Not much time....

Right, son very ill, hours and hours in hospital, trying to give drum lessons and play gigs, and find time for the rest of the family = tiring!
No time to do much of anything really, but on a course related subject, what is the benefit of this http://www.mtv.co.uk/events/ema/playlist/mtv-ema-winners-video-2012 - even i have heard of most of these artists but fucking hell its awful. Good pop music has always given a snapshot of society, so does this mean that pop music is getting worse and not fulfilling what i believe it has done previously or is it that society is getting worse.
Personally i feel that the split between integrity in a creative musical vision and the chance to make money has widened. So basically people are more willing to do as they are told to make money rather not. There are exceptions to this, but very few.

Buying gear

As a musician and drummer! i always have my eye open for a nice piece of equipment. I recently sold some studio equipment i no longer used, a couple of Focusrite compressors, to help fund the purchase of a new snare drum that was very cheap. I bought a 1968 Ajax Nu Sound kit a couple of months ago, 3 piece. Sounds and looks amazing. The matching snare drum was being sold by someone a couple of days ago, £100, couldn't afford it but i had to have it. It will complete the kit to its full 1968 glory and sound fantastic. How many other musicians do this? i feel the majority! But i'd love to know if there are some who get what they want, are happy with it and don't amass more gear.

Mercury Prize

Saw a bit on the news about the Mercury Prize winners, never heard of Alt J, but i liked what i heard, at least its interesting. Was quite surprised that the reporter went on to mention other acts that the mainstream won't have heard of but with the help of the Mercury Prize they may get some mainstream interest. One of these was Ben Howard, who even i have heard of and to be honest doesn't impress me. There are a huge number of acoustic guitar/songwriters out there now, and to me they have to pretty bloody special and i don't think Ben Howard is, but i had heard him. So how good is the prize in bringing the publics attention to abstract-ish artists. For me quite good, as i no longer buy music magazines, in hard copy or online so i suppose i'm out of the loop, preferring just to make some music and whack it online via a digital distribution company. Perhaps i should take more notice of trends............no sod that.

Struggling to do it all

Okay, as some people may know, getting time to do work, of a drumming/teaching/recording/creative nature that manages to pay the mortgage and feed the family is quite difficult.............but rewarding.
So trying to fit in the old FD in Music Industry Entrepreneurship is not easy. I wish blogging carried a higher percentage of the marks for the Study Skills module!
Am i the only one who is having, as the derisory term goes, Time Management issues?

Best get back to the studio to do some work, then try and prepare some time tomorrow for an essay or one.

all comments, ideas, suggestions more than welcome.

I thank you.

Am i obsessed with money?

I don't have anything to discuss this week...well not really.

I was looking at the Musicians Union rates the other day. £30 per hour minimum for private teaching, and £108 per person per 3 hour gig, with £36 per hour for overtime.
I applaud the fact that these rates are in existence but for most teachers and pub/club gigging musicians, they are approaching fantasy land

 I teach privately and i charge £20 per hour. Other drum schools, charge around £26. I know this is Swansea and that rates are probably higher elsewhere so £30 may be obtainable.
However the £108 per 3 hours for a gig is nowhere near obtainable. I got paid £100 last Saturday for a wedding gig, five piece band, and it was for a friend so cheaper than normal. However this involved 3 hours of travel, two hours of waiting/setup and 90 min set. If this was another band i play weddings for i would probably have got £150 but the time spent travelling/setting up and playing would have been similar.

Discuss?

Recording - as a totally creative concept

I am recording an album with one of my bands, Fernando Rey. However progress is slow at the moment, so Paul Battenbough and myself decided to spend most of Saturday on a new project.

Paul had sketched out some songs the previous week, came along to my studio on Saturday armed with an rather nice Epiphone acoustic guitar.
We recorded live drums, minimal mic'ing, along with the acoustic going through a Tech 21 amp. As there was no one on the desk, it was a bit hit or miss, but mainly hit. A friend dropped over a bass, so Paul put some bass down.
We then listened back, another friend turned up with his 60's valve Marshall and thin line Telecaster. We added some additional rhythm, replaced some of the original amped acoustic with mic'd acoustic, added lead guitar on all song and did some lead vocals and some group harmony vocals.
Had a listen back! All in all very pleased, there are obvious things that need to be redone, but probably about two bass lines and one lead vocal. So playing devils advocate, what do other people think about this form of recording? Or is it best with a dedicated sound engineer, full choice of instrumentation, time taken to find best spot in room for snare? etc etc.
Personally I had a load of fun, had a few beers, had a nice time with talented friends, and got a lot of work done, of which i can use around 85% (one very dodgy fill but i might make it a feature!).

Just thought i'd share

First Post for FD Music Industry Entrepreneurship

Is there any justification for owners of pubs/clubs not paying an agreed fee?

I came across this topic on Facebook, yes Jon Goode, FACEBOOK. There was a young musician regaling the Swansea Musicians group with a tale of woe. Landlady books her after seeing her perform at a previous, well attended  gig as solo acoustic act, agrees fee with her. She turns up and the pub is empty, she offers not to play at the start but landlady says "no play" So she does two sets, packs up, goes to get paid, and is greeted with "what you want paying?" "you emptied my pub" etc etc. In the end the musician gets paid half of the agreed fee.

Is there any justification for the landlady's behaviour? Personally i dont think so, i have always been paid the full agreed fee, even though a couple of times it involved not moving until being paid (pub owners won't lock a drummer in a pub). This is becoming more common, if some stories i've heard are true. If part of the contract is that you bring a certain number of punters then so be it, but if its a case of being paid to play your music, especially if the person booking you has seen you before, then there is no justification at all.

Unless the band wreck the place a la The Who.

I thank you.