Music Production Podcast

We all have the same 24 hour days. No one is more successful than you because they have more time. The most productive people make time. In today's episode of the Music Production Podcast, we discuss 10 things you can do to make the most of your time and get more done.  Listen on iTunes or Stitcher or Google Play or Spotify; watch on YouTube Show Notes: Ableton Live 10.1 Keyboard Shortcuts - printable PDF of useful editing shortcuts. 2 Minute Ableton Live Tip #46 - Quickly Map Root Notes in Sampler JUNO-106 Ableton Live Pack - 81 Ableton Live Instrument Racks made from samples of the Roland Juno-106. Foundational Drum Beats Sample Pack - 275 basic acoustic drum beats for starting new tracks. Workflowy - Make simple to do lists. This has helped me tremendously!  Save 25% on Ableton Live Packs at the My Store with the code: PODCAST Thank you for listening. Please consider giving the Music Production Podcast a review on your favorite podcast provider. And don’t forget to visit my site BrianFunk.com for music production tutorials, videos, and sound packs. Brian Funk

Ben Mendoza is the founder of Beatchain, a powerful new data science and digital marketing platform that helps artists connect with and grow their fanbase. Beatchain allows musicians to target new and existing fans by collecting data and using machine learning. Artists can use this information to learn what posts are most effective, target people in specific geographical locations with specific interests, and learn what campaigns are being engaged with the most. In this episode of the Music Production Podcast, Beatchain founder Ben Mendoza explains how Beatchain could help artists advance their career and intelligently focus their promotional efforts. Ben opened my eyes about how an understanding of important data about an audience can help an artist understand what content is likely to make the most meaningful connections.  Listen on iTunes or Stitcher or Google Play or Spotify; watch on YouTube Show Notes: Beatchain - Sign up for access to the beta program for free. MusicTech Magazine - A nice in-depth explanation of Beatchain on MusicTech. Save 25% on Ableton Live Packs at the My Store with the code: PODCAST Thank you for listening. Please consider giving the Music Production Podcast a review on your favorite podcast provider. And don’t forget to visit my site BrianFunk.com for music production tutorials, videos, and sound packs. Brian Funk

URSA is a new music streaming service that allows artists to share bios, album liner notes, pictures, lyrics, photos, videos, and more with their fans. It promises to make deeper and more meaningful connections between artists, fans, and the music.  In this episode of the Music Production Podcast, I sit down to talk with URSA's founders Christopher Jones and Chad Royce. Chris and Chad are artists themselves and felt they could create a streaming service that allows fans and artists to connect on a deeper level. We talk about their vision for URSA, what the platform is capable of, and the challenges they face building a new platform that could change the way we consume music. Listen on iTunes or Stitcher or Google Play or Spotify; watch on YouTube Show Notes: URSA Music Extreaming - Learn more about URSA and apply to participate in the beta program. About Chris and Chad URSA on Instagram URSA on Twitter -Save 25% on Ableton Live Packs at the My Store with the code: PODCAST Thank you for listening. Please consider giving the Music Production Podcast a review on your favorite podcast provider. And don’t forget to visit my site BrianFunk.com for music production tutorials, videos, and sound packs. Brian Funk

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet;" -Shakespeare I've decided to drop the name AfroDJMac and move forward using my actual name, Brian Funk. I've wrestled with artist names for a while and decided to just drop it. The result has been surprisingly liberating. In this episode, we talk about artist names, why we have, and if we even need them. I'll go over why I adopted one in the first place and why I've now let it go. I have some ideas about what makes a good artist name (none of which I have actually followed myself) and question the whole concept of even having artist names. Listen on iTunes or Stitcher or Google Play or Spotify; watch on YouTube Show Notes: BrianFunk.com - My newly revised website, that makes finding my work much easier. Mark Cawley - Author of Song Journey on the Music Production Podcast. He talks about the potential confines of being an artist over being a song writer.  Save 25% on Ableton Live Packs at the My Store with the code: PODCAST Thank you for listening. Please consider giving the Music Production Podcast a review on your favorite podcast provider. And don’t forget to visit my site BrianFunk.com for music production tutorials, videos, and sound packs. Brian Funk

Matty Harris is a mixing and mastering engineer who has worked with Kelly Clarkson, Sammy Adams, Lil Yachty, A$AP Rocky, Cousin Stizz, Cam Meekins, and many more. He runs the online mixing and mastering site MixandMasterMySong.com. Matty and I had a great conversation about some best practices in mixing and mastering. Matty shared some of his favorite tools and offered some practical advice that can help producers of all levels. I enjoyed how open Matty was with sharing his knowledge and walked away with quite a few tips and techniques I'm excited to try in my next mix. Listen on iTunes or Stitcher or Google Play or Spotify; watch on YouTube Show Notes: Mix and Master My Song - Matty's website offering professional mixing and mastering services. YouTube - Matty's YouTube channel is loaded with high quality tutorials. Instagram - Keep up with Matty's work and check out some quick production tips. Kendrick Lamar Vocal Effect - A very helpful video about attaining this signature sound. SonarWorks - Tool for calibrating your studio. The Difference Between Mixing and Mastering - A great, straight-forward tutorial from Matty. Save 25% on Ableton Live Packs at the My Store with the code: PODCAST Thank you for listening. Please consider giving the Music Production Podcast a review on your favorite podcast provider. And don’t forget to visit my site AfroDJMac.com for music production tutorials, videos, and sound packs. Brian Funk

Musicians and artists are often thought of as creatives. We build, construct, and create out of thin air. In this episode, I explore the benefits of changing our thinking as that of a creator to that of an observer. By becoming an observer, we are noticing and curating the art and music. It can take the pressure out of the creative process and teach us to be more openminded.  Listen on iTunes or Stitcher or Google Play or Spotify; watch on YouTube Show Notes: Jason Timothy on the Music Production Podcast - Jason speaks about capturing the exploration phase to find unexpected ideas. Mark Cawley on the Music Production Podcast - Mark talks about being an active observer for new song ideas. 10 Things To Do When You Are Uninspired - Podcast about some techniques to get yourself out of a musical slump. Echo Noise Machine - Free Ableton Live Pack for making fun noise with Ableton's Echo device. Great Sale on Behringer Neutron - I got mine here, and though it said it was used, it appears to be brand new out of the box. Save 25% on Ableton Live Packs at the AfroDJMac Store with the code: PODCAST Thank you for listening. Please consider giving the Music Production Podcast a review on your favorite podcast provider. And don’t forget to visit my site AfroDJMac.com for music production tutorials, videos, and sound packs. Brian Funk

It’s impossible to live in a constant state of inspiration. Truth is, inspiration is quite rare. And when it comes, it is hard to hold on to. So what can we do when we don’t feel like getting to work or we don’t have any ideas? This is a struggle I am currently feeling, so I made a list of things I can do to regain some inspiration and find new ideas. This episode of the podcast is really a pep talk to myself. I hope it can help you next time you are struggling to find ideas and inspiration. Listen on iTunes or Stitcher or Google Play or Spotify; watch on YouTube Show Notes: Music Production Club- Get new Ableton Live downloads in your inbox every month! Fact TV Against The Clock - Watch producers make a track in 10 minutes. Save 25% on Ableton Live Packs at the AfroDJMac Store with the code: PODCAST Save 25% on Ableton Live Packs at the AfroDJMac Store with the code: PODCAST   Thank you for listening. Please consider giving the Music Production Podcast a review on your favorite podcast provider. And don’t forget to visit my site AfroDJMac.com for music production tutorials, videos, and sound packs. Brian Funk AfroDJMac

David Frangioni is a drummer, music technologist, studio designer, and author of the book Crash, which is an illustrative chronicle of rock and roll's legendary drum kits. He has worked with a who's who of rock legends like Aerosmith, Sting, Ozzy Osbourne, Ringo Starr, and KISS. His company, Audio One, builds and installs the most high-end luxury studios. David just released the book Crash! The World's Greatest Drum Kits. In this episode of the podcast, David Frangioni shares his experience working with some of rock and roll's greatest. He details his unpredictable path in the music industry and emphasizes the importance of hard work, consistency, and commitment.  Listen on iTunes or Stitcher or Google Play or Spotify; watch on YouTube Show Notes: Official Web Site - The hub of all of David' work.  Crash! - David's beautiful, illustrated new book on the most legendary drum kits in rock history. Audio One - David's industry leading company for luxury A/V installations. Frangioni Foundation - non-profit charitable organization that enriches lives through the power of music, technology, faith and charity. Books and Resources - David's books and music production resources. Instagram - Follow David on Instagram. Steve Jobs - Incredibly inspiring 2005 commencement speech for Stanford University. ----- VHS DRUMS Ableton Live Pack - 600 drum samples recorded to VCR tapes and built into 30 Ableton Live Drum Racks. Micro Cassette Ableton Live Pack - 30 Ableton Live Instrument Racks built from samples of classic synthesizers and instruments recorded with a micro cassette recorder. Save 25% on Ableton Live Packs at the AfroDJMac Store with the code: PODCAST ----- Intro Music provided by Nick Lovell aka Trash Picnic and creator of MyBackroomBeats. ----- Thank you for listening. Please consider giving the Music Production Podcast a review on your favorite podcast provider. And don’t forget to visit my site AfroDJMac.com for music production tutorials, videos, and sound packs. Brian Funk AfroDJMac  

Mark Cawley is a hit songwriter, with credits to his name for artists like Tina Turner, Diana Ross, Joe Cocker, and many more. His new book, Song Journey: A Hit Songwriter’s Guide Through the Process, the Perils, and the Payoff of Writing Songs for a Living, offers practical steps and advice for songwriters. It's currently the #1 new release in the Music Composition category on Amazon. Mark also offers one on one coaching to songwriters at his website IDoCoach.com.  It was great to talk with Mark. His perspective on songwriting goes deep on the craft and the workmanship, but still hangs on to a sense of childlike wonderment. He shares plenty of tools and techniques to build a disciplined craft of songwriting, while emphasizing the importance of having fun, staying openminded, and maintaining enthusiasm. Just as his book is easy to read, Mark was easy to talk to and extremely generous with his knowledge and experiences.  Listen on iTunes or Stitcher or Google Play or Spotify; watch on YouTube Show Notes: Song Journey - Mark's new book on how to become successful songwriter. IDoCoach - Mark's website where he offers coaching for songwriters.  IDoCoach Blog - Mark's blog with helpful articles about songwriting.   Save 25% on Ableton Live Packs at the AfroDJMac Store with the code: PODCAST Thank you for listening. Please consider giving the Music Production Podcast a review on your favorite podcast provider. And don’t forget to visit my site AfroDJMac.com for music production tutorials, videos, and sound packs. Brian Funk AfroDJMac  

If one thing is for sure, you will run into problems while producing music. Maybe it's a technical issue, a creative issue, or a personal issue, either way, you are sure to have them. So what do you do?  In this episode, I offer some ways of rethinking problems from something bad to something good and productive.  Listen on iTunes or Stitcher or Google Play or Spotify; watch on YouTube Show Notes: REEL SYNTHS V2: MOOG MG-1 Ableton Live Pack - the intro music was composed using this new Ableton Live Pack Save 25% on Ableton Live Packs at the AfroDJMac Store with the code: PODCAST   Thank you for listening. Please consider giving the Music Production Podcast a review on your favorite podcast provider. And don’t forget to visit my site AfroDJMac.com for music production tutorials, videos, and sound packs. Brian Funk AfroDJMac