Become a SoundTempest Contributor!
You may notice a new email link on the right-hand side of all SoundTempest pages. By sending an email to tips at soundtempest dot net, you can easily submit any news tips you might have. Any music-related topic is fair game: copyright litigation, new laws, notable trends, interesting websites, stuff for artists, etc. Original stories (ie. not culled from other sites) are even better!
I also welcome any original articles you’ve written, whether they’re op-ed pieces or news reporting. Provided they’re well-crafted and properly sourced, I’ll post them with a minimum of editing and you’ll be fully credited.
Tags: contribute to soundtempest
This entry was posted
on Sunday, May 31st, 2009 at 10:54 am and is filed under Site stuff.
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How to Get Rid of Writer’s Block
Just finished up and posted a new guide! This one is mainly oriented at musicians, but really, if you’re in any creative field you’ll probably get something out of it. It’s called How to Get Rid of Writer’s Block and it covers five techniques that any musician in any field can apply.
Check it out, and don’t forget to leave comments about tips and techniques that have worked for you!
Tags: guides
This entry was posted
on Saturday, May 9th, 2009 at 1:27 pm and is filed under Site stuff.
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How to Pick a DAW Computer - Updated
Thanks to feedback from the forum members at KVR Audio, my DAW computer buying guide has been updated. I’ve gone into more depth on the 32/64bit memory addressing problem, external interfaces, and copyright protection for software (dongles, challenge/response, and so on.)
The updated version is available online, or as a PDF.
Tags: guides, updates
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, April 14th, 2009 at 5:19 pm and is filed under Site stuff.
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Site redesign is live
After over a year with a generic WordPress theme, SoundTempest finally has its own custom design, courtesy of Chad Behnke (Steam Powered Design). Please bear with us over the next day or two as we work out the kinks and make some minor changes here and there. New site features include:
- The ability to Digg or StumbleUpon any given post - we’re probably going to add more Web 2.0 integration as well.
- A revamped archives page and a new ‘guides’ page that contains all ST guides in one place. Additionally, all guides have been converted to PDF (and some of them updated in the process), so you can download them and read them offline or even print ‘em out.
- An improved tagging/categorization system. Now, each post has a general category (site stuff, industry news, industry trends) and, separately, a set of tags. This is a bit more sensible than giving T-Pain his own top-level category.
- Feedburner integration (more of a backend thing, but still cool)
As always, feel free to leave your thoughts, concerns, questions, or suggestions in the comments!
Tags: redesign
This entry was posted
on Thursday, April 9th, 2009 at 1:29 pm and is filed under Site stuff.
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New guide posted: How to Pick a DAW Computer
Sorry for the slightly slower posting rate lately. My web designer, Chad Behnke (Steam Powered Design), is working on a new design that has required some additional work on my part. I’m really excited about this upcoming iteration of SoundTempest; a notable new feature is that all of my guides will be available as nicely-formatted PDF files for your convenience. Download ‘em, print ‘em out and enjoy them on the go. I might even do a full e-Book eventually!
Speaking of guides, here’s a new one for your reading pleasure: “How to Pick a Daw Computer”. Buying a computer for the purposes of composition, music production, audio editing, and/or recording is very different than buying one for just about any other purpose, and I’ve been through (and helped others with) this process plenty of times. The guide isn’t really time-sensitive, in that I don’t write about specific types of memory or new processor models, for example, as this information would be quickly outdated. Instead, the information is slightly more abstract so that it can be applied to a purchase of a computer now or two years from now.
Tags: guides, redesign
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, April 8th, 2009 at 11:24 pm and is filed under Site stuff.
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Licensing at Work: zircon Music Placed in ‘Heroes’
My guide on “How to Make Money from Music Licensing” has been pretty popular since it was first posted. However, if you’re not convinced that the methods I’ve written about are legit, here’s a bit of proof - last night, my song “Warhead” (from Antigravity, also on iTunes) was used as source music on the primetime NBC television show ‘Heroes’.
Source music refers to music that is actually heard by the characters of a TV show or movie. For example, in this case, “Warhead” was used in a club scene, making it seem like the characters on-screen were actually dancing to and talking over it. On the other hand, a sad violin melody that plays when a character falls off the cliff, when there is no actual source for that music on-screen, is not source music.
This placement was achieved through a non-exclusive music library. Ironically, I didn’t see the show when it first aired last night, and would not have heard about it for months (due to reporting and payment delay) were it not for fans telling me about it. I can’t speak to how much the placement is worth, either, but as it was used for nearly a fully minute on primetime television on network TV, it will undoubtedly be substantial.
Do you think your music could end up somewhere on TV? It probably could! Read my licensing guide and find out more.
Tags: guides, Licensing, zircon
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, March 31st, 2009 at 3:00 pm and is filed under Site stuff.
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New Guide: Value-Added Incentives (and Why You Should Care)
Initially, I was going to write about value-added incentives for music and why the concept is growing in popularity across the music industry. However, I ended up writing so much on the topic and linking to so many relevant articles that I decided to turn it into an entire guide. Though it contains advice oriented towards musicians and others looking to make money in the music industry, the article is just as accessible and interesting for non-musicians. Enjoy!
Tags: guides
This entry was posted
on Friday, February 27th, 2009 at 9:23 pm and is filed under Site stuff.
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New guide: How to Distribute and Sell a CD
Over the last few years, lots of people have asked me about how they can take their music and get it out to the public in the form of an album. I’ve compiled my knowledge on the topic into a handy guide entitled “How to Distribute and Sell a CD”. Check it out and let me know what you think. I’ll probably be updating it repeatedly over the next week or two based on your feedback.
This entry was posted
on Thursday, January 29th, 2009 at 3:18 pm and is filed under Site stuff.
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New Guide Posted - The Best Free Music Software
For all you musicians out there, I’ve just posted a new guide, “The Best Free Music Software.” Even if you already have some nice tools at your disposal, I suggest reading it; you might discover some gems you didn’t know about! As always, comments are strongly encouraged as I’m sure I missed at least a handful of great free apps or plugins.
This entry was posted
on Sunday, January 11th, 2009 at 2:58 pm and is filed under Site stuff.
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Status update + new page posted
Greetings! After a somewhat elongated hiatus, I’ve posted a new page on the topic of collaboration with other musicians. It’s based on my own, extensive experience working on songs with other musicians both on and offline, as well as experiences from many of my fellow writers, producers and composers. Whether you’re a hobbyist or a professional, I’m sure you’ll find something interesting.
I apologize for the lack of new articles; my workload since May has increased significantly, leaving me little free time to pursue non-musical hobbies and interests. However, I do have several new guides and pages for musicians in the works, and while I may not be able to write any articles with full commentary, I will be posting relevant links with brief summaries/analyses to the best of my ability.
I’d also like to thank everybody who has been participating in the discussion taking place at the “Music Scams” article. It has been productive and insightful on several levels, and many people are sharing their personal experiences with companies that may very well be scams. If you haven’t read it yet, check out the page, read up on the comments, and add your own thoughts.
This entry was posted
on Thursday, August 14th, 2008 at 1:50 pm and is filed under Site stuff.
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