In case you’re new to our humble little daily music learning publication, Flypaper is Soundfly’s homebase for all things educational, motivational, and inspirational. It’s likely the first place outside of our weekly newsletter where you’re going to hear about all the new online courses we’re launching, the exciting mentors we’re bringing on, the unique topics we’re exploring on our podcast, Themes & Variation, and all the short, actionable music lessons we couldn’t quite cram in anywhere else.
If you’re a regular here, well you probably already know all that stuff; and we probably owe you a heartfelt “Thank You” for stopping in to read a post every now and then.
Now that we’re coming to the end of another packed year, we wanted to look back and share our list of the Top 15 Most Read Flypaper Articles from 2021. Enjoy! And don’t forget to sign up for Soundfly’s weekly newsletter to get the latest news about all of our course launches, video premiers, live workshops, partner perks, and of course, the editorial content.
15. What Is the “NYC Drum Trick”?
By Aaron Trumm
Here’s a well-known trick for fattening up your drums, courtesy of legendary engineer and author Bobby Owsinski. Read the article here.
14. Our 7 Favorite Songwriting Blogs for Dashes of Inspiration
By Dan Reifsnyder
Whether you’re in need of a dash of inspiration or just some new methods to try out, we compiled our top songwriting blogs to help you out! Read the article here.
13. How and Why to Create a “Radio Edit” Version of Your Single
By Erik Veach
Shortening, cleaning up, trimming off the intro and outro of your song; your new single might need some adjusting for top radio play. Read the article here.
12. 3 Ways to Tell if Your Track Is Finished
By Brandon Miranda
If you’re having trouble getting past your perfectionism, here are some tools to employ so that you finish better sounding tracks, quicker. Read the article here.
11. 3 Ways to Grip Your Listeners With Opening Lines
By Dre DiMura
In today’s music landscape, attention spans are at an all-time low. Grab your listener’s attention right away with lyrical immediacy. Read the article here.
10. 8 Ways Musicians Can Make More Money in 2021
By Janette Berrios
Between streaming royalties, sync placements and even “micro-sync” offers, there’s lot of money on the table for artists this year… Read the article here.
9. How The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” Takes Beethoven’s Ideas to #1
By Ben Morss
In this analysis, pop music theorist Ben Morss shows how The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” is built from four-note scale segments. Read the article here.
8. The 8 Best Audio Production Blogs for Aspiring Producers
By Dre DiMura
Here’s our list of our favorite audio production blogs for 2021, for aspiring producers looking to level up their game. Read the article here.
7. The Definitive Guide to Deciding Where to Submit Your Music
By Aaron Trumm
If you’re submitting music to licensing opportunities, labels, press, venues, etc., this guide can help you decide what’s worth the effort! Read the article here.
6. 5 Music Industry “Rules” I Broke (and You Should Too)
By Bree Noble
Here are five poisonous rules you’re bound to hear at some point in your music career that are made to be broken… Have fun with them! Read the article here.
5. Best Effects Pedals for Synths and Keyboards
By Chris Senner
A rundown of a few of the best effects pedals I like to use with my keyboards and synths, and why pedals can be fun to play around with. Read the article here.
4. The Hidden Grammar of Music
By Dale McGowan
What a music theory book at age 13 taught me about how to look at chords, chord progressions and the emotions they’re capable of manifesting. Read the article here.
3. 6 Bad Habits in Songwriting and How to Break Them
By Alper Tuzcu
Here are some of the worst bad habits I see songwriters falling into all the time, and my thoughts about how to break those habits! Read the article here.
2. 9 Bedroom Pop Artists We Can’t Stop Listening to Right Now
By Sammy Hakim
With the entire world confined to our homes these days, we’re featuring our 9 favorite bedroom pop artists hitting the internet in 2020. Read the article here.
1. 7 Songwriting Rules and When to Break Them
By SAYANA
There are many unwritten rules songwriters tend to treat as the Gospel, but when the innovative break them, incredible things happen. Read the article here.
Thanks for tuning into Flypaper to catch all our daily articles, videos, and lessons that provide you with a hearty dose of music learning week in and week out. Let us know if there’s anything you’d like to see covered in an upcoming post and we’ll try to accommodate.
See you next year!
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