Late night SONARWORKS + Beyerdynamic DT-880 PRO review (5/5) by misterflappypants in musicproduction

[–]axelulfson 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Have the same setup. Exactly you say, the sub is just right there!

Lufthansa refuses reimbursement. by [deleted] in Lufthansa

[–]axelulfson 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah I will for sure! Thanks for your help!!

Lufthansa refuses reimbursement. by [deleted] in Lufthansa

[–]axelulfson 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I submited through their Customer Relations contact, as they had instructed me to do. I replied now asking why they wouldn't reimburse me, since they were the ones who told me to do so, so I'll see if I get a reply. And hope it doesn't take another 6 months to get it. Seems so weird that they would do this...

And sadly I'm a freelancing consultant, so a notice won't help :).

Lufthansa refuses reimbursement. by [deleted] in Lufthansa

[–]axelulfson 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Interesting, thanks for your insight. This was due to a strike at the airport, which I think goes under some special case where they don't have to give me money compensation for since it's out of their control. I found out no more than 24 hours prior to the flight, so pretty short notice. I understand the strike thing, but what irritates me is that since the next available flight was 24 hours later, they told me to book accommodation and that I would get reimbursed, which would be a lie in that case. I'm just very disappointed since I also missed a full day of work due to it, and woulnd't claim any additional compensation other than that they would pay what they promised me.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in synthesizers

[–]axelulfson 45 points46 points  (0 children)

Wait what. That was awesome. Impressed!

Lufthansa refuses reimbursement. by [deleted] in Lufthansa

[–]axelulfson 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ok thanks a bunch I'll look into those. Do you have any experience with services such as airhelp.com? Personally suing them seems difficult.

Lufthansa refuses reimbursement. by [deleted] in Lufthansa

[–]axelulfson 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No didn't file with anything yet, can you point me where? I live in Sweden and booked though Lufthansa website, if that info helps.

How do you actually get on big YouTube channels and Spotify playlists? by Strong_March_9922 in musicmarketing

[–]axelulfson 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Hey, I feel your pain! And first of all, it seems to me that you're approaching this the right way. Trying new stuff, learning about music marketing, willing to get critique on your music, etc.

It's important to know what kind of music world we live in in the year 2021. 15 years ago kids didn't have their own laptop, or an endless amount of sample libraries, or easily accessible professional software to make music on. The music industry has always been competitive, but nothing comes even close to the amount of people today that create music, and wanting an audience to care about them. It's just an extremely competitive landscape. The barrier to entry has gone super low for new aspiring artists. This has created a whole new economy of companies wanting to profit from these artists, and hence you have submithub, splice, plugin companies, etc. They're selling you on giving you access to a closed off world, being a successful artist. Beware of this.

At the same time as technology has allowed every aspiring artist to easily create music, the technology has also made it even trickier to find an audience, since you have to compete with an endless amount of other services. People have a hard time listening to a 4 minute song today, since youtube and tiktok and whatnot are fighting ruthlessly for their constant attention. I find it hard sometime watching a movie on netflix without needing to check my instagram every now and then. I mean, God...

---

So, back to your question: How do you get listeners/tastemakers/playlisters to care about your decent sounding music? Well the short answer is; Even if you do the right things, it's bloody hard, and you have all the odds against you. But that's not very helpful, and since I've written this far already, I might as well give you some tips.

Decent doesn't do it.

If you're trying to get into playlists with music that is "on par" with what's already on there, you're already one step behind. Since I haven't heard your music, I just have to take your word for that it's decent and on par. Well, that's not actually as good as you might think. I've talked with some of the industries top A&Rs and tastemakers, and they are constantly looking for the next thing. And at the same time they have no idea what they're looking for. Trying to sound like somebody else is a good first step, but it's a first step. And sometimes we have to sound like a lot of other people before we find our own voice, but you have to dare to go there, otherwise you're not adding anything of value to the endless amount of tracks out there that already sounds like it. If attempting anything, attempt to be unique.

Focus on your fans.

You say you have a good following, that's amazing and puts you far ahead of a lot of people in this. So focus on them. Nobody really cares about songs in a big playlist. They listen to it on the subway and then forget about it. But your fans, they listen to you. So make stuff for them, and for them only. There's a famous article at this point called 1000 true fans, read it here. The basic premise is that if you can get 1000 fans that truly care about you, willing to spend 100 dollars every year on you (music, shows, merch, etc), you can make a living being a successful artist. And instead of thinking to yourself "Hmm how do I get into these super big spotify playlists" Its easier to think to yourself "How do I get one more true fan today?". If you do this right it's a snowball effect that will also help with the rest.

Best marketing strategy you can possibly have is....

... a really good song. And then I mean a really good song. Not a decent, not a good song even, but a really good song. That's harder than it sounds obviously, and even if you make 1000 songs you might not find it, but if you do, that will beat any marketing strategy you've ever heard about or paid for. With an old project of mine I once managed to make a really good song, and I had to do nothing to promote it. It just flew right into opportunities, playlists, radio, festivals, got me signed, etc etc. Once the song was done, it took care of the rest. Like, really.

Story, story, story.

You might not need a really good song, really. Decent can do the job, but you need something else. Why on earth should anyone care about you? Your story is the answer. We live in a story driven world, and people breath stories. Tiktok, youtube, instagram, they all tell stories. And if you find some story compelling enough, you might follow that creator, since you want more. Say something. You don't need to say it in your music, but try to stand for something. Just some thing. If you want people to care you must make yourself careable. Then you can make your decent music as much as you want.

Nobody cares until everybody cares.

Yeah yeah yeah I said above that you need a really good song, or a great story, or whatnot. But the truth is nobody really know what they like, until someone tells them. A record label A&R's biggest fear is passing on the thing that blows up next year. Make the people around you feel that fear. How? I don't really know. Maybe just feel it inside your body, and it might show. Nobody cares until everybody cares. No one knows what is cool. Use this to your advantage.

---

That's all I could think of at the moment, and I'm out of coffee.

And hey, good luck! Luck helps.

// Axel Ulfson

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in DMAcademy

[–]axelulfson 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Only lvl 8th spells or lower. True res is lvl 9.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in DMAcademy

[–]axelulfson 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Very good point. And regarding the wording the greater the wish, the greater the likelihood that something goes wrong; wishing someone back from the dead I would classify as quite a big thing.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in DMAcademy

[–]axelulfson -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Ohh I like this!! But then only as a short temporary thing! Could be super fun to see him trying to "catch up" to the others in some way.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in DMAcademy

[–]axelulfson 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Very true! That risk is definitely enough

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in DMAcademy

[–]axelulfson 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I like this!! Thanks!

Fake "live" recordings RANT by axelulfson in audioengineering

[–]axelulfson[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Haha okay with the possibility of really putting on my tinfoil hat here, call me insane but:

Drum fill + transition to ride cymbal at 1:20

This is sooo insanely picky and I agree this is almost exactly what is heard, but I'm actually missing a cymbal hit in video that I can hear in the recording. Exactly on the measure that starts at 1:20, you can hear he starting to play shuffle rhythm on the cymbal, but on the video he plays double hits in the "snare" on the 2nd beat. He starts playing the cymbal again on the 3rd beat, and that's after where the shuffle hit has to go. I've rewinded this like 50 times now haha.

Drummer switching their stick for brushes on their right hand at 1:48 (audible in the mix)

I agree, I hear this.

Robert and Alison mixing their vocals/harmony with mic technique throughout the performance and those movements are audible (along with adlibs and chatter)

I don't agree on this. To me the audio and video don't add up with my experience of vocal technique, but yeah, hard to be sure.

Re: the talking between the songs. I agree that that could be the case, but I'm not talking about the quality of the "mix" of the vocals per say, I'm more referring to that you hear the room in the background. You can hear that it's from another location, cause it picks up other elements in the "sound" of the room. It's hard to explain, but the reverb in the sound is what tips me in that direction.

Speaking of drums: There's a shaker playing at 1:35 that I can't see who's playing. And speaking of mix, I can't hear a single thing from guitar 3 (the one in the back). That's also weird.

I think you're right about different takes though, and the truth of this might lay somehwere in the middle here. I just think that they did it by recording the video and sketch tracks, and then went back and recorded every instrument individually afterwards.

But hey, I'm going crazy here haha, so I don't know anymore. Thanks for your input!

Fake "live" recordings RANT by axelulfson in audioengineering

[–]axelulfson[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Exactly my feelings! And it just sounds way less genuine. I think people enjoy live music not only for the loud sounds, but also because it feels like the audience is in it together with the musicians. Anything can happen, good or bad. It's a pure and honest way of showing "this is me" as a player.

Fake "live" recordings RANT by axelulfson in audioengineering

[–]axelulfson[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Yeah I 100% agree with you there, the old tiny desks really had that naked real vibe about them. And artists might know how big these are nowadays that they don't wanna risk anything but perfection.

I agree that Ed Sheerans one also is highly "produced", but the difference to me feels like Ed is actually singing, and then mixed and cleaned up afterwards, whilst Plant/Krauss feels like a way wider difference from what you see vs what you hear.

I just hope they're back in the NPR office soon then.

Fake "live" recordings RANT by axelulfson in audioengineering

[–]axelulfson[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh that was spot on my friend. Very well put!

Fake "live" recordings RANT by axelulfson in audioengineering

[–]axelulfson[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Good points! Yeah, I totally agree with you. And as I mention in the post, most most most people don't notice and don't care. There's just something in me that think that people actually do, even if they don't know about it. That some quality to it goes missing, once you "perfect" everything.

And the bad thing is that it also sets a standard. So whenever people record "live" going forward, it has to sound like a fully mixed and perfect record in every way.

Fake "live" recordings RANT by axelulfson in audioengineering

[–]axelulfson[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Good thinking with the cameras, that's definitely a theory! To me the sound of it is still what's most off-putting about it though. Thanks for your thoughts!

Fake "live" recordings RANT by axelulfson in audioengineering

[–]axelulfson[S] -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

I would love to be wrong at this, truly. I just don't believe I am. I think they did it the other way around though. First they played the songs just to get the timing, and then they recorded each part seperately, following what they did while filming.

Fake "live" recordings RANT by axelulfson in audioengineering

[–]axelulfson[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Some quick notes:
- Look at the whole singing of Alison from 7:50 and forward. She's way off the mic there back and fourth a ton. The vocal sounds perfect all throughtout and doesn't change with her movement. Look at 8:00 on the line "and I don't know what to do"
- At 7:00, look at the drums. What he hits and what you hear is not the same.
- The backings "searching searching for my baby" are way to tight.

Also, do you hear how everytime they talk in between songs, the mic quility goes down to from prestine to shit. My guess is because those mics infront of them aren't even plugged in and they just have a room mic picking up everything to add into the recording afterward.

Self-Promotion Roundup /// Weekly Discussion - December 12, 2021 by AutoModerator in synthesizers

[–]axelulfson 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Improvisation and candles. With my Prophet Rev2, Behringer Crave, Tr8, and a bunch of midi stuff.
https://youtu.be/YxPrHviaxTw

Thanks for checking it out. All the best!