Sales Crowd

By Patrick Omari

 When Neil Young wrote the song ‘Hey Hey, My My’ in 1978, he would have had no idea of the implications that one of the lyrics would have on music and society. Spoken in full only in the acoustic version of the song, Young states the infamous citation that still resonates today - ‘it’s better to burn out than to fade away’.

The song proved to be a favourite of a young lead singer of a Seattle-based rock band called Nirvana. When Nirvana became a global phenomenon and the young front-man struggled to cope with his new-found celebrity status, Kurt Cobain committed suicide and left a harrowing note with the last line saying ‘it’s better to burn out than to fade away’.

The phrase would become allegorical of Cobain’s suicide and his memory would be preserved with him at the peak of his career in terms of success and popularity. It is through this reference that the line has become synonymous with the careers of musicians and used to highlight the deterioration of a formerly excellent artist into a mediocre performer.

In the film High Fidelity, Jack Black’s character quotes the famous Neil Young line when a customer attempts to purchase the latest Stevie Wonder song ‘I Just Called To Say I Love You’. Stevie Wonder almost epitomises the concept of the artist fading away as he enjoyed critical acclaim, before seemingly sacrificing this for commercial success.

Wonder’s peak occurred during the early to mid 1970s with classic recordings including ‘Superstition’ and ‘Higher Ground’ that helped elevate him to a celebrated 20th century artist. However, as the 1980s approached Wonder began to record more pop-influenced tunes with sentimental lyrics including the sugar-coated ‘Happy Birthday’ and ‘I Just Called To Say I Love You’.

As Black’s character questions in High Fidelity “is it in fact unfair to criticize a formerly great artist for his latter day sins, is it better to burn out or fade away?”. This is certainly personal choice as however much one dislikes Wonder’s latter works, we must remember the influence that he has made upon modern music.

In direct contrast to the example of Stevie Wonder, who has continued to make music throughout his extensive career, there are many examples of artists that have burnt out in their prime. Four of those that have died, all at the age of 27 include Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin and Kurt Cobain. These musicians’ careers were cut short when they were still in their prime and so it begs the question - would they have continued to produce outstanding or would they have deteriorated until they became guests on reality television?

It would be uncomfortable viewing, with all that has happened with the post-Cobain Nirvana euphoria to imagine him as one of the celebrity guests on the loosely termed ‘rock’ episode of American Idol. In committing suicide, sadly, Cobain has cemented his place in rock history as the frontman of one of the most influential bands of the last thirty years.

At the time of Jim Morrison’s death, The Doors had recorded L.A. Woman (released in May of 1971) to reinforce the band’s position as one of the most important rock bands of the time. Following the recording of the album, Morrison moved to Paris where he would die on the 3rd of July 1971. L.A. Woman would go on to sell massively worldwide, The Doors’ most popular record since their debut album.

Following Morrison’s death, The Doors continued to perform and produced two more albums with vocals shared between two of the original band members. Inevitably, the albums sold considerably less than those released with Morrison and The Doors disbanded. If Morrison hadn’t gone to Paris and The Doors had continued making music, the albums would certainly have varied but what would have been Morrison’s musical fate.

There are many examples of musicians that have continued to make successful, well-received music long after their expected shelf-life has expired. David Bowie, despite some criticism, has continued to perform to a high standard while Madonna has grown from a young pop starlet to global superstar.

The common trait that is shared by those artists that maintain their position is one of progression and evolution. Artists that continue producing the same music for years will inevitably become dated and eventually fade away into obscurity. Maybe it is just a question of choice, and so I too will burn out as my article is at its peak.

Patrick is an expert Research and Travel consultant. His current interest is in Heathrow Parking, Hilton Heathrow and Luton Airport Hotels.

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Autism - The Power of Musical Therapy
By Paul Hata

 Musical therapy is a relatively new treatment method for autism patients, but one that should not be overlooking when discussing options. Patients who receive musical therapy often should great improvement in temperament and learning skills. Music connects to the non-verbal part of our brains, making it a perfect therapy for disorders in which the patient has trouble communicating, such as autism. Research this innovative treatment method if you are looking for some help with autism and haven’t had much luck in the past.

Musical therapy is effective because it can be used in conjunction with learning social skills. Music is a very non-threatening medium for patients, and many games can be played using music to help improve social and behavioral skills. By encouraging eye contact while singing or using instruments that need to get close to the face, musical therapy can help autistic individuals break social barriers.

The number one way that musical therapy can help children, as well as older autistic patients, is by helping with the development of speech skills. Music is a way to connect the verbal and non-verbal functions in the brain. Autistic individuals may have various forms of speech problems. Some can only hum, grunt, or make other non-word noises, while others babble nonsensical phrases or cries. Still others gain the capability to put together phrases and sentences to communicate with the world, although these usually lack emotion. Autistic people are known for monotone voices. However, no matter how skilled the individual is with speech, he or she can participate in musical therapy by clapping rhythms, humming along, or doing simple echoing songs.

Autistic individuals are commonly found to be particularly good at music. Some, for instance, have

perfect pitch. Others can play a particular instrument very well, with little instruction. Even if he or she shows no genius musical ability by normal standards, you may find that a particularly hard to deal with autistic person has abilities in music that exceed his or her other abilities. A musical therapist can use music as a way to link this kind of learning with other kinds of learning, not only as speech development and social behavioral development as previously discussed, but also as a way to communicate emotions and develop memory.

By using all of these techniques in conjunction with one another, musical therapy can work wonders with people who are autistic. Trained professionals can use music to teach children and others how to communicate in nonverbal ways, making it easier for patients to learn. Research the musical therapy option to provide you or your child with another choice when treating autism.

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How Would You Like To Have Your Music Mastered Online?
By Roberto Garabelli

 The concept of premastering your music is a method that can save you a gobs of money when compared to having it all done at the replication house later on. It also does usually yield a better quality when doing it at a dedicated mastering house who does just that solely. Then it is always easy to find a good replication facility afterwards whom you can send your already premastered CD and they just have to do the replication without modifying the sound anymore.

Most mastering facilities have to charge an hourly rate for the time it takes to do compression, stereo-image-adjustments, equalize, or whatever else necessary to prepare the music for CD and Vinyl production and hence replication. In getting your recording as close as you possibly can to the sound you want in the end as you can before entering the premastering, you can also reduce those charges. However, nowadays there are mastering studios that offer their work completely online (so called “online mastering”, or “iMastering”/”eMastering”), worldwide, at a flat fee. Transfer of your music is done online as WAV or AIFF files, they master (premaster) them and send a finished physical CD (or CD Image for Nero / Toast) back to you which you then take to the replication facility.

Important points to ponder when doing the mixing are making sure the instruments are mixed properly and the need for each is appropriate. By need it is mostly the reference to the use of re-verb, equalizing and effects similar that allow the instrument or voice sound like it is immersed into the mix, or the absence of them that makes the instrument or voice sound like it is right in your immediate area.

Using a mix with the guitar processed with re-verb and chorus, and having the lead vocals dry, for example, could sound unrealistic due to the fact that the guitar will appear to sound like it is further from you than the vocalist, which will appear to be screaming in your face. But if that is the effect or sound you want to portray, go ahead. But, as a general rule of thumb it can be annoying, and may result in ear and listener burn-out, which obviously you do not want!

If you happen to be faced with a scenario where your available tracks necessitated you to make the rhythm section mono, make sure that you apply the re-verb to them in stereo. This method will enable you to create an illusion of a stereo-image though the drums are in mono, and add to the sound quality.

You also need to use good speakers that are equidistant from your listening area so you get a realistic stereo image, and, if you can, listen to your mix through several different speakers. In the event you have a boom-box available to test the mix through that, or possibly a car stereo, or even on one your friend’s high end stereo systems. This will allow you an opportunity to get the highest level of “compatibility”, reveal most of the flaws the mix might have and assure the mix is as good as it can get before supplying it for premastering.

In so far as tricks go for using effects on the mix, it is completely a matter of your personal preference. If you like the overall sound that is the goal. So, long as it sounds good on as many systems as possible, it is good. Though try to avoid compressors and limiters on the masterbus when supplying your mix for premastering (though it is OK if you have them running when doing the mix, just take them off when doing the bounce for the mastering house). In general, too much processing starts to sound weak, and using too much re-verb is a common error as well. Try to keep things clean and make sure the sources (e.g. the equipment and room you use to record the guitar/vocals, etc.) sound as good as possible already so that they require just very few processing during the mixing. This is the real “trick” to get a great mix and afterwards a great master and CD after you have sent it to the mastering house and replication facility.

Lorenz Vauck is an Audio Mastering Engineer, Musician, and Internet Entrepreneur from Dresden, Saxony, Germany. http://www.lorenzvauck.com

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