Bob Craypoe's Blog (9)

In the recording process there is probably one thing that has a tendency to be very monotonous. That is the mastering of a song. You will have to listen to the same song over and over again until you finally are satisfied with the mix. Then you listen to a copy of it on your car stereo as you are driving down the road and hear an imperfection or undesirable quality you failed to catch when listening to it on the other 150 occasions you listened to it. It always seems that just

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As a person who considers himself to be a good musician, I know how difficult it is to have to work a menial, dead-end day job, while knowing that I had other talents that were not being used. Talents that I felt had exceeded the requirements of the type of jobs I had been working. Although I believe that a truly wise man as well as a good manager or supervisor sees the potential of an individual, In our society, people often base their opinions of someone else upon what they are currently doin… Continue

Simon Cowell, as a judge on American Idol, has earned himself somewhat of a reputation of being cruel when telling contestants when they haven't quite measured up. People are often shocked at his brutal honesty and (perhaps) lack of tact. But, in some ways, he may just be doing the contestant a favor. One the contestant's parents should have done. The fact is that, in our modern western society, we have reached a point at which we don't want to say anything to a child that may hurt his feelings… Continue

Guitarist: "What time is band practice on Saturday?" Singer: "One O'clock" Guitarist: "Is it my turn to bring the beer?" Singer: "Yeah, I'll bring the girls." Bass Player: "I'll bring the hot dogs and burgers." Drummer: "Great! Sounds like we got ourselves a party, I mean, a practice! If the above fictional conversation is similar to the preparations your band usually makes for a practice, then I'm here to tell you that you may be taking the wrong approach to preparing for a rehearsal. To… Continue

As a musician who does solo acoustic performances, I have noticed that I may not always be the center of attention. Let's face it; some places hire a solo acoustic performer just to be "background music." Some owners/proprietors think that their customers are just there to enjoy their dinner and that the entertainment should be there just as a component of the overall "atmosphere." As somewhat of a person capable of being reasoned with, I can appreciate that fact. However, there are times when… Continue

As a musician, you wonder if what you're doing has an impact on anything in the world. Sure, it's easy to say that you have if you've sold millions of CD's like the Beatles or Led Zeppelin. But what about your average musician who plays in front of small audiences and doesn't have that hit CD? I've played places that have only had a crowd consisting of a handful of people and some of those places didn't provide the nicest atmosphere. I've played a place that had a dirt floor which was sloped do… Continue

I personally believe that one should know the rules before they break them. Obviously it is not good to be overly analytical but it wouldn't be an entirely bad thing to look at music from an analytical perspective. In order to look at things from an analytical perspective, you need information to analyze. That's where music theory comes into play. So what I am about to present is not only a case for learning music theory but also what basic components of music theory you should, at a minimum, po… Continue

Remember all those stories you heard as a kid? Like how grandpa had to walk two miles to school in three feet of snow because they didn't have school buses? Well the same could be said of the computer age. After all, I didn't have a computer when I was a kid. Now before you start playing the violin, I am not saying this for sympathy. There is actually a point to this article. The point is: Make the most of it. In the old days, if we wanted to learn song lyrics, we had to listen to a tape over a… Continue

Most people just learn a song for the sake of learning a song or just simply because they like it. Well what if I was to tell you another reason for learning a song? How about learning a song for the purpose of learning a specific technique? I remember when I was first learning how to play guitar. I would see a guitarist from some famous group do a certain technique. I would sit up and say: "wow! I have got to learn how to do that!" So I'd pick up one of the band's albums and the sheet music for… Continue