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  • Elliott Sharp’s Essential Guide to Being Elliott Sharp

    Elliott Sharp’s Essential Guide to Being Elliott Sharp

    By Elliott Sharp Editor’s note: For many years, I’ve been challenged and inspired by the work of Elliott Sharp, who has etched a place as one of America’s most dynamic modern composers. He’s hard to pin down both musically and literally, since he regularly travels the world for performance, recording, commissions, and likely a bit…

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  • Be Your Own Booker: Advice on Booking Shows from NYC’s DIY Community

    Be Your Own Booker: Advice on Booking Shows from NYC’s DIY Community

    Countless idealistic, fresh-faced musicians move to NYC every year, and far too many of them are preyed upon by shady bookers who cancel last-minute, take unreasonable cuts of the door, and bill them with other bands who share no genre or potential audience reach. One of the first shows I booked in the city required…

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  • 8 Bedroom Producers You Need to Know Right Now

    8 Bedroom Producers You Need to Know Right Now

    + Learning to record and mix at home? Check out Soundfly’s acclaimed online courses on mixing, production, and beat making — Subscribe for unlimited access. True creativity strikes where you least expect it. That’s why even the most established producers still have a “bedroom production rig” — and many got their start this way. When studios and professional…

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  • You Are Your Business: The Top 5 Things Musicians Need to Do

    You Are Your Business: The Top 5 Things Musicians Need to Do

    As an artist, performer, band member, bandleader, or however you want to label yourself and your pursuits, you are a company. Congratulations! The good news is that you are chief in charge of your destiny. The bad news reads much the same way. You are your business. Meaning you are now solely responsible for carving…

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  • Interval Cheat Sheet: Songs to Help You Remember Common Intervals

    Interval Cheat Sheet: Songs to Help You Remember Common Intervals

    [The above video and below post both cover ascending intervals. If you’re looking for help with descending intervals, check out our “Memorize Descending Intervals with This Handy Guide.”] Being able to recognize intervals in music is one of those classic hallmarks of being a pro. If you’re a singer, it means you can walk into an audition…

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  • 5 Times Artists Have Changed the World

    We often forget when we’re bobbing our head to a song we love or admiring some splash of color on a canvas, just how powerful art and music truly are. As one of the most profound expressions of humanity we’re capable of, art has the power to open minds, to encourage empathy, to breed understanding, to force questions…

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  • The Most Comprehensive List of Songs About Laura… Ever

    The Most Comprehensive List of Songs About Laura… Ever

    Ever wonder how many songs there are called “Laura”? No? Well… we did. (You’re welcome.)

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  • 3 Things Bands Usually Overpack for Their First Tour

    3 Things Bands Usually Overpack for Their First Tour

    A couple of weeks ago, I spoke with a group of musicians to discuss the essentials that first-time touring bands often forget. During those conversations, another topic came up: the things they used to bring on tour that just ended up taking up space. If it’s your first tour, your mind is racing at a…

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  • What Exactly Does “Producer” Mean, Anyway?

    What Exactly Does “Producer” Mean, Anyway?

    + Learning to record and mix at home? Check out Soundfly’s acclaimed online courses on mixing, production, and beat making — Subscribe for unlimited access. Music production. The term likely conjures mythical images of Sir George Martin running frantically around Abbey Road Studios, or Phil Spector conducting a massive orchestra. In their time, the term “record…

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  • The COMPASS: Louisville, KY

    The COMPASS: Louisville, KY

    By Rachel Grimes The quality of the sound in an environment is always so captivating to me, and seems to be something that either makes me comfortable or uncomfortable immediately. Here are some of my favorites around Louisville, Kentucky. This morning I walked outside early and heard the sound of a long, low barge horn…

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Advanced Synths and Patch Design for Producers