What the heck is that?

An old friend of mine asked me about one of my songs: "I liked the 5th Veil remix. Is that a guitar in there or synth? If it's a guitar, what are you playing, and effects are you using?"


He's referring to "The 5th Veil Remix" http://player.beatfreaks.com/?id=199


And this was my response.  It was a bit long in the tooth so I thought I'd post it as blog, it case anyone else was interested.


Thanks, Jeff!  Getting feedback from you means a lot to me.  The instrument you're hearing is an Irish bouzouki, which I've been playing since 2000 and is featured on just about all of my Falik CDs.  


Your answer will take a bit of explaining...


The 5th Veil Remix is so because the original was recorded by me  playing the bouzouki live with some friends on hand drums at a restaurant gig about seven years ago.  The entire track was improvised in my version of middle eastern scale (flat second, major third, flat seventh) as we were playing for belly dancers at that moment.  I tune my bouzouki to A-E-A-D. (For more on that check out my wikipedia.org entry:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_bouzouki )


The only original effect was a little reverb.  However, when I produced the CD from which the track came from - "Solikk - More Than Live" (http://player.beatfreaks.com/?id=97) I panned the source to one channel, then delayed the output to the other, thus adding "space" to the mix - and a little "flanging", as well, though not so you would notice.


I didn't think to look for the original recordings when I started the remix - that thought never occurred to me.  Thanks, Jeff, now I have to go find that.


So I took the recording that I used for the CD, added a low cut filter, a parametric filter spiking the 6k range, then chorus and flange.  My goal was to get the bouzouki louder while not amplifying the hand drums too much, as both were on the same original track.


As i was creating the track I felt that I needed some harmonic support during some sections - the bouzouki and hand drums were sounding just a little too naked alongside the drum samples.


I was thinking of adding a bass track, but I hadn't set my mixer up yet, That would have involved cleaning my room, so I opted for a more clever approach and sidestepped the fact that I was walking on dirty clothes.


If you listen to just the bouzouki you will notice that at times I will play a full chord.  I don't hold it for very long - maybe an eight note.  I digitally sampled the chord, which I used for stabs at the beginning of the song.  I then dropped it down to an octave, and sampled that to different intervals - a fourth, a fifth, and a major third, then stretched the samples out over 4 beats.  The resulting sounds maintained some tonality but not much; there was a lot of transients and "artifacts".   This usually happens when you over-process a signal that was crappy to begin with.  I was toying around with what I had so far, laying the sounds over the original bouzouki track, trying to find something I liked.  I found spots in the track where I wanted the sounds to go, but wasn't happy with the sounds themselves.


However, after a generous helping of more reverb (at least a 50% wet/dry mix), more chorus and flange, and some liberal attack/release editing I started to get something that sounded close to what I was looking for.  It still wasn't satisfying me so I thought to reinforce what I've done so far with a midi synth track.  


Halfway into getting the part I wanted I realized that the sound card in the laptop I was working on wasn't going to let me bounce down what I'd done to an audio track - or even mix down at all.  I then searched my sound library for some string-like synth samples, which I found.  I then did the same thing to those samples like I had done to my bouzouki samples.  I had started having both the bouzouki and the synth samples play the same notes but I lost track of what I was doing.


I overlapped the parts and what I got was amazing.  I was thinking that it was too bad that these tracks were "support".  I had wanted to maintain the integrity of this sound as it's own sample so I mixed it down separately. As I was doing so, I got the idea of opening the song with it.  It was just too good to hide underneath other tracks.


But waste not, want not, I actually did use it where I had planned, as well - in the last 8 bars of the track.

An individual stealing a song is heinous, but at least it's out in the "open". Companies steal, too, and hide behind contracts.

Legitimate businesses make agreements with other legitimate business which the artist can not undo in a timely fashion or without a good deal of pleading and letter writing. I'm in a tangle now with Amazon.com trying to remove content that was placed there by a company with which whose ties I have since broken. That company is still making money off my work on Amazon. I have sent notices of copyright infringement, but I have yet to hear back from Amazon.

So, just don't fear the individual thief, but also be wary of the business who claims that they are helping you achieve your goals - it ALL comes at a price. Believe me, no business really cares about you as an artist; you are simply a profit center. You will get congratulated on how much cash you pull in and be told that it's because your work has merit. That may be true, but when they say merit, they mean financial merit. They can point to other artists that they are "helping" who have not made money, and claim that they are for the "indie artist", but don't think you will get additional help to achieve the goals of those that pull in cash.

There are many, many companies out there, all willing for you to upload your content so that you can digitally distribute your music. And the majority of them have nice legal agreements that say you keep copyright control of your music, and that part is true. And those contracts also say that they have the right to distribute your music to other businesses for the reason of promotion - to get your music out there to be heard because it deserves to be heard. Just don't confuse copyright ownership with control of distribution.

The reality is that these companies need content to exist - any content. And if they don't have to pay for it the better. These companies are looking to make money through advertisement or investments by other companies. If your content does that for them them they'll give you a piece. But they will also sell you down the "river" - or stream, if you prefer - for other businesses to use your content in exchange for other services. Remember, you authorized them to do this on your behalf.

Distribution through iTunes and other large houses is accomplished through "middle men" like TuneCore for a fee - iTunes do not take submissions directly from the artist. A drawback is that your content will be like a drop in the ocean, and it will continually cost you to keep your content there for distribution. You can also distribute your music through other venues for a percentage of sales. But the drawback here is that these companies stay afloat by making deals with your content.

So, is digital distribution worth the effort and risk? What alternatives does one have?

Personally, I have decided on two main courses of action. One, for distribution and sales I use ONLY Reverb Nation. Mind you I do not believe they are more trustworthy than any other company. The mechanics of the web site seem geared more toward the promotion of the artist, rather than the promotion of the music. This may appear to be counter-productive, but not when you consider the reasons why people like what they like. We listen to all kinds of music and it's usually because we appreciate what the artist represents. If an artist wants to consider longevity then that artist should cultivate fans who will listen and buy over a long period of time.

My second course of action is to create and promote my own entity on the web that performs the same actions as any other distribution business, cutting out the "middle man". This way any business wanting to use my music for promotion must deal with me first. The drawback here is one of limited visibility. I need to promote myself as if my promotional budget wasn't limited. I need to be as slick "looking" as everyone else, which isn't easy. But, the alternative allows for my content to be bought and sold without any regard for my interests.

I'm Charlie Pecot, and these are my thoughts.

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"Blow-Up" (1966)

Just watched this British film "Blow-Up" from 1966. There's a club scene where the band playing is The Yardbirds, from when both Page and Beck were in the band. They're playing "Train Kept a Rolling". Beck's amp gets a short and he winds up destroying his guitar. The movie is worth watching just for that.



The more I sit and think about the movie - reading reviews, and such - the more I think what a great film it was. I had read that the plot was similar to "Blow Out" and was expecting things to play out the same way. However, this is one of them there "deep" movies. I'd watch it again, now that I know what it's really about. And to see the Yardbirds scene again.

Be Careful on the Internet

You have to be careful on the internet with the companies and websites you work with. One of the ones I had selling my tracks was a feeder for other sites, and once those processes get set into motion it's a difficult thing to get your stuff removed without a team of lawyers. This one company created compilation CDs under a "DJ"s name. While it was on the primary site I was getting a cut. But that compilation got distributed to Amazon and is still being sold under that DJs name. The profits are being shared between Amazon and the primary vendor, but I'm not getting my cut after discontinuing my affiliation with the primary website.

That's why I ask that you buy Falik only from my store at Reverb Nation.

Songs that Endured

Here are some songs from the Billboard Top 100 of 1961 that I can still hum a bit of:

01. Tossin' And Turnin' » Bobby Lewis
02. I Fall To Pieces » Patsy Cline
04. Cryin' » Roy Orbison
05. Runaway » Del Shannon
14. Dedicated To The One I Love » The Shirelles
16. (Will You Love Me) Tomorrow » Shirelles
18. Where The Boys Are » Connie Francis
19. Hit The Road Jack » Ray Charles
22. Bristol Stomp » Dovells
23. Travelin' Man » Ricky Nelson
24. Shop Around » Miracles
33. Calendar Girl » Neil Sedaka
34. I Like It Like That » Chris Kenner
39. Little Sister » Elvis Presley
40. Blue Moon » Marcels
41. Daddy's Home » Shep & The Limelites
46. Runaround Sue » Dion
53. Ya Ya » Lee Dorsey
58. The Way You Look Tonight » Lettermen
63. Stand By Me » Ben E. King
64. Spanish Harlem » Ben E. King
76. Angel Baby » Rosie & The Originals
77. Pretty Little Angel Eyes » Curtis Lee
79. Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavor (On The Bedpost Overnight) » Lonnie Donegan
81. Mama Said » Shirelles
94. Let's Twist Again » Chubby Checker
95. Take Five » Dave Brubeck
96. Are You Lonesome Tonight » Elvis Presley
99. You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby » Bobby Darin

That's about a third of them.