tag:www.claimthethrone.com,2005:/blogs/musician-articles?p=1Musician Articles2018-11-17T13:49:53+08:00Claim The Throne - Melodic Death / Folk Metal Band From Perth Australiafalsetag:www.claimthethrone.com,2005:Post/41452032016-04-20T20:48:01+08:002023-12-11T03:26:29+08:00"Aussie Band Asks For $0 To Keep Making Music & Touring"<p style="text-align: center;">Hey guys, Cabba here. I was about to launch a Patreon campaign for $0, but thought the better of it. Our new album is coming out in a few months, and thanks to your support we've been able to fully self-fund it, so we don't need more of your money. Especially in the Forged In Flame era over the last 3 years, thank you so much for buying the album, buying the merch and coming to our gigs, it means the world to us and allows us to keep going. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">THANKS FOR SUPPORTING US - KEEP YOUR MONEY! </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Being in a band is expensive, we've all heard about it enough lately. The industry is changing and musicians need to think outside the square to make ends meet. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Let us tell you about Claim The Throne and provide a perspective from a band who tours part-time. In our 10 year history we've achieved most of our goals, we're not a big deal in the global metal scene by any stretch of the imagination, but we've had a pretty good run - Four CDs and counting, regular local gigs, a handful of tours each year, been to parts of the world we never dreamed of and met some incredible people who we are proud to call fans. We've tackled the new digital age by looking for ways to add value to our products - we wrote a fantasy novel, we have 50 free podcast episodes, we have free music help articles, we include tabs and extras with downloads, an online-only acoustic release, and we get creative with concert ideas in our home town. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/192567/5f4b791acd073ece579add210993873f7522498a/original/screen-shot-2016-03-07-at-10-30-48-pm.png?0" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/192567/2c5eaadd0a0fbcd291b321ee7eb9a57f97a6720b/original/cropped-merchheader.jpg?0" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/192567/1352cfd225c6fe927ceee0a2a6991831a4dc15c9/medium/history.jpg?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><br>Over those years, we've been privileged to earn enough cash to cover a good chunk of our expenses. $10 from a CD, $15 from a shirt, $200 from a show.. not much, but eventually we make enough to pay for our next project then the cycle continues. So we save enough from gigs to record an album, then we launch it and make a bit more, then we can afford to go on tour, and so on. We are also lucky in Australia to have brilliant government funding opportunities for artists. There is a gruelling application process but this ensures only the most suitable projects are funded, a vetted process with proven benefits the community at large, and we've scored a few bucks at times to help with touring.<br><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/192567/895a62445d1abbc9efdb263afb5416117fac0f83/medium/1901316-10152444988411188-7979188111365290717-n.jpg?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Budgeting like this makes you appreciate just how precious money is for a band, and forces you to be smart about what tours you accept or turn down. Going on tour from Perth, the most isolated city in the world, is not cheap. We usually cover half of the flights with band money, then each band member chips in the other half. The rest of our band-kitty then goes to cover vans, accom, sound guys, visas, marketing etc. We gotta do stuff on the cheap, but it can be done! <br><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/192567/59f98e856b418245e5cac143f0fe285f75c16f20/medium/1374862-10152671721401188-3982765689696312693-n.jpg?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color:#FF0000;"><em>Fun fact - Our most recent US/CAN headlining tour was fully self-booked and we made the most money we've ever made on a tour. We had full bargaining power with venues/promoters/support acts, and the punters wanted to support us through buying a shitload of merch just to help out. To save on costs we hired a cheap motorhome, borrowed gear, used local sound/light guys, stole airport trolleys and ate at Wallmart. The cred from this also helped us score a spot on the 70K Tons Fest playing with heaps of our favourite bands. Smaller scale shows, but highly successful. </em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/192567/6403fab332fac52af39ee31a59e86580fce1d80f/medium/image1.jpeg?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br>We all have pretty normal day jobs with average incomes. Just enough to be able to put some money aside to help cover touring costs. This also limits how much time you can take off work.. if your boss is cool then you can sometimes push it to a few months off per year, but you can't take the piss. So we're obviously not in the position to go on tour 300 days of the year, but we can still do it a bunch of times which we're grateful for. We'll keep doing what is within our means until the time is appropriate. <br><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/192567/613ebd80d11920046cdc13585cabde438ad7973a/medium/10378554-10152416960781188-4335842333439169473-n.jpg?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">One thing we've learnt is that musicians aren't the only ones struggling.. The fans turning up to our shows are low on cash too. We see people at gigs who are in difficult financial situations, but they are still willing to support the metal scene that they love. These people are eager to spend the last $50 in their wallets for gig entry and a band tee. Metal fans rule. <br><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/192567/aa2288c561a53cade0f8ec3a598185c7f82dab7f/medium/desk.jpg?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">So what we're saying to you is this, thanks for keeping Claim The Throne alive and please keep supporting the entire metal scene! If you can really afford to help us out with a few bucks, then head to our webstore or come to a show. Don't blow your money on us here, put it towards the new Be'lakor album, put it towards a King Parrot shirt, put it towards a Disentomb gig, put it towards a Parkway Drive DVD, or just buy yourself a beer! If you can't afford it we understand, most of our stuff is streamable/downloadable for free, your word of mouth is payment enough. <br><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/192567/deecca0786bd124dd58e22c9de2fae3458a9d6ab/medium/10605997-10152413234461188-4770623237629703046-n.jpg?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">This is not a dig at any bands or crowdfunding or whatever. We simply just want to highlight from a different perspective that bands can survive on a budget. We also want you to think about what you're pledging for, before you feel sorry for us poor struggling musicians ask yourself "what will this do to our industry?" At first it may appear to present exciting possibilities for the future, but make sure you also consider things like... </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Labels, promoters and agents will no longer fork out money to help bands, that will be the fan's job. Then all of a sudden the band's 'wages' are needed to cover touring expenses and we're back to square one. </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>If bands choose not to crowdfund that doesn't mean they don't take their financial position seriously, keep helping them out. </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>What about when all of the fan's money is exhausted, you can't pay for all of your favourite bands and it's not fair to pick and choose who to pay. Let's hope this doesn't turn into a competition to see which band can get the most $$$ </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>What about when the fans aren't willing to pay for gig entry or t-shirts because they feel they have spent enough already with their monthly pledge? This will cause normal musician income sources to suffer, and gig turnouts to drop. </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/192567/835ff983459ed2639cae2883794c2dd732881a13/medium/claim-the-threone.jpg?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><br>In order to move forward we need initiative and action. The future needs band members who can record their own music, do their own artwork, solid songwriters, admin skills, budgeting skills, smart marketers, good communicators, hold stable jobs with flexible working conditions, patience and a passion to succeed. Love your music, love your scene and just be a nice fucking person. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">If bands insist on maintaining a full-time touring schedule with big costs on the road then we don't know the way forward, but we'll keep thinking and hope you will too. In the meantime just keep it real, think carefully and do what your heart tells you. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Thanks as always, and see you when our new album is out! </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Cabba<br><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/192567/47e8cba5407db85ee4f41c7854dbc3e5abcb448f/medium/niagra.jpg?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/192567/15dc7c359f13eced9034b44f56a34c882950d9bb/original/screen-shot-2016-03-07-at-10-29-37-pm.png?0" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>Claim The Throne - Melodic Death / Folk Metal Band From Perth Australiatag:www.claimthethrone.com,2005:Post/41451942016-04-20T20:43:20+08:002023-12-11T00:51:57+08:00"Sharing music success – How to run a band meeting"<p>“A goal without a plan is just a wish” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery </p>
<p>Musicians are pretty cvlt and cool, but no musician is too cool to hold a band meeting. There must be a reason that you’re in a band, whether it be purely for creative expression, active touring, making killer albums, fame and glory or just to hang out with your band mates, whatever the reason it is imperative to ensure you are on the same level as the rest of the band, therefore effective communication is a must. </p>
<p>You might jam with the band every week, you might even be best mates, so of course you can chat about things every time you’re together, but it’s easy to get sidetracked, miss people’s opinions or forget topics you’ve discussed. If you want to have a long lasting band with happy members, you should be having at least a couple of official ‘meetings’ each year. </p>
<p>So how do you get started? Easy, just book a time that everyone is available and have a BBQ or go out for a few drinks. But let them know, “this is a good chance for us to go over a few things”, and whilst it might appear ‘nerdy’ or ‘lame’, everyone wants to get the most out of their band, so if they decline there is some serious concerns there. </p>
<p>Next up, put together a document with all of the topics you want to cover. Email it around so everyone can add their own ideas, then print a copy of the final version for each band member to hand out at the gathering after you eat your delicious sausages and steins of ale. <br><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/192567/e2271935bcfa9edcb13032c47fb137294f2232ee/original/screen-shot-2013-11-17-at-5-40-12-pm-300x187.png?0" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Here’s my take on what to include.. </p>
<p><strong>Recap </strong></p>
<p>This is a chance to look over the successes and failures of the band since the last meeting. Successes may be a few awesome shows, good reviews, merch sales etc… Failures might be slow writing new songs, blowing out budgets or lack of online presence. </p>
<p><strong>Goals </strong></p>
<p>The most important part of your meeting is right here, setting goals to know what everyone wants to achieve. This is where you come together to make sure the members are all working towards the same objectives. Some examples; </p>
<ul> <li>New album release in second half of the year </li> <li>Sign to a record label </li> <li>Play x amount of local shows </li> <li>Play an international tour </li> <li>Sell x amount of merch </li> <li>There is no right or wrong answers here, no goal is too big or too small, the idea is to brainstorm and see where everyone wants to go. Discuss as a group to set something to aim for! </li>
</ul>
<p><br><strong>Songs / albums </strong></p>
<ul> <li>How much music do we already have? </li> <li>What’s working and what isn’t? </li> <li>How much should we be writing? </li> <li>What style/direction do we want to take? </li> <li>What songs do we want to add to the live setlist? </li> <li>Is our writing-method working? </li> <li>How do we each learn the songs? </li>
</ul>
<p><br><strong>Recording </strong></p>
<ul> <li>Do we need a demo, single, EPs or album? </li> <li>Are we recording any covers? </li> <li>Where should we record? </li> <li>How many songs are we recording? </li> <li>What recording methods can we use? </li> <li>When is it due to be released? </li> <li>Who will do the mixing and mastering? </li> <li>Who can do the CD art? </li> <li>Where can we get CDs pressed once it’s done? </li> <li>How can we sell and distribute it? </li>
</ul>
<p><br><strong>Gigs </strong></p>
<ul> <li>What upcoming shows do we have confirmed? </li> <li>What setlists will we play? </li> <li>Are there any possible gigs on the horizon? </li> <li>How can we find more shows? </li> <li>What sort of gigs should we be accepting/declining? </li> <li>What is best about our live show and what needs improving? </li> <li>How often can we rehearse and where? </li> <li>Can we book our own tour? </li> <li>Can we get on someone else’s tour? </li> <li>Are we applying for support slots? </li> <li>Can we play overseas? </li> <li>Can we play festivals? </li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Merch </strong></p>
<ul> <li>What do we currently have to sell? </li> <li>Are people buying much? </li> <li>What new items can we get? </li> <li>Who is responsible for the artwork? </li> <li>Where can we get it printed? </li> <li>Who is responsible for merch stands at gigs? </li> <li>Do we have an online merch store? </li> <li>Can we give away things for free (stickers, magnets, badges etc)? </li>
</ul>
<p><br><strong>Marketing / Online Presence</strong> </p>
<ul> <li>Website – Is the information up to date? Are we posting regular news updates? Are we getting enough traffic? Is it linking to other relevant pages? </li> <li>Social Media – Are we increasing likes on Facebook? Do we need an Instagram or Twitter account? Who are the admins? What are we posting? </li> <li>Downloads/Streaming – Are we on iTunes and Spotify? Can we sell music on bandcamp? Do we need a Soundcloud or Reverbnation page? Are our songs on YouTube? </li> <li>Mailing List – Are we collecting fan emails and postal addresses? </li> <li>Radio / Print – Can we send our music to radio stations? Are we archiving playlists? Is our CD getting reviews? Are we doing interviews? Can we advertise gigs in magazines? </li>
</ul>
<p><br><strong>Labels / Distro / Promoters </strong></p>
<ul> <li>Do we need to approach record labels? </li> <li>Do we need a booking agent? </li> <li>Should we send out info packages just so they know about us? </li> <li>Is our bio up to date? </li> <li>What to send and how? </li>
</ul>
<p><br><strong>Gear </strong></p>
<ul> <li>Is our music equipment up to scratch? </li> <li>Do we pay for it ourselves or with band money? </li> <li>Can we apply for endorsements? </li> <li>What gear can we take on tour? </li> <li>Should we be sharing gear with other bands? </li>
</ul>
<p><br><strong>Photoshoots / Video Clips </strong></p>
<ul> <li>Do we have a current band photo? </li> <li>What do we want to look like? </li> <li>Where can we do it? </li> <li>Do we need a music video? </li> <li>Who can take photos and do film? </li> <li>What will we do with pictures and videos? </li>
</ul>
<p><br><strong>Finance / Budgets </strong></p>
<ul> <li>Are we in the green or red? </li> <li>Where has our money been spent? </li> <li>What are we saving towards? </li> <li>Do we have a bank account and ABN? </li> <li>Can we apply for a government grant? </li>
</ul>
<p><br><strong>Availabilities </strong> </p>
<p>Find out when people are available throughout the year so you know when you can play gigs, tours, rehears, record etc. Nothing worse than working hard on booking a show then finding out someone will be away on holiday. </p>
<p>Other notable tips </p>
<p>Take all ideas on board <br>Do no fight amongst one another <br>Listen to others when they speak <br>There will be disagreements, nut these out before moving on <br>Don’t be disheartened with criticism <br>If you can’t all agree on something, someone must make an executive decision <br>Work as a team! </p>
<p><br><strong>Minutes </strong></p>
<p>Make sure you are writing down notes throughout the meeting, so later on you can put together ‘minutes’ to email to the band. This should contain everything that was discussed and allocate duties to each band member to achieve all of the goals. Remember, you will get together again in a few months and revisit the notes of this meeting and compare it to what has actually been achieved! </p>
<p>So there you have it, play nice! </p>
<p>Anything else you think needs discussing? Reckon band meetings are for pansies? Let us know below. </p>
<p>Cheers <br>Cabba<br><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/192567/2dc8bd205a83fe82046628b7f13c80a625c145a4/medium/claim-the-throne-300x132.jpg?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>Claim The Throne - Melodic Death / Folk Metal Band From Perth Australiatag:www.claimthethrone.com,2005:Post/41451932016-04-20T20:39:15+08:002024-03-13T00:53:03+08:00"Practical Solutions – The art of drumming without drums"<p>It’s pretty rare these days for a drummer to have access to a space where they can practice comfortably on an acoustic kit. With many musos living in flats, apartments, student accommodation and share houses, it can be pretty hard to get in a practice without disturbing anyone or getting kicked out. </p>
<p>Here are some tips and alternatives for you drummers out there. </p>
<p><strong>ELECTRIC KIT </strong><br>This is a great but expensive option. If you’re in a house or well-insulated apartment you should be fine, but the pads (especially rubber kick pads) can still be very loud. Cheaper kits tend to use a very thin layer of rubber over hard plastic and are typically pretty noisy when struck. As you go up through the price range the rubber gets more impact-absorbent, and mesh heads also become an option that are quieter still. The quietest pads with the best feel I’ve used are the Yamaha DTX pads although they are super expensive! Electronic kits (even some entry level models) can be used as a means to trigger MIDI on your home recording setup. This means you jam along to demos and record using programs like Superior Drummer, or even sample your acoustic kit and trigger that via a software sampler. Pretty cool. You could also take the module to gigs and use it with an acoustic drum trigger and run a kick drum sample through the main mix – a major part of a metal drummers live rig. You can mount the pads live to trigger sounds like Danny Carey from Tool does, or use them to trigger bass bombs or samples. A LOT of possibilities open up if you’re creative! </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/192567/4dfc50b245f96d5a10c679854a3dbdd2734c036f/small/image-1.jpeg?0" class="size_s justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Yamaha DTX Pad </p>
<p><br>Still, with decent kits ranging from $1100-$10K+, you want to be sure you will really get use out of it. A friend of mine lives in a floor-boarded apartment and when he tries to play his electric kit the thumping travels throughout the household – bummer. Test them out at your local music shop and really do your research in terms of the pads, the sound module, MIDI capabilities and customisation or fine-tuning abilities. </p>
<p><strong>‘SOUND OFF’ PADS </strong> <br>These are thin foam/rubber pads that sit on your drum skins and screw down to your cymbals. Many teachers use these to keep the volume down so they can still talk while teaching, and to ensure the overall feel and action of playing drums is retained. They can still be too loud for many situations, but if you’re in a house they’re not going to wake the neighbours and they might be just the thing you’re looking for. They’re also pretty cheap which is also good! </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/192567/1ef3c4805e98753d976bb00aab915a71ea1b3272/medium/29927-25292-popup.jpg?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Sound Off Pads </p>
<p><strong>PRACTICE PAD </strong><br>This can mean one pad or many. I’ve used a good few practice pads in my time. They’re a much cheaper option than an electric kit but are similar in feel. The low-grade ones are noisy and ‘slappy’, whereas the higher grade ones have better materials and feel. Harder plastic will be louder and rubber will be quieter, but as before – try before you buy! I have a Vater pad that is half soft-rubber and half harder-rubber. I NEVER use the harder side and I wish the whole pad was the soft yellow rubber. Pads come in various sizes. My Vater pad is 12 inches in diameter, but I did buy a 6 inch Vater pad for tour (all softer rubber) and that worked great as I could slip it in my backpack and warm up before shows. Most pads come with a threaded hole underneath which allows them to be screwed on to a cheap cymbal stand – one where the thread runs all the way to the top. These are usually cheap single braced stands by Dixon and the like. Having them mounted can make them less noisy than if placed on a table top or a chair. I mount mine in a snare stand at home, and I always sit on my drum stool when using it. You can buy kick pads too although they all have a degree of loudness to them. Because they sit on the ground and take the full force of a pedal being driven by your leg, they can sound like someone stomping around from the next room. <br><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/192567/9561741a347764673745b6d1f0c1dd60065d95ed/medium/image-3.jpeg?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">My beaten up Vater Practice Pad (that rules!) </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/192567/bbebaf04ca1e672448858a5a321eed8f90f3bf5c/medium/image.jpeg?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br>Pearl Kick Pad. Mine works great but is a bit noisy for some situations. </p>
<p><strong>NO PADS! </strong> <br>I have spent many hours practicing grooves and rudiments by sitting on my stool, on the edge of my bed, or even at a desk using heel-down on the ground and drumming on my knees/thighs with my open hands. This has helped me keep my coordination up and also to nut out tricky patterns. I’ve listened along to CDs and a metronome through headphones in a flat and not disturbed a soul. Practicing heel-down without a pedal is surprisingly challenging and really effective. It really helps with coordination and can give you a real burn on the front of your shins! It translates great to heel-up on a kit and is good practice in any situation. <br><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/192567/5679cee53ac4b3654092d5fed44329073321f122/medium/image-4.jpeg?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/192567/bc906fd3e14f18abf090a471b6f935627786960e/medium/image-5.jpeg?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Practicing ‘heel-down’ on the carpet. </p>
<p><strong>THINGS TO CONSIDER… </strong><br>Kit-time <br>Nothing will replace actual kit-time. There’s so many different factors that create the feel of hitting real drums and cymbals and I can’t see anyone replicating that silently for a while yet. Seize every opportunity to practice on a real kit! If your band jams weekly or fortnightly you might be fine to supplement with pads or something in the meantime, but if they don’t then find a rehearsal room that will give you a cheap deal for a room for a couple of hours by yourself. Rehearsal room owners know all to well how loud drums are and many will help you out! </p>
<p>Functional strength <br>Stamina is something you might not notice slipping until it’s too late. If you play a physically demanding style of music you might find it beneficial to do some exercise in between gigs and practices. Some tips are to do cardio rather than heavy weights. Controlled movements with heavy weights aren’t really anything like the action of quickly swinging light sticks or pedal beaters. I’d suggest lighter free-weights and doing them explosively. Kettle bells are an awesome way to use full body movements that translate nicely over to the kit. I have 1x12kg kettle bell and 20mins with that thing a couple times a week works wonders for my playing. I’ve heard plenty of drummers like Martin Lopez from Opeth, Joey Jordison from Slipknot and even our old mate Lars from Metallica talk about the benefits of running. I think not only running, but cycling, rowing or an orbital machine can help your bass drumming immensely – it’s rhythmic and uses similar movements to pedal-playing. Whatever you do just don’t overtrain, and avoid training on the day of or the day before a gig or practice; give your body time to recover. Remember, exercise won’t make you a better drummer, so don’t choose this over practice. Gene Holgan blew out to 400lbs on tour with Fear Factory and was still nailing whole sets of intense double-kicking. Practice is where it’s at! </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/192567/d08691cd73a479a0c6c17c10c59e4e423cb13840/small/image-2.jpeg?0" class="size_s justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br>Kettle Bell. 20mins to exhaustion. </p>
<p><strong>IN CONCLUSION </strong><br>Do whatever you can to stay on top of your chops and try to be in a constant state of improvement. I didn’t have a kit for my first 3 years of playing and with improvised practice kits made of pillows and chairs I managed to get better – although I didn’t improve more than when I finally got hold of a kit and started playing regularly.</p>Claim The Throne - Melodic Death / Folk Metal Band From Perth Australiatag:www.claimthethrone.com,2005:Post/41451902016-04-20T20:33:56+08:002023-12-17T01:49:41+08:00"Short & Punchy, how to design a captivating bio for your band"<p>A well-structured and eye-catching bio is an extremely important part of introducing your band to professionals and fans, and yet so many bands fail to deliver information that is relevant and compelling. </p>
<p>Today we look at putting together a write-up that would be the first contact point when people encounter your band. This bio may be used when approaching record labels, venues, promoters, radio stations, street press, webzines, as well as having it displayed on your websites and social media. </p>
<p>Think about when you hear of a band that you are curious to check out. The first thing you do is probably chuck the name in Google, click on the first link and if it seems interesting you’ll have a listen to a few songs. Get into this mindset when writing your bio, what would make your band sound interesting enough to warrant listening to a song? </p>
<p>A few points before we get started </p>
<ul> <li>Sell yourself without bragging, write in third person narrative </li> <li>Good grammar and spelling is essential! </li> <li>Keep it up to date as you accomplish more things </li> <li>Include a logo and band pic at the top of the page </li> <li>The below examples are dissected from Claim The Throne’s current bio </li>
</ul>
<p><br><strong>Beginning </strong></p>
<p>The first sentence MUST be awesome. It needs to immediately capture the reader’s attention and give them a good idea of what your band is about. This might include your band name, genre, location and a few captivating adjectives. Do not give the reader too much in-depth detail that they will not care about. </p>
<p>What not to do… </p>
<p>“Claim The Throne began in June 2005 by two friends Cabba and Oli who began jamming metal music together before getting a full lineup then started gigging a year later in their home town.” </p>
<p>There is no need to ramble on with boring details about member names or dates, no one cares, these can be saved for a history page on your website. If you must include band member names, put them along the band pic or list them at the bottom of the page. </p>
<p>A better way to do it… </p>
<p>“Ruthlessly tearing the boundaries of folk-metal in the heaviest of ways, Perth warriors CLAIM THE THRONE return with their fourth and finest release FORGED IN FLAME”. </p>
<p>This version used creative language, the genre and how the band differ from others within it, band name and latest album title. It is short and focuses only on what would interest the reader. </p>
<p>Then add just a little bit more detail to expand on the opening paragraph. </p>
<p>What not to do… </p>
<p>“There are crushing guitars, face melting basslines, blasting drums and in-your-face brootal vocals.” </p>
<p>We know what instruments make up a rock band, but you’d be surprised how many bios use the same stupid descriptions of what each instrument actually sounds like. Don’t do it. </p>
<p>A better way… </p>
<p>“The 14-track, 70min epic album sees CLAIM THE THRONE take a darker and heavier approach whilst maintaining all the melody and catchiness the band are renowned for” </p>
<p>This one gives you a much better idea of what the band actually sound like… Heavy but melodic and catchy, plus we are told the band are ‘renowned’ for something, they must be really good. </p>
<p><br><strong>Middle </strong></p>
<p>Here we can highlight the band’s accomplishments to date and give the reader a reason to check the band out further. </p>
<p>What not to do.. </p>
<p>“We jam every week so when we play live we bring heaps of energy with a full sound and sick moshing. Once we got told by the headlining band that we were awesome, and we sold three shirts at one gig. “ </p>
<p>You would have lost the reader by now, keep it interesting and sound pro. </p>
<p>Something better.. </p>
<p>“Receiving high acclaim worldwide for 2010’s TRIUMPH AND BEYOND, the band toured extensively throughout Australia, New Zealand and the UK, building a reputation for outrageous live performances and gaining an army of loyal allies.” </p>
<p>High acclaim and heavy touring, just what people wanna hear about! </p>
<p><br><strong>End </strong></p>
<p>End with a bang, and depending who you are directing the bio to, touch on your plans and goals. </p>
<p>What not to do.. </p>
<p>“If you haven’t heard Claim The Throne yet, then you will soon cos these guys play in Perth at least once a month and they are full sik kunts. The band are writing a new song this week and youz are gonna love it ay” </p>
<p>This suggests your band has never done anything apart from play in their local venue. It also says you don’t know how to write a song and are probably the poorest kunts. If you are yet to play outside your home town, you can word it like “xxx are taking Perth by storm and are working hard to take their take their live show abroad with a debut album on the horizon”. </p>
<p>A better way… </p>
<p>“CLAIM THE THRONE are currently seeking international label interest and touring opportunities in 2014 to support the release of FORGED IN FLAME. Offering a unique sound and highly regarded live show, CLAIM THE THRONE are dedicated to establishing themselves as a dominant force in the worldwide extreme metal scene through extensive global touring and album distribution.” </p>
<p>This is probably more directed towards labels and promotors, make sure your bio is constructed to appeal to your current situation and who you want to impress. </p>
<p>Now make sure you include web links and contact details. Official website, social media links, video clip link, and a pro description of your email like “for all contact and bookings please email us now at info@claimthethrone.com”. </p>
<p>This is a very basic overview of a bio, but really it is all you need. Use only relevant info and make is sharp and catchy. Take time to read over it and always make improvements, get your friends to read over it and see if they fall asleep or find it exciting. Quality over quantity. </p>
<p>Have a look at other band’s bios for ideas on what works and what doesn’t. Remember, a captivating and informative bio is one of THE MOST IMPORTANT tools for your band’s exposure, so put in the effort and it will pay off! </p>
<p>Any thoughts, questions or ideas, please share below! </p>
<p>Cheers </p>
<p>Cabba</p>Claim The Throne - Melodic Death / Folk Metal Band From Perth Australiatag:www.claimthethrone.com,2005:Post/41450912016-04-20T18:47:50+08:002024-02-01T18:46:22+08:00"Recording with Claim The Throne, an Ash Perspective"<p>Album number 3….where do I start? <br>I guess by saying hello to Amos Polglaze, because he’s probably the only person reading this. <br>I’ve never written a bodge before, and aside from 3 highly fucked Farthing Wheel albums, I’ve never recorded an album. Big mistake right? <br>Well I’m too old to care about anything except my greying hair and thinning pubes, so I’m doing it anyway. <br>How did I convince the band to go along with this? <br>It all started with the Triumph and Beyond demos we did way back in 2009. They were tracked roughly through an Mbox 2 using a combination of Pro Tools/BFD for drums, and Garageband for guitars, vox and keys. We roughly threw down 2 songs during a jam in less than an hour, and they came out in very low-quality and raw, but we all liked the vibe, and enjoyed the process. Triumph and Beyond was eventually tracked at Bergerk! Studios with Al Smith and sounds great, but we had a hard time organising our schedules. Between local shows, touring, work and surgery, we found it pretty hard to really dive into the process and the whole thing was a bit of a blur. <br>Late 2010 the album comes out, does well, and we play a bunch of Australian tours and head to the UK for a massive tour with Alestorm, and by March 2012 we find ourselves back at home writing for the new record. </p>
<p>What changed in that time? <br>Well a major change is that Cabba, Jesse and I live together in a big house; Jim is our surrogate housemate and supplier of whis-kay, and Dysie lives around the corner. Cabba has a little demo rig and has been tracking to Reaper, Jesse has been writing out full structures on paper, Dysie has been Guitar Pro-ing and using Cool Edit, and Jim and I have been laying riffs and licks between Reaper and Pro Tools. Needless to say, there has been a whole lot of material floating around! <br>In October 2012 we decided to get a bunch of demos/preproduction together to give ourselves and a couple of labels an idea of what our new material sounded like. By then I had upgraded my Mbox and Tools rig, and we spent a month of weekends drinking way too much and tracking some pretty sloppy stuff in a little room upstairs. We were having an awesome time hanging out and recording that a simple track count turned into 40+ tracks – practically an album style effort that we only realised had blown out like that after we stopped having fun and started to mix. Mumma. We had a nice Rode Classic II mic, a few decent plugins and not much else. What came out were 5 pretty awesome sounding demos. <br>We were all happy with them and had a blast so we thought we’d re-direct our recording budget into some affordable studio gear and do the album ourselves. </p>
<p>We went from this (demos): <br>3rd Gen Mbox w/Pro Tools 10 <br>iMac 2.5GHz w/20Gb ram <br>Rode Classic II <br>Yamaha HS50M nearfield monitors <br>various plugins </p>
<p>to this (additions): <br>Radial Cube <br>Classic API VP26 preamp <br>GAP Pre-573 preamp <br>Radial J48 DI <br>Radial Xamp <br>FMR Really Nice Preamp <br>FMR Really Nice Compressor <br>Mbox Pro <br>Shure SM57 <br>Yamaha HS80M <br>Digitech Bad Monkey <br>East West Symphonic Orchestra (Gold) <br>A couple new plugins including Slate VCC/VTM, Valhalla Room/Vintage <br>Furman Power conditioner <br>Champion Ruby/Drum Menthol and Rubra Espresso <br>Some acoustic foam </p>
<p>Why did we make these particular choices? <br>Look, great studios are great studios! They have a tonne of gear, multiple options, a big live room and sweet converters to make the analogue sound turn into full-range digital sound once tracked to the computer – or if going to tape…a TAPE MACHINE! <br>The down side is that we’re not a huge band and we all work jobs and don’t have the time or budget to get the most out of an extravagant studio experience. All of us have tracked with different bands in different environments and usually it all ends up the same – 1 instrument at a time. Granted that 1 instrument is afforded the luxury of some pretty sweet gear, but the budget stops us trying heaps of different things and we pretty much need to commit to a sound and hit record. <br>So we’ve kitted ourselves with just enough equipment to get a variety of sounds for voice, guitars and bass, and percussion – and our wood floored games room is just lively enough to have some tasty reflections to keep things interesting. </p>
<p>But what about your drums dingus? <br>Yep, drums. Can’t do much at home without either sounding like a dry set of buckets, or resorting to sound replacement etc – which is totally cool, but from step 1 you’re losing that acoustic vibe. Man, I’m a drummer, and the best thing about playing is the dynamic and how they sound pushing air in a nice room. So for that we have budgeted some studio time. <br>We left it a little late to book Bergerk! We were pretty devastated to discover that Al was booked out for months ahead – but great for him! He’s awesome and is actually closing tracking services at Bergerk! in I think June, and moving solely to mixing and mastering work. If you ever want some stuff done by him you’d better be quick! <br>Anyway, Cabba and I panicked a little because we hadn’t anticipated needing a backup. We took some time to do a little research, and came up with a few names. I sent emails out to a shortlist of studios including Couch, Underground, Poons Head, Crank and Satellite, with a rough time frame and a quote request. Many were way out of our initial budget, and for the most part they wouldn’t have actually been our first choice. It came down to Poons Head and Underground. I’d done a mix at Poons Head in 2005 and was blown away by his drum room the amount of quality vintage gear he had there. Underground is run by an old drummer friend Brody Simpson, and while being a more modern studio, I was also keen to be in the presence of a drummer who knows my style. <br>In the end Poons Head gave us a great package and the right dates so we jumped on it. <br>It’s also a chance to track through some classic gear onto 2-inch tape and keep the performances pretty fresh and raw, which is how we’re looking to do things on this record. </p>
<p>What are we actually recording? <br>I’ll be tracking drums for 12 songs. 3 are short, 8 are 5mins+ and 1 is 12mins. <br>There are a couple of acoustic tracks that don’t have drums but will have percussion, so probably way too much material for 1 CD, but not enough for a double… We’ll see how they turn out and decide then. If the fit on a disc, don’t be surprised to see 14-15 songs! </p>
<p>Does self-produced mean that your album will sound like shit or cum? <br>Don’t expect early Bathory, but don’t expect Dark Side of the Moon either. While we definitely have high hopes for the sound of this record, it’s a huge task and we’re all very aware of our (my) limitations. But we have a clear and reasonable goal in mind, and we’re confident we can pull it off. I can guarantee we’ll run into problems, and I’ll be detailing them along with our progress – and of course photos and videos etc too. <br>We’ll be experimenting with a few things we’ve never had the time to do, and we’ll be spending a bit more time on live percussion and more involved soundscapes and samples. So to answer your question Amos it will be a load of cummy-shit. Which is pretty good right? </p>
<p>That’s probably all that needs to be said at this point. Drums start this Thursday Feb 28th. <br>If you have any questions or abuse leave a comment and I’ll get back to you! <br>Ash</p>Claim The Throne - Melodic Death / Folk Metal Band From Perth Australiatag:www.claimthethrone.com,2005:Post/41450892016-04-20T18:39:42+08:002024-03-13T00:53:03+08:00"10 Step Guide to Booking your Band a Successful Gig"<p>The benefits of booking your own show are a plenty, with the ability to take complete control of the event, maximise exposure for your band, and enjoy greater monetary rewards. Consider this 10-step guide to running a successful live show. </p>
<p>1. Book a venue </p>
<p>Date and location play a super big role in planning a successful gig. You want a venue that is easily accessible for punters on a date that doesn’t clash with other events. The best venues require a big notice period, sometimes being fully booked four to six months in advance, so prepare early. You also need to give the venue a reason to book you, so work hard on convincing them you will promote hard and have their best interests in mind. </p>
<p>2. Book a lineup </p>
<p>Once you have a date and location, you can now prepare a lineup and approach bands. Keep in mind how many bands you want, what styles of music you’re after, and a realistic budget. If you’re an upcoming band, you may wish to look for a proven crowd-puller to headline, and a few newer bands to open the show. Be mindful with booking more than one or two ‘big name’ bands, they will usually request bigger payments and favourable timeslots, so make sure you can accommodate everyone’s needs. </p>
<p>3. Prepare a worksheet </p>
<p>Once the bands have confirmed they will 100% definitely be playing the show, then it is time to put the finer details together with an artist performance worksheet. This outlines details such as date, venue, lineup, set times, payments, rider, guest list, promotion plans and so on. Email a professional document to all bands and ensure there are no concerns before announcing any details to the public. </p>
<p>4. Design a poster </p>
<p>It’s nearly time to announce your event, so you need an eye-catching gig poster to attract the punter’s attention. You want something that looks good but is also easy to understand, so people know exactly who is playing and what the gig is for. Think about it from the public’s perspective and give them a reason to attend. It is easy enough to design a poster with just average computer skills, otherwise there are local artists out there that can make you something good and shouldn’t be too pricey. </p>
<p>5. Announce and Promote </p>
<p>This is the fun part. It’s so easy to leak details early, but stick to your guns and create a big impact by announcing your show properly. Have your online marketing ready to go, such as a Facebook event, but also arrange for websites and radio stations to announce your show at the same time for maximum effect. Traditional methods are still great too, such as poster runs to music stores, jam rooms and cafes, as well as handing out flyers at other local shows. Encourage all bands to help with promotion, inviting their own fans and friends, and helping to distribute flyers. </p>
<p>6. Rehearse </p>
<p>You may be the best promoter on the planet and get ten million people to your show, but what good is that if you don’t put on a killer performance? Practise hard, by yourself and as a band. Plan a setlist in advance and work hard to nail it. </p>
<p>7. Get band merch </p>
<p>Fantastic for exposure and the best revenue raiser, make sure your band has merchandise for sale. Get some t-shirts printed with your band logo, give out some free stickers, and of course take copies of your latest CD. The best time to sell this stuff is at your gig, while you are fresh in the punters mind. If they enjoyed your set then they will want to support you, so make it easy for them. Whilst you can arrange for someone to sell your merch, it is always nice to have band members there for meet and greets with fans. </p>
<p>8. Sound, lights, door, merch </p>
<p>Cover all of your bases by making sure the relevant staff are available. Sometimes venues will provide these, but be certain before the night. You need a sound engineer for the bands on stage, a lighting engineer to make the venue look exciting, someone to collect the entry fee and someone to sell merch. </p>
<p>9. Play </p>
<p>The time has come for your band to hit the stage. You have worked your toosh off for the great turnout, so enjoy the moment and play hard! Be confident on stage and have a great time, but also concentrate and play tight. Crowd interaction is very important, so be sure to speak between songs, tell a joke or two, thank the crowd for their attendance and thank all involved for contributing to the gig. This is also the best time to provide a call to action to your fans, such as asking them to buy your merchandise or go to your website. </p>
<p>10. Leave a good impression </p>
<p>Okay, so now you’re a rockstar, but it doesn’t end with your final song. Shake hands with people in the front row, then quickly pack up your gear in respect of the band coming on after you. Head out to the crowd and chat to your new fans to create a good rapport and tell them about your next show. Leave a good impression with the venue by cleaning up, thanking the staff and generally not being a dick, remember you want to book their venue again in the future. The following week make sure you pay your debts, thank the other bands, and get ready to do it again! </p>
<p>Thanks for reading homies. </p>
<p>Your pal, Cabba<br><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/192567/a15da7057d44c6d3f36fc0e3038eb50e04f38e11/medium/dscf0839.jpg?1454123583" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>Claim The Throne - Melodic Death / Folk Metal Band From Perth Australiatag:www.claimthethrone.com,2005:Post/41450882016-04-20T18:38:14+08:002023-12-11T00:57:57+08:00"How to prepare for a band audition or fill-in spot"<p>Recently I filled in for a local band ‘Wrath Of Fenrir’, after their drummer broke his hand 3 days before their show supporting Korpiklaani. I hadn’t listened to their stuff in over 12 months so I thought I’d better get cracking! The scenario reminded me of a common and possibly more daunting instance – the audition. Here are a few tips that have helped me out in the past. </p>
<p>GET HOLD OF SOME RECORDINGS <br>If the band has any demos or releases, get hold of the tracks and have a listen through. Don’t get caught up on specifics – just listen. Get a feel for the style, and see if any similarities between the songs pop out. If there are any particularly difficult passages don’t worry too much, you’ll have plenty of time to nut specifics out once you’re familiar with the songs as a whole. </p>
<p>WRITE CLEAR NOTES! <br>It may seem strange to do this before you are really used to the songs, but it helps to take notes and have them as reference while you are listening. For my fill-in gig, I listened along to each track and jotted down a brief description of each part. I did this for each of the 5 songs, then went back to the start and listened through with my notes in front of me. I read along using the notes to anticipate the grove or feel of each section, and altered my notes where necessary. </p>
<p>These are my updated notes for ‘Awaken The Frost’ </p>
<p>intro – steady double kicks, half-time snare <br>verse – ½ time kick+snare on hats (x4) -> steady d-kick on ride <br>chorus – same as intro <br>verse <br>slow change (big tempo drop) – ½ time kick+snare on crash <br>fast change (tempo boost) – fast d-kicks, snare on down beat <br>marching beat <br>tom groove <br>1/2 time groove on crash <br>chorus (finish on crash or tom hit) </p>
<p>They don’t need to make sense to anyone but you, so if you have nicknames for certain riffs or beats use them. The main thing is for you to understand them easily! </p>
<p>Drummers and Vocalists might be fine to interpret what they hear, but melodic instruments will need to worry about riffs, notes, and chords. A well-prepared band calling for auditions should hopefully have some Guitar Pro files, or failing that some simple written tabs or notation. If not, do your best to familiarise yourself with structures and work out any parts you can. Then when you get together with the band you’ll be likely to pick up riffs and parts with a bit more ease than if you went in cold turkey! </p>
<p>PRACTICE <br>I wasn’t able to get on a kit that first evening when I wrote the notes, so I sat on the edge of my bed, put the notes in a place I could see them, put the ipod on and tapped on my legs as drums, and mimicked kick-drum movements with my feet. Sure it seems a bit silly, but it was enough to get see if I could translate my notes into actions. I didn’t stay on 1 song, I moved through the EP start-to-finish and repeated a 2nd time. I only had a couple of days, and between work and previous commitments I was strapped for time, so I thought it better to familiarise with the whole EP than be a wizard on only 1 song. </p>
<p>It’s on your instrument that you’ll get the best feel for how you’re progressing. I got a chance to jump on my pads/electric kit the afternoon to have a couple of run-throughs. This was really cool. I breezed through the tracks with my notes in front of me, and my previous leg-tap practice. It’s also handy to turn the recordings off and see how comfortable you are without the vocals and existing drums from giving you cues. Give it a try, and add to your notes if you get lost. You might not have the best monitoring in a jam-room or at a show, and a singer might not be there for an audition. </p>
<p>TIME TO JAM! <br>Congratulations! At this point you should be ready to jam. Make sure you bring all the gear you require to jam, and be prompt to arrive and set up. Bring a music stand for your notes, or make sure you’ll have easy visual access to them just in case. Don’t be embarrassed, then band should be happy that you’ve gone to the effort to be thorough, and will appreciate them when you blitz through the tracks 1st time! If you stuff up a part, it’s not the end of the world – keep plugging through the track and try and remember that part for next time. If there’s anything you’re unsure about in a particular song, ask one of the members for guidance before you play it and when that bit comes up they will provide you with visual cues to help you out. </p>
<p>Whatever the scenario, use what you’ve got to prepare yourself! The band will notice, and you’ll be a lot more relaxed throughout the process.</p>Claim The Throne - Melodic Death / Folk Metal Band From Perth Australiatag:www.claimthethrone.com,2005:Post/41450872016-04-20T18:37:09+08:002023-12-11T02:59:25+08:00"5 Online Marketing Tools for Band to Check Out!"<p>Want to build your band’s online presence and keep up with the latest music marketing technology? Check out some of these upcoming online tools for musicians! </p>
<p>RSS FEEDS </p>
<p>Some hear the term ‘blog’ and get immediately angry. You may be surprised however as to what actually constitutes a blog (you’re reading one now!). They don’t necessarily have to be ‘opinion’ or ‘articles’, in fact your band could just post your news into a blog. </p>
<p>Rather than just having a text file on your website, a ‘blog’ is a ‘feed’ of posts, normally keeping the latest posts at the top whilst not removing the previous posts. People can comment on each post, ‘like’ the post to their facebook, share the post via social media , or simply read it like a normal website. </p>
<p>The emergence of RSS Feeds now also allows fans to follow your blog more easily than ever. If your fans have an RSS platform (Google Reader,MyYahoo, Amphetadesk, FeedReader etc) they can simply add your ‘blog’ address and will receive a notification each time you post something new. I have an app for my smartphone called Feedler that keeps me updated on all sorts of metal news, far more interesting than the newspaper. </p>
<p>www.whatisrss.com </p>
<p>QR CODES </p>
<p>A QR (Quick Response) Code is a type of 2D digital barcode that can be scanned by devices such as smart phones, iPads and cameras, directing the device to a specific location. For example, your band can generate yourselves a free QR Code that will link people to your website when it is scanned. Even better, print it out and take it to your gig, so when your fans scan it on their phone it takes them directly to your online merch store! </p>
<p>There are heaps of sites that offer code generation, just hop onto google. </p>
<p>For an app on your iPhone, try out ‘QRReader’. </p>
<p>REVERBNATION </p>
<p>This one’s been around for a while, but surprisingly not all bands are taking advantage of it yet. It’s sort of like a MySpace styled thing, but just for bands, and good. </p>
<p>You set up a page for your band with music, videos, pics, bio etc, then Reverbnation continuously walks you through improving your page and promoting your music. You can add your upcoming gigs and share them across other social platforms, and you can track your previous gigs to see if your crowds are growing with time. </p>
<p>As time goes on and you start using the page more, your profile completeness increases. This, together with page views and song listens puts your band in a ranking in charts for local music, national music, genre style and so on. It’s not uncommon to see relatively unknown bands at the top rankings, which is great exposure if you’re willing to put in the effort. </p>
<p>Reverbnation is completely compatible with Facebook, giving the option to embed profiles, music players, merch stores and more. It is an awesome idea, so with greater execution and more traffic, I would expect Reverbnation to become another essential tool for all bands in the coming years. </p>
<p>TIP 5 </p>
<p>A crazy concept in it’s very early stages, Tip5 allows bands to set up an account so fans can literally ‘tip’ them five dollars. Imagine being on stage tearing it up with a huge crowd, and you say ‘if you like what you hear, please text Claim The Throne to 1800-HOT-BITCHEZ to tip us”. The fan will receive a text back with a link to your account, and they can donate $5 through PayPal. </p>
<p>You can also link your account with a QR Code as discussed earlier, that you can set up on stage or at your merch stand. When people scan the code it directs them to your account so they can transfer $5 through PayPal. </p>
<p>If buskers, waitresses and hookers can be tipped, why cant we? </p>
<p>www.tip5.org </p>
<p>CROWDFUNDING </p>
<p>We’re hearing of more and more bands raising crazy amounts of money through websites such as ‘Kickstarter’. It makes you wonder if something like this is the way of the future. </p>
<p>Your band first creates a campaign and a goal, for example a European Tour that will cost $20,000. That campaign then runs for three months, and if you can get enough people to ‘pledge’ money and raise the $20,000, you get the cash and must do the tour. Encourage people to pledge more by having rules like “$20 gets you a free poster”, “$50 gets you a free CD” or “$200 gets you a backstage pass”. </p>
<p>The best thing about pledging, is the fan doesn’t actually have to pay any money whatsoever, unless you reach your target amount. So if you have a project coming up that you are short on cash for, why not ask your fans to pledge? “Too expensive” is no longer an excuse, if there is demand for your project, then your fans will pledge. </p>
<p>www.kickstarter.com (US Projects) </p>
<p>www.pozible.com (Australian Projects) </p>
<p>www.pledgemusic.com (Musicians only) </p>
<p>Know of any awesome online marketing tools for artists? Let us know in the comments below! </p>
<p>Cheers! </p>
<p>Cabba</p>Claim The Throne - Melodic Death / Folk Metal Band From Perth Australiatag:www.claimthethrone.com,2005:Post/41450862016-04-20T18:36:15+08:002023-12-11T00:53:11+08:00"Opening Shows, how to get a support slot with your favourite band"<p>Although it may seem unrealistic to some, it IS possible for hardworking musicians to play the same stage and lineup as their favourite bands! </p>
<p>Not only can it be a dream come true, it is awesome exposure for your band. The perfect opportunity to play in front of bigger crowds and the potential to gain new fans is massive. It’s sad but true that many punters don’t go to local gigs. They go to live shows when their favourite overseas band is in town but it stops there. However, if the support act blows their mind, then just maybe they’ll keep an eye on that band and go to see them again when they play local shows too. </p>
<p>So you’ve heard about a big name band coming to your city, what to do next? </p>
<p>First thing to ask yourself is, in the words of Korn, ‘are you ready’? The last thing you want is to leave a bad impression in front of a big new crowd. You must have a full set of songs, gigging experience, play tight and the ability to be professional in all aspects at a potentially huge show. </p>
<p>Ready? Killer! Next you want to find out who is choosing the support acts and how to apply. Majority of the time, the support bands are chosen by the tour organisers. So it may be the touring company or the local promoter, and very occasionally the actual headlining band gets a say. These people are professionals (well at least they should be), so they know about the local scenes and what bands are creating a buzz. That means you need to make an ONGOING impression, start working on your reputation NOW. You want to be perceived as a passionate and pro band that works hard, promotes hard, pulls crowds, respects venues, polite to promoters and constantly improves. </p>
<p>Once you’ve got your band in a good position, then it can be as simple as sending an email to a promoter to ask for consideration as a support act. Find out who the promoter is by looking at the tour announcements, and read their website to see if they have preferred methods of application. </p>
<p>If an email seems appropriate, then follow these steps when contacting… </p>
<p>1. Send to the correct email address and find out the persons name that will be receiving the email </p>
<p>2. Acknowledge that they are getting heaps of emails from other bands and thank them for their valuable time </p>
<p>3. Mention the gig, date, venue etc to show you are serious about it and that you have gone to the effort of knowing all details </p>
<p>4. Sell your band – name, style, bio, origin, history, influences, reviews, website etc. Attach a promo pic, links/downloads to songs, video clips etc, offer to send them a physical cd if they prefer. Tell them how you can help them i.e. hand out flyers, online promotion, history of attracting big crowds, lending equipment etc </p>
<p>5. Wish them the best with the tour, and thanks for their consideration of your band </p>
<p>Keep in mind that half the time they have probably already decided who they want as supports before even receiving applications. They might lean towards their friends bands, or bands that they owe favours to… So just keep applying each time and be polite so that they remember you for the next tour. </p>
<p>Some promoters might accept things in the post, so if it seems appropriate you can also send them a promo package. Perhaps a nice laminate with a photo and key selling points of your bands. Include a personalized letter requesting they keep your band in mind for future tour-opening opportunities. </p>
<p>You got the gig! Congratulations you legends, now don’t screw it up! The event organizers will notice how much effort you put into promoting the gig, so be sure to ask them how they would like you to help out, maybe they would like you to stick to just sharing it on the internet, or maybe they would be grateful for you to hand out flyers/posters in your local area. Chuck flyers into any merch orders, display the poster at your shows, tell your crowds on stage at your next gig, think outside the square and be eager & enthusiastic. </p>
<p>Depending on the size of the tour, offer your services to the event organisers in regards to lending equipment, transport, accommodation, food etc, chances are they won’t need it, but they would appreciate knowing there is help available if needed. </p>
<p>Be aware! Whilst your band is not the main drawcard, you are still worthy to be treated appropriately by the event managers. Don’t get sucked in by ‘paytoplay’ or ‘sell tickets for your payment’. You are contributing to the show, so you deserve a small payment, reasonable set time and reasonable conditions. If in doubt, check with others in the local scene who can help you. </p>
<p>Most of all, dominate on the night! Play an awesome show, stick to set times, help other bands get gear on and off stage, be polite to everyone including sound guy, lights guy, bar staff etc, remember the show isn’t all about you, it’s about the touring band, but handle it well and you’ll reap the rewards, be sure to enjoy the moment! </p>
<p>Got any tips? Share em below! </p>
<p>Cheers <br>Cabba</p>Claim The Throne - Melodic Death / Folk Metal Band From Perth Australiatag:www.claimthethrone.com,2005:Post/41450852016-04-20T18:33:41+08:002023-12-11T02:31:29+08:00"Flawless Victory – Don’t miss a thing by writing a gig worksheet"<p>You booked a gig yourself? Good on ya mate, the scene needs more people like you! You’ve got the venue and lineup sorted, now it’s time to communicate with the other bands to ensure it’s a successful and smoothly run show! Not only is a worksheet an essential communication tool, it can be a handy checklist for promoters to tick off all aspects that need covering. </p>
<p>So bring up a blank word doc or spreadsheet, pour yourself a peppermint tea, gather round to listen to Cabba and start building your template with these worksheet necessities… </p>
<p>**NOTE** I will be using the next Claim Throne event as the case study for this article. Some info has been excluded, I’m sure you’ll get the idea. </p>
<p><strong>Put your band logo, or company logo, at the top. </strong></p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/192567/a1f68148559bba8e0313def587d6e640b068a272/small/logo.jpg?0" class="size_s justify_left border_" /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>“CLAIM THE THRONE PRESENTS…” </p>
<p><br><strong>Add the event name and date, centre it and make it look bold and exciting. </strong> </p>
<p>PERTH METAL XMAS PARTY! <br>FRIDAY 20TH DECEMBER </p>
<p>– No, you’re not promoting the gig here, but you do want the other bands (and yourself) to be pumped for it! </p>
<p><br><strong>Now list the lineup </strong></p>
<p>Include contact details for each band, and their websites. This is so all the bands know who eachother are, they can share the other band’s details with their fans, and it encourages them to communicate amongst one another. </p>
<p>CLAIM THE THRONE – Triumph & Beyond / Aletales Re-Release <br>info@claimthethrone.com – www.claimthethrone.com – facebook.com/claimthethrone </p>
<p>SILENT KNIGHT – Masterplan Vinyl Launch <br>info@silentknightband.com – www.silentknightband.com – facebook.com/silentknightband </p>
<p>RED DESCENDING <br>reddescending@hotmail.com – www.reddescending.com – facebook.com/redescending </p>
<p>SUFFER IN ROT <br>sufferinrot666@live.com – www.sufferinrot.com – facebook.com/sufferinrot666 </p>
<p><br><strong>Next comes the venue details </strong></p>
<p>Name, address, phone, email, capacity, any relevant contact names </p>
<p>VENUE: AMPLIFIER BAR <br>ADDRESS: MURRAY ST PERTH <br>PH: <br>EMAIL: <br>CAPACITY: </p>
<p><strong>Ticket price </strong><br>$12 </p>
<p>– Factor in venue charges and band payments. You want it cheap enough for people to come in, but you must cover all costs and get the bands a reasonable figure. But that’s a story for another day. </p>
<p><strong>Age Limit </strong> <br>18+, photo ID required </p>
<p><strong>Doors open </strong><br>8:00pm </p>
<p><strong>Curfew </strong><br>11:55pm </p>
<p><strong>Band load-in </strong><br>6:00pm – 7:30pm <br>Via double doors at rear </p>
<p>– Check this with the venue! </p>
<p><strong>Soundcheck </strong> <br>Claim The Throne 6:30pm-7:00pm <br>Suffer In Rot 7:30-8:00pm <br>Line checks only after doors open </p>
<p>– Check this with the venue! </p>
<p><strong>Set times </strong> <br>Suffer In Rot 8:15pm – 8:45pm <br>Red Descending 9:05pm – 9:40pm <br>Silent Knight 10:00pm – 10:45pm <br>Claim The Throne 11:05pm – 11:50pm </p>
<p>– Factor in reasonable set lengths for each bands. Openers should play the shortest and headliners the longest. If you send the worksheet early enough then you may find some bands don’t need the full time allocated and some might request more, so you can tinker with it. It is imperative to get this info to bands asap so they can rehearse a set to fit their slot! </p>
<p>– Also allow enough time for changeovers between bands! For a standard local show, 20mins should be good. </p>
<p><strong>Backline </strong><br>PA provided by the venue <br>CTT can provide drum kit, 2 guitar cabs and bass cab. Let us know if you require it before the show, otherwise all own backline is required </p>
<p>– Some venues have very limited storage space, we love sharing gear with other bands to make transporting and changeovers easier. </p>
<p><strong>Parking </strong><br>Load in at rear of venue, cars to move by 8pm. Paid parking available along Murray St </p>
<p><strong>Dressing Room </strong><br>Downstairs, 1 room, 2 toilets, 1 shower </p>
<p><strong>Door person </strong><br>Venue to provide </p>
<p>– Some venues don’t provide this, so be sure to check! </p>
<p><strong>Merch </strong><br>Area and tables available, bands to provided their own merch person <br>Discuss amongst eachother if you wish to cover the desk whilst playing </p>
<p>– Check that the venue do not charge a merch fee! Some places have sneaky hidden costs and try collecting 20% of your sales at the end of the night even if they did not supply a merch person. CHECK! </p>
<p><strong>Production / Sound / Lights </strong><br>Venue to provide sound engineer </p>
<p>– Many venues do not provide these, so be sure to check. If needed, hunt down a good sound guy and see if they will do a deal for doing multiple bands. </p>
<p><strong>Rider </strong><br>2 local beers per band member </p>
<p>– This always varies from place to place, but it generally aint much. You can always request a specific rider, or you can even ask the venue if you can provide some food and drinks for the band backstage. </p>
<p><strong>Guest List </strong><br>1 guest per band member </p>
<p>– As the promotor this is generally up to you. Don’t let bands bully you into having extra people on their list. That being said, the guests might bring paying friends. Often, more guests means less payers, but be clever about it. </p>
<p><strong>Payment </strong><br>As discussed with bands individually <br>Bands must invoice Claim The Throne for payment within 28 business days </p>
<p>– Keep this private. Discuss with bands separately and do not include all bands payment info on the same worksheet. </p>
<p><strong>Promotion </strong><br>All bands to add posters to their websites and social media. Artwork attached. <br>Facebook event link – https://www.facebook.com/events/518698711550077/. Please ensure all band members invite their friends. <br>Flyers/Posters to be delivered throughout the city and these gigs (list upcoming relevant shows). Let us know if you can help distribute these, or if you can help with any marketing activities. </p>
<p>– You can list anything that is relevant here… Radio, websites, interviews, reviews, adverts etc. Another reason why you need to send this worksheet early is to get the bands promoting! </p>
<p><strong>Additional Info </strong><br>Band members must be 18+ and carry photo ID at all times </p>
<p>And there you have it, hope you took some mad notes. Did I miss anything? Let me know below! </p>
<p>Cheers <br>Cabba<br> </p>Claim The Throne - Melodic Death / Folk Metal Band From Perth Australiatag:www.claimthethrone.com,2005:Post/41450832016-04-20T18:30:42+08:002024-02-05T02:26:46+08:00"Studio Essentials – DAW Crashes And Bottlenecking"<p>Ever had a sweet little mix going in your project studio and your DAW throws you an error message, or maybe crashes completely? Maybe you spent a bunch of money on a dedicated Mac or PC and you’re still getting nowhere further than your last setup! It is the most frustrating thing and it’s often hard to find info on the net because from you computer-specs down to your interface there are so many contributing factors. Here are a few basics that I wish I knew before I started buying up gear. </p>
<p>RAM <br>I remember the days when I first got hold of an eMac and a Powerbook G4. “How can this thing be better than a PC when the processor speed is so much lower?” The answer? Ram. From that point I always made sure that my computer was stocked up and boy did it help with general processing tasks. Anything that was system related worked better, but I still had crashes. What the hell? Then I found out that a computer that was running a 32bit processor could only access 4GB of RAM. So why did I have up to 20GB if my computer wasn’t using it, and why wasn’t I running on 64bit? </p>
<p>64bit PROCESSORS <br>Find out if your current computer is 64bit, and then make sure your operating system, DAW, and any plugins or software instruments are using the 64bit version. It can take a while to muck around with the conversion over, but 64bit will allow your system to access virtually unlimited RAM, and the improvement is certainly noticeable. The majority of computers are coming stock with 64 bit processors, Mac systems have been for a while, but check your PC and if you want to upgrade you may be able to do so with some help from a tech. </p>
<p>HARD DISK <br>Hard drives create a huge bottleneck. If you run your DAW off your system drive (as you should) but also access your audio files and your instrument sample libraries you will run into trouble eventually. Your internal drive should only be used for you operating system and your actual applications. </p>
<p>My setup is as follows: <br>Internal Drive: OSX, Pro Tools and any applications <br>External Hard Drive 1 (Firewire 800): Audio/Session Files <br>Ex HD 2 (USB 2.0): Instrument Sample Libraries </p>
<p>Your internal and external HDs should be 7200rpm or solid state, and your externals should be USB 2.0 or higher, FW400/800, or Thunderbolt. If you are savvy and have an eSATA PCI card then you could also connect to that. </p>
<p>The reason for this is that each drive can only transmit so much information in one hit back and forth simultaneously and an overload will crash your session. Each style of connection has improvements in speed (USB 2.0->FW400->FW800->USB 3.0->eSATA->Thunderbolt) but your computer will only be able to accept certain types. The best thing to do is first split the workload between 2 or 3 drives and see how you go. </p>
<p>FINAL THOUGHTS <br>My system drive is only 5400rpm because I can’t upgrade it, but off-loading my sessions and libraries to good reliable externals and having a 64bit environment and 20GB of RAM has had me running without a crash in ages. I can load up and mix 30+ tracks and be ok to start mixing with sends, aux tracks and a solid amount of plugins. </p>
<p>Do what you can to optimize your setup and workflow, and if your still crashing then COMMIT! Got a great guitar/drum/vocal etc sound? Save the plugin settings, export the raw track to a safe place and print the sound to a new track. Then you can free up that track of plugins and move on. Will you really be making minor tweaks on every track? Probably not – and if you do you can always recall the settings with the raw track later, or add an EQ plugin and do a little sculpting.<br><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/192567/3b0d286c392c56d14503cb69cf284671dc9ec976/medium/photo1.jpg?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>Claim The Throne - Melodic Death / Folk Metal Band From Perth Australiatag:www.claimthethrone.com,2005:Post/41450822016-04-20T18:28:10+08:002024-02-23T16:49:36+08:00"MICROPHONE CHEQUE – BUYING THE RIGHT MIC"<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/192567/73da54fb355994e32b0687a6eeb23fcfe7c02ce0/medium/shure-sm57.jpg?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><br>Ever seen the equipment list of a studio online and gasped at how many different microphones they have in their collection? I certainly have, but it needed be as daunting as it seems. As is the case with most medium-to-large studios, they have more gear than they regularly use so as to give themselvesoptions when it comes to tracking. As project studio legends we don’t need all that variety to begin with. What we need is 1 microphone that will cover all bases and again allow us to do some quality tracking at home so we don’t have to pay for extra studio time. </p>
<p>The main thing you’d want to be tracking with a microphone on a project studio setup are vocals. Vocals are arguably the most important thing on an album, and being able to track at home when you feel comfortable and ready can be a huge advantage. Your first microphone should be 1 that gives you a nice vocal sound above all else, but still can be utilized for other instruments should you decide to track them. </p>
<p>MICROPHONE TYPES AND PICK-UP PATTERNS <br>Whenever you read about a microphone it will describe the type of microphone that it is and also thepick-up pattern. It can sound a bit like mumbo-jumbo and I must admit is a little off-putting because it seems like it could be easy to make a mistake with your choice. Microphone guides are usually too intense for the casual or first-time reader, so I’ll skip the detailed mechanics of each type and describe them more in terms of functionality. </p>
<p>PICKUP PATTERNS <br>I’ll start with pick-up patterns, as they will be used to describe microphone types. </p>
<p>Cardioid: This is a ‘tight’ or ‘narrow’ pattern, which means that it will pick-up whatever it’s directly pointed at, and will reject any sound that comes from the sides. Hyper or Super-cardioid simply means that the pattern is extra-narrow. In visual terms, a cardioid is focused like a spotlight – it will light up what its pointed at, and only vaguely light up the surrounding objects. Hyper or super cardioid is more like a laser beam, although it still will pick up a bit of the surroundings. </p>
<p>Omni-directional: As the name suggests, this accepts sound from many directions. Using our visual example, it is like a torch that generally light’s up all that it is pointed at, but nothing behind it. </p>
<p>Figure-8: This is a 2-way pattern – front and back. It could be narrow or wide each direction, but the general rule is that it will accept sound from the front or back but will reject the sides. </p>
<p>Easy right? </p>
<p>MICROPHONE TYPES <br>There are 3 main microphone types: Dynamic, Condenser, and Ribbon. </p>
<p>Dynamic mics; are the most common mics you’ll see at gigs and on television. These include the classic Shure SM57 and SM58s that are staples of a live show. Dynamics can handle loud sound sources like drums, guitars and bass, and usually have cardioid or omni patterns. They can be plugged into directly into your interface or any preamp and do not need power. </p>
<p>Condenser mics: are used more in the studio than live. You’d typically see them used as overheads or on a high-hat at a gig, but nowhere else. Condensers are powered either with a separate power supply, or need 48V phantom power from you interface or preamp. They can be any pattern and some have multiple patterns selectable from a switch on the mic itself or on the power supply. Condensers are very bright sounding and are a go-to for many vocalists in the studio. </p>
<p>Ribbon mics: are generally figure-8 patterns which means they’re 2-sided. They have an actual ribbon inside made of very thin metal that vibrates as sound hits it. Because of this they are very sensitive and cannot handle loud sound sources up close. Because of this ribbons are used as mostly on vocals, acoustic guitars, overheads or as ambience mics. There are some ribbon mic manufacturers that produce sturdier ribbons that can handle louder sound sources and they are commonly used on guitar cabinets or as closer-positioned ‘underheads’ (close to the drum kit under the cymbals). They also require a lot of preamp-gain, which some interfaces may not provide… </p>
<p>WHAT SHOULD YOU GET? <br>I’m a guy who has bought and sold a lot of microphones and audio equipment over the years due to bad advice or inadequate research so I’m encouraging all of you to really consider each thing you buy and how it can factor into your long-term setup. This doesn’t mean you have to buy the best piece every time; it’s more about sensibility. For this reason I suggest that you assess you current setup, what you hope to achieve with a microphone purchase, and then look for the best quality microphone that fits your needs and budget. </p>
<p>I suggest a Shure SM57 or SM58 for your first microphone. They are super cheap – somewhere between $100-140 brand new – are highly versatile, and have been used on some of the biggest albums in history. Because of their cardioid pattern you can record in a less-than-acoustically-treated room and get a very focused instrument sound. Cabba and I recorded Episode 9 of the Blodgecast on 2 x SM58s in a tiled room and you can barely hear any reverb or echo in the recording. They can be used on vocals, up close on a guitar or bass cab, about 6 to 12 inches from the 12th fret of an acoustic guitar, any percussion, on snare and toms – the list goes on! <br>They are a total workhorse and you will continue to use them as you get more and more gear. </p>
<p>OTHER MICROPHONE SUGGESTIONS </p>
<p>Dynamics: <br>Audix i5 ($110-140) – A rival to the SM57. It has a different character to the 57 that some people prefer and can be used in all the places you’d use a 57. </p>
<p>Shure SM7b ($350-400) – the granddaddy of dynamics. Used for vocals on everything from Michael Jackson to Cannibal Corpse. Also makes for a beefy snare mic, is beautiful on bass, and kick drum. </p>
<p>Condensers: <br>Apex 460 ($400-450) – This large-diaphragm condenser is nice sounding as-is, but is easily upgradeable to rival classic mics like the Neumann U47/67 or the AKG C12. A single Apex 460 can be used to great effect on vocals, as a mono overhead, and acoustic guitar and will give more of a ‘HiFi’ sound than a dynamic mic. </p>
<p>Rode NT-5 pair ($400-450) – These are an entry-level pair of condensers which are nice sounding and very affordable. While maybe not an ideal 1st purchase, having a pair of small condensers can come in very handy. These were used as overheads on Forged In Flame. They can also be used as a stereo pair on acoustic guitar, to mic a piano, and as spot-cymbal mics on a drumkit (for instance hihat and ride) if you eventually decide to upgrade your overhead mics in the future. </p>
<p>Ribbons: <br>Cascade FatHead ($200-250) – This is a very affordable and nice sounding ribbon that can handle higher level sound sources and with a transformer upgrade it is in the ball park of the much pricier Royer 121. Great for a 2nd mic on a guitar cab, can be used as a room mic or overhead, and is lovely on vocals and acoustic guitar. </p>
<p>JUST REMEMBER <br>Microphones don’t need to be expensive to sound great. Owen from Point Break Down used a Behringer condenser mic on his Pappas EP that cost him less than $100, and I tracked the drums on Forged In Flame with microphones that I hired for about $130. It’s about using what you can to get the best output possible, and not feeling pressured into buying gear that is out of your price range.</p>Claim The Throne - Melodic Death / Folk Metal Band From Perth Australiatag:www.claimthethrone.com,2005:Post/41450812016-04-20T18:27:05+08:002024-02-21T18:58:28+08:00"BAND EXPOSURE – HOW TO GET REVIEWS AND RADIO PLAY"<p>Got a new album out? That means you want people to hear it, and like it or not you need the media to help. With careful selection and approach to the right channels you will quickly see the awareness of your band grow and your sales soar. </p>
<p>So put aside a certain amount of albums you want to give away. It will cost you money, but it’s a great investment. You might start with 20 physical copies of the album for radio and 20 for reviews, plus allocate a further 20 for downloads. Where possible, take the online download route to save on costs and postage. </p>
<p>Also set up a spreadsheet to keep track of who you have sent them to, who has treated you well and who has been a waste of time. This will help you out next time you have a new release to send to the most appropriate places. You can also include details such as postal addresses, emails, websites, contact names and any relevant info so you don’t have to hunt it all down again next time. Building a big database of contacts and information is invaluable! </p>
<p>Scoring radioplay or a nice review is worthy of promoting, so share the details on your website and social media and tag in the show/reviewer so they can share it too! <br><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/192567/80853213a1646c1b14ffc80aecc683062a0c1075/medium/fifweb.png?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>RADIO </p>
<p>Choose your target market and do some research into the most relevant radio shows for your band. For example, you might want to start with the Australian market and focus on shows that will accommodate metal bands. That narrows down your search, so you can look Australia-wide for metal shows, and trust me, you will find a few gold ones that you didn’t even know existed! You can also put a call out from your website and social media, asking radio stations to get in touch if they would like a copy for their show. </p>
<p>Next up, find the best way to get your music to them. You might get their details from a website, or send an email or make a call. You can send them a CD in the post, or email them a download link. More and more people are using dropbox too, so look into that as an option. </p>
<p>When these shows play your songs, you should keep track of their playlists. Many shows will email them to you, but some you may need to visit their website to check. You never know when these might come in handy… labels, promoters, grant applications.. people want to know where your music has been exposed! </p>
<p>REVIEWS </p>
<p>Album reviews play a huge role in establishing how good your music really is. Sure you’ll get some good reviews and some crap reviews, like every band, but you can get some invaluable feedback to bear in mind for the next recording. Keep track of all the good ones and use them as promotional tools, posting all the good scores and quotes on your website and social media to entice people your band is worth checking out. These good reviews will also be great when approaching professionals like record labels, promoters and grant applications. </p>
<p>Reviews can appear on webzines, blogs, videos, podcasts, print magazines and street press. Do your research and choose the most relevant ones for your band, then take some time to find the best way to get your music to them. Read their websites, send an email or make a phone call to find out if they will review you and whether they prefer physical copies or downloads. </p>
<p>Some reviewers might also be keen on hooking up an interview or feature article to coincide with the review. This is definitely worthwhile to give potential fans the chance to hear about your music, discover a background of your band and become directly linked on where to purchase your stuff. </p>
<p>WHAT TO SEND </p>
<p>Post – CD, cover letter, bio and upcoming gigs. Be friendly and give them all the info they need to promote your band. Just a simple note is great, such as “Hi, please find enclosed our latest album for consideration to play on your radio show. We suggest tracks 3 and 5, and we have included a bio with more information on the band. Thanks for your time, we are contactable on band@email.com. </p>
<p>Download – Full quality audio of the album (MP3 of WAV), bio and upcoming gigs. Plus a cover note similar to the above when you email them the link. </p>
<p>So good luck, be persistent but clever! Embrace and promote the good feedback, take on board criticism and disregard the irrelevant. Your band is now out there. The truth is out there. </p>
<p>Cheers <br>Cabba</p>Claim The Throne - Melodic Death / Folk Metal Band From Perth Australiatag:www.claimthethrone.com,2005:Post/41450802016-04-20T18:25:38+08:002024-02-01T19:18:10+08:00"REAMP-READY – TRACKING PROFESSIONAL DI GUITAR TRACKS AT HOME"<p>Undertaking an EP or Album recording for your band is a costly process. Tracking, editing, mixing, and mastering are the 4 major stages of recording, and if you’re on the studio clock then expect to pay dearly! Even buying the right gear and self-producing can be just as costly and is a risk to any band without an experienced member in the group. Fortunately by adding some key affordable items to an existing demo-style setup you can lower the cost of studio time by allowing yourself to track DI guitars and bass at home. These can then be used for reamping during your mixdown. </p>
<p>If you or 1 of your bandmates has basic recording knowledge and the following simple setup then this article is for you: <br>-A computer/laptop <br>-Some sort of DAW software like Garageband, Reaper, Cubase, Pro Tools etc <br>-A recording interface with 1 or more channels <br><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/192567/ca1d68e913adfe987b36a25285284c3101badd85/medium/reamp.jpg?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>What are DI tracks, and what is Reamping? <br>Traditionally guitar and bass tracks are recorded live via a microphone on the guitar cabinet. This means that you get your desired tone, mic the cab correctly to capture the sound your ears hear, and record directly to either tape or digital. Reamping is a process by which you record ‘dry’ tracks that a mix engineer can run back through amps and are mic’d up and captured in the usual way. The ‘dry’ track is a clean, unaffected track recorded direct from a guitar through a DI box. A DI box converts the unbalanced, Hi-Z signal of your guitar or bass to a balanced, microphone level for plugging into the mic input on your interface, or a an external preamp. </p>
<p>Why is this different from the DI inputs on your interface? Well unless you have a high-end interface (which may cost thousands of dollars) chances are that your interface has sub-par DI inputs. An external DI is relatively low-cost, and will make a huge improvement to your direct tone by maximizing the headroom of your signal – which boils down to more of your guitar’s tone hitting the tape. Your tracks will be brighter, have more pronounced mid-range and extended low-end. That all equals good! </p>
<p>Which DI should you buy? <br>Well there are 2 main types of DIs: Active and Passive. </p>
<p>An Active DI will require a battery or must be connected to a mic input that has Phantom Power (that little ‘48V’ button on your interface), while a Passive DI does not require power. The general rule is that if your guitar has Active pickups use a Passive DI. If your guitar has Passive pickups use an Active DI. Just think ‘the opposite’. </p>
<p>I have 2 recommendations in each category: <br>Active DIs <br>Radial J48 (~$200-230) <br>Countryman Type 85 (~$200-250) </p>
<p>Passive DIs <br>Radial JDI (~$200-220) <br>Radial ProDI (~$130-150) </p>
<p>Any of these will get you great results, so get what you can afford. The Passive JDI and Active Type 85 are definitely the pick of each category and are industry standards. They’re kinda like a Shure SM57 – super cheap but used in studios across the world and on too many records to count! </p>
<p>How to use them… <br>The best way to first ask the person who is mixing your album what file format you should use. Generally you’re going to record at 24bit, 44.1 or 48K sample rate. SET THIS WHEN YOU CREATE YOUR SESSION! </p>
<p>Then to use the DI simply plug a high quality guitar lead from your axe into the DI’s input, then a high quality XLR (mic lead) from the DI’s output into a microphone input on your interface. If your guitar’s pickups are high output you may want to engage the ‘Pad’ button on the DI, which will drop (or attenuate) the incoming signal by a set amount. You’ll then want to adjust the gain knob on your interface so that when you’re playing that the loudest parts are hitting the track somewhere between -18dBFS and -9dBFS on your DAWs meters so you leave plenty of headroom and don’t clip. </p>
<p>Put a software amp simulator on your track to dial in some distortion for monitoring purposes. This sound won’t actually ‘print’ to the track but will allow you to get the right feel when tracking along to your drums or click track. Lay all of your parts down, edit and tidy up the changes with crossfades and you’re done! All you have to do is export/bounce/render each track in the same format as your engineer specifies and then they’re ready to be reamped! </p>
<p>Who will Reamp for you? <br>If you’ve organized an engineer to track the rest of your album and mix it too, then this is your best bet. While many studios are equipped for reamping these days, it’s best to still raise that when discussing the album project with potential studios or engineers. It’s very much the same as tracking normal guitar except that the signal comes from the computer through a reamp box into the amp instead of from a player, so any engineer you trust to mic up and record your amp should be able to reamp. </p>
<p>If you have a great amp then use that, but if not then you can hire or borrow an awesome one for the reamp session. You won’t have to have it for too long as your parts are already tracked and edited so it’s just a matter of pressing ‘record’ and letting the machines do the work. It will still take a while though as each track must be reamped 1 at a time – if you have a 10 minute song with 4 guitar parts it will take you at least 40 minutes (4x10mins) plus extra to get setup and press stop and record etc. Be sure you calculate a good amount of time. </p>
<p>Many guitarist-turn-engineers offer affordable online reamping services whereby you send your raw DI tracks and choose the types of amp you want used from a list that they provide. You can find people in the local scene who will do this or even people overseas who post on sites such as ultimatemetal.com or gearstluz.com – do a search on the site for ‘reamping’ and you’ll see people posting about their rigs and contact details. Always ask for a sample first and try to pay with Paypal or something secure. </p>
<p>Other Advantages! <br>You could begin your guitar tracking at the demo or preproduction stage and deliver complete, tight, temp-mapped guitar parts to your drummer to do his practice and tracking to, and then reamp the very same parts later during mixing. Recording DI means that you can also do it on your schedule at any time of the day or night on your own schedule in your bedroom with headphones and still end up with monstrous tone! </p>
<p>Next time your band is recording consider the possibility of DI tracking. It’s not often that you can spend only $200-250 and receive a world class device that allows you total flexibility, and high quality tracking. Do some further reading, trawl eBay, and good luck! </p>
<p>Ps. For the more adventurous enthusiast, check out the Ferrite DI from diyrecording.com – it’s a great starter project for a potential DIYer and under $100 too!</p>Claim The Throne - Melodic Death / Folk Metal Band From Perth Australiatag:www.claimthethrone.com,2005:Post/41450792016-04-20T18:23:34+08:002024-02-19T21:54:42+08:00"HOW TO CREATE AND DISTRIBUTE BAND MERCH"<p>Sadly our industry is coming to an age where it is difficult gaining revenue from selling music alone. But we are also in an age when the earning potentials can be huge if the changes are embraced and if you are clever about it. One of these ways is by selling merchandise, and I’m not talking about a physical copy of your latest CD, I’m talking about shirts, hoodies, stickers, posters, g-strings and the endless list of promotional gold! </p>
<p>Sure, there’s plenty of concepts and theories on what and why people buy, but today we’re gonna strip it right back and teach the rookies how to begin! </p>
<p>Get a band logo and artwork </p>
<p>If you don’t already have a band logo, you’ll need one. Have a play around with Photoshop or find a pro who can design you something awesome. A logo alone is more than acceptable for your first t-shirt design, but should you wanna go all out with a big design then that’s cool too! Just bear in mind that more colours = more money. <br><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/192567/bb54c1b9f25ce13e73a8eb9556846ede13b4e970/medium/pfp.jpg?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Get a quote </p>
<p>Shop around for plenty of quotes, you’d be surprised to find just how much prices can differ! There are two main things that will affect your price – colours and quantity. The simpler the design, the cheaper it will be, so a white logo on front of a black shirt will be cheap, where as a 3 colour design on the front with a slogan on the back will cost you extra. It will also work out cheaper per garment the more that you order, so you want to balance good value with how many you are likely to sell. Also don’t rule out shopping interstate/overseas, sometimes with freight it may still work out cheaper than buying locally! </p>
<p>Place your order </p>
<p>Once you have carefully chosen your printer, send them all of the details and confirmations, but only after double-checking one million times. You want your artwork to be in the highest possible quality and you want to make sure they understand what you want. Some places will print a test copy and send it to you to authorize which is a very good idea. You don’t want to order 200 shirts and be upset that the slogan was printed on the wrong part. Also think about what sizes you are ordering. Most of the time M and L will be your biggest sellers, but you also want some S, XL, XXL and girlies to accommodate for everyone. If you keep track of what you sell, you will master your sizes with time. </p>
<p>Prepare a stock room </p>
<p>Just a space in your lounge room will do, but don’t underestimate the headaches that storing merch can cause. Someone orders a 2XL that is at the bottom of your box and you’ll be tearing shirts apart all over the couches and pissin off your granny. So once you get your merch, set it out nicely, keep it organised by type and size, and keep track of what you have by setting up a simple spreadsheet on your computer. <br><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/192567/69dedc018a7f78eca434118beb645a47d16fd4d6/medium/bibs.jpg?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Pricing </p>
<p>How much are you charging for your new merch? You want it cheap enough for people to buy it, but you also want to make your money back and then some. So think long and hard about it before deciding. Factor in postage costs for online sales and merch fees at venues. If you are lucky enough to have multiple merch items, consider package deals where people will get discounts for buying more things. Or offer free stickers to every order to entice them to pay that little bit extra. </p>
<p>Launch time </p>
<p>New merch is a good enough reason as any to celebrate, so launch it properly to maximize your sales. A cleverly constructed launch will sync online release dates and a live event for when merch is available. If you are really keen you might have even have arranged preorders to help fund the initial financial outlay. So book a show, set up an online store and pimp the shit out of it until it’s released! <br><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/192567/596309ade30e113a96791632e3ec3188f8c2137e/medium/fifpack.jpg?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Set up an online merch store </p>
<p>Hopefully you already have a website and social media by now, so you can easily link your new merch store to these pages. Setting this up is easy and free with heaps of tools available to get started, just google ‘band merch store’ or something like that. I can’t speak highly enough of bigcartel.com, but that’s just the way I was raised.. You’ll need a PayPal account too. Take some cool pictures of the merch to add to the page. When people start making orders it’s exciting, you should get an email to tell you someone has made an order. Send your customer an email to say thanks, and steal their email address for your band’s mailing list. </p>
<p>Set up a merch stall at gigs </p>
<p>This is where the magic happens. A well run gig with a great merch stand is where your band will make the majority of it’s earnings. Get your band members to take turns manning the desk, meet the fans, shake their hands, sign their stuff, talk to them about your band and the scene and you will not only exceed your fans expectations, you will learn about the scene and make some coin while you’re at it. Cover the other band’s stalls whilst they are playing and they will cover for you. When you’re on stage you must advertise the merch desk as this is the perfect time to entice people to support you and convince them that they want your stuff. Consider using online tools to enhance your merch desk, with QR codes, tipping systems, pictures and videos through social media, and offering discounts for sharing the details. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/192567/1c398713ea41e89d55f3707e4018563d4b45cc9f/medium/table.jpg?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><br>Posting items </p>
<p>Postage costs suck! It will astonish you how much it actually costs to send things, especially overseas, so do your research before heading to the post office. Work out how much your items weigh and their shape in order to get the most appropriate packages to put them in. Sometimes it works out best to buy a bunch of prepaid satchel bags, you get a discount for buying in bulk and you know exactly how much they cost. Like it or not, you have to pass the postage costs onto the buyer otherwise you will make no profit on your sale. </p>
<p>When sending items overseas, you will need to fill out a customs slip and provide photo ID. </p>
<p>When sending multiple items, your hand will cramp from all the writing, we suggest getting stickers with your details to stick on the back of each envelope so you don’t have to write it every time. </p>
<p>Include additional items for your customer! This only has to be as simple as a sticker, but you want to exceed their expectations and ensure they know you appreciate their purchase, sometimes even a personalized little thanks note is a nice touch. You can also use this opportunity to include details of your upcoming gigs with a flyer or printout of your latest news or website links. </p>
<p>Transporting merch </p>
<p>Taking merch to gigs and tours can be a bitch. You don’t really need to take all of it with you, just be realistic about how much you will sell and take a portion. You don’t want to run out of any particular size however, so bear that in mind when packing. Keep things organised by sizes and styles so you can find them easily when ordered. Some bands like to roll up shirts with a piece of tape and write the size on it, this keeps them easy to find and easy to handle. I like to fold them as normal, often people like to look at the design or measure them against themselves before buying which is difficult if they are rolled up and taped away. </p>
<p>**NOTE** When people ask you questions like “How big are your mediums?”, don‘t get angry at them, just have a chuckle and troll them by replying with “large, and our larges are small”. Dummies. </p>
<p>Also carry a float with you for change. People love breaking their big notes at the merch stand which is really annoying, but you don’t want to lose a sale because you don’t have the right change. That being said, you can ask them to break their notes at the bar and come back. Some fans expect you to have eftpos facilities, this is just ridiculous. </p>
<p>Promoting your merch </p>
<p>The internet is always a good place to start. Post occasional updates to your social media pages with pictures of your merch, link your store from your main website, and post the odd ‘special deals’ with discounts on items you need to get rid of. At your gigs you can have flyers with your online store details, including a QR code to link your fans straight to the page. You might even want to consider discount cards, perhaps to special fans or anyone who purchased over $X amount. Encourage other bands to wear your shirts on stage while they’re playing, and make sure you wear shirts of other local bands to share the love! </p>
<p>Potential merchandise items <br>(In order of popularity that we have encountered) </p>
<p>T-Shirts <br>Hoodies <br>Stickers <br>Canvas bags <br>Baseball shirts <br>Long sleeve shirts <br>Patches <br>Beanies <br>Magnets <br>Stubby Holders <br>G-Strings / Underwear <br>Baby Bibs <br>Caps <br>Key rings <br>Posters </p>
<p>So get your band name out there, make some pocket money, and have fun! </p>
<p>Cheers <br>Cabba<br><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/192567/aa2288c561a53cade0f8ec3a598185c7f82dab7f/medium/desk.jpg?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>Claim The Throne - Melodic Death / Folk Metal Band From Perth Australiatag:www.claimthethrone.com,2005:Post/41450782016-04-20T18:18:27+08:002023-12-11T00:57:50+08:00"TOUR TIPS! - MANAGING EQUIPMENT"<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/192567/835ff983459ed2639cae2883794c2dd732881a13/original/claim-the-threone.jpg?0" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br><br>So you just got offered your first bunch of shows outside of your hometown…cumegratulations! But what should you bring along? </p>
<p>As a young fella playing regional shows that were overnight driving-distance from Perth I was always intent on bringing my own drum kit and my band mates would provide a full backline of their amps and cabs. That’s really lovely, but we ended up taking 3-4 cars 2000-3000Kms+ to play 3 x 45 minute sets. To make it more difficult, with large distances between shows we would be arriving in a town then hurrying to set up the backline and at the end of the show packing down the gear into our accommodation so as not to have it stolen from our cars overnight. We also had a few breakdowns and a few cars taking the wrong route to a town and it all becomes pretty difficult. </p>
<p>As for interstate and international shows that require flights – how are you going to check in a drum kit and cabs in freight-proof hardcases? Impossible right? You’d be paying so much extra in baggage costs, and how would you fit in your merch on top? </p>
<p>First rule! Organise a backline with a local support band at each show! <br>This is huge. I know your drummer might be used to his kit and is stressing they won’t have 8 rack toms or 5 cymbal clamps for his splashes but guess what? If you’re offered an opening slot on a European or US tour chances the situation will be the same. Learn to borrow gear and play with what you have. You can request your ideal set up later on when you’re an international headlining act and have full gear endorsements. </p>
<p>What you should arrange is to use guitar and bass heads and cabs, and a drum kit with hardware. Which brings me to my next point: </p>
<p>What should you bring if a backline is organized. <br>Guitar and Bass: <br>Your own Guitar, pedals, any wireless set up, and the necessary leads for your setup PLUS one backup guitar lead in case all else fails. If you use multiple tunings then bring what you need. Remember the more guitars you bring the more space you’ll be taking and money you’ll be charged for excess at an airport. Remember to pack spare strings and any tools like small pliers and allen keys you might need to change strings. A small towel is also very handy to wipe down your guitar after each show. This will give your strings an extra bit of life between shows and stop your guitar from getting manky. </p>
<p>If you play in multiple tunings then certainly bring a 2nd guitar but consider that every extra guitar you bring is space taken up in a van or maxi-taxi or is straight out money in excess baggage. Back-up guitars are a great idea but consider taking 1 back up between 2 guitarists. </p>
<p>For Claim The Throne, Cabba and Dysie fit their guitar, leads, a couple of pedals, spare strings and tools inside their guitar hardcase, and Dysie brings a cheap backup that he keeps in a softcase. </p>
<p>Drums: <br>Bring your snare, pedals, cymbals your triggers, module and leads, and any backing track or in-ear setup you have. If you use a double bass setup that requires 2 kick drums then maybe organize a set of double pedals as you might find it hard to source 2 kick drums at every show. The only way around this is to be thorough and specific about contacting local bands well before the tour starts. If you use a lot of cymbals in your regular rig, perhaps look at streamlining your setup for travel. You might find yourself on a 4-piece kit with 4 cymbal stands. You’ll become a better drummer for it I swear! Be prepared to go without triggers at certain venues. Some don’t have mixing desks with enough channels to run you out that 1 extra DI you need. Don’t stress, just play the show! <br>As for carry-on, I’ve taken my 14″snare in it’s hardcase onto many different planes and always managed to fit it in the overhead compartment – except once! But that flight it fit under my seat ok enough to get away with it. Softcases are smaller so consider one for travel, but on the off chance that you have to put it under the plane as check-in then you’ll be wishing you had a hardcase! I’ve also used canvas double-kick pedal cases from Pearl and DW as carry-on. I fit my double-pedal, my Alesis 19″module, some leads, keys and triggers and been fine. They’re a great size (NOT the old Iron Cobra or DW plastic cases) and you can even squeeze some clothes or mercy in too. Always refer to your gear as ‘drum stuff’ when questioned by security and act casual. They’ll usually ask about your band and you should be fine – DO NOT MENTION YOU HAVE A TRIGGER! I accidentally did once and had 3 very freaked out guards suddenly question me. If I was in the US or on an international flight I’m sure it wouldn’t have been brushed aside so easily. </p>
<p>Keyboard: <br>Not everyone has a keyboardist in their band, but on the off chance you do I’d advise to leave the 35kg Korg mega-station and find a more stripped back synth with similar sounds to what you’d normally use or with user loadable-patches. Find a cheap light-weight stand and try and fit it into a reinforced soft-case. Another approach is to run a small MIDI-based setup off a laptop or single-spaced rack-synth. That way you can get a 61-key MIDI keyboard and the whole setup is much more portable and lightweight with all the benefits of your custom sounds. </p>
<p>Vocalists: <br>Notice I left this until last? That’s because one thing you can almost guarantee will be at a venue is microphones. If you’re a vocalist who doesn’t want to use a house mic or have a wireless setup then be sure to take your own. This is pretty much going to be the same as any normal gig you’d go to anyway. Mics and wirelesses are definitely small enough for carry-on so keep them safe in your backpack. </p>
<p>Luggage: <br>Try and pack all of your clothes and personals into a backpack that you can take as carry-on luggage. Make room in an equipment case for any liquids, sharp objects, make up, etc These will be taken off you at security when heading into a boarding lounge! If you think you can fit something in you carry on like pedals or a module – do it! It’s safer in your hands and will cost you less in excess. Choose cases with wheels where possible. </p>
<p>Flight Cases: <br>Anything that goes into a cargo hold of a plane should generally be a hardcase or a reinforced softcase. I use a hardy soft bag for my cymbals, and Jesse has solid softcase for her keys. It’s still not ideal but flight cases add kilograms. Make the trade off only if you think your gear will be safe! </p>
<p>General Tips: <br>Some airlines offer extra baggage that you can purchase online when you book your ticket. Be organized and pack efficiently weigh your items. Purchase additional baggage kilos to cover your excess and know how many items your have, and that you haven’t exceeded any item number restrictions. Virgin Airlines offers a deal to APRA-registered musicians where an extended baggage limit is provided free, and most airline club-members get extra baggage allowances also. The main tip is to take only what you need, and if you can do without it – leave it at home. Once you have the experience of walking 6 flights of stairs, or across a field to a venue with all your gear, you’ll wish you left that 2nd backup guitar or extra ride cymbal at home!</p>Claim The Throne - Melodic Death / Folk Metal Band From Perth Australia