Morph Productions

Just came across this article and thought some of you might be interested: http://www.genyrockstars.com/2009/12/2010-indie-music-marketing.html It's about how indie artists have to take marketing themselves more seriously. Good read!

I listen to the religious program "Tapestry" that airs on cbc quite regularly. This last podcast was an interview of the bass player Victor Wooten who just wrote a book called "The Music Lesson: A Spiritual Search for Growth Through Music" Just thought I'd share the link the podcast: http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/tapestry_20091213_24374.mp3

Just stumbled across this tax credit for ontario corporations in the record business: Here's the link: http://www.omdc.on.ca/Page3398.aspx Here's the details: Ontario Sound Recording Tax Credit What Is It? The Ontario Sound Recording Tax Credit (OSRTC) is a refundable tax credit based upon eligible production and marketing costs incurred by a qualifying corporation with respect to an eligible Canadian sound recording. How Much Is the Tax Credit? The OSRTC is calculated as 20% of qualifying expenditures incurred by an eligible sound recording company with respect to an eligible Canadian sound recording by an emerging Canadian artist or group. Who Is Eligible? An eligible sound recording company is a Canadian-controlled corporation having carried on a sound recording business in Ontario for at least 12 months as a corporation or, prior to incorporation, as a sole proprietor or partnership.* An eligible sound recording company must earn more than 50% of its taxable income in Ont...

I have a lot of people under 16 contacting me about doing a demo that will get them a deal that will make them rich and famous. If only it was so easy! The real question though is even if that sought after deal came, would it be the right one and the right time? What I have to say to this is:; what's the rush? Spend your younger years developing as an artist and a writer and figure out exactly what you want to say. The reason most child stars don't have lasting careers is that their inexperience made them make mistakes they otherwise wouldn't have had they been older and more mature. The way's I encourage young people to develop is by writing songs with different people and try to learn through that experience. Record demos at different studios to get a feel how that process works and more importantly what works for you obtaining the results you want. Most importantly go in with open ears and open to others ideas. There are people with experience that are willin...

Recording music is a lot different than it was over the last few decades. No question things have improved in many respects but a lot of the technology out there has encouraged people to do it on their own at the expense of collaborating. In my opinion this lack of collaboration has really hurt the creative process and the quality of the work. Technology now allows people to do an album completely by themselves in their bedroom. Recording gear is relatively cheap now and there are instruments plugins that can sound really close to the real thing. While this can be useful, especially for low budget projects, it should not be used to replace other musicians playing on your project. When you have someone who's been playing their instrument for years and years lay down some parts on your song it can really help take it in a new positive direction. I've been recording people professionally for 10 years now and I've seen it done and I've done it myself. One different dr...

The first Factor Demo Award deadline of 2009 is coming up on April 17. Throughout the years I've helped a bunch of artists get these grants to record at my studio. It's always great to be able to help people get some money to record without them having to dig out of their own pocket (or dig out as much). The grant is for up to 2 grand and does not have to be paid back. Here's more info from the factor website: Program Information This program assists new artists, professional songwriters (songwriters that are members of a performing rights organization) and publishers with the production of their songs on a high quality demo recording, as well as basic press kit expenses, to enhance their career. * Option A: Juried Approval Process * Option B: Non-Juried Approval Process FACTOR may provide a contribution of up to a maximum of $2,000 which represents 75% of the total eligible recording budget. Funding for this program is provided by Canada's Priva...

Just got my main bass setup at Ring Music. John did a great job as usual, bass is sounding nice! I'm going to be getting John to put a "lil 59" Humbucker pickup into my strat as well. Just waiting for the pick up to come in. I grew up playing a Les Paul and I've never quite gotten use to the sound of the strat, especially with distortion. I've used strats with a humbucker pick up before and I really liked it. It's a really guitar so hopefully I'll use it more with the new pickup. www.RingMusic.com

I've been using the Great River preamps for a few weeks now and I'm loving them. Aside from their sweet microphone amplifying characteristics they're also great for running mix stems through. I've been experimenting with running the stereo mix of my drums, bass, guitars, keys through the Great Rivers and I have to say I love the final result. The mixes I've been doing have been more musical and sound, for lack of a better explanation, more expensive. I'll put some sound clips up soon of before and afters but here's a picture of my digital mix stem of the drums and then what it looks like after it runs through the Great Rivers. Compressed much? :)

I was working the other day with a hip hop crew that bought some beats online. One of the beats they bought was based off an obvious sample which more than likely wasn't cleared. A beat with a sample in it can create a lot of hassles for artists who want to get their music out to the public. Some artists I've spoke to about this have the attitude that, "At the time it becomes a big deal, I'll have the money to pay everyone off". This isn't really a good plan though for many reasons. Lawsuits inevitably always cost more than clearing something properly to begin with. It can also put your career on hold when matters are decided in court. A lot of times in this business you only get one chance. You don't want to blow it because your #1 hit is tied up in a legal battle for several years. By the time matters are settled, everyone will have moved on to the next artist and you will be long forgotten. This is of course if your song can even get out there. ...

The Great River MP-500NV preamps arrived a week ago and I have to say they sound awesome! These preamps were designed to be a "modern" take on the Neve 1073 sound which is one of the most sought after sounds in recorded music. I've had a week to play around with the Great Rivers a bit and I'm really digging them. I have been recording with an API preamp for about 7 years now so I'm really use to that sound. I was almost wondering if I was taking that sound for granted because I'm so use to it. I haven't had a lot of time to compare between the API and the Great River but I did have some listen tests with vocals. Without music I found they sounded relatively similar. When I added the backing music and listened again though there was a big difference. I can definitely hear what people mean now when they talk about the API "push". The API vocal stood out whereas the Great River settled in with the mix. I also found I could add more top end...

February has been a busy month at Morph. Finished a few ongoing projects, started some new ones and kept working on others! Here's some highlights of the month: I finished the music for the tv show "Ghost" which airs in Malaysia and the Philippines. The director wanted music that sounded like the stuff in the show "House". Lots of ambient layers and cool sounds. It was a great project and something I hope to get more involved with in the future. The show will inevitably pop up on youtube and when it does I'll put a link here for people to view it. I did a live off the floor gig with my session drummer Craig Lapsley and a Toronto pop/rocker Andrew Bray. Andrew contacted me looking for a bass player and drummer to play live off the floor with for an EP he was doing. We got together and it turned out great. Toronto pop/rock artist Gemma Wood came into the studio in January looking to record some songs here. We're currently working on a second son...

As I was saying earlier I've been working on this music for a TV show that airs in Malaysia. The music required is really textural and ambient so I decided to use my space echo which hasn't seen a lot of use lately. For those of you who don't know, the Roland Space Echo is a tape based echo unit made in the 70's. It works by having a tape loop continually running over a record head and then played back by several playback heads a little afterwards to recreate an echo. The echo time was determined by the speed of the tape as it ran over the heads. I've had mine for about 9 years now and I just love it. As those of you who have worked with me know, I'm a real delay freak. It doesn't really work with the commercial stuff I do, but I always end up whipping it out when someone wants something kind of ambient or weird. The real beauty of the unit (and the sound the digital emulations still can't get right) is when you turn up the intensity (feedback) knob...

Had a lot of interesting projects this month. Lots of different things around the world which is kind of cool. It's amazing how much the internet has changed everything. There's always ongoing projects going on but here's some of the new things that started this month: I got commissioned to do a bunch of music for a pretty big tv show that airs in Malaysia. Creating music for TV and film is something I'd really like to get into and this is a really good start. The cool thing is that it's just going to be a licensing arrangement so when I'm done I'm going to have all these great backing tracks available for other shows as well. The music is kind of ambient and dark which is stuff I love doing. I'll more than likely post the stuff on the licensing site when it's finished. I had a few americans contact me about doing some hip hop and pop beats for them. One is in Buffalo and the other is stationed in Iraq on a government contract. The beats tur...

Hello, here's the beginning of the Morph Productions Blog. This will be used to discuss news at my studio Morph Productions, located in Toronto Ontario. I found that the news page on my site is too limiting in space so there will be expanded news here as well as topics I choose to cover regarding music recording, production, writing as well as the music business in general. Let the games begin!