We’ve had number of great vocalists on this project, and I’ve really enjoyed working with them!  I’ve posted two of the songs on the Shiny Nickel Music blog (www.blog.shinynickelmusic.com).

PJ Parker made the trek out to my Long Beach studio and recorded an amazing vocal for the song “It’s A Beautiful World.”  PJ is a great composer as well as vocalist– Check out her latest news here

The track “You Are The One” was recorded by Benjamin Jenkins, a vocalist in England, and he really does a wonderful job on this track!

I’m finishing up several other original songs for this film, as well as working with the Canadian composer Jonathan Rabson, who is writing several original songs for the film as well.  Stay tuned for more news on the release date for the film and soundtrack CD.

Also, this concert will include my arrangement of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” to honor the Staten Island Little League World Champions.
Concert Details:

http://www.richmondcountyorchestra.org/

Richmond County Orchestra & New American Youth Ballet in The Nutcracker Plus 2009.
St John’s University Upper Level Student Campus Center
300 Howard Ave. Staten Island NY 10301
718-876-7945

Sunday December 13th 2009 3pm
$25 suggested contribution at door
Students & Children FREE!

Come join us for this timeless Holiday Classic, choreographed by “Dance Teacher of the Year” Elizabeth Flores, an international conductor Maestro Alan Aurelia plus the  fabulous Richmond County Orchestra, who has performed at the Guggenheim Museum, to rave reviews in the NY Times. The Richmond County Orchestra, helping out its community,putting the Class in Classical Music.

• I’m working with the Bangladeshi film director Golam Mustafa to create the score on his original feature-length digital film called “Drop of Love.”  This has been a really interesting project for me– I’ve been checking out Indian & Bengali folk music for use in the score.  I’m also writing several original songs for use in the film.  This project will be completed soon, and I hope to share some of this new music soon.  Find out more info here:  http://www.wix.com/MMovie365/ADropOfLove
• In July, I completed several arrangements for the beautiful singer Giada Valenti for her concert appearance in Milwaukee.  Giada is filming a special on PBS this fall– so look for that on your local PBS station in the future.  Visit Giada’s web site:  http://www.giadavalenti.com/
• I’m working with Richard Manigoe, a great singer in the Columbus, Ohio area, on several big band arrangements.  He’s selected a few great tunes from the Count Basie library that we’re arranging and updating for his band.
• Also in the big band realm, I’m transcribing an arrangement of Bobby Darin’s recording of “This Could Be the Start of Something” (by Steve Allen) for Sonny Miles and his big band Nostalgia.
• Matt Farbo has a great cover band in Illinois and I’m creating horn arrangements for his three-piece horn section for a few great rock tunes.
• I recently completed several gospel piano arrangements for singer Linda Pino in Staten Island, NY.  Linda is a long-time client, and I always I enjoy working on her music.
• David Chamberlain has a trombone octet in New York City, and I’m transcribing a few classic JJ Johnson arrangements– Eight trombones and rhythm section is a glorious sound!
• I’m excited to be working again with the saxophonist and composer Frank Lakewood on an orchestration of his original composition for the Richmond County Orchestra.  I hope to have more information on the premiere of this piece in the future.

I hope everyone has had a great summer– Please contact me if I can assist with any of your upcoming projects.

Chris Rinaman

(888) 416-9274

info@shinynickelmusic.com

Files are purchased using a credit system, and subscriptions are also available.

Check out the site at www.istockphoto.com

The Future of Music Coalition is a group I was only recently introduced to, but their mission is participate in the legislative discussions– with musicians (and specifically, independent musicians) interests in mind.  Check out the manifesto on their website.

The overall theme of the day centered on the changing nature of the music business, and the fact that right now many policies are being determined that will affect music & digital media for many years to come.  Combine this timing with the complexities in the technology of digital media & the internet, and there are incredible possibilities for confusion.  Some of the discussions in these policy debates can be technically-advanced and incredibly mind-numbing: the difference between a digital download or a streaming performance; whether a digital copy is really a copy or a just a ghost copy on a server, etc. But, all of these decisions impact how musicians are paid (or not paid), and often determine even if a piece of music (or information, art, photography, etc) is available at all on the internet.   We, as musicians, really need to get involved and make ourselves aware of these issues, because there is the potential for so much confusion, and many of the decisions being made right now will affect policies for years to come in the music business.

Check out the Future of Music site for a summary of the days events as well as video of the panels.

http://futureofmusiccoalition.blogspot.com/2009/02/dc-policy-day-amazing.html 

There were four panels during the day encompassing the topics of radio in the 21st century, broadband policy, copyright & digital rights policy, and changes in legal & copyright policy in regards to the digital marketplace and the impact on musicians.

Some hightlights:  I was impressed by Ben Scott’s insightful, and often inspirational comments during a discussion of broadband policy.  Ben is Policy Director for Free Press, an organization that works to reform the media and promote universal access for broadband.  He discussed how anyone can participate in the decision making process in DC by communicating with your representatives in Congress.  Also, use the power of the web by posting on blogs– every lawmaker has a staff member who monitors Google searches for their congressperson’s name.  If you post something on your blog– it will get read, and enough of those comments will have an effect.  As an individual, you can also file comments with the FCC regarding their policies.  Right now, there is a debate taking place about net neutrality.  This could have a huge effect on musicians, and has the potential to stifle the availability of information, and innovation on the internet by allowing your ISP to limit where & what you can see & download online.  This is already happening– personally I use Optimum Online as an ISP.  They prevent me from sending email through a hosted web server.  As the technology advances, these issues will become more & more prevalent.

It was great to hear the comments of so many intelligent & passionate people at the conference, including Michael Petricone, a policy advocate for the Consumer Electronics Association.  Michael works on behalf of the companies that manufacture consumer electronics, and so is very much in tune with technological developments.  As a part of that, his group wants to ensure that consumers have content available to them on the new devices being created & sold and that the artists and content creators continue to have a marketplace for their work.  There are many industries that have similar concerns & desires about the changes in copyright law and digital rights– musicians can find some really great advocates.

The panel after lunch was very entertaining– fireworks from some of the panelists.  This was a panel of lawyers that knew each other well, and had obviously had this debate many times before.  The topic was Copyright & Innovation in the Digital Age.  I enjoyed hearing Zahavah Levine, the Chief Counsel for YouTube do battle with Rick Carnes of the Songwriters Guild of America.  As a composer, I understand & support Rick Carnes’ positions, but it was obvious in the discussions that the current trend to dig in our heels as copyright owners, and individual copyright owners (as opposed to publishing companies), may be resulting in the forfeiture of income on the internet.  YouTube wants desperately to license music in order to monetize it on their website, the users of YouTube want to use new technology to create their videos using commercial recordings, and just trying to prevent this from happening seems to be a losing battle.  To further complicate matters, the current copyright law is based on old technology (tapes & lp’s– physical copies) but the implications of these hundreds of decisions when trying to adapt it to the digital marketplace are huge.  Songwriters are paid at completely different rates based on whether something is a download (a sale) or a stream (a performance)– and trying to figure out what is what on the changing nature of the web is a nearly impossible task.  There is no easy solution, and the debates will continue, but I am sure more progress will come from compromise & discussion.

I also enjoyed a panel hosted by Derek Sivers.  If you’re not familiar with Derek, check out his web site: sivers.org  Derek is a musician, and the founder of CD Baby.  Lately, he’s been traveling around to conferences and participating as a musician’s advocate.  His website is full of great information, both educational & inspirational.  He moderated a great panel on the changing policies and the direct effect on musicians– both positive & negative.  On the panel was Alec Ounsworth, whose band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah is a kind of model for independent promotion– running your own record label.  Also, on the panel was David Beal who is president of National Geographic Entertainment, and probably represents the new model for record companies– part of a huge entity, but just involved in a small genre of the market (world music, in their case), but doing it in really new ways like distributing via satellite to third world countries and creating online tv & radio stations.  In the process, they open up opportunities for some amazing musicians from around the world and are interested in sharing QUALITY music.

Here are some other links from the day that may be of interest:

Public Knowledge www.publicknowledge.org - Dedicated to promoting public interest in access to information

National Geographic Entertainment

http://www.songwritersguild.com/

http://www.soundexchange.com/ - Collecting & distrubuting online performance royalties for performers.  Currently advocating for a radio performance royalty for performers.

I attended Manhattan School of Music with Coleman, and had recently seen him for the first time in many years while subbing in the pit at the Radio City Christmas Show in December.  Coleman was a beautiful person and amazing musician, and he had a unique sense of humor.  He recently sent around a photo of a “Banjo Killer on the Loose” showing him in the pit at Radio City with one very unhappy banjo.

I was lucky to have Gerry Niewood record several of my compositions in the BMI Jazz Composers Workshop.  The music scene will miss him dearly.

My deepest condolences go out to the families of Coleman & Gerry, and all the victims of the crash in Buffalo.  They will be sorely missed.

I hope to have some great ideas and interesting news after the conference to share with you.

Check out the Future of Music Coalition website here.

Please join and post your comments and suggestions– and contact me with any questions or if I can be of any assistance on your next project!

Thanks,

Chris

1. Know what they are looking for.   Do your research and prepare before you get to the audition.  What type of show is it and what style of music do they want to hear?  Read the breakdowns carefully, and when in doubt, seek an audition coach.  Also, speak with your colleagues to get an idea of what others are preparing. 
2. Bring professional materials.  Make sure your picture, résumé, and sheet music are up to par.  The casting director is looking to hire a professional, so your materials should reflect that.  Concise, neat & legible materials are important.  Remember, there may be several hundred people auditioning, so you want to avoid any unnecessary distractions by making your information easy to read & handle.  Be sure to bring several extra copies with you.
3. Have several versions of your music prepared.  Bring both a 16 & 32-bar version of your music, transposed into the key most appropriate for your voice.  Professionally-copied music won’t get you the job, but may prevent any confusion that could cost you the job.
4. Practice auditioning.  In addition to preparing your audition material (song or monologue), rehearse the audition itself by doing a complete run-through of the audition the day before.  Try having a friend act as the producer at the table.  Practice every aspect of the audition, from coming into the room and introducing yourself, to how you will leave when you are finished.  
5. Get a good night’s sleep.  Seems obvious, but is important for your body to be rested in order to do your best.  Take some extra time the night before to organize all your materials, clothes & shoes you may need so you will have a calm morning with plenty of time to focus on what you want to accomplish at the audition that day.  Be sure to eat a wholesome breakfast– but keep it similar to your normal breakfast meal to avoid any problems!
6. Get there early.  This is your insurance.  Always give yourself extra time– you may not need it, but occasionally things happen and the subway gets delayed.  Those extra minutes will help keep you calm.  In New York City,  my rule of thumb is to double the normal commute time. 
7. Visualize success.  Focus on a positive outcome in the audition– visualize yourself doing well and avoid the negative thoughts that being nervous can unleash.  
8. Be ready for anything.  Have a plan “B”– another song, a quick joke, a different monologue.  If they ask for something else, have a few tricks up your sleeve ready to go.  Make sure this is something that you have prepared in advance.
9. Be friendly & try to have fun.  Remember, that the producers are hiring individuals.  Show off your personality and let them see how much you enjoy performing.  You have to bring the talent and preparation, but in the end they are really looking for someone who can do the part, and who they will enjoy working with.
10. Do a post-mortem.  After the audition, analyze what went well and areas you can improve next time.  Also remember that you will not win every audition– stay focused on your long-term career goals.  You will be successful if you can walk away from every audition knowing that you performed at your best.

Break a leg in your auditions this year!  As always, please feel free to give me a call at (888) 416-9274 if I can be of any assistance with music transpositions or arrangements.  

Chris