Posted on Jul 21, 2010 under Musicians |
Everybody knows that planning the perfect music for your event can be stressful whether you are looking for unique entertainment or simply background moods. You may be booking for either wedding music, corporate event music or are having a special commission being performed and yet the anxious feeling still remains the same. In an ideal world you want to be complimented about your booking decision by your peers but when you are relying on other people to be on time, be professional and provide the goods it can make you on edge until after the event.
So here is some tips to help you get your day right!
What type of music do I need?
Firstly you need to decide what you are wanting to achieve with the music. Is it simply background music or is it a performance you require? If you think your guests are going to want to chat and not need to shout, you need to choose background music. A featured performance can be an excellent way to signify the event is moving into a new phase e.g. speeches or a lecture, or it can signify the end of your event.
Daytime Music
Now you know what the role of the music is going to be, now you need to consider who is attending your event and what music they may appreciate! Sometimes an event will have just the older generation, and some at a wedding for example, may be very mixed. So how do you cater for everyone? Well lets consider time of day first. If you have a morning or afternoon event then a full on musical assault may be not what people expected! Light classical entertainment is recommended. Consider instruments such as harp, string quartet or piano. If you want light entertainment that suits ages across the board and people are sure to remember and talk about after the day then you need to think slightly more ‘out of the box’. More unusual instruments such as the vibraphone can be an excellent choice as it has a beautiful sound which is not too loud and is capable of ‘wowing’ people. I encountered such an experience at a corporate event when I saw ‘Emma Welsby’ playing the vibraphone. She was accompanying people as they were entering a corporate event run by PIANC (The World Association For Waterborne Transport Infrastructure). The sound floated around the room and was a beautiful background sound to listen to. I took one of her cds home with me and subsequently visited her website on www.emmawelsby.co.uk which led me onto her www.youtube.com/emmawelsbymusic channel and I was captivated by what she could offer. She can even DJ great music in the evening whilst playing percussion! It is unusual finding a musician who is savvy with using modern technology to sell herself, hence why it can be so difficult to find these unusual gems.
Evening Music
Now your daytime event is over you need some music to kick start your party! This is where it can get tricky as you may have a multitude of age ranges to please. If you are on a budget then a DJ may suit who can play music right through from the 1950’s up to present day. If you want to do this with class this is where you really need to be careful. Choose a DJ website with a touch of class and one that is going to be flexible with the evenings playlist. Specify songs from each era you would like to hear and ask to have music played along the same lines of those songs. This will filter out any tacky songs you dread to hear! You also need to specify if you want the DJ to talk through the night, if you do then you need to say how much, when, what you want the content to be so you don’t get someone who loves the sound of their loud voice ruining the vibe of your room. I would highly recommend spending a bit of money here as you pay for what you get.
A decent band if you can afford it is well worthing paying for! You need to find a band which has a good online presence such as a myspace profile, youtube video, website and even a soundcloud profile. You have to be careful with demo CDs as modern music technology is so good now that it can make the worst band sound capable of pulling it off live. Ask if you can speak to previous customers who have booked them to get a real testimonial from a real customer and if you can get to see them live even better. Some bands are quite busy and won’t have any public gigs, in that case ask to go and see them in a rehearsal room. If your fronting up a lot of cash and they won’t bend over backwards to help, they really are not worth booking.
The Conclusion!
The bottom line with booking any musician is you need someone to be 100% reliable with equipment in good working order and be in good time for the performance. That person needs to be approachable, friendly and have a reputation they want to keep. If your gut feeling is starting to play up, listen to it!
Posted on Jun 21, 2010 under Music |
Music has been a bridge connecting people of all religions, races and cultures. It fosters well-being, gives joy, and researchers have documented the physical and psychological benefits of listening to music.
Music is commonly used in medical therapy to promote wellness, manage stress, alleviate pain, express feelings, enhance memory, improve communication, and promote physical rehabilitation.
Music can also help heal one’s spirit by connecting listeners with consciousness…a place within the heart where one’s contemplative nature is activated.
Healing is how many listeners are describing a new CD, ‘Sacred Love’ from Shambhu who crafted his music as an expression of beauty.
“Creating a heartfelt feeling of love was fundamental to composing and performing the music of Sacred Love,” said Shambhu. “If people can feel love in music, then this can nurture them into a more productive, healing space.”
“Tremendous tenderness and love has gone into the making of this CD,” said music reviewer and industry veteran Bette Timm.
D. Brian A. Aberger, D.C., says, “As a health care professional, I would truly recommend this CD to any of my patients or friends that just want to unwind and escape. It is indeed just what the doctor ordered.”
Here are 4 Key Benefits of Healing Music.
The sound of healing music can calm brainwave activity and lift up one’s soulful presence. Countless studies prove that music impacts brainwave activity and can have a calming effect. Sacred Love composer and guitarist Shambhu has created music like a meditation…the notes are a magic carpet ride into deeper consciousness and personal presence. “It is open, spacious music with room for personal reflection,” adds Shambhu.
Music can engender calmness and lower your blood pressure. A number of studies show that music therapy in medical treatment can reduce pain. In a 2001 study on burn patients, researchers found that music therapy significantly reduced their excruciating pain. Colonoscopy patients felt less pain and need fewer sedative drugs if they listen to music during the procedure, according to several studies.
Music can alter a person’s heart and breathing rates
When you listen to music, in addition to the brainwaves getting altered, you heart rate and pulse rate also are affected. Relaxation can be as easy as a listening to a slow piece of music, like the sublime Indian raga feel in the song, Humility, on Sacred Love, and encouraging the body to slow down.
Certain sound frequencies can dissolve blocks
Do you remember the commercial of the opera singer shattering a glass with her own voice? In a situation in which the voice of the singer is quite consistent with that of the glass, this happens. This is the same principle behind such ultrasound devices as those that detect things like kidney stones. Kidney stones can be broken up by ultrasound waves and eliminated with urine, providing an alternative to invasive surgical procedures.
Music has many benefits and uses for personal healing and in the medical world. Integrating music like Shambhu’s Sacred Love into a healing regimen can benefit people who suffer from a wide assortment of ailments and conditions.
Posted on May 21, 2010 under Filmmakers |
If you are one of those people who went to film school and still cannot understand why they did not teach you how to get a job in the film industry, then I suggest that you stop complaining, gather up all the creative, hard working film production people you know, make yourself an independent film and enter it in some film festivals. If you win an award at a prominent film festival your life may change very dramatically for the better. Even a small award at a small film festival will more than likely set you on the path to having a career in the film industry.
Most people attend film schools with big dreams of working in the Hollywood film industry and possibly even making a name for themselves. They have visions of red carpet interviews, Academy Awards acceptance speeches and stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. However, most of them will never see those dreams come to fruition and they will face endless frustration and disappointment instead.
After graduating from film school most people are expected to break into a business that is considered to be one of the most difficult in the world to find employment, unless you have connections, of course. For the ones without connections, it can be very frustrating. Unfortunately for them, the Hollywood film industry is run by a tight knit community that practices nepotism and rarely opens the door to newcomers.
If you want to break into Hollywood but your last name is not Barrymore, Begley, Cyrus or Sheen and the only connection you have is a cousin who manages your local movie theater, then your best chance of success is to make an independent film and enter it in film festivals. If you place in the top three of any category you enter you will usually be asked to send a film print of your movie so it can be screened to audiences that attend these events.
Film festival audiences are a combination of film critics, media reporters, film distribution representatives, film fans, celebrities and local residents. These are the people that can create a buzz about a movie after they see it. When a buzz is created about a movie at a film festival it usually starts in the theater lobbies and then works its way out into the media where it can take on a life of its own. If this happens to any independent film it is destined to succeed, and the independent filmmaker who made the film springboards into a career in the film industry. Just ask Robert Rodriguez or Quentin Tarantino about the value of film festivals and they will tell you.
Winning a top award at any film contest is a good thing for anyone who makes movies. With an award comes publicity, and publicity is the life blood for filmmakers and their careers.
Film distribution companies send people to film festivals to purchase products and they always follow the publicity to find their products. Many of the purchases they make are small movies made by people with very small budgets. An independent filmmaker can make a good profit from one of these distribution deals and make themselves bankable at the same time. If they can sell their movie to a distribution company, there is a good chance that they will be able to make more films with bigger budgets using money from investors, instead of their own hard earned money.
It is very important that you choose the right film festivals to enter your movie if you want to increase your chances of winning an award. Of course it would be nice to win a major award at an event like the Cannes Film Festival, The Toronto International Film Festival or the Sundance Film Festival. But you have to be realistic and set your sites on a contest that is friendly to small independent filmmakers and their independent films. Worldfest Houston International Film Festival and the Austin Film Festival are two examples of the type of film festivals that are friendly to this type of people who work with small budgets and big ideas. There are hundreds more contests out there and they come in all shapes and sizes.
The Cannes Film Festival, The Toronto International Film Festival and the Sundance Film Festival are the biggest and most publicized movie contests in the world. Unfortunately, they are also the most difficult ones for small independent films to be accepted into because of the high standards and politics that they employ.
Most of the films that win awards and get screened at the Big Three film festivals are made by independent film production divisions of the Big Six film studios like Warner Bros and Disney. By definition they are still considered to be independent films if no more than 50 percent of the funding comes from a major studio. But that fifty percent is usually millions of dollars, and this puts the production value in a whole different league than the movies that are made by small time independent filmmakers with miniscule budgets. Also, most of these big budget festival films have big Hollywood stars attached to them which makes them irresistible to the contest judges and management.
The Big Three film festivals have been invaded by the Big Six film production studios with big budget movies masquerading as independent films. This makes it very hard for a film that was shot with a digital camera on a shoestring budget to compete at Cannes, Toronto and Sundance. These kinds of films have a much better chance of winning an award at a film festival like Worldfest Houston or the Austin Film Festival because they are more interested in showcasing film talent than they are catering to the Hollywood film industry. Choose your film festivals wisely and you will increase your chances of winning an award and securing a distribution deal.