Between my first two solo albums (“Phase 1 – Neolyrical” and “Phase 2 – Lyrics to an Identity“) and the one I just released, “Phase 3 – L.Y.R.I.C.A.L. Without Fear“, there was a five year gap, 2005 to 2010.  Of course, within that gap, so many things have come to the internet, including ways to make it easier for us at-home musicians/hobbyists/aspiring musicians.  From a marketing aspect, you have MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter for your social networking, and you also have internet radio stations like Jango and Last.FM.  Even Performance Rights Organizations like BMI have ways to register music online.

Recently, ADM told me about this one site called Pump Audio who offers services in getting your music to filmmakers and such who need music.  Basically, there’s licensing involved, and you get a cut of the royalties when someone decides to use your music for their project.  Not a bad thing, right?

I have read about the positives and negatives about sites like Pump Audio.  Some talk about the royalties split, some talk about whether or not they give you the exposure that you expect, and some even say that they take your music and try to repackage it.  That last one is the scariest.  Money to me isn’t that important, since I have a full-time job that pays ok.  Exposure, well I can take any exposure I can get.  As far as repackaging it, although only 1 or 2 claim that and it was never truly proven, that scares me a lot.

With that story told, you should now know why I’m now talking about copyright, and hoping that this post will give people some insight on what they can do for copyright.  I’ll be updating this post with some more information to make sure I’m 100% accurate, as what is a resource when it’s not fully reliable?

FRIENDLY REMINDER: You copyright music.  You don’t patent or trademark music.

To start off, copyright law says that if you made it and it can be shown, you own it. (See the When is my work protected? question in the government’s copyright official copyright section)

That’s quite easy to say, but unfortunately, that’s hard to prove in court.

Secondly, let’s address the “Poor Man’s Copyright,” which basically is the method of mailing your work to yourself and using the postmark as proof.  The copyright site debunks that as well since there are ways to presend an envelope then put the materials inside.  So no go with that. (See the I’ve heard about a “poor man’s copyright.” What is it? question in the government’s copyright official copyright section)

The best way, albeit a little pricey, is to go with the REAL, AUTHENTIC copyright.  Meaning, you go straight to the government and submit your music to the Library of Congress.  If you’ve got the certificate of copyright, you’re good to go in court.

Back in the day, (sounding like an old man, yet not at or above the age of 30), there were different forms you had to fill out if you wanted to do it the right way.  Those familiar with the process know of forms like the SR form, or the PA form.  You would pay $45 and submit your music on CD along with the proper forms.  Like doing your taxes, different forms were used for different situations, and you really had to read the print to know what’s going on.  It would get confusing also.  One of the biggest questions for me was, do I need to send $45 per song?  I have a 16 track album, so that means I have to shell out more than $700 just to copyright an album?

Well the answer to this is yes and no, depending on what you’ve got.  If you are the sole writer/performer of all the songs, you could actually submit one CD with all the songs, and only have to pay $45 once.  Good deal, right?

If you’re like me though, that won’t work.  Half of my songs are collabs on my albums, usually.  Since I’m not the sole writer/performer, you can’t submit just once.  You need to submit each song separately due to the spread of copyright between different writers/performers.

Examples are on this page. Scroll down to see the examples.

Then there would be the long wait time, because you’d have to mail it, wait for them to receive it, and then wait for your certificate.  One thing to note though, YOU ARE PROTECTED THE MINUTE THEY’VE RECEIVED IT.  So when you mail, you would attach a return receipt, and you can deem the song as properly copyrighted once you get that receipt back acknowledging that they’ve received the package on whatever date.

Since the last time I’ve had my hand on this, the copyright office has done two things that have made this easier.

The first is now there is only one form: The CO form.  Great!

And as an allusion back to my whole 5 year gap and the internet thing, the copyright office now allows ONLINE SUBMISSIONS, or what they call the eCO.  The price of submitting an eCO is $10 lower, probably because of smaller admin costs. You can peep here if you want to see what’s up.

So with all that, we musicians can now do our copyrighting online!

I just tried it, and I submitted two songs up on one CD (both solely mine), and coincidentally the same songs I’m going to use for Pump Audio.  It was very easy to do.  I signed up, filled out the online form, paid through their ACH/Credit Card system, and submitted the mp3′s.  Can’t really get much easier than that.

Now that I know they’ve gotten  my payment and my mp3 submissions, I can consider those two songs copyrighted!  They’ll be sending me the certificate after going through the processes.  I can now send to Pump Audio without fear of them stealing stuff and not having any protection.

Hopefully that helped you out, if you wanted to know anything about copyright.  I’ll be studying this more to see if I can add in some more useful info.

And as far as Roll Call ’10 info, aside from the work previously announced, Brian Bullion’s submission looks like it will be an Incubus style track, and ADM is submitting a rap beat (yes, a rap beat!) for use in the compilation.  People are leaving their comfort zones to mix stuff up.  Let’s see how this all goes down!

More to come, as always!  Keep it locked.

-mnshyn

E-MU has the PatchMix system, which is a little app that runs that handles your ASIO.  On Windows XP, there used to be two different visible devices in Windows; one ASIO, and the other a standard wave device.  Usually, most non-audio production stuff would run on the standard wave device E-MU driver, and I would run Audition and FL Studio on ASIO.

However, after installing 7, I ran into an issue: there was only one device, and only ASIO would work, meaning that only my audio production apps had sound.  Everything else, Google Chrome, Media Player, iTunes, etc. would not play.

I thought it was an issue with the driver, but after doing some investigating, I found that Windows itself has a selector for sampling rate.  You need to match this rate with PatchMix.

Here’s a quick screenshot, in case you run into the problem.  Click on it to see it fullsize:

Figure 2010-03-05/1 - PatchMix and Windows 7 Sound Control Panel

Notice how both PatchMix and Windows 7 are running on the same sampling rate.  This will allow other Windows apps to use sound.

To get to the Windows 7 Panel you see above:

1. Take note of what sampling rate PatchMix is using.  If you’re using 44.1K, you will need to set Windows to 44100, i.e.
2. Hit the Window Logo (The nice circular logo at the bottom left)
3. Click on Control Panel (On the second column)
4. Click on Hardware and Sound
5. Click on Manage Audio Devices
6. Click on the device that says Speakers, E-MU E-DSP, then click Properties
7. Click on the Advanced Tab
8. Choose the appropriate sample rate to match with PatchMix, then hit Apply.
9. Test by hitting the test button to hear a sound.  If you hear the sound and do not get a “this device is being used by another application” or similar message, you’re good to go.

Growing pains, I tell you.  But at least it’s working!

By the way, thanks to the people who have so far bought tracks from Phase 3 – L.Y.R.I.C.A.L. Without Fear!

Will update soon with a vid or two, MsP news, plus a review on the EastWest Quantum Leap Choir VSTi, as promised!

-mnshyn

iTunes Link for Phase 3 – L.Y.R.I.C.A.L. Without Fear

When you click on the link, it will open up iTunes and bring you directly to where you can buy the songs and put them on your iPod. =]

In other news, ADM and I got some work done on projeCt inhalOr, albeit just a little. =]  All in due time.

More coming soon!

-mnshyn

Continuing with the marketing (broke-ass marketing lol for the common man), I’m getting flyers (via VistaPrint) printed out to help out with some more exposure.  They’re two sided, one side featuring Black and Blue Ink. (trying to get us some more exposure also), and the other has the promo for Phase 3.

Speaking of BBI, as announced on this blog a few days ago, BBI is going back to the studio to get you more insane lyricism than you can handle!  Tentative release date for now is in the Fall of 2010, for “The Lyricist Manifesto.”

And last but not least, I’ve put together a nice sampler of all the songs that are on Phase 3, which goes along with this marketing blitz (or lack theirof lol).  This is going on promo CD’s that will get passed around to garner more interest in the project.  Of course, you get to hear it here!  Right now!

More coming?  Absolutely!

-mnshyn

I was just playing around, trying to come up with some different sounds.  I ended up with this little catchy thing at 130bpm.  The second half of the 16 bar loop sounds like House to me, and the first half sounds like… pop maybe?  Not too sure.

Anyway, I’m still trying to find a fresh sound for Phase 4, while keeping to my roots.  I’ve still got the Jazz/Swing stuff on tap, as well as some other ideas I want to try.  Nothing solidified yet.

I’m guessing part of this is influenced by my visit to Ultra (club in Teaneck, NJ) this past Friday for a birthday party, the fistpumping nature of the Jersey Shore (which I’ve only watched once, and since people make fun of the fistpumping I thought I’d try the music out), and going through some of mine and ADM’s old music in the Chamber[303] days.

It’s nice to not be limited by anything.  Hopefully I’ll get some traction, and maybe record a track or two that would be the foundation for my next opus.  I don’t want to release anything though until Phase 3 has gotten around for a bit.  Remember, it’s coming out March 1, 2010 on iTunes!

Drop comments with your thoughts.  ADM might have something to say about this because if that one half isn’t house, I’m sure he’ll let me know. =]

Project inhalOr and Wind Beneath My Wings with Destiny Soprano are both on deck, as well as a few songs from Cocoa.

More to come!

-mnshyn

Let’s see what the future holds. =]

-mnshyn

If you have been following this blog, you’ll notice that the first ten blogs were about this particular song which took almost 2 years to create when you include all the delays (no pun intended) and the different versions and iterations.

Well here is the final song, in all its splendor and glory, [at 96k though, CD quality available from iTunes on March 1, 2010 ;o) ] and I hope you guys like it.  Considering it’s the first song where every active MsP member’s voice is on it, this is a very important song to me and one of the ones I’m most proud of. =]

Order of performers:

0. GnP’s Takewun on the prologue.

1. Cocoa
2. DiMpLeZ (MooN ShynE and ADM in the background)
3. K-Maculate
4. Less with a cameo by GNP’s Boy Gnyus yelling “Aiyyo back the f*ck up!”
5. Harmony Speaks (on the walkie-talkie, talking to MooN ShynE)
6. FoRcE oNe
7. Brian Bullion
8. ADM (with MooN ShynE)
9. Destiny Soprano
10. MooN ShynE

Some blog posts of importance to this song, for anyone wanting to ask about production techniques:
History of the song
Robot voice used for DiMpLeZ
Vocal notes for Harmony Speaks
Comp’ing Destiny Soprano’s vocals

Hope you guys like it. =] Remember, to get the CD Quality version, get it on iTunes when it comes out on March 1, 2010 when “Phase 3 – L.Y.R.I.C.A.L. Without Fear” makes its debut.

-mnshyn

Yeah, so I messed up.  Vincent is in the credits section of this outro, but I forgot to shout him out as part of GNP.  I know that doesn’t seem like a big deal, but when you shout out a full crew and you miss a person, indirectly it’s almost like you’re saying he isn’t a part of it.  So my apologies to Vincent.  I want to redo the outro to put him in there and mention some others I want to name as well.

I mention at the end that I never mean to forget people, but if I really wanted to put everyone in, it could be a 12 minute track, and I wanted to avoid that.  The first take of it actually was almost 15 minutes, and that wasn’t going to go.  So some parts I was rushing through, and later on I realized I didn’t put in Vincent with the rest of GNP as well as other people that I hang out with that I should’ve shouted out in with my baller people from Dumont.

So anywho, here it is.  I just wanted to post this up because when “Phase 3 – L.Y.R.I.C.A.L. Without Fear” does get released on iTunes on March 1st, I want it known that I am aware that I forgot to put people in and I will try to resubmit it with the names in the right places. =]  So my apologies to those I missed in this outro.

Anyway, more to come. =]

-mnshyn

My main issue with the recording was the fact that I forgot to change the preset on the Samson CCom16 Compressor from Aggressive Vocal to Smooth Vocal or just to bypass.  This caused her vocals to sound like they hit a wall, and I didn’t get the fullness of Destiny’s vocals.  That was my first conclusion, but by the end of the second session, I found out that wasn’t my only issue.

We met up this past Thursday to try to re-record.  Unfortunately, this time, Destiny had done her share of raising her voice a couple of times for various reasons throughout the day.  The result was Destiny’s throat hindering her performance.

Her part on this song (at least for the first half) was singing the first four bars of the chorus to “Alone” by Heart.  Anyone who knows this song and has tried to sing it knows that following Ann Wilson’s vocals is not an easy task.  Ann Wilson has a very strong voice with that definitive presence and the ability to reach very high notes.

Destiny’s presence in general when singing has a slight similarity in terms of strength that Ann Wilson does.  The notes on this half of the verse are relatively high, and after making quite a few attempts, we settled on a few takes, and moved on to the second half.  I wrote the second half, and it was slightly lower in range than the first half.  Problem is, however, after going at the first half really hard, she found it difficult to adjust to singing lower because she had already strained herself trying to do the first half.

To salvage the session, I ended up having to comp the vocals, using a combination of the first session and the second.

For those who don’t know what comping is, comping is taking parts of different takes of the same verse, and putting the best pieces from all the takes together in sequence so that it sounds like what would be the best possible take.

To do so, you just have to cut and paste the snips you need from the different takes together in your multi-track mixer on your DAW (Digital Audio Workstation [if you do your audio on a computer, that is considered a DAW]).  You have to listen to each take carefully, jot down which parts you consider the best, then do the actual comping.

Figure 2010-01-24/1: Comping vocals, notably track 2 and 3.

As you can see, what’s on track 2 and 3 are similar, except that track 2 has little snippets from different takes put together, and track 3 has a single instance recorded take.  Note also on track 2 that each snippet crossfades into adjacent snippets  slightly overlapped so that the transition between snippets are smooth.

Considering Destiny’s throat, this was the best option considering also that we were trying to meet the deadline for the 1/23 and a supplementary recording session would not be possible before deadline.  Also, because the takes from both sessions had very solid performances in various parts of different takes in different snips (the second session had 209 takes, each take having it’s solid points), it was very possible for me to find very good recordings of every phrase in different parts (it’s best to cut and paste by phrase, and not by words or syllables, because cutting in between phrases can sound choppy), and after comping, the combination would sound like a single instance solid take.

Aside from this though, there is still the issue of the recorded quality of Destiny’s vocals, as the second take also felt like some nuances of her voice were not being recorded accurately on the mic.  I concluded that it might be a good idea now to upgrade my mic to one that may be able to more accurately record Destiny’s voice and improve the recorded quality of others as well.

So right now, I’m eye-ing the Audio-Technica 2035, which is an upgrade from my Audio Technica 2020.  The Rode NT-1A is also on my short list, as well as one or two others.  I’m looking for the best mic under $200, and those two have been recommended to me.

Let the mic search commence!

Also, “Phase 3 – L.Y.R.I.C.A.L. Without Fear” was submitted today through TuneCore.  Looks like March 1, 2010 is the day we will publicly announce that it’s available on online through iTunes.  After five long years, it’s finally done! =D

And yes, there will be a Phase 4.  Tentative Title:

Phase 4 – Response.Redirect

As always, stay tuned for more!

-mnshyn

EDIT 8/23/2010: Phase 4 has a new name: SymboLYRICism.  Peep here for details.

I released “Phase 2 – Lyrics to an Identity” almost 5 years ago.  It took 5 years to make this album, and it’s gone through so many iterations and name changes that at one point, during a low point in my life, I didn’t think the album was going to come out.  I have to thank God for that one (and everything else), because ever since I started playing in the church band every Sunday and cleaning up some of the stuff in my life that needed cleaning, I became revitalized and re-inspired.  I’m not exactly making Christian music right now totally, though I have made Christian songs in the past, but He’s blessed me anyway with inspiration, wisdom, and freedom of creativity.

The acronym in the title of the album, “Phase 3 – L.Y.R.I.C.A.L. Without Fear,” stands for Leave Your Regrets In Christ And Live.  This is the basically the approach I took with the album as time went on.  The songs that were going to originally be part of the album were all pretty standard, and although I love every song I make, it was the songs that were different from what I’m used to doing that were the most enjoyable to make.  There were three guitar solos (“Mostly Boast,” “Found Me,” “The Bomb Squad”), a video game sample (“Call to Arms” from Final Fantasy VI), a symphony orchestra (courtesy of Project SAM Symphobia, on “Round and Round”), capoeira rhythm (“Roll Your Windows”), blaring choirs with my “Bleeding Heaven” technique (on “Devastator,” more on the “Bleeding Heaven” technique later),  multi-layer samples (“Roll Your Windows”), Beatles style build up and scream (“Mostly Boast”), live drums, bass and piano recordings (“Live Hip-Hop,” available on the iTunes version of the album) and other things.  Although some signatures of mine are there, this album sounds distinctly different from my past two, and I think it’s for the better.

As far as concepts go, I think “The Bomb Squad” was the most fun.  You also have “Found Me” and “Round and Round” which are both incredibly personal to me.   “Mostly Boast” was the record that I let loose on and I stopped caring about what people would say if I did certain things in my music.  “Call to Arms” was actually inspired by a crew of people I was running with that was finally getting over past beefs to go have fun again.  “4 My Ghostwriter” actually makes the idea of a ghostwriter a more positive thing (listen to the song and you’ll see why).  “Do Something” was my declaration that I wouldn’t just sit around and do nothing, especially after my best friend Rain past away in 2007.  “Every Move” was me slowly getting to the point where I wouldn’t let people dictate what I rhyme about.  “Handle Our Biz,” “Spear,” and “You Need To..” were getting my people involved with some 5fam love.   “Devastator” was simply me kicking ass and getting you to want to kick ass too; in some ways an “I OWN YOU” part two.

I had a lot of fun with this album, and about just as much frustration.  All the frustration was worth it though, and what resulted was an album that I’m most proud of and can’t wait to show the world.  I’ve even got a plan for the songs I will perform, and hopefully I can gain some traction with some new listeners.

I have to thank everyone who helped me on this album with their contributions: Harmony Speaks, Destiny Soprano, CoCoa, DiMpLeZ, Brian Bullion, FoRcE oNe, Less, K-Maculate, ADM, Boy Gnyus, Vincent, Takewun, JC and SL.  Each recording was a fun (and funny) experience.  Especially “The Bomb Squad,” which took two years to complete and everyone in MsP had a role and their voice recorded on it.

Hopefully, when you listen to it, you’ll learn some things from it, whether it’s personal to you or on a musical/lyrical level if you are a musician.  Either way, most importantly, I hope you enjoy the music when it comes out on March 1, 2010.

Thanks for reading also!  More to come!

-mnshyn