This week I had the privilege of interviewing Brent Milligan for my VIP members. He’s a professional producer/musician here in Nashville. Over the course of 45 minutes, he said so many things that I thought were just fantastic. I told him we could do a separate interview on EACH of those topics, there was so much good information.
Towards the end of the interview, I asked Brent if he had any final advice for aspiring producers. He told us a couple of things, but one thing particularly stuck out. He said, “Always be listening to good music.”
Now, you may be thinking to yourself Umm…yeah. That’s a no-brainer. But I’m always surprised at how little I focus on listening to good music as a way to get better. I still think of the music on my iPod like most normal people do — entertainment, something to listen to while driving, at a party, or mowing the lawn.
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This past weekend I had the privilege of playing guitar at a CD release concert for a good friend and amazing artist. Her name is Whitney Winkler.
Her new EP Weeds is available on Amazon.
I produced, recorded, mixed, and mastered the project. I even played most of the guitar parts…and sang a bit, too.
Whitney’s a really talented singer/songwriter from Kentucky. I know I’m a bit biased, but the tracks sound really good. All recorded in my home studio.
Go grab a copy, and enjoy!
As I type this, there’s snow on the ground here in Nashville. Feels like Christmas.
This time of year you may be looking for ways to help those in need. Here’s a small, quick way you can help (and get some good music, too).
Several of my buddies up at Sweetwater have contributed a few songs towards a compilation album to help their friend Nate Delagrange. Nate suffered a spinal injury about 10 years ago and is a quadriplegic.
A few weeks ago Nate was in a car accident, and while he’s okay, his van is totaled. You can read the full details here.
This compilation album, called “Wheels for Nate,” is your way to help Nate and his family get a new set of wheels. The album is only $10, and all proceeds go to directly to Nate. (Thank to Matt Adams for putting this together.)
The first track on the album is a rendition of “Deck the Halls” that I recorded a few years ago. I’ve never released it to the public before. Enjoy!
You can listen/buy here:
If every HSC reader chipped in, Nate would have his van in no time. Let’s go folks. Ten bucks. Good music. Good cause. Merry Christmas.
If you’re the kind of person who likes Christmas music, you should know about a fun Christmas album.
You may remember my friend Ben Gortmaker. He’s the guy who I interviewed on the podcast about his recently-released album, recorded and mixed completely in GarageBand.
Well, several years ago Ben wrangled up a bunch of independent Nashville artists to put together a compilation album of Christmas songs. Three albums later, Holiday Noise has gotten a lot of attention.
Now Ben has released a compilation “best of” album, featuring one song by yours truly (“O Come, O Come Emmanuel”).
These songs really are fantastic. I encourage you to check ‘em out.
Check out Holiday Noise: A Christmas Compilation on iTunes and Bandcamp.
Merry Christmas!
As you probably know, I’ve been selling my latest album Out of Indiana over at joegildermusic.com for the last 3 weeks.
Well, today is the official release date! You may now purchase the album at any of the following stores:
However, you’ll get a better deal if you buy it directly from my website. A few reasons:
- Better quality mp3 files (320 kbps vs 160 or 192)
- Chord chart of all songs (included with mp3 download)
- Free download of the CD Release Concert recording (which will take place this weekend)
- Additional bundles…click here to see them all.
Otherwise, do whatever is most convenient for you. And enjoy! I’m very proud of this album.
Next week you’ll be able to pre-order a copy of my album Out of Indiana. I’ve been so immersed in this record for the last several months, and I’m excited to share it with you.
Want to win a free copy? Head over to joegildermusic.com this weekend and download the 3 songs I’m giving away for free.
After you’ve listened to them, come back here and leave a comment. Your comment should include two things:
- Which of the 3 songs was your favorite?
- What project are you currently working on (or about to start), and when will it be finished?
I’ll be reading each comment, and will be picking the winner(s) next week.
Have fun!
In the last article, I shared with you the first three tips for finishing your album. Today, let’s look at the last four.
4. Get it right at the source.
I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again many more times I’m sure, but no matter how good your editing and mixing skills are, your mixes will only be as good as the tracks you record. It’s imperative that you place a high level of importance on making your recorded tracks sound as good as possible.
Speaking from experience, I’m really proud of my album, and I’m excited for you to hear it soon. However, I could have done a better job of getting things right at the source. Those of you who joined Mix With Us have heard the raw audio tracks from the album. The acoustic guitars, in particular, could’ve been recorded a little better. The mics were too close to the guitar, so there’s a lot of unnecessary bass in the raw tracks.
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As I mentioned last week, my album is finished, and I’m getting ready to release it in the next couple of weeks. If you’d like a free sample, head over to JoeGilderMusic.com. I’m giving away 3 songs from the album. These were all recorded and mixed in my home studio.
I’m planning some pretty cool things for the album release, so make sure you’re signed up to my newsletter, or subscribed to the HSC RSS feed. More to come soon.
But first, let me share with you some tips for finishing an album. There are a bajillion steps involved in producing any recording project, and today I want to share with you 7 tips that really helped me as I went from “I’m working on my album” to “I’m finished with my album.” I’ll share these over the course of several articles. Enjoy!
1. Finish writing the songs before you start recording them.
As tempting as it may be to start recording a song as soon as you’ve written it, resist the urge. As you probably know, songs aren’t written, they’re rewritten. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve written a song, started recording it for a few days, then realized that the song needed some major work. Usually that meant scratching everything I’d recorded.
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