forth & back.
yesterday i finally spent a few moments applying for my BMI membership. it was well overdue...i had actually been sitting on ASCAP's doorstep, waiting for a reason to go inside, but i was hipped to BMI's beneficial points, so i decided to roll with them. them and ASCAP are pretty much the lion's share of publishing and royalty collections for artists, so should the app go through without hitch, i should be in good hands.
this is the part that's kind of exciting, getting myself prepped and in position to make money off of the music. don't get me wrong, i make music 'cause it's an enjoyable pasttime for me. but making money? that makes the effort so much more worth it.
i think i'm maturing on the artistic side of it, too. like...it's not just good enough to hear somebody rapping over an amalgam of samples and drum sounds, etc. like. i made this beat on sunday, off of a rack of 45s i grabbed from the Record Exchange. the first thing i imagined when i had finished laying down the ground work, was how automatic this track would be if i had a roy hargrove-esque trumpeter lay about 2 or 3 tracks down over the beat, maybe on the hooks. how good a live bassist would sound just playing in the pocket. what female singer would kill the track, what kinda harmonies i'd suggest... i don't know where that comes from? maybe it's a natural progression for producer-minded beatmakers...but i definitely want to work with people now.
i need studio space. more equipment and the ability to multitrack vocalists and instrumentalists. i need session guys and gals to make these tracks come to life. unfortunately all of that costs money. but wow. i got ideas fam.
a production team sounds great in theory, and would probably be a tour de force, but production teams gotta split up the winnings. i aint tryna split no winnings son!!! lol
ah well. it will work it self out. the dream is to have studio space with at least 2 rooms, a big old analog desk (SSL) and a drummer, a horn player, and a keyboardist who knows his or her chops down pat. wheni have that kinda stuff at my disposal?
it's a wrap.
________________
SON!! i don't know why i slept so long.
if subURB ever reads this, he'd prolly try to slap me in the head. or von, haha.
45s!!!
the future!
i used to never buy 45s man, i guess it was because an LP has between 8 and 12 songs on it, and a big pretty album cover.
i went to the record exchange over the weekend with a few bucks in pocket and figured i'd get on some 45s, as i'd had some luck with a few at Marvelous a few weeks before.
man i hit home runs. 10 cents a f%ckin piece! they were dirty, some were scuffed, but that little expedition thru some raggedy crates turned up some great stuff. that's definitely gonna be an every weekend (that i have money to spend) move. find 45s where ever. almost always cheaper than lps, and the b-sides be crazy.
_____
man.
we're what? 12 days from the new year?
that's bugged, yo. for real. i'll be 27 before i know it.
i was up this morning, probably around 4 am, just laying in the bed thinking.
like.
this HAS to be a big year. not a progressive year where i inch closer to being for real. like i gotta place shit. create working relationships and see dividends off that. mess with folks who can pay advances. step my music game up so that it's viable in the pop realm. i gotta make noise. cause i can bubble quietly for the next decade, always on the cusp, if i don't let the dick hang and do what i gotta do.
it's scary. i never been this far out on my own limb before. i talked shit and said there was a million things i wanted to do, before. but i took this random ass thing, and ran way out with it and now it's like, i'm here, i wished myself into the arena, and all of a sudden i'm fighting with people who make millions of dollars a year, trying to be on big name albums. my manager's handing my beat cd to jim jones' people, to ghost face killah's people, i'm doing mixtapes with big time djs and producing tracks for artists that have dreams as big as mine, and possibly the talent to back those dreams up. it's time to get over the infatuation with the novelty of it all, though.
i notice that alot of times i talk about it all like i don't REALLY belong. its hard to remember that you're just as liable to explode as the next person, that your shot is deserved as anybody elses. i know about the man hours i put into this. i should expect it, right?
i'ma get on this in the other blog, but...
i gotta start acting like and believing that this shit is mine.
i'll holla.
this is the part that's kind of exciting, getting myself prepped and in position to make money off of the music. don't get me wrong, i make music 'cause it's an enjoyable pasttime for me. but making money? that makes the effort so much more worth it.
i think i'm maturing on the artistic side of it, too. like...it's not just good enough to hear somebody rapping over an amalgam of samples and drum sounds, etc. like. i made this beat on sunday, off of a rack of 45s i grabbed from the Record Exchange. the first thing i imagined when i had finished laying down the ground work, was how automatic this track would be if i had a roy hargrove-esque trumpeter lay about 2 or 3 tracks down over the beat, maybe on the hooks. how good a live bassist would sound just playing in the pocket. what female singer would kill the track, what kinda harmonies i'd suggest... i don't know where that comes from? maybe it's a natural progression for producer-minded beatmakers...but i definitely want to work with people now.
i need studio space. more equipment and the ability to multitrack vocalists and instrumentalists. i need session guys and gals to make these tracks come to life. unfortunately all of that costs money. but wow. i got ideas fam.
a production team sounds great in theory, and would probably be a tour de force, but production teams gotta split up the winnings. i aint tryna split no winnings son!!! lol
ah well. it will work it self out. the dream is to have studio space with at least 2 rooms, a big old analog desk (SSL) and a drummer, a horn player, and a keyboardist who knows his or her chops down pat. wheni have that kinda stuff at my disposal?
it's a wrap.
________________
SON!! i don't know why i slept so long.
if subURB ever reads this, he'd prolly try to slap me in the head. or von, haha.
45s!!!
the future!
i used to never buy 45s man, i guess it was because an LP has between 8 and 12 songs on it, and a big pretty album cover.
i went to the record exchange over the weekend with a few bucks in pocket and figured i'd get on some 45s, as i'd had some luck with a few at Marvelous a few weeks before.
man i hit home runs. 10 cents a f%ckin piece! they were dirty, some were scuffed, but that little expedition thru some raggedy crates turned up some great stuff. that's definitely gonna be an every weekend (that i have money to spend) move. find 45s where ever. almost always cheaper than lps, and the b-sides be crazy.
_____
man.
we're what? 12 days from the new year?
that's bugged, yo. for real. i'll be 27 before i know it.
i was up this morning, probably around 4 am, just laying in the bed thinking.
like.
this HAS to be a big year. not a progressive year where i inch closer to being for real. like i gotta place shit. create working relationships and see dividends off that. mess with folks who can pay advances. step my music game up so that it's viable in the pop realm. i gotta make noise. cause i can bubble quietly for the next decade, always on the cusp, if i don't let the dick hang and do what i gotta do.
it's scary. i never been this far out on my own limb before. i talked shit and said there was a million things i wanted to do, before. but i took this random ass thing, and ran way out with it and now it's like, i'm here, i wished myself into the arena, and all of a sudden i'm fighting with people who make millions of dollars a year, trying to be on big name albums. my manager's handing my beat cd to jim jones' people, to ghost face killah's people, i'm doing mixtapes with big time djs and producing tracks for artists that have dreams as big as mine, and possibly the talent to back those dreams up. it's time to get over the infatuation with the novelty of it all, though.
i notice that alot of times i talk about it all like i don't REALLY belong. its hard to remember that you're just as liable to explode as the next person, that your shot is deserved as anybody elses. i know about the man hours i put into this. i should expect it, right?
i'ma get on this in the other blog, but...
i gotta start acting like and believing that this shit is mine.
i'll holla.
