Here’s a common question I get from musicians running their own websites: How do I post my music onto my blog? What free tools are available to me? And what cool embeddable music players are there out there? Well, here’s my simple list of free solutions.
Blog
How to Start and Run a Netlabel
I’ve been looking for a good article on how to run a netlabel and couldn’t find one except for this wikihow article that seemed incomplete. That got me thinking: why create a whole new article? Why not contribute to the Wikihow article instead, and add on to the wisdom already presented there? So here you go, below is the most up-to-date edit of the wikihow article after I got through with it. Hope this helps anyone thinking about joining the netlabel world.
QED Records Releases our Clone Album 6 Years Later
I just released an intrumental downtempo album from my electronic duo CLONE, which was recorded in 2004 and lost in the archives till now. The album is entitled CLONE – Live at Brazil Brazil (qd-4261). Download it for free!
Music Video for Midnight Monologue
So here finally, is my first music video. This is a track named “Midnight Monologue” which wound up becoming the title track from my 2007 E.P. entitled “Logue” (download it for free from QED RECORDS). It’s a little bit melancholic and a little bit poetic. But here, drama is king.
Freeware I Love: Crescendo Music Notation Editor
So I went looking the other day for freeware composer tools and stumbled upon Crescendo, which is built by the geniuses over at NCH software (they make all sorts of useful goodies — some of them freeware). And let me tell you: I haven’t been this thrilled to find freeware in AGES. Here are a few reasons why I’m loving it so far:
3 Lessons That Orbital Taught Me
The British dance music duo of Phil and Paul Hartnoll, who came to be known as Orbital, were critically and commercially successful in the dance music movement of the 1990s — and famed for their live improvisation during their gigs. But listening to their studio tracks taught me some important lessons. One track in particular “The Box” encapsulates these lessons in a single tune.
Musical Dissonance or Purposeful Chaos?
I had been listening to some amateurish Middle Eastern electronic music borrowed from the public library which set some bellydancing rhythms to breakbeats and drum patterns. The results were far from stellar, prompting me to post my disdain for a lot of dissonant music which strikes me as lazy rather than artistic. A chat conversation soon followed with fellow musician and music producer Mark Redito (aka Spazzkid) of MyParasol who reminded me that some of it is done on purpose and we ought not to judge. Here is the edited transcript:
New Track: Everything Will Be OK
“Everything Will Be OK” is a gloomy little tune that spouts optimistic lyrics — but has nothing bright or sparkly supporting any of the vocals. Even the melody is in a minor key. The vocal melody line is taken straight from a dream I had back in 2007. I woke up with the tune in my head and sat down at the computer right away to get it recorded into my Reason software.
New Track: Tributary
Tributary is basically a house music track done with some jazzy percussion, latin keyboard and bass parts and mixed in with some floating pads and ethnic male chants. I imagine a raindance in the middle of a busy urban area. But that’s just me. This track has been in my computer for some years but never released. I’m not exactly sure why. Maybe I’m just waiting for a good collection of songs that fit well together.
Influences: Suzanne Ciani’s New Age Melodies
I’ve decided to take a look at some of the tracks and music that helped shape my musical taste and style. This category of posts will be called Influences. First up, the melodic new age instrumentals of Suzanne Ciani, which can be summed up in this one track: “Mosaic.”