Julian Michael new EP

I am pleased to announce that Julian has released a new EP called Land. Get more information at his website www.julianmichaelmusic.com

Happy March 2011. Wow, is it really March already?

Okay I know it’s been awhile and guess what, I’m still kicking. I am working on some really cool stuff for a resource website for Destinysong that will help people play guitar. This is a huge endeavor and it’s occupying most of my time. Julian tracked a new album in January and it needs to be mixed. No rush, our target release is the Fall so I should be okay. And yes I still write songs, just haven’t committed anything to tape so I can’t exactly share it right now. And yes, I still lead worship on a regular basis. Currently I am on staff at New Covenant Church in Larkspur, CO and I also lead at Shirley Strand’s Wind of the Spirit meetings which are twice a month in Colorado Springs. Anyhow, be blessed and continue to pursue transformation in the name of Jesus.

Advertisement

Julian New Album

My son, Julian Michael Burwell is a singer and songwriter. His first project “Time to Move On” was released last Thanksgiving. Well somehow in the midst of a very intense school and travel schedule just one year later he was able to write 8 new songs and record and release them on a new album. It is now available at www.julianmichaelmusic.com. The album is called “Ocean” and shows a real maturation in his writing and performing. I am very proud of Julian and the way he is developing in his walk with the Lord, his schooling, his character development, and as a musician. Once again he plays all instruments on this project which is just crazy to me. Drums, bass, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, acoustic piano, keys, etc. Please support him by checking out the album and grabbing a copy for your very own. Any purchases also support what the Lord is calling to do through Destinysong.

State of the Music Biz and the Indie Artist

I spent some time today reading about the state of the music biz and it was a bit depressing and demotivating. Musicians and industry people complain and bemoan the fact that folks are downloading and sharing all sorts of music for free. I.e. there is no money in it anymore. The big rant is that the average artist can’t make any money, etc. and no one seems to know who the enemy is. There are equal parts of bashing iTunes to praising it; there is the whole P2P thing (basically if you are just a little tech savvy you can find any movie, music, video game, etc for free on some version of a peer-to-peer networking site), burning CDs, sharing files, etc.

I may be wrong but it all seems to go back to that time vs. money thing. If I want the music quickly and easily and in the format I desire (CD, mp3, iTunes, etc.), I will pay for it. If I have the time to ask my friend for a loaner, or burn a CD off my buddy’s computer, or am willing to invest the effort in some torrents software (avoiding all the viruses), well I can get it for free. People share stuff they like, so burning a CD for a friend is quite normal anymore. When I was a kid we used to make compilation tapes of our favorite songs, theming them based on things like “driving music” or “mellow stuff.” We would title our compilation tapes and then pass them about to friends. Tapes like “in your face,” “burn,” and “closers” were pretty cool stuff; you can imagine the types of songs I put on those tapes. We never felt we were stealing or ripping anyone off. In a way we were paying homage to artists we really liked and the artist got even more popular to our circle of friends. Today it’s even easier; you can make a playlist in iTunes or whatever software you use, and share it around (making a tape would take me an hour or more; making a playlist takes less than 30 seconds if you know what songs you want). Same deal I guess but it removes something crucial from the picture back in the day: relationship.

Which leads me to a thought about the ranters out there who are complaining about the state of the music biz. What’s missing here is relationship. Technology is the thing that has enabled independent and unsigned musicians to easily get their stuff out there for people to hear but now it is what they are bashing. USB drives, flash cards, cell phones, smart phones, digital downloads, etc. have all in one way or another made hard copy music (records, tapes, CDs, reel-to-reels, you name it) near obsolete except to a niche market, the exception being where the medium makes sense (see time vs. money comment above) in communicating a message that would be lost if this specific medium was not employed. So we all can share stuff for free now, which gives us exposure, but free = no money so we cannot get paid for it. Heres the scenario: I drop hard earned cash on studio time, then pay money for artwork and to have the CD replicated, and I’m don’t sell anything. Oops.

I may need to dwell on this one a bit more but for now I will say that indie artists will make money on the relationship end of the spectrum. I.e. at shows, person to person, via their website, etc. I once heard that the best musicians in the world will never be known. So even if a musicians song is the best of its kind, they cannot just toss it out there in internetland and hope they will make money. The internet is not a winning lottery ticket that requires no work. If their song is *really* popular (your goal right?), people will share it (equals free, not your goal right?). This will make that artists popularity increase within certain circles and niches, but that still doesn’t necessarily translate into money. If money is what you are after you have to have a product that people cannot get without paying for it. A product that differentiates from all others on the market. That, my musician friends is you. You, in relationship with that person. This could be face to face, could be via a social networking, could be on the web, but the bottom line is people will only pay for what they do not already have, or if they need more of something expendable, or if the perceived value is high enough. Free is the new black so music is devalued. Yet it is still a necessary part of our cultural fabric (nothing God invented will decrease) and so if you want to make money off of it you will need to add the relationship component. This usually happens at a gig.

Even artists on major labels have this issue. I read an article about someone who sold 2 million units of their song/album and ended up owing the label over $200,000. The only way the label got that many songs sold is through heavy promotion like an expensive video, etc. The only way the artist will pay them back, according to the article, is by touring.

Touring…as in gigs right? Relationship wins every time.

Want to hear some free music? Visit http://www.destinysong.com/worship/Audio.html

For an interesting, and occasionally colorful article on this subject, read this from respected veteran rocker John Mellencamp in the Huffington Post. Linking this does not suggest I agree with his political views, but if you read the article you’ll get a great look into the history of how we got to where we are today. Click here.

VOTE! Single from Time to Move On

Hey everyone, we need some help and you get to make the call! We get to submit one song from Julian’s album to an A&R rep for evaluation, and also we need to figure out which song to release on college radio. But we can’t decide! You can help us. For those of you who already know most of these tunes, please vote below. For those who don’t know the songs, you can check out some previews at www.julianmichael.com. Please vote and help us out!

Julian in the Studio – UPDATE

Hey, it’s been awhile since I updated on Julian’s upcoming CD so I figured I post real quick with where we are at. Tracking was a fun process and for the past few weeks I’ve been in post-production, essentially doing the final mixing for the CD. Last night I completed a “final” version of the CD and will ship it off to Julian at JBU for him to listen to and give a green light on. Here’s the album order:

1. Perfect Day
2. These Idols
3. Here With Me
4. Between Us
5. So Long My Friend
6. Rescue You
7. How Long
8. Must This all Last?
9. Lost it All
10. 1000
11. Time to Move On

Plus there is an intro track on the CD and a coda. Anyway, the album title is “Time to Move On” and Julian played everything on the CD, drums, bass, guitar, keys, piano, voice, etc. We are working on album artwork and developing a website for him. Both should be done soon. Final steps are mastering and duplication. This part costs money so we are praying in some funds so that there is no delay in releasing the album. If you want to help us out please give on our PayPal account by clicking here.

I would love to shoot for a mid-October release. Gosh it’s crazy launching a studio! For fun you can check out these videos of Julian in the studio from prior posts:

http://michaelburwell.com/2009/07/09/julian-in-the-studio/
http://michaelburwell.com/2009/07/14/julian-in-the-studio-–-part-2-we-roll-tonight-to-the-guitar-bite/
http://michaelburwell.com/2009/07/22/julian-in-the-studio-part-3-victory-salute/

I have a 4th video to post, but haven’t had a chance to edit it so hopefully I’ll get that out here soon!

Studio for Beginners: Proximity Effect on Vocals

While recording vocals in the studio I found that trying the vocalist way up on the mic and taking advantage of what is called the ‘proximity effect’ was really useful to capture a great performance. The ‘proximity effect’ is something that happens when you get all up on a mic and it seems to the listener that the bass, or low end, gets louder. (If you want to read more about it, check this article out on Wikipedia.) The advantage of this is two-fold to my ears 1) your vocalists voice sounds fuller and 2) you get a recording that sits in the mix better.

The interesting thing is that this also seemed to free up the performer a bit. They backed off and relaxed knowing they were getting a super positive sound on the mic.

The only challenge I had was a) I needed to really control the input gain especially on stronger/louder passages and b) the vocalist sometimes wanted to get *too* close. Rather than creating an intimate sound, I ended up needing to re-take the passage since we ended up with some muffling, etc.

I should point out that I am using large diaphragm condenser mics such as the Studio Projects C1, CAD Trion series, Octava 314, Shure KSM27, MXL V63, etc. Usually mics like these will be noted in instructional books and videos as properly being recorded at roughly 12″ (1 foot) away. I was trying some things as close as 3″ with the vocalist’s nose almost touching the pop filter! And yes, this was recording a very dynamic vocalist. (No compression used.)

Side note: I will be getting my hands on a cool dynamic mic (think Shure SM58 like what you would use in a live situation) called a Shure SM7B which has proven to produce some great close up vocal recordings.

Julian in the Studio – Part 3: Victory Salute

More video from the Destinysong studio courtesy of my iPhone 3Gs. Watch it over and over and over again! You must!

Julian in the Studio – Part 2: We Roll Tonight To The Guitar Bite

Julian and I hit a milestone in that we are now complete with all the electric guitars on the forthcoming album.  We explored a lot of different sounds and textures.  The most successful arrangement for us is seen in this video.  We ran several sounds on this CD for electric including some mono stuff, and the ol’ mic the amp mic the room technique.  But we were most satisfied with true stereo.  With Marshall and Fender amps; Fender, Gibson, and Gretsch guitars to choose from, our sonic palette was quite diverse.

Enjoy more video taken from my iPhone including a little 4^th of July bonus.

Mando Power

This week we have been experimenting in the studio.  And in the words of Bruce Dickenson, yes the Bruce Dickenson “exploring the studio space.”  In the course of things I found myself with a mandolin in my hands cutting some tracks for a tune of Julian’s.  This one’s for you Ted.