Guest Blogs

In this new age of countless plectrum variations, Guestblogger and multi-instrumentalist Nigel Hubee talks about what got him thinking more deeply about his pick of plectrum and his happy surprise at finding out how cheaply he could experiment with using picks made of different materials, picks with different shapes, and picks with different thicknesses – and what a massive difference it made to the sound of his instrument. If you’re on your own pick-related journey of self-discovery then allow Nigel to help you take your tone to a level you didn’t know existed.

It sounds like the most anti-creative thing you could do: copying and pasting and analysing, rather than playing in a sandpit of sounds and seeing what happens. But the truth is that a more measured and ‘anti-creative’ approach can actually help you get unstuck. You know all too well that around three-quarters of those amazing sparks of inspiration you have end up in that little folder marked ‘Ideas’. Here, Guestblogger Hens Zimmerman reveals how using arrangement templates can really help free those locked up ideas and bring them kicking and screaming into the world.

Any paid-up superfan has gone on a journey from supporting an artist that no one’s ever heard of to seeing them flourish into the success they knew they always would be. Since it’s essential that artists build a relationship with their potential superfans, most of them stick to social media. But email is actually just as powerful a tool. Here, Guestblogger and musician Mirjam Sieben offers up some email marketing tips and reveals what something as simple as an email can do for your music.

BB King, Janis Joplin, Rod Stewart, Tracy Chapman, Beck and Ed Sheeran all started their careers as busking street musicians. Guestblogger Marlies shares her top 10 list of street musicians from around the world. These musicians have just as much talent as the big names mentioned above, so expect to hear more from them soon!

In his previous guest-blog, radio DJ Sander de Heer explained how you can get into podcasting. If you’ve come up with a plan in the meantime, then you’re ready for the next step: getting more people to listen to your podcast. Sander points out a number of important things you need to pay attention to.

Want to start a podcast but don’t think you have the right voice for it? Don’t worry, the trick is actually not to engage in deejay-speak, talk very loud or constantly spout esoteric lingo. Using your normal voice and speaking as if you’re talking to a friend is always the best approach. Guest-blogger and radio DJ Sander de Heer is here to talk shop again.

Looking for a way to get that pure, modern pop sound on your vocals? Guestblogger and home studio coach, Ben van Essen shares three tips to help you gain radio-ready sound.

While you can’t actually ‘see’ a voice-over, it’s the element that conveys the message. Some voice-overs are so well expressed, that you not only hear what’s being said, but see images, feel things, smell things and even taste things. But how can a voice artist pull this off? A little empathy and some acting talent can go a long way, of course, but it’s just as important to know what you’re doing and really know the material you’re working with so that, when you speak, you’re speaking consciously. In this article, Myra Grünning explains how to make your voice-overs more expressive. Myra is a qualified speech therapist and speech coach and also works as a voice-over artist herself.

Pretty much everyone and their brother has a podcast nowadays. If you’ve been thinking about getting in on the action too, there are a few things you should know. Guest-blogger and experienced radio presenter Sander de Heer is here to share some of his wisdom and help keep you from calling it quits after your second episode.

Plug-ins are loved and detested at the same time. Analogue-based sound engineers find them clinical and unnatural, while for in-the-box* producers, plug-ins offer access to eye-wateringly expensive studio hardware without actually having to fork out thousands of pounds, making them infinitely useful. Guest-blogger Daan van Dreumel is here to tell you which plug-ins are a must-have for pro-grade music production, how they work and to which bit of legendary kit they owe their name and fame.

These days, it would be hard to imagine life without games, and anyone who’s ever played a game will know that the music is an essential part of the whole experience. But how do you ‘score’ the soundtrack of a whole video game? What does the process look like? And is it any different from writing an album or a movie soundtrack? Guestblogger and composer Jonathan van den Wijngaarden gives us a look behind the scenes of this relatively new branch of the music industry.

Voice-overs can very literally say a lot. All going well, the speech is in full service of the story, but what if the voice you hear is distracting from the message? Guestblogger, Myra Grünning explains what can go wrong and what you can do about it. Myra is a qualified speech therapist and speech coach and also works as a voice-over artist herself.