The second Believe in Music event preceding its genesis in 2021 came to a close and if you missed it, here are some of the highlights below. Don't forget: BIM is open to the public so download the app now, network with attendees, watch the presentations and performances, and don't miss it next year!
This Ableton Live Pack started out as a trip down memory lane. We
wanted to explore what it was like to create rave stabs using old
techniques and gear.
Back in the 90s, we sampled chords from digital sound
modules into many of the different samplers available at the time, like
the infamous Roland W30, various Akai and Emu samplers, and the
lesser-known Casio FZ1.
When one-shot samples are mapped across the keyboard
without any form of warping, the duration changes and, in turn, the
pitch; for example, the sample's duration is shorter the higher up the
key-range, thus higher in pitch. The duration is longer, lower down the
key-range, therefore lower in pitch. As a result, a distinct character
to the sound emerges when riffs are played within two octaves.
Another popular technique in the 1990s was to tune the
oscillators of analog synths to different intervals creating chords.
These sounds were sampled as one-shots and mapped across a key-range.
The same pitch characteristics were prevalent due to the change in
duration, adding to the distinct sound and era.
The pack has been put together by sampling chords
created from tuned analog synth oscillators, stacked intervals from
classic 90s digital sound modules and the the tonal character of the
Roland W30 and Akai S3000.
All samples are un-warped to retain the classic pitch
nuances of the era. Each rack has been carefully put together exposing
useful macros and taking advantage of macro variations giving a minimum
of 4 variations per rack. Within this pack there are over 400 variations
of stab sounds to keep you gurning to the early hours.
This Pack is built using the following five elements:
At NAMM's Believe in Music event, Paul Sitar (A3E) hosts Daniel Rowland (LANDR), Jack Joseph Puig (Waves), and Maya Ackerman (WaveAI) in a discussion about AI and the dueling rejection and acceptance of the technology among music makers. Quite often, the desire for creative human romanticism feels conflicted with the logical structure and production aspects of music creation when in fact both are needed and AI can assist in the process especial during mundane tasks. It also empowers the open minded with the impossible who can now create lyrics and song in languages and cultures they would never be able to touch. AI best comes into play at the beginning stages of writers block and musicians can impose their own data sets to truly make it theirs. It helps with problem solving, production techniques, and can save a lot of time as the logical frameworks of AI are allowed, pathing the way for human romanticism as it shines through to new sonic worlds.
WaveAI creates LyricStudio and Alysia AI tools, for any eager creator, that will assist you in writing music.
Casio is releasing 2 new keyboards: The CT-S1000V and CT-S500. Some of the unique features include:
Built-in vocal synthesizer with performance capabilities in Japanese or English.
Strap capabilities to turn it into a key-tar.
Smartphone app syncing.
They can be pre-ordered now.
Watch the videos:
DOVER, NJ, January 20, 2022– Casio, the world’s leading provider of powerful and affordable musical instruments, today announced the Casiotone CT-S500 and its big brother, the CT-S1000V,
the first vocal synthesizer that can literally turn any text — such as
song lyrics — into a musical phrase and then “sing" it in full harmony
based on any notes played on its keys.
For centuries, instruments have been designed with the human voice in
mind — not necessarily to sound exactly like it, but to enunciate and
express emotion like it. The violin, cello, and saxophone are all
examples, as are modern vocoders and certain aspects of synthesizers.
The CT-S1000V fulfills this creative dream by tapping into an activity
almost everyone does every day: typing text.
To get started, Casio has built 100 Lyric Tones (phrases inspired by
familiar songs) into the CT-S1000V, which can be overwritten, and
there’s space for 50 more brought in from the Lyric Creator app. The
instrument supports both English and Japanese text. No keyboard
instrument has ever before been able to speak and sing with this degree
of ease and musicality.
For customized lyrics, the player simply types in words using the
companion Lyric Creator app for iOS® and Android® devices. These are
then transmitted into the CT-S1000V via USB and played using any of its
22 Vocalist types, including talkboxes, processed choirs, robot voices,
vocoders and whispered voices, all drawn from the history of synthetic
vocals in pop music. Phrases can be played all at once, according to a
set rhythm when keys are pressed, or one syllable at a time as new notes
are played with or without legato. They can also be sequenced together
to play complete songs.
The CT-S1000V also offers all the features that make Casiotone
synonymous with the fun of immediately playing music. Its AiX tone
source offers 800 high-resolution sounds representing all categories of
instruments, the keyboard may be split or layered to play multiple
sounds at once, and 64-voice polyphony ensures players will never run
out of notes. The accompaniment section puts a complete backup band
under the player’s fingers, including 243 built-in rhythms, 50
user-programmable rhythms, simplified chord fingering modes (including
CASIO Chord™) for easy playing, and auto-harmonies. Players can arrange
songs on the fly by switching between various intro, normal, fill-in,
variation, and ending sections.
Casio was the first company to make sampling available to everyone, regardless of budget, with its SK-1 keyboard in 1985. The CT-S1000V
continues this tradition with its ability to sample up to ten seconds
of high-quality audio (or several three-second samples for creating drum
kits) via its 1/8-inch stereo input. The CT-S1000V
also gives you the flexibility of sampling wirelessly using the
included WU-BT10 Bluetooth MIDI & audio adapter. It can sample up to
ten seconds of CD-quality audio via its 1/8-inch stereo input or via
the included WU-BT10 Bluetooth MIDI and audio adapter— or several sounds
at up to three seconds each for building custom drum kits.
For learning and songwriting, an onboard MIDI recorder can store up to
five performances. With its capacity of six tracks and 40,000 notes per
song, musicians can sketch out fully arranged compositions — and
beginners can listen back to their own practice — without the need for a
computer. Of course, the CT-S1000V can also connect to a computer or
mobile device via USB-MIDI or Bluetooth, taking advantage of the entire
world of MIDI and recording software as well as Casio’s own Casio Music
Space iOS/Android app, which turns the process of learning music into an
interactive and engaging video game.
The 100 built-in, studio-quality DSP effects can add a polished shine to
any sound, including lyrics. The effects include many amplifier and
cabinet simulators, modulation effects, choruses, reverbs, delays, and
much more. Each of the effects can be extensively customized, and can be
modified on the fly using the CT-S1000V's three assignable knobs.
For musicians who simply want all the CT-S1000V’s great instrument
sounds, accompaniment features, sampling, MIDI recording, and effects
without vocal synthesis, Casio is introducing the new CT-S500, which
hits this sweet spot at an even more compelling price. Weighing just
over 10 pounds and featuring the ability to run on six AA batteries,
both keyboards are designed to make music on the go.
As part of the release, Casio has unveiled an exclusive landing page taking consumers through the features which can be viewed HERE.
The CT- S1000V (MSRP: $679.99) and CT-S500 (MSRP: $499.99) are available at musical instrument retailers nationwide and at CasioMusicGear.com. To learn more about Casio’s full portfolio of electronic musical instruments, please visit www.CasioMusicGear.com.
Screen for quality influencers by looking for a lot of engagement on their profile
Take the right photo on Instagram
Edit them
Put them in Lightroom or Snapeed
Consider using filters
Focus on the best parts
Don't cut the edges
Batch photos together
Have plenty of light
Stay consistent with photo styles
Take a lot of photos so you can pick the best
What to add in a post descrition
A call to action ie. "Tap the image for more"
Ask a question that brings engagement
Show a feature, quotes, or descriptive facts
Use hashtags
Big and small in your niche
Use popular hashtags to get attention
Create your own
Have a good bio - You have 8 seconds to get their attention
Have a clear description of what you do
Have a call-to-action
Use story highlights
Create a cover for each story similar to making picture descriptions for a youtube video
Combine strategies ie. Ask an influencer to promote your giveaway competition
How do you get your music on streaming playlists?
Michael Raine - WC (Canadian Musician Magazine) - NWC (Canadian Musician, Canadian Music Trade & Professional Sound magazines) mentioned that curated playlists by algorithms or employees by big brands such as Spotify are nearly impossible. But, sometimes in-house brand curators will have a form you can fill out to let them know about your new release. It is best to try and find user-generated and influencer playlists and pitch your songs to them.
Kevin Beuner (Musician for Small Town Poets and CD Baby SVP of Marketing) suggests if you want to pitch songs to Spotify curators:
Find all the user-made playlists that have your type of music by searching with keywords
Find artists that sound like you and see what playlists they are in
Locate the curator and connect
Take the Spotify playlist link and drop it in google, twitter, and facebook and search for that link to find their profile.
Follow them and listen to their playlists
Contact them and ask them to add you to their playlist and mention that you will share their playlist to your own fans as well
So you don't contact the same person twice, make a spreadsheet: name of curator, playlist link, date you contacted them, where you found them, how you found them, and if they contacted you
You can also hire a playlisting company:
Playlist push
Digital Promotions Group
and many more! Do your research.
Playlist companies can't guarantee anything and if they do, be cautious! See what playlists they have access to and see if the database is quality and for your type of music on soundcloud, youtube, spotify, etc. Some will also turn down artists if they don't think they are ready. If you're already on playlists, they will put the fuel on the fire for you. If you're new, they will create spark to start it.
Getting your songs on playlists is not about a financial return. It's showing everyone that you have momentum building in your favor to boost your profile for labels and agencies.
There is also a downside: If people are skipping your song in Spotify to get to another song, it will drop its presence and your artist name in the algorithms.
If Spotify detects user engagement through adding your song to playlists, going back to your song to play it again, or liking a song, then it increases your song's chances of moving up in the hierarchy.
You can avoid scams by avoiding companies that contact you on social media and promising a number of plays. You can also get blacklisted by using these.
New listeners might become fans but they might also just be more plays.
Glenn
Haworth from Haworth guitars shared some tips on interacting with your
website visitors. Opt-in and Buy-now buttons and widgets are great tools
for engaging quickly. Have an offer and clear message within 8 seconds.
Share trust-signals such as grantees and show testimonials. Make sure
your website works well on mobile devices and have engaging content.
Managing an E-Mail List
Ayana Webb from The Musical Webb, The Digital Webb shared her email marketing tips.
Don't use your contacts list in your email provider to send out messages / campaigns to your mailing list. You need an email marketing management service such as:
Mailchimp: Free plan available up to 2,000 contacts
Constant Contact
Vertical Response
Aweber
Facebook's "Lookalike"
CRM (Customer Relations Management tools) that let you personalize your experience with your contacts (This is more advanced than an email marketing management service):
Hubspot
Keap
Use CRM for lead segmenting (scoring people by their interest. Send emails only to that group of people), automate tasks/to-do's. For example, send out an email after someone buys something, interacts with an email or reaches a score. Send automated email follow-ups. Also, if someone books time to speak with you, an automated reminder can be created and added to your tasks.
People will give you their email if you ask:
In Person at
Shows
Booths
Trade shows
On social media outlets
Facebook
Your page
Facebook groups
linked In
...
On your store
When they first visit your website
After they make a purchase
By providing something in exchange for their email
Released music
Discounts
Exclusive content
Through paid advertisements
More opens and clicks: list building and broadcasting:
Have a catchy subject
Keep only quality subscribers
Segment your lists
Have balance between sales emails and content emails
What to include in campaigns (mix it up!):
Limited-time specials
discounts
added bonuses
Reminder emails
for final days of a special
Solve a problem for them
Have one call-to-action each time such as a "buy" button
Go through your email list and delete inactive subscribers after 3-6 months.
E-Commerce
Peter
Malick gave an excellent talk on how to, "Build Your Million-Dollar
E-commerce Marketing Stack on a Shoestring" Checkout his resources here
from AI assistance to a guide on where to host your store: https://inboundav.com/namm2021/
SEO
Bill
Sebald from Greenlane Search Marketing shared his expertise in SEO
(Search Engine Optimization). He explained it is no longer about
keywords or algorithms to reach the top of google. You still need to
have a fast loading website which can be checked here: https://pagespeed.compare/
Popularity
and how long people stay on your website is also still important. Be
knowledgeable with your focus as you become an entity. You need to be the
authority on what someone is searching for. It's also about investing
time and money to beat your competitor. Unfortunately, winning on all
the different facets of SEO, is not an even playing field anymore. Focus
on what you what is most important to you with the right strategy in
place. You win in SEO through the aggregate of every part of it that you
build to reach there.
Relationship
Lisa Cruze from Red Shoes at the Reverb
booth shared the importations of building a community and trust which
requires us to always be learning and understanding the cultures you are
reaching so not to offend them and finding the best way to reach them.
Listening is also a key to finding what they are looking for.
Social Media
Dan Shinder of Social Media on Steroids and Drum Talk TV gave some wonderful tips on how social media should be so much more than just promoting. You need to be relevant to what your followers want to see and develop a connection. You can't please them all so mix it up a bit and videos are much better than pictures.
Some great topics to post about include:
Videos of Endorsing Artists
Celebrating birthdays of artists
How-To Videos
Recording Techinques
Live Situations
Behind the Scenes content
Go live on Facebook, Instagram, etc. and answer questions and connect with them.
Don't use generic hashtags like "#repost", "#drums", etc. Make them unique like, "#Fenderlessons", "#marshallsounds" and when people click on them, they can see your other posts.
How often should we post? 3 times a day, 7 days a week. If you have a global audience, people are awake and asleep at different times. You will not get distribution if you don't have a constant steady flow.
Post about your influences, show off your gear, techniques, throwbacks, stories of
a first concert, favorite concert, most recent concert, furthest you drove for a
concert, most you paid, least you paid, and then ask them to comment their answers below as well.
TikTok
Asher Condit, a music producer from Kingship Recording Company gave some great tips for getting started on this rapidly growing mobile platform.
Helper > Hero. Be a helper rather than a hero. Videos that help someone or make them laugh and give them value are more successful than just showing that you're the best at something.
Create a niche with a common theme
Re-watch rate and average watch time are most important for getting exposure
Captivate them immediately
Tell a story: beginning, middle, and end. Build tension. Create expectation.
End with a call to action: Ask a question for them to comment about, ask them to follow you or to love the video
Be consistent
Post 3-4 times a week
Release Strategies
Kevin Bruner, SVP of Marketing at CD Baby and musician of Small Town Poets, spoke to us about different strategies for releasing your music while having a primary focus of getting people to listen to your music rather than buy it.
The release cycle can be seen as a release season of when you have a whole series of parts instead of just an album:
Music production and creation
Release setup
promo setup: Spotify presave, apple music pread, release a single or 2
Official release
An album or EP
Follow up content
Support material for your music that was released
Here is more of an explanation:
Release 1-2 singles:
Select a future release date and work backwards
Ask fans to add it to a library and playlists
Release a lyric video / music video
Pitch it to playlists
Tell stories behind the song / album
slowly release behind the scenes video of the recording process in the studio
Make a content list
Full album release:
Start releasing photos and video
Lyric video / music video
Release show in your local area
Invite local media to cover it
Stories behind the album
Facebook Live / YouTube Live premier
Twitter listening party
The follow-up material:
Time to mine the data again
Live tracks
Sheet music / charts
Alternate studio versions
ie. acoustic version, rock mix, dreampop version...
Lyric videos
Remixes
Experiment
Release a Rarities package with demos, instrumental versions, and other content
Have everything in place and claim these accounts for all the services. For example:
Spotify for artists
Apple music for artists
Amazon music for artists
Don't forget to constantly ask yourself: How can you encourage people to press play?