state of the lds music union: overall analysis

Overall analysis:

Of course we have made progress, but I forsee that the next ten years will be significantly more challenging for the LDS music industry. There will be increased demand, but it will be fulfilled more and more by several small companies rather than a large Deseret/Seagull conglomorate. And Deseret will fight back, trying to buy out the little guys as they become popular. I predict that the songwriting and arranging styles will have to undergo a major overhaul in the next decade, and that LDS consumers will start becoming more discriminating in their tastes, so LDS musicians will have to rise to the challenge of producing higher quality music for which the LDS consumer will willingly pay. Overall, our industry is suffering from piracy and divisions within, and I do not see that those problems will be easily solved in the next several years. However, some will succeed, and they will be the ones whose focus is on sharing the truth more than turning a profit.

state of the lds music union: other considerations

Other Considerations:

• Marketing: It has generally become less ethical. Yet LDS people have also established a pattern of illegal copying, which makes real sales harder to make. This will be a big issue in the industry in the next ten years.
  
• Distribution: It is more widespread, and thus more competitive. The advent of self-distribution online is good for independent artists, but not necessarily for the quality of product received.
  
• Style overall: Too similar to what was available 10 years ago. We see many LDS songwriters but few great LDS composers.

state of the lds music union: vocal performance

Vocal performance:

Again, at the high end, we see that it has improved slightly, but the style has not changed radically. On the amateur hobbyist end, things are worse than ever because we hear so many more of them. (I should say at this point that I probably ought to consider myself an amateur hobbyist, but I do take pride in what I do and try to make it the best possible considering my resources.) I have not heard a new LDS singer/songwriter in the past 5 years whose voical stylings were irresistably wonderful beyond what is already available. So much is ptich-corrected, overproduced, and overcompressed (especially in the EFY subgenre) that actual vocal talent seems less of an issue today than it was ten years ago.

state of the lds music union: arrangements

Arragements:

I hesitate to say they are better. For recorded music, they require more gadgets. Synthesizers have improved, so the arrangements sound better in production. Some, like Mack Wilberg, Tyler Castleton, and Enoch Train, have certainly bloomed in their arranging skills in the last decade. But as far as the overall quality of most arrangements we hear, both on CDs and in Church, I think we are continuing to settle for less.

state of the lds music union: production and recording

Production values and Recording Quality:

They have increased and decreased at the same time. Part of this has to do with the reduction in cost for decent recording equipment and software. If I had started out doing what I do ten years ago, the technology I have now would have been far beyond my means, and I run a pretty bare-bones operation. It is possible to set up a home studio for $500 if you already have a computer. This means that more people have access to recording and distribution of music.

On the high end, production values have increased tremendously. You can listen to the current EFY CDs, and they are much better in sound quality and production than in 1997. However, a flood of amateur music is washing over the industry in general, and that is especially the case in LDS music where (as I mentioned above) the consumers don't seem to care about quality.

state of the lds music union: songwriting

Songwriting (as a craft):

Much improved. I am especially encouraged that more LDS musicians seem to be writing on themes of the Restoration. Looking a decade back at the songs of Michael McLean and other similar artists, many of them were quasi-ecumenical songs (pretty, but with not much doctrine) which were mostly designed to make the listener feel good. I sense that among the good LDS songwriters of today (and there are also plenty of bad ones, as always), we have learned to teach truth with more accuracy and boldness while improving the music to which it is set.

On the other side of the coin, the LDS consumer has been conditioned to accept and perpetuate musical rubbish simply for the fact that it is "LDS." Listen to KZION, for example (I do), and within an hour you will hear some lovely, well-conceived, well-developed music alongside some terrible, yet heartfelt, songs with four chords and lyrics that don't fit into the musical lines. Many LDS people are well educated in music, but consciously ignore their musical sensibilities when it comes to Church music. This was necessary ten or fifteen years ago because of the lack of good music, but we need to have a paradigm shift as a people and begin demanding excellence. We also need to become willing to pay for excellence when we find it.

state of the lds music union

On the LDS Musicians group, Michael R. Hicks proposed that we look back on the past ten years in the LDS music industry and reflect on our progress in specific areas. To avoid posting one huge block of text, I will post my "State of the (LDS Music) Union" address in topical segments, beginning with the preamble:

Disclaimer:

In 1997 I was a freshman in high school and I had never heard of EFY (I subsequently attended in 1998). I started seriously writing LDS music in 2000, but I did not do any performances of it in the U.S until 2004 or make any attempt at publishing until 2006. However, I am quite familiar with what is out there - when I go to Utah, I always stop in at DI and look for "vintage" LDS recordings, and I have analyzed much of the currently available repertoire with some detail.

Essentially, I am new, but not inexperienced.

First off, I think we need to define the difference between "LDS music" and secular/general Christian music by LDS artists. They are not the same. Kenneth Cope and Jon Schmidt, for example, have significant followings outside the Church because they produce a segment of their products for the general non-LDS public. In this analysis, I am talking about music specifically produced for and marketed toward members of the Church.

Now to the list...

noisebox

New Noisebox today. This song had an interesting little process - David and I recorded our parts several hundred miles away from each other, and then I mixed them together here.



Volume 2, Issue 3
26 February 2007
Miracle of Faith

You have already heard the piano music to Nathan Howe's new solo Miracle of Faith on the YFE 2006 video from BYU Idaho. Now you can download the MP3 and hear the full song with vocals by David Macfarlane and piano by Nathan Howe through LDSmusic.us. Miracle of Faith celebrates the contribution of the early pioneers and the importance of building our own faith for the benefit of future generations.


Thanks for Listening.

microsoft firefox?

Yep. It's awesome.

http://www.msfirefox.com/

noisebox

The site redesign is finally complete! I can't believe it! Check it out. http://gratemusic.com

Here is the new Noisebox:

Noisebox 15 December 2006 - Volume 1 Issue 18

New design, new carol

Sorry for the long delay in releasing new music. We have been quite busy on the technical end of things. Gratemusic.com has been completely redesigned for easier navigation and future growth. Have a look around and contact us with your feedback.

We proudly announce the release of a new Christmas carol, Peaceful the Night, available through our Christmas page. With lyrics by David Macfarlane and music for SATB voices by Nathan Howe, this carol addresses not only the nativity of Christ, but his role as our creator and redeemer as well as his second coming.

Grate Music, LLC
http://gratemusic.com
http://LDSmusic.us

ask dr. science

If you haven't heard of him, Dr. Science is one of my media heroes.

Listen.
Read.

by popular demand

As a musician, I have a soft spot for music of the most terrible sort. I have to share more, once again with a stern warning. This is not for children. This is not for pets. This may cause your houseplants to wither. I am not responsible for this. I am simply giving you the opportunity to hear . . .

Florence Foster Jenkins singing The Queen of the Night

o holy night (?)

Possibly the worst version of this song you may ever hear, but somehow also heartfelt. Not for the weak of stomach.

O Holy Night

more really, really, really short stories

You can read more about my really, really, really short story project here. Here are three more for your reading pleasure:

#4: A Western.
Buck’s IPod was turned up so loud he didn’t hear the rustler stealing his
cattle until a brief pause between Meatloaf power ballads.

#5: Western, Part II
Tex wasn’t like the other cowboys. Sure, he would sit at the bar and argue
about Ford and Chevy (usually on the Chevy side, to be safe), but deep inside he
had the undeniable hankering for a Hyundai.

#6: A Cautionary Tale
Clarissa was bored, so she sat in her
armchair and didn’t do anything until she was buried in the sands of
time.
Moral: Even if you are bored, occasionally dusting your house may
prevent eventual suffocation.

really, really, really short stories

I gave up on NaNoWriMo. It became a choice between short-term success in novel writing and long-term success in life. I would have dropped the ball on too many other important things, including some pretty good music.

However, to keep my creative writing chops active, I added a goal on my 43 Things: "post really, really, really short stories." This gives me a chance to write short fiction without the burden of organizing it into a long form like a novel. You can monitor my progress on my 43 Things page about this goal. However, I will also post some of them here on fluent in mumble for your enjoyment:

#1: A Shocking Realization

Frederick was in his second year of culinary school when he found out that
egg-drop soup is not made from “Egg Drops.”

#2: Sunday

Pastor Morrisey’s socks did not match, and the sopranos were perpetually flat in the choir loft. Lucille stayed.

#3: A Sad Story

“What was that?” Franklin shouted; “I can’t hear you over your green and violet dress!” Debbie turned and left him there at Taco Bell, alone.

More to come later.

the election

After the hype of election night (correction: the hype never ends, but the initial hype has calmed somewhat), I feel I can now comment sensibly on the election.

Looking through a number of blogs on all sides of the political world, I have come to a solid, disturbing conclusion: The Middle is sorely underrepresented in all things political.

By The Middle, I mean people like me. I vote. I am not a huge supporter of some of the President's ideas, although I have great respect for the office and the person. I also had great respect for the office and the person during the Clinton administration as well, although some of his acts certainly cannot be condoned. I do not have a venomous hate for all Democrats like some conservatives I hear in the media. I do not have a venomous hate for all Republicans like some liberals.

Am I an independent? Not on paper. To be an independent would be to lose all power in primaries and caucuses. I would much rather remain registered with a party so I can have some influence in which person is selected to run.

Who has been catering to The Middle, the people like me, during this election season? Has anybody stepped forward as a voice of reason to say that there is good in all parties and that cooperation, as Sesame Street taught us so many years ago, makes it happen? No. At least not on a broad scale.

Instead, we have been fed negativity in almost every campaign, whether by the candidates or by their supporters or by media covering the races. This language of mutual hatred is demeaning to everybody in public life, and it pollutes the climate to the point that even months after the election, those who actually made it into office are seen as unworthy of any trust.

I can say that I voted for both elephants and donkeys on Tuesday. I cannot say that I am more or less confident in the future of America today than I was a week ago. No matter who won in the election, The Middle lost. The reasonable people who want trustworthy leaders lost. Those who value the way the game is played as much as the final score realize that a so-called victory for either side in such dirty races is hollow at best. More than any election I can remember, this one seems particularly fraught with loss. The particular people who got the votes don't matter as much as the values and trust so many lost in gathering them.

May God bless the America we now are to become the America we know we ought to be. May we find some way to meet in The Middle and learn the art of civil discourse and brotherhood even in disagreement.

the coke and mentos guys

I know you probably already know it, but the Coke and Mentos guys have just finished their latest video, and it's definitely worth the portion of your life you waste watching it, because they have wasted so much more time making it.

http://eepybird.com/

syndication for the noisebox

I just created Atom and RSS feeds specifically for the Noisebox. I don't know about you, but I'm going to read the Noisebox in that little thingy above my Gmail that always shows Spam recipes I didn't request. I know this is not a big deal, but it's a good small deal for me. If you're interested, subscribe. RSS Atom

that said...

I know I've been down on Internet Explorer 7 the past couple of days. I'm not trying to make undue peace with it, but here are some things I like:

• DevToolBar. It's something you can download from Microsoft, and it's in a Beta version right now. It gives some nice tools most casual surfers don't need. You can get some similar addons for Firefox, but I like the way these are grouped.
• The zoom tool on the bottom right. Very handy for viewing ill-designed sites with too-small stuff.
• The Anti-phishing thang. I always look at the URL to make sure I'm at the right place before entering personal information, but this will help quite a few people who aren't terribly savvy.

So I'm keeping it. I won't be using it much, but I'm keeping it so I can be sure gratemusic.com and LDSmusic.us don't look too dumb in it. I just care that much.

i.e. 7 again

I still don't like it. OK, it's been less than 48 hours, but a few things drive me nuts about Windows Internet Explorer 7:

Most notably, the text menu bar is gone (you think). You actually have to press ALT to get it to pop up. You have to do this to get to some of the features. And when you click anywhere besides the text menu bar itself? Yes, it closes. This was obviously not designed with mouse klutzes like me in mind. I hear that you can make it "sticky" so it displays all the time (rumor only - I have not done this yet), but either way, it still displays below the address bar, which is wrong.

A principle of good design is that you don't move something from a familiar location unless there is a really good reason. How did Microsoft do?

Suddenly the icon to access the Favorites menu has moved from top center to second row left.

The reload button looks different and now lives where the Go button was. You can't find it by muscle memory anymore.

Go is gone. Oh, wait. When you type an address, Reload becomes Go. Confusing.

The Home icon has moved from left to far right along with Print.

Where is help? You don't have the text menu bar right at your fingertips, and there is no help icon. Of course it's there, Silly! If you need help, all you need to do is go through TWO drop-down menus easily accessible through the 2-millimeter double-arrow thingy (>>) on the FAR RIGHT of the screen. Don't worry that it doesn't look like a button (or anything, for that matter) until you roll your mouse over it. When you try to drag that little help icon onto the bar with Home and Print where it belongs, of course it is not allowed. Asking for assistance is harshly discouraged.