Songwriters in Seattle

Tag: recording

  • Surrendering My Music

    I have written a couple hundred songs over the years.  And it’s important to me that they find a way out into the world.  At my age, I know I won’t have a career as a performing songwriter, but I want the songs to have a life outside my computer.  It would be lovely if they were covered by established recording artists or bought for synchronization in TV and/or films.  I think that is probably unlikely.  But, it is not without possibility.

    I don’t have the money to go into a studio to pay musicians, arrangers, engineers and producers to record my songs the way I hear them.  I don’t have the money to then have them mixed and mastered.  And I don’t have the money to print hundreds of CD’s or vinyl records for distribution.

    Nevertheless, right now I have fourteen 6-song EP’s that can be found on all the major online music stores and streaming services, like Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music, Amazon Music, iTunes, Tidal and the like.  I have four more in the works.  You can audition my music on Bandcamp (https://davidguilbault.bandcamp.com/). 

    So, how did I get my music recorded, distributed and (somewhat) heard?  I surrendered the process to multi-talented musicians I know who are arrangers, producers, engineers and multi-instrumentalists, all wrapped up in one.  I have relied on the talents of folks like Chris Klimecky, Paul Beaudry, Colin J Nelson, Jeremy Serwer, Matthew Emerson Brown, Karl Benitez, Griffin James, Eric Padget, Jason Goessl, and now, JD Cotton.

    This is how it works.  I find six of my songs that I believe hold together in some lyrical theme.  Then I think of one of these folks who might have a particular ear for the essence of that music.  Maybe they would bring a country feel, or a pop sensitivity or a dark tenor to the music.  Living on a fixed income, I negotiate a flat fee for them to arrange, produce, record and mix the six songs.  In most cases, they play all the instruments.

    I give them scratch guitar and vocal tracks recorded to a click track.  I either do that at home on my computer or, preferably, I come to their project studio to lay down the scratch tracks.  Then I essentially wash my hands of the project.

    Because I am not paying them what they should rightly earn playing the multiple roles of musician, arranger, producer and engineer, I give up creative control of the final arrangements.  They are free to produce the songs any way they hear them.  I don’t meddle in the process.  And there is no deadline for them completing the project.  I have had some EP’s take up to two years to complete.

    When these masterful musicians have laid down all the instrumental tracks, I come back and do a final vocal on a good mic, trying my best to capture the feel of the music they have created with my singing.  Many times I am surprised by arrangements that I would not have expected or would not have created if I were doing the songs myself.  In only one case (with none of the folks mentioned above) have I been disappointed.

    I still have to pay to get the final mixes mastered, but there are now algorithms online that can do that for very little money.

    Like I said, the crux of these deals is that I surrender the music to the producer.  Since I am not paying them market rates, I am not going to waste their time asking for revisions.  What I get is my song matched with their musical talent.

    What that means is that each collaboration has a unique sound, reflecting the tastes and talents of the individual producers.  The downside of that is that I haven’t established my personal performance style across these recordings.  But, this process is about getting the songs recorded professionally and out onto the Internet, and not about developing and promoting a profile as a recording artist.

    I use DistroKid as my distributor.  You upload your music to them digitally and they get the albums in all the major stores.  Getting folks to find the songs, however, listen to the songs and buy the songs is another ball of wax altogether.  For the most part, my music is still unheard.  Which is another reason not to spend ten thousand dollars on a studio produced CD that few radio stations are going to play and few people are going to buy.

    So, I am grateful to the lovely and talented collaborators who have been generous and kind with their time and talent in taking on my cut-rate projects and producing them with such feeling and expertise.  For better or for worse, I have at least a third of my repertoire out there in the ether.  And, if my music should ever catch fire and actually make money, I have every intention of sharing the proceeds 50/50 with these wonderful musicians.

    I hope you find a way to get your music out into the world.  In the meantime, please be safe and well, and keep on writing and performing.  Music is indeed a labor of love.  Getting paid for that labor would be sweet.

  • Songwriting: Your First 50

    I remember very little about the first song I wrote…I was in sixth grade, and I know it was a cheesy breakup song in A minor about my first “girlfriend” in fifth grade. I don’t think any recordings of “The Love We Shared” exist (mercifully), and it wasn’t until a year later, when my older brother started writing some lyrics with a little more meaning and purpose, that I started down the serious road of songwriting and recording.

    Over the years, I progressed from 4-track demos to college studios, to professional studios, to producing in my home studio, writing and recording going hand in hand – refining a sound and showing real evidence that improvement was happening. It wasn’t until I had written and recorded between 50-60 songs that I really felt I could output at a consistent quality level. None of those “First 50” songs were ever released and they hide in my archives only for my personal nostalgia.

    This gets to the heart of my point: songwriting takes time and repeated, focused effort. No single song is precious, especially in your First 50. I know the feeling, “Whoa, I wrote a song and it’s really cool, and I need to copyright it and show everyone!” It’s hard not to be precious about your baby – your special creation! But if you can put that feeling aside and write your next 5 and then see how you feel about that previous one. Then write 10 more and see if you still feel the same way. I still “throw out” about one in ten that I thought was completely great when I wrote it and demo recorded it. When I “bulk write,” like for February Album Writing Month, where my approach is to sketch lots of new ideas, only ~2 of 10 survive. Sometimes there’s a re-write opportunity or smaller edits that can take a song to the next level, but sometimes you just have to let them go! After you’ve written your songs (or while you’re in the process of writing), I can’t recommend recording them highly enough. If you make that part of your songwriting/editing process, it helps tremendously not only in refining your vision of the song, but you can actually step back and analyze it a bit. You can critique yourself a lot better. You can experiment with different grooves and approaches, then leave it for a little bit, move on to other songs, and come back with fresh ears. Over time, you are also strengthened and motivated by the real progress and growth you will clearly hear. Be patient – it takes years.

    While Songwriters in Seattle offers specific classes to help move your songwriting forward as well as critique sessions and opportunities to share new songs with audiences (another great way to hear your song in a new light and get instant feedback), what we hope to help you achieve is far greater than any single event. We offer a framework for you to be motivated and supported to write more songs! This is the best way to improve your songwriting! Songwriters in Seattle is a friendly audience with like-minded people – it is a tremendous opportunity to experiment, share new ideas, then go back to the drawing board and try again. I wish I had an organization like this to accelerate my first 50!

    Now, the more experienced songwriters who may be reading this could probably even expand the idea to the first 100 or more, and I couldn’t disagree – there is always room to improve. Personally, while I am proud of my earlier released albums with songs that are now permanently in the public ear, I really only continue to play a few songs from them. Not only do newer songs represent where I am now as an artist, but from my current perspective, they are just better songs. At some point, there is bound to be argument about “better” being highly subjective, but ultimately you are your best judge and as long as you can create some distance (through time and recording), you will find you are a pretty good judge. You will almost always be biased toward your new songs, no doubt about it, but I think that also represents growth as an artist and songwriter. If nothing else, I use that as a motivating factor – I know I will love my next song, it’s going to be that much better, so I want to get on with writing it! I hope you can get to that point, too, if you’re not already there.

    I am far from prolific, but I make it a goal to show something new at every SiS monthly networking meeting. Professionals who are songwriting full time are writing every day – many who are in the licensing business are producing and posting something finished for their catalogs every day! Think about how that would add up and create a body of work. That is how you get to be a better songwriter. If you’re a beginner (still within your first 50), don’t worry about your copyrights (to be frank: nobody cares) and making each song perfect – it’s not going to be and that’s okay. No need to be self-deprecating about it, either, you can be proud of it – it is cool and no doubt some people will like it! Learn what you can from it and move on. Write another song. And another – get in the habit of consistently writing and recording. It’s a great habit and I bet you will find more fulfillment in creating a body of work than in trying to create singular masterpieces. I look forward to hearing your next 50!

  • SiS Podcast: David Guilbault

    David Guilbault
    Classic Americana singer/songwriter David Guilbault is interviewed by SiS Organizer Chris Klimecky. David & Chris go in-depth about David’s latest experimental project: Giving his songs to 4 different producers to let them do what they will.


    Click the play icon above to stream, or click here to download

    Click here to read more about this podcast from Chris’s blog archive.

    Subscribe to the SiS Podcast on iTunes

  • Music Biz – What To Do Next? Part 1: The CD

    (Editor’s Note: Jennifer runs a monthly Music Biz Workshop event for SiS and has agreed to share some of her notes and recommendations in a 3-part series)

    You have passion and music and want to do something with them. Here’s the best order in which to proceed:

      1. Record your songs. Suck it up and either put down the money for professional recordings or barter for them. If you’re a songwriter, find or hire talented musicians (don’t settle with your friends) to perform on the recording.

    Some helpful tips:

        a. If you’re flat broke try the following for fundraising:

          i. http://www.kickstarter.com/
          ii. http://www.slicethepie.com/
          iii. http://www.pledgemusic.com/

        b. Hire a producer or bring in a trusted, truthful musician to give you outside feedback. YOU NEED TO GET OUT OF YOUR OWN HEAD during this process which is why your money would be well spent on a producer.
        c. Go in with a plan. It will save you lot’s of $ in the long run.
        d. Remember QUALITY OVER QUANTITY! If you can’t afford to pay for a full-length album, a four or five song EP is all you need to get your career going and will save you money.
        e. Eugene Foley www.FoleyEntertainment.com Has this to say about information for songs regarding commercially desirable structure (the most appealing structure for a sellable song) “One thing to keep in mind, at least for your songs designated as “Singles” (the songs geared towards winning over radio stations, record company executives and music publishers) – try to keep Intros under 10 seconds and try to reach the Chorus between the 40 and 43 second mark. This is very important in the following genres: pop, rock, singer/songwriter, R&B/pop, alternative rock, jazz/pop and punk/pop. If it’s 44 seconds or longer into a song and the Chorus did not kick in yet, you should edit the arrangement accordingly. In rap music, the chorus can come in at the 59 second mark or even a bit later, since the verses are traditionally longer, compared to other genres of popular music. Radio, Record Company and Music Publishing executives pay close attention to song arrangement, as they decide if an artist is developed enough for them to show interest.”
        f. A recommendation for order of songs on your disc:

          i. Your strongest song should ALWAYS be first.
          ii. If you will be submitting the cd to record companies, (similar to a demo CD setup) radio stations, etc. the first four to five songs should be in the following order:

            1. Upbeat (and/or strongest) song
            2. Midtempo OR ballad (whichever one is stronger)
            3. Midtempo OR ballad
            4. Upbeat (if this is your closing song) if there will be others on the disc a Midtempo song.
            5. Strong, Upbeat closing song.

          iii. This particular song order has been deemed the most appealing and is considered an industry standard.

      2. Have songs professionally mastered. Don’t just run them through garageband, have them taken (or emailed in) to a professional mastering studio and watch the magic.
      3. Hire a graphic designer and photographer to do the cd art. Don’t let your music be hindered by bad artwork. Check out local colleges for graphic design students or try posting an article on craigslist to find someone if you’re on a tight budget. If you have a strong fan base, ask your fans to get involved. Have them design it for you in a contest or have them vote on it. Fans love being involved. 🙂
      4. Duplicate your music. Start small, 100 cds is a good starting point. Discmaker’s 1000 cds deal is tempting BUT it takes a LONG time to sell/ get rid of 1000 cds. I would recommend having two sets of cds- 1 printing for press kits and 1 printing for merchandise.

        a. The press kit printing should include your contact information (email, name, phone number and physical [use a PO Box] mailing address) on the physical cd, on the back of the cd and near the liner notes on the inside of the cd. Get it in a standard jewel case WITHOUT plastic wrap.
        b. Merchandise copy can be in whatever format you’d like- just make sure you have a UPC code on it. If you don’t have one, CDBABY.com can get you a UPC for $20
        c. Studio North Duplication can do small order in a short turn time numerous different cases relatively cheap PLUS they’re based out of Lynnwood, which will save Seattle-ites on shipping costs. http://www.studionorthduplication.com/

      5. Register your copyright

        a. Also check with your performing rights organization to see what needs to be done to have your song accounted for so you can collect any royalties you generate.

          i. If you don’t have a PRO, get one- ASCAP, BMI or SESAC

      6. To CD release party or to not CD release party? You’ve just finished your project and are super excited to share it. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

        a. You’re either a starting artist with a small fan base or revamping your current direction into a new style do you have enough fans to be the headliner that the venue would want you to be? This typically means bringing in enough people to make the venue happy.
        b. A proper, successful CD release (the type that record labels do) involves AT THE VERY LEAST 10 weeks of prep time Check out the Music business toolbox at http://www.musicbusinesstoolbox.com/ to see the checklist and more. I highly recommend purchasing this product! Worth every single cent!
        c. It typically takes 2-3 months to book a release show.
        d. Will you have everything digitally in line with your physical release?
        e. Here’s a great article on Music Think Tank with more CD release tidbits http://www.musicthinktank.com/blog/10-key-to-dos-for-a-successful-cd-release-party.html
        f. Sometimes the smarter thing to do is simply start selling cds at shows and send out an email announcing that your cd is now available.

      7. Digital distribution. If you are having a CD release party try to make sure that your digital distribution date happens around the same time. The top used digital distribution services are:

        a. http://www.cdbaby.com/
        b. http://www.tunecore.com/
        c. http://www.reverbnation.com/user/login#!/main/overview_artist?feature=digitaldistribution
        d. http://bandcamp.com/ This one is FREE!

    Now that you have your music in your hand you have a tangible product to sell. One VERY important thing to remember is that you are not selling simply music, you are selling yourself. Next up in Part 2 is most likely the hardest, most time consuming, the most confusing and the most frustrating- Marketing.

  • “Mooncakes” on NPR’s Marketplace

    Songwriters in Seattle had a really cool and unexpected bit of national media attention Monday with our song, “A Black Market For Mooncakes” being part of a segment on NPR’s Marketplace. I’ve been asked a lot about how it happened, all the way back to the origin story of the song, so I thought I’d give you the lowdown on how it went down. First, here are the links to the NPR piece itself, as they have the text of what was read on air along with the whole song posted here:

    NPR Marketplace segment on Mooncakes song

    You can hear the entire audio of the Marketplace segment on their posted podcast here (our “Final Word” bit starts around 25:15):

    9/12/11 Marketplace segment audio

    So what’s the connection to Marketplace in the first place? Back in Sept. of 2010 my friend Skye Hansen posted a link to a Marketplace article by NPR Marketplace China correspondent Rob Schmitz called “A Black Market For Mooncakes” on her Facebook wall. I had only seen the headline come across my screen and it struck me as unique and poetic – so off the cuff I immediately commented on the post, “Sounds like a song title…” (completely in jest, of course). What Skye commented back was magical:

    “There’s a black market for mooncakes
    That appears in the dead of night
    It’s right next to that store with the fallingstar jam
    And other unearthly delights!”

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    As I was at once surprised and blown away, I definitely wanted to make this into a real song. So I did try in vain for a few weeks to see if I could do anything with it, to no avail. Thus the Songwriters in Seattle “mashup” event where I brought what I thought could be a decent seed for a group collaboration. After some discussion about Rob’s article and the potential themes of China’s repression, underground rebellion, people coming together despite restriction to celebrate their passions, and the poetic symbol of the cosmic eatery, it was agreed that we’d give it a shot. (Note: Rob’s article wasn’t really about any of those things – it was more what we were inspired to think about based on the seed idea). With the throwing out of my portion of the attempted lyrics and some tweeking of Skye’s original chorus, we went to work.

    As you can imagine, 10 songwriters in a room trying to write the same song was…challenging. Lyrics and associated chords were written (and crossed out) with big black markers on large sheets of paper and stuck to the walls. There was much chaotic guitar playing and random singing. Some were frustrated, some thought it was going nowhere – or at least nowhere worthwhile. But after 3 hours or so, we had something – it wasn’t much, but we had something and it was actually pretty good. With me standing up at the sheets on the wall and trying to direct everyone to verses and choruses that would make a reasonable finished structure with what we had (only one verse of lyrics in addition to what we started with plus the chords to the two sections), we hit record on Jessica Lynne’s iPhone and ran through it best we could:

    (Warning – this is super rough, with beer bottles clanking as they fall over, yelling directions, and other such fumbling to get through)
    [audio:https://songwritersinseattle.com/audio/BlackMarket_SiSmash.mp3]

    Now fast forward a few months…based on that recording I obviously had some work to do to make the song into a listenable finished piece, but it finally came together. Recording was fun as this is not anywhere near a typical style for me. Breaking out the nylon string guitar for a flamenco solo and faking castanets with spoons from the kid’s toy percussion set were especially unusual. And then singing along with Jessica Lynne and David Rix to make us sound like a much larger group was a real kick. Overall, I am very happy with how the song and recording turned out. I feel it represents the collaborative talents and aspirations of Songwriters in Seattle very well.

    Many thanks again to David whose great idea and, more importantly, his action it was to send the recording to the original author of the Marketplace article which inspired the song, Rob Schmitz, and got the next part of the story started. Rob’s response:

    “All I can say is: Wow. I knew I had hit upon something when I reported the
    mooncakes story, but I never in my wildest dreams thought it was worthy of
    moving a group of musicians to song. Well done. I¹m honored my bizarre
    little story inspired your group to write and perform this piece.”

    Rob forwarded it to his producers in LA and next thing you know, David and I are working out the details with Marketplace Producer Fiona Ng to get the song on the air and linked on their website. Some vague details about what we should expect and when…then a few days later…boom! “I thought it was kinda catchy…” – Marketplace host, Kai Ryssdal. How cool is that? Thanks to Rob and Fiona for making it all happen.

    There you have it! This is yet another great example of the amazing things that can happen when we work together!

  • Home Recording: Choosing a DAW

    One of the toughest first steps that anyone wanting to get into home recording has to go through is picking which Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) to use. As the DAW is the heart of any home studio, it’s also one of the most important steps. The good news is that all modern DAWs are going to sound good…once you get them to work and know how to use them. And therein lies the varying degrees of bad news. Some are easier to work with (both hardware and software-wise) and some are harder.

    So how do you choose? Everyone has heard of ProTools, as it’s the professional studio standard – but it’s also pretty expensive (for more than the entry level system) and complex. I’m not saying it’s a bad choice, of course, it’s just that it’s a good idea to not just assume you have to go in that direction – there are lots of options. This blog post over at Discmakers is a good place to start, at least to introduce you to some of your choices:

    Discmakers – Choosing Your DAW

    It’s not a completely comprehensive list – be sure to read the comments section to find even more suggestions readers have. Personally I use one not on the list: Tracktion 2, which is Mackie’s software (currently unavailable and unsupported). Why? Because not only does it have a super intuitive software interface, but it came bundled with Mackie’s great hardware interface and mastering software. Point is, I did my research, picked a system that fit my needs and budget, and I’ve been happy ever since. Not that there aren’t trade offs – my system has plenty of quirks and limitations I’ve learned to workaround that may be non-starters for you.

    So go take a look, do your research, and I’d love to hear your comments on DAWs you’re thinking about using or maybe you have strong feelings about the one you already use. They all have positives and negatives – what have you learned about different DAWs?

  • Release of “A Black Market For Mooncakes”

    Songwriters in Seattle is proud to present the new song “A Black Market For Mooncakes” – In Nov. 2010, 10 songwriters got together for an SiS songwriting collaboration event and wrote it based on just a short but inspiring few lyric lines! Those lyrics were inspired by a Sept. 2010 news article about a Chinese festival. So we have a little underground rebellion and celebration theme wrapped up in a Santana-ish Latino Rock sound. No, it’s not at all like the styles of any of the songwriters involved. That’s part of the beauty of collaboration – you can end up with something entirely different than you would create on your own.

    All credited participants include:

    Skye Hansen
    Julie Gwinn
    David Rix
    Todd Christoffel
    Jessica Lynne
    Chris Klimecky
    Jeff Hatch
    Kelly Smith
    Bill Derry
    Charlie Cabrera
    Derek Medina

    SiS Organizer Chris Klimecky arranged and produced the song with Jessica Lynne and David Rix contributing to the group vocals. This recording has now been made available for your listening and downloading enjoyment. If you download, please consider a small donation to SiS. Thank you!