March 2012
Guild Tidings
The official publication of
The International Songwriters Guild
Volume 17, No. 3
NEXT MEETING - 5:00pm Sunday, March 4th, 2012
Officers:
Newsletter/Articles
Jeff Mason, jeffrey_mason@me.com
Meeting Coordinator/Critique scoring/CFMA Liason
Matthew Campbell, matthew_sax77@yahoo.com
Membership/Certificates/Contact
Susan Foster-Trewick, susiecool2001@yahoo.com
407-760-2153
E-mail Contact, isgorlando@gmail.com
Website
Carlos Colon, videosaysitall.fl@gmail.com
352-267-5911
Treasurer
Asli Goncer, asli@cfl.rr.com
Secretary
Jacquelyn Gould, songsuite@gmail.com
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. For more information, visit our website at www.isgorlando.org or myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/internationalsongwritersguildorlando
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 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.
Know Your Audience
By Jeff Mason
I’ve been laboring under a misconception. For a long time I’ve been writing story songs, some of them turned out well. I thought that they would fit well on TV shows or movies. I’ve found out that I was mistaken.
Last week I watched a video presentation on writing songs for TV and Film. It featured Michael Laskow and Robin Frederick. Laskow is the founder of the independent A&R company TAXI which helps songwriters get their music heard by record labels, music publishers and music supervisors of film and TV projects. Frederick is the head screener at TAXI. She has written two books which are available on Amazon. One of her books, Shortcuts To Songwriting For Film and TV, was featured in the video. The discussion can be watched for free at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/music-marketing-online
When a music supervisor sends out a request for songs to be considered for a TV project he will specify that the song has "universal" lyrics. What are universal lyrics? A universal lyric is a lyric that a large number of people can identify with or relate to. It is a lyric that will not conflict with the specific content of a scene by avoiding proper names, place names and dates.
It’s easy to see why my story songs would not be chosen. They’re like their own scripts and at odds with the story on the TV show. It’s not recommended that a song be “on the nose.” That means that your song must not tell the story of the script. I’ve realized that my story songs will be better used on my own album.
What are music supervisors looking for? They’re looking for songs that support the central emotion of a scene. You need to create atmospherics, mood and energy. Don’t be too specific and remember to cut out the storytelling. Mix your music at a low level. Remember that your song will be used to underpin the emotion of the scene so it must not be too loud. There are 51 TV shows currently using original songs. Often a song is used in the closing scene so it leaves the viewer with a feeling or an emotion.
There are five major types of scenes: Love relationships of all kinds, family relationships, growing up, conflict and celebration. Try to write songs that can relate to these emotions and catalog them. You might have written a few sad songs, so put them in a folder and label them “Sad.” When an opportunity comes along where a sad song is needed you know just where to look. Try to build a stash of songs per emotion.
Master Writer is a software for songwriters. It’s expensive, but there is a free 30 day download. It is a combination of a set of rhyming, phrasal and informational reference dictionaries. It has a database for organizing work in progress and is a word processor, and comes with a hard-disk recorder for melodies, a MIDI drum loop library and has an online date of creation song registration service.
Tunefind ( http://www.tunefind.com/ ) is a useful website where you can listen to songs currently being used in today’s TV shows. It’s important to listen to contemporary material so we avoid sounding dated.
I hope that this article is helpful and I’ll see you next month.
Special Announcement: NYSE vocal group to visit the next ISG meeting
I would like to introduce my vocal group to The International Songwriter's Guild. We have been performing for the past 2 years at many places in Orlando including The Restaurant CIRCA 1926 & the Winter Park Towers. We are 3 Guys originally from New York - (The NYSE Guys - it stands for New York South Entertainment) who now live in Orlando Fl.
We perform a variety of styles like The Rat Pak (Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin & Sammy Davis, Jr.) with a twist - Tony Bennett - Bobby Darrin - Neil Diamond - Motown - Oldies - DooWop - Frankie Valli - Manhattan Transfer & more.
I would like to see if there is any member of ISG that has an interest in writing new songs for us to perform with the same feel of the RAT PAK. It looks like we have a chance to perform in Las Vegas in a few months & it would be GREAT if we had a new tune to Introduce there (keeping the same Big Band style as the RAT PAK).
Here's a couple of our videos you can view.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VGH4k1Gsgk Chas - Mack the Knife
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7-ThT1orpA&feature=rec-LGOUT-exp_fresh+div-1r-3-HM
NYSE Guys Promo Video
Thank you for considering The NYSE Guys.
Chas Zito
ISG Bulletin Board
Videography and website management services at a price you CAN AFFORD. Capturing your wedding or event on video may not be in your budget but you’re hoping that you may have something left over to hire a videographer. I will fit your budget. My goal is to offer my services to those who otherwise would have to pass because of funds. This is your special day and you most definitely want to capture those moments. Visit my website at http://www.videosaysitall.com . Thanks and call me anytime (352-267-5911)…Carlos Colon
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.
We’re always looking for material for the newsletter. If you have any information that you would like to see added to the newsletter, please see Jeff Mason at the meetings or email him at jeffrey_mason@me.com . Please keep your articles brief and to the point. Print deadline for the newsletter is approximately two weeks prior to the monthly meeting.
Classified advertising may be placed free of charge to members in good standing with the ISG. For more information on display advertising and/or classified advertising for non-members, please contact Jeff by the print deadline (usually the Friday 16 days prior to the monthly meeting); email is best ( jeffrey_mason@me.com ).
Why isn't your gig announced here? Call us with your appearance schedule!
Jeff Mason's Gig Schedule
Scruffy Murphy's,
2625 Edgewater Dr,
Orlando, Fl, 32804,
407 835 7150
8 p.m. to Midnight
1st and 3rd Thursday of the month
The Farmer's Market,
Parking area in front of
Infusion Tea,
1600 Edgewater Dr,
Orlando, Fl, 32804,
407 999 5255
2nd Thursday of month
6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Tijuana Flats,
444 S. Hunt Club Blvd,
Apopka, Fl, 32703,
407 774 0402
Tuesdays from 6 p.m.
Weather Permitting
St Paddy's Day Sat March 17th,
O'Keefe's Irish Pub and Restaurant,
115 S. Rockingham Ave,
Tavares, Fl, 32778,
352 343 2157
From noon to 10 p.m.
Current members please send us your website info if you would like your site to be listed in the ISG members page. 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.
New members always welcome!
© 2012 ISG