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Just a reminder that John Braheny and I will be visiting the Northwest, offering seminars, consultations and critiques, for songwriters, musicians and bands.

(Yep, musicians and bands don't always think of themselves as songwriters…they just get together and jam and “make stuff up.”)

All the info (and more) is on on his web site, but I'll put the bare bones here for your pleasure.

Hope to see you there!

VANCOUVER, BC, CANADA – All Day Seminar
May 13th, 2006 (Saturday)

MARKETING YOUR MUSIC — John Braheny

• How to market your songs or your band
• How to pitch your songs for film and TV projects
• How music libraries — film/TV song placement co.s work.
• How to market your songs and band online
• The best online resources/services
• How to make the best use of Blogs, Webcasts and Podcasts to promote your band and songs.
• Fresh look at the hows and whys of some powerful writing techniques — a prelude
to: Song critiques – Selected at random — lyric sheets required.

Also — For professional feedback on your songs and career strategy,
schedule a one-on-one session on Sunday May 14.
E-mail: john@johnbraheny.com.

Time: 10 a.m.- 5 p.m.
Location: Holiday Inn Express, 2889 East Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC.
(Near the Pacific Nat'l Exhibition – PNE)
Phone hotel for directions: (604) 254-1000

Contact: Event Organizer, Esther Sarlo, in Vancouver.
Email: esther.spokensoftly@telus.net or phone: 604-253-3039.
Early registration: $65 (CAD).

A reminder:

We (John Braheny and I) will be presenting a 3-day “Goosing Your Song Muse” songwriters workshop retreat on beautiful Shaw Island (Washington – off the coast of Seattle), Friday/Saturday/Sunday, May 5-6-7, 2006.

This particular retreat, due to limited facilities, is for 10 women only … and there are still a few openings if you haven’t already registered. Talk to either Sharon Wooton or Maggie Savage … Their contact info is at SongAndWord.com.

The location (in the San Juan islands) is simply stunning, with all the tranquility you can handle, excellent meals prepared straight from their garden, wide open views of the bay as you play their grand piano in the main room, or enjoy their under-the-stars hot tub, plus opportunities to co-write and learn about how to market your songs on the Web with one of the best songwriting teachers in the business (if I say so myself). Also, a bit of time is devoted to creativity exercises too.
Beginners welcome…

This is our third time there and we hope you can join us!

I know. It doesn’t sound possible…but this article, How to Write a Novel in 100 Days (or less), by John Coyne, really maps it out for you, day by day.

For some of you, (dare I say, some of us) this is exactly what we’ve been looking for…

Credit to: del.icio.us/tag/creativity.

So many of us are not linear thinkers, you know, following step 1, step 2, step 3, etc. We tend to get an abstract picture in our minds that, somehow, makes sense only to us. When it comes to producing the product (i.e., song, book, story), we still have to put it into some kind of pattern for it to communicate to the masses.

To illustrate a completely different way to approach a novel-writing project, here's an article, (found at del.icio.us), by award-winning novelist, fiction teacher and physicist, Randy Ingermanson, The Snowflake Method for Writing a Novel.

The visual concept of building a snowflake shows me how each section of a novel can be 'built' to handle plots twists and yet hang on to an overall pattern.

Several people have divulged their writing processes to me … and one of them that was not at all like a snowflake, was from a woman who writes Harlequin-style love novelettes. Very formula. So much so, that she showed me huge drawn grids on the 4 walls that surround her desk, reading in a circle around the room. The giant square grids denote time-lines or plot shifts, to be filled in, just like a puzzle. In other words, if a certain sub-climax had not been entered into square 3, then the “timing” in her story would be “off.” Hey, whatever works …

More about novel-writing next time…

Here's another wiki (website resource we can all contribute to) that took me off my trail just long enough to get refreshed:

Simply put, all one needs to grow his/her brain is to do unique, random, different, and ridiculous things as often as possible. One hour of increased brain activity via thinking a lot or experiencing new stimuli can make you smarter, more energetic, more creative, and more sociable. Here are some of the endless numbers of activities that can stimulate your brain. The one key ingredient is to have an open mind. – How to Exercise an Open Mind

You'll see a list of tips and suggestions, with links.

One of my favorites is #4.
It reminds me of a writing exercise (also great for actors), that asks you to memorize as many details in a given location as you can (for example, while you're waiting at the bank or post office), including colors, lighting, sounds, shapes, textures, etc., not just naming “chair,” “table,” “door,” which are too simple and nondescript.

This helps to build variety in your sensory memory which you'll use each time you need to build a character or event. Just like painters who add and combine more colors on their palette, you'll be adding more choices.

Enjoy!

[First of all, what is a “wiki”? By definition, it's “a website or similar online resource which allows users to add and edit content collectively.”]

Broaden Your Musical Horizons contains a list of easy-to-do activities to Goose Your Muse. (And you can add your own suggestions too.)

The first one on the list is “Listen to Internet radio stations.” Let me suggest two that I enjoy and may have mentioned to you before:

Whole Wheat Radio (located in Alaska, plays indie singer/songwriters, shuns current hits)

Radio Paradise (eclectic online rock)

And yes, you can submit your original songs to them for “airplay.” Check out the quality of what they're already playing, to see if you fit in.

I heard several years ago about Betty Edwards and her hugely popular, ground-breaking book, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.

She’s credited with making the “secrets of how to draw” more accessible to the masses, helping any of us who wants to learn by using simple exercises to help us see better.

Now she has a web site, drawright.com. Check out the sketches from some of her beginning art students (click Gallery), showing how they first drew their own self-portraits, compared with the improvements they made in only a few days.

Also, here’s the new version of her classic book:

Enjoy!

This reminds me of how we used to stand, mesmerized, in the huge atrium lobby of the then-new Hyatt Hotels in Atlanta and Nashville, simply watching the graceful, glass-bubble-pod elevators, as they 'floated' up and down in open space. Could those be an inspiration for this?

Check out the photo … makes me want to be there to see what they spell.

Minneapolis's new central library, designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects and opening in late 2006, will include an electronic light sculpture provisionally named Word Up by multimedia artist Ben Rubin.

The project uses a matrix of LED tubes on the outer surfaces of each of two elevator cabs. — From the web site (plus links to design features.)

Enjoy!

Andy Budd has found a method of organizing his many songs on his iPod that’s easier for him to find his most ‘favorite’ songs.

Take a look at his recent blog post… andybudd.com/archives/2005/08/itunes_smart_playlists/index.php

By the way, I found this on Lifehacker.com.

Enjoy!

Here’s a new website, TuneFind.com, set up to answer that persistent question, when you have a song stuck in your head from last night’s The O.C. or Grey’s Anatomy … What was that song? Also good for songs from films as well.

When you click the song titles, it will take you to iTunes, where you can find out more about the band and/or buy the CD.

If you’re looking to get your songs into television or films, I suggest you listen to the range of styles that are being used in that specific show, to give you a better idea of what kind of music is appropriate.

And here’s a shout out of appreciation to those shows who are using more SONGS from indie writer/artists/bands.

Enjoy!