Mello Studio launched a newly designed website today. The new dynamic website, built on the popular wordpress blogging technology and customized to fit the studio’s look, comes as a part of Mello Studio’s marketing plan for 2007.

“Over 50% of our business derives from our website, and connecting with other companies, composers, and musicians has never been easier” Managing Director of Mello Studio Hashim Al Alawi said yesterday.

Some of the features of the new website is the ability to remotely connect to any studio around the globe and work simultaneously on the same project, as well as moving files back and forth between the studios at ease. “File transfer protocols will be used in conjunction with ISDN to allow our clients to schedule sessions with recording studios in the region or around the world”, said Mr. Al Alawi.

For more information on the studio’s services, or to contact the studio, visit http://www.mellostudio.com or email at info@mellostudio.com

Now you have a cool studio and you’ve come up with a great band name and recorded a bunch of songs you consider brilliant. Are you losing sleep worrying about people “stealing” your music or your band name? Do you need to have a label to release music?

Copyrights

Current copyright law says that you own the rights to a work when you create it. Thus if the rights to use your work ever comes into question, you just have to be able to prove in a court of law that you created your stuff (first). What copyright registration does for you is give you the ability to present concrete evidence in a court. As a friend of mine said “someone came up with a scam to make money `selling’ copyrights”. But, if your work means something, get it registered. It’s very easy and it’s only $30. You can get the forms and more information from the Copyright Office at the Library of Congress.

Trademarks

Contrary to popular belief, you can’t copyright names. You can register a trademark, or more appropriately a service mark, for them. But the service mark rights, like copyrights, by default belongs to the first person who uses it in practice. As does the right to register to it. Registering a service mark is kinda expensive. But you can get the forms, and more information, from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Publication

ASCAP, BMI, etc., are performing rights organisations. They collect royalties for music performed that is written by you. The BMI and ASCAP pages have a lot of relevant information on this topic, much more than what I have here. Check it out!

Labels

Generally, if you’re the only artist being distributed, there is no need to have a label. However, there are some advantages to going the label route, and certainly some advantages to treating the whole thing as a business, in terms of tax breaks and the like. This is a route I’ve chosen not to pursue for a variety of reasons, primary one being that it doesn’t do anything for me. However, see the Going Legal section in the Simple Minds Guide to putting out records, and the articles section in IndieCentre for more information.

Want to record music in your bedroom/bathroom/basement? Then you need to build a small studio that’ll let you do this. What you want is going to be a function of (i) how much you can afford, (ii) what you want to do with your music, and (iii) the quality/flexibility of recording.

What to use to make music

The following list is an example of what a small home studio could/should have. There were several choices I had to make when I bought this stuff and I discuss why I made the choices I did. My equipment list contains detailed information on what I actually own.

Microphone: I tried out the Shure mics, but I found the Electrovoice N/D 357 to produce a greatly superior sound. It is a great stage mic and makes for a decent recording mic.

Guitars: You don’t need to have guitars, but that’s usually a given in a band these days. I started off witha fairly cheap guitar (an Epiphone Explorer) and graduated to a Steinberger Spirit. I use both the guitars for recording still: the Explorer is great for rhythm and has a lot of crunch, whereas the Spirit is good for playing lead.

Effects processor(s): I tried the boss pedals, etc., but I found going in for a multi-effects unit, something like the Digitech RP-10, a lot more reasonable. If you’re going to buy 3-4 effects, you’re better off getting a unit like this one. Keep in mind that most of this is studio stuff, and the RP-10 might not be the best thing for playing live. I’ve found it works okay for me—I can program in my 5 favourite effects so I use the foot switches for those, and then I can generally switch to one other effect that is not in those 5, but one which I use invariably throughout the songs (i.e., my songs have one or two major effects, and I use footswitches 1-5 for small changes). I use the RP-10 for voice processing also, and as an analog synthesiser.

Rhythm: Since you’re doing it yourself, you need to decide what to do for the rhythm section. You could get a bass guitar, a drum machine, a really cheap keyboard, or you could get a decent keyboard where you can program all of these. In the section on using computers, I discuss how you can use a computer for your rhythm section, which is what I use primarily. I got the Yamaha PSR-510 for about $480, which I didn’t use for more than a couple of songs. Someone suggested getting a professional keyboard on the newsgroup rec.music.makers and you might be better off doing this. I think a keyboard like the one I have will always be useful as a controller when combined with a computer-based sequencer. The biggest feature in this keyboard is the custom accompaniment feature, which is completely programmable. That is, I can program my one drum beat, fills, bass line, and other things and use it just like any other accompaniment. If you hear some of my songs, you’ll find it hard to believe the drums are from a keyboard (or at least some people do)—I never realised you could make so much noise with it! The bad thing about the keyboard is the crappy samples.

The following factors helped me decide whether I should get a professional (and expensive) keyboard or a consumer keyboard with a lot of features: (i) access to computers that can do some of a stuff a synth can do, (ii) desire to record music with a live band ultimately (or by playing the actual instruments), and (iii) the use of the keyboard (in my case, I wasn’t into making serious electronic noise with it, but I just wanted something that I could eventually use as a controller).

What to use for recording the music

I think computers are the best way to record music these days.

4-tracks: There are many 4-tracks you can buy new for around $300. To me, the best ones seem to be the Tascam Porta07 and Yamaha MT120. When I tried them both, I found the MT120 to be superior, but I forget why I say this now. I think the MT120 has 2 speeds, and you can record 4 tracks at once. Plus there are individual eqs for each channel, if I recall right. I’d advise you to try both out if you want something to use as a song writing tool. I also advise you to avoid the Fostex models, because when I tried them out they had a lot of noise and hissing.

For those who can afford something more expensive: I bought a Tascam 464 for the following features: auto punch in (which I need since I work alone—none of the lower end models, the porta 07, Tascam 424, etc. have this) and two (high) tape speed recording. I do think the auto punch-in is important if you’re one of those people who make mistakes invariably when playing. So if you want to fix them, this is the way to do it. The auto punch-in feature is also good for recording step by step (verse by verse, say). I bought the 464 for $640. I find it to be exceptional in performance, especially combined with a DAT and computer sequencer.

8 tracks: I considered getting the Yamaha MT-8X (it’s an 8-track recorder that records on a cassette tape), but I found the Tascam offered pretty much the same features except for the number of tracks. Since I use a sequencer and a DAT for bouncing, I decided not to go for an 8-track. I was concerned about fidelity issues that comes with having narrower space on the tape to fit all the tracks. I also have access to a computer that can record up to 32 tracks digitally but I use it only when what I am playing is really complicated so I can do digital editing.

Digital/hardisk recording: There are many hard disk recorders around, but I feel they are too expensive. I personally thought that the DigiDesign machine worked rather well, but again, price is an issue. Harddisk recording using a PC is possible, but you need a disk with a fast access time and lots of space (about 10 meg for a minute of stereo recorded at 48 kHz). However, if you’re using a MIDI sequencer, you can save on a lot of space. See the section on using computers.

Monitors: I recommend you invest in a pair of excellent headphones (spend a 100 bucks—I use the JVC digital ready headphones HA-D810) instead of investing in a cheap monitor (I personally find it easier to try to get some depth in the sound using phones than speakers). Then play the tapes on your regular cassette after mixdown to make sure it’s okay (this is a general rule—try your mixdown tape on as many machines as possible).

Mixdown sources: I use a Sony TCD-D7 portable DAT and the DAT drive on my computer for recording the final mixes, and a Technics tape deck with HX Pro for dubbing copies straight from DAT.

Recording Media: I use Maxell XL II 60 minute tapes for recording from source. In general, high-bias 60 minute tapes come recommended.

Using Computers to make and record music

Computers (different kinds) can be used at various stages of your recording. At the extreme, you can use a computer to do digital hard disk recording, editing, and adding effects. I normally record the final mix on my workstation and “normalise it” so all the songs have the same volume. This way, I can also put it up my songs on the Internet. I also use the DAT drive on my workstation for copying songs directly to harddisk.

You can use a Personal Computer for sequencing with a soundcard (see my equipment list for more details). I happened to use a Gravis Ultrasound MAX with the following configuration to record most of Traversing a Twisted Path, my first album: 486 DX2 80, 8 MB RAM, and a 840 MB harddrive. I initially used a 2 x 1 GHz dual-processor Pentium III machine with 1 GB of RAM and 120 GB of hard disk space to the do the same for my second album Twisting in the Wind. I now use the latest dual-core Opteron technology for making music (4 GB+ of RAM, 1 TB of HD space, latest dual core 64-bit Opteron CPUs). Plenty of software comes with the soundcard that you can use for sequencing. In my view, instead of going for an expensive synth/sampler combination, a PC is the thing to go for since you can sample any instrument and use it in your sequencer. Expect to spend anywhere between $1000-$2000 for the whole set up. If you already have a PC, a soundcard might cost you anywhere from $200-$1000.

I am not being specific here since computer technology changes so rapidly. Here are a few tips to keep in mind when purchasing a computer to record music:

• Buy a computer with a large disk.
• RAM is more important than CPU for most processing.
• Make sure the software you like is supported by the hardware you buy (especially with regards to soundcards).
• Buy a quality sound card if you can afford it.

Mastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device (the master); the source from which all copies will be produced (via methods such as pressing, duplication or replication). Today, the format of choice is digital masters. Analog masters such as audio tapes are still in use today, although, it looks like the industry is slowly phasing this medium out.

The source material is processed using equalization, compression, limiting, noise reduction and other processes. The source material is subsequently rendered to the master medium such as CD or DVD. The “mastered” source material is also put in the proper order at this stage. This is commonly called “the assembly or track sequencing”. More tasks such as editing, pre-gapping, leveling, fading in and out, noise reduction and other signal restoration and enhancement processes can be applied as part of the mastering stage.

The specific medium varies, depending on the intended release format of the final product. For digital audio releases, there is more than one possible master medium, chosen based on replication factory requirements and/or record label security concerns.

A mastering engineer may be required to take other steps, such as the creation of a PMCD (Pre Mastered Compact Disc), where this cohesive material needs to be transferred to a master disc for mass replication. A good architecture of the PMCD is crucial for a successful transfer to a glass master that will generate stampers for reproduction.

The process of audio mastering varies depending on the specific needs of the audio to be processed. Steps of the process typically include but are not limited to:

• Transferring the recorded audio tracks into the Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) (optional).
• Sequence the separate songs or tracks (The spaces in between) as it will appear on the final product (for example, an Audio CD).
• Process or (sweeten) audio to maximize the sound quality for its particular medium.
• Transfer the audio to the final master format (i.e., Red Book compatible audio CD or a CD-Rom data, 1/2″ reel tape, PCM 1630 U-matic tape, etc.).

Examples of possible actions taken during mastering:

• Edit minor flaws.
• Apply noise reduction to eliminate hum and hiss.
• Adjust stereo “width”.
• Add ambience.
• Equalize audio between tracks.
• Adjust volumes.
• Dynamic expansion.
• Dynamic compression.
• Peak limit the tracks.

The guidelines above are mainly descriptive of the mastering process and not considered specific instructions that may or may not be applied in a given situation. Mastering engineers need to examine the types of input media, the expectations of the source producer or recipient, the limitations of the end medium and process the subject accordingly. General rules of thumb can rarely be applied.

Since the development of inexpensive recording systems such as ADAT, DA88 and computer based recorders, there has been an explosion of home recording as a valuable addition to the recording industry. Despite the technical disadvantages of home recording, both from an acoustic and electronic standpoint, home recording can be a very rewarding and effective solution to the creative and budgetary problems in record production. If the technical problems can be overcome, home recording can “take the pressure off” of the creative process. At the same time, having all of the necessary tools at your disposal, as in a well equipped professional studio, can make the recording process both easier and quicker. These are trade-offs we all need to make.

Every day we hear stories about hit records made in home studios. Unfortunately, we also often see projects, which were begun in home studios with the idea of finishing them at a professional studio, that had one or more fatal flaws. Some of the biggest problems revolve around clocking and/or sync issues. What sort of format is your data stored in? Does your recording system have an easily accessible method for transferring audio? Can your recorder synchronize with an exterior system? Sometimes answering these questions may mean sitting down with your engineer and making detailed plans.

Preparing instruments

If there was ever a time for your instruments to be in top condition, this is definitely it. Whether its new strings and perfectly adjusted intonation, or new drum heads and working stands, or even just cables that work, everything you can do to smooth out the process will save you money.

Rehearsal

Sometimes artists overlook potential difficulties and thorough rehearsals may be the best way avoid that particular problem

Click tracks

Click tracks or metronomes can be very helpful in the recording process. Not only can they help the artist to record with steadier tempos, but these days, with the advent of computer based solutions for recording, using a metronome can assist the artist in making greater use of many modern techniques such as “cut and paste” editing.

Format selection

The selection of basic recording medium can greatly effect the process. For instance, recording on a tape based system can be very different from a hard disk based system. Different methods of storage, editing, archiving and back-up apply to each system and can present both financial and operational advantages.

Studio trade offs (cost vs. efficiency)

Often in the recording process, the artist is forced to decide between “getting it right” and affording the cost of the recording. For some processes, such as mixing, expensive tools can actually save you money by allowing you to work faster with better results. If you are looking for a big, ambient drum sound, recording drums in a small room makes it that much harder.

Planning for end use of project

Even before you record your first note, its very helpful to decide what your final product should be: a CD for release, a demo, MP3 files for Internet distribution. Knowing the answer to this question can save you a lot of money and time.

Tracking

Every recording project has to begin somewhere. This is the time to set up the whole band, parts of the band, a large MIDI rig, an orchestra, or just a single musician with a single instrument. Sometimes called “basic tracks” or “rhythm tracks”, it is this foundation on which the entire recording will be based.

Overdubs

After the initial tracking is complete, other musical “parts” may be needed. Usually these will include vocals, both main and backing parts, instrumental solos, or other more time consuming performances. Typically, these recordings are the finishing touches of the complete musical performance.

Mixing

After the recording is complete, all of the elements must be blended or “mixed” into a final stereo or other multichannel form. At this point, most of the special effects are applied and relative volumes and equalization are set.

Mastering

Mastering is a blanket name applied to the various processes used to prepare the final mixed product for manufacturing. These processes include sequencing and editing of songs into their final form, equalization and level adjustments for each song in order to even out large differences between various mixes, and preparation of mechanical parts necessary for delivering the entire product.

60,000 albums are released yearly. How can any one break through the clutter to get noticed if you’re doing it independently? There are now hundreds of cable TV stations people can choose from. How can an unsigned artist even get to one of those for music placement? And how can I get big internet music players and cable channels to notice?

Well, the top internet music site and the top cable network are listening for new music. And we’re going to anoint the best with exposure that is unprecedented in the music business. Who are these power players? Well, Yahoo! Music is obviously one, I’m sure you already guessed. We just announced our partnership with USA Networks to find and break bands. Knowing the quality of the programming and the sheer millions of people who use each media outlet daily, we’re gonna do it.

Here’s how it works. Independent bands are submitting music for airplay on our #1 LAUNCHcast service by the vanload. It’s gotten so big in recent months that Will Abramson, our Assistant Music Director in charge of indie music, had to get his mailbox expanded to twice the size. I think the IT people are going to kill us as we keep expanding the maximum capacity of Outlook for him to handle the MP3 submissions. So we take those submissions and we add them to the LAUNCHcast player. Every last one of ‘em, even if it sometimes takes us a few weeks to do so. We then watch how you, the Yahoo! Music radio listener, likes the song. If you really like it, we send a copy to USA.

They listen and, if they know that the music would work in the promos or episodes for any of their big hits such as Monk or Psyche, they call us and say “Let’s go!” We then play the record in LAUNCHcast while they play it on the TV network at the same time. With all those ears hearing the music, big buzz ensues and the artist is on their way to big success.

As someone who’s worked closely with artists for many years, I’ve really gotta tell you about the secret sauce. The deals we’ll make are some of the most artist friendly I’ve ever seen. Spencer Proffer, who is running the venture for us and USA, has been in sync with us on ensuring that the artist is not tied to some horrible, onerous agreement. Listen to this. The artist retains the rights to their music. The artist is committed for a short period of time and if nothing happens they are free to go elsewhere. The artist retains creative control. Personally, I was thrilled to hear all those things as we put this together.

Who will the first artists be? We’re deciding now and we’ll keep you posted. In the meantime, if you’re a LAUNCHcast user, here’s another great reason to rate the music you hear. You could influence what gets on USA Networks and gets signed! For artists, send Will your music. He might keep Red Bull in business if he has to find the time to listen to it all, but he loves it and he’ll do it. For us? It’s just one more step in our continued support for music artists of all levels.

Jay Frank, Head of Programming & Label Relations
Yahoo! Music

Recently I made a mix for one of my friends who had just parted ways with her man. It was easy to create, although picking between Kelly Clarkson must haves was a bit of a challenge. Of course there is the ever powerful “Since U’ve Been Gone,” except not a lot of time had passed. Then there was my favorite “Low,” as well as “Walk Away,” and “Because of You.” Once I heard “Never Again” there was no question it had to be on there.

Remember the first time you heard Jagged Little Pill by Alanis? Ouch. Then she went and got all happy on us. Kelly Clarkson, on the other hand, proves you can be a positive person, but that doesn’t mean rolling over when you get burned.

Now it’s your turn to show your inner Kelly. We’ve just launched our 10th Fans-Only video, giving you your chance to show Kelly how you work it to “Never Again”. Check out the special message from KC herself, and send us your video!

See ya!
Colleen
Yahoo! Music

There continues to be a lot of interest in the Sansa Connect portable player (SanDisk Connect Does Stuff You Wish Apple’s iPod Would) that we released this month with our partners SanDisk and Zing. We’re glad that the product has created some excitement for what’s next in the digital music - namely access to your music wherever and whenever with a payment model that maximizes your ability to rock out. We agree that we are turning it up to ELEVEN.

The biggest ask we’ve seen from reviewers and early customers is to be able to search the YMU catalog directly from the device. We hear you, its coming. Its actually not a trivial feature to “get right” from a usability standpoint - how do you find an artist or track you are looking for (out of a catalog of over TWO MILLION tracks) on an itty-bitty screen with no keyboard or mouse? So rather than bringing a frustrating product to market we decided to KISS (Keep it simple stupid) and release the product with its current rich feature set.

There is a reason why we felt we could make that decision: you don’t need to be able to search for specific artists, albums, or tracks to fill the device up with great music that you love - which is, after all, the goal.

You just think you do cause thats how you’ve always done it, until now.

It’s MUCH easier and arguably more entertaining to use Yahoo’s recommendation engine and the device’s mixlisting capabilities to fill the device up. After you have created a half-dozen or so mixlists, the device will leverage the YMU subscription and its own Wifi capabilities to keep the device filled up with fresh content based on your personal preferences. Trust me, its amazing, and your boring old iPod will start seeming very dated (almost brickish) after the lightbulb goes on. We haven’t talked up the technology much until now cause its so mindblowing, and really only suited for power users like you. Here’s what you do:

1. Go to the Settings>Music&Mixes>Mixes&Recommendations menu and set to 50% of capacity.
2. Also set Autodelete to “ON” from the Settings>Music&Mixes>Auto-Delete menu
3. If you have time, its helpful to have identified some playlists on YMU that you really love and to have rated a reasonable amount of music. A couple of playlists that are working great for me are Like Ryan Adams and Mojo 70-71. But this step is totally optional because you can make mixlists off of particular songs, genres, etc.
4. Start creating mixlists from the Zing menu on the device.
5. Create 1 or 2 based on existing playlists by navigating to Get More Music > My Yahoo! Playlists. Highlight a playlist, press the Zing button and select “Make a mix like this”
6. Create a few based on a genre by navigating to Get More Music>Yahoo! Music Recommendations and drilling into the genre tree. Once you have a genre selected press the Zing button and select “Make a mix like this”. This will have the added benefit of having the seed artists filtered through your personal ratings.
7. Listen to a Launchcast station and when a song comes on that you like press the Zing button and “Create a mixlist based on this song”
8. Find some other ways to create mixlists.
9. Start listening to the mixlists (they are saved in your Music Library on the device)

What happens next? Well, the device is going to do everything it can to keep those mixlists fresh for you. After you have listened to the tracks in a mixlist it’s going start deleting tracks you’ve already listened to and putting new ones on there based on the mixlist criteria and your personalization preferences (based on ratings) as well as some fancy backend algorithms. As long as the device is fairly well charge its going to try to do this housekeeping whenever it notices a WiFi connection that works for it. Like when you are asleep. When you least expect it, expect it.

Creating and modifying mixlists is so easy (and the music is so good!) that if you are like me, this is primarily how you are going to choose what to listen to for your bike ride to work etc. Maximizes control and personalization with a minimum of keystrokes and fuss. We’re thinking features like this are the way people will to interact with music and contact on connected devices in The Future.
For now if you really really need to find a particular track or album you are going to have to do it the old fashioned way and drag it over from your PC. Or you can create a playlist and use the WiFi on the device to get it. And pretty soon you’ll wake up and the device will have updated the firmware over WiFi and you’ll be able to search the catalog in a form factor appropriate way. But I bet you don’t use that feature anywhere near as much as you use mixlists.

Steve Raymond
Yahoo! Entertainment

P.S. Check out Pogue’s comment at the end of this. He gets it. I can’t believe people write reviews of reviews. But I also couldn’t believe that people posted video of themselves opening a box.

P.P.S If you are a Connect User join this group.