This is a quick post to say a big thank-you to all those who contacted me about the audio player on the smoothbeats website.

Some customers were experiencing long wait times before hearing beats, watching the dreaded “buffering..” message. This was obviously unacceptable, as I wanted the beat preview feature to be as seamless as possible.

After reading the e-mails lots of you folks sent me about this, I endeavored to fix the problem - I’ve spent the last 3 days wrestling with the website code.

Previewing beats on the website is now a lot quicker than it was before - loading times have been dramatically reduced, and you should be able to browse beats at lightening speed. (well, it’s really fast on my mac - I hope it’s the same for you..)

Thanks to you folks who made me aware of this. I very much appreciate it.

Visit the smoothbeats site now

Finally, I can finish the beats I’ve been producing for you. Stay tuned, as you’ll hear some next week!

Shawn Berry, R&B artist, has e-mailed to tell me about his new distribution and marketing deal. X tracks on his new album were created using beats licensed from the smoothbeats website.

As he puts it

“I’ve been blessed to receive a full service Digital Distribution and Marketing Deal, placing my Album in every Major online retailer and P2P streaming site. You name the store..I’m there and if not check back again, and I’ll be there :-)”

This is great news, and proves that if you’re doing a self release using beats licensed from the internet, you can still achieve great things for your career

Shawn’s new album is available on Amazon, iTunes, Napster and Rhapsody right now - follow the links below:

Buy at Amazon
Buy at iTunes
Buy at Rhapsody
Buy at Napster

Thanks to Shawn for letting me know. If you want to check out some of the beats that Shawn used, visit the smoothbeats homepage

Hey all - happy new year, and thanks for continuing to visit the blog.

I’ve been getting e-mails from folks asking where the new beats are. Regular visitors to the Smoothbeatsonly website will have noticed I’ve not added any new beats for a little while now.  This is because my time has been spent re-writing the back-end code of the website to improve the way beats are delivered to customers.

If you’ve ordered a beat in the past couple of weeks, you will have seen the improvements.Rest assured that from next Monday, there will be a steady stream of new beats added to the site. If you’re a previous customer of smoothbeatsonly, you’ll be sent an e-mail as soon as the beats are uploaded.

Stay tuned, and thanks for your understanding and continued support.

Continuing the listing of free and cheap audio applications for R&B artists.

Read Part 1

Cockos Reaper

Reaper is causing waves in the windows world at the moment, and is the new “poster boy” for affordable music/audio software. Whilst not strictly free, the developer allows an un-timed and un-limited trial download of the software. Personal licenses cost as little as $50.

The program features a comprehensive selection of tools for recording, editing and mixing audio, as well as support for third-party software and effects. In fact, the feature list is so comprehensive, it might be a little too much for a beginner.

Still, the software is free for as long as you feel you’re evaluating it, it’s under active development, and should make a good bet for future-proofing your studio set-up. The program is PC only at the moment, but a Mac version is due very soon (at time of writing)

Highly recommended.

More information:

http://www.cockos.com/reaper/

Audacity

Audacity is an “Open Source” program, and is developed by an active team of volunteers. As such, it’s completely free.

Audacity features a simple interface, and a multi-track recorder/editor. Recordings can also be mixed easily, although the effects aren’t as extensive as offerings from other programs.

Audacity may well be suited to the beginner. There aren’t too many options to confuse new users, and there’s an online community to help you out, should you hit a bump in the road.

The program is available for both PC and Mac users. For more information, visit
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Luna (Free version)

Marketed as a powerful music recorder and editor for beginners, Luna claims to feature all the tools you’ll need for recording, mixing, and editing audio and MIDI.

The user interface is obviously aimed at beginners, but the program is surprisingly capable and feature-rich. There are various ways of editing and mixing sounds, and the program comes with a good selection of effects.

A full version of the program is available at reasonable cost, however, a free version (with some restrictions) is also available.

More info:
http://www.mutools.com/products.html

Disclaimer: These links and guides are supplied as advice only. Users download and install software at their own risk. The programs above offer general features of interest to the recording artist, however, I offer no guarantee that the the software will work on any particular computer, or that the programs are 100% compatible with products downloaded from SmoothBeatsOnly.com.

If you’ve downloaded a beat from the internet, you’ll want to record yourself singing with the track, preferably at home using your computer. But music recording software can be pricey: $200 up to $10,000 + is out of the price range of up and coming independent artists.

However, there’s a great selection of free software for PC and MAC users readily available on the internet for recording you vocals with. I’ve taken the time to find the best for you, and here they are…

For Mac Users….

Garageband

Lets get this one out the way first. Garageband comes as part of the iLife suite of programs, but is also pre-installed on any Mac sold in the past couple of years. So the chances are you already have it! Garageband features audio tracks, virtual instruments, and a mixing environment. In other-words, everything you need to begin recording to beats and editing audio. Best of all, Garageband is based on the same “audio engine” that powers Apple’s Pro Line of audio software, such as Logic. So you’ll be using the same sounds as the ‘Pros’ use.

Highly recommended. For more info:
http://www.apple.com/ilife/garageband/

For Windows PC Users…

Kristal Audio Engine

Created and distributed by Kristal Labs, this program features 16 audio tracks - more than enough to record multiple layers of backing vocals and harmonies! It comes with a basic selection of FX plugins, such as EQ and Reverb, so you can add some polish to your vocal recordings. The program also features a complete mixing environment.

The Kristal web site features an excellent help guide, and active user forum, so beginners should find it easy to start creating music.

Kristal Audio Engine is available free of charge for personal use, although if you start making money using the software, the developers ask for a nominal fee.

For more information and download, visit
http://www.kreatives.org/kristal

Quartz Audio Master Free

This is the free version of the full Quartz Audio Master music and audio package. It offers a full audio recording, mixing and editing environment, a MIDI sequencer, and a facility to share your projects with other users over the Internet.
The program is limited to 4 audio tracks, but if you just want to record some vocals to a beat you’ve downloaded, this shouldn’t present a problem.

The only issue with Quartz Audio Master, is that it only runs on older versions of Windows, so if you run Windows XP or Vista, you may need to try another program.

For more information, visit
http://www.digitalsoundplanet.com/SoftwareHouse/Products/Audio_Master/Freeware/freeware.phtml

Disclaimer: These links and guides are supplied as advice only. Users download and install software at their own risk. The programs above offer general features of interest to the recording artist, however, I offer no guarantee that the the software will work on any particular computer, or that the programs are 100% compatible with products downloaded from SmoothBeatsOnly.com.

By popular request, selected beats on the smoothbeats website are now available as high quality, 24bit WAV files. All new beats added to the site will also be available in WAV format.

Best of all? The cost remains the same!

So what is a WAV file? Typically, before uploading to the web, a beat is compressed into an MP3 file. This compressed MP3 is usually 1/10th the file size of the original beat “master.” This makes for quicker downloading, but at the expense of sound quality.

A lot of artists are now taking beats into the studio, and need high quality files to record to. That’s why I’m supplying all new beats with WAV files (as well as MP3) and some of my back catalogue is also available in WAV format.

The WAV files are typically lower in volume. This is to give your recorded vocals more room to “fit into the mix”.  You can then increase the volume of your finished track.

If you’ve previously brought a beat as an MP3 file, but wish to have a WAV copy, please let me know by contacting me. Remember to include your name, and ref. number (2checkout or paypal) I’ll send you the WAV copy.  Please be patient though…

It’s fair to say that most R&B artists and rappers are looking for a record deal to take them to the next level. But the route to unlimited bling is tough one, and many artists fall by the wayside without ever getting anywhere near the A&R department of a record label. Whilst managing artists, I’ve learnt a few tricks, which I’m going to share with you now. I’ve even managed to get the head of Sony A&R to come to my house for a day visit. I kid you not. Like to know how? Want to attract the attention of a major record label? Read on… Continue reading →

A popular question I get asked via the wonders of e-mail, is “How do i get a better vocal sound when I record?” The answer is simpler than you might think, and you don’t need expensive studio gear either. Interested? Read on…

Continue reading →

My intention for this blog is to add as many useful articles for up-and-coming urban artists as possible. If you have an idea for an article, or want to know more about any aspect of writing, producing or promotion, I’d love to hear from you. Drop your comments in the box below. Many thanks!

So you’ve managed to get some studio time to get your songs down. Excellent. But how do you make the most of your time behind the microphone? In my role of producer, I’ve seen artists who got great results in the studio, and those who made a complete mess of it. So, if you want to avoid the common pitfalls many artists fall into, read on..

Continue reading →