We are all aware that music and "atmosphere" go together. We might put on relaxing music for a quiet romantic dinner, but listen to something livelier while doing some physical work or exercise or when out socializing in larger groups. You might have heard of farmers who increase production by playing music to their animals. Recent studies showing that listening to fast music while driving increases the rate of car accidents and the Mozart Effect claims to increase intelligence. While some claims may be exaggerated, there is no denying that music can be suggestive and affect our state of mind. But the reason for this is very mysterious. Why should organized sounds affect us to such an extent that billions are spent annually making music? The main aspects of music which influence us can be summed up as:
Tempo & Rhythm
Pitch Melody and Harmony
Tempo and Rhythm and its combination has an immediate physical impact on our perceptions. The rhythm of an object suggests more or less frequent movement to qualify the repetitive nature of the underlying beat, even though the tempo of a piece of music might be slow and relaxed. A high frequency of notes can suggest a degree of contained excitement within that relaxed state. Music tends to have a steady tempo to it, often measured in beats per minute. Most of the music based on simple observation is in the range of 50-200 beats per minute, the same as the extreme range of our heartbeats. The music tempo of the piece of music roughly equates with the heartbeat associated with the corresponding state or emotions.
Ranging from 60-80 beats per minute is calm and relaxed, less than 60 often very relaxed, introspective or even depressed. 80-100 is moderately alert and interested otherwise 100 upward are increasingly lively excited or agitated. 80-120 is a common tempo, since we crave some degree of excitement from our entertainment. Since the heartbeat and the music tempo have a strong degree of suggestion, 120-160 is common in some energetic situations. Music suggests movement as it moves in time; and unconsciously we keep associating ourselves with the music while talking, walking, running, dancing, riding etc.
Pitch, Melody & Harmony
Pitch on its own affects our perception. It depends on how we perceived sounds and music providing a basic scale from” high= light, happy, carefree" to” low = dark, sad, ominous." We must find a large thing more threatening than a smaller one as part of our evolutionary heritage. In general bigger objects make deeper noises whether long column of air or long strings in a musical instrument, big chest, large animal footsteps, or large objects banging together. Conversely smaller instruments, short columns of air, short strings, small animals or objects make higher pitch noises. A Melody can be preferred if sounds are reasonably close together with a variety of nice harmonious intervals between them and a rhythm is similar to that of speech. A good melody (even if it doesn't have words) is often one that we could hum, sing or whistle. Generally melody consists of a linear sequence of tones. The notes should have durations which are not too short and not too long, and should not be in an extreme range or shouldn't have large awkward jumps between them. Although instrumental musical can stretch those boundaries a little, melodies in its way are very similar to sentences that our brains are designed to speak and listen to.
A good melody ( even if it doesn’t have words ) often is one that we could hum, sing or whistle. Even if they are reasonably close together with a variety of nice harmonious intervals between them, rhythms similar to that of speech can be preferred as a melodies. Generally a melody consists of a linear sequence of tones. The notes should have durations which are not too short and not too long, and should not be in an extreme range or shouldn’t have large awkward jumps between them. Although instrumental musical can stretch those boundaries a little, melodies are very similar to sentences that our brains are designed to speak and listen to.
Harmony is that when we combine tones with different pitches, even some that that seem to be close to the combination of notes is completely the natural set of different notes produced by something vibrating and easily demonstrated musically brass instruments. Those natural (without keys) instruments such as bugle, octaves, fifths and thirds produced are a series of notes. These notes are well placed together to make harmonious sounds like major chords. String instruments can be demonstrate the lowest notes of the harmonic series by playing the strongest harmonics of the strings which divide the length into fractions like halves, thirds, quarters, fifths, etc. These harmonics always present to varying degrees within all notes, and their proportions help to give sounds their unique color or tone.
About The Author
May Smith is an SEO professional. She manages websites about http://californiamusicstudios.com/lessons/CA/Orange/music_lessons.php, and http://californiamusicstudios.com/lessons/CA/Los_Angeles/music_lessons.php. Visit these websites to learn more about these topics.
Music Marketing and Promotion - What's the Difference?
What is the difference between music marketing and music promotion?
Marketing and promotion are often confused among indie musicians. There is a difference between music marketing and music promotion. Let's first look at marketing.
Marketing
Marketing is about getting your target market to know who you are, what you have to offer, why you are offering it, and why what you are offering is something they want. Marketing is about getting your target market to know, like, and trust you.
Does your target audience know you? In order to get your target market to know you, they have to know that you exist. Your target market need to know about you and your music. How do you do that? You show up where they are. You should know where they hang out, what they read, where they shop, and what events they attend. You or your street team need to have a presence in front of them. You can do this by performing where your target market hangs out, posting flyers where they are at, or by having an online presence through your website and social media sites. Basically, find out where your target market hangs out and show up there!
Does your target audience like you? Once you are in front of your target market, now you have to connect with them! Engage with them! Care about them! Have a message and a purpose that resonates with them. What does that mean? On a personal level, tell your market why you do music. What inspires your music? What's the mission behind your music? On an artistic level, create music that they will like. Marketing is about engaging and connecting.
Does your target audience trust you? Sometimes you will find that once your target market knows you and likes you, they will probably trust you, but that is not always the case. During this phase of marketing, your target market is thinking: "Ok, I know who you are and I like you and I like your music, but can I trust that your album or your live show is going to be as good as you say it is?" Marketing is about building trust.
Music Promotion: Getting them to act.
Promotion is about behavior modification. It's about influencing and persuading others to act. If you have done a successful job in your marketing, your market will say: "I know who musician X is, I like his/her music, I think the album will be amazing." But promotion is about getting them to take the next step, getting your market to say "I am going to buy the album now." If you are marketing a live show, you want them to say "I want to buy tickets now". How do you get your target market to say this? Create compelling offers! Offer limited time only discounts/special prices, special limited edition albums, music packages and bundles.
To learn more music marketing and promotion tips, click here to visit the Music Success Blog site at: Indie Music Success
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/4711607
Author Angela M. Carter is a Music Success Coach and Music Marketing Strategist for Campaign You Strategy Group. Ms. Carter is committed to helping musicians and music entrepreneurs establish long-term careers in the music industry. She helps musicians and music entrepreneurs develop strategic and creative music marketing campaigns. Ms. Carter is also the host of Music Success Radio, a radio show that offers listeners practical tips on music marketing, branding, and promotion.
Music Success Radio Show: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/musicsuccess
He’s Been Pushed Too Far for Someone Not to Die
A Gritty Tale of Deception Told in the Glitz of Miami – Dirty cops, money launderers, street thugs and all the other ingredients of a well-balanced society complete the circle of intrigue. Greed, betrayal, wrath, envy and a perfect ensemble of characters keep the pages turning. This year’s grittiest crime novel “The War for Miami” by Yasheve Miller is a smoking gun that won’t stop firing.
“It goes off like a rocket and when the smoke cleared, I think only like two people were still alive,” said a recent reviewer. “It was great!”
Benito Castillo is no longer peddling cocaine on the street corners or parties frequented by spring breakers thirsty to rebel against their parents. He has matured to a new world, where his enemies are more cunning than a crackhead with a knife, where his friends are more likely to be the ones to steal his money, and his lovers are out for whatever they can get. Welcome to Benito Castillo’s Miami.
As the book jacket says, “There are no family vacations in this Miami.” In this tale of intrigue and deception, there are no heroes other than those the a reader chooses to pledge his allegiance to. There are no right or wrong choices, just survival or death.
“Out of my first three books, this one is the best written. I wasn’t going for shock value like I did with the first two. I wanted to tell a story that I would enjoy,” said Miller.
The novel, “The War for Miami” is an intense thrill ride into Miami’s underworld. This story takes off from the first chapter and increases in intensity, fueled by greed, betrayal and wrath. The richness of the cleverly woven storylines keeps readers intrigued until the very end and leaves them gasping for a sequel.
“This book was like watching an ensemble cast in a movie. Great characters with interwoven storylines,” quoted a recent review.
As a writer, Yasheve Miller began his writing career for a collegiate newspaper. From there, he was hired as a writer for a fledgling magazine in Atlanta, Georgia. He quit that and his day job to pursue marketing strategies for his first book. For a few years, he wrote part-time as a freelancer for various publications. Finally, he stepped out to start his own copywriting business for a global marketplace, to produce marketing material, organize branding strategies and ghostwrite non-fiction books. His passion for telling a juicy story led him back to the fiction arena to produce The War for Miami. Other books by Yasheve include Rigid and Moist.
For more information on this and other books by Yasheve Miller, please visit http://www.yasheve.com
“It goes off like a rocket and when the smoke cleared, I think only like two people were still alive,” said a recent reviewer. “It was great!”
Benito Castillo is no longer peddling cocaine on the street corners or parties frequented by spring breakers thirsty to rebel against their parents. He has matured to a new world, where his enemies are more cunning than a crackhead with a knife, where his friends are more likely to be the ones to steal his money, and his lovers are out for whatever they can get. Welcome to Benito Castillo’s Miami.
As the book jacket says, “There are no family vacations in this Miami.” In this tale of intrigue and deception, there are no heroes other than those the a reader chooses to pledge his allegiance to. There are no right or wrong choices, just survival or death.
“Out of my first three books, this one is the best written. I wasn’t going for shock value like I did with the first two. I wanted to tell a story that I would enjoy,” said Miller.
The novel, “The War for Miami” is an intense thrill ride into Miami’s underworld. This story takes off from the first chapter and increases in intensity, fueled by greed, betrayal and wrath. The richness of the cleverly woven storylines keeps readers intrigued until the very end and leaves them gasping for a sequel.
“This book was like watching an ensemble cast in a movie. Great characters with interwoven storylines,” quoted a recent review.
As a writer, Yasheve Miller began his writing career for a collegiate newspaper. From there, he was hired as a writer for a fledgling magazine in Atlanta, Georgia. He quit that and his day job to pursue marketing strategies for his first book. For a few years, he wrote part-time as a freelancer for various publications. Finally, he stepped out to start his own copywriting business for a global marketplace, to produce marketing material, organize branding strategies and ghostwrite non-fiction books. His passion for telling a juicy story led him back to the fiction arena to produce The War for Miami. Other books by Yasheve include Rigid and Moist.
For more information on this and other books by Yasheve Miller, please visit http://www.yasheve.com
If You Had to Pull the Trigger, Who'd You Kill First?
The 2nd Best Crime Writer Alive Releases This Year's Grittiest Novel
Aug 1, 2009 – They make you hate them. They make you love them. They make you want to have the magic to be right there with them to either slap their face or kiss them passionately. Good characters keep you interested enough to read books to the end, but great characters keep you asking for more. The new novel “The War for Miami” by Yasheve Miller is full of characters you befriend, characters you despise and characters that you just have to see what they’re going to do next.
“Characters are usually the most important thing to me when I’m writing. When I was writing this book, I even said to myself that the city itself had to be a character. I’ve read so many essays about using the setting as a character that I was intrigued by the technique enough to try it,” said the author in a recent interview.
Critics are comparing this book to the likes of Mario Puzo’s “Godfather” and Graham Greene’s “Our Man in Havana.” This groundbreaking crime novel has moved from the heat of the Miami streets into the libraries and fallen right in your lap. The War for Miami is the urban drama that you have been salivating to read. The story that you will be raving about all summer. The novel that has book clubs discussing the merits of friendship, betrayal, the often misguided understanding of love and will have you saying, “I wish he would have killed that $%#^!”
“Out of my first three books, this once is the best written. I wasn’t going for shock value like I did with the first two. I wanted to tell a story that I would enjoy,” said Miller.
The novel, “The War for Miami” is an intense thrill ride into Miami’s underworld. The main characters Benito Castillo, Riley Sanders, and Keon Lindsey are intertwined by the force of Riley’s manipulation and power schemes. This story takes off from the first chapter and increases in intensity, fueled by greed, betrayal and wrath.
“I do have a strange love affair with Miami. And at times it is unhealthy. For some reason when I’m there, the crazy comes out of me. I’m always doing something that I probably shouldn’t be involved in,” said Miller. “I always say that I can’t write about my life because it would be too boring for me. I’ve already done those things, but I found myself using my experiences to write this novel. I think that’s why people are responding so well to it. The passion is there.”
As a writer, Yasheve Miller began his writing career for a collegiate newspaper. From there, he was hired as a writer for a fledgling magazine in Atlanta, Georgia. He quit that and his day job to pursue marketing strategies for his first book. For a few years, he wrote part-time as a freelancer for various publications. Finally, he stepped out to start his own copywriting business for a global marketplace, to produce marketing material, organize branding strategies and ghostwrite non-fiction books. His passion for telling a juicy story led him back to the fiction arena to produce The War for Miami. Other books by Yasheve include Rigid and Moist.
For more information on this and other books by Yasheve Miller, please visit http://www.yasheve.com
Aug 1, 2009 – They make you hate them. They make you love them. They make you want to have the magic to be right there with them to either slap their face or kiss them passionately. Good characters keep you interested enough to read books to the end, but great characters keep you asking for more. The new novel “The War for Miami” by Yasheve Miller is full of characters you befriend, characters you despise and characters that you just have to see what they’re going to do next.
“Characters are usually the most important thing to me when I’m writing. When I was writing this book, I even said to myself that the city itself had to be a character. I’ve read so many essays about using the setting as a character that I was intrigued by the technique enough to try it,” said the author in a recent interview.
Critics are comparing this book to the likes of Mario Puzo’s “Godfather” and Graham Greene’s “Our Man in Havana.” This groundbreaking crime novel has moved from the heat of the Miami streets into the libraries and fallen right in your lap. The War for Miami is the urban drama that you have been salivating to read. The story that you will be raving about all summer. The novel that has book clubs discussing the merits of friendship, betrayal, the often misguided understanding of love and will have you saying, “I wish he would have killed that $%#^!”
“Out of my first three books, this once is the best written. I wasn’t going for shock value like I did with the first two. I wanted to tell a story that I would enjoy,” said Miller.
The novel, “The War for Miami” is an intense thrill ride into Miami’s underworld. The main characters Benito Castillo, Riley Sanders, and Keon Lindsey are intertwined by the force of Riley’s manipulation and power schemes. This story takes off from the first chapter and increases in intensity, fueled by greed, betrayal and wrath.
“I do have a strange love affair with Miami. And at times it is unhealthy. For some reason when I’m there, the crazy comes out of me. I’m always doing something that I probably shouldn’t be involved in,” said Miller. “I always say that I can’t write about my life because it would be too boring for me. I’ve already done those things, but I found myself using my experiences to write this novel. I think that’s why people are responding so well to it. The passion is there.”
As a writer, Yasheve Miller began his writing career for a collegiate newspaper. From there, he was hired as a writer for a fledgling magazine in Atlanta, Georgia. He quit that and his day job to pursue marketing strategies for his first book. For a few years, he wrote part-time as a freelancer for various publications. Finally, he stepped out to start his own copywriting business for a global marketplace, to produce marketing material, organize branding strategies and ghostwrite non-fiction books. His passion for telling a juicy story led him back to the fiction arena to produce The War for Miami. Other books by Yasheve include Rigid and Moist.
For more information on this and other books by Yasheve Miller, please visit http://www.yasheve.com
Stage Names
I get worried sometimes that there's nothing to look forward to. Then, I hear that Sade has a new album coming out this year and I've heard some of the cuts from the upcoming Wolfmother album. But, that makes me wonder about the newer artists and will they be able to carry the torch. I have my doubts.
Although, I have met some talented people by cruising from Myspace page to Myspace page, it's rare that I run into anything exceptional. This year, I haven't bought only 2 albums that I found through indie artists on Myspace. For me, that's nothing. I buy new music every week. What I find is that I have to go back and buy older stuff just to fulfill my music addiction.
There may be a lack of creativity. I've gone through and looked at some of the stage names that people use. There's not a lot of creativity there. Most aspiring artists don't realize that the entertainment industry is a business as well as a creative outlet. The brand building starts with the name, followed by the artistic concept, then the performance and finally the music.
Take wrestling as an example. If you've ever watched the WWE for an extending period of time, you will notice that some wrestlers go through name changes and costume changes until they find that one concept that hits with the fans. The WWE has made it an art of building brands within brands to sell T-shirts and tickets.
Yasheve Miller is a Copywriting and Marketing Specialist whose primary focus is to build brand identity at http://www.writtentosell.net. He's also the author of the recently released novel THE WAR FOR MIAMI (more info at http://www.yasheve.com)
Although, I have met some talented people by cruising from Myspace page to Myspace page, it's rare that I run into anything exceptional. This year, I haven't bought only 2 albums that I found through indie artists on Myspace. For me, that's nothing. I buy new music every week. What I find is that I have to go back and buy older stuff just to fulfill my music addiction.
There may be a lack of creativity. I've gone through and looked at some of the stage names that people use. There's not a lot of creativity there. Most aspiring artists don't realize that the entertainment industry is a business as well as a creative outlet. The brand building starts with the name, followed by the artistic concept, then the performance and finally the music.
Take wrestling as an example. If you've ever watched the WWE for an extending period of time, you will notice that some wrestlers go through name changes and costume changes until they find that one concept that hits with the fans. The WWE has made it an art of building brands within brands to sell T-shirts and tickets.
Yasheve Miller is a Copywriting and Marketing Specialist whose primary focus is to build brand identity at http://www.writtentosell.net. He's also the author of the recently released novel THE WAR FOR MIAMI (more info at http://www.yasheve.com)
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