10 Selfish Reasons To Refer
10 reason you can't afford to not refer people.
Read More7 Ways to Make Your Music Gear Invisible
We own music equipment to serve a means, not to be an end in itself. Here are 7 ways to make your performances more about your music and less about fiddling with your equipment:
• Practice pressing buttons. The quicker you are at getting the sound you want, the less you have to worry about twisting knobs during the performance.
• Pre-prep everything. Don't wait to the last second to put together your equipment – test everything at home, so it's not a distraction at the venue.
• Buy intiutive equipment . If your live rig is difficult to work with, get rid of it. Speed is everything when you're making on the fly tweaks.
• Buy quality equipment. Settling for cheap may be easier in the short term, but paying a few extra dollars for something that won't constantly need fixing saves time and a lot of headaches.
• Don't switch equipment too often. It's tempting to always buy the latest and greatest, but having equipment on stage that you're comfortable with is often more important than having all the latest bells and whistles.
• Practice using your equipment at home. Don't just program at home – set up your equipment just like you'll be using it at the venue, and practice with it frequently.
• Simplify, simplify. The fewer cables, software instruments, and keyboards you have on stage, the less likely you are to have a problem with one of them.
Impact
One of my wife’s friends died this last week after a two year battle with cancer. In the back of her Bible they found some notes of what she wanted to accomplish in life. Highlighted at the top of her list was a seemingly simple request: “make an impact in at least one person’s life”.
Read More5 Steps to Better Show Prep for Keyboardists
I think I hold the record for coming up with the least effective practice prep before shows. After failing at a ton of gigs, I’ve learned a few things about working up music. Here are 5 kernels of hard-earned wisdom:
Read MoreMaking a Splash in Nashville: A Step By Step Guide/Diary
I’m moving to Nashville in August to take the next big step in my music career. I’ve also been writing how-to blogs for the past two years on how to be successful as a musician. While I’ve tried my best to follow the advice I give, Nashville is going to be the first chance I’ll have to really put what I preach into action.
Read MoreMoving to Nashville
If you haven’t heard yet, we officially decided to move to Nashville, TN in August of this year so I can continue to pursue my career as a musician. I am excited and terrified at the same time.
Read More
Mainstage Mondays- Assigning Midi Controllers to Mainstage 3’s Front Panel
As many of you know, I’m an avid fan of Mainstage 3 for live use- if you haven’t bought a copy yet, be sure to pick one up for $29.99 on the Mac App Store. (note: I am not compensated in any way for recommending Mainstage. It’s just that great.)
1. Open Mainstage. Select a project you’d like to use.
2. Make sure that you’ve connected your midi controller (you should see midi CC numbers coming in on the top dash of Mainstage if it’s properly connected)
3. Click on the button in the RH corner of the screen labeled “Assign and Map”.
4. Click on the on-screen control you’d like to map to your midi controller (note: if you want to make concert level maps that apply no matter which preset you select, click on the folder icon in the LH corner of the screen first, then begin mapping.)
5. Move/push the controller you’d like to use. It should now be mapped.
6. Repeat.
Important: if you’re using “smart” controls, you’ll need to map the midi controllers for each patch to control the smart panel.