My Xmas tune for 2012 "Good Times", Upbeat Pop

Ok, this is my third track this month (yawn)

But besides the usual I look for (comments, crits etc), I will take this opportunity to wish all on the cakewalk forums a very special happy xmas this year! Stay safe and remember its all about the family, no.1!

Let me know if I can improve this;

Good Times

Cian

I don't know how you'd improve this...I love it just as it is. I agree with Noisy's comment. 

Well, 3 in one month is impressive... I have to work pretty hard to crank out "one" in a month. Some pretty cool synths here gluing this together with the bottom end. Good job, and Merry Christmas :-)

Agree with Frank...awesome job Cian. The only thing I might do differently mix wise (all the performances are spot on) is maybe have less instruments in the center pan field. It sounds a little too mono at times to me and could use a little more stereo enhancement on a few things. Like your verb and delay on the vox would sound much better in my opinion if stereo verb/delay were used instead of mono.

Some of the drums can benefit from panning a bit more. No hard pans, just enough to get some of the things out of that center pan field, know what I mean? But other than that, I'd not touch a thing. Another fantastic delivery from you...well done man! :)

-Danny

Thanks all for your comments on this fun tune and I'm happy with the mix comments, there is alot going on and it turned out pretty pro, albeit Ive really squashed this track more so than any other track. Danny I'm surprised you hadnt more crits on the mix actually which even impressed me more. a stereo reverb actually is something I never use or never even think of, cool and thanks for the advice on the panning to.

But to be honest, Im still not happy with the track as a song. To hell with production anymore, its all about the song and the personality and character shining through to make it interesting. Although this, if I say myself is a catchy and well put together tune, it aint gonna go anywhere and I think the more I "overproduce" my tunes the more goodness I take out of it. My friends dont really put much pass on these kind of tunes, they seem to take a lot more interest in me playing live acoustic stuff. I reckon with these type of songs either get someone else to produce them or keep it simple and organic.

Besides one more tune soon, which is hiphopish synthy, Im going raw and acoustic more for 2013, that it!

Cian

Outstanding. Really outstanding. Wildly creative, fun. Captures the spirit of the season IMO. Still a bit heavy in the mids for my tastes, mostly in the vox. Otherwise I love the production. Shop this Cian.

:D

Brilliant Cian - smiled throughout. 
Fave line - I hate marzipan ....on me puddin' - I laughed out loud.
I'm not sure too many people this side of the pond will get some of the references but it made me feel home sick. Very catchy chorus. The mix sounded good but my only crit is that it sounded to me like there was no headroom before it was mastered and everything got a bit squashed.
Overall though, nice one and Happy Christmas
 

whack


Danny brother, thanks for you indepth post which I've read over a few times. You have turned a glass into half full as opposed to half empty in terms of my perspective and have shed some light on a direction that I might or should take in terms of a career.

I'm not familiar what you mean by don't believe the self-advertisments and internet stuff? what are you referring to there? 

The laywer thing is a little over my head. Whats the purpose? Am I right in saying about approaching a music lawyer with a monetary advance for them to search for music deals for me? and  obviously then if it takes off, they get their split, if not you lose your advance over time?!?!

Lets face it,I can get close, but radio ready really requires pro help and funds. And even with it, you need some label behind you, thats what radio's in Ireland ask for ya anyway, even your local ones and people that you know.

I'm happy for you man, in a sense that your made a decision that you wont regret, your pumping all you got into you future until you got no more, at least you will never regret not giving it a shot. Thing is your vtalented and if you give your all with a snitch of luck, well then, you will get somewhere man :-)

I'm interested in your comment "dont believe enough in myself". I mean, I know that you know that you are good, right?! (ya kind of have to!). Are you referring to the delivery of your own material, confidence, facing the music world limelight and the associated s**t that goes with it??

Cian

You're quite welcome, Cian. A few more answers for you as I've lived them and am seeing today.
 
Don't believe the self-advertisements: People have a way of trying to get others to buy into the self-promotion thing by posting their stuff all over, create this big web-site, get distribution through CD Baby, get as many fans as you can etc and make it out like it's really super possible to get a major deal that way. The fact of the matter is, there is a very slight chance that someone may stumble onto you, but it's a loser really at the end of the day. If you want to really see if you have what it takes, you go to a source that can make things happen. You don't sit there wasting money promoting yourself on these little petty things that nickel and dime you to death.

Attorney route: You don't need a following, you don't need to promote yourself, you don't need to play thousands of gigs for free and you don't need to beat yourself up and try to get into search engines. You go to a credible entertainment lawyer that works with big names and see if he likes your stuff. These guys won't beat you for money like "so called" attorney's will. They don't need the 5k you'll be giving them. Here's how it works. A REAL entertainment lawyer with connections will not even take you on or take your money unless he/she knows in their heart that they can land you a deal.
 
So when they ask for a 5k retainer fee, you are paying for legwork, court costs, FedEx'ing, and most of all, their connections and credibility within the industry. You don't need a following or anything else. If you're that good, your music and you do all the talking. Once in the hands of a good label, they make things happen and create the following for you with all the right marketing and big bucks to push you to levels you'll never get to on your own.
 
The tough thing there, not many people have 5k to chance on an attorney because though you have a great chance if they take you on, it's still not totally fool-proof. However, it's a small price to pay if you believe in yourself and something grand comes of it as like I say, they won't even consider you unless you blow their doors off. Their name is at stake as well, so when they present you to the president of a label, it has to be great or they lose credibility and that label president won't believe in that attorney next time. They bypass A&R guys that only have to go to the president anyway. The attorney goes right ot the boss....no middlemen most of the time. This is why you don't need an agent or manager. That's another load of bull. You get those guys AFTER you get a deal. There's no reason for them to take your money on gigs they book etc. Labels talk to attorney's, not wannabe managers and agents that take a % of the chump change you make at gigs while promising you the world. So don't buy into them either.
 
What happens with the attorney is, if they get you a deal, they get their chunk, and they work out the specifics with the label in your regard. They come back to you and explain the deal, and you add ammendments if possible...they talk to the label about the ammendments and the label accpepts or declines them until you find that happy medium. A major label will never talk to you anyway, so you'll need an attorney at some point. The attorney works out all the important stuff. In the mean time, while they are shopping you, after your 5k retainer fee, you're pretty much like an accident case. They don't take anymore money until they land you a deal. When they do land you a deal, you probably won't see much at first because that's just the way it works until you prove yourself and get a few good songs/albums under your belt.
 
If you're the next pop star, you can see money faster but until you reach that status you'll get other perks and a salary, a few points on your albums, (points=money) a small percentage of your publishing and a small advance. You MAY see about 10% to 12% of your publishing if you're lucky....but you gotta ask "12% of what" in that situation. 12% times 4000 or more stations playing your stuff 2-3 times a day times 8-10 cents per play plus mechanical royalties/performance royalties and units manufactured makes that 12% a pretty big deal if you sell well and get radio airplay. Then when you tour, if you get into big enough rooms, you get a "large venue performance royalty" as well. So that 12% is looking pretty good now, isn't it? :)
 
But because the attorney gets his big chunk, the labels will be sinking loads into you, it won't be impressive at first due to so many people that need to be paid. The initial 5k you put out could be lost and there is a chance you may not get a deal, but it's slim. Big time entertainment lawyers have real connections and like I say, 5k to them is like $5 to us. The 5k also proves you're serious as no one would drop that amount of money "just because" and not be serious about it. If they didn't charge a retainer fee, they'd be wasting a lot of time. So this also weeds out the people that act like stars before they are stars that don't want to work for it.
 
A little about me: Thanks, I'm happy for me too this time. I've done well for myself so far though believe it or not. I've been with 4 labels already and have two worldwide releases. I'm still signed to Marquee Avalon in Japan and am talking to two of the biggest rock Indy's in the business that are interested in my new material. But I'm keeping them as my last resort because the things I've mentioned to you in these posts are what I'm going to try this time.
 
Of course I'm not and never have been a big star or anything, but I didn't really try to be one. The Indy labels were all I've ever needed to be honest. They allowed me to go overseas and play rockstar, and then come home to the states where no one knew who I was. I've made a nice living from them over the years but this time, I've decided to go all out because I really believe in the material for once. Rock is pretty dead...now is the time.
 
The thing with me not believing in myself is just my own insecurity really. We don't hear ourselves as others do and we're our own worst critics really. Do I think I'm good? When I get asked that question, my answer is "I enjoy what I do and do the best I can and thank God for what I do have/can do instead of what I don't have/can't do. I've been doing it for what feels like 100 years and like to think I'm good at it yeah, but I don't think I'm BETTER than anyone...just different." My battles are with me, I never compare myself to others. I've always felt a little funny sharing my stuff with people even though I've received way more "good" comments than "bad".
 
I know you have to have thick skin in this business, but I just can't accept it because I sincerely believe people don't have to be as mean as they are sometimes. I don't have to like something to appreciate it being good. There are styles of music we all don't like...but is the song still good even though it may be a style we don't like? A bad song is a bad song to me no matter what genre it's in. Sing out of key, have crap production, bad timing, out of tune guitars or bad fretting, trash can drums and muddy bass and yeah, your song sucks no matter who you are or what genre you're in. But there are loads of great songs in genre's I don't particularly care for that are brilliant. I think everyone should appreciate the good in a song if it's done well for it's genre. A good song....is a good song. It doesn't need to be labeled really.
 
The other side of the coin that really bothers me is, you can get 500 great reviews and the one bad one can make the 500 great ones non-existent if the right idiot says all the wrong things to push your buttons. It's a bit tough to handle at times when you put your whole life into this stuff and make major sacrifices only to have someone totally bash your brains in. 9 out of 10 times they can't even play, write, sing or do anything.
 
Then there's the people that are just plain jealous that have to come up with something idiotic to bring you down. Like a guy that plays lead guitar like Neil Young (or tries to and fails) will bash me for showing a little flash instead of appreciating that I decided to do something with a little more technical prowess. Or a guy with a voice worse than Dylan trying to tell me how I should sing something. So I sort of keep my stuff to myself so I don't have to deal with that unless I release an album...then you have no choice, but it has more of a purpose then so it's a bit easier to swallow.
 
Anyway, uggh..novel city...sorry about that. I just figured I'd share a little bit so you see I'm not just someone spewing stuff. I've had a little taste and have worked with many others that have and are tasting it. Hope these were the answers you were looking for and some of this makes sense. :) Always a pleasure talking to you man...thanks for the kind words. :)
 
-Danny 

Danny Danzi

whack


Danny brother, thanks for you indepth post which I've read over a few times. You have turned a glass into half full as opposed to half empty in terms of my perspective and have shed some light on a direction that I might or should take in terms of a career.

I'm not familiar what you mean by don't believe the self-advertisments and internet stuff? what are you referring to there? 

The laywer thing is a little over my head. Whats the purpose? Am I right in saying about approaching a music lawyer with a monetary advance for them to search for music deals for me? and  obviously then if it takes off, they get their split, if not you lose your advance over time?!?!

Lets face it,I can get close, but radio ready really requires pro help and funds. And even with it, you need some label behind you, thats what radio's in Ireland ask for ya anyway, even your local ones and people that you know.

I'm happy for you man, in a sense that your made a decision that you wont regret, your pumping all you got into you future until you got no more, at least you will never regret not giving it a shot. Thing is your vtalented and if you give your all with a snitch of luck, well then, you will get somewhere man :-)

I'm interested in your comment "dont believe enough in myself". I mean, I know that you know that you are good, right?! (ya kind of have to!). Are you referring to the delivery of your own material, confidence, facing the music world limelight and the associated s**t that goes with it??

Cian

You're quite welcome, Cian. A few more answers for you as I've lived them and am seeing today.
 
Don't believe the self-advertisements: People have a way of trying to get others to buy into the self-promotion thing by posting their stuff all over, create this big web-site, get distribution through CD Baby, get as many fans as you can etc and make it out like it's really super possible to get a major deal that way. The fact of the matter is, there is a very slight chance that someone may stumble onto you, but it's a loser really at the end of the day. If you want to really see if you have what it takes, you go to a source that can make things happen. You don't sit there wasting money promoting yourself on these little petty things that nickel and dime you to death.

Attorney route: You don't need a following, you don't need to promote yourself, you don't need to play thousands of gigs for free and you don't need to beat yourself up and try to get into search engines. You go to a credible entertainment lawyer that works with big names and see if he likes your stuff. These guys won't beat you for money like "so called" attorney's will. They don't need the 5k you'll be giving them. Here's how it works. A REAL entertainment lawyer with connections will not even take you on or take your money unless he/she knows in their heart that they can land you a deal.
 
So when they ask for a 5k retainer fee, you are paying for legwork, court costs, FedEx'ing, and most of all, their connections and credibility within the industry. You don't need a following or anything else. If you're that good, your music and you do all the talking. Once in the hands of a good label, they make things happen and create the following for you with all the right marketing and big bucks to push you to levels you'll never get to on your own.
 
The tough thing there, not many people have 5k to chance on an attorney because though you have a great chance if they take you on, it's still not totally fool-proof. However, it's a small price to pay if you believe in yourself and something grand comes of it as like I say, they won't even consider you unless you blow their doors off. Their name is at stake as well, so when they present you to the president of a label, it has to be great or they lose credibility and that label president won't believe in that attorney next time. They bypass A&R guys that only have to go to the president anyway. The attorney goes right ot the boss....no middlemen most of the time. This is why you don't need an agent or manager. That's another load of bull. You get those guys AFTER you get a deal. There's no reason for them to take your money on gigs they book etc. Labels talk to attorney's, not wannabe managers and agents that take a % of the chump change you make at gigs while promising you the world. So don't buy into them either.
 
What happens with the attorney is, if they get you a deal, they get their chunk, and they work out the specifics with the label in your regard. They come back to you and explain the deal, and you add ammendments if possible...they talk to the label about the ammendments and the label accpepts or declines them until you find that happy medium. A major label will never talk to you anyway, so you'll need an attorney at some point. The attorney works out all the important stuff. In the mean time, while they are shopping you, after your 5k retainer fee, you're pretty much like an accident case. They don't take anymore money until they land you a deal. When they do land you a deal, you probably won't see much at first because that's just the way it works until you prove yourself and get a few good songs/albums under your belt.
 
If you're the next pop star, you can see money faster but until you reach that status you'll get other perks and a salary, a few points on your albums, (points=money) a small percentage of your publishing and a small advance. You MAY see about 10% to 12% of your publishing if you're lucky....but you gotta ask "12% of what" in that situation. 12% times 4000 or more stations playing your stuff 2-3 times a day times 8-10 cents per play plus mechanical royalties/performance royalties and units manufactured makes that 12% a pretty big deal if you sell well and get radio airplay. Then when you tour, if you get into big enough rooms, you get a "large venue performance royalty" as well. So that 12% is looking pretty good now, isn't it? :)
 
But because the attorney gets his big chunk, the labels will be sinking loads into you, it won't be impressive at first due to so many people that need to be paid. The initial 5k you put out could be lost and there is a chance you may not get a deal, but it's slim. Big time entertainment lawyers have real connections and like I say, 5k to them is like $5 to us. The 5k also proves you're serious as no one would drop that amount of money "just because" and not be serious about it. If they didn't charge a retainer fee, they'd be wasting a lot of time. So this also weeds out the people that act like stars before they are stars that don't want to work for it.
 
A little about me: Thanks, I'm happy for me too this time. I've done well for myself so far though believe it or not. I've been with 4 labels already and have two worldwide releases. I'm still signed to Marquee Avalon in Japan and am talking to two of the biggest rock Indy's in the business that are interested in my new material. But I'm keeping them as my last resort because the things I've mentioned to you in these posts are what I'm going to try this time.
 
Of course I'm not and never have been a big star or anything, but I didn't really try to be one. The Indy labels were all I've ever needed to be honest. They allowed me to go overseas and play rockstar, and then come home to the states where no one knew who I was. I've made a nice living from them over the years but this time, I've decided to go all out because I really believe in the material for once. Rock is pretty dead...now is the time.
 
The thing with me not believing in myself is just my own insecurity really. We don't hear ourselves as others do and we're our own worst critics really. Do I think I'm good? When I get asked that question, my answer is "I enjoy what I do and do the best I can and thank God for what I do have/can do instead of what I don't have/can't do. I've been doing it for what feels like 100 years and like to think I'm good at it yeah, but I don't think I'm BETTER than anyone...just different." My battles are with me, I never compare myself to others. I've always felt a little funny sharing my stuff with people even though I've received way more "good" comments than "bad".
 
I know you have to have thick skin in this business, but I just can't accept it because I sincerely believe people don't have to be as mean as they are sometimes. I don't have to like something to appreciate it being good. There are styles of music we all don't like...but is the song still good even though it may be a style we don't like? A bad song is a bad song to me no matter what genre it's in. Sing out of key, have crap production, bad timing, out of tune guitars or bad fretting, trash can drums and muddy bass and yeah, your song sucks no matter who you are or what genre you're in. But there are loads of great songs in genre's I don't particularly care for that are brilliant. I think everyone should appreciate the good in a song if it's done well for it's genre. A good song....is a good song. It doesn't need to be labeled really.
 
The other side of the coin that really bothers me is, you can get 500 great reviews and the one bad one can make the 500 great ones non-existent if the right idiot says all the wrong things to push your buttons. It's a bit tough to handle at times when you put your whole life into this stuff and make major sacrifices only to have someone totally bash your brains in. 9 out of 10 times they can't even play, write, sing or do anything.
 
Then there's the people that are just plain jealous that have to come up with something idiotic to bring you down. Like a guy that plays lead guitar like Neil Young (or tries to and fails) will bash me for showing a little flash instead of appreciating that I decided to do something with a little more technical prowess. Or a guy with a voice worse than Dylan trying to tell me how I should sing something. So I sort of keep my stuff to myself so I don't have to deal with that unless I release an album...then you have no choice, but it has more of a purpose then so it's a bit easier to swallow.
 
Anyway, uggh..novel city...sorry about that. I just figured I'd share a little bit so you see I'm not just someone spewing stuff. I've had a little taste and have worked with many others that have and are tasting it. Hope these were the answers you were looking for and some of this makes sense. :) Always a pleasure talking to you man...thanks for the kind words. :)
 
-Danny 

reality check... your words are gold, Danny...

Many years ago I heard a similar perspective from a relatively successful recording-artist/celebrity, friend...
It was around the time I decided I'd had enough, and no longer wanted any part of "the business"... looking back... that was one of the smartest decisions I ever made... my heart wasn't in it... I had other skills, and a good backup plan... and that brings me to my simple (unsolicited) advice...
"be honest, be informed, be realistic, and always have a fool-proof backup plan"

daryl1968


"be honest, be informed, be realistic, and always have a fool-proof backup plan" 

Can I just add, 'have fun on the way' - if it's no fun then you're doing something wrong

Amen to that brother... can I get a witness...

Cian, this was just excellent.  A really outstanding tune... very catchy.  this is 'radio quality' my friend and may be worth the investment like Danny was saying.  I look forward to seeing you on TV next Xmas.

Thanks everybody for your kind comments and words of solid advice.

Particularly you Danny for your business info, I look forward to hearing some of you stuff in the near future. Please post a link here when you do.

Right, Im off for another turkey and then hittin the hay.

Happy New Year All.

Cian

Awesome tune and performances. I really enjoyed.

 I certainly think you have the talent to succeed in whatever genre you want to perform in, but I think the world has changed too much for future stars to rely on the past for clues on how to become successful. I think the biggest problem now for anyone looking to make a living on original music is the fact that the digital age and free internet music has created a situation that the customers who use to buy the most, the youth, are now getting most of their music for free or paying iTunes for it once it goes "viral" 
 I wish I could say something to give you confidence but I fear the reality may be we see a continued decline in the old make a CD and sell it way of doing things.
 If I were young and still had such ambitions, I think I would hire an ad agency to pimp out my best stuff on facebook and twitter and or try to get on one of those reality shows.

Sounds great Cian. You did a great job with the envelopes like we discussed. Yet, kept the urgency.
All in all. It's DONE. And done really well.

BTW, the writing on this is stellar..