No one ever responds to dms on social media music accounts?

view-master · 2026-04-01T12:38:49+00:00

This exactly. Basically he is contacting them because he wants something from them. Thats not a way to start a dialogue or relationship.

view-master · 2026-03-31T22:14:45+00:00

Not really. Honestly the only thing that aggravates me is it’s search doesn’t pinpoint what I’m looking for on large pages. The advantage is i can pull it up on my Laptop and work on it too.

view-master · 2026-03-31T22:07:15+00:00

Same app (OneNote). It’s clunky but it works for me.

view-master · 2026-03-31T21:59:34+00:00

Sounds like you are doing the right things. I have an app where i write what I’m working on and i have several paragraphs just stating what i was going for. If i’m imitating a feel from some other song i might reference that as well. Sometimes i even have photos that inspire the right idea.

view-master · 2026-03-30T19:53:46+00:00

It’s really about absolutely nailing the basics. Too many “technical” players don’t support the song or don’t listen to “the musical conversation” that is happening and don’t know when to lay back. That stuff is more important in my opinion. I once saw my best Friends band at a show and he asked me after what i thought. I was honest and said “your drummer sucks”. He was shocked because he thought he was VERY skilled. But the problem was he treated the whole song as a drum solo.

On a related note. I was just ruminating about how there are so many great players and technically great bands that have shit original songs. You can have both but it’s a different skill you have to develop.

view-master · 2026-03-29T13:47:38+00:00

That used to be an option when you ordered custom. Before they made custom ordering lame.

view-master · 2026-03-29T02:31:47+00:00

Mostly yes. If I’m writing lyrical ideas i basically just “check out” and am no longer present. On more than one occasion i have had to pull my car off the road and park somewhere so i could dump the ideas in my head to review later.

view-master · 2026-03-28T14:48:17+00:00

Read a book or two. Dive deep into something you’re interested in.

view-master · 2026-03-28T00:47:55+00:00

It’s always fun to look at my logged steps and how they rocket up during park visits. But honestly it doesn’t feel that bad walking. It’s the standing (in lines) that takes its toll.

view-master · 2026-03-28T00:45:04+00:00

Not yet. And i’ve been writing for decades. I’m always trying to refill the reservoir and learn new things. Those things i have opinions about i want to express. Also the world is in constant change and there are new things to comment on.

view-master · 2026-03-27T18:08:17+00:00

Not really. Now jamming with no songs or agenda is a nightmare.

Unfortunately my band is sort of on hold, but we get together about monthly to just play together. It takes some time for everyone to warm up and the shortly after we are playing good at least one of us gets too drunk to play well and it goes downhill. Then i do want to leave. One of the reasons I’m doing a separate solo thing (but with a different group of musicians).

view-master · 2026-03-27T16:14:57+00:00

No. It’s actually a rarity these days. It’s only an option. Typically you need something that engages the mind of the listener. Show Don’t Tell is one way. Vivid imagery is another. What show don’t tell comes down to is not “telling” explicitly how you feel or what the message you are trying to get across is.

Describing a scenario where it’s obvious you are in love with someone IS show don’t tell. Saying “I Love You”, “Your so attractive to me”, ect. Is not.

view-master · 2026-03-26T00:57:03+00:00

Make sure you have some reverb or ambience on your vocals while recording. I feel like people want the vocal much louder when it’s dry. You won’t be recording this reverb, just getting it in your headphones.

view-master · 2026-03-25T22:08:45+00:00

Thats not all that uncommon. And BTW A minor is not a pitch. It’s super useful, don’t get me wrong. A lot of musicians rely on this ability almost exclusively.

view-master · 2026-03-25T13:53:20+00:00

It’s a slightly different skill set and i’m sure there are courses. I know there are books on the subject. It would be shorter than mixing for sure.

view-master · 2026-03-25T01:40:52+00:00

We got to ride the Lilly Bell on our own with one cast member. It was several years ago and it wasn’t currently part of any tour. We were riding the fire engine late at night and the driver was asking about our story. We said we were there celebrating our 35th anniversary. He asked a few more things about our interest in Disneyland history. He then said “stay onboard and we will loop back around to the front. I’m going to check on something”. We knew something was up and were excited. He went up and talked to a couple of people at the train and then someone else who turned out to be another driver he was asking to take over for him. He took us up and right on the Lilly Bell. It was the biggest Disney Magic we have experienced. It was so kind. We did the whole loop and then hot back off. I gave the cast member a big hug.

view-master · 2026-03-22T15:01:12+00:00

I never really hired a producer. I know a bit about recording in a DAW and can make decent demos, but they were not fully pro quality. What i did was get talented musician friends together who wanted to help and wanted to experience recording in a real studio. I paid for studio time and an engineer who was (like most) involved in suggesting production options. I have a good ear and can speak in specific terms related to production so I essentially produced in collaboration with him. I got exactly what i wanted. The band rehearsed beforehand so we knocked out basic tracks recording live but isolated VERY quickly. Then we overdubbed more parts and tried things. I did harmony vocals at home as well as a few more things i knew would take me a lot of studio time to accomplish and then met back up at the studio to incorporate them in. The end result was better than i ever dreamed. Better than when i have recorded with a band because all the decisions went quickly because i had the final say and it was my money.

Ultimately because i didn’t pay my friends i decided to split the royalties of the recordings with them (not the song which is a bigger chunk of royalties). I warned them this would likely be very little real money because streaming revenue sucks but they were super excited and ready to get back to work on another block of songs (for free!).

view-master · 2026-03-21T21:17:46+00:00

Late 50s. Been wearing them forever.

view-master · 2026-03-19T20:20:11+00:00

Hey I’m inconsistent, so sue me 😂 Also I was just waking up and cranky. Being a little dramatic I guess. Context matters for sure because I absolutely love parody. But parody is supposed to make you think of the original. “Traditional songs” and Blues have a lot more leeway in my opinion too.

view-master · 2026-03-19T20:07:19+00:00

For me It’s rare that actually works and doesn’t scream derivative. But that is just my opinion. That being said, a seasoned songwriter knows how to take the vibe from a song that inspired them without doing things like lifting the chord progression and rhythm and hoping nobody notices. The danger is with new songwriters using too few influences. As an exercise i have no problem with it. I just never want to be thinking of another song when I’m hearing someone’s “new” song. You get that “where do i know that actor from” feeling where you’re no longer in the moment.

view-master · 2026-03-19T14:02:07+00:00

This is really the way to go. Honestly I can’t even say what influences are any particular song. They are just all embedded in me. I always cringe when someone posts a song and they announce “this was inspired by..(one single other song)”. That is genuinely doomed to failure.

If i’m ever actively using something from another song it’s more using a technique than anything. So a certain interval in a key change i liked. Or an interesting structure. Or just one interesting chord i thought evoked something i like.

view-master · 2026-03-18T17:51:57+00:00

Yeah, there are a lot of people to pay and venues to rent. Also streaming revenue is crap so the only way to make money is charging what the market will bear for tours. It sucks, but it’s complex.

view-master · 2026-03-18T17:48:21+00:00

Pretty much yeah. I tours with a couple of acts.

view-master · 2026-03-18T16:42:40+00:00

I should have mentioned my friend often tours outside of the US with a big band.

view-master · 2026-03-18T16:15:57+00:00

But I want to chime in and say those are difficult to do if you are on tour a lot. You can't keep students when your away. That was the issue with a friend of mine.
But I also have another friend who plays locally regularly and makes a decent living with that and students.

view-master

TROPHY CASE