i hear this, ALL the time now. it's the mantra for all who could not get past the gatekeepers before and are now convincing themselves and each other that this is their time. right. 

in the music biz you wouldnt' be wrong to think of the record labels as the marketing department of your art. or the sales department. yes, shockingly, they are in business to sell. not to make art. to sell art. if they believe they can sell the art you make, you're in. but if they don't believe they can sell your art, 'now more than any other time..'you can try to sell it on your own. good luck with that. let me see, not only are you a brilliant artist, but you're a marketing and sales genius too. you're going to make a video that will "go viral". you're going to "beat the system" you're going to prove everyone wrong...i don' think so.

it's my belief that this "opportunity" is a myth, a bill of goods, snake oil, etc.. in my opinion, if you're creating art that someone will actually want, it will find a home. if not, then all the marketing, social networking, butt-kissing, shilling and blogging won't get it past your front porch, or your website that no one visits.

the gatekeepers, tastemakers and critics might not always get it right...but they're pretty damn close most of the time..."now more than any other time.."

so, last nite was the tv show, and award ceremony. i haven't watched the grammys since 1999, except for one year when i attended. not sure why. i think it's because i always associated the grammys with guys in suits giving paul simon awards he didn't need, or probably want.

keep it in context, it's a tv show now, and really sorta always has been. the awards are campaigned for by labels and publicists and a&r guys. the artists let them do the dirty work. the system seems to work most of the time, and really, i think mobsters picked better rockstars when they were really picking rockstars.

the grammys will go on, but the careers of most of the winners won't. some winners will die way too young, and the grammys, the parties, and the obligatory tributes will go on, and on.

i'll check some of it out on youtube.

for some reason, this one really stunned me. i never worked with whitney. by the time i was making records in nyc, she had a studio out in nj and i never got the chance...i did meet some of her "people' one day in the studio. all the signs were there. i had seen this movie more than a few times. this wasn't the "entourage", this was the behind the scenes crew that had created a nice world for themselves and their main interest was the golden goose.

I've worked with a dozen or so casualties of the music/entertainment world. i've always been a fringe player in their worlds, and truthfully, never wanted it any other way. what bothers me is that the same formula is always in place. the talent gets a break and has some success. the talent then decides to surround themselves with "people they trust"(this really is "people who will say yes to all their ideas, people who will never call them out on anything, and people who will tell them they are amazing at literallly, everything"). if one of these "people they can trust" goes outside the plan and questions anything...buh-bye.

i'm not saying that the talent has anyone to blame but themselves, but what i am saying is there is no reason to be shocked when the same pattern of actions have the same ol' results. it's scary, to me at least, the same people that are "coincedentally" close to all these dead or close to dead artists..coincedence? not a fucking chance. these "mentors" "impressarios" and "visionaries" are all common denominators in these bad movies. just look at the recent casualties :mj, lv, wh, aw, the guy from milli vanilli, etc...these are just the ones who have passed away, i'm not even listing the ones who are still here but have lives that are total trainwrecks.

if you're on the way to being a star, or are one already, take a hard look around at the people you have close to you. are they there because they are good, honest, hard-workers or are they there because they coincedentally always agree with you, never ask questions and always put a spin on situations to make you feel good? 

i do know a few artists who have people around them that are honest, hard-working, ethical and moral. those artists are still alive and, well.

thanks everybody! somehow, this blog has made a nice jump from #23 to #18...i hope it keeps goin!

a few months ago i was honored to collaborate with fellow nyc artist, ari lankin, on his "process video" for a new painting he had just finished. ari created the painting, i created the music. typical of today's digital world, we were never in the same room, or city, at any time during the process. ari created the painting and put together the video with the music i created in my studio in nj. but somehow, it worked!

i was inspired by the video he sent me of the painting process. for some reason, i felt a 70's retro thing when i saw it. so, out came the wurlitzer, the gretsch with some slap echo, some strings and a mono drum kit. i had a a blast, laying down the tracks, and mixing it with this mindset and the painting to visualize.

ari has a new exhibit in nyc on february 16th in nyc at the stumbleupon hq. read about it here, and try to make it if you're in town.

are you trying to get this done? mix a record?

the answers are all there for you to discover. turn the "knobs"(i know, the digital kind). how many times do you need to adjust a parameter on a compressor before you understand it?

the output level? uhh..it makes signal louder or not.

the threshold? compresses more or less of the signal coming in...

ratio? turn it up, it does more, turn it down..less

attack? it's how fast or how slow the compressors response is to the incoming signal

release? it's how fast, or how slowly,  the compressor let's go of the signal it is compressing

turn knobs, listen.

here's a "trick"- set the input level to about 7, output 7, ratio 6:1, release-about 1/2 way between all the way up and all the way down. now start with the threshold at maximum compression, yes all the way. what does it sound like? if it's good, leave it, if not, keep decreasing until you're comfortable with the way it sounds...then leave it alone until later...or not.

1176 compressor