July 2016
Guild Tidings
The official publication of
The International Songwriters Guild
Volume 21, No. 7
Next Meeting Sunday July 3rd 5:00pm
The International Songwriter’s Guild meets at 5 PM on the first Sunday of every month at
the Central Florida Musician’s Union building, 3020 East Robinson (at the extreme east end
of Robinson, near Orlando Executive Airport) in Orlando.
Songwriters, composers, performers, publishers, and the curious are encouraged to join us.
Non-members are invited to attend a meeting or two to get a feel for our group and what we
do. If you wish to join, there is an annual fee of only $5. For more information, visit
our website at www.tinyurl.com/isgsongs
or myspace page at https://myspace.com/21075001
The meetings will be structured as follows: 5:00 to 5:30, business and introductions. 5:30
to 6:00, presentation by a guest speaker (when scheduled), 5:30 or 6:00 to 8:00, song
critiques. Please bring a CD or I-phone or mp3 player or perform your song live, and bring
10 or more lyric sheets. If we have at least 5 songs by members who wish to be scored, and
6 members scoring, then we will have them entered in the Monthly competition. Everyone is
encouraged to write constructive comments on the lyric sheets.
Any Details not in this newsletter are at:
If you wish to join our Facebook group, please check us out at
https://www.facebook.com/groups/831814850193553/
WebChatter
By Susiecool
Here's a blog by Ari Herstand that I found interesting and thought I should share.
http://aristake.com/post/8-reasons-why-singersongwriter-shows-are-boring
Also here is another musicians Meetup network that is new on the Orlando scene.
The Language Of Music
By Jeff Mason
Last month I wrote about the legendary Beatles producer George Martin. In this
article I will continue my exploration of other pioneering music producers.
Tom Dowd is not as well known as George Martin but he should be. Born in 1925, in
New York City, Tom was a teenage prodigy in physics and mathematics who worked on the
Manhattan Project at Columbia University. He later took those talents to Atlantic Records
and pioneered work on binaural stereo recording. He later designed the eight track
console.He modernized the recording industry.
I first became aware of Tom’s contribution to recording while watching a Taxi tv
broadcast about recording. Taxi president Michael Laskow was discussing the magical and
mysterious art of mixing and the documentary film “Tom Dowd and the Language of Music” was
recommended. It took me a while to ferret out a copy of the film. I’ll give you this link
to get you started should you wish to investigate further. http://tomdowd.com/test/
While watching the film I realized that while ignorant of his name I was indeed
well acquainted with his work. Starting his recording career in the late forties, Tom
recorded directly to disc.(Tape wasn’t around yet!) This was real fly by your pants
recording. Moving into the fifties, Tom worked with jazz stars Charlie Parker, John
Coltrane and Thelonious Monk. Later he recorded Ray Charles and Bobby Darin. In the
sixties he recorded Aretha Franklin and rockers like Cream. Helping out at Stax in Memphis
he worked on Otis Redding, Booker T and the MGs. He designed part of Criteria Studios in
Miami and produced The Allman Brothers Band, Lynyrd Skynrd and Derek and the Dominos. Just
to mention a few.
Tom was not only a gifted technician. He was a seasoned musician and
instrumentalist. Perhaps what is more important he was a coach with a gift for making the
artist feel at home in the sometimes intimidating studio environment. Like all great
producers he had a trained ear.
I’m reading a biography on Sam Phillips. It is written by Peter Guralnick and
titled “Sam Phillips, The Man Who Invented Rock N Roll.” The producer who introduced us to
Elvis Presley. We are fortunate that Elvis walked into Phillip’s Sun Studios. Sam had
worked earlier with blues master Howlin’ Wolf and instinctively applied the same stripped
down sound to those early Presley sessions.Other notable artists under Sam include
Ike Turner, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and Roy Orbison. Sam was also blessed
with the ability to listen and recognize when lightning was captured in a bottle. The key
to all this was making an insecure artist like Presley or Wolf feel comfortable in the
studio. He was also an early user of slap back echo.
I am a slow reader and last month I found myself ploughing through another
biography. It was about my favorite author John Le Carre. Known for the exceptional
espionage novels “The Spy Who Came In From The Cold,” “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” and
“Smiley’s People.” I found it interesting to compare the similarities in the craft of
songwriting to the equally arduous craft of fiction writing. I think that this quote from
a 1996 Paris Review interview with George Plimpton is particularly revealing.”I am an
absolute monk about my work. It’s like being an athlete: you have to find out the best
hours of the day. I’m a morning person.” Le Carre further reveals that in his earliest
career days a one and a half hour train ride to the office was his most productive time of
day.
http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/1250/the-art-of-fiction-no-149-john-le-carr
The biography is titled simply “John Le Carre: The Biography” by Adam Sisman. The following is
a link to a review of the book.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/oct/25/john-le-carre-biography-adam-sisman-review
That’s all for now. See you next month. Jeff.
ISG Bulletin Board
Meeting space graciously provided by Central Florida Musicians Association, Local 389.
You are invited to join the largest union in the world, representing the interests of the
professional musician. Visit their website at afm389.org for more information. You may
reach them by phone at: 407-894-8666.
Why isn't your gig announced here? Members in good standing
call SusieCool with your appearance schedule! 407-760-2153
Matthew and Rebecca Campbell (Mellify)
Have a new CD available at BandCamp
Also for anyone interested, Central Florida Folk hosts a song circle at the Sleeping Moon
on the last Wednesday of each month. 7 to 10pm. All are welcome. It is acoustic. They have
a facebook page too.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Central-Florida-Folk-Song-Circle/139385302761066?fref=ts
On the third Wednesdays of each month we have a playing circle with the Fingerstyle Guitar
Group in the Community room of the winter Park Library. 460 E. New England Ave.-- Winter
Park, FL 32789. 6 to 8:30pm. Songwriters are welcome, but we do try to play our
fingerstyle songs and not use picks. There is more info on the facebook group page.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/228147620559285/?fref=nf
Current members please send us your website info if you would like your site to be listed
in the ISG members page.
https://sites.google.com/site/isgsusiecool/home/links-and-recommended-reading/member-websites
Also if you have any songs that have placed first in the monthly critiques, please send
the mp3's to isgorlando@gmail.com if you would like to have them featured in the ISG
MySpace page. https://myspace.com/21075001
June 2016 No Critique results:
New members always welcome!
© 2016 ISG