img src="https://68.media.tumblr.com/2dc798bfcf3b2a21a53ee20aaf0faf82/tumblr_inline_otclg1nfUD1ul1pg1_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></figure>
<p>Because I see radios (indie radios/internet radios/college radios) as partners in crime when it comes to sharing good music to the unsuspecting public, I want to do all I can to help them. After all, if they succeed, so will I in a way and so will many other indie musicians who deserve to be heard.</p>
<p>Since I’ve started reaching out to show hosts these last weeks to pitch my new EP, I’ve come to “meet” and appreciate many cool guys and gals who are busting their ass off on the internet and on the air to preach the good music gospel. I won’t put a list here because there are too many, but if you are reading this, you know who you are!</p>
<p>One of the guy I came to appreciate, after a few chats and listening to a couple of his indie show is Al Yardy, the guy behind KB Radio <a href="http://www.kbradio.ca/" target="_blank">http://www.kbradio.ca/</a> - his tagline “What radio used to be” is perfectly conveying the guy’s passion for music and radio. The people who are listening to him know that he’s in it for all the right reasons. You can reach Al on Twitter <a contents="@KBRadio_THP" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://twitter.com/KBRadio_THP" target="_blank">@KBRadio_THP</a> and say that you're here for him, I'm sure he'll be glad to hear about you too.</p>
<p>Recently there was a tragedy at KB Radio and most of Al’s equipment was lost. Since then he’s been trying to raise funds to rebuild his radio and get back to doing shows on a permanent basis... In the meantime, he has an automated playlist and only recently has he been able to start his live shows on some nights.</p>
<p>I’d say that it’s a worthwhile cause and anyone with a love of music and appreciation for the indie scene should reach out and help him with his fundraiser here: <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/kb-radio-rebuild-the-studio" target="_blank">https://www.gofundme.com/kb-radio-rebuild-the-studio</a> </p>
<p>To set up an example, I’ve decided that from now on <b>any sale of my latest EP will go entirely to Al’s fundraiser</b>. </p>
<p>So, what are you waiting for? Get some good music and make a good deed, you will feel so much better then! ;)</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/47842702017-07-18T22:32:56-04:002017-08-20T19:43:33-04:00Millions of followers: A blessing or a curse?<p><img src="https://68.media.tumblr.com/1c0fff2b1882da366d30f3aaf7d4da84/tumblr_otbgewUJpR1wp4zclo1_500.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></p>
<p>I just came upon a tweet from one of the guys at “Indie Music Bus”, a great team of people dedicated to help indie music with various promotions on their sites, couple with radio airplay, press and social media promotion, check them out here: <a href="https://indiemusicbus.com/" target="_blank">https://indiemusicbus.com/</a> - or follow them on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/IndieMusicBus" target="_blank">@indiemusicbus</a></p>
<p>The tweet was “ <i>One of the telltale signs when an act is breaking into the big-time. Social media behavior changes quickly.</i> “</p>
<p>And of course, it got me thinking (because I actually like to do that!)…</p>
<p>TBH I’m fairly new to Twitter, Facebook and all the social media circus, but from what I’ve been made to believe, you cannot escape it if you want to be heard one way or another. I wasn’t too sure about it at first but then I decided to embrace it. At least I’m having fun on Twitter and it can’t hurt, right?</p>
<h2>Influencing the influencers?</h2>
<p>The problem starts with the perception of many medias, radios and press and basically any influencer in the “music industry” who are now expecting artists to have thousands or even millions of followers before being deemed worth of their attention. Even regular people will tend to look at your followers numbers, or followers/following “ratio” in PR parlance to see if you are to be trusted, or even considered…</p>
<p>So you start thinking along the same line as well… After all, life is too short to waste it with something that no one cares about, right? There’s so much music around that you have to find a way to cut through all the clutter and get to the really good stuff, right? (Note that I’m speaking about music because that’s what I do and care about most, but it’s true of any art and artists). The problem with it is that once again the principle at work with big network is at play here: you get to like a song because everyone listens to it, because it’s been pushed by people with enough PR muscles to push it into the ears of millions of people. Push any song (with a minimal amount of melody and vocal) millions of times and people will end up liking it on a grand scale… (I’m not going to cite any popular songs, I don’t care much about that, and BTW I have nothing against the artists behind them, I’m pretty happy that anyone has success in this life).</p>
<h2>Thousands, millions, what’s next?</h2>
<p>So you start to think that the strength is in the number of followers, plays in Spotify, etc. And you are solicited by many shameless scam companies promising you millions of followers/plays… fake of course, but isn’t it impressive? Isn’t it going to impress the influencers of this world? Will they finally give you a chance?</p>
<p>Nah, I doubt that very much. And so should you, if you care about what you do.<br>The thing is that if you’re doing it for the sake of it and you are passionate about it, it doesn’t matter how many followers you have… It will not count in the end. You could have millions of fake followers/plays, but no real human who cares, what’s the point?</p>
<p><b>Isn’t the ultimate goal of music/any art to connect with people?</b> To tell your story to people who are eager to listen to it? And hear about them, and share your stories.</p>
<p>So, let’s say you truly get to thousands/hundreds of thousands of ‘real’ followers? And this is where this tweet above made me think…</p>
<h2>My journey into the twitterverse</h2>
<p>A few weeks ago, I had about 20 followers, I didn’t even tweet TBH.<br>As of today I have almost 600, and I try to follow them all. So the other day, I tried to tell them all why I was following them and appreciating them. It took me 2 solid hours to go through about 250 accounts… And I had fun lately trying to connect to people, finding a way to shine a light on them as much as I wanted them to pay attention to what I do (it really goes both way, see?). <br>But 2 hours for about 250 accounts? What am I going to do next? How can I stay connected to so many people? I mean, I know that a good 50% are following me because 1/ I follow them or 2/ they want to sell me something, but still…</p>
<p>It means that I still have about 300 or more people that I’d like to keep in touch with… what happens if I get thousands of real people? There’s the challenge… How do I manage to still be available to them, see what they post, react to that? And yet I have a full time job, and a daughter who also need my time, and music to write/record/produce/mix/etc… how am I to fit all that in?</p>
<p>So my idea is that really, I’m not sure I would ever want millions of followers, because as much as it would flatter my ego, I’m not sure what it would do to my soul. I fear that I would lose any kind of human connection with any of them, and I’m really not sure I want that.</p>
<p>Ideally, I think a few thousands would be more than enough, if they are real people and if we share a common love for good music and care for similar things…<br><b>So, yeah, I'm just looking for human beings... Are you in or are you out?</b></p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/47829202017-07-17T23:12:15-04:002017-08-14T19:11:41-04:00Cut or keep? Always a difficult question<p><iframe allowtransparency="true" class="tumblr_audio_player tumblr_audio_player_163119459649" frameborder="0" height="90" scrolling="no" src="https://aghostlybeard.tumblr.com/post/163119459649/audio_player_iframe/aghostlybeard/tumblr_ot9nkgV3hb1wp4zcl?audio_file=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tumblr.com%2Faudio_file%2Faghostlybeard%2F163119459649%2Ftumblr_ot9nkgV3hb1wp4zcl" width="540"></iframe></p>
<p>Today I’ve been asked how I work when I arrange a song…</p>
<p>One thing is for sure: for me, it’s a rather long process of refined iterations. I can have many ideas that won’t make the final cut, for a number of reasons. I will often throw a lot of things into a mix then live with it (meaning listen to it intently) for a while and see what sticks… In this extract for example, I had this idea of a building intro with some cool arpeggio and vocal harmonies that I decided to remove in the end, in favor of a simple fade in and shorter intro. </p>
<p>I liked the idea for a moment, and the harmonies could have sounded good (although here in this version they are a bit flaky), but the intro was starting to get too long and I thought that it was best to get to the meat of the vocal sooner.<br>At one point I toyed with the idea of making this a bridge, but somehow this was too much of a down point and again I decided against.</p>
<p>It’s always a balancing act… I come from a time where songs of 20+ minutes were not exceptional, and I don’t mind that at all, but you still have to keep the listener’s interest and sometimes cutting things is the way towards that.</p>
<p>Nowadays I tend to favor shorter music and more to the point, and try to make simpler music, by removing things more often than not. Which actually is pretty hard to do, because you get attached to some parts and you have to take a step back and realize what really works and what is just fluff that is not really needed. If something doesn’t make a song better, it better go.</p>
<p>In the end, the final version clocks at around 5 minutes, but I think it works and manages to keep the listener’s attention throughout.<br>You’ll be the judge:</p>
<figure class="tmblr-embed tmblr-full" data-orig-height="304" data-orig-width="540" data-provider="youtube" data-url="https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D3xuXXC0WjCw%26t%3D73s"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="304" id="youtube_iframe" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3xuXXC0WjCw?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque" width="540"></iframe></figure>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/47757452017-07-11T21:43:38-04:002017-07-22T17:18:52-04:00No Return<p><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="300" id="youtube_iframe" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JQnHTKZBTI4?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque" width="400"></iframe></p>
<p>This song on my new “Infinite” EP came from a striking image... <a contents="No Return" data-link-label="" data-link-type="track" href="/track/1260231/no-return" target="_blank">Listen here</a></p>
<p>I was following a physics course on a MOOC (Mass Open Online Course), and one of the session was about some extraordinary insights of Einstein’s theory of Relativity, and the subject of the speed of light as a constant. What I vividly remember was a computer simulation attempting to show the kind of visual distortion that would happen if you were to travel at a speed close to the speed of light (because nothing can go any quicker, even though Star Trek told you so!), and how things would appear to you as you were increasing speed. (The video here is of low quality, unfortunately I couldn’t find a better one, sorry! But hopefully you'll get the idea)</p>
<p>What I liked was how, as you passed a building in that simulation, it was still appearing ahead of you, because of the distortion and the time the light would take to reach you, and also the fact that as you were speeding up, everything in front started to appear brighter and focused on a center point ahead like the end of a tunnel…</p>
<p>And then I remembered how people who had a near death experience often talk about that tunnel and the light in front of them, and how it sounded similar.<br>Now I’m not a spiritual person, but this made me think that it was somehow strangely related.</p>
<p>From that came the central idea of this song (to be taken literally):</p>
<blockquote><strong><em>And as you reach the speed of light<br>You face your past collapsed and bright<br>Sliding</em></strong></blockquote>
<p>From there on, to think of a journey with no return, far from the sun, in a “rocket ship firing” naturally followed… It’s a journey we will all take one day, so I hope it will be full of wonders and exciting. I tried to make the sound and the song a possible (if only faint) reflection of this extraordinary adventure.</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/47726852017-07-09T14:48:59-04:002017-07-09T14:59:20-04:00Early recording of a song I’m working on<p><iframe allowtransparency="true" class="tumblr_audio_player tumblr_audio_player_162792182914" frameborder="0" height="90" scrolling="no" src="https://aghostlybeard.tumblr.com/post/162792182914/audio_player_iframe/aghostlybeard/tumblr_osu6xnlaPt1wp4zcl?audio_file=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tumblr.com%2Faudio_file%2Faghostlybeard%2F162792182914%2Ftumblr_osu6xnlaPt1wp4zcl" width="540"></iframe></p>
<p>Here are the first 2 verses of a song I’m working on at the moment.</p>
<p>I thought I’d share it here for the curious. <br>I rarely do that because I like finished/polished music but I thought this one was fun and already listenable even at this very early stage. You’ll be the judge.</p>
<p>There’s no intro yet, no ending, and I still need to flesh out the arrangement (which could be very simple or awfully complex… depending on what the song asks for). I like this one’s melody and chord progression, so there’s definitely a song here and I will probably work on it in the next few weeks.</p>
<p>Not all my ideas end up as a song. There’s a lot I discard, as I only work on something that I believe is worth the effort. Meaning it has to have a good melody at least, which to me is the main thing, and it needs to keep itself together even stripped bare like that with just an acoustic guitar and a vocal. If it sounds like something that can grow, then I will start working on the arrangement, and spend many many hours on it, adding layers, trying ideas, re-tracking, until it is ready for a mix and master…<br>Then I share it.</p>
<p>For the record, this one’s lyrical idea was prompted by my recent incursions in the wonderful world of social medias: where there is a lot of nothing being said and exchanged, but sometimes meaningful connections can occur.</p>
<p>I hope that I will be able to count you into the meaningful connections! :)</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/47712952017-07-07T18:04:53-04:002020-01-21T12:51:22-05:00Do people still listen to these?<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="1462" data-orig-width="2044"><img src="https://68.media.tumblr.com/8fc69739aa34b73637e7e290109bd251/tumblr_inline_osqq318dhP1ul1pg1_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></figure>
<p>Yesterday, I received a batch of CDs of my Infinite EP.</p>
<p>They look good, and it’s fun to have, but then, what’s the point?<br>Do people still listen to these? Do they even have a CD player anymore?</p>
<p>It’s said everywhere that CD sales are moribund, and that nowadays people are using streaming platforms for the most part. As for downloads, well, they are going down as well…</p>
<p>So what’s the use of this then?<br>Well, you should know that there are still many blogs and radios that only accept submissions of physical products. This means that not only do you have to produce these (and estimate in advance how many you will need to minimize the costs of duplication), then you also have to ship them in bubble wrap envelopes to wherever this is required, this ends up being quite an investment in time and money, without any guarantee for a return.</p>
<p>On the one hand I can understand that these radios and blog need some tangible product to keep in their library and have some attached liner notes to draw information from. On the other hand it sounds like a waste of resources (and place - I can only imagine how many of these a typical radio need to store) when it’s so easy to transfer digital music nowadays, tag your mp3 files and add a one-page PDF in a zip with all the info that is needed.</p>
<p>Oh well! At worst, this can make some really cool coasters! :D</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/47707642017-07-07T14:42:14-04:002017-07-07T18:06:48-04:00Close Your Eyes - The official music video is out!<p><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" id="youtube_iframe" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hfWZAxnGstQ?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque" width="400"></iframe></p>
<p>Nowadays people don’t listen to music. They watch it on YouTube! <br>Which is why having a video for all your songs is essential… Like it or not, YouTube is still the number 1 music discovery website far more than any other platforms.</p>
<p>Which is a bit silly, really, because I remember that back in the days we used to listen to albums, sometimes with eyes closed, to get engulfed into the sound and music and dream our own movie… I suppose we have became too lazy today to just listen to music without image support?</p>
<p>So, if you are making music nowadays, you need to create videos. And of course that’s another hole in your budget/time, either you hire people to work with you on videos, or you have to learn to do it yourself (and not everyone can be gifted at everything) and this takes more time away from what your focus should really be which is writing/playing/recording music.</p>
<p>For this song, which is supposed to be the feature song of the EP, I wanted to make a special “Official” video. And I was fortunate to find <a href="http://www.garethkay.co/" target="_blank">Gareth Kay</a>, a video artist from London - UK, who accepted to work with me on a limited budget but with a dedication to create the best content possible. We talked about a loose scenario and directives that included someone between life and death trying to make a sense of his life in “out of body” experience sequences. I wanted the end to be hopeful, like the song ultimately is, after a psychotic experience seen from evocative images.</p>
<p>I’m very happy with the result which looks sleek and professional, despite the budget, and nicely bring along the viewer on an emotional journey.</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/47672042017-07-04T22:20:26-04:002017-07-04T22:22:49-04:00The greatest?<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="304" data-orig-width="336"><img src="https://68.media.tumblr.com/b2ba03c38b1dc16f813c57ab3955c192/tumblr_inline_oslidxUv7k1ul1pg1_540.png" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></figure>
<p>I’m often puzzled by discussions about the “greatest” band of all time, or the “best” guitarist/drummer/bassist/etc., or the “top ten” albums, and in general with the obsession with ranking everything.</p>
<p>When it comes to music, I have my preferences like everyone of course, but I often have troubles defining what I love “best” or what I find to be the “greatest”. I’ve found that for me, it varies greatly with time and mood.</p>
<p>I have spent most of my life listening to all sorts of music in various phases, and if I’ve started by listening classical music, then rock, then hard rock, then punk, then blues, then pop, then folk, then progressive rock, then jazz-rock fusion, then jazz, then classic rock, then ambient, then… I have a hard time listing them all and in a specific order - let alone ranking these genres.</p>
<p>It might come from the fact that I had most of my musical awakening in the seventies, where eclectism was the norm, and also the fact that I wanted to be a session musician and wanted to be able to play in any style, so I studied them all and I tried to absorb as much as I could from any style: I was a musical glutton, and it helped me shape my own music I believe.</p>
<p>Today it would seem like everyone is obsessed with ranking, and I wonder: does music really needs to be a competition?</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/47644072017-07-02T15:34:22-04:002017-07-02T15:36:00-04:00Canada 150<p><img src="https://68.media.tumblr.com/938593aa67856e7296b3f023a98c1019/tumblr_oshadaKwif1wp4zclo1_500.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></p>
<p>Yesterday was Canada day and the country was celebrating the 150th birthday of the confederation.</p>
<p>Although I’ve been living in Montreal since 2005, I’ve only been a real Canadian for a couple of months, since I only applied for citizenship recently, which was granted on May 3rd during a ceremony that celebrated multiculturalism and the values of the country.</p>
<p>I’m pretty proud of being Canadian actually. Not that I disown my French roots in any way but Canada is a country looking towards the future more than the past and its values of openness and welcoming immigration policy is something I really appreciate.</p>
<p>Unlike its southern neighbours (this spells with "ou" here!), it is a safe country to live in, and the social climate is not one of fear and distrust. It is the country we have chosen to raise our daughter because of this, among other reasons.</p>
<p>I also like that its thoroughly North American culture is still pumped with European blood and this can be seen in many places all over the country. Montreal in particular still shares a lot of its culture with France and is proud of its French roots. An ideal place for me to live in.</p>
<p>If only Winter didn’t last that long! :D</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/47633992017-06-30T22:37:38-04:002017-06-30T22:40:23-04:00Official video in production<p><img src="https://68.media.tumblr.com/c04ea74d2e15365b847c6c621022c43b/tumblr_ose4mqdh1q1wp4zclo1_500.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /><br><br><img src="https://68.media.tumblr.com/f851ab9b9313d24cdc4dcbc55fbe9f1e/tumblr_ose4mqdh1q1wp4zclo2_500.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /><br><br><img src="https://68.media.tumblr.com/54cc35f87a41c76afef2244a63a4b069/tumblr_ose4mqdh1q1wp4zclo3_500.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></p>
<p>Today I received the first draft edit of my new official video for “Close Your Eyes” which is going to be the feature song and video from my new “Infinite” EP.</p>
<p>It is directed by Gareth Kay, from London, UK - you can check him out at <a href="http://www.garethkay.co/" target="_blank">http://www.garethkay.co/</a> Gareth is a very talented indie artist who has worked on numerous music videos and has also worked on another video of mine (unreleased yet, it will be used for the promotion of my second album).</p>
<p>I’m pretty excited about this new video! We took the time to build a cool story line that goes well with the theme of the song which is about questioning your life and looking for hope and redemption, ultimately finding it where it counts.</p>
<p>The song is kind of an epic for me, with a rather large sound reminiscent of stadium progressive rock bands (I leave you to guess who :)), so it seemed like a natural candidate for a video narrative, and we hope that it will take the viewer and listener through a visual and musical journey that is rewarding.</p>
<p>So stay tuned for this one, it shouldn’t take too long now! :)</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/47584312017-06-27T00:18:48-04:002018-10-27T23:59:19-04:00“THE FACE”<p><img src="https://68.media.tumblr.com/6ec531350ec386ce1dffe2ab5194baf1/tumblr_os6unclfM91wp4zclo1_500.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></p>
<p>Every guitar player knows it: As soon as you pick up the instrument for a solo in front of a live audience, you have to make “THE FACE”… at least if you want to be considered a real guitar hero!</p>
<p>This is especially true if the guitar is electric, but even classical or folk players with an acoustic instrument are not entirely exempt. A simple Google search for “guitar face” will show you all sorts of vivid examples in all genres.</p>
<p>It’s pretty hard to pinpoint exactly where and when the fashion started, historians will probably debate this one for many years to come. I suppose it all came, like most of popular music, from the blues. And it makes sense that the suffering of the slaves in the cotton fields somehow translated to the players singing their harrowing plea.</p>
<p>How it came to be adopted by guitar players in particular, and in the rock scene especially, is left open to controversy. I will not adventure a theory myself.</p>
<p>I just know that for the many many years that I studied guitar, I have missed one essential part of my training by not doing it in front of a mirror. I would have perfected my stance and yes, probably made it big!</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/47567882017-06-25T14:54:47-04:002021-02-15T12:53:03-05:00Boobs and cats<p><img src="https://68.media.tumblr.com/62786cbcd44e414b4d1027828a591642/tumblr_os49vb52RX1wp4zclo1_500.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></p>
<p>I gave up to the pressure of the internet: this photo is for you all!</p>
<p>As I was editing a video yesterday for my song “Frozen in Time” (which BTW, you can see on Youtube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqOxzrB1YYA" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqOxzrB1YYA</a>), I was looking for evocative public domain clips that would fit the music, and I remembered reading marketing advice somewhere that to really attract an audience nowadays on the internet, particularly on social media, your images and videos should really contain one of the 2 major content elements that drive the internet nowadays: <b>boobs</b> or <b>cats</b>.</p>
<p>Not that I’m not into that, actually I find them both pretty attractive (for different reasons), but I wonder how a juicy pair would fit the intro lyrics of “Floating, weightless… looks like there’s no end to…”, or how much misinterpreted would be the phrase “I can let it go now”?</p>
<p>As to cats, they are cute and all, but do they really belong in a spacey dreamy song which in essence evokes death, cryogeny and a final voyage? “I wonder…” is one of the lyrics.<br>Yeah, I do wonder!</p>
<p>Does it matter so much that people are “liking” and “following” and “RT-ing” anything you do if it’s not something you’re particularly proud of anyway? And even if I had boobs (I don’t, remember I have a beard!), would I really want to share them to the world? Should I make an alternate version of this video that would appeal to the masses or should I just continue doing my thing, in all its invisible glory? I leave you to ponder with me. :D</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/47493272017-06-19T00:45:04-04:002017-06-29T17:39:32-04:00Infinite<p><img src="https://68.media.tumblr.com/b24f78bf075dce8033f1f40d0c920cf1/tumblr_ors2j4IIpo1wp4zclo1_500.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></p>
<p>Putting the last touch to my upcoming first EP - A lot more will come after this one, but for now, I’m just dipping my toe in the online musical ocean...</p>
<p>Most people wouldn’t believe the amount of work that goes into releasing music. I mean it’s not enough to just write the songs, record, arrange/produce, mix them… In my case these songs were done at different times, so it is also a matter of selecting a collection that makes sense, then remix them to match the mood and sound, then master them to a similar loudness and balance to make them fit together as a coherent unit, also make sure all the metadata are updated.</p>
<p>Then you also need to work on the visuals, then work on the promotion, banners, ads, update all your social medias, prepare newsletters announcements, work on some videos.</p>
<p>And of course if you work with external resources, you also have to coordinate them, make sure everything is ready before the release date, and that everyone is on the same page, and work for the same end goal.</p>
<p>And then you put it out, and then the promotion work is the biggest part. Because having music out there doesn’t mean a thing nowadays, you also have to put it in front of the right crowd, and it’s harder than ever.</p>
<p>Sometimes you can question all the efforts (and money!), when you will never get compensated: most streaming network pay so little that you’d be lucky if you can get a beer out of millions of plays at the end of the year, CD is basically dead, vinyl is a niche market for snobs or utterly nostalgic, and downloads is also moribund because most people stream their music and listen on their phones… </p>
<p>So why bother? Is it because of the thrill of having someone, somewhere, discovering your work and genuinely tripping over it the way you might have with your favorite artists?</p>
<p>Yeah, I’d say this is it. So next time you hear a new indie record, whether you like it or not, think about it. The world need some crazy people to go that far for a chance to reach someone, somewhere… it could be you?</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/47362892017-06-06T23:18:48-04:002017-06-08T04:11:31-04:00Needle drop...<p><iframe allowtransparency="true" class="tumblr_audio_player tumblr_audio_player_161530667554" frameborder="0" height="90" scrolling="no" src="https://aghostlybeard.tumblr.com/post/161530667554/audio_player_iframe/aghostlybeard/tumblr_or5qjcJ6ME1wp4zcl?audio_file=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tumblr.com%2Faudio_file%2Faghostlybeard%2F161530667554%2Ftumblr_or5qjcJ6ME1wp4zcl" width="540"></iframe></p>
<p>OK, I admit: this sound turns me on!</p>
<p>So much memories that goes with it, from the first time I’ve heard that sound to the hundreds of records I’ve kept playing on what couldn’t be called a hi-fi setup. The first turntable I owned looked like a suitcase, you opened it up and voila!</p>
<p>The speaker (yes it was mono) was in the top part and the turntable underneath, and there was a tube amp underneath.</p>
<p>The problem with the tube amp was that if you forgot to remove the LP and went away for a while, it was overheating, and you came back to find the disk roasted and bent to such an extent that the needle was struggling to follow what was now looking like a miniature roller coaster.</p>
<p>Later on, I finally got a real hifi setup and boy was the sound marvelous, and that initial thrill of hearing the needle go down on that new LP you had just bought added to the experience and the suspense.</p>
<p>Perhaps if they added that sound to the online streaming sites nowadays this would appeal more to old git like me? :D</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/47308492017-06-02T00:52:55-04:002018-06-01T08:26:47-04:00Our old dial telephone was beige<p><img src="https://68.media.tumblr.com/fa9ff81769c87af461409851cc959c91/tumblr_oqwlk7JHhp1wp4zclo1_500.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" /></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Remember these? If you’re old enough, you might…</strong></p>
<p>I remember when this first came in into our house, it was put in the entrance, and you had to physically go there to actually make a call. You couldn’t put it in your pocket, nor move around the house with it, let alone go outside…</p>
<p>I bet most teenagers nowadays wouldn’t know how to operate this thing :)<br>There was no screen, but hey! there was a separate speaker, so you could have 2 people listening to a conversation at a time! That’s right!</p>
<p>I remember my mom, who had long conversations with her sister living in another town, used to pull up a chair in the corridor because she was tired after a while.</p>
<p>And oh! The price of a subscription, and how much each minutes was expensive. Happy days?</p>
<p>Now there were some advantages to it: for example, people were unlikely to use it at the diner table, and it was easy to forget it when you were outside. So people couldn’t actually reach you 24/7…</p>
<p>Imagine that! :D</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/46996052017-05-06T23:24:14-04:002017-06-08T04:13:00-04:00How does it feel?<p><iframe allowtransparency="true" class="tumblr_audio_player tumblr_audio_player_160391291744" frameborder="0" height="90" scrolling="no" src="https://aghostlybeard.tumblr.com/post/160391291744/audio_player_iframe/aghostlybeard/tumblr_opkc4fO5Vj1wp4zcl?audio_file=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tumblr.com%2Faudio_file%2Faghostlybeard%2F160391291744%2Ftumblr_opkc4fO5Vj1wp4zcl" width="540"></iframe></p>
<p>This song started from a deep sense of isolation and a realization that the world we live in, with all the technological means of ‘connection’ we have, is only making things worse.</p>
<p>It started during a lonely evening, when I took my old faithful acoustic guitar and started strumming and realized one of the string was half a tone flat. I don’t know why but instead of tuning that string properly, I started playing, placing my fingers differently until I realized that using regular fingering was giving some interesting harmonic possibilities.</p>
<p>Almost immediately I had the intro and a groove that I built upon. The verse melody came pretty soon after this, there was no lyrics attached but a sense of melancholic groove and some syllables were forming in my mouth that had to do with “feel” and “real” and it all grew from there.</p>
<p>You can hear an early recording of the guitar alone… the tempo was slower but the groove was already there.</p>
<p>Adding bass and drums was pretty straight-forward because most of the laid-back groove was pretty firmly set by the guitar and the rhythm section only had to go along and accentuate it. </p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/46995992017-05-06T23:04:08-04:002017-06-18T00:03:58-04:00Invisible<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/247015/1c2f285b3cadc25b41eb0246c2a7c77efce2ec04/large/24.jpg?1497697671" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="invisible" /></p>
<p>I found this wonderful picture by <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/augustmuench/22623944205" target="_blank">August Muench</a> which showed the shadow of a little girl playing with a balloon, dressed as a fairy, and the shadow of that fairy on the brick wall appealed to me and talked to me in a profound way. The contrast of that shadow on the warm tone of the bricks.<br><br>Because most of my music is about absence, memories of the past, childhood, regrets and hopes, emotions and the possibility of something else, time and life… this image resonated with me and I thought about using it to represent a collection of songs that I would have called “Invisible”.<br><br>Invisible, because the music I’ve done has been mostly unheard of for years, and because I’m not a social artist, nor a public person. You might well have crossed my shadow in the streets, and not known about my music, and I didn’t know about you and it’s the way it is for most of us anyway.<br><br>Photographs speak to me in a similar way that music does.<br>It is a play with time. A way to capture a moment.<br>Photography is about freezing time, music is about playing with it.<br><br>I love both arts, although I must confess that I’m not a photographer, what I want to do here is to find a way to cross photography and music in a way that would capture time and create emotions. Hopefully you will follow that journey.</p>Ghostly Beardtag:www.ghostlybeard.com,2005:Post/46996002017-05-06T23:03:51-04:002017-06-08T04:12:29-04:00Blue<figure class="tmblr-full" data-orig-height="864" data-orig-width="1152"><img src="https://68.media.tumblr.com/38cc040002b4f66b87751e7f48c92c21/tumblr_inline_opka77XN1b1ul1pg1_540.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="image" /></figure>
<p>This song was written for my daughter, Sarah.</p>
<p>It’s one of the most lyric oriented song I’ve ever written, and it really started from a simple melody and lyrics.</p>
<p>I wanted the song to be fun but dreamy and melancholic, which is pretty much how I feel when I think about my little girl.<br>Remembering how she was, how much she has grown up and how she has transformed my life.</p>
<p><i>I’m wrapped around her little finger<br>Summer warming a cold winter<br>A ray of sunshine, my melted heart<br>I wonder how she’s doing that </i></p>
<p>This sums up pretty much how I feel about her nowadays and I felt this was worth a song.</p>
<p>The ¾ jazz feel came out pretty much from the lyrics rhythm and I tried to give it a jazz club feel with some bigger ambiance than I usually use.</p>Ghostly Beard