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Enjoying the Realism of Flute VST Plugins

 

If you know anything about audio production in general and music production in particular then you will know that this industry has witnessed revolutionary changes. There was a time when the cost of music production was exorbitant and only affordable to the rich or record labels.

The reason for this was simply that the cost of owning and operating a recording studio ran into hundreds of thousands of dollars. As you can see from the history discussed here, expensive hardware gear had to be purchased, acoustic structures put in place and music instruments and other back lines purchased and installed.

The story today has radically changed and with a few thousand dollars, one can set up a simple studio from which they can produce professional level music and audio projects.

This has largely been because of the availability of practically any hardware equipment in software form. This means that instead of purchasing gear for tens of thousands of dollars, you can get a software version for just a few hundred dollars or less.

This brings us to the core of our focus in this article which is the VST platform, one of the platforms on which these software also known as plugins operate.

 

What is a VST Plugin?

The first question we should probably ask is; what is VST? We will begin by answering this first question.

VST is an acronym that stands for Virtual Studio Technology and is a platform that facilitates the virtual replication of traditional studio hardware and instrument functions by digitally processing these signals using software called plugins.

VST, which was developed by Steinberg, is simply one such platform which allows plugins built by different brands to be usable across different DAWs (Digital Work Stations) and operating systems that support VST.

You can find a more detailed explanation here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_Studio_Technology.

How to Make the Right Choice

VST plugins can be created for practically anything today. We have virtual effect processors, microphones simulators, amp and cabinet simulators and of course virtual instruments.

Our focus in this article falls under this last group – virtual instruments.

These plugins eliminate the need for studios to have live musical instruments and the challenges that come with effectively recording them. While large studios that can afford it can still use these hardware and live approach, small studios can now compete at the highest level with top quality emulations of these.

In this case, a home or project studio does not have to get a professional flutist to be able to record a flute track. The biggest challenge that many used to have with these virtual instruments was the fact that they did not always sound realistic.

With improved sampling technology, the level of realism that can be achieved toady is nothing short of mind blowing.

To help you choose from a flute VST list that will ensure you get the best virtual representation of a flute sound and performance, we will look at some things to consider while making your choice.

 

Sample vs Emulation

 

This is easily the very first thing you should consider when choosing a virtual flute instrument. An emulation plugin will consist of a synthetic representation of the natural instrument’s sound achieved through precise programming expertise.

On the other hand, sampling will actually record the instrument extensively, capturing the varied nuances of its play along with different ambiance and microphone settings.

Most producers prefer the sampled versions because it is easier to achieve a high level of realism with them. They however come at some cost.

 

Size

 

This is another thing you should consider. While discussion sampled versus synthesized virtual instruments, we mentioned that using the sampled versions come at a cost. Well, this does not just refer to cost in terms of purchasing price.

A VST flute plugin that consists of sampled sounds will have a much larger space requirement because the sample libraries are usually huge. The synthesized variations on the other hand will require far less space.

You should therefore make your choice with this in mind.

Expression Options

 

An instrument like the flute has a lot of expressions and effects that can be achieved while playing it naturally. This can be the result of microphone positioning or actual playing techniques.

Considering this still brings us back to the issue of choosing between a sampled sound and a synthesized one. The sampled sound will usually include as much expression types as possible – whether it is the result of microphone positioning or playing technique.

You need to understand that the more the expression options that are available to you, the easier it will be to achieve a very realistic flute performance in your production.

 

Ease of Use

 

Now, this is something that is very crucial in music production. While choosing plugins, you need something that can easily be incorporated into your existing setup.

This may be a USB keyboard with its expression pedals and other accessories. It may also simply be a midi controller from which your trigger your samples. Whatever your setup and DAW is, you need a plugin that will fit easily into it.

If you really want to get a very clear picture of what we’ve been discussing above, then you should read this article.

Conclusion

 

Music production has really grown in leaps and bounds. You are basically no longer restricted by budgets, space and inability to play some instruments. If you know exactly the sound you want, chances are that you can find a plugin you can use to achieve it.

In this article we focused on the flute and believe you have gotten some important information that will help you choose the right plugin for your next production.

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Believe it or not Pandora is a great music outlet that can provide artist with a very nice royalty income but a lot of artist don’t submit their music to this outlet. Artist forget that Pandora is still one of the most widely used free music streaming services with over 50 million listeners. So lets get to the brass tax, here are step by step instructions on how to get your music on Pandora.

1. Sign up for a membership at PEEKSOUND webite. We make the process go faster. Pandora is in our network of digital outlets so the approval process will happen faster.

2. Go here: Submit music to Pandora

3. Create an account

4. Once you create an account sign into your account

5. Enter your name, phone number, select “Artist” and hit the next button

6. Enter your music’s information, links and so on.

7. Make sure you copy the UPC code that we inboxed you in your dashboard and paste it you the UPC field. Also make sure you copy and paste your Apple Music/iTunes URL in the “Release Streaming Link” field

8. Click the next button and submit

It usually takes Pandora a few days to a week to approve your music so be patient.

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We at PEEKSOUND get questions asking us “how do I get my music into YouTube’s music & content ID system and collect my royalties?”.

Here are step by step instructions:

1

Upload Your Music or Music Video through PEEKSOUND

Use PEEKSOUND website to submit your tracks, music video, artwork, and release information quickly and easily.

2

We’ll Send Your Music to Youtube

We will release your music to the content ID system in addition to all the other stores like iTunes, Spotify, and everything in between.

3

Get Paid

Every time your track or music video gets streamed, you get paid 100% of your royalties.

Earn 100% of your royalties from your streams on YouTube.

With over 180 million active users per month and counting, YouTube is the most popular video streaming services in the world, you make it easier for fans to connect with you and your music.

 

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It’s not simple finding good music reviews currently, especially with the proliferation of blogs and social media where everyone who is anyone can pipe up with their two cents worth of knowledge about whatever they want to say about the latest Ting Tings B-side…however, you should not give up hope. There are still great music reviews out there, you just have to search a little harder to find them, among the ether of sub-standard sites and WebPages.

The finest thing to do is to rely on word of mouth recommendation from people who you trust and once you find a site that delivers top quality reviews, stick with it! Pick your genre and search the web for reviews in artists in that genre, then just spend a few hours comparing and contrasting the various writing styles until you find one that you like! Of course, if you find one that you like at once, then count your lucky stars and stick with that one…

Everybody likes diverse styles of music, but what the great thing is about the various sites that showcase music reviews is that you can be convinced to listen to new material by the power of the reviewer’s writing; you never know, you may find out a whole new style of music for you to explore and enjoy, just by reading a short, bright review!

So, go and test out all the sites that the World Wide Web has to offer and when you have found one that you like, don’t leave it, either keep retuning to it or sign up to its mailing list…have fun!

Those who write music reviews are nearly always music lovers, and they will repeatedly listen to a piece of music again and again to determine all the nuances and sensations the piece can offer. Depending on the music reviewer, their opinions might or not be objective.

Music reviewers are in the business of ranking music, and occasionally a music review will include a comparison of songs or albums to an artist’s preceding releases. A music review may include the writer’s opinion on whether or not the piece will be a hit or a flop, whether it is worth the asking price, and whether or not the artists ought to expect to have prolonged existence in the music business.

Often, the proficient music reviewer will specialize in reviewing music that is of a particular genre. For example, those with expertise in classical music will not usually waste much time listening to and reviewing hip-hop music. Nor would an expert in folk music be qualified to review a punk rock concert. However, some music reviewers are true music lovers with a deep level of sophistication and appreciation for all kinds of music. Those who truly understand that music is an artistic expression should be able to judge the music on its own merit, and form an objective opinion.

Sometimes a music reviewer will be necessary to give an unbiased opinion, even if the reviewer does not in person care for the piece. If the reviewer feels that there is some audience for the piece and it deserves a good review, the objective reviewer with experience and good sense can set aside his personal preferences and honor the piece with an honest review.  

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How Do I Submit My Music On A Spotify Playlist For Free We receive a lot of emails asking this question on how to submit your music on to a Spotify playlist so we decide to write a post about it. Before submitting your music to a curator make sure you have verified your Spotify artist account. Here is how to get your artist account verified on Spotify.  As an independent artist you want to get as many listeners as possible and a good way to get more streams and possibly gain more followers is to get your music on a playlist. So after a little searching we came up with a list of Spotify curators: 1. Indiemono  Indiemono is the biggest Spotify curator we found, they have a playlist for all genres of music and they love breaking new artists, especially if you have less than 1,000 streams.. You can browse all the playlist to see what playlist fits your genre of music and submit your music. Once you find the playlist that fits your music just click the submit button. Here is a link to Indiemono playlist browser. Biggest playlist: Sad Songs (370,000 followers) Total playlist followers: 1.1 million 2. Soundplate Soundplate has a great selection of playlists curated by their team for pretty much all genres. I really liked their submission process it just was hard to find the playlist browser for the site. Here is the playlist browser. Biggest playlist: Selected : Soundplate (2,000 followers) Total playlist followers: 10,000 3. Spingrey Spingrey has playlist for several genres and you can submit your music by following their collaborative playlist but Spingrey charges a membership fee anywhere between $1 to $250 depending on what level you choose. Here is how to become a member of Spingrey. Here is the playlist browser. Biggest playlist: it’s LIT (27,000 followers) Total playlist followers: 150,000 4. Simon Field Simon is a successful producer/artist and he curates one of the largest independent playlists on Spotify for electronic music. The playlist is hosted on Simon’s artist profile on Spotify. When submitting by email keep it short and include Spotify URI. Submission link: promo@homebrewprod.com Biggest playlist: Ibiza Deep House (100,000 followers) Total playlist followers: 106,000 Above is just a few curators we found that artist can submit their music too. If you are looking for more Spotify curators just do a search for “Spotify Curators” and you should be able to find more Spotify playlist to submit your music too.

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How To Get Your Spotify Artist Account Verified

Our goal at PEEKSOUND is to provide artist with all the tools we can to help them become as successful as possible. So we decide to write a post on how to verify you Spotify account.

What is Spotify Verification

Getting verified on Spotify lets your fans know that your artist profile belongs to you. When you get access to your Spotify for Artists, you’re automatically verified on Spotify. You need to have a Spotify account to get access to Spotify for Artists, I’m not sure if you have to have a paying account or if you can use your free account. If you don’t have a Spotify account, you can set one up when you’re getting access. Once you’re verified and have access to Spotify for Artists, you’ll get a blue check mark on your profile and be able to:

• Update your artist image anytime you want
• Post artist playlists to your profile
• Make an Artist’s Pick, which appears at the top of your profile

It can take a few days for the Spotify team to review your account. Once you’re in, it can also take a little time for your blue verification check mark to appear on your profile maybe a day or two. There is no minimum amount of followers you need to have, verification is available to every artist now which is great because at one time you needed to have 250 followers to get your account verified. Another cool thing is that if you are a record label and want to verify your artist you can verify them one at a time and see them all in your Spotify for artist dashboard.

How to get your account verified

1. Go here: Spotify for artist
2. Type the artist name or the Spotify link for the artist(s)

3. Click the artist name

4. Link the artist account to your account.

Once your account is reviewed by the team at Spotify you will receive an email letting you know if the artist has been link to your account. Now just download the Spotify for Artist app: iPhone or Android 

How Do I Submit My Music On A Spotify Playlist For Free

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Band Mates: Friends or Employees?

Band Mates: Friends or Employees?

Being in a musical group with other people requires a great deal of hard work, dedication, and creativity. Bands come together for a plethora of reasons, and they all have one main goal in mind: to make good music. The type of relationship that the band members share can greatly affect the productivity and work ethic of the band itself. Whether the band mates see each other more as friends or employees coworkers, it can change the dynamic of the creative process.

Friends

For the most part, bands form because a few musically inclined friends have come together to generate some music. They feel comfortable meeting up at each other’s houses, working on covers, and writing songs. As we have seen, there are definite advantages and drawbacks from creating a band with longtime friends.

Pros

The pros are rather obvious. There is already a close bond and a high level of comfort between the band mates. Each member feels safe sharing their own ideas because they are among trusted companions, so creating together will feel natural. Everyone probably lives close to each other, so it will be easier to organize practice sessions together. There is typically not an issue of egos because everyone is most likely on an equal level of skill. Also, because the personalities of the friends would be known, the band would probably avoid working with people who wanted to make it some sort of unfriendly competition. Lastly, live performances will be even more satisfying whilst performing with good friends because everyone can effortlessly sense and work off each other’s vibes.

Cons

Conversely, there are quite a few downsides to working with people who have deep connections with one another. The most obvious issue is that any kind of drama that occurs within the band can leak into the friendships. Cutting out someone’s solo, shooting down someone’s ideas, and especially kicking someone out of the band could damage personal relationships and the friend group dynamic. It is heavily advised to not work with family for similar reasons; you may keep them around for the sake of the relationship and not the band, which in the end helps no one. Professionalism may not necessarily be a priority to the band members. They could be texting every two minutes, getting distracted and going off on irrelevant tangents, or breaking off into separate conversations. Because everyone is friends, they may not be used to pursuing serious endeavors together. Although having fun may be a nice add-on to the whole band experience, that is not the primary focus. Likewise, your work ethics may not line up very well. Some members may prefer the “work a little, rest a little” method, while others may prefer the “work consistently until we are done” method of practicing. It proves incredibly difficult to work alongside someone that does not operate the same way you do. In addition, the band may not want to discuss the more legal matters such as copyright and ownership to songs because that can be uncomfortable and uncharacteristically serious. These topics need to be discussed early in the band’s career so they know how the potential royalties will be dispersed. Will they be equally divided among band members regardless of actual contribution, or will they be only be divided among the members who actually wrote the songs?

Employees/Coworkers

Bands can also form on a purely professional basis. Members could be brought together by an ad on Facebook or Craigslist, or they could just be fellow classmates/acquaintances who happen to play instruments and/or sing. Practice sessions are often organized more like appointments, and each member is more like an employee to a company rather than a group of friends convening in a garage.

Pros

The benefits of this setup may not be as clear as that of a friend band, but they are present and equally as valid. For example, each member will most likely take the band more seriously because their willingness to collaborate with virtual strangers shows how much they really want to be in a band. They will show up to practices on time, put in as much work as possible, and then finish within a reasonable time frame because this is a job to them. Additionally, removing members from the band will be from a business standpoint. The members in question were not effectively adding to the productivity of the group, so they had to leave. Once that person is out of the band, no long term friendships will be shattered or severely altered. This makes it easier to replace them because their main asset to the group was their skills, and that can be found elsewhere. Giving constructive criticism will not be as awkward because everything is much more objective. Hurt feelings are secondary to producing a quality song. To increase efficiency, every member will know their role, level of authority, and how much of the band and its songs they own very early within the band’s inception.

Cons

On the other hand, some disadvantages are that the band mates do not know each other very well, so they could end up being really irritating, egotistical, control freaks who are really talented but detract from the band instead of adding to it. There needs to be an appropriate screening process before committing to being in a band together. Moreover, these employee bands do not have that deep bond with one another, so anything that comes along with strong partnerships is not really present in the practices and performances.

The Verdict

Overall, neither way of forming a band is better than the other. It really is all circumstantial how one comes to creating a musical group with others, and whatever works for them is what they will do. Friend bands usually have a greater attachment to one another, and their performances can be just that much more rewarding and exciting since they are alongside close companions. However, the casual nature of a friendship often times bleed into the professional setting of working in a band together, and that can cause problems for the success of the group. “Employee” bands tend to be more goal oriented and less likely to dawdle, but they lack the warmth of a friend-based band. In the end, however, making music with other like-minded individuals is always a thrilling and fulfilling adventure no matter what the pros and cons may be. By, Taylor Turner

Is It Illegal to Sell A Band’s Unreleased Music?

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Is Vinyl Actually Better Than Digital?

The nostalgia surrounding vinyl records is huge. Ever since other methods of listening have been developed to surpass vinyl, people have clung desperately to their 45 LPs proclaiming their superiority. Even younger audiences who didn’t even grow up listening to records are now hailing them as the ultimate listening experience. Why is there such a hype around vinyl?

The Issues with Digital

Digital music can sound more “dead” than vinyl for multiple reasons. Digital music, or more specifically the MP3 file, is compressed to be extremely loud. Dynamics are usually lost because everything on the mix has to be decipherable at every volume level on every platform. This causes a lack of warmth and personality, and the overall quality is rather poor compared to what the music sounds like live or on CD. The Pros of Vinyl With vinyl, there is much more room for the music to grow. There can be booming louds and gentle softs. The music floats within the middle range of pitches, which is comfortable for humans to listen to. If a song is recorded on tape, its conversion to vinyl better preserves the original sound of the song. The dynamics and quieter moments are not lost in the compression process. And of course, records have that undeniable nostalgia that so aptly captures either childhood memories or just a simpler (or arguably better) time in music history. However, does that make them undeniably superior?

The Cons of Vinyl

The low end is typically nonexistent on vinyl, and there tends to be an unremovable hiss that clouds up the high end. Even though the dynamic range may be larger, the sonic range tends to be rather limited. In addition, there can be unpleasant sounds like crackling or popping because of the needle losing contact with the record as it spins. Newer records are often not originally mastered for vinyl. Songs from today need to be remastered specifically for vinyl in order to take advantage of its full potential. Digital tracks are typically mastered from the CD to vinyl, and not directly to vinyl. This leads to rather flat sound, sometimes no better than just listening to the original MP3 file. LPs also become warped after repeated use. They become virtually unusable after too many plays. In addition, as an album progresses, the quality of sound decreases. Basically, the longer the album, the worse the songs are going to sound by the end. This happens because the grooves have to be smaller in order to fit all the songs on the standard size of a record. Portability and cost are the most obvious drawbacks of records. Although these factors have nothing to do with sound, they are important to consider. You can pretty much only listen to 45s when you’re at home. If you only like to listen to music occasionally, then this is fine. Nowadays, new records can cost upwards of $40, whereas CDs cost max $15, and single MP3s cost $1.29. MP3s can be free if you stream them. You have to buy the record player as well, which at its cheapest is around $40. If you have the cash for all of that, then this won’t be a problem for you.

The Verdict

Is vinyl better than digital? Well, compared to the ultra-compressed MP3 files, yes, in some ways. Vinyl records do have more personality and are not fighting to be the loudest, but they are rather impractical.Technology has advanced to a point where we don’t have to deal with our music “wearing out” or producing weird sounds that aren’t part of the song. There is a reason why music has evolved past records. If MP3 files do not meet your standards, try .wav files or CDs. However, if records do suit your needs and you are not looking for a replacement, then rock on. By, Taylor Turner

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Is It Illegal to Sell A Band’s Unreleased Music?

The Situation

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine was perusing one of his favorite music pirating websites. He came across some unreleased songs by System of a Down that they had scrapped. From what he could tell, the band had not deemed the songs worthy of being on an album, but they somehow leaked anyway. The songs were on sale for $0.99, which does not produce much of a profit for the seller. However, a question came to my mind: is this illegal?

The Defense

Upon asking this question to my friend, he gave me this as a reply: “Since they have no intention of releasing these songs, they’re not losing anything. Plus, I want them.” I want them. What a good rationale for any unsavory action. I argued with him back and forth for quite a while about this topic. He maintained his stance that since System of a Down decided not to include these songs on any of their albums, they were automatically just up for grabs. A simple look into copyright law solved this debate.

The Rebuttal

Copyright law states that a song is copyrighted the moment it goes into a fixed, tangible form. Lyrics on a page, sound recordings, and CDs are all examples of fixed, tangible forms of music. While filing the copyright for a song with the Copyright Royalty Board stands up better in court, the immediate copyright can still protect an artist against infringement. It is common knowledge that it is against the law to steal other people’s things. It is even worse to profit from it. Music is no different, even though it is not a flat screen TV or a brand new car. Internet piracy ravaged the music industry beyond repair in the early 2000s. Why give money to a third party that is completely disconnected from the band you enjoy? If you are going to spend money on their music, shouldn’t you just support them directly? Do we know for sure that System of Down filed the copyrights for these songs with the Copyright Royalty Board? No. However, that does not make a difference. These songs are theirs to sell even if they have no intention of profiting from them. Even if the thought of someone stealing a useless item from you does not bother you, it does not make the act any less illegal. How you feel personally about a law has no bearing on what the courts believe.

The Answer

Technically, the selling of unreleased or “scrapped” music is illegal. Unless System of a Down publicly gave up their copyright to these songs, no one else has the right to sell them. Now, will they sue the person who was selling their music? Probably not, but the message still stands. With 57 million people still illegally pirating music, artists are not even making a fraction of the money they used to make. If we want to continue consuming music, we have to support musicians in a monetary way. The desire for free or unreleased music does not override the illegality of obtaining it. By Taylor Turner