Canadian Musician articles from September 2007

Canadian Musician archives from September 2007

Marketing yourself on MySpace.(IndieInsider)
September 1, 2007... There are many avenues and methods that you as an artist can take to promote your work, but in today's market if you don't have a MySpace page, you haven't even started yet! In this article we'll take a look at some of the essentials to have...

MySpace For Musicians.
September 1, 2007... Fran Vincent, Founder and President of Retro Island Productions, has written a new book that can be used as a tool for musicians interested in promoting their music on the infamous MySpace site: MySpace For Musicians. [ILLUSTRATION...

MHES collaborates with CMW & CODJA.(Changes)(Music and Home Entertainment Show, Canadian Music Week, Canadian Online Disk Jockey Association)
September 1, 2007... The 3rd Annual Music and Home Entertainment Show (MHES), formerly TMX, is moving its location downtown to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. MHES will be held from March 8-9, 2008, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. daily. The Metro Toronto Convention...

Doug "Doc" Riley passes away.(Changes)
September 1, 2007... Composer, arranger, and keyboardist, Doug Riley, AKA "Doctor Music," has passed away on Monday, Aug. 27. After headlining a jazz and blues festival, he was on a plane in Calgary preparing to return to his home in Little Pond, PE when he...

21st Annual OCFF conference approaches.(Changes)
September 1, 2007... The 21st Annual Ontario Council of Folk Festivals (OCFF) Conference will be held in London, ON this year from Oct. 11-14. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The OCFF Conference attracts folk, roots, and traditional musicians for a weekend of...

Sparks Music & EMI Music announce deal.(Changes)
September 1, 2007... Sparks Music and EMI Music Canada have announced a distribution deal to add Sparks Music to EMI's family of Associated Labels. Independent record label, Sparks Music, is the creation of Larry Macrae and Jeff Rogers, who joined forces with...

Bif Naked gets hitched.(Changes)(wedding)
September 1, 2007... Beth Hopkins, AKA Bif Naked, has announced that she is to wed Ian Walker, a star sports writer for the Vancouver Sun. The wedding will be held in their hometown of Vancouver, and will take place on Sept. 29, in a traditional church...

USCIS increased processing fees for entertainer visas.(Changes)
September 1, 2007... The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) increased its processing fees for entertainer visas (Classes P1, P2, P3, and O-1) from $190 US to $320 US. The Premium Processing fee will remain at $1,000 US. The processing...

Club Bass moves location.(Changes)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Dave Freeman, Owner of Club Bass, has recently announced that the "club" is moving its Toronto location from 45 Ossington Ave., to 698 The Queensway. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] As the former building was being sold, Freeman embraced this...

Canada Council launches 50 for 50 Arts Challenge website.(Changes)(Website overview)
September 1, 2007... To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Canada Council for the Arts, the organization launched the 50 for 50 Arts Challenge and the corresponding website. The 50 for 50 Arts Challenge asks Canadians to participate in 50 arts activities in...

NAMM study reveals connection between music education & high test scores.(Changes)
September 1, 2007... NAMM Foundation's Sounds of Learning initiative recently held a study that shows that students in high-quality school music education programs score higher on standardized tests compared to students in schools with deficient music education...

Warner Music & VDI Entertainment announce distribution agreement.(Changes)
September 1, 2007... Bill Ott, President of VDI Entertainment Canada and Steve Kane, President of Warner Music Canada have announced a strategic alliance. The agreement will see Warner Music Canada handle all distribution functions while VDI Entertainment's sales...

SOCAN launches Indie Marketing.(Changes)
September 1, 2007... The Society of Composers, Authors, and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) has announced the second installment of Dinner Music, an informative web-cast series: "Indie Marketing." "Indie Marketing" is hosted by Richard Crouse, Co-host of...

Tammy Frederick's Voice Studio's fall workshop series.(Changes)
September 1, 2007... New fall workshops have recently been announced for Tammy Frederick's Voice Studio, which will all be held at the studio: 327 Kingston Rd., Toronto. The four workshops are: Making Your Songs Sing, What Do I Do Now?, Singing Workshop, and...

4th annual FAR-West conference.(Changes)
September 1, 2007... The 4th annual Folk Alliance Region--West (FAR-West) Conference will be held from Nov. 2-4, at the Hilton Vancouver Washington hotel. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Acoustic music performers, presenters, promoters, music media, and radio...

Canadian Music Notes hits yahoo.(Changes)
September 1, 2007... A new place for singers, songwriters, musicians, writers, reporters, and everyone else involved in the Canadian music industry has been set up to share news: Canadian Music Notes. This is not a place to post gig listings or musical events,...

CMW 2008 showcase & Indie Awards.(Changes)
September 1, 2007... With an excellent turn out in the spring of 2007, musicians are looking ahead to the Canadian Music Week (CMW) 2008, which will be held from March 5-8, in Toronto. Make sure that your band is recognized at next year's show by applying...

Events.(Calendar)
September 1, 2007... * 10th Atlantis Music Conference & Festival Atlanta, GA September 19-22, 2007 atlantis@atlantismusic.com, www.atlantismusic.com * Popkomm Festival 2007 Berlin, Germany September 19-22, 2007 +49 (0)...

Marshall MG 15MSZW Zakk Wylde Microstack.(RoadTest)(Product/service evaluation)
September 1, 2007... It is easy to be charmed by the striking looks of the MG15MSZW, but don't make the mistake of writing it off as a novelty item, the Microstack sounds like a Marshall should: warm, punchy, and surprisingly LOUD! I was skeptical when I was...

IK Multimedia AmpliTube Jimi Hendrix[TM].(RoadTest)(Product/service evaluation)
September 1, 2007... You don't have to go far to hear Jimi Hendrix' influence in hardcore, metal, and modern rock. This software is an excellent reminder of a time when electronic effects were just coming into their own in pop music--and a powerful resource for...

PreSonus Firestudio with MSR monitor remote.(RoadTest)(Product/service evaluation)
September 1, 2007... Anyone need a firewire interface? Because the PreSonus Firestudio with MSR monitor remote is perhaps the most attractive package on the market today. With its price point ($999 CDN Retail, dealer may sell for less, for the rack and $299 CDN...

Lifting.(GUITAR)
September 1, 2007... The art of transcription or lifting is the highly subjective modus operandi of notating music. What you hear and how you write it down for other musicians to read is a very interpretive process. Ideally, your years of playing experience and...

On set at Canadian Idol.(KEYBOARDS)
September 1, 2007... Arrangements It's a pretty specific process. Here's how it works; each week there is a pre-determined theme, i.e. Standards, Rock, British Invasion, etc. The contestants are given a lengthy list of songs from which to choose. The next...

Groove & sound.(BASS)
September 1, 2007... Groove When I first started doing studio work in New York, it became very clear that if you wanted to be in demand that it was all about your feel and sound. Producers and arrangers hire you for your feel as a contributing rhythm...

The care & feeding of your hardware.(PERCUSSION)
September 1, 2007... All drummers need to do a periodic check of their hardware and fix potential problems before the gig. There is the regular maintenance of parts (cleaning shells, oiling, changing heads, cleaning cymbals), and then there is the check-up thing...

Vibrato, Part I: how to approach it.(WOODWINDS)
September 1, 2007... Vibrato is very much a matter of personal taste, so what observations and preferences I set out below are very much my own and they may well vary with those of others... and that's all right because, ultimately, matters of taste cannot be...

Know your role.(BRASS)
September 1, 2007... Accomplished brass players need to sound strong and confident, but also be sensitive to what's happening musically around them. If they play loud because the music says "forte" without realizing that they may be covering up the melody in the...

Differences between audio file types 101.(DIGITAL MUSIC)
September 1, 2007... Recently, I received a few e-mails asking for an article explaining the differences between, and definitions of, audio file types. The most common question is, "What should I save it as? And at what bit rate?" Let's go over some common...

Sing with power, range, & control visualization & the voice.(VOCALS)
September 1, 2007... Singing, in its very nature, is something both miraculous and mysterious. This ability of the body to produce sound is unique; you are the instrument, and unlike any other musician, you can't point to hand placement to get a visual take on...

Street Gospels sees light--& dark--of day: Bedouin Soundclash fusses & fights with third album.
September 1, 2007... Bedouin Soundclash is set up in a midsized rehearsal room in a nondescript area of Toronto that's part warehouse, part residential, and part small business. Inside the ground level space, there's a black curtain backdrop, truncated drapes...

Grady: lean & mean.(Interview)
September 1, 2007... A Cup Of Cold Poison is a lean, badass set of live-off-the-floor mayhem that owes as much to Sabbath and Zeppelin as to blues and gospel. A blend of metal bluster, punk rock speed, and straight up rock served up raw, with a bit bottom end and...

Steve Piticco, Telecaster Master: Steve Piticco is a guitar player's guitar player, a master Telecaster picker. He possesses the gilt--no matter what style of guitar player you are, you will be blown away by his musicality.(Interview)
September 1, 2007... Amongst his extensive touring, clinics, and recordings he has found the time to put out a new self-titled CD with guests--Don Helms on lap steel and a duet with his wife, vocalist Spike (Tracy McNaughton-Piticco)--and an instructional DVD...

Home recording 2007: in the last decade, the growing trend of recording at home has been reflected by a huge surge in manufacturing audio gear for home recordists. But home recording is not that new.
September 1, 2007... Maybe we can get a little inspiration from some outstanding pioneers who recorded at home like the ingenious musician and inventor Les Paul, recording as a duo with his wife Mary Ford back in the 1940s. He pioneered multitrack/overdubbing...

Name nom: licensing music to the Film and Television industries.
September 1, 2007... Since the early days of film, when orchestras accompanied silent flickering images on screen, music and film have enjoyed a symbiotic relationship. At the movies, it is the music that tells the audience how to feel; music alerts us to danger,...

Atmosphere for longevity.(WRITING)
September 1, 2007... What makes a song, a record, and a band stand the test of time? The mood of a song and the atmosphere a songwriter attaches to that song seems to be largely missing from current songwriting, and new bands don't even seem to get their 15...

There's no DNA in this "bleed": the hell of isolation/separation.(RECORDING)
September 1, 2007... The very purpose of having multiple track recordings is, essentially, to have control of the sound of each individual track. However, with poor isolation/separation, there can potentially be a problem when recording live off the floor, which,...

Getting your band ready for outdoor festivals.(LIVESOUND)
September 1, 2007... The outdoor festival season is a busy time for production companies around the world, and Canada is no exception. Companies geared up for single- and multi-stage outdoor festivals can do as much as 60 to 70 per cent of their business between...

Collaborative songwriting: doing the splits.(BUSINESS)
September 1, 2007... One of the most important, but often overlooked, steps in protecting one's musical assets is properly documenting songwriting splits. Collaborative songwriting is a positive, constructive experience. It is natural to be focused on the...

Gibson Custom John Lennon inspired by Les Paul.(HotGear)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... The Gibson Custom Shop recently worked with Yoko Ono to recreate John Lennon's 1950 Gibson single-cutaway Les Paul Junior. The result is the John Lennon Les Paul. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Only 300 of these limited-edition guitars have...

Levy's Tear Wea[r.sup.2].(HotGear)(Levy's Leathers Ltd.)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Levy's Leathers has added to its line of shredded guitar straps: the Tear Wea[r.sup.2]. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Tear Wea[r.sup.2] straps are made of heavy ribbed cotton webbing and have leather ends. They are all reversible with...

Line 6 Pocket POD.(HotGear)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Line 6 has recently added to its POD family of amp, effect, and cabinet modellers with the Pocket POD. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Pocket POD is a personal guitar processor that has over 300 presets, including 32 classic and modern...

Lightsnake cable.(HotGear)
September 1, 2007... A new 1/4", XLR/MIDI to USB cable has recently been released that allows musicians to record audio directly to a PC: the Lightsnake cable. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Embedded in Lightsnake is a 16-bit analog to digital converter with an...

D'Addario Kaplan Solutions/Helicore Combo Set.(HotGear)(D'Addario Canada)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... D'Addario Canada has taken its Kaplan Solutions cello A and D strings and teamed up with Helicore cello G and C strings to create the four-string set: Kaplan Solutions/Helicore Combo Set. This set combines solid steel core A, which is...

Peavey Liberator JT-84 bass.(HotGear)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Peavey has collaborated with John Taylor of Duran Duran and clothing designer Juicy Couture on the new Liberator Series, which include the Liberator JT-84 bass. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The JT-84 bass has a 34" scale length neck, 21...

EASTWEST Quantum Leap Ministry of Rock.(HotGear)
September 1, 2007... EASTWEST has released a new Quantum Leap virtual instrument collection with 18 GB of rock drums, basses, and guitars: Ministry of Rock. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Instruments for this collection were recorded in the EASTWEST Studio 2,...

Martin 0-45S Stephen Stills Signature Edition.(HotGear)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Martin Guitars has teamed up with Stephen Stills to create his third signature guitar: the Martin 0-45S Stephen Stills Signature Edition. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Based on the vintage Martin 0-45 that was produced between 1904 and...

Sensaphonics 2MAX custom earphones.
September 1, 2007... Manufacturer of custom soft-fit earphones, Sensaphonics Hearing Conservation Inc., has released a new set of earphones that are based on the ProPhonic 2X-S model: the 2MAX Earphones for musicians and engineers. The 2MAX earphones have...

MXL Microphones MXL.007 USB.(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... The professional audio division of Marshall Electronics, MXL Microphones, has released a new mic: the MXL.007 USB Stereo Condenser Mic. The MXL.007 USB features two gold diaphragm capsules that are each 22 mm, with a 90-degree X/Y pickup...

Ludwig Power Trio snares.(drums)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Ludwig has recently re-released three of its premium snare drums, the Black Beauty, Supraphonic 400, and Maple Classic, as the Power Trio. The 5 x 14" Black Beauty was one of the first specialty snare drums ever created in the mid-'20s....

Pearl Export ECX.(drums)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Pearl has added to its Export series with the Maple Export Custom ECX. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The ECX has a 6 ply 7.5 mm 100 per cent maple shell and uses Pearl's SST Superior Shell Technology construction and hand-rubbed lacquer...

Audio-Technica AT2041SP Studio Pack.(HotGear)
September 1, 2007... Audio-Technica has bundled Cakewalk's SONAR LE recording software with the AT2020 and AT2021 mics to create the AT2041SP Studio Pack. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The AT2020 is a side address condenser mic that captures vocals and a wide...

SABIAN Paragon Diamondback Chinese cymbal.(HotGear)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Rush drummer, Neil Peart and SABIAN have collaborated to create the 20" Paragon Diamondback Chinese cymbal. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Paragon Diamondback Chinese is a thin, highly responsive model that features a wide-flanged...

Colin Munroe.(ShowCase)
September 1, 2007... Who: Colin Munroe Where: Toronto What: one man pop band Contact: Marked Music, Andrew Kennedy, akennedy@markedmusic.com, 416-669-6070, www.colinmunroe.com [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] After working behind the scenes, writing...

Dan Mangan.(ShowCase)(Postcards and Daydreaming)(Sound recording review)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Who: Dan Mangan Where: Vancouver What: folk--sung, sealed, and delivered Contact: Shannon Martin at File Under: Music, 604-628-5275, Shannon@file undermusic.com, www.myspace.com/danmangan Mangan's debut album, Postcards &...

Kiran.(ShowCase)(Brief biography)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Who: Kiran Where: Thornhill, ON What: so smooth Contact: Lake City Entertainment Inc., 99 Bronte Rd., #150, Oakville, ON L6L 3B7, 416-697-0791, admin@lakecityent.com, www.kiran-funk.com [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ...