Reading List: 7 Useful & Interesting DIY Music Reads

Photo from my uni library for the purposes of nostalgia. You’re not meant to take photos in the library. Do not take photos in the library! 😅🤫

Here’s a list with seven blogs / articles with practical tips on music-making, promotion and negotiating. I actually made it for a teenage music student but there’s quite a range so I thought it might be interesting to other readers. Let me know if you find it useful!

SKILLS

1. Want to remember your chords?

https://howchoo.com/music/remember-your-chords-the-easy-way

2. I made a podcast theme tune this week. Check this out for some tips on how to make one of your own.

https://www.neosounds.com/articles/creating-a-killer-podcast-intro-using-background-music

3. I made my first track on Audacity about 10 years ago. It's a free music editing programme which is really good for beginners!

https://gamedevbeginner.com/create-looping-sound-effects-for-games-for-free-with-audacity/

CULTURE CONNECTION

4. Halloween's coming up and it’s time to unlock the basement door and discover.. the ghosts of colonialism! Ps. Teen Vogue is on point on a bunch of vital matters. Kinda wish it was around when I was a teenager!

https://www.teenvogue.com/story/latinx-history-spooky-culture

MUSIC INDUSTRY

5. Wish I'd read this before I released my album.. LOL! Don't make the same mistake.

https://thecharmedstudio.com/how-to-write-a-press-release/

6. Humanity desperately needs music and the arts – more than ever! Find out the latest about how lockdown affects performers. Whatever industry you're in, join a union. I’m a member of the ISM who have been working around the clock to support musicians. That way, you'll be supported when things get rocky. Things are very rocky for the arts (which includes music right now).

https://www.ism.org/advice/easing-the-lockdown-performers

7. Negotiation is a useful skill. But what if you have no idea how to negotiate? This could help! Before I was a musician, I was an illustrator. I’ve drawn pictures for a toddler festival (!) for a local council and a well-known mobile phone company as well as innovative small companies / organisations and lot of cool, independent musicians. A lot of the time, I negotiated the fee. If you are or plan on being an illustrator, I recommend you look into joining the Association of Illustrators which helped a lot. This guide would have been useful too.

http://www.payingartists.org.uk/project/quick-guide-to-negotiation/

I hope you found at least one of the items on the list interesting or helpful.
Let me know if you find any of this useful as I’m planning to share more lists.

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creativity, performance, writing, DIY culture, art, teachingThe Mollusc Dimension10 October 2020music