Playing for Change

Today i feel a bit silly to have come across this so late in the game. but as they say, better late than never. I have often opined about the power of music to move people, emotionally , spiritually, but I was really taken by surprise when I came across this video on YouTube. I guess part of it is my heritage of being born in New Orleans, which still has such resonance for me, even though I've made New York City, my home for 29 years. I was moved, literally to tears when I watched and listened to this. Music indeed i sso much more than a business. It is part of our world, will always be and is a big part of what interconnects us and makes us most human. Enjoy.

How many speakers is enough??

Here is an excerpt from a response i gave to a student inquiring about "how to make sure that the mix sounds good everywhere, i.e. in clubs, studios, little speakers, headphones":

From elementsofmixing.ning.com (our social network for mixers)

Hey john,
This is a very old school answer, but i think the best way to insure it plays well in all mediums is to have those mediums.
babyface, one of my favorite producers to work for, often would go out into the parking lot jsut to listen in the car. the "car test" is so important, that joe tarsia, who quilt sigma sound studios in philly where the o'jays and many other philly soul artists recorded, had a volkswagon bug shell in the studio, you could get in and listen to your mix in the car. he also had the equivalent of a little radio on the console, and he had a mini broadcaster hooked up to the console, so you could listen to the mix coming out of the radio...im always buying cheap boxes at little stores and bringing them home, the shittier the better... a colleague often reffered to it at the "secretary effect", because secretaries often have a little box on their desk at a low volume...an excellent way to test if the lead vocal is speaking, you can hear all the parts , etc...of course, i also recommended a three way rig like the krk rig i have with a subwoofer. if you are making anything like hiphop its absolutely crucial that you hear whats going on down in the bottom of the mix, near-field monitors are cools for balancing, however when it comes to 'tuning the low end" of the mix, its crucial that you hear whats going on. i would have as many monitoring situations as you can get, the more ways you hear your mix the better. bbb

IS the music bizz dead? (Quick answer):NO!

It is certainly easy for artists to feel overwhelmed and defeated in today’s marketplace. Because the Majors , in their sloth and greed did not define a new direction, they failed. Not only themselves, but the whole industry of listeners. When software companies and video game companies were innovating, sometimes more than once a year, the record companies were litigating and praying for a miracle. As a good friend once said, if it was a shoe store with only two good pairs of shoes and everything else was garbage, they wouldn’t last a season. Well, they lasted a little longer than a season, but mostly from catalog sales, and now the internet has wiped that out forever. Also on the independent artist front, I empathize with the overwhelming feelings that most indie artists have , between social networking, printing up flyers, answering emails and posts, and writing, producing, and manufacturing, most artists are doing the work of ten people or more. This is a stark contrast to what I used to see when I would go into labels for meetings. It was not unusual to see most of the people on the floor surfing the internet, chatting with colleagues, or just daydreaming.
That was then , this is now. I predict in the next two years a collapse of the major label system, similar to the intransigence of General motors in the face of competition from abroad. While toyota innovated and listened closely to customers, the labels sued their customers. The get what they deserve. As for artists, I strongly suggest reaching out to the vast talent pool that is being created by the economic downturn. As an engineer/producer that had many hit records and awards, I can personally tell you that my mantra is innovate or die. I am looking into more and more ways of trying to make my projects a better experience for listeners, whether its adding HD mixes, videos, biographical material, free mp3s to share with friends. All these add value to the listener, and echoing what I read above a happy listener is the name of the game. the music business is not dead, its only lying in the middle of the road…It’s high time we pick ourselves up and get out there and prove that the indie model can work. Ive seen it first hand.

Bassy bob is a veteran of the business, with 30 years mixing records for artists like christina aguilera, sheryl crow, bob dylan, and biggie smalls. He now considers himself an “indie” artist. He also teaches mixing now to indie producers and mixers.