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Topics specific to the localities in America.

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#157517 by Megan Hall
Wed Nov 09, 2011 1:59 am
Heya, I'm Megan Hall, which is about as unimportant as a fly outside. Here's the thing. Here in Michigan, my grandfather is a local legend, and my mother sings professionally. Unfortunately I carry my father's last name, which doesn't do squat for advertising. I pretty much have to start over on that one.

I am a vocalist and I have been since I was old enough to speak, it just sort of runs in the Eimer family. I know I have what it takes to make SOME sort of career of music, even if its not a very profitable one.

The trouble is I don't even know where to start. I am 21 and I know I should be checking out karoke and such. There have been times I have been called "showoff" I mean...wth? Anyway, what else can I do, I'm broke so recording anything is not gonna happen anytime soon, plus I'm not so great at accompanying myself. On another note, open mic coffee shops are being illegallized near me, so it kinda ruled that out.

One of the issues I am running into is that bands are almost never looking for a vocalist and for some reason in my area what goes over the most is metal and I cant do screaming to save my life. Also I can rap...like at all. I have a killer set of pipes, but I just don't know how to get out there. I mean I dont even know how to begin a recording of an example here.

I'm looking for advice from some musicians who are actually gigging, and making money off of their talents. If there is anything in this world I should be doing, its singing.

#157521 by RhythmMan-2
Wed Nov 09, 2011 3:14 am
You're right that different areas favor different styles of music.
.
No matter what you do - sing the style of music you LIKE.
.
If someone is accusing you of 'showing-off,' then they have no understanding of the music business.
Everyone who performs is 'showing off.'
If they don't like that you have an ability that they don't have - then they are trying to hold you back, and you should avoid them.
.
#157560 by PaperDog
Wed Nov 09, 2011 7:26 pm
MeganHallEimer wrote:Heya, I'm Megan Hall, which is about as unimportant as a fly outside. Here's the thing. Here in Michigan, my grandfather is a local legend, and my mother sings professionally. Unfortunately I carry my father's last name, which doesn't do squat for advertising. I pretty much have to start over on that one.

I am a vocalist and I have been since I was old enough to speak, it just sort of runs in the Eimer family. I know I have what it takes to make SOME sort of career of music, even if its not a very profitable one.

The trouble is I don't even know where to start. I am 21 and I know I should be checking out karoke and such. There have been times I have been called "showoff" I mean...wth? Anyway, what else can I do, I'm broke so recording anything is not gonna happen anytime soon, plus I'm not so great at accompanying myself. On another note, open mic coffee shops are being illegallized near me, so it kinda ruled that out.

One of the issues I am running into is that bands are almost never looking for a vocalist and for some reason in my area what goes over the most is metal and I cant do screaming to save my life. Also I can rap...like at all. I have a killer set of pipes, but I just don't know how to get out there. I mean I dont even know how to begin a recording of an example here.

I'm looking for advice from some musicians who are actually gigging, and making money off of their talents. If there is anything in this world I should be doing, its singing.


Why are the coffee shops being illegalized? It sound hoakey to me...

#157563 by jimmydanger
Wed Nov 09, 2011 8:09 pm
You have semi-successful relatives, that seems like a good place to start. And forget karaoke, attend local open mics and network.

#157570 by seekingsophia
Wed Nov 09, 2011 11:35 pm
If you have a computer you can do your own recording. It may not sound the best at first, but it's better than nothing. You can google audacity and download it for free. My friend uses that a lot for recording his stuff.

#157571 by gbheil
Wed Nov 09, 2011 11:38 pm
MAKING MONEY ?


That rules me out ... :wink:

#157590 by Marcus Curtis
Thu Nov 10, 2011 4:11 am
Breaking into music and making money at it is not an easy task. The important thing here is not to be discouraged. The first thing to do is consider your goals, or make a list of goals. This will give you a guide line. The goals have got to be more detailed then make money playing music or playing in a band. What do you want to do? Do you want to write? Do you want to develop writing skills? Do you want to do cover songs? Do you want to make a CD? Do you want to sell your music on line? Do you want to teach music?

Once you consider what it is you want to do with your talents the next step is to develop your talents. You are on the right track by taking bass lessons. Have you considered taking a community college course on music theory, or recording music? What kind of local programs are offered in your area? What else can you do to further your music education?

I can tell you what ever you decide to do you will need some sort of budget to achieve these goals. At times I worked two Jobs to pay for gear and musical instruction. This is a slow process.
Don’t be discouraged by people who are jealous of your abilities and call you a show off? They are venting their frustration at their own personal lack of talent or underdeveloped skill. See it’s not about you it’s about them. This is an extremely self-centered comment. I have dealt with people like this on several occasions.

If you want to record music you have two choices. You can pay big bucks for someone to record you or you can record yourself.
Seeking Sofia is right, Audacity is a great program to start out with because it is free. Get it here
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

This takes care of the software but you will still need the hardware. This will require an investment on your part. You can put together a small demo studio using your computer for about $300.00 The quality won’t be great but it will do the job. You will need to learn how to record yourself. You can do this through a community college course or search on line for instruction. Look through you tube for audacity videos or recording hardware videos. As you can see if you want to record yourself or if you have someone do it for you there is still an investment of some sort needed.

Karaoke is a good place for exposure, but in most cases you are not exposed to the people who can help you or who are looking for singers for their group. Local open mics are better. You can also Network by using Craig’s list and other local music publications that have a want ad section. The Sunday paper here has an entertainment section and there are ads in there. Find auditions and go to them through those sources or other online sources.

Whatever you do you got your work cut out for you. Maybe you can get some help from your successful relatives.

#157644 by JimBayes
Thu Nov 10, 2011 5:21 pm
There are a lot of places for open mics in the Grand Rapids area. Sometimes you can find musicians there for future collaboration. When my band played Festival Of The Arts last summer the MC for our stage remembered seeing us at an open mic before we found a drummer.

First off, decide if you want to focus on covers or originals. There is some money in our area for cover bands. Originals won't pay the mortgage but there have been songs from local groups that have gone national.

Here is a site for looking up open mic nights in our area:

http://openmikes.org/near/grand%20rapids%2C%20MI

#157944 by Megan Hall
Mon Nov 14, 2011 4:03 am
@ Paperdog. Honestly, the coffee shops are only illegalized in my town, though GR is not far from me. Pretty conservative place here, and people got all uppity about the riff raff kids hanging out with there spiked armbands and pants standing around in the parking lot.

@Marcus Curtis. There are quite a few things I would like to do and there are quite a few things on opposite sides of the spectrum that I could do and be happy doing. So I will really need to sit down and think about it more. Thanks for the link. I'll have to get someone to help me learn it well. Also about the equipment, I am sure there is a post around these forums that could tell me already the names of some of the brands I would look for for setting up said house recording studio. Can I get a link if you know?

@Jim Bayes. THANK YOU. That is just the link I was looking for. I have also been craigslisting today for that. Even just to sing for fun. I miss open mic nights so much.

#157980 by Marcus Curtis
Mon Nov 14, 2011 10:22 pm
MeganHallEimer wrote:@

@Marcus Curtis. There are quite a few things I would like to do and there are quite a few things on opposite sides of the spectrum that I could do and be happy doing. So I will really need to sit down and think about it more. Thanks for the link. I'll have to get someone to help me learn it well. Also about the equipment, I am sure there is a post around these forums that could tell me already the names of some of the brands I would look for for setting up said house recording studio. Can I get a link if you know?


To record music I use Sonar X1 pro by cakewalk. Cakewalk was purchased by roland a while back and now roland has revamped it and they have introduced hardware to go along with it. I like it better then protools. I have the flagship version of the software. you can get cheaper versions with out all the bells and whistles. They also have video recording lessons that teach you how to use everything. Here is the link.

http://cakewalk.com/

I also like and use some of the gear line 6 puts out. these guys may be more in line with your budget. check both sites out.

http://line6.com/

Some of their recording hardware comes with ableton. which is another recording platform. What ever you do do not get hardware that is firewire. this is older technology that is dying off. Try to get devices that are USB 2.0. USB 3.0 is just starting to come out. USB 3.0 is backwards compatable but it does not work on USB 1.0 devices.

there is other stuff out there this is just what I use. You can download demo versions of Sonar to see if you like it. butit comes with a time limit so download it after you get your hardware. If you have any more recording questions just ask and I will try to help you

#158014 by bryer
Tue Nov 15, 2011 1:29 am
Hey Megan, this is your Uncle Bryan. If you want to come to one of our shows I would love to have you sing a song or two with the band. I can give you some ideas for furthering your career in music too. You can check us out at:

http://www.facebook.com/thelyrebirds

Let me know what you'd like to sing.

#158091 by gbheil
Tue Nov 15, 2011 11:16 pm
bryer wrote:Hey Megan, this is your Uncle Bryan. If you want to come to one of our shows I would love to have you sing a song or two with the band. I can give you some ideas for furthering your career in music too. You can check us out at:

http://www.facebook.com/thelyrebirds

Let me know what you'd like to sing.



That is either the coolest thing I've seen in a long time or the worst pick up line ever.
I hope your on the level man ...
May restore a small amount of my faith in mankind.

#158185 by bryer
Fri Nov 18, 2011 1:09 am
sanshouheil wrote:
That is either the coolest thing I've seen in a long time or the worst pick up line ever.
I hope your on the level man ...


Yeah, I generally don't begin my pick up lines with "This is your Uncle..."

But anyway, Megan is an incredible singer I'm confident her voice can take her as far as she cares to go.

#158186 by gbheil
Fri Nov 18, 2011 1:13 am
bryer wrote:
sanshouheil wrote:
That is either the coolest thing I've seen in a long time or the worst pick up line ever.
I hope your on the level man ...


Yeah, I generally don't begin my pick up lines with "This is your Uncle..."

But anyway, Megan is an incredible singer I'm confident her voice can take her as far as she cares to go.


:lol:
That's cool man.
Never can tell ya know might be a Yankee version of "who's your daddy" :wink:

Family should back each other ... KUDOS

#158190 by MikeTalbot
Fri Nov 18, 2011 3:03 am
You're a good uncle. Not to mention proper musician since it's nice when we help each other just for that reason alone.

Talbot

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