Woods & Strings

This is a hard truth about the music industry today: You are not unique or exceptional, and the music isn’t the product you’re selling. See, music used to be the product, and talent was rare. That was in the days when it cost a lot of money to find, develop, record, distribute, and market a musician. Today, we find that there are remarkably talented musicians everywhere, and everyone has the ability and resources to record as much as they like. It’s a buyer’s market, meaning fans can get music in any genre for free at the click of a button. Because there is no barrier to entry, there’s no commodity value in the music itself anymore. Take a look at American Idol this year: among the top 5, only one artist had never sung in public or recorded before. They all released singles as part of the competition(‘s money-making marketing machine). All of those singles charted to #1. Fritz’ self-produced and self-released EP charted to #1 on the iTunes pop charts. Why? Because he was on TV (it’s al...

There are a few factors at play here. You have to first recognize that the music industry in the first half of the 18th century was not what it is today. In order for a composer’s music to become well known, a pair of factors needed to come into play: First, that composer had to have a great publisher. Publishing was expensive in those days, and involved very careful and painstaking engraving of each note and staff. It was even more costly than printing text, and significantly more expensive than hiring a team of copyists to do it by hand. So, the publisher needed a really REALLY good reason to run things to print and distribute them. Oh, also, distribution was a horse and carriage. So again, really expensive. And SLOW. By the time Bach reached his apex as a composer, there were composers of secular music (Vivaldi, Handel, et al) who had better publishing deals and better court appointments. Bach was a church musician first and foremost, and by this time the style he was using for chur...

Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXbAlPl017z8q2kW72TSzJA/join ******** Episode 1 of my new "podcast" (I'm saying it like that because I'm just dipping my toes in the idea), and this time I'm taking a crack at Alip's PAGEBLUK, which, believe it or not, I've avoided even listening to until I was able to just set it up as a blind reaction.  @Alip_Ba_Ta is one of my most requested artist reviews, and so I'm trying a new format of just doing a six minute reaction to tide you over until I have time to settle in to a full review. Check out Alip's original video: https://youtu.be/gFovqX8dSNY INDEPENDENT ARTISTS: If you'd like your single (video) or album (full-length) reacted or reviewed and promoted, email me for info and to share you stuff (in my profile).  #alipbata​​ #Alip_Ba_Ta​​ #review #alipers​​ #acousticguitar #original #fingerstyle​ #indiemusic #indonesia #mantap #guitarist #pagebluk  MY LINKS: My La...

Originally written for the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra (TBSO, January 2005) Haydn’s popularity outside his native Austria must no doubt have surprised him. After all, it was not common for composers as well-settled in their particular stations as Haydn was by the 1780s to be heard outside of their home courts. But under a revised contract with the Esterházy family—in particular with Prince Nikolaus, who succeeded Haydn’s original contractor in 1762—the court no longer held exclusive rights to Haydn’s compositions, and they were published in nearly every major European city. This fact in itself led to the widespread distribution of Haydn’s symphonic and chamber works, and contributed nearly as much to his comfortable retirement as his pensions did. Haydn’s 82nd Symphony was the first in a series of six works commissioned by a Paris concert organization in 1785/86. It was unusual indeed for a composer under contract to accept foreign commissions, but Haydn’s outstanding service at Es...

 Some years ago, I wrote an essay on how I perceived the steps to mastery. These steps were partly derived from my study of history and the historical context of artist training and education, and partly from some of Bruce Lee's terminology when applied to mastery in martial arts training. That essay was lost -- which is sad, because it was one of the best things I've ever written -- but the fundamental principals haven't changed. These are the stages as I interpret them: How do you become a good bass player? The same way you get good at anything: Take lessons, pay attention, and practice. That said, over the years I’ve developed a sort of theory of pedagogy (teaching) that deals with the stages of mastery. It goes something like this: Stage 1: Rudiments Learn what the bass is, how it works, how to create notes, and what notes are. Stage 2: Techniques Learn how to play correctly and efficiently. Develop the muscle mechanics involved in the task. Understand how different sty...

Quora Q:  If you had only 30 min a day, every day, to learn piano in a year, how/where would you start & how would you progress? You’re missing the first part, which is an explanation of the level you’re at currently. But, since you said “to learn piano in a year,” I’m going to infer that you mean starting from scratch. Piano is a very physical instrument, and that demands consistent exercise. You wouldn’t, for example, expect to compete in a figure model competition exercising only 30 minutes a day for a year. That said, there are several different methods of approach. Most classically-trained musicians are going to suggest that you might be able to finish a level one within a year at just 30 minutes per day. I’m going to suggest something completely different, and that you take a guitarist’s approach. You need to concentrate on PATTERNS and SONGS, not on dexterity and increasing complexity. To do this: The first 10 minutes of your practice should be scales. DO NOT start with ...

"Dark is the Raven's Wing" single NOW AVAILABLE for download on Bandcamp The song "Dark is the Raven's Wing" is the title track from Kim Erickson's incredibly masterful 2015 album, The Raven's Wing (which you must absolutely add to your collection immediately, here: https://www.kimerickson.ca/ )  With the string arrangements by the remarkably versatile Joseph Phillips (from whom I did borrow a few notes for my cover arrangement), the whole album is just a stunning triumph of poetry, lyricism, and warmly genuine musicality. Erickson's performance has a sort of intentional melancholy; a practiced whimsy, like a Merchant-Ivory production of an Edith Piaf fever dream. It has deep, deep joy that is wrapped in a shawl of nostalgia hinting at sorrow; a hiraeth ; a Welsh term for that longing we have to return to an ancient home from the distant past that perhaps never even existed in reality. This is the evocation I get from “Dark is the Raven’s Wing.”...