DIY Diary on Recording and Producing your own music

And we finally come to the last DIY Diary ever written. This one reflects my changing interests from the business side of the industry to the technical aspects of recording music. Lots of stuff here, but it doesn't go into too much detail...

Recording and Producing your own Music

Hello and happy new year!!! I hope your new year has gotten off to a good start. So here it is, you all have been bugging me about it, another DIY Update. (By the way, I was very pleased to see the DIY Diary mentioned in the Netpunk column in MRR last november. anyway on to the topic....

So you want to put out your own record, but you can't really afford a good studio. (I been there more than once) So hopefully in the next couple of installments I'll try to go into some of the what it takes to record and make your own CDs. I'll go into the details in another installment, so for now,...the overview.

First I'll mention a few places to find good information.
3D Audio A pro studio with a message board where you can ask professionals how to do shit.
Alesis.com Has a pretty good article on using compression.
there's a bunch of other resources on the web, but since I can't remember the URLs (a lotta good it does to bookmark them at work when I'm at home....)
and some books I've found useful:
The Beatles Recording sessions The Official Abbey Road Studio Session Notes (Lewisohn published by Harmony books) Whether you liked the Beatles or not, George Martin is a recording genius. This has all the notes and other info on every single recording session the Beatles ever did at Abbey Road. Worth every penny. Sir George also wrote a book called With a Little Help from my Friends about the making of Sergeant Pepper, also worth reading.

Hot Tips for the Home Recording Studio (Linderman, Published by Writer's Digest Books) I think the title says it all. written in down to earth easy to understand info, I'd recommend this one for your first read if you don't know anything about recording. The author said something very profound at the end of the book "Of all the things I've written about in my book, what I have to say is by far the most important, and it's also the easiest to ignore...I'm talking about the ultimate tools of our trade - Our Ears..." He goes on to say that your hearing is the most important part of your music, and remember to turn it down and wear earplugs...fine advice if you ask me.

The Billboard Guide to Home Recording (Baragary published by Billboard Books) still more great information. along the same lines as the last book, again in a down to earth easy to read manner.

and finally Modern Recording Techniques (Huber and Runstein published by Sams Audio Library) This is more like a textbook than the other two, and as such has a lot of technical information, including the polarity responses of specific mikes, mike placement, and frequencies generated by specific instruments. another great great book. I have the third edition, but I'm sure it's in the fifth or sixth by now.

Okay, so now you now what to read, what else to you need?

There's basically four phases of recording, Preproduction, Recording (Or Production), Mixing, and Mastering.

• Pre-Production
A lot of people don't really think that preproduction is a part of the recording phase, but it's very important to know what your going to record, how the song is going to be arranged (You don't have to play it like you do at shows) what kind of instrumentation you're going to be using, and so on. A lot of this sort of thing is worked out at band rehersal (I hope your band has rehersals) but when the dollars are on the line, there's nothing like being prepared...(Because no matter how good your singer is, or what he says, he's going to spend hours and hours trying to get two words right when you're recording.

• Recording
This is where it all happens, where you spend most of your time, recording..(sometimes called tracking) just remember a few things when you're laying down tracks:
• Pretend that everything you put down is going to be examined by a microscope
• With that in mind remember that the performance is more imporant than the notes. by the nature of people, the more takes you spend, the less life and energy the song has. So if you miss some notes, but give a great performance, keep it...(Unless it's so horrid you can't take it...)
• Don't feel bad if you spend a hundred takes trying to get a part down. It happens to everybody. Even The Beatles. If you every saw the movie La Bamba with Lou Diamond Philips, you'll remember that scene where he did 62 takes before he got the vocals right. With the excitement of recording combined with the stress when you keep fucking up, recording can be trying. just remember that if you start to get into a rut, stop take a break, walk down to your local 7-11, work on another song, then come back to it when you're not so worked up on it.
• Listen to the Producer, engineer, and the girlfriend. Sometimes a set of ears away from the performance can really help a great deal, especially when it sucks, but you think it's cool.
• Despite what I just said, generally try to leave your girlfriends and dogs at home. I know you want them to see you work, and show them how cool you are, but sometimes you spend more time acting cool than laying good tracks, so for the sake of the session, keep them away.

• Mixing

Mixing is the part where you adjust the final levels of all the tracks, add effects, and record it onto a stereo master (Also sometimes called a stereo board mix) these days usually recorded to a DAT, but can also be a CD or two track analog tape (Not a cassette!!) This is your last chance to make sure you're happy with everything that you've recorded.

• Mastering
Mastering is the part where all your levels are adjusted so your songs are of a consistent volume, and some other things that I don't really understand. It takes years and years for a studio engineer to become a mastering engineer so I hear, and the best advice on Mastering yourself I ever hear was this---------DON'T. They say a poor mastering job can make a good record sound bad, and a bad record even worse. If you have the money to pay for it, do. You'll be happy with the results.

So that's about all for this time. Stay tuned for the next installment, where I think I'll be talking about some of the equipment choices you have for starting your own home studio.

=:-!

DIY Diary on The New Brrapp Paradigm

In the business world, the business model is everything. Brrapp wanted to be trailblazers in the music world, and do things no one has ever done before....course looking back now, maybe some of these were bad ideas. I like to think they were ahead of their time...

The New Brrapp Paradigm for the Music Industry

Okay, so you've got a handle on how the industry works, or maybe you think you do, or maybe you don't, whatever. Today, we're going to look at an example of a label in action, whose philosophy is turned around and upside down from everything I've ever talked about before. That's right, I'm talking about none other than the: Brrapp Paradigm Okay, so I've used that word a couple of times now, paradigm...damned big word that I've seen a lot in Dilbert, so what's it mean? Well I looked it up in the dictionary...paradigm (pair-o-dime) (n) a model serving as an example. So in other words, this DIY will be on the Brrapp Business Model. So enough blathering, lemme tell you about how Brrapp does business (and makes no money at it)

1. Brrapp only puts out records we like...I know I mentioned this in the 5 rules of running a record label, but it's important, and deserves to be brought up again....Don't put out crap, I know...if you look at how many records we've put out, you'd think we think everything out there sucks....well no. The reason we have only put out 2 7" is because we are poor and don't make enough money at our low paying jobs to put out more.

2. Brrapp doesn't sign any contracts. I know this sounds like it could get us into trouble, but it works like this: we don't want to hold the band back from any growth that the record we put out could give them, even if we get boned in the process (maybe that's even happened?) the reason we do this is just to put out cool records (going back to #1) of good bands, and although it would be nice to make some money at it, it's more important for us to just get the music out to the people who want it.

3. Brrapp's poor, real poor. because of this, we havn't put out very many records, which will be changing soon. We now have the facility to make our own CDs (one at a time), and now plan to put out as many records as we can, even if we only make 30 copies of each record.

4. Whenever possible, Brrapp uses internal recording studios (unless we can get to a better studio for free) to cut costs (okay, buying the gear to record at a studio is expensive, but for these days for under $5000 you can get a pretty nice 8-16 track fully digital studio),

If you don't know anything about recording or engineering, fear not, for Timbecile is learning, and is planning to do a DIY series on building and using your own digital (or analog) home studio soon.

So until then, stay cool and be nice to each other =:-!

DIY Diary on The Big Grand Record Label (part 2)

This one was subtitled 5 rules to running a record label and for good reason. This stuff is probably true of any industry. (I know it's still true for indie game developers). and in fact, it's probably true of just about anything to do with your life. Everything was in giant fonts for a reason!

Anyhoo, enough of the philosophy. On to...

The Big Grand Record Label
(part 2)

or

5 Rules to Running a Record Label

Sooo your city thinks you have a record label huh? Good now forget about them until tax time, cuz you won't be hearing from them again until they want money. Now the next thing you need to do is find a band to sign, cuz that is after all what record labels are about, isn't it. And as long as we're on signing bands, I'm going to give you a rule, the rule for your record label to live by, your company motto. This is the most important thing to remember about having a record label So Without anything further on how important this rule is, here it is, Rule # 1 of Owning a Record Label
Don't Ever, ever, ever sign crappy bands
I know it seems pretty obvious, but sometimes when you're down and out and you need to put out a record just to stay alive, even if it'll barely sell any copies, well don't do it. Reputation is very important to a record label, especially when you're signing unknown bands. People who pick up the record and look at it may think "Oh on Shoeball Records. They put out a lot of good stuff. I can pretty much bet that this record will be to my taste too". on to rule number two, which you probably know and maybe don't agree with, but this is my page and I'll preach if I want to. Rule # 2 of Owning a Record Label
Don't ever sacrifice artistic (or musical) integrity for money. Never ever ever!
Sure money is important, it pays the bills, keeps you from starving and lets you buy that super duper Pentium delux with 400 megs of ram, but money is not related to happiness, not even close. It's much more satisfying to put out a band you think is the best band in the world, and see them become successful than to put out four shitty bands and make a little money.
which leads to rule number three, well not really, but since I've started this rule thing, I guess I'll keep it up. so Rule # 3 of Owning a Record Label
Don't ever let anyone else in the industry not take you seriously
sure maybe you're 17. maybe you're younger, but you've got paperwork from the government that says you're a business. So you ARE a business. If your manufacturer is dicking you around not telling you when he'll have your records for you, get on his ass. Don't let them push you around, after all you're paying them money. And while I'm on the topic, let me give you some advice on dealing with people in the industry, Act Professional they're out to make money, and so are you (A little bit at least). be courteous, and act like a president of a large company. When people see that professionalism, they tend to respond to it and treat you more professionally themselves.
Yuk! I hate being professional, it sounds so proper, and polite. I'd rather just treat everyone like they're my friend, but.....any way Rule # 4 of Owning a Record Label
Do Whatever you Can for your Bands
They're your bands, your investment. You don't want them to break up in the studio because you want them to put a tuba track on one of their songs. Support them. make them shirts, stickers, (If you can afford it) at the very least, go to their shows. Let them know you're interested in their success. after all it's part of your success, and it's your ass on the line if they fail miserably. and finally Rule # 5 of Owning a Record Label
Maintain focus on your genre
for anyone who hasn't had as many english classes as i've had your Genre is your style. So if you're a hardcore label, think twice about putting out that pop punk band. sure you may like them, but all the hardcore fans who know you're label will start thinking you're signing the next Green Day. It is good to experiment with other styles, but you need a focus, the type of music you primarily put out, for instance, Lookout! is a pop punk label. the majority of the bands on Lookout! are pop punk. In other words, don't try to take over the world. If you're gonna, take over your neighborhood first.
And since you've been good, I'll give you a bonus rule, this one is pretty important, too so pay attention. Rule # 6 of Owning a Record Label
Help Out the Little Guy
You were a little guy once too, remember. Think about all the people who helped you. I believe in Karma, and in the music industry especially. What comes around goes around, someday that little guy you help may be a big ol' guy when you're almost bankrupt. besides that, it makes the world a nicer place.
Alright, that's it for now. There's plenty of things I forgot in this "lesson", but I'm sure your common sense and punk rock morality will help you in that area. until lext time T. =:-!.....
oh, I almost forgot. I got Email from a person who told me that she was taking classes in Music Industry at a University somewhere, and said all that she's learned so far in that school has all been up here for free! So much for Education.....

DIY Diary on The Big Grand Record Label (part 1)

So here's where we get to some rubber meet road bits of the recording industry...namely how to start and run a record label. Enjoy!

The Big Grand Record Label
(part 1)

The Big Grand Record Label Well now, you say you want to start your own record label, but don't know what to do, is that it? you don't want to start a label cuz it costs too much money, or there's too many rules, or laws to know, I'm too poor, too stupid, too punk.... Shut the Fuck up! Starting and running a record label isn't as hard or as expensive as it sounds...in fact if you run it out of your house, you too can tell your friends you have a label for as little as $100 a year....
So, how do you start a record label... First go to your city hall, and ask them for all the information on starting a home business (these laws vary from city to city, so what's legal in my town may not be legal in yours. usually these are small pamphlets that are explained in almost plain English and make things easy...I'll go over a few things you need...
- A Business License this is a thing that says I am intending to do business in the city of...county of...state of.....
- A Business Tax Receipt this thing is a slip of paper that says you have paid your taxes for the year...normally for the kind of revenue you'll be receiving from your record label (none) the tax you have to pay is small
- A Ficticious Business Statement this thing you have to register with your county clerk, and says Jo Bob Smith is Doing Business As J.B. Records and Shit...and you pay a small fee (around $15).. Watch Out! you also have to run this in the newspaper for a few weeks, and you have to pay for it (they didn't tell me that,) an extra $70 or so...the Ficticious Business Statement (Also called a DBA) has to be run in your county, not your city, so shop around the newspapers in the county for the best rate.
A Reseller's Permit also called a resale #, or Federal Tax ID #I really am not sure if you NEED this, but it's a good idea to have. If you plan to sell your records retail,not just wholesale, you DO need it, because you have to pay sales tax on the stuff you sell(assuming there's sales tax in your state) You get this from the State Board of Equalization...(that's what it's called in California).
- A Business Checking account true you don't NEED this, but it will make it a LOT easier on your customers and you so they don't have to write checks to Jo Bob Smith for the records they buy off of you, and you don't always have to pay straight from your own pocket for stuff you have to pay for, besides it looks cool to see the name of your record label imprinted on a check. Again this can be expensive, so Watch Out! and look around for the best deal.
That should do it for starting a label..I'm tired right now so I'm gonna cover what you'll do with that record label next time....until then....Toodles! =:-!

DIY Diary on Royalties

If ya ask me,...royalties are a joke. If you don't know, sometime during Brrapp's heyday, I started working in the video game industry. I'm now what you'd call a "game industry vet". I don't know how many times I've been promised royalties for a game. What I do know is that I've received exactly ZERO royalty checks. And so it goes...

Anyhoo, royalties work the same in the game industry (where everything is usually "work for hire") as they do in the music industry. And that's what this one was about...

Royalties

So you've found a band, you paid for them to go into the studio, and they made a record. You've mastered it, and sent it to the duplicators. Now what?

First off, wait. No matter what the manufacturer tells you, he'll be late. He could tell you he'll have it for you in a week, a year, a month...he'll be late...I once told this to a guy who was running a pretty big label (I won't mention any names) He had all these plans for January, when the record was supposed to be out, and I said, "It'll be late." He fixed his gaze on me and said, "I don't know about you guys, but they're NOT late for me." looking kind of insulted that I even brought up that the manufacturer would be late.

Well guess what? The record was not only late, but it was late by 3 months. Sheesh!! So, remember even if you're Capitol Records an shit...the record maker will be late!

Okay, so now that you've waited longer than you expected, after the band has kept calling you up and screaming at you for the record not being out yet, you finally get it...what about royalties? How should you pay the band? I mean it's they're music. don't you owe them something?

Well, yes, yes you do. but not the way you think. technically any record that is put out needs to have a publisher, preferably one associated with BMI, ASCAP, or one of the other agency places. And you owe the publisher, not the band..so it works like this...for every record you sell (it's usally after you recoup your costs) you owe the publisher money. (whatever is worked out between you and the publisher, standard rate is 4 !/2 cents per record sold)...the publisher then keeps his half, and pays the songwriter(s) the money they deserve. (notice the word SONGWRITER, not band!). this sort of accounting is annyong, confusing, and a general pain in the ass, and frankly I've never seen an indie label who does this...(But then I've never signed to Lookout! or Epitaph, either).

So, instead of hiring a trigenometry major to figure out that you owe your band $100 for every pressing you sell out of, there's a much easier way that has been running through the indie world...ahem...(In big legalese voice) In Lieu of royalty paments, the band will be paid in merchandise amounting to 10% of each pressing for the first 1000 records, and 15% for any records pressed thereafter. Okay, so this means that instead of using that evil math formula to figure out what you owe your band for however many records, you just give them records. so if you press 100 records your first time, then you give them 10 records, after you press 1000 records, the next 100 you press, you give the band 15 records that they can sell, give away or whatever they want to do with them...you should realize, though that this doesn't mean that you let the band put the record in stores all across the country, or send them to radio statoins, or whatever. those promotions are your job. Basically, these free records are for them to take to shows to sell to make some money, and get their music out. (by the way, if the band sells their free records, they usually end up making way more money this way, than if you paid them royalties).

Now if the band has a publisher, well if the songwriter has a publisher, that isn't the band, what you pay them is something you'll have to work out with them. I havn't had to deal with a publisher like that yet, so I can't give you any tips there.

so anyway, until next time, remember to help out the little guy.

=:-!

DIY Diary on Publishing

This one was a story about publishing a song. I dunno how much is wrong these days, but it does a pretty good job of illustrating how publishing works...

Publishing

Publishing is weird, because it seemes to me, it is really not necessary. Originally, back in the days of Vaudeville, publishing houses had hundreds of writers working for them, and put out tons of published, printed music.
Today, publishers don't do printed music much anymore, except for classical music, and those stupid popular songbooks you see in the back of your local music store. Basically the Publisher is for songwriters, not bands, not anything else. Here's how it's suppsed to work: Joe Blow wrote a song called "I'll Blow for You" but Joe Blow isn't in a band, and can barely play the piano, much less any other instrument, so Joe Blow goes to his friend, who sez to go to Festering Hole Music, a local publisher, after helping him record it on his 4 track.
So Joe Blow takes his demo to Jonny Bigwig, the Repitoire manager of Festering Hole Music, and plays it for him, along with showing him the chord chart and lyric sheet. Johnny Bigwig likes the song, and gives Joe an advance of $500 dollars, agaist future royalties earned, and a contract to handle the copyright and royalties of the song.
Joe Blow isn't as dumb as your average horned toad, so he takes the contract to a lawer he found out of a phone book Jimmy Legalese, who for a fee reads the contract, and gives it to Joe in English, telling him, this is a fair contract for a first time songwriter. So Joe signs the contract, cashes the check, and pays Jimmy, and goes home, waiting for stardom.
Meanwhile Jonny Bigwig hires some studio musicians, and takes "I'll Blow for You" into the studio, and records it again, this time, again a rough demo, but with better quality, polishing a turd, as it were...
A freind of Jonny Bogwig, in the Artist relations department of Festering Hole Music Barry Buttkisser has heard that Neil Diamond, and Kenny Rogers are both looking for new songs to put on their next records, so Jonny Bigwig gives the newly completed demo to Barry Buttkisser, who sends the tapes to Neil Diamond and Kenny Rogers, who both decide not to use it, deciding it's not quite they're style.
However while Neil Diamond was in the studio, his old freind Barbara Streisand stopped by, because they were talking about doing a duet for her next record, and heard "I'll Blow for You" She loves it and wants to put it on her next record, and tells her agent to get permission to use it.
Jonny Bigwig of course gives Barbara permission to use it, and then negotiates the royalties he and Joe Blow will get from the record sales. Joe Blow hates Barbara Streisand, and tells Jonny Bigwig that he would rather eat shit from a pigs ass than let her use his song. Jonny calmly reminds him that he signed over his rights to Festering Hole music, and he doesn't have a say in who performes his song, but Jonny shows him the projected sales of Barbara's next record, and his share of the Royalties, and gives in.
The song is a smash hit, and Black and Decker decide they want to use the song for they're new paint drying machine The Blowmaster 3000 deluxe. Again Joe has no authority to say no, because it wasn't in his contract, but he's making shitloads of money from it, while staying in relative anonymity, though he heard he might be nominated for a Grammy.
Meanwhile at Stinky Pole Music, they decide Joe Blow must be a writing Genius, and want to hire him to write a song for Keifer Sutherland's new movie "Shoot, Smell and Go!" Well Joe Blow loves Keifer, much better than Donald, and wants to do it. He is however signed to a contract with Festering Hole Music, and askes them to be released from his contract
Well of course Jonny Bigwig says no, he's not going to release his number one songwriter at the peak of his popularity, but he does tell Stinky Pole that they would be happy to do a co- publishing agreement for this movie. Stinky Pole agrees, and gives Joe Blow $10,000 for his song, the title track of "Shoot Smell and Go!".
The movie is a smash hit, and both Festering Hole, and Stinky Pole make a wagonload of cash from the sale of the soundtrack, but Joe Blow hasn't seen a dime from the movie beyond his advance. So he calls Jonny Bigwig.
Jonny Bigwig tells him that he was paid already, his 10 grand, and that's it. Festering Hole and Stinky Pole music hired him to write the song, and the song "Shoot, Smell and Go!" is a Work- for-Hire, and they are the ones who are the legal authors of the song.
Joe Blow gets really pissed off, and goes back to Jimmy Legalese, who tells him that Jonny Bigwig is right, and there's nothing he could do, but write songs, and hope the publicity of the movie gets him a better job, and next time to bring the contract, and every other contract after that to him.
So Joe goes to the press, who doesn't care what the publisher did to him, until he tells them that he's gay, and the song Barbara Streisand sings is about sucking dick, and the National Enquirer gives him $15,000 for his story..... The End Of course this is only a story, and it doesn't always happen like this, and sometimes you may keep certain rights to say no...this is basicly how it works...for more info, again consult This Business of Music a great tome of info, and The Songwriter's Guide to Music Publishing. Lata....=:-!

DIY Diary on Copyrights

This entry was all about copyrights. The things that protect your songs (if you're a songwriter) and was the first DIY Diary I wrote...it's all technical and shit (and a lot of the costs are wrong these days. (standard rate royalties are more than 41/2 cents, and copyrights cost $45 now instead of $20...

Copyrights

What is a copyright? Why do I need one? How do I get one? Questions like this are common, and don't feel stupid if you don't know the answer to one or more of them, the government typically does not go out and make sure you know things, but then why should they? If their people are intelligent, responsible citizens it's the citizen's responsibility to seek knowledge.
The first question is simple to answer, sort of. A copyright is a registration with the Library of Congress that you created a peice of art, a painting, a story, a song, etc. and the year it was created.
Why do you need one? Well that one's not so tough. First off, let's start with what they do....in all actuality the song you wrote with your brother Bill is already under copyright protection, whether it's registered or not, the reason you need one is because you can't sue someone for stealing your song (called an infringement of copyright) without it being registered. Second you have certain rights (though again you have them with or without the registration) that are due to you if someone uses your song. These are divided into sections called licenses, and they usually fall under three categories, though with the advent of computers, the internet and multimedia there may soon be more. These licenses are :Mecanical, Performance, and Synchronization. The Mechanical license is usually the one you'll be most concerned about. In mechanical license, are the rights to reproduce your song on a recorded media, the rights to play them over the radio, and sell them to consumers. usually you have the right allow these things to happen, unless you sign them away to a publisher (We'll cover publishing later) or a record label (We'll cover what labels do also) and are owed a certain amount of royalties. (A royalty is money paid to you for someone using your song in some way or another) The government sets a standard rate, which is often argued for when you sign a contract with a publisher and a record label, and is not usually given to a first time band, songwriter, but is usually substantially lower. (Last time I checked the going rate was 4½ ¢ per record sold, to split with the publisher). You also get royalties whenever your song is played on the radio, or broadcast in some form. That is calculated by a music association like BMI or ASCAP, or one of the others (We'll cover that when we cover publishing)
The Performance right is the right To perform the song for profit. It seems to me that this one is overlooked most of the time, but it is something to consider when you do that Dickies cover. There has also been some arguing in congress over giving royalties to the performers who performed the song for recording royalties too, though as of right now they do not. (If anyone knows any more about this, please let me know.)
The last one is Synchronization, which is the right to put your music to a movie, or television show, or something of that sort. I don't know that this right is heavily fought for by record labels and publishers, though if you keep a good chunck of mechanical license, it's good to give this one away, because the record sales generated from the movie publicity is well worth the loss.
And yet one more question, how long does a copyright last? Well according to the Berne Convention of 1978 a work is copyrighted until 50 years after the death of the last surviving author, before it can go into public domain.
And lastly, How do you get one? Well there are several ways to register with the Library of Congress, or at least several forms to use...We'll go over the two most popular, form PA and form SR.
All you need for form PA is the lyric sheet (If it has lyrics) and a copy of the written score (Note for note, not just a chord chart) and $20 to send to the Library of Congress in Washington DC.
For form SR You need a lyric sheet, $20 and a sound recording of the best quality available to you. (That means if you were in a 24 track studio you have to send them that tape, not the tape of your garage jam session) again to the Library of Congress, Washington DC. Oh, and one more question, I suppose. Where do I get the forms. Well the first place I'd check is your local library, or sometimes your city hall carries them (Neither of mine do), or you can ask a local record label (If you know one) or call BMI, or a publisher...or you can get them directly from the source...the Library of Congress. This is they're mailing address:
Copyright Office
Library of Congress
Washington, D.C. 20559-6000
Or...Copyright Office, Library of Comgress All you computer geeks will probably think it's easier just downloading them.

This is by no means a complete document...there's much, much more than this, that I didn't want to put in, lest I bore you to death. For further reading, I would suggest, well I'm sure the Library of Congress has something, but also This Business of Music I can't think of the author or the publisher, but it's a tome chock full o' information, also A Songwriter's Guide to Music Publishing again I don't remember who wrote it, or who published it, but it's a very good book, much easier to read than the other one. Well...See ya next time......