4 Part Music Blog

Last night I attended the first meeting of the Wiltshire Business Club which has recently been formed by Phil Hendy of PAH Accounting.   A familiar name in local networking, I first met Phil at 4 Networking in Devizes.

The Wiltshire Business club has been formed to bring together local business in Wiltshire (obviously!).  The first meeting last night was extremely well attended and I met up with some familiar faces and some new businesses.  The format of the evening combines some traditional networking ideas along with some new concepts. I particularly enjoyed the “blind meeting” where everyone was paired up for a ten minute appointment by picking a raffle ticket.  I found myself talking to Helen Silver of the Property Styling Company who used to boss me around when she was in charge of 4 Networking in Bath and I was merely the humble servant that is Operations Assistant.   Since then we have both moved on, Helen is a now an area leader for 4 Networking whilst I have currently let my membership lapse.

Further information on the Wiltshire business club can be found on their website.  I would recommend it to any Wiltshire based business. There is no date set for the next meeting but I will update this as soon as I have been made aware, or indeed someone with more information may well add a comment below!

When a person or business creates an artistic work such as a piece of music,  video, dance routine, or any other type of expression where music is used as an integrated part of that production, royalties must legally be paid to the person that owns the copyright to the music that was used. Royalty free music is different in that in most cases a person can use the royalty free music in a production without paying royalty fees to the copyright holder. There are dozens of royalty free music web sites on the Internet, and all provide access to high quality, downloadable audio files, but royalty free does not necessarily mean free of all costs.

Royalty free music enables you to use the music, usually within a set of pre defined terms but it does mean that music will have a cost associated with it to purchase initially.  As a composer myself, writing a lot of music for business use, for example on podcasts and training courses, the question about royalties is often raised.   Generally to keep administration simple a lot of music written for a business will be provided royalty free.

There are generally two types of royalty free music. A “bespoke” composition will be supplied to a customer with an exclusive license. Whilst “royalty free” and often subject to additional terms this music can often be quite expensive as a one off cost but does mean the customer has something unique for their own use.  The other type of royalty free music fairly widely available is downloadable clips which attract a much lower price tag up front but are often available to an unlimited number of clients.

As to which option is best will depend on the customers requirements. The advantage of either type of royalty free music is that the customer has the freedom to use the music without worrying about any ongoing costs (providing there are no terms suggesting otherwise) and the composer or writer will have been paid for their efforts at the point of sale.

Tonight saw the return of Gareth Malone to our television screens with another quest to create a choir from scratch.  Having taken some school kids to the Choir Olympics in China and some boys to the Royal Albert Hall, Gareth’s latest challenge is to create a “community choir” in the town of South Oxhey.

South Oxhey is built on land which was once part of the Oxhey Hall Estate and was created after the second world war to help alleviate housing pressures on London caused by the Blitz.  Today the area has rather a poor reputation which goes back several decades. Gareth’s concept is to create a Community Choir which will give the area its much needed boost.

Gareth Malone

As a musician and singer (well a keen amateur choir member at any rate), I hope that Gareth’s efforts prove to be successful. As with anything a choir is never going to be everyone’s idea of fun but it’s good to see the BBC promoting the benefits of group singing.  I found it particularly amusing when Gareth admitted to being “middle class” as if this was something to be kept quiet.  Admittedly perhaps in South Oxhey maybe that is the case?  However, what this shows is that music and singing breaks down so called social barriers.

Traditionally I think choirs are often seen as for the middle classes which is a shame because it certainly shouldn’t be about that at all.  Personally I am hoping that Gareth’s work aside of developing a great choir in South Oxhey will also inspire other people to join or indeed form their local choirs.

Most schools will put on a production or evening performance at least once a term and this will usually involve a school choir.  Whilst a lot of school choirs are very good, here are a few tips for the best ways you can turn a group of individual singers into a collective choir. The children might even learn a few life lessons too!

Spending a few minutes on breathing techniques at the beginning of each choir rehearsal will not only help get the very best sound quality from the choir but are especially good with children and young adults as it will help them stay calm and focus on their objectives. Making sure they have plenty to drink as this will also encourage a better sound, so providing water will ensure their vocals are well hydrated and breathing properly.

All male or all female choirs can also be formed and there is now a wide range of music available for these ensembles.

A lot of people want to learn how to play the piano but struggle to get things off the ground. The piano is an incredible instrument; there’s little else that can quite convey the range of emotions that can be expressed through the gentle caress of its keys.

If you yourself struggle when it comes to learning how to play the piano never fear. Keep reading to learn some top tips that are sure to have you playing beautiful melodies before you know it.

The very first thing that you must do to start on this learning curve is to be sure that you have regular access to a piano or a synthesizer. Staring blankly at sheet music or reading a book on how to play will not be enough. The piano is a difficult instrument to master and without that access to the instrument you will find yourself hitting a brick wall. If you can afford to buy a piano do so, otherwise see if there’s anyone you could borrow one from while you learn.

Piano lessons for beginners are available in numerous different forms and will put you on the right path to mastering this instrument. One to one lessons seem to have lost their popularity in recent years but you’re sure to be able to find someone to instruct you locally. Alternatively you might like to consider using books of piano lessons or CD / DVD combinations. The presence of the internet is not to be ignored either with many lessons available on the World Wide Web, and piano lesson software is available for download. Don’t feel restricted to one type of lesson, combining different methods will help you to learn quickly but be sure to schedule your time effectively to be sure you don’t get lessons confused.

Frequent practice is an essential part of learning to play any musical instrument and the piano is no exception. If you can’t prioritize your piano lessons in your day you will find it incredibly difficult to master. No one is saying that you must practice all day, every day but be sure to set aside at least ten to fifteen minutes each and every day to work on your music. Remember to include warm ups within your practice sessions.

One of the best ways to discourage yourself is to attempt to play pieces of music that are far beyond your ability. Start with simple lessons and work your way up to the advanced pieces; don’t jump straight in at the deep end. Make sure you finish the lesson that you’re currently on before beginning the next, even if it takes you a long time to master. Patience is a virtue and without it you will struggle to learn anything at all.

When you’ve taken control of one piece of music you’ll be ready to move onto the next one. But make sure that every now and then you return to some of your older pieces so that they don’t slip out of your memory.

Learning to play the piano doesn’t need to be difficult. Start to work some of the above tips into your piano practice routine and in no time you’ll be playing your very favorite pieces of music. Stop listening to sources that offer you tips that don’t work; just try the above and you will be amazed how quickly you can learn to play piano.

Communication today has never been easier.  It seems that everyone is Twittering their every move or living out their lives on Facebook, Linked – In and a whole host of other social networking websites.  Then you have business networking, the likes of 4 Networking, BNI, FSB and so forth not to mention countless small networking organisations all of which have their place.  Then, back online you have blogs (such as this one), forums, video messages and podcasts, all of which are ways of promoting your business or your life or anything else you wish to share.

With the explosion of business networking in recent years, a podcast is a great way to give your customers a personal message about your business when you’re not there. What’s more with automated delivery straight into iTunes or some other similar program, it’s easy for your customers to opt-in to your podcasts and then have the freedom to listen to them whenever they want via their iPod or similar device.

The question then is how to go about recording a podcast.  The easiest way for most people is to do this using the microphone built into the laptop or buy a cheap USB microphone and connect it to a PC.  In principle this will work and there are plenty of free audio programs out there which will help to achieve a reasonable quality of audio.  All you then need to do is to go through and edit the podcast so that there are no strange gaps and maybe re-do areas where there is a stutter and there you have it.

So if it’s so easy then why do 4 Part Music now offer a service to record podcasts?

Well, it comes down to the quality of audio which is already in mass circulation.  The most obvious source of audio would be the radio. Anyone who listens to their local radio station or one of the BBC stations is used to the way it sounds.  That level of quality is almost impossible to achieve from a tiny mic located in the average laptop.

The quality of any audio recording is subject to a number of factors.

1. Location:

We do not currently have a studio but do all our recordings on site, or on location as we refer to it. This makes our customer’s lives much easier. However, that means we have to effective create a studio environment everywhere we go. This we achieve through a number of portable accoustic panels and foam which is placed at various points to “deaden” the accoustic in the room.

2. Microphones:

Using a high quality microphone is one of the most important factors in any recording.  For a podcast we generally use a very high quality condenser microphone for each person coupled with pop shields as necessary.

3. Hardware:

All our recordings are captured at 96/24 which is the accepted standard for high quality studio recordings and recorded onto the computers hard drive via the Pre Amps and Analogue to Digital converters.

4. Cabling:

Even the microphone cables and other connectors all have to be of the highest possible quality and often we will use cables with a silver core.

Is this a bit excessive for a podcast?

In short no! As we have seen, anyone can essentially record their own podcast using a laptop and some free software.  To make a difference we need to offer the same standard of audio you would expect from the BBC.  This I hope we achieve, which for £50 a podcast we hope represents excellent value for money.

To find out more visit our Website.

This year sees the inaugural “Office Choir of the Year” competition which is being organised by “Music in Offices” in partnership with Classic FM.

The competition is open to all office choirs based in London with 12 or more members and also has a category for newly formed ensembles.

David Lawrence is running some choral workshops to which all applicants are invited before they perform in the competitive heats from which the finalists will be chosen.  Every choir will perform at the heats (Judges Janet Shell and Ralph Allwood) and five finalist choirs will compete in front of our panel of adjudicators on 22nd April 2010. Judges will include Suzi Digby (Lady Eatwell) OBE, Emma Johnson and Lucy Parham.

Further information and application forms can be downloaded from the Music in Offices Website.

Having missed the last couple of lunchtime recitals I managed to get along to todays performance at Bath Abbey and I am extremely glad that I did.

Steven Grahl has been Organist and Director of Music at St Marylebone Church since 2001 which houses a four manual Rieger Organ which was the result of a collaboration between St Marylebone and the Royal Academy of Music.  Since 2007 Steven has also held the post of Assistant Organist at New College Oxford where he plays for daily chapel services and accompanies the choir in a busy schedule of tours, broadcasts and CD recordings.

Today’s recital was a perfect illustration of why Steven was an award winning graduate of Magdalen College, Oxford and gained the coveted Limpus and Dixon prizes in his FRCO examination.  His performance was not only faultless throughout but he conveyed a wonderful sense of musicianship through his playing. The programme was as follows:

Steven Grahl

Allegro maestoso (Organ Sonata in G) – Edward Elgar

Fantasia in A – William Byrd

Scherzetto (Organ Sonata) – Percy Whitlock

Litanies – Jehan Alain

Recit de tierce en taille – Nicolas de Grigny

Scherzo – Maurice Durufle

Finale from Symphony no. 6 in G – Charles-Marie Widor

I particularly enjoyed the Widor – the last time I heard it was walking out of Mary Magdalen Chapel after getting married in May this year.  After the recital I went for lunch with Peter King – who knows maybe one day we might get to record in Bath Abbey.

The Royal Opera House has initiated a new project by joining forces with the social networking site and creating the world’s first ‘Twitter’ opera.  The Royal Opera House is encouraging users to contribute ‘tweets’ – mini blogs of 140 characters – to form a libretto for an opera which will be performed at the Deloitte Ignite Festival next month.

The opera will be created as each user submits a ‘tweet’ which becomes the next part of the story. So far the story includes William who is locked in a tower with birds, Hans who has promised to rescue him and a woman who is creating a potion to speak to birds in her biochemistry lab. The full libretto can be found on the Royal Opera House website.

Excerpts of the text will be set to music by composer Helen Porter, who will be using both original music and familiar opera melodies, to create a fun take on opera. Throughout the performance there will be a chance to ‘tweet’ on one of the 20 laptops that will be available.

Opinions are split as to whether this experimental project is degrading opera and threatening the reputation of the prestigious opera house, or if it is an attempt to appeal to the masses and prove that the elitism of opera is a thing of the past. “It’s the people’s opera. The perfect way for everyone to become involved with the inventiveness of opera as the ultimate form of storytelling,” Alison Duthie of the Royal Opera House explains.

This project is part of the Royal Opera House’s ongoing dialogue with internet users, including 18,000 Facebook and 2,000 Twitter followers. The Royal Opera House is hoping to change its image from being elitist and middle-class to being a fashionable establishment which is up to date with modern life.

I have spent the last week singing the services at Durham Cathedral with the choir Schola Aquae Sulis.  This choir is made up of largely professional musicians or at the least extremely competent singers who get together once a year to spend a week in residence at a Cathedral. This year was the turn of Durham to be our host.

I will post seperately about the music later but in general it is a combination of fairly standard cathedral repertoire with a few challenges thrown in to the mix. We sang evensong every day with the exception of Friday which was our day off and gave us a chance to explore the Durham countryside.   On Sunday we sang 3 services, matins, eucharist and evensong.

Because the choir only meets once a year the rehearsals are extremely focused from the start although the musicianship of the choir means that there is very little “note bashing” with most of the time time being spent on “polish” as Dr Ben Cliffe (the choirs Music Director) likes to say! Despite this there is generally ample time to visit the Cathedral restaurant for tea and cake. As an aside I can say the cakes at Durham Cathedral are extremely good!