Big in Japan - Pop music in the Far East

When talking about Pop music, it's very easy to make the assumption that the chart is the be-all and end-all.   That everyone knows the music that's at the top and the acts that make it are just as famous.

But it's not the only chart - countries around the world play host to their own popular music scene, and arguably none is quite so susceptible to internal influence than Japan - hence the phrase "Big in Japan"!

So let's play spot the difference and see how the Japanese culture differs from the western one...

I'm actually out in Japan right now so I've got a first hand look and listen at their equivalent to MTV... Though they also have a Japanese iteration of MTV to watch as well.

This brings me nicely to my first point...

Westernisation

While I'm not entirely sure that's a real word, a lot of Jpop (A term coined to reference Japanese Pop music) takes influence from the western musical culture.

For instance, I can't walk around the shops right now without hearing a heavy rock rendition of Lady Gaga's "Pokerface" by a Japanese band; though this is a rarity.   The vast majority of Japanese Charting music is not JRock (You guessed it, Japanese rock music), but the aforementioned JPop.

So on to the music itself - a lot of the number one hits are conventional electronic pop in style - programmed beats, usually at a danceable speed, with synths and samples on top, topped off with the vocals at the forefront.   Considerably at the forefront in some cases; I noticed some of the tracks lay the emphasis on vocals so much that the music behind it loses some of the power.

But yes, the music I've heard tends to split one of four ways - upbeat, major-sounding pop; big memorable ballads; emotionally-charged, auto-tuned stuff filled with saw-tooth synths and the side that doesn't seem to exist in the western pop chart - heavy metal guitar-laden beats with boyband-esque vocals.

That links me nicely to my next observations on...


Image

As with the majority of Pop music, image plays a huge role.   A very large amount of the pop music scene is focused around Boybands.   I say boybands in the 90s Pop music sense - hip hop fashion sense, heavy on the vocal harmonies and extensively choreographed dance routines.

Boybands are so well respected over here that they, like many other popular artists, are commissioned to do large amounts of advertisement and endorsement.   I walked past several billboards today that featured popular JPop boyband "Arashi" showing off their colourful new cameras.

While the JRock scene's fashion sense isn't afraid to be eclectic to the point of near insanity, JPop doesn't veer too far from the conventional fashions.   That said, the androgynous nature of Japanese popular culture does allow the occasional guy to spend a decent amount of time in his favourite dress.

A lot of this focus on image results in "Idol worship" - where Japanese girls (not just schoolgirls, you'll find no shortage of older women to fawn over these idols too!) are so star struck that they'll buy anything with the object of their affection's face emblazoned on it.   This tendency is fuelled by the cross-pollination of popular artists between different aspects of media...


JPop Media Takeover


Jpop musicians tend to diversify much more than western ones - they extend their talents to tv shows, movies, anime, video games and theatre; often providing theme tunes for their TV shows or films, in a Will Smith-esque attempt to promote both their music and their movies in one fell swoop.


This could be attributed to the existence of companies such as "Johnny's entertainment" - this huge media entity trains up young Japanese boys to become horrendously famous, imbuing them with essential traits for their careers such as dancing skills, vocal coaching and more.   

So they are trained from the ground-up to be talented celebrities, then pushed into every media format possible.   Makes a change from talentless reality TV contestants filling up the western magazines.

This also results in increased artist longevity - some artists have been in the business since they were in their early teens and are still going strong well into their thirties.


Overview

So to wrap up - in 2010, JPop embodies the modern western pop culture, the culture that was popular in the mid 90s, and ties it all together with their own cultural heritage.   Their mainstream music is massively diverse, spanning from heavy metal to dance to hip hop and their artists are worshipped so much that you'll find "Idol Shops" in the high street, containing memorabilia of the various musicians in the charts.

All-in-all, it's quite a different world; ironically a country so much smaller than the west has a much bigger variety of music genres in the charts - perhaps that's why so many artists that struggle in the west find themselves "Big in Japan"!

5 ways to use reverb to improve your mixes

One of the most difficult plug ins to master is also one of the most useful when it comes to pro sounding mixes.

Reverb is vital when making your mix mesh - from adding that missing something to vocals to bringing the percussion together.

Here are 5 tips on using reverb to make your mixes better...

1. Making Vocals sit well

Reverb and vocals can be the perfect match or mortal enemies - make sure you don't add too much of the stuff and drown your vocalist in a sea of what they've just said.   A small decay, maybe under 1 second should be sufficient for most music.   Make sure you're adding it in the mix, rather than soloing out the vocal track - you need to hear if it's muddying up the rest of the music!

2. Use effects sends!

Ever wonder why some reverb presets have it set to a 100% wet signal?   Most sequencers will give you the option to send your vocals to another channel, where you can apply effects to your heart's content, then mix that with the original channel!   Great for adding reverb without having to worry about that balance between retaining the original clarity of the vocals and getting the sweet reverby sound.

3. Emphasising the sibilance

While a lot of producers will advocate de-essing, some more minimalist genres can really benefit from adding a reverb with a high pass filter on it, so it only accentuates the highest notes and the s's and t's.   This can also be applied to piano with great effect, so those highest notes really bring the goosebumps up on your arms!

4. Adding Splash

When trying to get percussion that doesn't sound too unnatural, sending the drum bus with all the percussion to a channel with some high pass filtered reverb (try above 1khz to reduce the muddiness from reverbifying (I hear making up words is all the rage) the low end frequencies) can be a brilliant way to make samples sound more natural and live.

5. Reverse Reverb!

This is a great technique for making some vocals really build up and stand out - add a bunch of reverb to a vocal, freeze it down to an audio track, reverse it, then put it leading up to the original vocal.   This gives a great ghostly build to the vocal which sounds seriously good in the right context!   Experiment with filtering to get even more unusual effects - a low pass filtered reverse reverb can sound like a bassy rumble leading up to the lyric, for example!

What's new in FL Studio 9

Fruityloops has become one of the most popularly used pieces of software and for good reason.   It's combination of powerful tools and intuitive user interface has cemented it as one of the sequencers of choice for beginners.

The new FL Studio 9 has some exciting features and plug-ins that make it even more appetising!   So let's get your 5 a day and see some of the best additions to this version...


1. Side-chaining

You can now link your compressors to other tracks with side-chaining to get that modern pulsing effect on your synths and samples; Sweet!

2. Riff Machine

Tired of the difficult task of coming up with catchy riffs?   Let FL Studio 9's "Riff Machine" do it for you!   Just input the basic idea of the riff you want, giving limits for velocity, length et cetera and generate random riffs until you happen upon one you like!   Making music when you're uninspired just got easier...

3. Gross Beat

Here's a seriously useful and cool plug-in.   Scratching can be difficult to emulate with computers, but this Gross Beat VST can modulate pitch and time in order to give you complete control over your sounds!   The envelope-based operation makes it really easy to use and the presets mean you can jump straight into adding scratches, interesting beat manipulations or even real time adjustment of the sound!

4. Autogun

Boasting literally over 4 billion presets (Man, I'd hate to be the sound designer for that plug-in!), The Autogun synth plug-in promises to never leave you high and dry when in need of a synth sound - just keep scrolling until you find that elusive noise!

5. Vocodex

With control over the number of bands, the pitch and pretty much any other parameter you can think of for a vocoder, Vocodex is a brilliant plug-in both in terms of functionality and ease-of-use.

90s Pop ...What can Britney teach us about music production?

Ah, the 90s - a time when curtains seemed like a good idea, VHS still had a place in the market and wild boy bands roamed the plains in search of 14 year old girls to make money from.

Whatever you think of the pop music of the era, there's no denying the catchiness and the high production values that are intrinsic parts of it.   So, what can we learn from it?   What made Spears' snares snap?   What made the Backstreet Boys' bass synths superb?

Let's delve into the decade and have a look at what Britney and the B-boys can teach us to improve our tunes (Well, Max Martin - he's the genius behind 90% of the production for chart music back then)...

Lesson 1: Layer up your snares

Nothing punches like a 90s Pop snare drum.   How do they get that power out of their percussion?   Layering.   It's all about putting a decent low-end snare, perhaps having a powerful 200hz region, in combination with a wider clap, then finally a snappier snare that has that rimshot-esque sound to it.

Mix to taste and then with a bit of EQ-ing to bring out that low-mid range, perhaps a small amount of distortion to bring all the layers together a bit more, you'll have a recipe for a brilliantly punchy snare!

Lesson 2: Bass layering can be very powerful

While you do have to be careful when using multiple bass sounds simultaneously in order to stop the mix getting muddy, have a listen to some of Britney's basslines and you'll hear a low piano, an orchestra hit, perhaps a synth with a decent high end click and the occasional bit of slap bass popping up.

So why does it work?   While each layer is played on the bass note, not all of the sounds are focused in that frequency - in the instance above, the low piano deals with the low frequencies, but a strong high end click punches at the start of the sound.   The orchestra hit fills the mid-high range, the synth has a prominent trebley click to accompany the piano and the slap bass generally pops up to add a bit of variety to the bass of the track.   The result?   a seriously driving instrumentation that is perfect for adding catchy vocals to!

Lesson 3: Filtered vocals are great for adding variety

Throw a quick band pass filter on top of some vocals in one section of the song to make it stand out from the rest - in fact, using different vocal effects, harmonies and prominent double-tracking can all help to separate the sections of your song!

Filtering is great on delay as well - by cutting below 1khz, you can achieve that echoey feel without cluttering up the mix if you have a lot of lyrics in a small space!


Lesson 4: One hook is not enough!

Listen to any 90s pop song and chances are you'll be singing along with more than just the chorus - every vocal section is designed to be memorable, not just the hard hitting chorus!

This can be applied to instrumental music as well - don't just rely on one riff to carry a song, try alternating between a few riffs and sounds to give variety and extra catchiness to the song!

Lesson 5: Acoustic guitar is a great lead instrument for electronic music.

With a powerful attack and plenty of good samples about, you can use some plucked guitar riffs to sit in the mix without muddying up the powerful low end; resulting in a driving, yet catchy mix!

Promote your music online

So, you've got your hit songs, you've sorted your image and you're ready to tell the world about what an amazing musician you are - but where do you start?

This quick guide will give you a few useful starting points for promoting your music online!

Social Networking

Probably the most useful place to start would be making some pages for your music on the more popular social networking sites.   This will be where people can come and get a good idea about your music, image and what you're about, so it's important to make it look nice and read well.

So have a quick search and find some social networking sites beyond just MySpace and Facebook - there are loads out there!   Remember not to clutter things up on you pages - keep it easy for potential fans to find the information they want!


Online Music Charts

Get your music onto some of the many user-submitted music charts online - this is a great way to grow your fan base to a load of people who genuinely enjoy new music.   It's also an exciting way to get the fans you've made more involved - rallying your cause and saying "Let's make it to number 1!" (Sites like Reverbnation are awesome for this) can be a fantastic method of generating hype!

Internet Radio

With literally thousands of radio stations available, it shouldn't be too hard to find some to submit your music to and get it out to a new audience!   Even the smaller radio stations are useful to promote to - if nothing else, the DJ who plays it could become your new biggest fan!   Just remember to keep in contact with the DJs, send them your new material and, where appropriate, ask for bigger features, like interviews or performances.


Forums

Find a forum that discusses your genre of music... and get involved!   It's not just a case of posting a single thread about your music and leaving it there - if you can keep talking, make friends, and help people out then you're much more likely to grow your fan-base that way than hoping that your lonely thread does the trick!

Video upload sites

Now it's all well and good putting your songs up, but if no-one is searching for them then you won't get any views!   Try thinking about what people are searching for - try putting the title as your genre of music.   A video entitled "The BEST Electro House for 2010" is probably going to get more views than "DJ Randomguy - funky beat mix" since no-one knows DJ Randomguy (yet)!


And that's just some of the many things you can do.   Be imaginative, think about where your fans will be and go forth and show the world your tuneage; itís all up to you now!

History of the Theremin

When you think of electronic music, it conjures up images of big beats, layered synths and auto tune heaped on with an oversized ladle, but it all had to start somewhere.

One of the first instruments to make controlled noise out of volts was the Theremin in 1920 - and you didn't even have to touch it to hear how ground-breaking it was...

Back in the USSR...

The story starts in Saint Petersburg in the Russian Empire.   A child genius, Lev Sergeyevich Termen was born.   He later became known as Léon Theremin, presumable for two reasons:

1) Men with acute és in their names are always a hit with the ladies
2) He invented an instrument he called the "Theremin"

Incidentally, he also invented "interlacing" - a technique of improving the quality of video signals (which has been used in TVs the world over) and the eerily named "The Thing" - basically a bugging device used by spies.   Ol' Léon knew how to impress!

In fact, he managed to impress Lenin so much that he was able to go on tour around the world to show off his technological masterpiece with the haunting sound, in an effort to impress everyone with how advanced the latest soviet technology was.

The instrument struck a chord (well, a single note - Theremins can't make chords) with sci-fi film producers, and they became forever associated with badly-piloted UFOs in old movies.  The spooky sound of the Theremin is sure to have you looking for the DVD of "The Day the Earth Stood Still".

So how does it work?

I suppose now would be a good time for a quick explanation - the Theremin works by using two hands - one controlling pitch and the other controlling volume.   The closer the hands are to the two metal antennas, the higher the pitch and the lower the volume respectively.

This means that technically, the player never has to touch the instrument in order to be able to be an expert at it!

Back to the story...

Theremin's invention did not prove a commercial success, but it amazed audiences and built up a niche following, which was maintained throughout the 20th century, through the second world war and eventually an enthusiast who built Theremins as a high-school student went on to invent a revolutionary synthesizer.   You may have heard of the guy - does the name "Robert Moog" ring any bells?

But yes, the popularity of the instrument remained underground (as did Léon Theremin, in a prison camp in Siberia) but resurfaced when in the mid 90s, a film called "Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey" brought it back into the eye of the mainstream and since then it has been used by all and sundry, from Bill Bailey to Portishead.

And that brings us to now - the Theremin has enjoyed another resurgence in popularity thanks to YouTube, with millions upon millions of views on pieces played by Theremin players.   The instrument still has a hardcore group of enthusiasts who advocate building your own instrument, though they are often marketed as toys just as often as real instruments.

So I guess there's one thing we've learned from the history of the instrument - you can't touch the theremin when it comes to making haunting electronic music!

Top 10 Film music composers

Some of the world's greatest masters of musical manipulation work in film.

It takes a certain skill to reflect the on-screen action and enhance it with rhythm and melody.   You need a commanding knowledge of the emotions music can convey and the instruments with which to convey it.

Here are the Top 10 people who have mastered that ability.

10. The Dust Brothers

Notable Films: Fight Club

The power of a good soundtrack is to draw the viewer into the feel of the film.   The obscure, dark, electronic, driving soundtrack put together by The Dust Brothers for "Fight Club" broke all film music conventions and inexorably brought you into the gutter with the rest of the characters in the movie.   This was The Dust Brothers first and, at the time of writing, last foray into movie soundtracks.

9. Bernard Herman

Notable Films: Psycho

Composing the music for all the Hitchcock movies from 1955 to 1964, this included the monstrously famous "Psycho" shower scene, with the intense, sharp violins.   No doubt one of the most recognisable pieces of film music ever created.   Nice one, Bernard!

8. The RZA

Notable Films: The Kill Bill series

Not only was he the leader of the Wu-Tang Clan, but after the group ended, he proceeded to move into Film Music, collaborating with Quentin Tarantino on "Kill Bill" - producing all the original music for it.   The Cult Hit was so famed for its music that when the words "Original Music by the RZA" came on the screen in the cinema, the audience clapped.

7. Jerry Goldsmith

Notable Films: Alien, Rambo, The Omen, Total Recall

Goldsmith has to be one of the most prolific film composers ever, writing literally hundreds of film scores in his lifetime (over 200!)   He was a great innovator, using digital effects to compliment the orchestra such as in the score for "Alien".

6. James Newton Howard

Notable Films: Signs, The Sixth Sense, Space Jam. The Dark Knight

Howard started his big-budget musical work on the chick-flick "Pretty Woman", going through pretty much every genre film until he found a friend in M. Night Shyamalan, proceeding to score all his suspense-thrillers from "The Sixth Sense" onwards.   He is a master at raising the hairs on your neck - just listen to the chilling 3-note motif in "Signs" if you don't believe me.

5. Randy Newman

Notable Films: Toy Story, Monsters Inc, Meet the Parents

I'm sure anyone would smile when hearing the intro music to Toy Story.   Randy Newman is everyone's friend.   So much so that Family Guy felt the need to parody his film-music style; that's when you know you've made it.   After 15 Oscar nominations, he finally got one for his song "If I Didn't Have You" in "Monsters Inc", beginning his speech with "I don't want your pity!"   You can't knock his sense of humour!

4. Howard Shore

Notable Films: The Lord of the Rings, The Silence of the Lambs, Se7en

Shore is certainly no stranger to epic and dark scores after creating the soundscapes behind the immense "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.   In fact, that was so popular that he toured the world with a symphony orchestra performing the music from it.   He's also composed for the opera, making an operatic version of the film "The Fly".   I'd love to see the stage costumes for that.

3. Hans Zimmer

Notable Films: The Lion King, Pirates of the Caribbean series, The Dark Knight

Hans Zimmer has been noted as one of the first film composers to incorporate elements of both orchestral music and electronic into his productions.   Whether it's the purely synthesised and sampled soundtrack to "Driving Miss Daisy" or the sweeping scores of "The Lion King" and "Pirates of the Caribbean", Hans has always portrayed the film with the right tools for the right job!

2. James Horner

Notable Films: Titanic, Braveheart, Avatar

As the co-writer of "My Heart will Go On" from the film "Titanic", James Horner is the composer of some of the most recognisable film music ever.   His heavy use of Celtic elements in his music, as well as not shying away from Electronica has made his style distinctive and perfect for epic films such as the previously mentioned "Titanic", the massive "Braveheart" and the biggest selling film of all time, "Avatar" (surpassing the previous biggest selling film of all time - "Titanic"!)

1. John Williams

Notable Films: Star Wars, Superman, E.T., Jurassic Park, Jaws, Harry Potter

It is positively scary to see the back catalogue of John Williams.   He is behind almost every memorable film score in recent times.   It is possibly his ability to work with great film-makers such as Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, who understand the importance of music, combined with his love for the leitmotif - essentially the part of the music that you remember and find yourself humming while you're leaving the cinema.

Undoubtedly the greatest film composer of all time; perhaps one of the greatest composers in history.   Who else can boast such a variety of music that can evoke such a range of emotions?   As a wise YouTuber once said: John Williams is the man.

5 Methods of Making Money from Music

A lot of musicians find themselves out of pocket, wishing they could profit from their talents.

While the conventional route of becoming a famous musician in the charts is a difficult one to profit from, there are several other methods you can try that are perhaps less conventional!

Here are 5 of those methods you might want to look into...

1. Video Game Music

If you have some knowledge of computer programming to accompany your musical composition skills, chances are you'll be able to get a job working on writing music for video games!

It's the single biggest entertainment industry, beating movies and music, meaning they have the cash to pay you top dollar for your productions.

Perhaps trying to work for an independent games company is a good way to start here - there are plenty of jobs going!

2. Beat Making

The world is full of vocalists who wish to share their lyrics with the world but are incapable of producing to save their life - that's where you come in!

There are a bunch of websites that pay producers for their beats - just have a quick Google and I'm sure you'll discover a whole world of profitability from producing that you'd never previously perceived!

3. Jingles / Audio Branding

This is a great one for the "hours of work: profit" ratio - a short, few seconds long jingle can earn you hundreds, perhaps thousands.   If you can get the work, this is a brilliant place to make some amazing money.

4. Teaching

If you're qualified, there are still loads of people wishing to learn instruments.   Get yourself a website and start promoting your services locally in music shops.   A bunch of music teaching directories exist online as well, which can be a great way to promote your services.

5. Covers

If you're musically talented in the live arena, perhaps starting a covers band or a tribute band is a good idea!   Many pubs pay hundreds for each performance - meaning you get to have fun playing the songs of your favourite bands (so long as your music taste isn't too obscure - a "Cannibal Corpse" cover band may not find too much work...) and you get some top Wonga to do so!