The director of 100 Musicians and Nurse/Fighter/Boy talked with us about old school filmmaking Charles Officer has directed shorts, music videos for K’naan, and the features Nurse/Fighter/Boy and Mighty Jerome, a documentary about Canadian track star Harry Jerome. His new short 100 Musicians, which screens Monday as part of Short Cuts Canada, is a small ode to civic optimism, concerning itself with a lovers’ argument over who exactly misheard a radio DJ reporting the plans of Toronto’s much m...
Remember concerts? Those were fun. While gathering in large groups to listen to live music might not be allowed at the moment, the live music part still is. Thanks to the internet, more and more musicians are taking the stage each day to perform for those of us stuck in social isolation due to the new coronavirus. The best part? Many of these concerts are 100% free.
Smartphone technology has become as ubiquitous as automobiles. In Austin, Texas, a city that is widely known as the "Live Music Capital of the World," smartphones have been embraced by the music community not just as a way to document and promote, but to create music.
Get ready for a delta blues good time. If you want to learn the delta blues, a good place to start is with this video lesson where you'll learn how to play Tommy Johnson's "Canned Heat Blues" on your guitar.
Everybody loves Tommy Johnson's music, that is, everyone who loves the blues. And in this video lesson, you'll learn how to play Johnson's song "Big Road Blues" on your blues guitar. If you want to learn the delta blues, this is a good starting place.
The Roland TB-303 should be a part of every electronic musicians arsenal, but cannot be because of it's scarcity. If you have a MicroKorg, however, you can make a patch that provides a decent approximation of the 303 sound, and this video will teach you how to program it.
Start learning how to play the Delta Blues! This video lesson covers a lot of information for beginner blues players, so check it out. In this tutorial, learn the song called "Bottle Up and Go" (standard tuning), which has been done by many musicians.
One of the features of new music-editing software Reason 5 is the ability to 'block' your song. You can label each segment of the song as intro, chorus, verse, break or solo to make your song easier for both musicians and non-musicians to navigate.
Back in the day, musicians used candles as metronomes to keep time. Now, you can too, cause in the music industry, it's better to burn out than to fade away.
Taylor Swift is one of the most talented and most beautiful musicians to grace the pop stage in quite some time. Her latest single "Mine" lives up to the legacy of her past hits by being insanely catchy and having really clever, deep lyrics. If you liked the makeup look she rocked in the music video, watch this. It will show you how to recreate that look yourself. No word on how to replicate the blonde guy though...
Improve your acoustic and electric skills with this special Delta Blues piece. Watch the full video lesson to learn how to play Muddy Waters' "Can't Be Satisfied" on your blues guitar.
Sleepy John Estes is known as one of the masters of Delta Blues, so when learning to play the blues, he's a good place to start with. In this video lesson, see how to play the song "Somday Baby" by Estes on your blues guitar in an Open G tuning with a slide.
First off, don't be frustrated. YOU CAN DO IT! Contrary to the message in the image above, it's NOT over. It's just beginning. And when it comes to solving the New York Times crossword puzzle, the old cliche does apply: practice makes perfect.
Visual kei, as with all popular Japanese fashion and makeup movements, started in the Harajuku district of Japan. This particular trend is mostly practiced among musicians who favor a very ostentatious and sometimes androgynous look with heavy, monstrous makeup.
Paul Jackson Jr. is one of the tastiest session musicians alive and has played with hundreds of artists over the span of his career including most of the guitar work on Michael Jackson's Thriller album! In this video he explains the secret to his style and how to pick apart chords and play the very basic components of each chord to create a more sonically sound rhythm guitar part that doesn't step on anybodies toes but is catchy enough to be noticed in the mix.
Here are a couple of exercises to prevent injuries such as tendonitis and carpal tunnel syndrome. This is common in drummers, musicians in general, writers, incessant txt-ers and tennis players. Tendonitis or Carpal Tunnel syndrome can be a crippling disorder that limits your hand, wrist and finger strength and movement.
In this video tutorial from 8BITches, 8BIT Ché explains how he uses Little Sound DJ, or LSDj,—the Game Boy/Game Boy Color tool of choice for amateur & professional musicians and composers—to make hot beats! Big Pick Zel expounds on his knowledge of Gameboy history, and Li'lBIT eats dinner. For more information on making beats with LSDj and a Nintendo Game Boy, watch this video tutorial.
In this tripartite tutorial, you'll learn the basics of FM, or frequency modulation, synthesis. For more information, including a complete overview and detailed, step-by-step instructions on how to create and use FM synthesis virtual instruments yourself, watch this computer musicians' guide.
Before Michael Jackson turned kind of creepy and lost his nose, he was the pint-sized frontrunner of his sibling band Jackson 5. The group sang songs that were super catchy and also fun to play for musicians.
There are zillions of fun and cool things you can do with guitars, including riffs, hammer down, and so on. But in order to unleash the rock star that we know is hidden deep within you, you have to start with the basics first.
Today is the anniversary of George Harrison's death nine years ago in 2001, and we thought a commemorative music lesson was in order. And instead of the usual Beatles fare, we thought we'd show you something a little less known, but just as good— "Handle with Care" by the Traveling Wilburys. Many still aren't familiar with the Traveling Wilburys, despite the superstar musicians involved, but that doesn't change the fact that these guys were awesome!
Begin playing the first measure in Claude Debussy's "Clair de lune" masterpiece. This song has stood the test of time, and influenced musicians around the world. This makes it a really good piece to begin learning piano with. This video covers Measure 1.
Absolutely everybody has heard of it, regardless of whether they know it by name or not… "Clair de lune" by Claude Debussy. This masterpiece by the French composer is one of the most recognized piano pieces in the world. Debussy is regarded as one of the fathers of modern classical music, and the "Clair de lune" shows why. He introduced new, innovative approaches to harmony and sound textures that have inspired generations of musicians.
If there's one thing we learned from high school show choir, it's that trying to scream out songs like your favorite pop artists will eventually ruin your voice and even scar your vocal chords so you'll never be able to sing well again. In fact, lots of famous pop musicians have had to get throat surgery later in life to correct all the damage they did to their vocal chords when they were younger.
Don't lose a great song to theft. It happens all the time, artists and musicians create a great piece of music, perform it locally or leave a copy laying around and suddenly someone else is taking credit for your beloved song. To avoid this mishap and take ownership of your work, you need to copyright your music. In this tutorial, learn how to copyright a song. It is much easier and faster than you would think, and totally worth it for the piece of mind.
A helpful video for all budding musicians as it clearly explains the Gate sidechain feature in the Ableton Live. The maker of this video simply explains how the feature works and how to use it, clarifying what can sometimes be a daunting program to use. A great tutorial from a very good series produced by Huston Singletary to help newer users. The tunes created through the video are also a great inspiration as it is demonstrated how easy it is to create nice sounding music using these techniq...
Musicians who want to take their music to the next level, will want to learn how to create an interesting wobble/fidget effect for the bass. The video takes us through the steps of using Malstrom software to create a wobble/fidget effect that is commonly heard in fidget house music. In order to create this effect, you must have already created a dirty electro bass synth. Once this effect is created, it can be added or combined with just about any other effect at varying frequencies for intere...
This video describes how get mp3s from MySpace that typically would not available for download on your computer. Even though the download link is not clickable the songs are still downloadable! Download all of your favorite music so you can listen to it whenever you want without an internet connection. Put the latest tunes, from your favorite musicians, on an MP3 player and show all of your friends cool new artists!
The music production software world is making it almost unnecessary for new artists and musicians to need to know real instruments. In this video ACepincter demonstrates how he uses a particular method of experimentation to learn so much about the various features of Reason and FL Studio. He shows you 2 exercises you can try to help you teach yourself more about FL Studio and Reason.
Donny Gruendler, a faculty member at Musicians Institute, has become and expert at performing with backing tracks, manually triggering samples, and playing with loops (both live and in the studio). In this installment from his video tutorial series in which he discusses the fundamentals of playing with loops, Donny provides tips for complimenting a drum loop (and thus avoiding "target practice").
Do chord bending on the ukulele. This is a picking technique that sounds a little like what musicians play for country or jazz.
Apple's range of iOS devices have something for everyone, even musicians, and especially guitarists. The AmpliTude App for the iPad and iPhone, along with the AmpliTude iRig is sure to win the hearts of tech-savvy guitar players. In these two videos, you'll learn how to use the application to make some sweet mixes.
This video shows a musicians hands as he explains and demonstrates how to play the C minor blues scale. The notes in the scale are: C, E-flat, F, G-flat, G, B-flat, C. He then explains the fingering: 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3. He demonstrates different patterns with the left and right hand that use the notes in this scale in a 12-bar blues riff. This video would be helpful to anyone learning to play blues piano. After you understand the scale, you can experiment on your own.
With the growing popularity of digital downloads, it's important for aspiring musicians to have some sort of download available of their music. If you're an unsigned musician, selling your music on iTunes might seem daunting, but it's actually very easy! Learn how to do it in this video.
I love finding new artists on Spotify to listen to but hate when musicians I don't like keep popping up in recommended playlists and radio stations. For the longest time, there was nothing you could do about it, but now, Spotify lets you block specific bands and singers from ever playing again.
Despite funding difficulties that forced Meta to place employees on temporary leave in September, the augmented reality headset maker is reminding enterprise companies that it remains a viable option for visualizing and working with 3D design models.
Looking for a hardcore rock and roll image but don't know how to play an instrument? Mix styles from punk rock and goth to ’80s hair bands; and get the extreme look of Japanese rock musicians without ever lifting a guitar.
I don't know about you, but I go to Pandora to listen to music. So when the music stops and an audio message from an artist starts updating me on their tour dates or some new product, I get pretty annoyed. The good thing is you can turn these off.
My autistic son loves music. One afternoon, when he was nine, I downloaded GarageBand to his iPhone to help with the boredom of a long wait at a doctor's office. Instead of pacing or escalating into a meltdown, he spent the entire hour and a half practicing, learning, and composing. When we finally left that day, the rest of us exhausted and irritated, he shared his first composition with a big smile.
Despite the rise of music streaming, the experience of immersing oneself in the artwork and lyrics of old school albums is alive again, as sales of vinyl records and CDs have outpaced digital downloads for the first time since 2011. Now, the latest album from Amsterdam-based Necessary Explosion evolves this experience through augmented reality.
