Ryan's Gig Guide - September 2019

www.ryansgigguide.com Lyric Videos A cheaper alternative to a professional music video that relies on fans juggling three senses (watching, reading and listening) instead of the traditional two (hearing and seeing).Animated lyrics to the songs are relentlessly spunked into your face in front of quirky screensaver- like imagery often unrelated to the band. It could be argued that a lyric video is similar to a Fisher Price Educational Toy; once you know all the words, you’re left with pretty babyish and pointless entertainment. In their defence; they are a lifeline for deaf music fans. Death of the Lyric Video (2015-2018 RIP) Lyric videos are still argued to be very popular; especially by struggling lyric video production companies. Interest has declined dramatically since the revolutionary discovery that moving pictures with subtitles can be rather annoying or distracting. Hence why watching a hyper version containing unimaginative plotless visuals whilst being bombarded by large word fonts that do detective work for your ears isn’t as exciting as it sounds. Singer Songwriter or Solo Artist A lone musician forced to finance and advertise their entire music career themselves; arguably down to being a total control freak with zero tolerance for impatient and immature band projects. Choosing to be a self reliant solo artist means band meetings become extinct whilst artistic direction and decision making is devoid of conflict.As a performing singer songwriter you gain one hundred percent star power when promoting your career and are normally more flexible or accessible in regards to participating in radio interviews and music festivals; there’s normally less effort needed by others to be spent on accommodating and setting up one ego. Unfortunately a solo artist has to take accountability and full blame for any decision they make until they have management to represent them. For example; cancelling a gig can mean risking your artist name transforming into mud if the promoter is furious with you, whereas a band can safely blame their drummer without fear of repercussions. The Flat Cap of the Singer Songwriter Craniosynostosis is a very peculiar condition where a singer songwriter’s skull doesn’t grow properly and their head becomes an unusual shape. It’s unknown exactly why it happens but there’s a point in a singer songwriters music career where a flat cap or an old mans hat actually grows out of their head. It doesn’t always need to be treated, but surgery can help if it’s severe. Many young singer songwriters diagnosed by Doctors have received surgery to have the flat cap removed.After the recovery process, most patients return to lead normal active lives. Unlike a bolder fedora or baseball cap, which can be personalised with an exotic motif, the newsboy flat cap because of its rooted history serves to signify the image of a working man. Its’s mainly associated with unemployed or rich hipster musicians; similar to how the mohawk is a hairstyle adopted by punk bands whose parents are bankers or solicitors. What is Home Recording? An economical way to record music often for the purpose of creating demos to test out new song material. Eventually, if good enough, they’re used as a simple guide for an engineer from a proficient recording studio which gives them a rough understanding of how your song goes.At this point you’re normally deciding if you wish to record a larger production with them. If you crave a professional sound but prefer to record at home then heavy investment needs to be made. For example; some people buy cigarette making kits, stock up on tobacco and empty tubes, spend hours building their own cigarettes just so that they can save £0.75 whereas others just wander over to a store and buy a packet of fags and immediately smoke. Recording professionally at home can easily be done right providing you’ve years of engineering, mixing and mastering experience and perhaps some state of the art equipment. Music Industry Explained [Part 8] By Nick J.Townsend 32 rgg Sep 2019