What is the best way to get up the rankings for a musicians website?
There are lots of things to consider. First, an attractive website is essential. What image do you want to create and what money do you have to try to achieve that image? Getting reasonable photos is a priority. Of course they are expensive but you can do quite a lot yourself with editing software. There are lots of great hosts and templates out there now so you can set a website up cheaply and easily. Weebly is great! I have chosen the image at the top of site to reflect, my passion for the fiddle, trad music and performing. I have combined this with a personal image so people know who I am! What pages should you have? That will depend on what you want to do. My pages are designed with performance in mind (e.g. the News Page which gives details of upcoming gigs etc). I also have a hardanger page and links to my external website. A music teacher would have different pages. I have loaded some sound files to give a flavour of the type of music I have been playing. You could do the same , or link to My Space, SoundCloud or similar. Once you have your website, there are all sort of things that can make you site go up or down the rankings. You need to identify key words, you should write each page in a way that has quite a few of these (but not too many) or the search engines don't like it. Images should have Alt tags, Blogging frequently can help as can some links (but not all). Inward links to your site is a good thing. You can also use things like Google ads. These can work really well, but it depends how niche your site is. I run a google ad for hardangers.com. You can set your search conditions and because hardanger violins is a very specific search works really well. I wouldn't recommend a google ad for a search like "classical musician" though. Its note specific enough. But its great when it works. Once you have merchandise to sell directly, a shopping cart would be great. But you can still sell through your site, through affiliate type arrangements (eg have an account with CafePress). I've tried this for another site I've run - its slow but with work it can provide a small additional income - especially once you've built a fan base. Links to Twitter, Facebook are also useful and Weebly is about to introduce this into its new templates - great news! Can't wait.
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Had an interesting session the other day on the Beatles. We watched video footage of the day and discussed the Beatles touring career. Their last performance was in 1966 - i.e. the end of their third USA tour. Things had got out of hand - for a range of reasons - but exacerbated by John Lennon's infamous quote which led to death threats, tussles with the Klu Klux Clan and disillusionment among the Beatles "Christianity will go" "It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue about that; I'm right and I will be proved right. We're more popular than Jesus now; I don't know which will go first-rock 'n' roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It's them twisting it that ruins it for me." The story was written by a Friend of the Beatles, Maureen Cleaves. Her interview in the video we watched suggested she had no idea what would happen. In the UK, it attracted little attention but when it was run in the USA on the cover of Datebook the story was seized upon. A hate campaign began in the States with worries that there might be assassination attempts on John Lennon. I have spent years dealing with the media through my previous job. I know how difficult it is to draft press releases in a way that prevents people making mischief. Sometimes you need to draft in a way that gives wriggle room - sometimes you need to be completely accurate. There is a lot of thought that goes into presentational strategies nowadays, whether you are the Government, large companies, or bands. Media management is an essential skill. I guess in those days though, they were at the cutting edge of music - with no instruction manila or previous experience to draw on - either within the band - or the management. No one had toured on that scale before, Venues grew exponentially, but security and sound technology weren't up to the task. Neither was the media management in my view. The Beatles were young and inexperienced. John Lennon no doubt made the comment to a friend who was a journalist interviewing him about life as a Beatle. Did he have any idea what would happen? No I don't think so. That is evidenced by the stress he felt at the reaction (head in hands crying) and fast backtracking he attempted to do. In an interview, he did to attempt to apologise he said: "I suppose if I had said television was more popular than Jesus, I would have gotten away with it, but I just happened to be talking to a friend and I used the word 'Beatles' as a remote thing, not as what I think -- as Beatles, as those other Beatles like other people see us. I just said "they" are having more influence on kids and things than anything else, including Jesus. But I said it in that way which is the wrong way... "Originally I pointed out that fact in reference to England, that we meant more to kids than Jesus did, or religion at that time. I wasn't knocking it or putting it down. I was just saying it as a fact and it's true more for England than here. I'm not saying that we're better or greater, or comparing us with Jesus Christ as a person or God as a thing or whatever it is. I just said what I said and it was wrong. Or it was taken wrong. And now it's all this... "I wasn't saying whatever they're saying I was saying. I'm sorry I said it really. I never meant it to be a lousy anti-religious thing. I apologize if that will make you happy. I still don't know quite what I've done. I've tried to tell you what I did do but if you want me to apologize, if that will make you happy, then OK, I'm sorry." Not very convincing really. I think he was simply operating within his understanding of his own culture and environment where his irony was understood. But if you are on the world stage (as politician, or band member) you can't afford to make unguarded statements and expect these to play in other countries as they do here. I believe he was inexperienced and rather naive. Nothing wrong with that at his age at the time. And no doubt he was playing to the youth in this country. But as part of their strategy (or perhaps their only strategy) was world touring and particularly touring in the states) they should have been thinking about the cultures that exist there too. Boring? Maybe - but there are probably better ways of playing to youth culture and keeping up an irreverent image - if that is what they wanted to do - other than choosing a topic that would spli America and make them the target of the hate campaign that followed. Nevertheless they did spark a more outspoken style among the young, which continued and changed the face of youth culture. He, and others, provided the impetus for the young to speak out and ask questions. As it was, their records were banned by loads of radio stations right across America and in many areas their records were burned in protest. The Vatican denounced them and not surprisingly there were then bans in lots of countries closely associated with the Vatican e.g. Italy, Mexico etc. The Ku Klux Klan campaigned against them in the south. It was pretty serious stuff. The original comment was made much of, and no doubt ran and ran, well beyond what might have been a proportionate response. These things do. The reaction seemed hysterical and very unattractive for a nation where free speech has always been a strongly held value. Its interesting that on the same magazine cover, Paul McCartney also made a pretty controversial statement of the USA "It's a lousy country where anyone black is a dirty n*****!" Of course, it would be harder for Americans to openly criticise the Beatles for that comment because to do so would be openly racist. But perhaps that is part of the real reason why the Ku Klax Klan were involved in briefing against them. With time, things usually work out for the best because you make them. As one path closes another one opens up. In 1978, John Lennon wrote "I always remember to thank Jesus for the end of my touring days; if I hadn't said that the Beatles were 'bigger than Jesus' and upset the very Christian Ku Klux Klan, well, Lord, I might still be up there with all the other performing fleas! God bless America. Thank you, Jesus." Controversial or what? Was he still hurt by it all? If you want to read more about this see About.com Oldies music which is fascinating on the subject and the source of these quotes and photos. Do comment with your thoughts. I've completed a few compositions recently. I'm really pleased with them - they are all different. Here's a short clip of one of them. I've called it "Yengema's Shadows". I used to live in Yengema, Sierra Leone and my memories of that time, including the rainforest storms, inspired this track. I've blogged about my being a voluntary Director of the Scots Music Group previously. We are trying something new. We are running a masterclass in working in a band with the MG Alba Scots Trad Music Awards Instrumentalist of the Year 2011 and members of the Treacherous Orchestra, Box Club and Lori Watson & The Rule of Three. The course has sold out which is great news (Innes Watson and John Somerville.
I've loved playing in the folk band at Stevenson and so I have joined the class too. The first week was spent running through five or six tunes and we will then be looking at arranging them. There are twelve of us and we will be performing the pieces in four weeks or so. Emma Reid Went to the excellent Northern Streams weekend which is run by the Traditional Music and Song Association of Scotland (Edinburgh & Lothians Branch). It was a wonderful programme of three concerts and numerous workshops over three days. I took full advantage and went to as many events as humanly possible over the weekend. We heard Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish song on Friday evening. FUNI - Bára Grímsdóttir and Chris Foster (Iceland/Britain) gave us a lot of information about Icelandic folk music and instruments. Lots of songs in lydian mode!! Karin Ericsson Back and Maria Misgeld (Sweden) sang a capella - beautiful. Kim André Rysstad and Lajla Buer Storli played a mix of Norwegian song and hardanger fiddle. My partner wasted no time and was deep in conversation with Lajla about hardanger fiddles. He has just made one. Lajla was very friendly and interested to help. She has put us in contact with a Norwegian who look after her fiddles. She also told me about some hardanger summer schools. On Saturday I took my hardanger to a Fiddle workshop with Lajla Buer Storli (Hardanger region, Norway). We learned, by ear, a great but difficult tune from the hardanger area of Norway. It wasn't that it was technically difficult, but the sequences and rhythms are so different from Scottish folk music it was difficult for any of us to get it quickly. Next up was a workshop in Harmony in music with Daniel and Emma Reid (Sweden/Britain). Daniel plays saxophone and Emma is a truly fantastic fiddler. The tune was great and we learned some drones and rhythmic accompaniment. Finally I learned Song & accompaniment, with Julie Hjetland (Denmark) and Jens Ulversand(Sweden) and also Annlaug Borsheim and Rannveig Djønne. The first half of the workshop saw us learning a Danish song about cabbage and gruel - it was a hard life!. Julie Hjetland showed us how she does body percussion - which involved hitting herself andlooked quite sore but was really effective! n the second half of the workshop Annlaug Borsheim and Rannveig Djønne (Norway) taught us a lovely tune and lullaby. Annlaug plays guitar and sings but she also plays the hardanger. She was very interested in mine too. I think its unusual to see one outside Norway. On Saturday evening we went to the second concert. The highlights for me were the wonderful fiddling from Emma Reid - beautiful polskas (3/4/ tunes - stressing beats 1 and 3); great songs and interesting accompaniment using looping from Jullie Hjetland (Denmark) with Jens Ulversand (Sweden); and some really pretty accordion tunes and song from Annlaug Borsheim and Rannveig Djønne (Norway). Saw them all again on Sunday in a finale concert. We also did Icelandic dancing and icelandic singing! First time my hardanger has been out the house and Lajla and Annlaug gave us some great feedback on it. I came away feeling very motivated and learned a lot over the weekend. Annlaug stayed on for a couple of days and so I also went out to Pathhead last night for a workshop with her. More great hardanger fiddle tunes and it was a good experience to meet the Pathhead fiddlers. The SCO performed an interesting programme of baroque greats last week. It was a full program including Telemann's Water Music Suite in C major "Ebb and Flow", Heinichen's Sonata in F major for two horns, lots of Bach of course and Vivaldi's Concerto in G minor "di Dresda".
There was a preconcert talk with the Conductor, Richard Egarr who also played harpsichord. Richard Egarr is internationally known for his work with period music and is now an Associate of the SCO. It was a great concert, made all the more interesting by the baroque music that we have been playing in our own strings group. Richard Egarr talked about cutting through the misinformation about baroque music. He mentioned research on tempo which would sometimes change during a piece for good musical reasons. This was contrary to the belief of several music colleges he had visited where students were forced to stick rigidly to a tempo. He also talked about the harpsichord and its lack of dynamics. This meant that the strings needed to play down. They should also avoid vibrato. It was interesting that during the performance I could see the conductor waving the violins down at times so the harpsichord could be heard and there wasn't a vibrato in sight. Something that happens to us when we play baroque too. Richard Egarr was very complimentary about the SCO's ability to be flexible and intelligent in their interpretation of the music. It was beautiful music and a really interesting night. Went to see the Edinburgh Film Music Orchestra play in the Reid Concert Hall last week. It was great. They played film music of Morricone, Shostakovich, Xiong, Saint-Saëns and Durant. A couple of Stevenson students were playing - well done guys. Two of the pieces were played with lights off and films running. Must be difficult to get the timing just right but they were note perfect. Great lead violinist.
Three performances this week - so far. So how did they go? I have had a very intensive three weeks working up the sets but I have learnt a lot from the experience - as always. There is a lot of pressure to get through the music and to ensure we get the dynamics right. It takes lot of practice and preparation but its so enjoyable and worth it. There is a great feeling of teamwork as it all comes together. Its not easy to perform to high standard and each performance brings some new challenges. First, I played in the strings group performing one of Telemann's Concerto (unnamed). I love the fourth movement of this. Its sad when the performance is over to think we are unlikely to perform it again soon. We played without a conductor, guided by Tess our lead violinist. It was a challenge, but the beginnings were good. Next, I performed in the choir. We have been working hard on three pieces. We started with Gloria in Excelsis. Its starts with a forte section which is quite hard without a rehearsal beforehand. But it went well. My daughter was in the audience and got a fright from the volume - so we must have been at the right level! The other two pieces are gentler, Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal, music by Joyce Eilers, and Prairie Waters by Night by John Leavitt. They all went well. Finally I performed in folk band. The tunes were wo strathspeys Morag Haig Thomas, and Weights and measures followed by Myra's jig. The second set was a beautiful song Highland Mary. Beautiful arrangement. The final set was three polkas - Britches full of Stitches, Jessica's Polka and Trip to Dingle. I blogged about these previously. Tricky and fast - some quick third position work but it went well. Audience seemed to enjoy it. Here are a few sound files below. If you are interested in hearing more visit My Music page. Finished up the day with a theory exam - ugh. I then went out to see the wonderful singer songwriter Karine Polwart which I blogged about yesterday. I am doing another performance tonight, Scots Music Group tutors concert which is part of Ceilidh Culture.
I blogged a couple of months ago about the hardanger violin that we have been making (well - that my partner has been making). Its taken several years of research and building but its now finished in the white. Its a nine string fiddle (four top strings and five sympathetic strings) and has a REALLY great sound. I am delighted with it. Its a beautiful thing.
Rosing and varnish is next. |
Fiona Harrison
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