How Erik Ian Walker Is Creating the Music of a Changing Climate
Read our interview with composer and arranger, Erik Ian Walker, which explores his data-driven environmental composition, “Climate.”
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What Are Études, and Why Do Composers Write Them?
An in-depth look at the historical foundations and the compositional development of the étude, and why musicians still use them today!
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Why This Is the Year to Finally Pay Attention to Music Conferences
Why this year looks to be shaping up to be “The Year of the Music Conference” for independent musicians of all kinds.
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10 Exciting Artists Exploring New, Innovative Avenues in Songwriting
Here’s our list of 10 young, contemporary artists on the fringes of the pop world, that have developed a sound like nothing we’ve ever heard!
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Memorize Common Descending Intervals Easily with This Handy Guide
Here’s a super handy cheat sheet for remembering descending note intervals, using some of the most familiar melodies in music history!
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5 Ways to Use Radio to Promote Your New Release
Radio is still king, so we invited our friends at RadioKing to share their pro-level thoughts on how to use radio to promote a new release!
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Meet Com Truise: Uncovering the Story Behind the Artist’s Alter Ego (Video)
In this video excerpted from Com Truise’s new course on Soundfly, Seth Haley tells us about the origins of his music and now-famous moniker.
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How to Take Notes and Add Markers in Every DAW
Here’s a very handy breakdown of how to add notes and markers in all available DAWs, plus plugins that offer collaborative note-sharing.
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Student Spotlight: Samson Afolabi Holds Out Hope for the Creedence
In this edition of Student Spotlight, we meet a purveyor of an old familiar bluesy sound, done in a truly pioneering modern way. Enjoy!
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Isn’t It Iconic? (Nirvana, That Is.)
What happens when a computer decides what makes popular songs formulaic versus iconic? Total controversy. But let’s take a deeper look…
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Get Personal Coaching on Your Mixing, Mastering & Immersive Audio With Marcela
Soundfly is extremely proud to announce the addition of producer, immersive audio engineer, and mixer, Marcela Rada, to our 2021 Mentor Team.
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Learn to Create Powerful, Engaging Songs in Our New Course: Songwriting for Producers
In Soundfly’s new course, Songwriting for Producers, you’ll learn strategies, techniques, and workflows for turning production ideas into complete tracks.
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Student Spotlight, Volume 8: Listen to New Works by Student Artists
This latest Mainstage session proved to me once and for all that, yes, we can have it all: beautiful weather and outdoor summer fun and making progress and advancing in our music careers. Once again, it’s time for some of our top tracks by student artists from the last session! All of the following tracks came out…
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8 Great Music Video Techniques Anyone Can Borrow
These classic music videos feature thought-provoking concepts and communicate the message of their song perfectly, in ways that we can borrow ourselves.
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6 New Year’s Resolutions Every Indie Musician Should Make
2016 is, finally, coming to an end. After an exhausting year like this one, I love looking ahead to New Year’s Eve. Not just because I love champagne and countdowns, but because it’s that special time of year to break out the new planner and set some goals in stone. This time of year is perfect for…
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What the Heck Is a Bouzouki?
A few years ago when I was on tour more often, I used to stay at a friend’s place in Boston every time we rolled through. Across the street there lived a friendly, half-senile old Greek gentleman. He’d be so excited when we arrive — running out of his house offering shots of ouzo and…
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How Rock Singers Can Up Their Showmanship
By David Stewart Jr. Rock music has always pushed the limits of pop culture. Be it through the rebellious lyrics and aggressive vibes, or through scandalous images and (literal) pyrotechnics on stage, rock ‘n’ roll is the go-to form of expression for some of the world’s greatest and loudest artists. I have studied the greats…
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Opportunities: CD Baby’s DIY Musician Conference Organizer on Building an Independent Music Career
CDBaby’s Second Annual DIY Musician Conference is coming up this September 30th-October 2nd in Chicago. Being a DIY musician myself, I was intrigued by an event that aspires to bring together independent musicians, songwriters, producers, labels, managers, and talent buyers to come for a weekend of talks, tutorials, gigs, photo sessions, jam sessions, and networking opportunities. It seems super exciting and inspiring, so I sat down with CDBaby’s Kevin…
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606–909: The Legendary Roland Drum Machine Series
Ah, that classic beat, marching ever onward, familiar as the beat of our own hearts. But the beats we’re so consumed with, the sounds that so commonly drive our daily lives, are not only not the sound of a beating heart (a robot heart, maybe), they’re not organic sounds at all. Yes, yes, whether you like it or…
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4 Tips for Songwriters Looking for Artists to Record Their Songs
+ Improve your songwriting with Soundfly! Explore our range of courses on emotional chord progressions, basic songwriting technique, songwriting for producers, and many more. Subscribe for unlimited access here. The goal of many a songwriter is to find artists to sing our material. And there are few things more thrilling than when you hear your music come to life. The first…
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Advice for the Indie Artist: 4 Things We Learned at CD Baby’s DIY Musician Conference
This past weekend, more than 1,000 musicians descended on the most haunted hotel in Chicago for CD Baby’s 2nd annual DIY Musician Conference. Over the course of three days, attendees heard from a wealth of speakers about opportunities and strategies for succeeding in the music world as an independent artist. It also included a jam…
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Soundfly’s 2016 Year-End Music Favorites: Albums, Songs, Articles, and More!
Here at Soundfly HQ, we’re always sharing new music with each other. But this year was so full of distractions — losing so many of our musical heroes, saying goodbye to arguably our most musical president, the music and media worlds being swept up in the madness of the election — that it’s been easy to forget about…
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9 of the Most Ripping Country Guitarists Who Advanced the Language of Their Instrument
It’s unlikely you’ll find any rip-roaring country instrumentals making waves in these modern times. But in the 1950s and ’60s, fast-picking country guitar players were all over television and influenced guitarists of all genres. Though rooted in blues, jazz, and swing, country guitar is mysteriously singular in many of its techniques and approaches. It’s difficult to…
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The 10 Best Music Books of 2015 and 2016 (So Far…)
A ton of amazing books about music have recently hit the shelves. Whether you’re jonesing for a new book to cuddle up with in bed, stocking up for summer beach reads, or looking for something to occupy your mind on the train, there’s something new out there for you! Here’s our round up of the best music…
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What Is “Prepared Piano” and How Do You Notate It?
American composer John Cage was arguably the most prolific composer of prepared-piano music and is often credited as having invented the prepared piano, so to speak. While there were earlier instances of composers placing objects on the piano strings, or bypassing the keyboard in order to directly manipulate the strings in performance (most notably Henry…
