It goes without saying that it takes a lot of strong qualities to do so. Perseverance, persistence and dedication are essential. The efforts to even be noticed takes weeks, months, even years. With so many people having musical inclinations and trying to do something about it, the competition is steep. According the IT Facts, over twenty-four (24%) percent of young American adults write their own music. It also goes without say that at the start of said career, a person will be strictly on their own means – they won’t be getting funded or supplied with “necessities”. It is all their own financial investment, as well as expenditure of time, energy and commitment.

There are an endless amount of tools, however, that can be used to help rising musicians develop and customize their own style. With the vast expansion of technology, applications can be bought for pretty cheap for iPhones, iPods and even put on computers. If you’re on the go, these types of devices make it feasible to create a new beat, rhythm and even song while you make moves. How convenient!

Getting publicity and creating your own harmony can be somewhat tasking at first. One thing that can help rising musicians gain both much attention and establishing their own brand of music is open mic nights. Numerous locations in any given county host at least a weekly night for amateurs and even professionals to come display what they’ve got. And who knows? Maybe someone in a position of inlfuence or power will be watching your live performance. And if they like what they see, the doors that could open up are exciting. The Internet is a very interactive and effective way of becoming noticed. According to IT Facts, thirty-four (34%) of all music sold in 2009 was digital, so obviously this is where the focus of anyone trying to make it should be. Blogs and MySpace are seen by a large assortment of individuals from different backgrounds, interested in very different things. Fans, followers and/or avid viewers are just another step in helping amateurs make another leap. Everyone is just a click away from something new and undiscovered, which holds great potential to.

It use to take so much more effort to catch the eye of someone, but anyone can lay a mixtape on the Internet. Websites like Datpiff.com and Mixtapepass.com provide access to more than just big time names and regardless of what critics may say, illegal downloading is very prominent. According to IT Facts, sixty-three (63%) percent of the population download their music through illegal mechanisms.

Despite how unconventional or eccentric a style is, no one should ever be dissuaded from putting what they’ve got on the market. People are drawn to anything and everything. Lady Gaga and MGMT are just two popular names that resonate with that thought. Niches of the population will always be appreciative.

One of the growing concerns, however, is that an overwhelming percentage of the population are trying to become a popular or mainstream artist for all the wrong reasons. These reasons include fame, ego boosts, money and to have persuasion over impressionable adolescents. Another issue is how the production of the game has changed as well with synthesized, computer generated tracks. Auto tuning has clearly shown that anyone can become a star with the right affiliations and carefully formulated melody.

People shouldn’t be discouraged from the raw, untouched vocals and instrumentals of an acoustic, live performance. Live gigs are still highly valued by listeners and for both musicians and their managers, it’s where the benefits and true appreciation comes in. Sixty (60%) of listeners’ money, in terms of music, is spent on live performances over recorded music.

In essence, a person shouldn’t get into the business for the wrong reasons and if they’re not ready to deal with the time, effort and dedication it takes to succeed. You should truly be passionate about what you’re doing and you can even help others and yourself along the way. Music brings people together, representing the changes of the times. This is something that requires passion of the soul.

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Hi-DEFF is a rap group consisting of Quality and Dell best. These two are from the Boston/Brockton area, are college basketball players and as of recent, rising rap stars. They produced this mixtape, Trap 2 The Future, and already got noticed by something as big as Datpiff.com.

“It was the most wonderful failure in entertainment history”.

This is a common thought about the musical and historical bonanza known as Woodstock that took place in the late summer of 1969 in Bethel, New York. Despite national warnings, enthusiasts and musicians braved inclement weather conditions, overcrowded areas and other issues to enjoy the music festival of the decade. Artists included renowned folks like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Grateful Dead and Santana.

In a time of political, social and economic chaos, people come together for “peace, love and rock n’ roll”. It was originally not well-received, until media organizations realized its potential. They comprehended they could build an audience and gain a younger audience.

This is important to music today and people that want to be part of the industry for a few reasons. It shows the principles and landscape of another time – when music was pure, simple and not all about making money. It showed that music was an inescapable tool that could bring people together. At this musical extravaganza, people found their husbands/wives; people felt they found their ‘calling’. This is important to musicians today because it shows them that they shouldn’t get into music, unless it’s because they’re truly passionate about it and want to do that with their life.

Today, music isn’t as simple and fun-loving as it once was. It’s plagued by synthesizers, money-making schemes, changing your style to conform to the expectations of the industry today and doing anything they can to become famous. It’s not about the love of the art anymore. And it should be.

With the ever-expanding world of technology, though, the viewer, reader and listener is now more than ever interactive with their artists and can even provide other fans with their very own unique thoughts on an album or controversy. Now anyone can be a “journalist” so to speak.

This is relevant for rising musicians as blogging has “changed the scope of traditional “music journalism“. Various blogs can help bring greatly need attention and publicity to essentially unknown bands. This is good as its providing promotion for aspiring artists, who need all they can get. It caters to all genres of music, as blogs can be made about anything and everything, so no one’s left in the dust. And musicians can even make their own blogs for the cover of their band, contributing to their professionalism.

Of course, there’s downsides to this wide openness of anyone being able to create a blog and talk about whomever. There are “opinionated fans” who could bring negative criticism to the sales and promotion of said musician. There are essentially no limits in the land of blogging. This is why it is up to the musician to clear the air and perhaps form their own website, blog and following. But then again, any publicity is good publicity right?

Courtesy of IFC TV

insightful discussion on music blogging

theULTIMATEsketch was the main act at Washington-palooza on Friday, April 23rd, an event hosted by the Red Bull corporation. The organization catered food and drinks to the hundreds of college students from the area that were in attendance. The band, who has been together since 2008, played a set of their raw, unique songs. Two of the band members, Alex Busi and Sean Szollosi, talked about their influences, their plans and their history.

Busi, who plays bass and provides some of the vocals, said, “Daily influences for me are just sounds. In the movie, August Rush, the guy hears music through traffic and everyday occurrences – that’s pretty much me all the time. I’ve invested more than two-thirds of the money I’ve ever made into instruments, amps and recording gear. I’ve learned from experience that you can’t make a living doing anything other than what you truly love”.

The group believes music has became a case of the “loudness wars”.

Szollosi, guitarist and main vocalist, said, “Music evolves every decade. But now, the waveforms are much bigger because people are listening to music mostly from computers or iPods, which is suited for louder compressed tracks because speakers are smaller. People like Lil’ Wayne use digital recording so you can see how industry is working in their favor. Ten years ago though, Nirvana was recording straight to tape… listen and you can hear the distinct difference”.

They have many plans for the next few years however.

“We want to come out with a more successful second and third album. We would want to produce more up and coming artists, hopefully open up a studio with a label attached to it. The ultimate banger is that we want to secure financing to send theULTIMATEsketch to Africa, to Morocco, to Cape Town and spend a couple years on the coast. Our lifelong project is to install water purification system in along the way to places that need it as a means of being able to afford our first tour”.

The study, “Desire and Motivation for Fame in a Group of Aspiring Musicians: A Qualitative Study” goes into detail about people that are trying to get into the business, people that have been in the industry for years, their reasons, their experience and everything in between. A study was done of eleven musicians. They all had different motivations driving them to live their dream. Many of these ‘motivations’ applied to the reasons the study supplied, such as wanting to be famous, enjoyment and passion, making money and a boost to the ego et cetera.

Fred Rossomando, a music teacher at Quinnipiac, and also President of Grace Recording Studios, played in numerous bands from the 60s and hasn’t lost his passion of the soul for music. His son, Anthony, is the frontman for a band, Dirty Pretty Things, that have found large success in England, but haven’t quite hit the mark in America yet. Anthony actually played with Stefanie Germanotta or now better known as Lady Gaga and had a chance to produce the album of Ke$ha. Rossomando has seen the world of music go through so much.

“In the 60s, there was a war going on, assassinations, civil rights movements… all that stimulated us to write music – it was our way to vent. That was something and back then, it was really only rock and roll. Then, life got more complicated”, Rossomando commented, “people used to have one TV per house, now they have four. Dave Matthews… is he a real rock and roll guy? Absolutely not. CD selling isn’t important anymore. The only way to make real money is gigs. The only thing I’m hoping for is that music is cyclical – history repeats itself”.

Rossomando also commented as how the production of music has taken quite the turn as well. “Digital has revolutionized the face of music. It’s so fabricated today it’s unreal. Digital recording has turned talentless folks into stars. There used to be a phrase “fix it in the mix”. Now it’s on steroids”.

Rob Vasquez, a junior at Quinnipiac, is from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn and he’s seen different types of music his whole life living in such a multi-faceted place like NYC.

“Growing up, you could walk outside your house in the summer and there’d be a whole group of people with a beatbox, dancing around, making up their own rhymes and having a good time. Some people were serious about making something of themselves though. Of course, most of them wanted to get big for the typical and perhaps wrong reasons, like making millions and being on TV – all the glitz and glamour. But then there were so people that truly wanted to share their story, their struggles and their life with the world”.

“Even up to seven years ago though”, Vasquez noted, “music was still pretty original and it took some serious skills to get somewhere. But now… I mean, have you heard T-Pain? He can’t sing, rap – do anything without some type of auto tuning. When he came here in the spring of our freshmen year, that’s when I think I truly started to comprehend how times were changing. Sure he’s got catchy songs, but it’s not true talent”.

Being famous. Making millions. Having fans. Self-glorification. They’re all things that everyone certainly wouldn’t mind, but doesn’t necessarily need. This study and the commentaries on it reflect how becoming a musician has become more than just simply pursuing a passion.

The evolution of music over time has involved the changing of the status quo. The dynamics of all areas have drastically changed. Acoustic, live performances used to be the norm; now you can go to the computer and see a live performance in seconds live a live-stream utensil like USTREAM. Singers used to actually have talent, be able to carry a tune and have a note in their head – now things like auto tuning and specialized synthesizers can make anyone sound like a gifted musician and worth listening to.

Speaking of synthesizers, Treadwell is one of those bands that is slowly, but surely, along with a whole generation of newcomers, intertwining atypical and non-mainstream instrumentals and sound manufacturers into the new status quo of the game. Along with guitar and bass, the duo from North Haven plays a piano-esque synthesizer. The synthesizer has the distinctive and useful quality of being able to create a variety of beats and sounds. This helps contribute to their songwriting and the production of their music.

Russ Frost comments, “It’s unique and something that you don’t hear everyday. Mainstream on the music is so synthesized these days and that’s not to say that we’re not indulging in its many uses. However, we’re just using it to create new sounds. We’re not using it to alter our vocals and make us sound like anything that we’re not. These types of devices are so commonplace these days.”

The band says they’re not changing for anyone – which might sound like a naive and unrealistic comment from newcomers to the industry. However, they’ve been approached by a few producers who see a future in the business for these two. They have plans on hitting the studio in the coming weeks.

Taylor Will remarks, “We still have a lot of developing to do, but we’re going to take our time with it and in the end present something to the people that is a true reflection of who we are and what we’re trying to do.”

Piff City is one of the more serious up and coming ensembles of rap, hip-hop and freestyling to hit the tri-state area in a few years. Made up of a collection of talented, hardworking, ardent college-aged guys, this group has intentions on hitting the recording studios within the next couple of months. They have a few assets that many don’t however.

Phil Astuto, frontman, said, “We just have really good non-verbal communication. I can drop a beat, put some lyrics over it and send it to one of them and they’ll hit me back with something that flows with the rest perfectly. You need to be able to almost in a sense read each others minds… there needs to be that chemistry, otherwise there’s no synergy, which leads to terrible organization, unstable flow and just not top-notch work”.

Phil Astuto and Gabe Gomez, the other frontman for the rising enterprise, are both media productions majors. Regardless of what happens with the future of Piff City, the two plan to incorporate their love of visual and graphic design and music into one front somehow.

“I will be working somewhere that has elements of music in it”, Gomez said, “and using what I learned to take me through the life I always wanted. For now, we’re just doing our thing and having fun with it… what happens happens”.

Taking a look at the rap stars of today, the two have an appreciation of them for many reasons.

“Aside from the classics, like Jay-Z, Nas, Biggie… Lil’ Wayne is definitely one of the biggest influences on our generation. He mastered the art of freestyle in such a way that it just sounds dirty no matter what he does and his flow is undeniable – no matter how stupid some of the stuff he comes out with may sound. Then, there’s Drake, who has more of the technical, writing aspect to it. You can tell he takes more time with it. He actually delves into emotion, like love, heartbreak, deception, anger, money – the works”, Astuto said.

Piff City has a few tracks that are being touched up as of now. They plan to expand greatly upon what they’ve already got and are hoping to drop the finished product by late summer.

A survey taken by just over a hundred people on the Quinnipiac premises shows what interests people in music or brings their attention to an artist or group. For fifty-eight (58%) percent of the responses, it was a pretty simple, flat out answer that if the artist was in the genre they preferred, it was easy to take a liking to them if they were decent anyway. Thirty percent (30%) said they liked hearing music with a fresh, unique and different beat. One commented, “It’s nice to hear something every now and then that doesn’t sound like all the other crap you hear on the radio.” The rest of the responses were between hearing about the band/artist through someone (11%) or because the publicity surrounding them was everywhere – televisions, radios, posters et cetera.

Another question was geared towards the responses on the status of music today. There were a variety of intriguing answers. One responded, “I feel like the 90s was the time of dark, grunge rock music and the start of the ‘gangsta’ rap movement. Now, it’s a freefall. You got anything from light, happy Taylor Swift to vulgar, thug life Lil’ Wayne“. One of the general thoughts was that anything goes these days and any genre could make bank – it was just all about hitting it at the right time.

The final question consisted of what big artist is currently changing music and who would be the biggest artist this year. The main choices included Jay-Z, Lady Gaga, Young Money (headed by Lil’ Wayne and Drake), Rihanna, The Black Eyed Peas, Taylor Swift, Usher and Ke$ha among others.

An overwhelming amount of responses, fifty-eight percent (58%), were geared towards Lady Gaga, who’s been making waves for a couple years now with her eccentric, untamed world that knows no bounds. A responder said, “I think she’s all shock value. Many people are drawn to her because she does such unexpected things.” Old school still rules though as a decent percent, fourteen percent (14%), also chose Jay-Z. One remarked, “He’s been around for what? Twenty years? And he’s still coming out with fresh beats, undeniable flow and just produces gold.” Rihanna was also a favorite with ten percent (10%), as she became a role model for women everywhere after her highly publicized troubles and her fourth album, Rated R, is doing quite well. “She’s so mature and strong for handling everything the way she did”, one female responded. Other response includes Ke$ha with five percent (5%), who’s had breezy club beats about getting overly drunk, like “Tik Tok” and “Blah, Blah, Blah” and Drake, who tied with Jay-Z (14%), who after a year and half long of making waves is finally dropping his Thank Me Later album, including singles “Over” and “Fall For Your Type“.

The survey showed that getting into a band is as simple as liking the beats or hearing about them on the television. As well, music is constantly being molded into something different as many of the top artists out today are showing. It takes all kinds to come together and make the industry successful.

GigBaby! is an application that can be installed on your iPhone or iPod and does so much with so little. The free version allows up to four “setlists”, while the paid version, which cost only three bucks, allows up to forty-two.

Dan Leitenberger, an employee of the Apple Store at The Westchester in White Plains, New York, is a frequent user of GigBaby! and has even responded to many inquiries from customers about the application. He talks about the convenience of it and how it is very useful for everyday citizens trying to put together a musical piece.

“It’s a very hands-on item. It’s cool to just be able to play around with the different settings, create your own beat and put your own creativity and style onto a track. Music is something I’m really into, so this was definitely a cool tool to stumble upon. And besides, part of our monthly training here is being forced to learn the aspects of different mechanism and things like this so that way we can better service the customers if they are confused about something with a particular device. GigBaby! is definitely a great gadget if you’re bored trying to have some fun or actually trying to use it for real”, Leitenberger said.

Dennis Mitchell or D-Nice, one of the masterminds behind the now popular “I Love College (QU Mix)” and another rising star from Quinnipiac’s backyard, started using GigBaby! a couple of months ago. He was skeptical at first, but after seeing its potential, is an serious enthusiast of the product.

“With all the different auto tuning equipment and synthesizing tools out there, it’s almost like a competition among possibly intrigued users as to which one works for them. I’m not saying this is the end-all of a touch music production, but it’s pretty damn cool. You can just pick up your iPhone and in a few minutes, have a new track in the works”.

The useful functions of this app are things like being able to record and layer multiple audio tracks, adjustment of tempos and volume for beat rhythms and whatnot. As well, a person can monitor and mix tracks as well manage multiple songs with the “setlist”. Perhaps the most unique and cool feature of this app is that the metronome includes the choice of setting tempo by the feel – a very interactive part of the tool.

For such a cheap price or even free if you just want to test the waters, this tool is quite effective. While there are many other musical-inspired apps for the iPhone/iPod, this one is definitely one of the more worthwhile. You could even drum up a great new idea, beat or lyric while listening to your iPod and be just a few clicks away from recording a new piece of genius. What a concept huh?

Curious? Finding the app through your iTunes or iPhone takes a few seconds.

First and foremost, with so many people using tools like auto tuning and other synthesizers, it’s crucial to sound very original. While that may sound like simple and obvious advice, it is something that many currently neglect. Of course numerous bands are going to sound alike, but if you find a sound that distinguishes yourself from the rest, that’s gold right there. Another thing that many are skeptical about is taking any gig, despite the fortunes you will or won’t make from it. Any chance to expose yourself to new audiences and possibly even catch the ear of someone with power is always essential. And besides, you haven’t made it yet, so it really isn’t a time to be superficial is it?

Breaking into the industry is also tasking now too because of the war between being independent and getting signed to a label. It’s a double-edged sword really. If you stay independent, you have more control over your creativity and what you put out there, although the challenge of promoting your stuff is all up to you. If you sign to a label, you are more likely to strike up some mainstream and bigger players, but what you get put out there won’t really be up to you.

It’s something that could take days, months and a lot of the time years. And there’s such a large list of semantics in between the struggle from the bottom to the top that a person can encounter. But if you perfect your game, learn that nothing is beneath you and stay true to yourself, not doing anything that you’re not truly passionate about, the shot of making it is so much more feasible.

Courtesy of YouTube