"Size doesn't matter...it's how you use it that counts"

Not something guys really want to hear. In terms of repertoire size though it is a useful phrase to remember.

How big should my...repertoire be?

Most people wish something in their life to be a little bigger, for musicians breaking into the Top 40 scene it is usually tbeir repertoire. A big repertoire imbues you with confidence, it impresses people, and it adds a huge amount of respectability to you and your team. However, it takes a long time to build and if you need to get out of your day job and get some cash rolling in from contract gigging you probably don't have six months or a year to build a big rep.

So here is how you can get a contract in minimal time using only 60 songs and keep it.

The Math:

Consider that most songs on planet Earth are between 3 and 4 minutes long.

60*3 = 180
60*4 = 240

So without any modifications you have between 180 to 240 minutes of song time.

An average contract gig will expect you to play music for about 180 minutes per night. Usually (but not always) consisting of 4*45 minute sets, although this can vary widely from venue to venue. If you can make all of those songs about 5 minutes long using longer solos, or some talking in between suddenly those 60 songs miraculously transform into 300 minutes of show time!

NB: As an important note I would not recommend doing a standard gig (180 minutes playing time 6 nights per week) unless you had two nights worth of different material.


Five essential tips to max out a small repertoire:

Although club owners would cringe if you told them you only know 60 songs there is a way you can make a small repertoire work. Firstly, don't tell them that your song list is so small! Secondly, use these tips!

1. Extend intros, outros, and solos wherever possible
2. Talk between songs and use 'breakdowns'
3. Do not ask the audience for requests
4. Pick the most popular songs that are relevant to your gig
5. Swap your songs around

The Tips Explained!

Tip One: Extend intros, outros, and solos wherever possible

Real world case study Number One:

This Masquerade- George Benson

Length: 3:35 approx

We extended this to:

Length: 5:05

How? I extended the intro, sang through the 1st verse and the bridge segue into chorus, then repeated the 1st verse, bridge and chorus but with guitar playing the melody!
As you can see by spending some time modifying the sequence that we use to back us during the song we got another 1:30 out of the same song! If you can do that for 60 songs you have already increased your repertoire length by up to 90 minutes!

Now, unfortunately not all songs will be able to be extended too much but it is worth trying if you can.
Putting a nice solo at the beginning that can segue into the song proper can be a great way to get the crowds' attention and it can also give you or the soloist in your group an opportunity to strut their stuff.

Real world case study Number Two:

Summertime by George Gershwin

Length: 2:55

Extended version: 5:00 minimum

We have easily doubled the length of this track by soloing at the beginning of the song without the sequence. Depending on the mood of the crowd my intro may last anywhere from 30 seconds to a minute and thirty seconds. This varies with each performance- it just depends. We have also give it the 'Masquerade' treatment as outlined above. Soo sings through the first verse then I repeat everything on the guitar!
Outcome- one song becomes the same length as two!

Tip number 2: Talk between songs and use 'breakdowns'

 A contentious issue. Depending on the type of gig you have, your ability to speak the language of the crowd, and the general vibe of the audience, you may or may not have the ability to 'pad' your repertoire with speech.

If you are doing a Top 40 gig in a pop and/or rock venue you will probably find that you can talk a bit in the early stages of the night when things are more quiet and chilled out. During these quieter times you may have a chance to engage audience members directly and strike up a conversation. This can be a wonderful way to bring people onto your side as it builds a relationship between the artists and the audience.
 As the night draws steadily on you many find that as you finish one song you have to move almost immediately into the next song just like a DJ in order to retain the momentum of the crowd. So the opportunity to talk between songs could be more restricted. You can still do it however especially if you are about to play a killer track and you want to 'hype' up the crowd before you play it. Remember, if you sense the crowd is growing restless stop talking and get the song going.

If you don't know what breaking down a song is let me give you a brief explanation here:

Breakdown- breaking down a song is simply making a popular section of a song quiet and letting the crowd sing its well-known motif instead of the singer; using it as a chance to talk to the crowd about something; letting one or more of your members or yourself come forward to do a solo or solos.

Tip Number Three: Don't ask the audience for requests

Why? With the vast number of songs that are circulating in this world of ours the probability of you or your band knowing a song that an audience member requests is not high especially if your repertoire maxes out at sixty. It can make your band appear in a less-that-positive-light.

The Math:

10000/60 = 167

What this equation represents is the number of requests that you could ask for before being asked for one that you could actually play. If there are 10,000 songs in The Top 40 lists over the past 50-60 years, your repertoire of 60 means that for every song that is in your repertoire there are 166 that aren't.  The odds worsen because people may ask for songs that didn't make it to the Top 40 or they may ask for songs that are completely outside of anything you may have studied. The risks are just too great in the early days so wait until your repertoire is a bit bigger.

Real world case:

I worked in a band that had just hired 3 new people; 2 singers and keyboard player. We had discussed prior to our first show that we shouldn't ask for requests because although the four members of the band that remained knew a lot of songs, the 3 new members didn't know our repertoire. Despite that, an original member of the band just couldn't help himself so he started asking the audience for requests. I remember watching and cringing on stage as he asked an audience member if he had any requests. The audience member asked not once, not twice, not thrice, but four times for four different requests, none of which we could play as a band. Not to be deterred by this, our member simply moved on to the next audience member and asked again... By that time I was wishing I had a big Marshall stack to hide our ineptitude behind. On the upside it did waste an incredible amount of time so maybe it wasn't a total loss!

Exceptions- Sometimes getting a request can reveal a song that you had forgotten that you knew. If it is simple enough and you think your band can do it then go for it! Just do a verse and a double chorus and you will probably make that audience member really happy. As a bonus you may find that with just a little work you can add that song to your repertoire in it's complete form!

Tip number four: Pick the most popular songs that are relevant to your gig

Let's face it guys n gals, playing the big hits is virtually guaranteed to win you favor in the hearts of the audience and keep them coming back for more. In the early days when you are trying to build a repertoire to present to a client they will be happy if they can recognize the songs in your repertoire. Save the lesser-known hits for later. Build a solid foundation first and then expand your repertoire once you've secured that contract.

I realize that this may sound a little boring and secure but remember that these are the early stages. You will hopefully have many years to build your repertoire. This is a great process to go through to win a contract. Once you have the contract you will have plenty of time to build your repertoire and start including some songs that are more to your personal taste.

Tip Number Five: Swap your songs around

 This is pretty simple. To give your repertoire an air of variety you can rehash the same old songs in a different order. Sounds cheesy but it can work. It is easy to fall into a habit of believing that certain songs belong in a certain part or set of your show. But that isn't necessarily true or realistic. Some slow jams that you think are only good in the early parts of the night can be used to great effect at the end of the night especially if you've had the crowd jumping for 30 minutes and they want to sing along with you or rest and head to the bar to get some drinks. Conversely, you may sense that the crowd is rearing to party early in the night so you can bring some of your fast songs forward into the early sets. Be flexible with your approach to set construction.
Try mixing your songs around and you may be pleasantly surprised.

Summary:

Try not to be overwhelmed by agents insisting that you must have X amount of songs in your repertoire. It is true that the more songs you have the better and more confident you will feel in most musical situations, but in all honesty it could take a long time to build up to 300-500 songs. At the present time my fiance and I have approximately 170 songs in our repertoire and that has taken exactly 12 months to achieve. We did our first contract with just just under 60 songs! But by the time we finished that two month contract we had 122 songs ready for the stage. Just a word of warning regarding cruise ship work. You really do need a huge repertoire for that kind of work. I wouldn't suggest attempting a cruise ship contract unless you did have at least a couple of hundred songs. Remember at sea no one can hear you scream...

I suggest this course if you are desperate for a gig and you need to work. Once you have won the contract you will have to commit to working your butt off through building your repertoire. If you can use sequences and charts on stage you should be able to learn a lot of songs in a week. If you cannot then your ability to increase your repertoire will be retarded. Management may be frustrated but if you can show them that you are expanding your repertoire on a daily or every two-days basis then that should (hopefully) be enough for you to keep the contract.

Stay_the_course!

Get yourself some references...NOW!

References defined:

Having references from reputable firms or well-known sources can greatly increase your chances of cooking the competition when pitching yourself to potential clients. If you don't know what a reference is here is brief outline relevant to musicians.

 'A written statement about how you performed at a given venue'.*

A reference can also detail how well-organized you were, or how easy your were to work with, or how great you or your band was at boosting revenue for the venue.'


* A special point to note is that it doesn't necessarily have to contain only references to your onstage abilities.

How important is a reference?

As a 'stand alone' document the importance of a reference is easy to overlook or dismiss as superflous to your needs. But this is absolutely not the case. When juxtaposed with the other components of your press kit the addition of references is like whipped cream on top of Mommas' hot apple pie.

Although your ability to play great music may seem to be the single most important factor for a client deciding to award you a contract or not, it is merely a subset (albeit a very important subset) of the superset of factors and considerations that a client will take in to account when assessing your merits or suitability for a venue. Clients usually want cherries, whipped cream, ice cream, chocolate sauce AND Mommas' hot apple pie when they are assessing how tasty you are.

Different clients place importance upon different facets of you and your music in accordance with their goals, image, and needs as required by their venue. I have worked for clients that valued 'friendliness and personalities' very highly because public relations and drinking with customers was a critical element of their bars' success. So often, during breaks we would be out drinking and socializing with guests, roaring and partying as if there was no tomorrow. My current gig is quite different. Here, the clients value discretion and and a more subdued approach. If we are not invited to sit at a guests' table then we are expected to make ourselves scarce during breaks. Now the only roaring I do is when my level 53 Hardcore monk gets killed in Diablo 3 (but that's another story!).

Anyway, clients can give you references and will usually give you a glowing one if you did a good job. Most managers I know will even let you write your own reference and they will endorse it with a signature after you have written it. This of course has multiple benefits in that it gives you complete artistic licence to write something great about yourself and or your band, saves the manager time, and as long as it is truthful and not misleading it will immeasurably enhance the appeal, respectability, and 'tastiness' of your press kit.

Halloween Night, Bahrain, 2010

How many references do I need?

Two or three references are all that you need to include in your press kit. I have seen press kits and promotional materials that contained twenty or thirty references dating back as far as fifteen years! Whilst there isn't really anything wrong with that it can be viewed as overkill and trying a little too hard to impress. A couple of well-chosen, recent references from reliable sources that portray you to be 'the last word in any venues' success should suffice. A client will ask for more if they feel compelled to dig a little deeper into your history.

Tips for creating and securing a great reference:

• Ask the person responsible for giving you a reference to write it and/ or sign it BEFORE your contract finishes or at the end of the night when you are receiving your payment
• Ask them to keep it short and concise.
• Ask them to formalize it by writing it using the letterheads and company images, logos etc of the venue
• Ask them to provide their contact details just in case clients of the future want to contact them to confirm the validity of the reference

Character references:

If you don't really have any references about your performances your next best step is to get some character references. A character reference informs people about who you are as a person, your attitude to work, diligence, appearance, reliability etc.
A character reference can enhance and underpin work references and if you don't have any work references per say, it can help to fill in the blank spot in your press kit where work references would usually be.

Sources:

• A teacher or Principal of your school, University, College
• Your music teacher
• A leader at your respective religious institute (if you are a religious person)
• An employer*
• A person held in high esteem in the community that knows you personally (e.g. the butcher, the baker, or the candle-stick maker)

* I included an employer in this section because there is a good chance that you have done some non-music related work at some time and they can provide you with a non-musical reference.

Also worthy of mention is the point that people that provide you with a character reference should have known you for a period of years. In most cases a client will not call a person that you have used as a referee, but it can happen and you should be prepared for that. Therefore it is in your best interest to be honest in all matters when seeking out a referee and subsequently including their reference in your press kit.

Conclusion:

Don't forget about the inclusion and importance of good, solid references when you are compiling your press kit. In comparison to the other components of your press kit a reference is one of the easiest and most powerful items that you can procure. A good reference will provide a client with an external and purportedly unbiased appraisal of you as a musician and as a human being. It can bolster your credibility and give you some much needed third party support in your bid to winning a contract or a gig. 

I'm going to impart you with a tenet that my Secondary school teachers at Lindisfarne College in New Zealand would incessantly drum into our heads near exam time.

"Answer every question in your exam. Even if you don't know the answer write something. You may gain just one mark for that but it can be the difference between passing and failing"

Stay the course!

The Ten Questions

The life of a full-time touring musician is rather unique amongst occupations in this world. It can be an extremely rewarding job full of variety and surprises. On the other hand, it can be quite a lonely and treacherous path to travel too. During my time on the road I have experienced amazing highs and lows, euphoria and fatalism, trials and tribulations. At various times I have loved and loathed my work. I guess in some respects we all have, irrespective of our chosen vocation.

I have made a list of ten questions which I believe will help you to determine whether or not you think you can do this job for the long-term. If you answer most of these questions with a 'yes' then you are a likely candidate for this job.

These ten questions are by no means exhaustive regarding this subject, yet I have found in my years of playing, performing, and traveling with people that it was a failure to answer some of the questions below with a 'yes' that lead them to becoming discontent with touring and subsequently leaving after a short-period of time.
.

The Ten Questions

1. Am I a team player that can commit and align my goals with others?
2. Can I both live AND work together with a group of people for months at a time?
3. Can I handle playing covers of other people's music night after night?
4. Can I handle playing music I don't like night after night?
5. Do I have a partner and/ or children and if so can I handle being apart from them for extended periods of time?

If you have answered 'no' to any of the above then maybe this lifestyle is not for you. However, continue reading anyway. Here are the last five:

1. Can I live out of a suitcase for months on end?
2. Do I love traveling and living in strange places?
3. Am I comfortable living in a country where I don't speak the National language?
4. Do I have the necessary self-discipline to work steadily and without supervision?
5. Can I leave behind a career, musical or otherwise that is just starting to blossom?

If you have answered 'yes' to all of the questions then there is every chance that you are a perfect candidate for the life of a Top 40 touring musician.

If for any reason you have answered 'no' then you may have to reassess your priorities and ask yourself why you answered 'no' to any particular question.

Don't get me wrong. Everyone's circumstances, needs and desires change as time passes. You may find that after a period of time that you find that you can't bear to be away from your kids or that you are tired of playing covers so you leave. The questions are however formulated for those of you that are contemplating embarking on this type of career. It reminds of a very famous saying 

"prevention is better than the cure"

A friendly chat...

I am not going to expound and elucidate any further in this article as I think it takes time to fully self-explore and analyse your answers to the questions. Take your time when answering these questions and be honest with yourself.

The life of a touring musician comes with consequences and its own set of rare and trade-specific challenges. Sit down with your loved ones and friends, and other musicians or people that you know that travel as part of their job and chat with them. Tell them about the questions and ask them to give you their opinions and real-world experiences and their thoughts about how they think you would or could cope with life out on the road.

Halloween night, Rockbottom Cafe, Abu Dhabi

Peace out everyone!

The Greatest Promo of All Part 4: Promoting the Promo

So you've followed all the advice in my blog and from others, You've ticked all the boxes, dotted the 'i's and crossed the 't's. You have a promo video in your computer that is worthy of release at the annual Sundance film festival.

Now what? Obviously the next step is to get your video seen by the people that need to see it. So for that you need to figure out who that is.

Who should see my video?

Agents:

Using an agency is a very effective way of promoting your video because they have a vested in interest in showing your video to clients. A good video will help you to win a contract and it will help the agency to develop their reputation. An agency can show your video to a wide range of clients in a short time. They will also be able to accurately assess which clients would most likely be interested in what you have to offer*.

*Note: A video is the first step but make sure you have all the rest of your press kit ready to send or be viewed at a moments notice.

Clients:

 If you are are going 'direct' to clients then you need to find out who they are and how you can contact them.
Contacting clients directly is great as you can cut out the middle man. However, it can be quite labor intensive as you have to contact them individually. It can also be an incredibly difficult task to direct and ensure your video is viewed by the right person. The upside is that you don't need to pay anyone a commission and you can communicate and negotiate much more expeditiously with the client.

Here is an example of the pros and pitfalls involved in directly contacting clients.

My fiance and I really wanted to work in Bali. I had worked there before and loved it. Now it was her turn. The problem was that we did not know anyone in the kinds of resorts and hotels that we wanted to play in. Solution? She made a list of all the resorts and hotels that she would like to play in. We sent emails to 17 hotels, with our details, links to our website, previous work experience etc. We got one response and it lead to a beautiful two month contract at a new resort in Uluwatu, Bali.

Caveat!

• Of those 17 emails we were never sure how many made it past the spam box. 
• We were never sure if we sent them to the right people at those resorts and hotels. 
• We were never sure if they could even understand English.

What I am trying to say by explaining all of this is that it is not an easy road to book gigs directly. Those people that do it probably already have friends, or business acquaintances in that venue. They may have been performing for many years and during that time they have built up a great network and established a reputation to the point where hotels or clubs are calling them to come back and perform again.

I believe a way to increase your chances of booking gigs direct is to actually call the venue and let them know your intentions and ask who you could speak to that is directly responsible for hiring entertainers. In that way you drastically increase your chances of directing your material to the correct person. Inform them that you are sending an email and they may be able to tell you how to address it or identify it with a specialized subject so it will not be marked as spam or so that it can be easily identified*.

* Note. Many Enterainment managers or staff that are responsible for hiring entertainers may be receiving tens or hundreds of emails on a daily basis. Taking the time to call them before sending an email adds a really nice personal touch and it can be reassuring for you and the client.

Fellow musicians and friends:

Do not overlook the importance of having friends and fellow musicians see your video because you just never know where it could lead. A good friend of mine who is also a fellow musician contacted me and said he had a gig for me in Thailand. He had shown it to a manager that he was working for at the time. My friend's contract was almost finished and the manager was looking for a new act. We couldn't accept that gig because we were contractually obligated at the time but it is a good example and a good reason to let your friends and musical friends know about your video.

Promoters:

Promoters are people that usually specialize in organizing one-off events like concerts, product launches and festivals. They usually work through agents to source any acts they need but it doesn't hurt if you can contact them and provide them with your details. Their realm is not really contract work for hotels and clubs but there is a crossover in certain instances.

Posting to Youtube and hoping for the best!

Ummm, yeah.....this is like pointing a gun up into the air without looking, pulling the trigger, and expecting a bird to fall out of the sky. It may net you a result, but you could be waiting a while for it to happen.

Improve your chances:

Fortunately there is something you can do to increase your chances of bagging that bird.

You have to direct people to it just like leading a bird to a bird bath.

• Use annotations
• Use links to and from your website or blogsite
• Use tags to ensure that when people do searches that your video has a good chance of appearing

Our videos on Youtube have gotten us work from people that we never contacted. We have been offered jobs on the strength of a couple of our videos that were posted on Youtube. We had two offers roll in from China. But, it was the video that did the job of promoting us initially. Having a well organized website that they could visit after watching the video was what sealed the deal for us.

Summary:

Well folks this article concludes "The Greatest Promo of All" series. I hope you have enjoyed reading my articles and I am sure that I will be revisiting and exploring some of the topics that I have covered in this series. Please check over the previous three articles relating to this series if you have just joined today.
Now go and bag that bird!

The Greatest Promo of All Part 3: Who hires and fires me?

Whether you like it or not to be a successful full-time musician you have to learn to sell your skill and sometimes that of others to win a contract or a gig. Don't fool yourself into thinking that because you can play three million notes in your ten second solo that that alone will secure you work*.
You need to be able to present yourself in such a way as to be desirable to the client. If the truth be known the overall appearance and sound is usually more important than one person's virtuosity or dazzling beauty.

*Note well that more often than not, the person that has the last say in hiring you is probably not a musician!

The 'Hiring and Firing Team'

Here is a breakdown of the people that will probably be involved in hiring you:

• The Food and Beverage Manager (F&B Manager)
• The Bar Manager
• Entertainment Manager
• Assistant General Manager (AGM)
• General Manager (GM)

All hotels have different policies and methods of selecting new entertainment for their venues. Depending on the size of the hotel an F&B manager may be solely responsible. Some hotels will involve all of the above sitting down and hand-picking the entertainers. 

The premise of your video is to fill the hiring team with confidence in your ability to help their venue achieve whatever goals they have identified for the future.

Of course it is not easy to film a video with this in mind because Hotel management teams are not always willing to reveal their goals and strategies for the future for various (usually competitive) reasons.

As an example we were chosen for our current contract because the GM thought that we 'could breathe new life' into the venue. The management team wanted some fresh new faces and a new image for the  bar.

How do I find out who they are and what they want?

As time has passed I have found myself involved in filming all kinds of different promotional videos for different venues. Sometimes I had a clear understanding of what was required by the market that I was trying to gain work in. At other times I had to make an educated 'guess' as to what was required.
You will probably never know beforehand who the person is that is ultimately responsible for hiring you. That being said there are certain steps that you can take to give your video a wide range of appeal.

Research:

• Find out who has played there before and talk to them 
• Try to find videos of previous acts
• Ask your agent if they have any tips or suggestions
• Talk to the managers if you can

If you can do some of the above you may have a better chance of customizing your video towards that specific venue. 

Stay the course!

Don't be discouraged if you don't get a gig or if you are unsuccessful. I have been passed over for contracts many times and the reality is that it is not necessarily a reflection on you or your video or your abilities. Rather, it is just that you weren't quite what they were looking for at that particular time. Managers will sometimes want a young group, next time they may want an acoustic group, then a rock band or an older aged jazz duo. 

An agent friend of mine once told me of a new bar in Abu Dhabi, that wanted a Latin 7 piece band, then they wanted a 6 piece all-girl band, then a 5 piece rock band, then a 4 piece reggae band. In the end they chose a DJ! So don't be discouraged. Sometimes the 'hire and fire' team don't know what the heck they want. 

Agents are usually the best source of information because they may have established a relationship with the management team at the venue and they may be able to pass on to you any news about who has played there before and how well they did, especially if any of the previous acts belonged to their agency. They may also be able to tell you about the personalities of the 'hiring and firing' team and what they may be looking for in future acts.

Conclusion:

Just remember that it is a rare day that you will please everyone in the 'hiring and firing' team. Just rest assured that you have done your best and that work will come your way. A good promotional video is a good promotional video. It will get you work eventually.

- Patience is a virtue.

The Greatest Promo of All Part 2: Limited Gear, Limited Funds, Unlimited Ingenuity

Today I am going to be discussing how to film a great promotional video with limited gear, limited funds and unlimited ingenuity.

First things first:

Limited gear and limited funds. 

Most of us find that we just don't have enough gear when shooting a promotional video. We discover that our camera is too old and crusty, or that our camera is amazing but our computer is too old to edit HD video, or our sound is atrocious etc
Here is reality. We never seem to have enough stuff to get the job done. The best plan of attack is to assess what you have and develop a plan that will maximise the potential of all of your current gear. You may only have to purchase, borrow, or hire a few items to get your promo video up and away.

Lets get some basics out of the way:

• A great camera cannot disguise a horrible dress or suit. BBOS (Beg, borrow or Scream) to get whatever clothing you need if you don't already have something or splash out on something. If you buy a great dress or suit you can use it from the day you buy it. You can rent clothes too.
• Don't buy or rent a great camera if you don't have access to a computer that can edit the footage. Even a decent computer can struggle with editing HD footage. Believe it or not SD is still perfectly ok. Our most recent promo was filmed on a 6 year old Sony Cybershot camera (not even a dedicated video camera!) in SD. It has landed us 2 contracts, and we turned down 6 others.
• Understand that usually finding a camera these days isn't too hard especially considering how many phones have wicked cameras built-in. The inhibiting factor is sound.
• Always look at what is around you and if it has any value for you in your filming. Check what gear or skills your friends and family have.
• Only spend money if you really have to. 
• Your trusty old PC, Mac or laptop may do the job. Check first before parting with those $
• Everywhere you walk or see could be a potential location and possibly free too
• Consider doing stuff for others to cut costs
• Renting or hiring stuff is an option so is outsourcing tasks to others

Unlimited Ingenuity.

Here is a step-by-step process and gear list of how we filmed our latest promo using unlimited ingenuity:

Gear:

• Sony Cybershot (6 years old)
• Alesis IO dock (new)
• iPad 2 (18 months old)
• iRig microphone (new)
• LG Xnote Z1advanced laptop (7 years old)
• 2 guitars and 1 jack-to-jack cable
• 1/8 to 1/4 jack-to-jack adapter

Software:

• Sony Soundforge v10.0.01
• Garageband
• Vocal live app for iPad
• Windows Movie Maker

Props:

• Guitars, ukelele, jembe
• Table with ice bucket, 2 wine glasses, water, one red chair (borrowed)
• Two microphone stands with wireless microphones (borrowed)

Miscellaneous:

• The backing tracks in the video were all downloaded (legally) from: karaoke-version.com
• Lighting was provided by two lamps that were already in our room. You can see the reflection of one in the window behind us. It was sitting on the bed....hahahaha. The other lamp was placed on the floor near our feet.

Location:

• All sound recording and filming took place in the hotel room I was staying in in Dubai.

Here is our promo video:

How did we do it?

Firstly, a lot of agents have seen this video and loved it. Why? Because it does exactly what it is supposed to do. It's simple. We look pretty good. We tailored it to suit the kind of gig that we wanted.

 So here is how we did it on a very low budget, using what we had on-hand, and employing a generous helping of ingenuity.

• We filmed it in our hotel room! It was tiny. We moved all of our stuff to the opposite side of the room. Put a chair on the bed, placed an empty protein bucket on the chair, and sat the camera on top of that! If you look carefully in the reflection you can just see the chair and protein bucket in the window. We spent at least 20 minutes moving the chair and the bucket around so we could get the right angle.
• We borrowed the microphones and microphone stands from downstairs at our gig. The table was already in our room. We borrowed the ice bucket and glasses from downstairs and filled our glasses with water, we placed  just to make it look like we were at a gig. 
• We filmed at night time to add to the effect that we were playing at a live gig. We enhanced that by opening the curtains to our windows so you could see it was night time. This really improved the overall effect that we were trying to capture.
• We chose our costumes very carefully to match the type of gig that we wanted.
• We pre-recorded everything and only learnt and recorded the parts of the songs that you hear in the video. I am completely honest in saying the we could not play one of those songs from beginning to end as a duo when we filmed this video. Fake it till you make it!*
• We touched up the sound using Soundforge
• We recorded everything in our little hotel room- everything.
• We edited all of the video using only Windows Movie Maker. All the panning, zooming etc was done using that software. We imported the sound to Movie Maker from the edited tracks in Soundforge.

* Fake it till you make it. This is not for the inexperienced or faint-hearted. We chose to do this because we were fully confident that we could do those songs in their entirety at a latter date. When we filmed this we had the clear plan that we would not begin any contract until May as that would give us time to build our repertoire and perfect any songs that were in the video.

We bought only a few things to do this video.

• iRig mic and adaptor
• Vocal live application for iPad
• Alesis IO dock

The total cost for the 3 items above was approx US$360 and we can use those items for future recordings too.

The video took one night to film. However preparing the sound took about 10 days because we had some issues updating the IOS software to ensure compatibility between Garageband, the IO dock, and our iPad. We also had to download and customize the backing tracks and record vocals, keyboard, and guitar parts. And then we had to run that through Soundforge to make it all sound nice.

We are confident that this video will be viable for at least another 2 years. So far it has earned us over US$18,000 (tax-free) for the past 4 months and will earn us a little more for the remainder of our present contract over the same period. We had many offers from clients not long after it was uploaded to our website and to Youtube and it continues to bring us offers to the present day.

Summary:

All things are possible. Always try to think of ways to utilize resources in unique and interesting ways. Have a plan for your video and know what kind of gig you are tailoring it for. 

Happy filming!

The Greatest Promo of All: Part 1

Ladies and Gentlemen. In today's fast-paced society a musician needs to have quite a few skills to win(and keep) a contract and remain abreast of current trends especially in marketing and promotion.
That being said, usually a musicians' best way of promoting themselves to clients is by using a promotional video.

Today's article is Part 1 of a series of articles that I will be writing to explain the ways to film a decent promotional video.

A great promotional video is THE KEY to gaining international contracts. In this day and age a good promotional video is worth more to you than the ailing Greek economy.
A good promotional video, correctly distributed, will keep working for you by bringing in job offers and attention long after you've forgotten that you filmed it
.
But how do you go about making a good promotional video for yourself and/or your band?

Here's a brief list of what 'works' and what 'doesn't' work.

A Good Promo:

• Clear focus and steady camera work
• Simple
• Not too long
• Good sound
• Costume changes

A 'Not-so-Good' promo

• Too dark or too bright
• Poor use of distance
• Overuse of angle changes
• Poor sound
• Lack of forethought

The truth of the matter is that you only need to follow those few simple guidelines to make a good video that clients will enjoy watching.

Let me discuss the qualities of a good promo video in slightly greater detail.

1. Clear focus and steady camera work. This is absolutely critical folks! Put yourself in the shoes of a prospective client. Ask yourself this- "Would I like to watch a video that's permanently out of focus or moving in and out of focus and going fuzzy?". No. "Would I enjoy seeing a video that looks as if it was filmed whilst sitting on the back of a horse?" No.

So keep your camera focused and on a tripod or sitting on something that doesn't move.

2. Simple. Guys n Girls don't buy into the hype. You do not need to create a Hollywood style movie  for your promo video. Simple lighting, a nice clean stage or background is ample. Clients want to see you and your band, not a lot of cutting-edge special FX, pyrotechnic displays, or laser shows unless you can replicate that onstage or you have a special act that uses that media when playing live.

When I was back in New Zealand earlier this year a friend contacted me and told me about the difficulties he was experiencing trying to get a promo video filmed in the UK.

He said he needed an expensive lighting rig, a huge stage, 3 cameras and so on. I asked him his budget for the video. 

He replied 'we're all broke'.
That was all I needed to hear. I suggested he find a big room in someones home, turn the lights on, clean up the background, and use one camera. 

Then he said he didn't have a decent camera. 

I said are you using your ipad to chat to me? 

He said 'yep'. 

I said 'Which version?' 

He said 'iPad 3*'.

I said 'Do you realize the iPad 3 has a beautiful HD video camera'

He said 'Oh yeah, I forgot about that'. 

He followed my advice and about 2 months later his band got work.

* Tip- iPhones from about the iPhone 4 on are perfectly capable of filming a good promo video. I'm not too sure about Blackberries or other mobile devices but its definitely worth checking around your circle of friends to see if they have a device that is good enough to use for filming. The biggest limitation is the sound quality, but turning your levels down or moving the device farther or closer to the sound source can really help with any clipping or loss of signal that may occur.

3. Not too long. A promo video for yourself or your band only needs to be about 6 to 8 minutes in duration. There is always a temptation to make the video longer but usually clients don't want to spend too much time watching promo videos. They may have to watch 10 or 12 videos and they simply don't have the time to watch you play full-versions of 8 or 9 songs. So you have to highlight and showcase the best of what you have in a limited time frame.

* Tip- Don't forget to include ALL of your contact details on your video. Contact name, phone numbers, email address, links to other videos or your website or blog

4. Good sound. Although this may seem like common sense and rather self-explanatory I have heard enough promo videos to know that there are some musicians out there that ironically don't put enough effort into improving the sound quality of their promotional video. Generally you have three choices.

• Pre-record everything and then lip-sync to the audio track when you are filming
• Record it live
• Do both and mix some pre-recorded sound with the live sound for your promo

Most clients don't really mind which choice you make and if you've done it well they may not even know which choice you have made. Although, I have seen clients' requesting that the video and sound be of a live performance*.

* Tip- Music editing software like Soundforge can be great for sweetening your sound. Just don't go overboard with the reverb and delay.

5. Costume changes. It is worth taking the extra time and effort to film two or three different 'looks' when you are shooting your promotional video. After all, performing is a a lot about image and style, and a client would often like to see how you can alter your appearance. As I have mentioned in an earlier post, clients often listen with their eyes!

What 'doesn't work:

1.Too dark or too bright. You would not believe the number of promo videos I have seen that looked as though they were shot in a deep cave with bats as an audience. I once saw a promo video  that was so dark I could only just see the outline of the guitarist throughout his video. To exacerbate matters he used a live video of a duet and the focal point of the camera was on the other musician! I have never seen a video that was too bright but I'm sure there are some floating around out there somewhere. If you think its too dark it probably is.

2. Poor use of distance. Set the camera(s) at a distance that can capture everyone that needs to be captured. If you only have one camera and its fixed, make sure you place it a distance where you can keep everyone in the shot, especially if they are dancing and moving from left to right or forwards and backwards.
The more people that are in the video the more complex it will probably become. But you can still shoot with one camera and use effects in your movie editing software as required to zoom in and out onto players when they solo or pan left and right to track the movements of the players/ dancers.

3. Overuse of angle changes. Don't change your angles too often. We once had a film crew come in and film us for a new promo video in Dubai. When we saw the finished product I got a headache after the first minute. There was a different angle every 2 or 3 seconds, some of our feet, some of our backs, when I soloed it had all of my body except my head. It was just a big mess. We never got any work with that video and it didn't surprise me at all. As I have previously mentioned- just keep it simple. Nice long steady shots are great, mix it up occasionally with a pan or a close up of a solo or some dance choreography to avoid monotony, but don't go crazy.

4. Poor sound. I know its hard to believe but as a musician you have a responsibility to ensure that your sound on your promo video is good. Poor sound usually comes from using the sound from the camera that you used to film the video or from using footage from a video that was filmed without the intention of using it as promo material.
In saying this, cameras have come a long way as far as sound recording quality is concerned. The easiest way to find out if your camera can handle the sound is to play at your loudest and quietest. If the camera can play it all back with no clipping in the loudest sections or a noticeable loss of signal in the quiet sections you're probably good to go and you can add some effects using software. Even movie editing software these days allows you to add some effects to your soundtracks. It is well worth the time to go through your soundtrack with a fine-tooth comb to fix any issues with the sound. It is amazing how just some simple normalizing and equalization adjustments can drastically improve the sound.
Recording everything from the desk live or individually or as a group in a studio will definitely give you the best results in terms of fidelity and post-production editing options, but it can be a lengthy and expensive process to organize and its largely dependent upon the hardware, the software, your or your teams' knowledge of recording and mixing, and the length of time that can be allocated to mixing it all down and mastering it.

5. Lack of forethought. People, your promotional video is the single most important weapon in your marketing arsenal. Give it some thought. Plan it well. Make sure it shows you in winning form, looking as good as you can, playing or singing your butt off, and enjoying doing it. Smile from time to time, put some energy into it; make sure you have tailored your look and your musical choices to suit the client. A video for a Top 40 club will have to be different to a video for a jazz lounge club. A small amount of time planning and executing a good video will get you work- guaranteed.

I just have to mention a promotional video that I saw on Facebook a few months ago. It was a guitarists' promo video. The video just reeked of a lack of forethought. It was easy to see that he could play, but the overall impression that I was left with was that it was rushed, sloppy, and really didn't show him in his best light. It wasn't too good because of the following reasons:

• The first 2 minutes of the video was just pictures of himself
• The sound was not his own. As soon as I heard the opening passages to 'Eruption' from Eddie Van Halen I knew it had been burned directly from the original Van Halen recording. There were also 2 other songs burned from the original recordings in his video. I'm not a hater but if you are promoting yourself as a player you should use your own playing not someone else's (backing tracks excluded)
• The only actual video footage was filmed at an extremely awkward and unflattering angle and it was only one song 'Sweet Home Alabama'
• No contact details at the end

Please don't rush your videos. It is such an important vehicle for promotion that you should really try to do the best job that you can. Once it is online it is there to stay and it represents you and what you do as a profession. You will probably have little to no idea of who will see that video. Because of this you should take as many steps as necessary and practical to ensure that it is presenting you in a wonderful way. Don't let all of your years of hard work and dedication be let down by a sub-par video.

That's all for now amigos. Stay tuned for my next article which will show you how to shoot a good promo with limited gear, limited cash, and unlimited ingenuity. I'll also show you my 'custom-made iPad filming rig'.

Peace out!

Musicians are from Mars; Agents are from YourAnus

Perhaps one of the most hotly contested issues regarding working as a full-time musician or more importantly transitioning into full-time work as a musician is whether or not you should use the services of an agency.

The pros and cons of using an agency are numerous. I will attempt to outline what many of my colleagues and I believe to be the greatest advantages and disadvantages of using an agency.

The Pros:

1. Reputation. If you are a relative newcomer on the pro music scene or you are trying to make inroads you will need to have some type of reputation as a performer. Being on the books of a highly-respected agency can give you some much needed credibility that you would otherwise possibly have a high degree of difficulty developing on your own.

2. Exposure. A good agency will often have a long list of clients with whom they are in constant contact. This is good for you as it means there is a higher probability that clients will see your promotional material.

3. Legal protection. Although most agencies try to minimise their legal exposure they can be an important source of assistance and they can act as mediators should something untoward happen during the course of your contract.

4. Support. An agency has a vested interest in supporting you. However, they also have a vested interest in supporting the client too. They can sit on the fence and assess their options as to whom it is in their best interests to support. In saying that, an agency is often capable (but not always willing) of exerting a considerable amount of influence on difficult-to-deal-with musicians or clients should any issues arise.

5. Paperwork. Agencies are often well-versed in contracts, organizing international visas, and a multitude of other important jobs that are necessary to gaining employment. Tackling all of this can be a Herculean task even if you have done it many times. A good agency can lift a large amount of work of this nature from your shoulders.

The Cons:

1. Cost. Nothing causes a musician more anguish, despair, and torment than an agents' fee. Period.

2. Loss of Pride. Many musicians believe that using an agent is an abomination in the eyes of whichever deity you believe in.

3. The Unknown Factor. Some agencies are very non-transparent about what they can offer you as a musician.

Lets move on to discussing the pros and cons in greater detail in juxtaposition with freelancing. The following are real life examples gathered from many years spent freelancing and working with agencies.

The Pros:

1. Reputation. If you are trying to move into unchartered territory and you have no contacts in that territory you will probably need the services of an agency that has market share in that geographical location. Why? Because unless you are already super famous or you have friends in the area that can vouch for your prowess to prospective clients you will lack credibility and reputation in that area. Therefore, you need to borrow someones...namely, an agencies reputation.

I recently had a guy contact me on Facebook. He told me that he had been cold calling* some hotels and musicians in the Middle East looking for work and hadn't received a single response. He wondered what was going wrong. I told him that without an established reputation it would be very difficult for him to find work in that manner. He's a great musician. He will get work...but probably not that way.

* Cold calling- contacting people or companies that you don't know personally. It can work and has worked for me in the past but you need to be prepared and have a great press kit to stack the odds in your favor. And hope that your email gets past their spam box!

2. Exposure. If you are the greatest cowbell player on Mars and no one hears or views your Kung Fu Panda 'awesomeness' you will retain your title of "The Greatest and Most Jobless Cowbellist on Mars" for a long, long time.
An agency can expose you to many clients in a short time. Not all clients will be interested in your service for various reasons, but rest assured, if your promotional material is good enough, and your agent has guided you in how and what to present in your press kit, you should be counting the $$ soon enough.

True story. Once upon a time I needed to organize work as my contract was coming to an end. I contacted agencies and friends all over Asia and the Middle East. About three weeks later I had offers rolling in from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, to Macau, to Mainland China. Those friends and agencies gave me exposure in those locations which I could not have done by myself.

3. Legal Protection. Most decent agencies are legal entities that are operating using corporate rules (usually an LLC) and regulations that are governed by the country out of which they are operating. As such they have Limited Legal Liability. Most musicians on the other hand operate as sole proprietors with unlimited legal liability. I will explain this in greater detail in a future blog. I had hoped to find a link to a decent explanation and post it here but I couldn't find a comprehensive enough one. So stay tuned!
A musician should seek professional advice from an outside legal advisor if unsure of anything in the contract. I have heard some nasty stories of some terrible agencies in China, but apart from that I have not really had any major legal issues during my years on the road.

4. Support. Everyone needs support. In my experience it is always nice to have a big gun that you can pull out of YourAnus in times of need. When you are in the GM's office trying to explain why the revenue in the club has taken a beating since your band arrived you will want to know that someone can share and bear a bit of the brunt. An agent can be your 'go to guy' in situations where you feel that maybe you or your group are being unfairly blamed or accused of something.* They may or may not be able to assist you or be sympathetic to your plight but there is certainly no harm in enlisting their aid if it is there.

* Contrary to what you may think owners and managers of the clubs and bars that you play in jump for joy not from seeing thousands of groupies swarming your room after the gig, or the lads in the crowd bowing and yeeeharing to you as your sing the final stanza of the deadliest version of Sweet Home Alabama that they've ever heard. It is an increase in revenue that will engender the warmest of handshakes, congratulatory slaps on the back, and free rounds of drinks for the band if you're lucky. However, should those revenues drop the blame will probably be put on the band too. It's just the way it is. Learn to take the good with the bad.

5. Paperwork. Work like this always involves a paper trail. For those of you that don't know, a huge amount of work is involved in drawing up documentation, faxing, scanning, photocopying, messaging, calling to complete a contract. A good agent will do most of this and allow you to focus on what you do best.

The Cons:

Here is an old legend passed down from Daddy n Mommy musicians to their budding little musician babies on Mars:

Little Martian:   "Daddy, what's an agent?"
Daddy Martian: "They are evil, foul-smelling creatures, venturing forth from YourAnus or
                            SomeoneElsesAnus.
                            The are parasitic leeches that suck the very life essence
                            from Musical Martians. They will watch you toil onstage only to swoop down and
                            reap that which you have sown with your blood, sweat and little Martian tears.          
                            Leaving a fetid stench of corruption in the air, a skeletal husk for a bank balance, and        
                            much gnashing and grinding of your tiny Martian teeth."
Little Martian:     "Daddy I don't want to never ever see an agent"
Mommy Martian: "No dear, you don't and I pray, yes I pray that you never will."

On a more serious note, musicians' number one complaint about agents is the agents fee or commission.

1. Cost. Wherever you travel in the musical solar system you will hear the screams and lamentations of musicians who believe with more conviction than Medieval peasants believed in the 'Flat Mars theory' that their agent is earning more than they are or ripping them off, and yet the I (the musician) am the one pounding the beat every night.

Here is my solar systemly advice:

"If you don't like what they are charging don't work with them". It's pretty simple really. As long as they are upfront about their commission and don't change it through the course of the contract and honor their contractual obligations all should be good right?

Wrong!

This is what usually happens during the course of your relationship with your agent.

• The agent gets you a contract. You agree to it and sign, so does the agency and the client.
• You start to work
• A bit later you start to resent your agent because you never see or hear from them anymore
• You forget that most of their work has been done
• You forget that if it wasn't for them you may well be earning ZERO Martian $
• You forget that it was you that agreed to all the terms (otherwise you wouldn't be there unless you were an alien abductee right?)
• You don't forget to tell the story of the evil and foul-smelling agent creatures of YourAnus to anyone that will lend a sympathetic ear to your plight

I have done all of the above on a couple of occasions. I have since grown up and manned up. It is true that agents take a commission. The size of their commission is up to you. Never forget that all things are negotiable. As I said 'If you don't like it negotiate a better deal or move on'. No one is holding a gun to your head.

Another scenario that pops up from time to time is this:

You find out that your agents' commission is almost as much as your salary!

True story. A DJ friend of mine once told me that his agent was taking a 40% commission. Astonished, I almost stopped drinking my beer...almost. But he didn't care!  The reality was that he was still happy with his pay. He said that if it wasn't for his agent he would be back in his home country and instead of asking people if they wanted him to play a particular song he'd be asking people if they wanted to "upsize or have fries with that..."

Problems can arise if the agent is playing both sides of the field i.e. Charging the hotel a high fee for you and giving you much less. Many hotels do not like that situation at all because it usually means a lot of complaints from the musicians themselves and the feeling that they could have acquired your services for much less. That situation is just bad all round and sadly it does happen.

Most of us want to earn a little more and an agent is no different. If you agree to the terms of a contract don't run home and cry to your mom if you don't like it. Try to be sensible and mature about it. Wait until the contract finishes and then renegotiate the terms. If you are a good musician an agent will want to keep you on their books and you may be able to get a better deal. Better still is the scenario where an agent can charge a higher price to the clients without adjusting their commission. In that way you and your agent will be better off and if you are that good, the client will reap the reward of having paid a bit more to secure your services.

If you team up with an excellent agency the relationship can be a symbiotic one. A long-term business relationship can be nurtured with the vision that you and your agency want the best for each other and for the client.

2. Loss of pride. There is a certain air of superiority held by some musicians that find their own gigs and organize all of their own work. I have found my own work and it certainly bolsters your self-belief and self-confidence, and I was proud to have done so. It can also be a very time-consuming, heartbreaking, and arduous path to walk. As I said above the choice is yours. Check your pride at the door. There are plenty of others ways to be proud.

3. The Unknown Factor. This causes a lot of angst and has been the ruination of more relationships than adultery.

I have heard some horror stories regarding the outright corruption, sculduggery, and deceptive actions of some agencies and I know it to be true. Stories of musicians being paid less that what was agreed in the contract, or worse- not at all. No support from the agency when clients don't honor their contractual obligations- unfortunately the list goes on and on and on and on...

A contract is just a piece of paper. It can be a powerful document if used correctly and perhaps more importantly- if it can be enforced.

Most musicians do not have degrees in International Contract law and even if they did it would be a nightmare to have to take any matter to court due to the nature of working as an international musician. Often we move to several different countries in a year. I have played in four different countries in 2012 alone and I know musicians that play in many more countries than that in the same time frames. To be well-versed in the laws and languages of so many countries is not impossible but it does lie in the realms of 'probably impossible'. 

Therefore we throw caution to the wind and recklessly sign up with agencies in foreign countries and for the most part its usually awesome but not always.

My advice is to try to do your research about an agency. I have stated in a previous article that you need to become your own 'Sherlock Holmes'. Investigate, ask other musicians that have worked for them, discuss the contract in detail, negotiate. be patient. Adopt a flexible attitude and shop around just like you would for an instrument or a car.

Summary:

In closing, remember that freelancing is possible but not necessarily more cost-effective for you. Freelancing can give you a great feeling of accomplishment and liberty, so too can working with an agency. The feeling I get from winning a contract is the same whether I won it freelancing or through an agency.

Some people will tell you that you don't need an agent and they would be right. What they often forget to tell you though is that although you can remove the agent from the equation you cannot remove the function that they perform. So if you decide to freelance, you or someone will have to do all the work that the agency usually does. That is worth remembering. Assess and recognize your abilities and know your limits. If you think that you can do all that an agency can do then freelance and may the force be with you. 

Anyway that's all from me today folks.

My next article will be about contracts and negotiating. Stay in tune!

The Three Ultimate Practice Tips

In my lengthy journey as a musician I have discovered many facets to becoming a well-rounded, versatile musician. There are so many elements to address on the road to being considered a good musician. Today I am going to focus on what is perhaps the most fundamental of all- practice.

Let's face it- practicing is the first thing we begin to do when our musical odyssey begins. I can still recall my first guitar lesson at Lindisfarne College, in Hastings, New Zealand.
I was 14 years old. A friend had suggested that I go to guitar lessons with him. He was already very good and I, on the other hand, was very bad. I had never even considered learning a musical instrument before that time. I loved listening to all kinds of music and I remember my Dad playing the guitar at parties, but learning the guitar or any other instrument had never held any special appeal.

Anyway, to cut a long story short. my first lesson was extremely difficult. I couldn't read music, my fingers wouldn't do what I wanted them to do, and to compound it all my friend was laughing at my feeble attempts to strum the chords to 'Yellow Submarine' by The Beatles.
However, it wasn't difficult to realize that I would have to do some serious practice if I wanted to learn and improve. So that is what I did and I have been practicing ever since!

Before I begin talking about The Three Ultimate Practice Tips I want to explain to you how I developed them.
I have been studying the guitar for 22 years. I first started being paid to teach privately when I was 16 years old. At the age of 18 I was teaching College night classes to people ranging in age from six to eighty two! I went to University to study music and graduated with the one of the highest exam results in the country. I have attended master classes from some of the world's premiere classical and rock guitarists. I have taught literally thousands of students from New Zealand to Dubai and beyond. So in brief, I have spent a lot of time both teaching AND being taught. During this time I have analyzed, refined and developed what I believe to be great methods for practicing.

The following tips do not contain mantras that say "Thou shalt practice for 18 hours per day until thy fingers bleed' or that you must practice XYZ scales or arpeggios. Rather, it is a vessel which you can customize and fill with goodies that suit your lifestyle and situation. All of our lives are different and unique, therefore it is ludicrous to try to suggest that a single set of highly specified 'must do's is suitable and practical for all.

"It's all about harmony baby"

The Three Ultimate Practice Tips

Tip 1. Know your outcomes. Every time you begin to practice you should know what it is that you are expecting to achieve from your practice time.

Tip 2. Make effective use of your time. Time. Everyone on planet Earth has 24 hours a day to do stuff. The time that you allocate to practicing should be used in the most efficient and effective way possible.

Tip 3. Develop a routine. Contrary to popular belief a routine doesn't necessarily mean doing the same thing at the same time everyday. A routine has to be devised that can fit in with anything and everything else that you have to do in the course of a day.

The definition of "routine':

Noun:	A sequence of actions regularly followed: "I settled down into a routine".
Adjective:	Performed as part of a regular procedure rather than for a special reason: "a routine annual drill".

Here are some personal examples of each of The Three Ultimate Practice Tips:

Tip 1. Know your outcomes.

Whenever I practice I know what it is I want to achieve during the session. Just last week I played the Disney classic "When you wish upon a star" here in Japan. I totally ruined the bridge, thankfully, I was able to cover up my mistakes, but I knew I had to revisit that section of the song. The next day, it was time to practice and that was the first thing I did. I revised that bridge section for about 15 minutes. And I revised it again just before I went to the gig that night.
My priorities have changed as the years have passed. Years ago I used to devote a lot of my practice time to theory and technical development. Nowadays, most of my practice time is spent expanding my repertoire and developing my tone. Nevertheless, to this day I still know my expected outcomes of each and every practice session.

Tip 2. Make effective use of your time.

I am going to use my experience as a teacher to discuss this tip. Over the years this is probably the tip that I have tried to share and instil in the countless number of students and band members that I have taught and worked with and in turn have been taught by. A recurring phenomenon amongst so many individuals is this:

They are playing a song; they reach bar X make a mistake; they go back to the BEGINNING OF THE SONG; they reach the same bar X and make the same mistake; they go back to the BEGINNING OF THE SONG; they reach the same bar X..........I think you see the pattern.

This is one of the most inefficient uses of time that I have ever encountered. I have been extremely well-taught and I have also underpinned that exposure with professional development courses for teachers and my own explorations into the subject of effective methods of practicing and I can say with a high level of confidence that you should not encourage this type of behavior in yourself or in others.
You should attempt to address the particular part of the song that is causing you consternation. Be a problem-solver and try your best to figure out what it is that is causing you to falter at that point. Is it because it hasn't been memorized? Are you rushing it? Maybe its actually the preceding bar that is causing the difficulty!
This type of phenomenon also has the somewhat nasty side-effect of introducing anxiety into your performance of that song as you know that 'X' section is coming up and your nerves and tension can increase during your approach to that part, which is not good.

A quick fix to avoid this is:

• Scan through the song before you start to learn it
• Identify the section or bars that you think will give you the most trouble
• Start learning those sections or bars first
• When you are confident with that section or bar learn the preceding bar(s) and play through, then learn the section or bar(s) that follow it and put it all together.
• Move on to the rest of the song

I have a ratio called "The 90:10". It works like this. For many songs you will spend 90% of your time just mastering a small section of it (10%). The figures are of course approximations, but you will find the proportions are close to accurate and fairly general. There will always be outliers like songs that don't cause you any trouble or songs that are a nightmare from beginning to end!

Tip 3. Develop a routine.

A routine is not immutable. A routine must be adaptable, flexible and of course realistic. In my dealings with adult students I would find that many of them would come to their weekly lessons without having done any practice. I would ask them what happened and I would hear various excuses such as 'my girl fell of her horse so I had to take her to the hospital', 'the boss made me do too much overtime' etc. It was easy to see that they just didn't develop their routine in a flexible manner.
Quite often they would tell me that they had planned to practice an hour a day but they just couldn't find an hour to sit down and practice. So I suggested that they break their practice down into smaller segments e.g. 10 minutes in the morning before breakfast; 20 minutes during their work break; and 30 minutes while watching television at night. The key was flexibility and harmony with their lifestyles. Most had never thought of that approach because they still carried over the principles that we learn in schools where most lessons are taught in hour long classes for practical reasons.

• Develop a routine that fits in nicely with your life
• Be flexible with it and revisit it if you are unable to follow it
• Always look for options and avoid a regimented approach

All the best with perfecting your practice!

Joshua Henare Rogers holds a Limited Authority to Teach (LAT) from the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA), a Licentiate of the Trinity College of London with Distinction Diploma (LTCL with Distinction), and a Diploma in Business Studies from the Waiariki Institute of Technology in New Zealand. He has taught guitar and music theory in several colleges in New Zealand and Dubai. In addition to this he has also taught privately and at children's institutions in New Zealand, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain for over twenty years.

Musicians! Save money on your photo shoots!

Photo shoots, taking pictures, mug shots whatever you want to call it we have to do them at some stage or another.

Like it or not, you will have to have your picture taken and used in promoting yourself or your group or both.

The importance of adding photos to your promotional material, press kits, websites, job advertisements etc cannot be overstated.

Many musicians hate the idea of having their picture taken or having to dress up for a photo shoot. I sympathize as I used to be in that category. But over the past few years I have learnt that it is something that has to be done and to just get on with it, try to see the benefits of it, and enjoy it.

In saying that, today I am posting some tips on how to save some time, money, and stress when preparing, executing, and subsequently, publishing your Mona Lisas' in the quest for a gig.

First things first:

Ask yourself this question:

1. What are the clients requirements? If you don't know the answer ask the client directly, ask your agent, ask people that have performed there before or those musicians that have done that kind of gig before. Become the Sherlock Holmes of discovering clients' wants and needs.
 I have promoted myself and others for an incredibly diverse range of clients with varying tastes and requirements. Some of the clients were rock club owners, others were wedding planners, some were five star lobby lounge and resort entertainment managers.

All of these clients require musician(s) to look a particular way. If you can tailor your look to the clients conceptions of how they want you or expect you to look then you will have won a large part of the battle to securing a gig. As many of us know, clients in a lot of clubs and hotels listen with their eyes!

Determining what a client wants from you or how they expect you to look can prevent you from wasting precious time and resources.

Here is a small selection of the different looks I have used in the past few years to appease clients and audiences.

• In 2000 I did some classical guitar concerts throughout New Zealand which required me to wear a tuxedo for the promotional shots.

Classical guitar concert in Rotorua, New Zealand

• In 2005 I worked for a beautiful hotel in Jakarta that expected the band to wear uniforms i.e. matching colors and styles.

This photo is an example of individual shots pieced together using photoshop. See the bottom of the blog for examples of how many times this photo has been reincarnated!

• Earlier this year I worked at a new Five-star resort in Bali where management was happy for us to wear singlets, shorts and jandals whilst performing!

Picture for a rock contract in Dubai, UAE

• At the present time I am working in one of Japan's premiere hotels and I am expected to wear slacks, suits, or semi-formal to formal attire every night

• 

  Promotional picture for a Five Star hotel in Japan

2. Use available resources. I have participated in photo shoots that have had large budgets and tiny budgets. Most have fallen into the later category. If you are shooting with a meagre budget try to use resources that are around you. Borrow a camera, use a location that is free, ask a friend that is good with makeup to do your makeup.

I hear so many people complaining that they need this and that and its often not the case. Hollywood blockbuster movies with multi-million dollar promotional budgets have deluded them into thinking that they need special effects, dynamic lighting, and pyrotechnic displays to land a gig. This is not true.

3. KISS. Keep It Simple Stupid. Most clients do not need photos that have you skydiving off the Empire State building holding your guitar or pics of you drumming on Mt. Everest. They need simple shots that display the style of clothing and the 'look' or image that you would usually have on the stage. Unless you think you have a wonderful location that will enhance your appeal, keep the background simple too.

4. Group shots vs. Individual shots. If you are in a band and you need to do a photo shoot you have to consider whether or not to shoot as a group or as individuals , then use photoshop or similar software to piece all of the individual pictures of each member together. 

Let me discuss this in a little more detail addressing the pros and cons of each:

Group shot:

Pros: everyone is in one place and you can experiment with lots of different configurations, probably cheaper, less-time consuming, editing should be much easier

Cons: it can be hard to get everyone together at the same time, could be expensive to find the right location for a big group, if one person looks like a dork in all of the pictures it could be very difficult to fix.

The single biggest con in my mind of having a group shot is this:

A BAND MEMBER LEAVES!

When or if this happens it can render all of your pics useless. You may be able to photo shop someone else's head onto the leaving member's shoulders but this could be unethical if you haven't received the leaving member's permission to do so, it usually (but not always) ends up looking weird, and just isn't cool if you are trying to portray professionalism. 

I speak from experience when I say that I have been involved in a band that has been through this on several occasions, I have witnessed many other bands with whom I am friends with resort to the same methods and I simply don't think it works.

Individual shots:

Pros: Infinite 'juggle-ability' i.e. you can move members around, change colors, adjust and edit with much greater ease and effectiveness, you can use a generic background as a template should members decide to leave or if new members enter, members can do their photo shoot when they have time*.

*Tips: If you organise the photo shoot when you normally have a rehearsal you can kill two birds with one stone. Rehearse and do the photo shoot or at the very least you can ensure that everyone will be there for it.

Cons: more time-consuming, more costly, lots of editing involved

5. Don't rush out and spend $ on a fancy, hi-tech camera or video camera. Why? Because you probably can't use all of the features, there may be a long learning curve to master to fully utilise the hardware properly, or you may only use it once or twice a year. Those of us that have studied finance and accounting call this phenomenon 'over capitalisation'. 

Over capitalization- defined

And probably the most important thing to realize is that the best camera in the world can't perform miracles if the shots are at terrible angles, or if someone hasn't done their hair, or if the room is too dark. You may be well-served paying a professional for a few hours or getting a friend that has a decent camera to help you.

In closing:

• Don't get too arty unless the client specifically wants something out of the ordinary
• Try to set a budget and keep to it
• Try to 'future-proof' your pictures
• Get as many 'looks' done as your budget and time frame allows

Good luck with your shooting!