51NEW & UPCOMING LOCAL RELEASES Band: Dead Eyes Always Dreaming Album: Defilement Of A Wretched Earth Label: Unsigned/Independent Genre: Deathcore Release Date: April 1st, 2016 Dead Eyes Always Dreaming’s crushing debut album, “Defilement of a Wretched Earth”. Recorded and mixed at QUA Productions and mastered at Zhan Produc- tions. deadeyesalwaysdreaming.bandcamp.com/album/defilement-of-a-wretched-earth Band: Archimime Album: Archimime Label: Unsigned/Independent Genre: CrossCore Release Date: March 12th, 2016 Archimime’s first self-titled full-length. archimime.bandcamp.com/album/archimime Band: Tyrant Album: Black Hand EP Label: Unsigned/Independent Genre: Thrash Metal Release Date: March 25th, 2016 www.tyrantmetal.com/ Band: Walls Of Jericho Album: No One Can Save You From Yourself Label: Napalm Records Genre: Metalcore Release Date: March 25th, 2016 itunes.apple.com/us/album/no-one-can-save-you-from-yourself/
52 Band: Athena’s Grace Album: Martyrs Label: Hotfoot Records Genre: Hardcore Release Date: February 26th, 2016 athenasgrace.bandcamp.com/ Band: Nightkin Album: Oath of Elucidation Label: Unsigned/Independent Genre: Blackened Death Metal Release Date: February 23rd, 2016 nightkin.bandcamp.com/ Band: Our Vices Album: Polarity Label: Unsigned/Independent Genre: Metalcore Release Date: January 15th, 2016 www.cdbaby.com/cd/ourvices2Also recently released Dead Hour Noise - ‘Bad Things Are Going To Happen To Good People’ (Punk Metal | March 25th, 2016)Upcoming Local ReleasesArtist Album Title Genre Release DateA Sleepless Malice TBA Metal TBAAfter The Minor TBA Progressive Metalcore TBACell Block Earth Spastic Rants Thrash Metal June 4th, 2016From Blue To Gray TBA Progressive Metal TBA 2016Hate Unbound TBA Metal TBAPast Tense TBA Heavy Metal TBAThe Severed Process TBA Prog-Thrash-Core TBAShit Life TBA Grind TBATBA - To Be Announced
53Putting Together a Demo for Your Break Into The Music IndustryBy Brian D HensleyAs a band or as a solo artist, eventually tells the person who will be listening to people who won’t listen to it is to makeyou have to start thinking about mak- the CD that the track structure is set up your music solicited. Sounds toughing a demo CD for A&R reps, produc- in this special way to avoid confusions. right? It’s not, a lot of bigger recorders, production companies, and record Also, make sure that all artist names or companies do not accept non-solicitedlabels to help market, fund, and traffic the band’s name are on the CD insert music, but all you have to do is talk toyour music. or cover along with each member of the someone and get them to agree to listenGetting someone in the music industry band and their responsibilities. to your music, and then you can sendto take the time to listen to your demo Press Kit it to the address of which they give youis not an easy task. Most demos are The ideal of a press kit is to essentially and label it “Attention: correspond-tossed in the garbage before they are tell whoever picks up your CD to listen ing name” and now you’re solicited.even opened and if they are listened to, to it, who you and or your band are, This will help you and the company oreven if you only put three songs on the what your accomplishments are, where person you send it to. A three-minuteCD, most people in the music industry you have performed, and any proof of phone call will give you an exact ad-won’t even bother listening to the whole a local, Internet, national and interna- dress to send your demo to so it won’tthing. Don’t take it personally; it’s the tional fan base that you have acquired end up in the wrong hands and thenmusic industry. throughout time under the bands or tossed in the garbage.But if you do have something special artist name. Get Some Representationand you are ready to put together a You may also want to have some live Let’s say you have exhausted all of yourdemo CD in the attempt to get the performances recorded at a venue you connections and the Internet is a wellattention of the music industry, there frequent or in the studio where you ran dry of possibilities. You can alwaysare some things you need to know to be record. Yes, it would make more of an look to hire professionals to help yousuccessful in this venture. impact to have a live performance at a get your music in the hands of the rightPut Together a Couple of Great Tracks venue, but you can still do some really people. Yes, it can be expensive, yes itFirst, you have to take some time and cool stuff in a studio with a camera. can seem like they’re doing nothingdecide which songs are your best songs In this press kit you also want to include more than what you can do, but thethat will grab the attention of someone a bio - make sure to include what am- difference is that they probably havewho might want to invest some time bitions and intent you yourself or your connections that you would never bein you. Three to five songs are all you band has along with any other info that able to get your hands on, that’s theirreally need. can help you or your band standout. job. The question you have to ask your-Special Track Structure for a Demo Make Contact self or your band is “will it be worth theTo improve your chances of having Take some time and network with money?”more than one song listened to you people who are involved in the music There will be a risk, let’s face it, no oneshould set your demo CD up like this: industry - ask questions and make con- wants to think that they aren’t goodtake 30 seconds of each song and put nections. The idea here is to find places enough and no one should have to. Butthose clips as your first three to five you can send your demo CD to that are in this case, if you or your band stilltracks. Next, create another three to worth your while. My first demo CD I needs more practice and more experi-five tracks of the same songs at their sent out, I made the mistake of sending ence, you should wait on spending theoriginal lengths and put them at the it out to every place that was or maybe money on professional help until youend of the CD. This will help when wasn’t excepting demos, and to this day and or your band can utilize it in thesomeone important listens to the CD, I wonder just how many demos I sent most efficient way.they will hear just a little preview of out that never made it out of the pack- You have to look at like this, if you areeach song and they can quickly move age before finding its way to the trash paying someone to help you and theyon to the next one. When and if they do can. I’m going to assume out of prob- know that you’re not ready for this typehear something they like they can go ably 150 demos I sent out, only about of move yet, that person you are pay-forward to the track that contains the 2 percent of them made it into a CD ing will not tell you because they wantwhole length of the song for more. player, that’s a lot of wasted time. your money. Even worse, they will notImportant: Make sure that you label The best way to avoid wasting your give you or your band the time andthe CD cases with the information that time sending out demos to places or to the effort you are paying for, basically, because it won’t be in their best interest
54 PLACE YOURfor their career to promote your music to other professionals FLYERwhen they know it’s not ready to be promoted.But if you feel you are ready and you have an awesome press orkit, bio and demo, and you’re ready for the big boys but your ADconnection just aren’t powerful enough to get your music HEREnoticed, this could be money well spent.Keep in Touch 338px X 463pxLet’s say you have made some contacts and you have somepeople who are willing to give your music a listen. There is PLACEnothing wrong with a follow-up phone call. Let’s say you YOURsent your music and the person or company has received FLYERit but has not taken the time to listen to it yet. This phonecall could light the fire under someone to open the CD and orgive it some time, especially if you come off as someone who ADmight just call ever week until someone does listen to it. You HEREmay also help yourself by calling if someone has listened tothe CD and is on the fence about it. A phone call could show 338px X 463pxthem the ambition that they want to see from an artist, andthat might sway them in the right direction about what theywant to do about the situation in general.A Couple Last Things You Can DoThis is not a must, but it will help you look more profession-al: Get your music copyrighted. This won’t only make youlook more professional but will also protect your music whenyou’re sending it out to different places.You can also help yourself and your band by using art workin the form of a label or a symbol that can be associated withthe band or you as an artist. Again, this is not a must, butanything that can help market your name is just one morething to add to your press kit and can help your chances ofsuccess.One last thing that should be noted is that this is a process,making it big overnight will be like hitting the lotto. So un-less you’re feeling that lucky, get ready for the long hall.http://recordingengineersandproducers.blogspot.com/Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Brian_D_Hensley/1482892
55Fret Board Wood - Ebony, Rosewood, or MapleBy Sam StavrosWhen choosing a guitar many things come into play. and bending is a dream. Maple is sort of the wild card onHopefully your first criteria is sound and not the air- playability some like it, such as Eric Clapton, some peo-brush job done on the body of the guitar depicting a ple not so much. For me maple is okay, but many timesfire-breathing dragon or some such thing, not that there the fretboard can feel sticky and uncomfortable, espe-is anything wrong with that. And when it comes to cially during longer gigs.sound and tone the fret board wood, whether it be Ebo-ny, Rosewood, or maple plays a key role. How about looks? All look great so personal preference is the most important factor, although when inlayed theMost of you that own Fenders are aware that manufac- ebony definitely has an advantage in that the nearly blackturer tends to use maple fret boards. That wood species color of ebony really provides a great contrast for anytends to be a bit “twanging,” which explains why so many inlay material that is used. And cost? Well there you willold time country players used Telecasters with maple be paying a high premium for ebony. The reason; ebonynecks in order to achieve that familiar Country and is rare and very difficult to work because of its extremeWestern music sound of the 1960s and 70s. hardness and propensity to crack while being worked. Ebony is much more difficult to fret and is nearly impos-On the other end of the spectrum is Rosewood. That sible to fret properly with a machine without cracking,wood tends to be much more mellow in sound with the therefore ebony fretboard’s have to be worked by hand,highs being a bit leveled out. In the hands of a good luth- which of course drives up costs.ier this wood can produce amazingly “round” sounds i.e.,very warm and full. this is especially apparent on high Stavros is an upcoming Indie Rock band playing theirgrade acoustic instruments. own brand of Rock’n’Ska, Here is a free download http:// www.stavrosmusic.com/free-track/In between on the sound spectrum is Ebony. It is so hardand dense that it should help produce a rich low sound, And here is a fun vid of theirs https://www.youtube.com/but the density actually produces such a such quick at- watch?v=HczOrs6G4I8tack that you really get both sounds in one. The mellowrichness of Rosewood, but with a quick attack that give Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Sam_you some highs and twang that you get with the Maple. Stavros/2209874“Feel” and playability also has a role in what wood tochoose. Rosewood is good and a lot of players preferthe sort of oily nature of the wood and how it feels onthe fingers. For me that species is a bit rough and un-comfortable and makes bending the strings a little moredifficult. Ebony is so very hard and smooth with sucha tight grain that fingers easily glide across the surface
56The CD Printing and Duplication Industry - A Musician’s ExperienceBy Lee E BrannonThings Are Going Well For The Band And They Need Some CDsPrintedMusician, Craig, formed a band with some college friends about ayear ago. The band is called The Arch Enemies and he plays the bassguitar and provides the vocals. They have 2 guitarists, a drummerand a keyboard player to make up the rest of the band. They startedout by playing various rock covers from the 60’s to some of the lateststuff and then moved on quite quickly to penning their own material.Their original material was noticed by a scout as they were giggingquite often around their locality, and they were approached by a mu-sic business manager, who advised them to have a look at recordingtheir music in a professional studio and selling CDs at gigs and onlinethrough their website to see what sort of a reception they got.They started out by getting opinions from their Facebook, Twitter andwebsite fans and they were overwhelmed by the amount of pre-ordersthey had for a proper recording. They stopped counting at 500 whichconfirmed for them that this was the right thing to do. So they savedup some of their gig payments and booked themselves into a local studio with a good reputation amongst local musiciansand started to get some recording done. Towards the end of the process, Craig was elected to look at getting the run of CDsmade as he had a lot of experience of creating digital art and of working with computers. Craig began the process by doing asearch on the internet for a UK based CD printing and duplication company that was reliable, delivered high quality prod-ucts and would deliver to him. A search for “CD printing service” turned up a large number of likely candidates with goodcustomer feedback, so, Craig put in a request to his top 5 for a quote for 1000 CDs with packaging to see what sort of re-sponse he would get. Craig claims to be a sucker for good customer service.Choosing a reliable, trustworthy and high quality CD printing and duplication supplierCraig’s tactic for choosing the best supplier was to judge them on their response to his request. Two of the companies justsent basic quotes out by email; which were expensive. One company just sent him out a list of very techy questions which hedidn’t understand, being new to the industry. The remaining two sent out good informative quotes which seemed reasonableand then followed up with phone calls from sales reps who seemed genuinely interested in helping him out. One of thesesales reps was on the same wavelength as him and they hit it off nicely over the phone and so he chose that company to workwith.The CD Printing ArtworkWhile they were waiting for the master recording to be finalised, Craig started to work on the CD disc artwork ideas. Uponspeaking to his contact at the CD printing company, Antonia, he learned that they could supply him with a template in thesame format as the artwork software package that he was using, which was really useful as then he could be sure that thefinal artwork file created, would suit their print process. Antonia advised Craig to be careful if he was intending to use pho-tographic images in the print. Dark photographic images can be difficult to print as they usually end up darker than the orig-inal image which can mean that certain images cannot be used unless the exposure is raised to lighten the image which, onsome images, can ruin the intended effect. They also need to be high resolution images of 300 dpi or more. Photos taken ona smartphone or a poor quality digital camera are usually too low resolution. Also, Antonia made sure that Craig was awareof potential copyright issues if he intended to use someone else’s photographs or images and, after considering this advice, hedesigned the artwork to be completely original.The next consideration was about the type of printing process to be used. Photographic images have to be lithographicallyprinted but if the artwork consists of solid colours, then the disc can be screen printed.
57Lithographic printing is the most expensive method of CD printing but screen printing can be configured to gain somecontrol over the cost of printing. It is possible to use only 1 or 2 colours in a screen print and make use of the silver surface ofthe disc as part of the design to produce an eye-catching, classy looking print which only requires 2 print screens. This helpsto keep the fixed cost of screen printing, low. Antonia warned him that it is not advisable to combine solid colour areas andphotographic images in a disc print as they would have to be litho printed which is not ideal for block colour areas becauseconsistency of the colour cannot be guaranteed. Litho printing is much better suited to colour gradients or complex photo-graphic images.The CD Packaging OptionsCraig’s discussion with Antonia about the CD packaging options was an eye-opener for him. He didn’t realise that there wereso many different options available. They considered a couple of options for selling CDs at gigs and for selling online. For themerchandise stall at gigs, they needed a lightweight option as space comes at a premium on the van which is filled with theirequipment. In order for them to get as many CDs on sale at gigs as possible, they opted for a card wallet with a full colourdigital print. These are flat and lightweight and many CDs can be packed into a small box where they are safe from transpor-tation damage.For selling online and through independent record shops, they opted for standard polycarbonate jewel cases. These cases arethe type that almost everyone who has ever bought a CD album will be familiar with. They allow the inclusion of a digitallyprinted booklet in the front of the case where they could put their band images, lyrics and acknowledgements. There is alsoa printed rear tray card which goes under the CD tray and is generally used to display the track listing on the CD along withthe copyright information.Again, Antonia was able to supply Craig with templates for the booklet and the rear tray card artwork. These templates in-cluded an allowance for print bleed of 3mm which extends outside the cutline and is intended to prevent the appearance oftiny white lines around the edge of the cropped, printed paper part due to minor print process discrepancies.For all artwork, on disc and paper, Craig was informed that he should ensure that any text is at least 4mm inside the outercut lines.The CD Duplication ProcessAbout a week after his discussion with Antonia about the CD printing and CD packaging printing, the band received theirfinalised master to check that they were all completely happy with it. The studio had done a fabulous job and the master wassounding great. During another chat with Antonia, they had touched upon the issues of ISRC codes and CD text, whichCraig made sure were included with the master. ISRC codes (International Standard Recording Codes) are unique identifiersfor recorded tracks which identify the band as the copyright holders and means that they get any royalties due if their musicis played in public or on the radio. The CD text just means that devices capable of showing the text for each track, will doso. Once everything was sorted with the master, the band were then in a position to be able to get the duplication done. Thediscs would be printed first and Antonia explained that the printed CDs would then go into the duplication suite which is aclean room environment housing hundreds of optical disc drives in banks. These drives are all daisy-chained together andlinked into a master control unit. The master disc is placed into the master drive and the information contained is duplicatedonto all the blank printed discs.Loading and unloading of the CDs is all carried out by an automated system as it would be too laborious and time consum-ing to do by hand. The automated system can load and unload hundreds of discs at a time which is great for large orders andenables them to be completed quickly and cost effectively.Once the CDs have been duplicated they are then transferred to the packaging line for assembly into the jewel cases alongwith the printed paper parts.CD Duplication Projects - Some potential pitfalls to be aware ofWhilst working with Antonia, there were a few instances where Craig made assumptions about the process that were notbased upon a sound knowledge of the industry. He thought that highlighting his mistakes might prove useful to others inhelping them to avoid doing the same things:
581) Having had flyers printed previously, Craig assumed that he could get a 24 hour turn around on CDs which isn’t the caseas the printing process is a lot more complex and involves making printing plates and fitting the job into a schedule that seesthe printing machine working pretty much 24 hours a day. The lead time is usually 3 to 4 working days from the receipt ofartwork approval and the finalised master disc for duplicated discs. He was lucky as they had no urgent deadline for theirdiscs but he could see how this would cause a problem for someone needing discs at the last minute.2) Even though Craig had templates for the artwork, he didn’t read the small print thoroughly. The printed parts artworkneeded to be submitted in CMYK format rather than RGB format which the Adobe Photoshop software package which hewas using, defaults to. Changing an RGB format image into a CMYK format can alter how various colours appear quite dras-tically, in some circumstances, which may cause an issue if the problem is only detected at the last minute. Read the templateinstructions carefully.3) It was only after speaking with Antonia that Craig was introduced to ISRC codes for each of the music tracks and CD textas well. It’s important that these are included on the CD master, especially the ISRC codes, if you expect your music will getairplay, as this is how artists receive their royalty payments and are identified as the copyright holders of the music.4) Image copyright was something that Craig didn’t consider and part of his initial design for the CD artwork involved animage that he had found on the internet and liked. Antonia pointed out that this image was copyrighted and if they had usedit in the design and then the copyright holder had discovered this, then they may have been prevented from further sales ofthe record and also may have been hit with a lawsuit to compensate the original artist for unauthorised use of their work.If you do want to use copyrighted images in your artwork, you should ask the original artist’s permission and come to anagreement with regards to payment. The same is true if you are using samples of another musician’s music where the track iscopyrighted.SummaryTheir initial run of 1000 CDs took 4 working days to print and package from the time they OK’d the artwork proof and sub-mitted their final master CD. This is about standard for the industry; the job can be done faster but you need to be carefulabout potential product quality issues where the job is done quickly. Leaving things until the last minute can spell disaster ifthere’s a problem with the end product as you will then have no product to sell at your gigs and an opportunity may be lost.Craig’s initial efforts to find a reputable CD printing and duplication supplier were well rewarded and they have since usedthe same company many times to get re-runs of their discs as they have proved so popular.For more information with regards to the CD printing and duplication industry and for sound advice for musicians lookingto get CDs printed, visit the Alpha Duplication website or call and speak to one of their experts.Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Lee_E_Brannon/2049518 PLACE PLACE YOUR YOUR AD AD HERE HERE336px X 236px 336px X 236px
59When Boredom Strikes Wordsearch #3 Catagory: Michigan Cities How many can you find? Alpena LansingBattle Creek Port Huron Clio Saginaw Detroit Traverse City Flint WarrenGrand Rapids Westland KalamazooMQE RO A B AN E P L A L P S I H I TU D SWO S R D OG L Q U E V I N D N R I RDOEWB EM L AN S I NGK I B AYO I OFGAFND LMAUNA LOL VGDPDQE TRO I AS F ERF I E I ER E A R U I T CM X N Z C A S J OOWRATROAC L I NK Z SUPER I MESP A DWF D E T RO I T E E R P V E R EE VNC L I CGOSNON I RSNYUCD X A L E S R OMWP O D K C L I O X IWA R R E N E O E OR AWN F X Z I C T I DGHU Y EWJ U E R E E ACO T T YNBOK E E K PH A L A L AM L P I ROT S EWN RO T H E A S T Y I E T O AOE F TGOURHOU I WAN I GASNGR L T R ZOOR I OT DE T Y F E Y EUO I OC P ZWK A L AM A Z OOC R DWOP AT I NDOD I DNA L E L J NUE
60 Michigan Metal Underground Annual Sampler 2015 Volume Two Released: December 5, 2015 FREE DOWNLOAD COMES W/ BONUS E-ZINE AVAILABLE AT:https://michiganmetalunderground.bandcamp.com/releases Track Listing: 1. Cell Block Earth - “Dragged Into A Ditch” 2. Of Virtue - “Cold Reality” 3. Speedgod - “Hypocrisy (And It’s Traitor)” 4. Archimime - “Beyond Bitter” 5. M-102 - “Realize” 6. St8 Of Mine - “Lamron” 7. Tomb Of Teeth - “Her Jaw Unhinged To Swallow Us Whole” 8. Assault The Silence - “Revelations” 9. Dead Eyes Always Dreaming - “The Sound Of Sickness” 10. Echo of Silence - “Borrow Or Rob” 11. Disillusionment - “The Grand Illusion (Demo 2015)”
61 Now Accepting Submissions for Annual Sampler Vol. 3! The time has come! MMU is now accepting submissions for Michigan Metal Underground Annual Sampler 2016 VOL. 3! Email track/s to be considered to [email protected] with ‘Annual Sampler’ in the subject line. All bands that get put on the sampler will also get a feature in a companion bonus issue. If you are chosen you will be contacted. Please include: Genre, CD artwork (if applicable), band logo, band photo, bio, list of members, lyrics (optional) and where the track was recorded. NEW DEADLINE: November 1st, 2015.E-ZINE SUBMISSION DEADLINESThe following are submission deadlines for future e-zine issues.Issue #9 JUL/AUG/SEP 2016 - Submission Deadline: July 5th, 2016 Release Date: July 10th, 2016Issue #10 OCT/NOV/DEC 2016 - Submission Deadline: October 5th, 2016 Release Date: October 10th, 2016Beginning 2017 deadlines will change to 6 days prior to the 1st day of each quarter.Issue #11 JAN/FEB/MAR 2017 - Submission Deadline: December 26th, 2016 Release Date: January 2nd, 2017Issue #12 APR/MAY/JUN 2017 - Submission Deadline: March 26th, 2017 Release Date: April 2nd, 2017Issue #13 JUL/AUG/SEP 2017 - Submission Deadline: June 25th, 2017 Release Date: July 2nd, 2017Issue #14 OCT/NOV/DEC 2017 Release Date: October 2nd, 2017All flyers in this issue have been gathered by submitted emails and an extensive search online.Published by Michigan Metal Underground 2016, Compiled and Edited by Dave Jaber
62 NEW OFFICIAL WEBSITE NOW LIVE!MICHIGANMETALUNDERGROUND.COM
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