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Hello
to you all!
I hope that the warmer weather is heating up
your passions. My lifecontinues to get blessed as my passions grow and
flourish. I continue to look forward with good intentions and live a
healthy lifestyle to support them. Music continues to be my drug of
choice! That keeps me high and clear to write and educate. I truly
believe that a healthy lifestyle is a great act of self-love. The more
self-love you have, the more ammo you attract for your career. This issue has
an interview with Italian recording artist, Giorgia Fumanti, and
articles by Jazz and improvisation artist Andrea Wolper and Recording
engineer Adrian Carr. The rest is written by me. Please feel free to
write with suggestions and questions that I can include in future
issues Feel
free to contact me about my fees if you need CONSULTING on how to make
progress in your music career or need a shot of motivation by using my
CAREER COACHING. I do it in person and by phone. You can email me at consulting@daylle.com
for more info. I now give discounts for booking at least 3 sessions. Please
forward this newsletter to your mailing list or anyone you'd like. If
this was forwarded to you and you'd like to subscribe, send me an email
that says "subscribe" in the subject header with your name and
city/state. If you'd like to post it on your site, please ask for
permission and I'll give it. Read past issues at http://www.daylle/monthly.html
If you prefer to be taken off my list, please say unsubscribe in the
subject header of an email. My
other newsletter, Self-Empowerment Quarterly, for the body, mind and
spirit is also free. This
WON’T come to you automatically. If
you don’t receive it and would like to subscribe, please send an email
to subempowernews@daylle.com with you name, city/state. Read back
issues at http://www.daylle.com/daylle/newsletter-growth.html Please check out and forward the video I did for my first rap record, Girls Can Do.
It was so much fun to go back to my music roots and do the video.
Self-empowerment for women has improved since I first recorded it. The Musician’s Guide to Licensing Music was
recently published by Billboard Books. This one is different from other
books I’ve written as the perspective is mainly from Darren Wilsey, a
songwriter and composer who’s earned a living licensing his music for
many years. I worked with him to write the book in his voice. The book
covers most aspects of licensing music. We also got advice from people
who need musical content, including film and TV music supervisors,
advertising people, production houses, etc., lawyers, and other players
involved in the process. You can get more info and order a copy
directly from me here or check it out in stores. Please
visit my website, http://www.idontneedarecorddeal.com/ to take
advantage of the many resources for developing a career in music. If you want a stronger dose of self-empowerment tips, check out my BLOG, Lessons from a Recovering DoorMat.
I have tips for achieving goals, interviews with successful people and
guidance for using the Law of Attraction most effectively. You can
subscribe to it and get the posts by email. I’m honored that
Beliefnet.com has invited me to bring my blog over to their site. This
will happen shortly. If you subscribe to my blog, you’ll be notified
about how to change over to the new site when it’s official. I feel
very blessed that I’ll be able to reach a lot more people with my
self-empowering, spiritual posts. Strong on the inside helps you achieve
A LOT more!
Daylle Deanna Schwartz http://www.daylle.com
1.
1. "I WILL!": When I work with musicians, I often ask if they believe they will be successful. A common answer is “I hope so.” Or “People say I have a chance.” Some say they pray that they’ll get the gig or increase their fan base or that something else will happen to create a lucrative opportunity. Some are really wishy washy, not quite sure what will happen. Others tell me all the reasons why the odds are against them. Which of these has the best chance to succeed?
Actually, it’s none of those. The musicians with the best chance to
succeed are those who say, “I WILL succeed.” The more conviction in
your view of future success, the more chance that it will happen. It’s
sends a powerful message to the Law of Attraction and also puts you
into a great frame of mind that works for, not against your goals.
I correct people when they have one of the other answers but many
don’t get it. Putting out your intentions in the most positive,
definite way gives you the best chance of reaching your goal. Some call
it positive thinking; some call it working with the Law of Attraction;
some call it strong faith. I call it all of those factors! You can
view it in whatever way is comfortable. I don’t tell people how they
should be spiritual. But it’s a proven fact that the energy given out by
you, positive or negative, is supported, and affects the outcome of
what you’re going after.
I personally live by the Law of Attraction and have manifested the
most wonderful life. It works for me and those who use it. I even have a
Law of Attraction in Action series on my Lessons from a Recovering
DoorMat blog. http://bit.ly/9GsoqV It covers many different aspects of
life that affect what you attract. The Law of Attraction works in both
your personal and business life. That’s why it’s so important to watch
the words you use about what you say you want. I truly believe that our
words play an important role in our success.
You can scoff it off as crap, or try it! I scoffed until I saw it work in my life, over and over. That’s when I began to watch the thoughts or statements I put out into the Universe. I personally have strong faith in God now, but it still worked when I didn’t. At the beginning I focused on my faith in the Universe. I wouldn’t be here today, doing all that I do, if I hadn’t embraced a spiritual lifestyle and recognized the force of the words I used. Think about how you feel when you say or think about what you’re hoping for. It’s obvious that saying, “I can’t succeed” closes the door on success. It says, “I’m defeated so why try?” But there are more subtle ways that your phrasing of thoughts sabotages your success. Some examples are:
These type of statements have doubt attached to them. They may sound sort of positive but wish, hope or but aren’t definitive. Hoping isn’t knowing, and any doubt clouds your path to success. It also doesn’t allow you to feel as revved as you could since the doubt will niggle you. You need all the faith and positive thinking you can generate to stay strong in the music business. It enhances your confidence. And, a decisively positive attitude is attractive. People gravitate to those who sound confident and positive. They like working with positive people. The more people in your path, the more potential opportunities you have. According to Webster's Dictionary, WILL means "to determine by choice." So the difference between will and won't (will not), is a matter of choice. If you won't do something, you’re choosing not to. WILL means you’re choosing to succeed at what you’re going after. “I WILL get a national tour booked” will get you a lot further than hoping for it. n
Magician David Copperfield said, "The most important thing in life is
to stop saying 'I wish' and start saying 'I will.' Consider nothing
impossible, then treat possibilities as probabilities." That’s how I
live! You can do it to. Practice. Speak with very positive intentions.
Let the words rev you. The more you get into the habit of using “I
WILL” about what you’re going after, the better your chance of getting
it!
The arrival of a new year usually puts me in a reflective mood, and
this most recent flip of the calendar was no exception. In fact, during
the last month or so, I’ve been even more inward than usual. 2009
brought me some experiences I’ll treasure for a long time, and I even
reached a few goals. But too many loved ones had serious health
problems; several people I care about died, and every one of them “too
soon.” It was a year in which that cliché about it all going by so fast
kept smacking me right in the face.
I suppose this is why I found the “Safe Vs. Happy” article in Daylle’s
last e-zine so meaningful. Daylle’s wise words set me reflecting on
the areas in my musical life where I’ve taken chances, and the areas
where I’ve played it safe. I can tell you without hesitation that while
the former has brought plenty of highs (and, sure, a few lows), the
latter—playing it safe—has not brought me a bit of satisfaction. Not
one. Why do
we play it safe sometimes? Why do we choose to be artists and then
deprive ourselves of the full experience we could be having?
Daylle said she hears “many excuses from musicians about why they
can't do a tour outside their comfort zone.” This one surprised me,
because I always want to tour. Now, I’m not on the road all
the time; perhaps I’d feel differently if I was because, indeed, touring
can be stressful. But it also allows me to see places I might
otherwise never get to and, even better, to meet people I wouldn’t
otherwise meet—often the most wonderful people, some of whom become
friends. People can be unbelievably welcoming simply because you’ve
traveled to their city or country to share your music.
My last tour raised my spirits considerably, in large part because a
number of people, including several who didn’t know me from Adam,
helped pull it all together. I still don’t know why people decided to
help in the various ways they did; all I know is that a bunch of people
chose to be generous, which then allowed and inspired me to
be as generous as I could be in front of some new audiences. And you
know what? It wasn’t perfect. We didn’t get quite the audiences we’d
hoped for, one of the venues wasn’t a great match, there were a few
minor mishaps. And we survived all that. Better than survived: we made
new friends and new fans, and had a fantastic time on the gigs,
blending my group with local musicians. And I had one of those “renews
your faith in people,” and “this is why I love music!” adventures that has stayed with me far longer than the length of the tour.
None of that would have happened if I’d stayed home. As Daylle said,
“avoiding that which might bring you pleasure because you're scared it
won't work out really does put you in prison.” Well, I have something
to say about that, too. You see, I’ve been struggling with my own
apparent fear of getting back into the studio. I started rehearsals for
a new CD over a year ago. But there were some problems with one of the
people involved in the project, someone I hold in very high regard,
and I was too damn scared to talk about it.
My fear—of talking to the person in question, of moving forward, of the
next CD not being as good as the last one—kept me in a prison of my
own making. My project went into limbo. But although I was avoiding
what frightened me, I felt neither safe nor happy. Pushing aside what
was uncomfortable was not making me comfortable. Quite the opposite, in
fact: I felt frustrated, stupid, angry, and really disappointed in
myself.
Somehow, recently, I managed to get more honest with myself about the
situation and, having done that, I found the courage to have the scary
conversation. Which turned out to be not so scary after all. If I’d
addressed the problem when it first cropped up, it might have been
resolved much sooner, and my recording might be released already. There
isn’t a happy ending yet, but now there is a road, and I’m on it.
And just as I know that Daylle is right about avoidance imprisoning
us, I know that the opposite is every bit as true: When we embrace that
which calls us—frightening though it may be—we can find a kind of
freedom and even joy we may not have anticipated or otherwise
experienced. And that doesn’t apply only to things like touring or
recording. It applies to the music itself. I didn't start out as an improviser. But once I discovered jazz, and then got more deeply into improvisation, something opened up inside me. Improvising is risky: you have to be willing to go out on a limb, to be entirely present, and to give yourself the gift of letting go of controlling everything. It’s harder than it sounds. It’s easier than it sounds. I’ll say that again: It’s harder than it sounds. It’s easier than it sounds. Here’s what I’ve discovered: the more I trust the skill, knowledge, and technique I work to acquire, and allow myself to let go of expectation, the more alive I feel. The more rewarding and exhilarating the experience of making music becomes. It’s scary and it’s thrilling and it’s living. Being fully alive inside the music. You don’t have to be a jazz musician or even an improviser to bring that spirit to your music. What you do have to do, I believe, is be willing to take some chances, to put your true self into the music, to give yourself and your audience an honest and immediate experience. This brings me to something that came up recently with a student of mine, in one of those lessons that brought tears for no apparent reason other than that voice lessons sometimes do. This subject almost always comes up when I teach workshops, too (which I suppose is part of why I love teaching workshops!) We—musicians and other performing artists—are really lucky because we get to express feeling. That’s our job. We get to feel, transform, and release what most people have to walk around suppressing. This may hit a little closer to home for singers, but I hold that it’s true for all musicians—all instruments and all genres. And if we're afraid to accept what our job is, if we keep our musical expression safely on the surface because we’re afraid—of deep emotion, of making a mistake, of stirring things up—then we're not giving ourselves and our audiences the fully-satisfying experiences we’re there for. I’m not talking about unfiltered expression absent good musicianship, about histrionics or manufactured tell-the-audience-how-to-feel emotional manipulation. Nor, on the other hand, am I suggesting that technique is an end in itself; no, technique is at the service of expression, and I’d rather hear a skilled musician take an honest chance that doesn’t work than I would one whose playing is technically perfect but spiritually chintzy. Well-developed skills, generosity, and the courage to go beyond what we know we’re capable of are, I think, an unbeatable combination in music and in life. In the words of the 13th century Sufi poet, Jallaludin Rumi Open the window in the center of your chest, Andrea Wolper
is a vocalist—jazz and improvised music—a songwriter, voice teacher,
and clinician. She leads or is a member of several ensembles including
the Andrea Wolper Quartet. Former president of International Women in
Jazz, Andrea is an advisor to the Jazz Vocal Coalition and a human
rights activist. She also writes poetry and non-fiction. 3. DAYLLE’S STUFF: Start & Run Your Own Record Label, third, revised and expanded edition (Billboard/Random House) is still building steam. I rewrote the entire book, interviewed MANY more industry pros and independent labels including—Daniel Glass (founder, Glassnote Entertainment), blogger Perez Hilton, Jennifer Nielsen (YouTube), Anslem Samuel XXL magazine), Bill Werde (Billboard), Rev. Moose (CMJ), Recording Artist CJ Baran (Push Play), Recording Artist Ingrid Michaelson, Scott Lapatine (founder, Stereogum), Jed Carlson (founder, ReverbNation), MP3 bloggers, indie label heads, publicists and many more. I also added 20,000 words. It has lots of new info, including: * Balancing on and offline promotion and marketing For more info or to order the book, click HERE I Don't Need a Record Deal! Your Survival Guide for the Indie Music Revolution, complements my others. The focus is on making money from musical talent. It guides you to creating as many income streams as possible and has specifics on how to pursue a variety of opportunities. It's the only book I know of with so many specifics on how to tour and license music in international markets. People are surprised to find chapters on taking care of your physical and mental health too. But part of surviving and thriving includes taking good care of YOU. You can get info on or order I Don't Need a Record Deal! HERE or The Real Deal: How to Get Signed to a Record Label HERE. My book Nice Girls Can Finish First (McGraw-Hill) is also just out. I'm extremely excited about this book! When I began my record label, I was one of the only girls with an indie label in a very male dominated industry and wasn't taken seriously until I figured out ways to earn respect in soft, friendly yet firm ways. I transferred these techniques to all areas of life—setting boundaries with parents, getting more in a romantic relationship, turning down requests you don't want to say yes to, stopping unacceptable behavior and getting better customer service. While it's written for women, many parts of the book work for both sexes. I plan to write one specifically for guys. A sample of the many testimonials I got for the books is: "Nice Girls Can Finish First offers brilliant tools and savvy advice for making 'nice' work for you in business and in life. Nice girls do finish first and this is their 'how-to' manual." ~~Linda Kaplan Thaler, CEO of The Kaplan Thaler Group and bestselling author of The Power of Nice Get info or order it HERE.
CD Mastering? It may be a little mysterious process to you, and I’ve met many musicians who did not know what it was and did not want to spend a lot of time or money learning. By the time you’ve finished recording and mixing, you feel like you’re finished. I know, I went to Juilliard and have been a musician all my life. However, where you leave off as a musician is where the professional mastering engineer begins. Mastering creates the experience the listener
will have with your music. That is why mastering has become so
important from a first time indie performer to a major label artist.
Creating a great experience for your listener is going to help you sell
more records, get more professional acclaim and land you better
reviews! All this is done in mastering. Here’s a quick primer of some
of the most important aspects of mastering:
1. A professional mastering engineer does only mastering. With years
of practice as a mastering engineer, I’m not only listening to the
needs of your music but making decisions about how to optimize the
sound of your CD to compete favorably against major label albums in
your genre. Besides the primary element of sound, other things like the
spacing of songs, order, fades (and ISRC codes, so you get paid from
iTunes) are all done in Mastering, creating the experience of how your
CD will sound to your listener. A mastering engineer loans you his or
her highly trained ears to help you make the best decisions for your
album.
2. With the advent of the home recording studio, a professional
mastering room, which is a normalized and tested listening
environment, has become more important than ever. Any shortcomings in
your home or recording studio monitoring environment can be heard and
corrected by the mastering engineer before you get the 1,000 CD Copies!
3. A good mastering room has the expensive, specialized tools and
technology of a mastering studio. Although home recording may have
gotten cheaper, a Universal Audio 1176 limiter has only increased in
price. And the plug-in does not do quite the same thing.
All these elements contribute to the cost of mastering. Since a
mastering studio is an expensive place to make mistakes, I’ve come up
with 9 mixing tips that will help your mastering session go as smoothly
as possible, saving you a ton of cash! If you don’t know all these
terms, the engineer will.
1. No limiting or mastering plug-ins on your mix buss. Please
don’t try to make your songs louder by Normalizing, adding Compression
or using a Limiter. These methods prevent us from giving you the
loudest, punchiest master you can imagine. Don’t worry. We’ll make it
loud. But we need room to work.
2. Give yourself -3 to -6 db of headroom. Never go into the red on the Master Fader Meter. Going into the red means it may have already clipped, leading to digital distortion. Keeping your mixes at -3 to -6 db leaves us maximum headroom so we can give you a quality, finished product. . 3. Record at the highest bit rate possible. A 24 bit rate is ideal because it gives more headroom. For example: 44.1k 24 bit, 96k 24 bit, and so on. Regardless, always send us what you’ve recorded at. If you recorded at 16 bit, that’s cool. Send it to the engineer at 16 bit. 4. Don’t add dither. Dither
is the very last step in the mastering process. It’s done after all
signal processing is complete. We use high quality converters and
you’ll hear the difference when we do it for you.
5. Clean up your tracks. It’s a gazillion times harder to
get rid of a guitar player sighing or a singer clearing his throat
after it’s mixed. Solo all the live audio tracks and take a listen to
what’s there. You might get a laugh.
6. Relax on the reverb. Reverb levels, like everything else, (especially hand claps) are heightened during mastering, so holding back a bit when you mix contributes to a superior final product. 7. Send songs as WAV or AIFF files, not MP3s. Just compare the file sizes between the different formats and you’ll see that MP3s contain about one-tenth of the data in a WAV or AIFF file. 8. Whatever you do, never mix and master at the same place. It really will help your CD to get a fresh approach from a different studio and person. Mixing and Mastering Engineers are two different specialties - no one is able to excel in the professional world in both. 9. You get what you pay for in Mastering. The finest equipment and the many years experience of a good mastering engineer may not be cheap but it will make all the difference in the sound of your CD. When you've come this far, find a professional mastering engineer who you feel can do the best work for you. The quality of the work is remembered long after the price paid. Most of the work can be done through the
Internet. Nowadays, most of my clients no longer sit in my room paying
the hourly rate. Mixes are sent online and oftentimes I send the final
master back electronically, which translates into saving time and money!
Trained as a musician and composer at Juilliard and Princeton, Adrian
Carr has a musically global perspective on mastering. After having his
studio in Midtown Manhattan for almost 20 years, Adrian moved to
Montreal and opened ACMastering Mastering Facility in 2008. has earned
its good reputation for CD mastering and restoration services for Indie
artists. Adrian has received Grammy Entry Nominations for his work and
was featured in the Mastering Issue of Mix Magazine (December’s 2009).
The Internet allows him to offer his experience to clients in the
U.S.A., Canada, Europe and Asia. You can check out his services,
samples of his work and more info at ACMastering.
After several
recording deals and touring the world, Giorgia is back to being
independent (for the moment!) and continues to stay focused on pursuing
her passion in ways that are true to her soul. She speaks 3 languages
and sings in 5. I interviewed her when she was in NY.
What
is your goal? “Right now I know what kind of music I want to do. I’m
very clear. I need passionate people who respect me to help me reach a
larger audience.”
How would you describe your music? “It’s a mix of styles, classic
evergreen songs, music with beautiful melodies. I feel like a very free
singer who sings whatever touches my heart, no matter which language.
Through my music and songs I can give all of myself. I hope people can
take what is the best from me, if they need to relax, to cry, or do
whatever they need my music will help them.”
How has being international helped you? “I had the chance to sing for
viewers at the Olympics in China. Asians are very into my kind of
music. It’s become very popular and I’m in a good position there.
Thank God I’m doing music that’s timeless so it won’t be out of style
soon. The world is very big and I’m very happy to be able to sing all
over it in many languages. I love the idea of music being universal
because I feel that we are all one.”
Why did you use a picture of yourself pregnant? “It was
empowering—celebrating and honoring my pregnancy and body. At 40 pounds
more I felt so beautiful because a life was inside of me. And I was
kind of tired that women are seen as having to be young to be a singer.
It’s not the reality. I know that I sing from my heart. So I can sing
pregnant or not pregnant, young or as I get older. We are all beautiful
exactly as we are.”
How did you go from studying law to singing? “I tried to study law and
do music as a hobby—singing in a choir. Around 22 years old I was very
sad and far away from myself. I couldn’t find peace and started doing
yoga and meditation to try and find what I wanted. I asked God to guide
me and let me do what I was meant to do, wherever it was. I asked from
my heart, not my ego. I recorded a demo for a well-known singer in
Italy. A manager heard it and asked who was the singer. Two years later
he was in Italy and we met. He was from Canada and I relocated there
to work with him.” )
How did you get started in creating a buzz? “My manager always told me
that good musicians will always have a place. I had a chance to do
shows and people watching the shows called me to do more shows and TV.
So it was word of mouth and the hard work of my manager.”
When you first started doing classical, not pop trendy music, were you
told that you’d never make it if your music wasn’t current to the
moment? “Yes, many times. People questioned why I was doing music that
was different. Many people in the music industry asked why didn’t I do
music that was more pop, more sexy. I can’t and don’t want to! What I
feel from my music is too sacred to lose it. I don’t need the spotlight
for my ego. I want to perform for my soul. Another reason they doubted
me was I started my career at 27. I’m 35 now. It’s great because I feel
much more confident now.
How important is spirituality to you in terms of getting your career
going? “Faith in myself, faith in God, is number one. It’s in my soul.
My music is a consequence of my faith, of my well being and my
connection with God.”
How would you define success? “Success is to be at peace with myself
every day. It’s hard to develop a music career. I know because I did
it. It’s not a day job. In one month you can earn so much and the next
earn nothing. So it’s a very precarious job. Sometimes I’m afraid of
that.”
How can musicians stay strong? “Believe that no matter what you can
change yourself every day. There’s not one way only. You have many
options. You have to take just one step every day. And step-by-step you
can start things that lead to your passion. And keep doing something
else to make money until the day you can leave and just follow your
passion. It’s very important to follow your passion whether it’s your
job or not.”
Check out Giorgia Fumanti and listen to an artist who refuses to follow the rules and does the music she loves successfully.
You may not like knowing how few people are actually opening the links
you send but it’s info that’s important. And as your numbers increase,
you’ll know you’re doing something right and gaining support. Good or
bad, you need to keep track of whether or not people are checking out
your links. http://bit.ly
7.
ASK DAYLLE: “
My lawyer offered to represent me as a manager too. Is this a good idea?”
The quick answer is no. It’s a conflict of interest. Who will
negotiate the management agreement? Your lawyer, who is also your
manager! There can be several conflicts of interest when you use the
same person to represent you and negotiate agreements on your behalf.
That said, people do use one person in both roles and it can work.
While I recommend having both a lawyer and a manager, if you feel your
lawyer will manage your career well, set some boundaries. Have another
lawyer review the agreement between you and your manager/lawyer. Make
sure you’re on the same page. Talk to others who use the person for
both functions. I still prefer having 2 people since it gives you
double the advice and potential for contacts and perspective. So make
sure you completely trust your lawyer and believe in his or her ability
to manage you as well.
I knew a singer /songwriter (who I’ll call Steve) years ago who lived
for drama in his personal life. He believed that unhappiness,
heartbreak, depression, etc. made him a better songwriter. I asked him
what kind of songs he wrote when he was happy. Hmmm… He’d never been
happy since he felt that negative emotions fueled his creativity. I’ve
also heard many musicians claim that only by doing drugs or drinking a
lot could they write great songs. Yet that might also be all they know
and assume they need to write great songs. Happiness fuels my
creativity, along with a clear head.
The above beliefs, which I call creativity crutches, are an excuse for
allowing negative or unhealthy behavior to take over your life and/or a
lack of faith in your ability. Steve mainly wrote unhappy songs. I
write happy ones. Yet Steve didn’t know what he could do with a clear,
joyous head. That inspires my creativity more than any negative
emotion, drug or drink could! Creativity comes from within you. If
you’re creative in one state, you can be creative in another—IF you’re
willing to believe that.
I
suggested that Steve work on becoming happy, just to see what he could
do but he was too scared and continued to get involved with women who’d
hurt him. Tina Turner said, "Sometimes you've got to let everything go
- purge yourself. If you are unhappy with anything - whatever is
bringing you down, get rid of it. Because you'll find that when you're
free, your true creativity, your true self comes out." When you nurture
yourself as much as possible—your mental and physical well-being—your
true self takes over and can lead you to the best manifestation of your
creativity. Until
the next issue.....
Keep
your passion strong,
Daylle http://www.daylle.com
http://www.idontneedarecorddeal.com/ ------------ http://www.daylle.com |
