DIY Advice Archives - Page 2 of 2

Today we are continuing our recent partnership with Sonicbids by sharing this fantastic article that originated on their company blog. After you click around our site, head over to theirs and see what great content they have to offer.

We live in the age of convenience and efficiency, and our smartphones and tablets are probably the greatest manifestations of this cultural truth. Chatting with our friends, uploading pictures and videos, getting food delivered to our door, and much more is made infinitely easier with these gadgets – and why stop there? As a busy musician with a million different things on your plate, there are a myriad of apps that will make your life that much simpler. You’ll probably be surprised to find what you can streamline or cut down on with just the touch of a button!

1. Metronome Plus (iPhone/iPad)

This metronome app is simple, unintrusive, and includes just about everything you might want from a metronome for those frequent moments you need to keep a steady beat. Features include a “tapping” property to gauge tempo, different modes (pitch, setlist, record, and practice), and the ability to multitask (it runs in the background so you could also read sheet music on your phone or tablet, if you wanted to).

Cost: Free to download with ability to purchase different modes

2. Hum (iPhone/iPad)

Hum is necessary for the songwriter who often misplaces the lyrics she writes on napkins, or forgets how she wanted that one song to go exactly. Its main function is keeping all of your lyrics in one place while also allowing you to attach recordings of the sounds and tunes that go with each song. For added convenience, it includes Dropbox syncing, and you can even sort your library by key, tuning, or mood, among other capabilities.

Cost: $1.99, tuner is an additional $0.99

3. Remember The Milk (iPhone/iPad/Android)

While not made specifically for musicians, your life will be extremely challenging if you don’t have a dependable organizational system that keeps track of all your daily/weekly/monthly to-dos. That’s where Remember The Milk comes in. This app will tidily store all the mundane tasks you need to accomplish, all the meetings you have scheduled, all the gigs you have lined up, and whatever else you need to get done, with sorting by priority, due date, time estimates, and more. With reminders that can be sent to you via texts, email, and instant messaging service, forgetting to check the app won’t mean that you forget about your tasks entirely. You probably have a lot going on, so don’t attempt to store it all in your head – get organized!

Cost: $24.99/year

4. GarageBand (iPhone/iPad)

It’s an oldie but a goodie. GarageBand for iOS is like a mini recording studio in your pocket. Using your own instruments, you can record, arrange, and mix your songs however you please, fine-tuning them with just a few presses. Heck, you don’t even need your own instruments, as GarageBand’s built-in ones sound pretty darn close to the real thing. And with support for 32 tracks (you can merge them!), you’ll probably never be lacking space. As the final cherry on top, GarageBand is compatible with Facebook, YouTube, and SoundCloud, guaranteeing that you don’t waste a second in sharing your creations.

Cost: $4.99

5. Vocal Warm Up (iPhone/iPad)

Singers out there know that training your voice is no joke, and every time you plan on utilizing it for an extended amount of time, you need to be warming up those vocal cords. Vocal Warm Up is perfect for the job because it can be customized to fit your desired vocal ranges, and its flexibility means you can set different ranges for different warm-ups as your singing improves. Being able to practice with a huge selection of exercises (that can be placed in playlists of your own design) will improve your tone, breath control, and stamina. No matter where you are, you won’t have to fear not being warmed up enough prior to belting out your latest songs.

Cost: $3.99

6. Songsterr Tabs & Chords (iPhone/iPad/Android)

Songsterr is perfect for both the young musician picking up a guitar for the first time and the seasoned vet who’s dying to learn more songs to play. That’s because it’s a massive song library (over 90,000 included) with over 500,000 tabs for guitar, bass, drums, and more. Tracks can be slowed down, and sections can be repeated, so you can choose the pace you want to play and learn at. With simple navigation, this app unlocks the way to quickly play all your favorite songs. Step aside, “Wonderwall”!

Cost: $4.99/month

7. Hootsuite (iPhone/iPad/Android)

Another app made for the general public but easily suited to musicians is Hootsuite, a social media management service that also comes in app form for musicians on the go. With Hootsuite, you can share and schedule posts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Foursquare so you can stay engaged with fans online even when you’re not really “there.” Whether you’re on the road, about to play a gig, or just jamming with the band, let your fans know! It takes a matter of moments, and the payoff – keeping them interested and wanting to know more – is huge. Slacking on social media will cause you to lose your online buzz, but Hootsuite makes it insanely easy to stay on top of it.

Cost: Free

With these apps in your arsenal, you’re bound to find your life becoming much less complicated. Next up, check out these eight must-have apps for gaining and keeping fans and the top six must-have apps for songwriters!

Katarina Underwood is an editorial intern for Sonicbids.

I’ve been running my own record label for the better part of three years at this point, and along the way I’ve learned countless lessons I wish I had known prior to launch. That’s just the way life works sometimes, I guess. You can plan and study all you want for something, but eventually you will find there are numerous paths to success you never even considered. The best you can do is learn as you go along and pass whatever knowledge you gain to those who have yet to begin. Share what you have learned so that others will not only have a leg up on their own journeys, but so that you can better understand the information yourself. That is what I hope to accomplish with this series, and every few weeks I will share a new lesson learned during my adventures in the world of small business ownership.

One of the reasons I always loved supporting indie artists and labels as a teen was because anyone I ordered from online always seemed incredibly appreciative of my business. I cannot think of a single time I ordered something online from an artist or label and did not receive something extra when the package eventually arrived in my inbox. It may have been something small, like a sampler CD or free stickers, but to me it showed that I mattered to the people from whom I had ordered. They could have given me what I paid for, but instead they went out of there way to give me something extra, and through doing so they forged a connection with me that more than likely continues to this day.

What I didn’t consider when I was younger was the cost associated with these freebies. Running a business is rarely a cheap adventure, and that goes double for any attempt at building your own empire within the world of music. Stickers and sampler CDs cost money, even if you burn the CDs from iTunes playlists on your own laptop it’s going to cost something, and that amount will add up as the number of orders received begin to grow. Before you know it, you could be in debt not because your products aren’t selling, but because you’ve given away just as much as, if not more than you’ve sold.

For now, the main way my label attempts to engage with consumers beyond simply fulfilling orders is by creating unique, handwritten ‘thank you’ letters. These are short notes written by either myself or own of my team members that, with slight variation, thank the consumer for their purchase and offer some kind of advice, anecdote, fact, or thought aimed at making them smile. Sometimes that means offering exclusive discounts, while other times that may entail promising pizza to overseas fans if they ever make it to the place where you’re located. You know the chances of that last one coming true are probably slim to non-existent, but like any greeting/thank you card ever sent it’s the though that counts, and offering your fans free pizza is one heck of a gesture to make.

Here are a few examples of letters we have created:

Obviously it would take a long time to write letters for each order as they are received, so what we do at my label is dedicate a little time every day to writing letter that leave space for a recipient’s name to be added later on. We try to write at least 10 a day, that way we always have a stack ready to go whenever orders begin to roll in. Sometimes an album can sell out in a matter of hours, and we need to have a hundred or more notes ready to go just as fast. With planning, we are able to meet that need and still have some on reserve.

We sign every letter with our Twitter handle to encourage people to not only follow us, but to tag us when sharing photos of their orders. I think everyone I know who enjoys vinyl likes to take pictures of their new records, so adding a note with our handle encourages people to tag us when making their post. That exposure, which is produced by the consumer at zero cost to us, is essentially priceless.

I know that taking the time to write notes, especially those made out to individual customers, will add untold amounts of time to your shipping process, but it’s absolutely worth the effort. Make your fans feel as special as they make you feel when they support your art. If you can accomplish that, there is not a doubt in my mind that you’ll have fans for life.

James Shotwell is the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. He is also a professional entertainment critic, covering both film and music, as well as the co-founder of Antique Records. Feel free to tell him you love or hate the article above by connecting with him on Twitter. Bonus points if you introduce yourself by sharing your favorite Simpsons character.