Okkervil River is an indie rock band from Austin, Texas. Formed in 1998, the band takes its name from a short story by Russian author Tatyana Tolstaya. Okkervil River consist of Scott Brackett (Trumpet/ Keyboards), Brian Cassidy (Vocals, Electric Guitar, Mandolin), Travis Nelsen (Drums), Patrick Pestorius (Bass), Will Sheff (Vocals/Guitar), Justin Sherburn (New Member) and Lauren Gurgiolo (New Member). Former member, Jonathan Meiburg (Vocals, Keyboards, Accordion) left the band to pursue as a singer and songwriter in his new band, Shearwater. The band has garnered positive critical reception, especially noted are each song’s lyrics, intricate instrumentation, and thematic albums. Okkervil River play songs that are heart-felt and all songs written by them are actually beautiful poems that ought to be remembered for a long long time. Clever lyrics combined with music that are full of emotions and touch everyone’s heart upon listen. They are as big as the Amazon River.

The Stand Ins is such a matured album that even Adult and Elderly People will fall in love with it. It’s definitely a perfect album for my parents’ wedding anniversary. It has 3 tracks which are pure instrumentals.

“Stand Ins, One” is just 48 seconds long and is the intro to The Stand Ins. It started off slowly and gradually picked up and got louder. Accordian can be heard throughout this song and at times, it sounded creepy to me. Nonetheless, this track will get you ready and build up the tempo and excitement in you for the next track.

What i love about “Lost Coastlines” apart from the awesome lyrics is its music. Patrick Pestorius’ playing of bass gets my head nodding each time i listen to this track. Not only that, the mandolin and trumpet also created an atmosphere as if i’m watching a big group of orchestra performance. As Will sings, “But we find the maps he sent to us don’t mention lost coastlines…”. he knows that they are lost on the shoreline.. And when it comes to the end, it will not be long when you finally find yourself singing along with Okkervil River.. “La, la, la…”

The beginning of “Singer Songwriter” resembles “Ain’t No Easy Way” by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club”, and it tells the story about a girl who has everything that she could ever ask for.. But due to this very same fact, she failed in everything she chose to do.. And nothing’s gonna change her world.. It’s also one of the loudest track on The Stand Ins where various guitar playings can be heard throughout this track. Beautiful country rock song where you can imagine a group of elderly people enjoying and dancing to this power-pop country rock track. Love it!

“Starry Stairs” should have been the last track on this album. It just has the quality to end an album. Will sings as if he is sad.. “If you don’t love me, i’m sorry”. It’s the most memorable moment on this track. As he goes on, he sings about how a girl that he loves, lied to him. He has no choice but to say goodbye.. All the Starry Stairs seem to be falling apart as he climbs.. Definitely a track to look out for on The Stand-Ins! Play this song if you found out that your girlfriend is lying to you or hiding something from you! Make her know that you’re saying goodbye..

Clocking in at over 6 minutes long is “Blue Tulip”. The longest song on this album. Blue Tulip, again sings about a girl who lies.. “Hats off to my distant hope, a little lie, a puff of smoke…”, sings Will, and as he sings, i feel the pain he’s in. I feel sorry for him. Such a sad song that it’s impossible to ignore this powerful ballad which sings the way to your heart. And it’s one of the reasons Okkervil River is famous for!

“Stand Ins, Two” is another instrumental. A slow guitar plucking and piano playing. As if Okkervil River is taking a brief break from this album.

As its title suggests, “Pop Lie” is about lies. A story about a man who lies in his pop songs. Thus, Pop Lie. Damn, Okkervil River is good at it! They write songs that’s so complicated until i have to listen countlessly to Pop Lie before i could figure out the real meaning behind this song. A man who has so many fans, from kids to adults, lies whenever he sings. Is this the real world out there? You be the judge. Anyway, it’s a guitar-power-packed song that is so radio friendly! Cheers to Okkervil River!

“On Tour with Zykos” is specially written for Okkervil River’s past member, Jonathan Meiburg. Will wishes him all the best on his future undertaking… “Roll your crew on down the road, to the next sold out show… ” I really love the piano playing of this song. I can feel the friendship shared between Okkervil River and Jonathan. And it reminds me of the friendship shared between Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon. Incredible farewell song to Jonathan!

“Calling and Not Calling My Ex” is a very radio-friendly track. At first listen, i already knew i would like this song. The beat and tempo of this song is just perfect that it’ll make you go on remembering this song, especially the beginning of this song. “God knows i’m feeling really stupid now, forever having said goodbye…” is the phrase that i always recall whenever i listen to this song. And another praise for the piano of this song. I just find it very appealing and infectious..

“Stand Ins, Three”, another instrumental. Violin can be heard throughout this track until it subsides where it jump to another track… More or less, it’s the prelude to the next song…

“Bruce Wayne Campbell Interviewed on the Roof of the Chelsea Hotel, 19793 is the track that closes The Stand Ins. Before ending The Stand Ins, Okkervil River managed to close this album on thematic and anthemic note. This song is a slow ballad that Will sings, “Pull down the shades, let’s kill the morning…”, as if he’s disappointed and despair in love. But like most closing song, it ended on a high note, high spirit, trumpet, guitar and drums all came in together to make this a memorable one. Okkervil River have done it again!

Rating: I’m speechless… I’m totally impressed with the lyrics written by Okkervil River. The have this ability to write songs with lyrics that are so cryptic that we have to think through the words in order to understand the real meaning behind those lyrics. Not only that, their music landscape and genre is so focused that they are becoming the pioneer in what they are doing. Beautiful and heart-felt songs all in The Stand Ins, i honestly give it 7.5 out of 10. Cheers!

Stand-Out Tracks (My Picks): Lost Coastlines, Singer Songwriter, Starry Stairs, Calling and Not Calling My Ex, On Tour with Zykos.

Cheers!
Darren Tan
Avid Indie Music Fan

Darren Tan

Technorati Tags: alternative, blanktv, indie, music, music_video, rock, video

The most obvious career in music is to be a singer or member of a band. Not only is this the most obvious choice, but it is also the most difficult to break into. When it comes down to it the music career is a very competitive one across the board. If you want to make it as a singer or with a band you are going to have to be very good, and also get a few breaks along the way. But with that being said, you should chase your dream until you reach your goals. It may be tough to break into this niche of the music industry, but every year people are successful. Hard work may mean that you are next in line.

Another great career in music is working for a record label. These are the companies that work directly with the musicians and bands in order to release songs, etc. With so many jobs available at record labels you should not have a hard time finding one that suits your needs. You can find jobs ranging from marketing assistants to the president of certain divisions. Expect to get in on the ground level, and then work your way up the ladder as you become more experienced.

As you can see, there are many careers in music that
The Music Cyrus Plays In His Car – Trailer Park Boys

you may be interested in. There is a lot of competition in this industry, bur if you take your time and know what you want you can work towards reaching all of your goals in the end. Get started today, and you will be well on your way to success in your chosen field of work.

Francois Botha

Technorati Tags: arts, Bernard, blues, boys, car, corvette, Cyrus's, Entertainment, fan, fight, gun, Jeffery, music, news, park, Performing, red, Rick, Robichaud, rock, TRAILER, tv, World

No wonder the person who doesn’t like music is a non-living object according to many! And rightly so! However, the people who love music also have many problems pertaining to their love for music. Though most of the CDs and DVDs are available nearby us in shops, some CDs and DVDs have to be downloaded and for this, we need to search for good music download sites. No doubt, this is a tricky job and many of us get deceived because of our inability to choose the right site.

Why we get deceived?
•    We do not perform a comparative study of different music download sites
•    We do not understand the importance of some of the unique features of authentic download sites like 24-hour customer support, quality of music, price range, and other options like fast downloads, volume of song, etc, thus opting for site that doesn’t have these features
•    We do not find a site that gives comparative study of various sites at a glance

Whatever it is, at the end, we suffer because we opt for music download that is not worth of our time and space. After we download, we find many lacunae in the downloaded CDs or DVDs and later we repent for having opted for specific site. This is the reason to satiate our music buds, we need to search first for an authentic site that has good number of features mentioned above so that we experience quality download.

How comparative study helps us get good music download site?

The comparative study of different music download site helps us understand unique features of each site better. We tend to overlook certain features like quality of music and lifetime pricing unless we perform a careful comparative study. The study also helps us understand the loopholes of the sites from which we might have downloaded at times. This helps us avoid such sites in future too.

Though comparison helps us know better about cheap music download, it’s difficult to carry out comparative study without the help of someone who helps us achieve our goal. How good it is if some site helps us carry out the comparative study of different music downloads sites at a glance! Yes, there are sites which help us do this and make us understand the uniqueness of certain popular yet cheap music download sites like Flickr, Unlimited Download Center, Unlimited Media Access, and Klito Pro. Through this study, satiating our music buds is more authentic and pleasing our senses no doubt!  

Seif Sel

aeiouaeiou100http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/users/aeiouaeiou100Gameshow, to, make, record, edit, runescape, music, video, movie, film, rsmv, save, high, best, quality, definition, help, guide, goodHow to Make, Record & Edit – A Runescape Music video / movie (RSMV)

Technorati Tags: best, definition, edit, film, good, guide, help, high, how, make, MOVIE, music, quality, record, rsmv, runescape, save, to, video

Autism is a complex issue and needs to be handled with the utmost care and understanding. If you find that your child has symptoms of autism, this will pose a challenge to you, and you may find that your child is not behaving like other children, in which case you will need to go to your family doctor so that he can assess the child and if he feels the need, he will refer you to specialists in the field who will be able to diagnose and treat your child.

Signs Of Autism That You Need To Be Aware Of

One of the earliest signs of autism is the fact that the child does not interact socially and is incapable of expressing emotions normally – the child also does not have a feeling of closeness with family and friends as normal children do. Children with autism shy away from bonding or touching other children.

Another sign that you need to be aware of is a communication problem especially with their same age group. Sometimes they are unable to speak and only sounds emanate from them and they gesture to others. There are certain cases where the child talks but mostly they repeat words that they hear and are unable to talk on their own – also if they do speak, it is in a monotonous manner and well below their own age group.

You will need to assess the effect of sensory stimulation on your child. Sometimes children get nervous and agitated at sounds, and at other times they may have a fixation on a certain sound or light for a length of time. It is necessary to consult a pediatrician if your child displays any of these signs.

There are certain rituals that a child with autism may do on a regular basis. If this is not done, the child may be greatly agitated – for instance a child may only eat a particular type of food and desire to wear only certain type of clothes, and if this is not adhered to, will get into a temper and behave in an extremely agitated manner.

It is important to note that if your child displays any of these symptoms, you should consult your doctor who will make an analysis, and advise you as to how you need to handle the situation. If he finds it necessary, he will refer you to a specialist in the field who will be able to make a more detailed analysis, and put your child on to treatment immediately, so that you will be able to give your child the correct treatment which will enable him to live a better life.

Abhishek Agarwal

RhineStoneTshirtshttp://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/users/rhinestonetshirts27.994401931762695 -82.4853515625Howtohow, to, produce, rhinestone, tshirts, t-shirts, shirts, shirt, machine, make, transfer, crystal, rhinestud, setting, design, video, dtg, technology, fashion, arts, crafts, beauty, dance, sports, music, drink, finance, fitness, gardening, health, food, homehow to produce/make Rhinestone T-shirts video2008-04-01

Technorati Tags: "Health, "home, arts, beauty, crafts, crystal, DANCE, design, drink, dtg, fashion", finance, fitness, food, gardening, how, machine, make, music, produce, rhinestone, rhinestud, setting, shirt, shirts, sports, t-shirts, technology, to, transfer, tshirts, video

Are you a bathroom singer like me? Oh! I don’t mean you are not a good singer. You are a good singer if you like to entertain yourself with good music. Maybe you cannot sing but that doesn’t mean you don’t like quality music! Rather, having ability to comprehend good music is a God’s gift to human beings. We taste music, we dance to music, and we live music! There is no part in the whole world where music is not liked. Different cultures and Religions have their own musical charms since centuries.

No wonder the person who doesn’t like music is a non-living object according to many! And rightly so! However, the people who love music also have many problems pertaining to their love for music. Though most of the CDs and DVDs are available nearby us in shops, some CDs and DVDs have to be downloaded and for this, we need to search for good music download sites. No doubt, this is a tricky job and many of us get deceived because of our inability to choose the right site.

Why we get deceived?
•    We do not perform a comparative study of different music download sites
•    We do not understand the importance of some of the unique features of authentic download sites like 24-hour customer support, quality of music, price range, and other options like fast downloads, volume of song, etc, thus opting for site that doesn’t have these features
•    We do not find a site that gives comparative study of various sites at a glance

Whatever it is, at the end, we suffer because we opt for music download that is not worth of our time and space. After we download, we find many lacunae in the downloaded CDs or DVDs and later we repent for having opted for specific site. This is the reason to satiate our music buds, we need to search first for an authentic site that has good number of features mentioned above so that we experience quality download.

How comparative study helps us get good music download site?

The comparative study of different music download site helps us understand unique features of each site better. We tend to overlook certain features like quality of music and lifetime pricing unless we perform a careful comparative study. The study also helps us understand the loopholes of the sites from which we might have downloaded at times. This helps us avoid such sites in future too.

Though comparison helps us know better about cheap music download, it’s difficult to carry out comparative study without the help of someone who helps us achieve our goal. How good it is if some site helps us carry out the comparative study of different music downloads sites at a glance! Yes, there are sites which help us do this and make us understand the uniqueness of certain popular yet cheap music download sites like Flickr, Unlimited Download Center, Unlimited Media Access, and Klito Pro. Through this study, satiating our music buds is more authentic and pleasing our senses no doubt!  

Seif Sel

Technorati Tags: "New, accelerator, apps, azureus, bay, best, bit, bitcomet, bittorrent, BOLLYWOOD, boost, booster, calculate, clients, download, downloading, downloads, dvd, faster, free, guide, how, increase, increasing, iso, isohunt, lord, make, maximize, mininova, movies, mp3, music, optimize, p2p, pirate, quicker, settings, sharing, slow, software, speed, supernova, suprnova, to, TOP, torrent, torrentspy, tutorial, tv, up, utorrent, vuze, warez, windows, xbox

It is important to know the right techniques to learn scream singing. It should be kept under consideration that screams singing can be achieved properly by practicing it regularly. You should experiment new things on your voice as this will help you to acknowledge your singing limits. Also, by adopting different warming up methods will enable you to find the one that suits your voice perfectly. Learn all the things about your voice as this is important for your success as a professional singer. The following guidelines will help you to become a professional singer in scream singing.

1) You should have patience to learn to scream singing properly. You cannot be a good scream singer overnight.

2) It would take a good length of time to perfect it. If you are being impatient and are screaming beyond your capability, it will be of no help to you. Rather, it would lead to serious vocal chord damage.

3) In scream singing, if you are trying to use all air immediately, it will result in hurting.

4) Remember that excess of everything is bad.

5) Get familiar with head resonance, if you are planning to learn scream singing.  

6) Learn to scream nasally that actually pictures the nasal sound that comes out of your nose. It makes a healthier option than to sing deeply by using your throat. 

A death metal singing will help you to learn scream sing in a proper manner. 

9) Always apply a good singing technique as it warms you up in a long way. 

10) Stop scream singing, if you feel any kind of vocal strain because it can hurt you seriously.  

11) Relax yourself. Avoid talking if your voice is strained. 

12) In case if you have to talk, avoid creating whispering sounds, that would double your problem. 

13) It will block your vocal chords and increase the chances of causing more damage to them. 

14) If it is really needed, talk in the normal usual way.

15) Stay hydrated to better learn to scream. Drink lots of water. 

16) Drinking cola before your performance will coat your throat by causing better reverberation.

17) Have diluted squash juice, in case if you don’t want plain water.

18) Staying hydrated, will improve your voice for scream singing and your health as well.

Therefore, these scream singing tips, will help you learn to scream properly. But remember, you should enjoy scream singing in a safe manner.
Vocal Techniques from Pop to Rock 1- The Rock House Method

Sharon Turner

Technorati Tags: Alan, American, Breck, Coach, guitar, House", Idol, Instructional, lesson, music, Pop, rock, Scream, singing, Techniques, vocal, voice

By now, you’ve seen all kinds of services, prices and wonder what you should do in terms of your singer reel. Let’s spend a few minutes exploring what you shouldn’t do. The biggest mistake new singers make is to assume that their friend’s studio is going to get the job done – That might work for a rough draft or even a fairly polished song or artist demo, but when you want to play in the game with the big cats singing commercials, you better have a singer reel that sounds like downtown. You can’t afford not to have an incredible singer reel out there and chances are, your friend can’t write or figure out what the jingle producers are looking for and what will catch their attention. There are jingles that are sung professionally on the air and then there are the singer reels that have to establish credibility with producers and writers and believe it or not, sometimes there is a big difference on what you should include on your reel and what you shouldn’t even though it sounds like current commercials. Remember you have to grab their attention and that may or might not be different from the niche of jingles currently in vogue.

How much should a jingle cost and where do I go? Great questions. There will be significant difference in prices when you’re looking to record your singing reel. There are plenty of folks online who will try to charge you a mint and you wouldn’t be any better off with them as opposed to your friend’s studio. At ReelMusician.com we try our best to offer affordable jingle reels for singers trying to break into the market and deliver the demos that just knock your socks off. We don’t let anything leave the studio until it meets the needs of the singer capitalizing on their strengths and weaknesses. When you are looking to record your first demo always ask for samples or at least listen to them online and you might ask them for references.

How much should I plan on spending to get my jingle reel done right? You should plan on investing a minimum of $500 and really push to spend closer to a $1,000 when it’s all said and done. Just to give you an idea, at ReelMusician.com, and because of the demand our prices will most likely increase shortly, we start out with jingle singing packages of (3) for $290, (5) for $380 and (7) for $495. You will have to include studio time to record your lead vocals on these tracks, which doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg, but you might figure an additional $200 – $300 and then the cost of making your CD. Most individuals burn their own CDs with easy software that creates the jewel cover artwork. That’s a realistic picture of your costs. And believe me, we’re not getting rich at those prices. Think about it and divide the total cost by the number of jingles and it’s actually very affordable and cost effective. For individuals really willing to make an investment in their singing career, it’s a great way to go. What stops most individuals from following a very doable dream? I’m not sure I have all of the answers.

Music & Instruments : How to Become a Singer/Songwriter

Many individuals have the dream, but not the follow through. Many yet, have the dream, but are willing to spend $5 – $7 for an appetizer a couple of times a week and blow all kinds of money frivolously before they are willing to make a real investment in their future. You will find that most individuals fall into what I call the “I have a dream, but refuse to follow up with any significant resources to make it happen even though I spend all kinds of money on drinks at the bar, and many other a sundry of frivolous spending. These individuals will often make the call to ReelMusician.com asking if we represent folks for commercials, but when told of the basic costs and needs of a professionally written and produced jingle singer reel, tell you that they will, “think about it” and get back with you. They have no intention of getting back with you because they spend their money on what they want to spend their money on – And so we can’t help them, nor should we. We try as best we can to help individuals who are really putting forth their best effort not because they are spending money with us, but because they have the dream and are really going after it.

Your investment in your singing career will also require a start up time investment of meeting with jingle singers in your area to get their ideas, contacts, etc as well as finding the key players in your immediate area who are writing commercials and industrial music. Once you have established or are building your singing base in your area, you will want to branch out and do the same in other markets. You will want to follow up in markets that tend to pay well if you are going to travel like Chicago, L.A., New York, Atlanta, Dallas, etc. You will need to keep a simple contact sheet either in your computer or on paper and keep up with the conversations, telephone numbers and all contact information. Your follow up will be key.

In closing, get the best possible jingle singer reel, with a great looking CD cover, and follow up with individuals like I’ve just described and you will be well on your way to singing studio and commercial work! Email us and let us know how you’re doing.

Tom Gauger

Technorati Tags: bands, broadway, business, equipment, guitar, instruments, lessons, maintenance, music, musical

We were up to about our 7th song in the set when I noticed our rhythm guitarist had broken a string. About 60 seconds later I myself break a string. No problem, me thinks I will get my spare Gibson SG, be playing again in 45 secs. I look around. No SG- my rhythm player grabbed it for himself, too lazy to change a string on his guitar!!! Ok, so I think I will very quickly change my own string with the help of our stage roadie. Another 20 seconds goes by. Old mate breaks another string on MY spare guitar. The drum and bass extension solos, singer doing a bit of improvisation over the top, no problem until bass player blows his A string. As many of you would know most AC/.DC songs are in A. He switches to the E string 5th fret- not as nice a sound but it’s cool enough in an emergency. We are going to be okay I thought until the drummer has broken his snare skin!!!! This can’t be happening!! Just can’t be!! Apollo 13 didn’t have this much coincidental bad luck!!! By now my string is replaced so we have a 3 string bass, one guitar, a singer looking remotely pissed off and looking for a rock to hide under, and a drummer gesticulating widely for help with his snare but the show goes on. Old mate rhythm player is back on deck and the bass player is going to play 3 strings for at least the next 2 songs until, the roadie goes to truck and get the spare bass (not often bass players break strings!!).

Finally the snare skin is replaced   all guitars are back working. We start up exactly in the spot where we first lost a string and continue as if nothing happened. Never break the song, just pile on the improv in the middle section because the show must goes on!!! Ironically, the song we were playing was “Hell Ain’t A Bad Place To Be.”

Now I can see everyone with stage experience saying “well they should have changed their string before the gig!’ Truth was we changed our strings every night, bass strings every 6 gigs!!! We all bought our strings from one supplier and we just got a faulty batch. 

The moral:
always have spare strings closely accessible, a spare guitar where possible, drummer, at least a spare snare skin or maybe a spare snare drum and also spare kick drum skin and a singer who can remain nonplussed when all hell breaks loose around him!!

Because the show must go on!!

Axebay

I couldnt believe what I did next. I think I did it out of desperation, I needed Nick. Life was worthless without him. M: (gets on her kness) Nick PLEASE (calmly) I BEG you! On my knees! I BEG YOU! At leat out of pity give me a chance! (Hugs his legs) N: Miley please (Tries to pull her up) dont make a fool out of yourself! I dont love you! M: Please Nick, you dont know what you are saying! (my dead world, died once again) N: (pulls her off of him forcefully) Bye Miley (leaves her crying) ~~~ Okay, this was just one of the worst day of my lives. Our first real gig, and this girl needs to come! Why would Nick kidnap her? And why does she pretend to hate him? It is OBVIOUS she is drooling over him. It makes me so jealous, during the whole ride I said nothing, except for the few times that Rick tried teasing me. *At the club* S: You must support my father, and please lather the infurigle because- M: Oh god! I cant stand this (turns around and heads in to the club in the backdoor) I walked in and bumped into Nick who was setting up all the instruments. N: (rolls his eyes) Where is Selena? M: Outside N: You left her outhere? Alone? M: Yes, yes I did! N: Why? M: Because she was driving me insane! She called me a poor uneducated girl? How can you love someone like that? N: (drops the drums) Miley! How could you be so stupid! (starts to walk towards the exit) M: (rolls her eyes) Oh yeah, I am the stupid one. dont worry Nick, I’ll go get her, just finish setting up I went outside <b>…</b>

Technorati Tags: administration, am, awesome, battle, comment, Cyrus, episode, fools, Gomez, Jonas, love, Miley, music, naturally, nelena, Nick, Niley, please, rated, scene, Selena, series, the, video, who

Fronting their own band is a dream of every beginner singer. So how can you front a band and develop your own band’s own distinctive style of music and performance? How to at the same time developing your own individually unique singing style? How are you going to be distinguished and get noticed from those thousands of bands playing only cover versions of popular music and imitating their favourite bands and lead singers?

First thing to do is to view as many DVD performances of famous singers fronting their bands from the musical genre you have chosen as the forte of your band’s music. Examine how distinctive and different they are from each other. Notice each band playing with their own style and song delivery. Take note of everyone’s body language and what signals and vibes the famous bands and singers are sending out.

Let us take a look at some of these singers and bands. Take Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones for example. See how he pouts his lips and struts on stage cockily exuding sensual visuals and confident charisma at the same time. Those body language became his characteristics and singing charisma. In the advertisement world,it is called image branding.

If someone were to name you some popular singers, you will immediately associate a clear mental picture of that singer during a performance. That is how powerful your body language and distinctive branding can be. In otherwords, be different from the crowd by developing your own style of singing and performance.

Just try it. Close your eyes and when someone mentions to you these names, what do you see in your mental picture? Elvis Presley, Boy George, Bono of U2, Kate Bush, Cindy Lauper, Michael Jackson and even The Village People. Get the picture? (pun not intended, grin)

So, you must develop your own distinctive style of singing and stage performance to get noticed and create a brand for your band.

Learn from those excellent singers fronting their own bands. Learn from them how they keep time and rythym when they move on stage? Which action and movement during their performances that drew audience reactions? How do these singers whip their fans into a frenzy? What are the facial expressions at every stage of a song? How do they tell an emotional story from the lyrics of the songs that get people moved?

Learn and borrow some traits from these singers, and then develop them further with your own unique singing style blended in.

Once you have developed your personal distinctive singing style, the next step is to rehearse with your band. Your band must know what you want and this must be communicated before every rehearsal and reinforced. Things like when you want to bring the song into a climax, when to bring it down to tug at audience heartstrings, when to pause to create a dramatic impact…etc

Invest a little moeny in your band by buying some good music sheets so that the band can play together as a team with the same music sheets and scores.If you leave your band members to play by ear, all the band members will interpret the songs in their own way and you would have lost alot of time and energy to get the band to play tightly together.

Therefore you need to work closely with your band members since as a lead singer, you are probably the band leader as well. You then must insist that the band play the keys that you are comfortable to sing in, stick to the musical arrangements and follow the effects of the songs you want to portray.

Once this is done, rehearse until the band and you are inseparable components of the song, then you are there! You are now ready to front a good band as a lead singer, get recognized as a singer and band leader of distinction.

Chris Chew

Technorati Tags: and, band, chords, front, guitar, how, in, man, music, rock, rocknroll, roll, Singer, song, songwriting, theory, to, write, writing

You heard me correct. You take your dream and enter the field as a valid and credible studio singing source for multiple producers and session work. Just how will you go about that? – Great question. Let’s spend a few minutes looking at some ideas and concepts to get you on the road to success and get you into the studio as a professional studio singer.

Singing talent is obviously at the top of the list, but let’s spend a few minutes talking about vocal qualities. There are a number of different types of singers – the blender who sings on a variety of session work, but doesn’t sing on that many lead spots. Those are usually reserved for more gritty and husky singers who can carry the lead. Then you have the husky or gritty singer who is asked on occasion to sing in a group sing to give the group a little more bite. This singer usually sings on quite a few leads that are up in your face commercials and backup vocals that require a big sound. There are also a core of what I call specialty singers who don’t fit either just discussed and tend to be very unique and used on very specific spots and background vocals. Neither of the singers I’ve just described is any better than the other in terms of work, they are just called on for different session work. Where do you fit in? You need to get that figured out along with your degree of giftedness. Just be honest – studio singing isn’t for everyone, no matter how much they want it. But I would guess that there is more opportunity out there for a lot of singers if they chose to go after their dream.

In order to attempt to get into studio singing you are going to have to have a few key items in place – namely a good deal of practice, an incredible demo, and a follow up with great people skills. Most artistic individuals I know usually have fairly good people skills counting out those who either know it all or those with a bad attitude. I’m guessing you have fairly good people skills, will probably need a little help in being consistent with your follow up and will need an incredible demo tape. At ReelMusician.com we specialize in singer’s demos and specifically those wishing to enter the jingle singing market. You’d be surprised at the demos we receive on a regular basis that are not up to par. I’ve stated in other articles, that your demo has to sound like you’ve already arrived on the singing scene with numerous credits. It is our experience that most don’t have a real clue as to how to write and market their voice to compile a singing demo tape that will actually get listened to and if it does, won’t garnish the work that they are looking for. There are a number of reasons for this, but in the simplest of terms, there is too much competition out there to be dealing with fairly good or even pretty good demos – they have to say the word “Incredible.” For any questions on this at all, please don’t hesitate to contact us at ReelMusician.com for further advice, articles or just to just plain ask us a question. We’re more than happy to answer any questions you might have. Our goal is to help singers make their singing dreams and careers come true.

Now starting with the assumption that you have credible singing talent, are practicing everyday, are either working on or are preparing to have an incredible jingle or session singer reel written specifically for your voice, and are ready to take the plunge into the session singing world, I will give you some ideas and tips to get you motivated and hopefully moving towards a rewarding career as a successful studio singer.

Once you have your incredible jingle reel in hand, marketing will be key. You will want to submit your reel to jingle producers in your area, various industrial music houses, and general music production companies. You will want to get to know other jingle and session singers in your area and genuinely get to know them and hand off a reel – keeping in mind that you will want to hand off reels to other singers that you are not in direct competition with. Your follow up with these individuals will be key. Stay in touch with email, letters, birthday notes, etc and keep all of your potential singing clients in the fold. Make sure that you have a follow up reel within a short period of time. You will want to cross the desk of certain producers a couple of times to reacquaint yourself to them. Keep detailed records of who you talk to, when, contact numbers and any misc information. In time, with the right singing reel and follow up, you should start bringing home some singing work. As time grows, so should your reputation and work. In closing, if you will stay focused with a great attitude and voice supported by an incredible jingle reel, you should be well on your way to a successful studio singing career!

Tom Gauger

1980) Diane “Diana” Ernestine Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American twelve-time Grammy and Oscar-nominated singer, record producer and actress, whose musical repertoire spans R&B, soul, pop, disco and jazz. During the 1960s, she helped shape the sound of popular music and the Motown Sound as lead singer of The Supremes before leaving for a solo career in the beginning of 1970. Since the beginning of her career with The Supremes and as a solo artist, Diana Ross has sold more than 100 million records. During the 1970s and through the mid 1980s, Ross was the most successful female artist of the rock era, crossing over into film, television and Broadway. She received a Best Actress Academy Award nomination for her 1972 role as Billie Holiday in Lady Sings the Blues. She won a Golden Globe award for Lady Sings the Blues. She won American Music Awards, Garnered twelve Grammy Award nominations, and won a Tony Award for her one-woman show, An Evening with Diana Ross in 1977. In 1976, Billboard magazine named her the “Female Entertainer of the Century.” The Guinness Book Of World Records declared Diana Ross as the most successful female music artist of the 20th century with a total of eighteen American number-one singles: twelve as lead singer of The Supremes and six as a soloist. Ross was the first female solo artist to score six number-ones. This feat puts her in a tie for fifth place among solo female artists with the most No. 1s on the Hot 100. She is also one of the few artists to have two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame–one as a solo artist and the other as a member of the trio “The Supremes.” In December 2007, she received a John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Honors Award. Including her work with the Supremes, Ross has recorded 57 studio albums.

Technorati Tags: 80, 80s, classic, clip, Diana, Down, music, musica, retro, Ross, song, Upside, video, videoclips, videomusic