dave The Community for Working Musicians en-US Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:20:25 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 q http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/search.php http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/topic/introduction-and-patch-question#post-1869 Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:57:30 +0000 nathang 1869@http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/ <p>If you have a Mac, a good way to organize patch changes is to program it all into Mainstage (which is now a separate app that can be purchased for $29.99 on the App Store.) Regardless of what program you use, if your patches are in order, then you can use a MIDI Mouse or similar tool to cycle between them. This will even work if you have patches programmed into the Master section of a keyboard. I hope this helps! </p> http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/topic/musician-website-from-the-ground-up#post-1861 Sun, 05 Feb 2012 09:37:31 +0000 Joe Stone 1861@http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/ <p>laura,</p> <p>You could always find another web developer willing to update your site for you. I've done that for people over the years.</p> <p>Unless you really think you need to have your site redone completely, this would probably be a cheaper way to go. I would suggest that you don't get your site redone because you are getting a new person to do it. Get your site redone when it's time to change it, either because you want a new look or you want new features that require enough changes that you may as well redesign it.</p> <p>Look at it this way. You don't need a new kitchen if your faucet is leaking and needs to be replaced. But, if you want to add a dishwasher, a microwave, a convection oven, well then, yes, you may want to redo your kitchen then. &lt;img src=&quot;http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/bb-plugins/bb-smilies/kopete/smile.png&quot; title=&quot;:)&quot; class=&quot;bb_smilies&quot; /&gt; </p> http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/topic/musician-website-from-the-ground-up#post-1860 Sat, 04 Feb 2012 21:06:18 +0000 laura 1860@http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/ <p>Piggybacking on tcuffari's question...I've been reading the responses to your email...for anyone who wants to answer this: is it fair to say that the templates/themes/capabilities of hosting packages are sufficient for a professional, unique-looking website with all of the bells and whistles that a musician needs? (ability to sign up for mailing lists, ability to list upcoming gig dates, blogs, etc.) </p> <p>By the way, I feel tcuffari's pain! About 4 years ago I spent over a thousand dollars to have someone build my website and host it (a friend of a friend). I quickly found out that, once he got his money and had the website up, he was very hard to reach. Suddenly, emails and phonecalls to him went unanswered. So, any question I have had or changes I've wanted to make have not been done. So, buyer beware -- if you work with an individual, make sure you get several references first. </p> <p>I, too, am illiterate with websites. I have now decided I need to start from scratch again instead of banging my head against the wall with the original designer. </p> <p>Now I have a lot of research to do. </p> <p>I am so glad I discovered this forum. You guys are great!</p> <p>-Cheers,<br /> Laura </p> http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/topic/skype-lessons#post-1859 Fri, 03 Feb 2012 07:39:50 +0000 SmallTimeMusician 1859@http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/ <p>I have been searching for a musician that has created any steady income stream giving Skype Lessons. I think Funkyguitar has such a good response from his personal experience. His response may indicate why Skype lessons have not yet come about. I do however think online lessons have a future, but I suspect they will be more successful with 'branded' and known musicians. </p> http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/topic/musician-website-from-the-ground-up#post-1835 Fri, 27 Jan 2012 10:25:28 +0000 tcuffari 1835@http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/ <p>Hi Dave,</p> <p>That site looks really nice. You have a lot of things on your site that I am trying to teach myself to do on Wordpress. I have been watching so many how-to videos, most of them are confusing or outdated as they apply to code writing or PC programs. I think I need to get assistance from someone who knows what they are doing. When I was back in music conservatory I wish they would have stressed the importance of learning to market yourself and get the skills to build websites. The vast majority of education I have received about surviving as a musician started after school. </p> http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/topic/musician-website-from-the-ground-up#post-1832 Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:36:20 +0000 David J. Hahn 1832@http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/ <p>Hey Tom - </p> <p>I put together a website in one day this last Tuesday, and I thought I'd share my experience. </p> <p>I decided I wanted to make a website about my songwriting, and really try to market myself more in that direction. Check it out here:</p> <p><a href="http://Songwriter.fm">Songwriter.fm</a></p> <p>I know a lot of people don't like GoDaddy, and certainly they have valid reasons, but I've always liked them. So I went to GoDaddy and looked for a domain name. Miraculously <a href="http://songwriter.fm">http://songwriter.fm</a> was available so I snatched it quick!</p> <p>I added the new domain to our hosting plan and asked GoDaddy to install Wordpress for me. I waited about 20 minutes for them to finish that. </p> <p>While they were installing, I looked for themes. I went to ThemeForest.net and stumbled a theme I liked, <a href="http://themeforest.net/item/purity-clean-minimal-bold-wordpress-theme/639774">Purity</a>, and bought it for $35.</p> <p>I connected to our hosting space using the ftp client I like, Cyberduck, and uploaded the theme to the right place in the (now finished) Wordpress installation.</p> <p>I made a header image (my signature, with "New York City Songwriter" underneath) and uploaded it to the theme. I found a bunch of black and white photos to use on the site, picked out that bright pink color for the links and started uploading content. </p> <p>I also went to MailChimp.com and created a new mailing list for the site. I put the sign up form on the front page in bright pink.</p> <p>Altogether the site took maybe 8 hours to put together.</p> <p>Then on Wednesday I went to Facebook, told everyone I was starting a new project and asked if they would sign up for my newsletter. I got some sign ups and started sending out emails today (Thursday). </p> <p>Now I'm putting up some blog posts - YouTube videos of my favorite songs, mostly.</p> <p>And that's it. A new musician website in a day. I hope that info is helpful for you! </p> http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/topic/backing-tracks#post-1831 Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:11:10 +0000 Patrick Colwell 1831@http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/ <p>Keys,<br /> Thanks so much for taking the time to write such a detailed response. That was a lot of good info and I am surely going to need to read it at least 2 more times to fully digest it! The part that really caught my attention was your advice on arranging, particularly this quote:</p> <p>"Use your arranging powers for good and not evil. The more complex your backing track is, the less your audience may view you as a "live" musician. And don't be “that guy” who uses Garageband to re-create an AC/DC song that now has an accordion solo in it... just sayin'."</p> <p>At this point I have created tracks using the Garageband App that are (for the most part) just drum &amp; Bass tracks. In my solo show I play mostly rhythm guitar, sing, and play solos and melody hooks on harmonica. I am hoping that by adding the rhythm tracks I will be able to induce some dancing! I would never use the technology to ad in preprogrammed vocals or solos (although adding a vocal harmonizer pedal is on my list), but I have added simple piano loops to one song (werewolves of london).</p> <p>Your point about sound quality is also well taken. I have not yet decided to use this idea live, but if I do I will definitely woodshed it alot with my PA and make sure the sound is right. </p> <p>Thanks again Keys, I really appreciate your feedback. </p> http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/topic/backing-tracks#post-1830 Thu, 26 Jan 2012 03:02:52 +0000 keyz88 1830@http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/ <p>Patrick,</p> <p>As David stated earlier, some patrons are obviously not hip on the backing tracks philosophy... and we musicians are the most picky. Musical karaoke? That term definitely holds true on most yet not all levels. You know that you are going to get a variety of opinions regarding backing tracks. Learn and grow from their feedback (pun intended). </p> <p>Have I used backing tracks? Yes on about 5% of my gigs when the client requests it. Just to clarify, 5% of the gigs, not 5% of every gig. </p> <p>As a musician, do I consider this cheating? Please keep this in mind: IT'S ALL RELATIVE... meaning it depends on the situation. After all, you're a working musician if not a musical mercenary.</p> <p>Patrick, I saw your video on Facebook. Since it sounds like you're going to utilize backing tracks as a working solo artist, I could make a few constructive suggestions:</p> <p>1.) YOUR CLIENT/AUDIENCE: What does the (solo artist) competition at the same venue you wish to play at utilize? What is acceptable and what is not acceptable? If they use “enhancement”, is it audio backing tracks, MIDI sequences or simply employing a more organic approach with a vocal harmonizer and acoustic guitar (YouTube “Will Makar – Chariot”... that's what I use when I do a solo guitar gig – gives a live sound with no backing tracks ever required). I know a lot of solo guitarists who find the vocal harmonizer approch more satisfying for their clients.</p> <p>1.) THE PLAYBACK: Using a non-MIDI type of audio recording (mp3/wav) will NOT have the needed dynamic range (or punch). Playing back audio or MIDI via your typical laptop soundcard will also sound just as bland and flat. At least MIDI sequenced tunes from a dedicated multi-timbral MIDI sound module will come closer to what you might have in mind, yet always remember this ... ain’t nothin' like the real thing baby!</p> <p>2.) YOUR ARRANGEMENT: Are you going to use backing tracks as an enhancement, or a crutch? A lot of backing track creator/arrangers can't do anything other than adjusting volume and muting someone else's existing pop music midi tracks. I play acoustic piano, but about 5% of my gigs have me playing some sort of midi-sequenced arrangement depending on the venue. A Frank Sinata-esque big band midi version of Bad Bad Leroy Brown (by Kim Croce) is cute and campy buy usually works for only one song. Use your arranging powers for good and not evil. The more complex your backing track is, the less your audience may view you as a "live" musician. And don't be “that guy” who uses Garageband to re-create an AC/DC song that now has an accordion solo in it... just sayin'. </p> <p>3.) ECONOMICS: In my opinion, the current economy actually makes it easier for a solo artist to find jobs and fill the gap, monetarily speaking. Example: A venue might not have the budget to pay a three-piece jazz combo yet desire the sound of a combo playing mellow jazz standards. Sequencing tastefully arranged bass lines and percussion to augment my live electric piano playing does pay well, allows me the flexibility to reach a wider client base that will still pay the bills. I'm sure it also beats flipping burgers for minimum wage. Unless that's your thing. Some places will pay you and your backing tracks good money to be like the tapestry on the wall... something quaint yet nothing more. Other venues or bands want a keyboardist to arrange create and play midi-sequenced tracks to augment their existing show band. Back before everyone had access to the Internet to liberate copyrighted works for no compensation to the original artist or licensed affiliate, we had to make our sequences from scratch. It was called the early 80's. I had a live 5-keyboard setup with a Commodore SX-64 (Google it) slung underneath my lowest keyboard on my keyboard stand. Very sexy and cutting edge by 80's standards! Back then, I used to state that I was in a 4-piece live band, that sounded like a 10 piece pop Top40 commercial band making the money of an 8-piece live group. We could also play the whole night without the sequencing, but back in the 80's most venues wanted that 80'$ $ound. Currently you usually can fill the gap for a venue that can't afford, have the room for or don't want the drama of a full band. </p> <p>Would I currently pop $125+ a ticket to see a pop entertainer in concert, knowing full well that 80% of both the the vocal and instrumental part of the “live” show professionally utilized “backing tracks”? I'd rather not. I could use that same concert money to purchase their entire discography.</p> <p>Would I go see two friends that are monster musicians/vocalists play a duo gig at a mellow casino bar, playing backing tracks to enhance a small portion of their cover tunes (with midi sequences that ironically the original artists similarly employed when playing live in concert back in the day)? Yeah, no problem. </p> <p>IN CONCLUSION: To use backing tracks verses just manually perform the real deal? For the working musician, it's all relative.</p> <p>BTW: Who uses backing/sequenced tracks and pre-recorded tunes? Here's some examples from major artists...<br /> (Feel free to Google, YouTube or Wikipedia the following):</p> <p>* Violinist Itzhak Perlman, cellist Yo-Yo Ma and 2 others during the USA Obama January 23rd 2009 Presidential Inauguration, performed pre-recorded music on live TV before millions of viewers. They even had microphones set up for the faux performance. Hint: In-ear monitors used by any classical quartet is always the first giveaway. BTW: They pre-recorded their performance two days before.<br /> * Most of the 80's Top-40 pop mega hits that employed an unwavering machine-gun 16th note high hat for the entire song.<br /> * The late Italian Tenor Pavaroti: in Torino (Italy) 2006 and the 2006 Toronto (Canada) Olympics, ...<br /> * Martina Mcbride: at a Super Bowl football (USA) “Halftime” show (she was still shaking hands with the crowd at the end of a guitar solo when her backing track started without her and her hand-held mic. I flipped when I saw it on live TV.<br /> * Sir Elton John: 1971 Top of the Pops appearance with T-Rex (BTW: the actual “Bang A Gong” studio recording was keyboardist was Rick Wakeman). Elton even did the cliched Jerry Lee Lewis piano bench kick at the end of the performance – simply awesome! BTW: the whole band lip-synced to the original recording that day.</p> <p>I'm not saying musicians who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones... yet there are scenarios to where even the biggest stars (of opera, classical, country, top-40 Pop) used and are still using backing tracks. We've heard the rationalizations of “It's too cold”, “I'm too sick/stoned/drunk”, "takes too much effort to play live", "my record company demands it", “I'm a pop star anyway so get used to it” and “there's too much coin invested in this musical roller-coaster to disappoint the concert audience”. And we will never again use the phrases “Ashlee Simpson” and “Saturday Night Live” in the same sentence... but I digress.</p> <p>There was also a time where a “distorted” electric guitar was considered the anti-christ of popular music and string ensemble sections reproduced on an electric piano keyboard robbed actual union studio musicians of jobs. Before all that there were blacksmiths that would shoe your horse, but the automobile kinda took a chunk out of that livelyhood. Everything is relative... backing tracks are no different... or are they? </p> http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/topic/new-versions-of-logic#post-1827 Tue, 24 Jan 2012 09:11:53 +0000 Joe Stone 1827@http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/ <p>Get the App Store versions. The only thing you're not getting is Soundtrack and Waveburner.</p> <p>Also, give yourself time for the download. It's GBs big! </p> http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/topic/sopa-and-afm#post-1826 Tue, 24 Jan 2012 09:05:50 +0000 Joe Stone 1826@http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/ <p>Nice analogies, Nick! &lt;img src=&quot;http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/bb-plugins/bb-smilies/kopete/smile.png&quot; title=&quot;:)&quot; class=&quot;bb_smilies&quot; /&gt; </p> <p><blockquote>Is there maybe something we could do about this? Hair keeps sending emails and videos out that complain about the hits the top tier of working musicians have had--and the rest of us always seem to be forgotten. It just seems like he needs a "what about us?" statement.</blockquote></p> <p>[Before I go on, a caveat. As I mentioned, I'm not a union member, so I have no idea how things are run nor any possible consequences of doing things like I might suggest.]</p> <p>Simply put, my suggestion is "Think Global, Act Local." I doubt you'd get very far with the head office, unless you found someone there that was friendly to your cause. But maybe you can get your local to represent <em>you</em>. The trick might be doing that without alienating the old guard. Are they worth keeping around? I don't know, but they may fight back if they think "their" union is being taken away.</p> <p>I bet David would have a harder time doing something like this in NY with the HQ right there than you would in Florida.</p> <p>That's just a thought from the outside. </p> http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/topic/sopa-and-afm#post-1825 Tue, 24 Jan 2012 01:46:05 +0000 David J. Hahn 1825@http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/ <p>Labor unions were created by outspoken people. They should feel grateful that some part of their membership still feels enough passion for the institution that they care what happens to it.</p> <p>I would get more involved if I felt like it would do any good at all. </p> http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/topic/sopa-and-afm#post-1824 Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:37:26 +0000 Nick Rosaci 1824@http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/ <p>Also, I am kind of worried about being outspoken about it. Would the AFM fine me for not backing them up, kind of like if an AFM member works for a blacklisted orchestra? </p> http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/topic/sopa-and-afm#post-1823 Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:36:10 +0000 Nick Rosaci 1823@http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/ <p>Is there maybe something we could do about this? Hair keeps sending emails and videos out that complain about the hits the top tier of working musicians have had--and the rest of us always seem to be forgotten. It just seems like he needs a "what about us?" statement. </p> http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/topic/new-versions-of-logic#post-1820 Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:25:12 +0000 David J. Hahn 1820@http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/ <p>I think the $499 version is a bundle of several programs, including Logic Pro. Here's a thread about it:</p> <p><a href="https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3593526?start=0&amp;tstart=0">Logic Pro 9 vs. Logic Studio</a></p> <p>I'm not sure - but it sounds like you could just buy the $199 version and, then separately, Mainstage. It sounds like you'll want both of those programs for what you need. </p> http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/topic/sopa-and-afm#post-1819 Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:20:01 +0000 David J. Hahn 1819@http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/ <p>I get so frustrated with the AFM. They seem completely unable to adapt to new technology and the new musician industry. At the national level they pick <em>impossible</em> fights and waste all of our dues on a long list of fools-errands. It's like the head office here in NYC is populated entirely by robotic idealogues who can't understand why the rules that worked in 1979 don't work in 2012.</p> <p>Surely I benefit from the work of the union - I'm very grateful for the Broadway contracts I work under. But when they send out emails like this PIPA/SOPA trash it becomes painfully obvious that they have only the most tenuous grasp of reality in regards to the rank-and-file musician's career.</p> <p>In fact - it seems to me that the AFM spends most of it's time working on issues that affect only the top 1% of musicians in North America. They fight for the copyright infringements of mega-stars, brag about pop stars memberships on the cover of the International Musician, agonize over the loss of film composers work. Sometimes it seems like they only care about musicians who make $100k+. Is this a labor union or a country club?</p> <p>Mr. Hair was way off the mark with this email. The management of the AFM is totally out of touch with the needs of the average working musician. </p> http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/topic/new-versions-of-logic#post-1817 Mon, 23 Jan 2012 11:44:01 +0000 tcuffari 1817@http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/ <p>I want to get logic for my home computer (2011 IMAC) to utilize recording functions, add samples from wav files and prepare mainstage for live performances. I see that you can buy Logic Studio 9 for $499 or Logic Pro for $199 in the app store. I also saw Mainstage sold separately in the app store for $29.99. What are your opinions for the best way to go? </p> http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/topic/sopa-and-afm#post-1815 Mon, 23 Jan 2012 09:55:47 +0000 Nick Rosaci 1815@http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/ <p>Exactly. I didn't quote the second part of it, because I thought I might be jumping to conclusions as to the president of the union calling us liars for supporting the bill. Which, as it seems, is an "old person vs. young person" bill to me.</p> <p>This bill would be like passing a new seat belt law in Florida. Someone decided nobody is wearing their seat belts enough, so we need to make a harsh law and force them. Problem is, there's already a law to wear a seat belt in the state of Florida. What's the point?</p> <p>I saw a great Facebook status a week ago, and adapted it for my use:</p> <p>The median age of currently serving U.S. Senators is 62 years, 163 days. Great, so our parents want to run the internet. What could possibly go wrong? </p> http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/topic/sopa-and-afm#post-1812 Mon, 23 Jan 2012 08:09:56 +0000 Joe Stone 1812@http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/ <p><blockquote>We hope a new tone can be set that does not include website attacks, blacklists, blackouts, and lies.</blockquote> This is where he/they lost me. It would be one thing for them to say that there have been misunderstandings, the other side is incorrect or misinformed, but to accuse them who felt so strongly about it as attackers and liars is something that I can only describe with profanity, so I won't.</p> <p>Of course, I support the principle of what Congress was trying to do with the legislation, but from what I understood of it, it was going about it the wrong way. We've already seen what "takedowns" are like to varying degrees, such as someone posts a video on YouTube and the copyright owner of some part of it gets them to take it down, even when it was fair use or some such.</p> <p>Unfortunately, I think this is another symbol of the old guard trying to protect the old ways instead of adapting to the new ways. One could argue the AFM has been doing this for years, and that is why they don't represent many musicians anymore.</p> <p>It's a shame, too. I'm not anti-union by any stretch. I truly wish I thought that joining the union would be beneficial, but for the kinds of gigs I do, I don't see it. </p> http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/topic/sopa-and-afm#post-1809 Sun, 22 Jan 2012 12:10:04 +0000 Nick Rosaci 1809@http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/ <p>I received a letter from the AFM president condemning the SOPA opposition as "an onslaught of mistruths and great pressure to renege on their [political supporters] commitment."</p> <p>I understand the need to protect copyright laws and such, but it seems that it was very unfair for the president of an organization that represents creative peoples both infamous and largely unknown to write off the opposition as lies. There are some very serious concerns with the new proposed bills that could affect sites like this one and mine.</p> <p>There are a few issues I see on this:</p> <p>1.) Megaupload gets taken down the day the voting happened. If the site was taken down after the bill hypothetically passed, everyone would have given SOPA the credit for the crackdown. Since it came down before the vote ever happened, it can no longer take credit. It looks to me as if enforcers actually planned to crack down on this site to coincide with it being the night the bill would have passed. Why were they still able to take down the site? Because laws protecting copyright already exist, but weren't enforced before.</p> <p>2.) I believe Mr. Hair thinks that whatever he believes, everyone in the union believes, too. Some of us (likely many AFM members, after seeing all those numbers in the petitions) just couldn't support a bill that may have caused infighting within creative groups. What if Motown records didn't like that I have a video of myself performing with a band playing a Motown medley on my site to show my performance capabilities with a group? Could they take down my site, then take down YouTube for my uploading the video there?</p> <p>This is right after he made that video against Lionsgate films. It just seems as if he picks the big fish to fry. </p> <p>Down here in Orlando, I like the union members. We're all connected in this way, and the rehearsal space is great to have, and I like being the first to know about local auditions. I love that our local president does a great job representing the Disney and local Broadway musicians. Besides this, I haven't really seen anything that the union on a national level can do for me other than send me a copy of International Musician. I guess now I'm asking what the union at the national level can do for me? </p> <p>What are other peoples' thoughts on this? </p> http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/topic/costa-concordia-accident#post-1801 Fri, 20 Jan 2012 13:40:55 +0000 Higgs 1801@http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/ <p>Y'know, for all the bad rap musicians on cruise ships get, they often end up the heros. In 1991, the MTS Oceanos ran into a storm on her way to Durban, and started to sink. The Captain and the senior officers abandoned ship before it was fully evacuated, leaving it up to the cruise director, a magician and 2 musicians to coordinate the rescue efforts. They managed to get everyone off safely. This is a link to their story. it's pretty scary stuff. There were a few times on ships where I felt much better prepared to deal with an emergency than the senior officers, and that's not a good feeling to have. </p> <p><a href="http://www.oceanossinking.com/MYSTORYOFTHESINKING.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.oceanossinking.com/MYSTORYOFTHESINKING.htm</a> </p> http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/topic/offered-free-skype-guitar-lessons-trial-run-results#post-1797 Thu, 19 Jan 2012 07:33:30 +0000 Joe Stone 1797@http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/ <p>Cool. Yeah, what a lot of people don't realize is that in order to get people coming back to their site, they need updates. Even a blog is a good thing, if you keep it updated.</p> <p>Good luck! </p> http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/topic/costa-concordia-accident#post-1796 Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:28:14 +0000 David J. Hahn 1796@http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/ <p>Man, that's awful. I'm so sorry to hear that. </p> http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/topic/costa-concordia-accident#post-1795 Wed, 18 Jan 2012 23:56:12 +0000 NateOMatic 1795@http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/ <p>Unfortunately, it comes to my attention that the first identified victim, and only crew member confirmed dead so far, was in fact a musician: violinist Sandor Feher of Hungary. Also still unaccounted for is an Italian drummer, Giuseppe Girolamo. Reports are that both men were last seen assisting passengers.</p> <p><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/drowned-violinist-doomed-italian-cruise-ship-costa-concordia-helped-children-safety-lost-article-1.1008315">Link to article</a> </p> http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/topic/offered-free-skype-guitar-lessons-trial-run-results#post-1794 Wed, 18 Jan 2012 23:21:24 +0000 funkyguitar 1794@http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/ <p>Thanks for all the feedback. The Skype technology has worked quite well for me actually, especially recently. There was an upgrade a few weeks ago, and things have been going quite smoothly overall. True, there are 'moments of panic' when I get audio feedback, or the occasional frozen webcam shot. But I think the technological glitches are negligible and don't have significant impact on the lesson. WebEx and gotomeeting.com both require a paid subscription, which is out of my budget now. The premium features of watching videos together is easily worked around by pasting the YouTube link of the video into the instant messenger chat window built into the Skype interface. I email out to the student .pdf files of sheet music I've put together for them. </p> <p>I do have student testimonials on the lesson page. You gave me a few ideas to work with to make the layout and content more streamlined. As far as the lessons being a side note, I feel that what you mentioned in the first part of you post gets to why I have it this way. I'm not a Steve Vai or McCoy Tyner, but I can stand out by emphasizing what it is that I'm a part of, who I support, and just generally writing about what I'm doing. My aim is to present myself as a performer and a music fan as much as a teacher. I feel that if someone has made it onto my site, they must already be interested in lessons. I can stand out more by blogging about my thoughts and talking about things like my upcoming contract performing for a cruise line. It sets me apart and makes me more unique. Not every teacher out there has that background, so I'd like to think someone out there believes it would be cool to take lessons from a traveling musician. My concept is to have changing content on my Home page, to keep it fresh and diverse, and get 'repeat customers' - give people a reason to keep coming back. I agree I could make lessons the focus a bit more, I'll do some research and brainstorm some ideas to integrate that focus into the site... </p> http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/topic/offered-free-skype-guitar-lessons-trial-run-results#post-1793 Wed, 18 Jan 2012 08:52:19 +0000 Joe Stone 1793@http://www.musicianwages.com/forums/ <p>I know a lot of famous or semi-famous musicians offer Skype/online lessons. This makes me wonder what the draw is for "unknowns." I don't mean this to be a slag on you guys. But I would imagine that most people with a decent internet connection can also get lessons in person on the more common instruments anyway. Why would I go through the hassle of an online lesson when I can get an in-person lesson? The answer is, you have to offer something to me that the instructors local to me can't. If you're Steve Vai or McCoy Tyner, that's one thing.</p> <p>That being said, maybe I've tried all the instructors local to me and didn't like what I found, so I'm willing to try online lessons. How would I find out about you and decide to give you a try?</p> <p>(I don't know the answer to that.)</p> <p>When I first contacted my current piano teacher, he said the first lesson was free in order to find out if we were a good match. I think that's a good idea in general, perhaps moreso with online lessons where people are unsure if it will work for them.</p> <p>Do you have testimonials on your site from current or former students? That might help.</p> <p>In David's case, it might help for him to promote his experience on Broadway with shows, as that's not something you can get anywhere.</p> <p>Lance, I just took a *quick* look at your site. Frankly, the lessons seem to almost be a side note to me. The info about lessons on the left is kinda tucked under the general "hey this is what the site is about" and can get overlooked. The Lessons tab takes you to a page with a bunch of examples, but you kind of gloss over the private lessons info at the top of the page. Some lesson pages put the sheet music big and first, others have the video clips. I would make these more consistent in layout, and use them to plug what you can teach. I know you may not want to come across as a sales pitch, but I think under Lessons it would be okay. Take a look at other sites that promote themselves and their lessons well, and see how they do it. </p>