u could always try Idol... lol

Jonathon, remember what Vic Milt said.

GET OFF YOUR BUTT AND START SHOOTING! There! That's the Big Secret. It's not about gear (you should see Stan Harrington's mystery feature) - it's not about money (Cowboys was produced for next to nothing) - it's not about "luck" - it's about getting into the game.

Best of luck in whatever you set out to do. Always have faith in yourself. Others will see this and respond positively.

Mike

Wanting to be famous is a very nihilistic and shallow desire. People kill other people to be famous and go over the backs of crocodiles to become famous, eat hot dogs, and sail around and around to become famous. Writing music for films is a service. First hunger to be of service and leave fame to chance.

>>Writing music for films is a service. First hunger to be of service and leave fame to chance. <<

Great advice. As a professional jazz/more musician working in the field (hammond organ) I back that statement whole-heartedly..
Don't even mutter the word "famous" - focus on the craft at hand, understand what it means to "listen" when playing, play your best on any type of show (no matter how lame), be open to learning all styles/forms, and know your sh*t musically.
There's your scale on measuring "fame".

It's 2007 - no more bullsh*t.
Record deals don't go down like the golden days, so I'd strive for a higher level than "famous".

screw fame, Ill take the fortune. <grin>

Statistically, you stand a better chance of being struck by lightning than making it big in the entertainment business.

Personally, I "settled" for making a decent living over a long period of time.

John

How are you at composing music for local broadcast stations?

Don't take that as an insult. You can pay the bills and save enough for demos
and travel expenses for auditions.

In my context, famous represented well to be in my field, as in, my career is music. I was going to elaborate further, but I neglected to. Music is a talent that requires an audience (if you want to pay the bills) so I used the shallow word to describe my hope - but I do apologize for the misconception. I was just testing my gung ho side out - thanks EVERYONE so far for all the feedback :)

Hey Jonathan -

I admire your spunk, zeal, intelligence (exhibited many times before) and dreams.

(Aside - RS170a - thanks so much for even remembering my past meanderings...)

OK - I had a LOT of experience in "big-time" music (I shot an directed the David Bowie "Diamond Dogs" album commercial, as well as tons of other groups. I was a "regular" TV commercial producer for Atlantic records and did a 1/2 hr special for Arista with Whitney Houston, Barry Manilow and a bunch of others. At the same time, my wife had a music career. But even with her amazing talent, great looks, all my contacts and money to boot, her band never "got over". You can see some of the story here:
http://www.victormilt.com/id45.html

Here, I'll give you a war story or two, as well as some (somewhat) practical advice, if you're interested.

First - perserverance is EVERYTHING!! Why do I say that? Because in the late '70s and early '80s, my wife was as HOT as you can get in NYC. She regularly played at the top venues - often two or three nights a week. Her group generally got between $500 and $1,500 a night, and if 500 screaming people didn't show, we considered the night a bust. It was the end of the disco era, before MTV, but every major venue had TV monitors and she was beautiful - and we had the video!! I shot all her stuff in 35mm and had the complete resources of our commercial production company behind me.

Three times a week the band would meet at a midtown rehearsal studio. It was a huge old warehouse, and as you went up to your floor, you'd hear everything from punk to opera - even showtunes, as musicians practiced their acts. I'd throw three bucks onto a table top at the end of our groups rehearsal and say to a little "music-rat-wannabee" who basically was living in the warehouse, "Hey Madonna, empty the ashtrays and vacumn up the room, OK??"

So why didn't the "Bones" who had a huge following (she played against Cyndi Lauper, who was also unsigned, a lot) not "make it" and Madonna go on to greatness??
Perserverance.
The Bones played in non-stop rotation on MTV for nine months when it started - (hey , they were DYING for product) - but no one expected MTV to last a year! The music business was dead, due to the money they were losing due to bootleg tapes (just before CD's). We couldn't get a decent contract.
Our keyboard player fell in love and left the group. The new guy couldn't perform without a hit of heroin. Coke was EVERYWHERE... and we had a new baby.
So we just quit - another in a grillion sad stories - but dude - we were THERE! Who knows what would have happened if she had hung in another two years when MTV and the music industry sprang back to life?? (and who knows if our marriage would have conquered the stress of road trips, dual careers and fame?)

So continue - but don't give up EVERYTHING in this particular search, because the road to "I want to be Famous" is littered with tens of thousands of really hard working, super talented, ready to do ANYTHING (there are things even MORE humiliating than postintg on the Vegas site, to be done, ya know) - who just didn't make it... anyway.
And waking up at 40 and realizing, "it ain't gonna happen" really sucks.

But don't stop TRYING - hell no!! I myself actually STARTED to play in rock bands (totally as a fantasy at first) as a (terrible) keyboard player, at the age of 50. My group got hot (Locally in my region) and we played classic rock for ten years. Generally one or two nights every weekend. We had a following, actually got paid to gig, and I loved every minute of it. There's nothing better than the live feedback of music vs audience, when they're loving you.

The best route? Start to get gigs in your neighborhood. Let the public tell you how great you are. Make some CD's and have them for sale.

If people PAY MONEY to you - continue. If they talk louder when you play - well - enjoy yourself. It's great fun to perform, and enormous solace to simply play music. Don't give up on that talent, ever.


best,
v

Then you don't want much out of life. Why not just cut to the end result and get yourself strung out on drugs or booze or both?

Do honestly think that being famous will bring you happiness?

Fame serves for nothing more than self soothing of ones ego. I suggest finding balance within yourself and take pride in your work REGARDLESS of what others think. If you do the best you can do, that is all that matters. Be your own biggest fan. Fame is nothing more than a rise to the top with a definite downfall in your future. Pride is something no one can take away, not even the worst critic.

I like the song "I'm Running Home."

In all, I like the production style of all of the songs... How do you get that (for lack of a better word) "thin" quality to the vocals?

What software tools do you use? ACID? SF?

I tried to make music with keyboard and midi, but the learning curve was too high for me...It seems to me that much of that midi software relies on paradigms born of the analog recording era - not intuitive at all. I couldn't even figure out how to change sounds on the keyboard. No fun, so I quit.

I didn't spend much time with Premiere, but it was my first NLE and it too seemed built around the old AB roll analog video paradigm. Vegas was a breath of fresh air and seemed so intuitive that I easily learned "by ear" all I needed.

Good luck with the music.

>>>>>Do honestly think that being famous will bring you happiness<<<

Reminds me of that response to the cliche about riches not buying happiness: "I'm prepared to give it a try!" I understand that opinion is that it gets you a better class of misery. This post isn't about "how do I get famous?" or "the disadvantages of being famous". That was just the mcguffin. Feedback on his music was the aim of the post. Probably this isn't the right forum. I'm on dial-up here, so haven't downloaded the music to respond.

I thought that was really good. Certainly different and not what I listen to on a regular basis but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I especially liked "Symphony of Space" and You're Not Home".

You processed your vocals considerably in all of your songs. Is that consistent with the style (again I'm not real familiar with that genre) of music? Or, like me, would your unaltered voice shatter glass? Also, what applications are you using?

Again, really good. I enjoyed it and think you have some talent.

Excellent advice/feedback so far. And sorry, I have not listened to the postings yet.

Famous. I guess we all are famous for something in some circles. I guess I could be "famous" as the guy who can solve most all corporate computer/analytical issues, at $300 an hour. And I am in great demand.

Yet, I'm looking for more personal comfort in what I do. I am now, in my "hobby" time, into nature videography, trying to preserve in some fashion what things look like today so that my 7 year old son in later years can appreciate what things really use to look like.

Since you are probably young, go for it. As far as you can. You will have your cheers, but know that the jeers and lack of attention will be there. Most of us "older" people will have been there. Yet another learning experience for you.

Bottom line: follow your dreams, but don't compromise your integrity. No one can ever take that away from you. Be passionate in what you choose to pursue.

And most of all, have fun!

Don't make being famous your goal 'cos it wont happen. Make perfecting your art your goal. You don't get rich by wanting to be wealthy, you get rich working hard to develop a dream. Be all you can and some money and recognition will follow, but whether you are the next Madonna or not is really up to the Gods. IE, there's no logic to it.

Good luck anyway.

vicmilt, your story was gold to my mind, thank you. I look forward to practicing the constant balancing act of persistance vs patience. I will remember what you wrote any time I feel like I haven't gone far enough. Who know if and how far I make it, but never is it too far.

Okay, okay, too all of those now think I'm Shallow Hal, haha, I'll say it again, I didn't mean that fame was the point of my goal, or my goal. As fldave wrote, you could be famous doing anything, so it wouldn't even make sense :) . I wrote it as a cliche turn of phrase, something today's pop music makes a person when they do really well. I thought it was funny to say "okay, i'm ready to be famous". I still do, but then again, a lot of people think they are being funny when they make perspectively jack-ass comments.

Jay_Gladwell, I am and will always be a fan of your replies. You kick my butt in a good, ethical way. "or both", lol.

Actually, the processing to my voice isn't that great, I just have a magical 10-cent microphone that came free with my dad's 56K modem. I pulled that old reliable out of the junk pile and started recording again, while I was waiting for my new computer and equipment to arrive. In fact, every song on my Myspace was recorded that way.

Questioned by Jay Leno on a segment called "Jay Walking" for "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" before he was discovered kid told jay something like just wait you will hear of me i'm going to be famous.

well I'm not sure if he is famous, but i know who he is.

have a goal and go for it , just be remember where you came from

Just a follow up: I just loved you "Symphony of Space" - I've told my kids to pass it around. Thanks for sharing it.

That [I want to be famous] was just the mcguffin. Feedback on his music was the aim of the post.

I have to disagree with that assessment. Using "I want to be famous" as the topic was the first statement of desire. "Fame" is the end. Fame in and of itself is a self-centered, shallow desire.

Fame should a be result, not an end.

And for what it's worth, your use of the use of the term "mcguffin" [sic] in this context is incorrect. By definition, from Hitchcock himself, the MacGuffin is unimportant to the story.

Hitchcock explained it to Truffaut this way: "It might be a Scottish name, taken from a story about two men in a train. One man says, 'What's that package up there in the baggage rack?' And the other answers, 'Oh that's a MacGuffin.' The first one asks 'What's a MacGuffin?' 'Well' the other man says, 'It's an apparatus for trapping lions in the Scottish Highlands.' The first man says, 'But there are no lions in the Scottish Highlands,' and the other one answers 'Well, then that's no MacGuffin!' So you see, a MacGuffin is nothing at all."

In the case at hand, "fame" is at the very center, it is the driving force--the object of desire. Indeed, it was the first statement of desire. Fame is the destination, the music is just a vehicle. Therefore, by Hitchcock's definition, music is the MacGuffin. It could just as easily have been acting, writing, sports, politics, et cetera.


[edit] Corrected my own misspellings.

Jon Neal, you got talent. I really don't like synth techno stuff, but I dig your songs because you got a nice voice and creative sense that I could never match. You should explore other music like live guitar and folk. I think it would compliment your portfolio well.

Jay - you are something else!!

thanks for a great chuckle -

I guess the quickest route to fame is to shoot somebody who already IS famous - but I don't think that's the kind of fame young Jonathon is seeking

- and Jonathan - in your search, be very CAREFUL what you say - if you ever DO achive any fame, they will murder you with a careless misquote - I have been chopped mercilessly in major press - :>))
and no - it wasn't funny at the time.

v