Great documentary about a forgotten songwriter!

Searching for Sugar Man review

A riveting documentary about a forgotten Detroit songwriter once thought of as the next Bob Dylan has hit select theatres in Winnipeg. The film, “Searching for Sugar Man,” documents an incredibly bizarre circumstance surrounding the career of songwriter, Sixto Rodriguez.

The film begins with the featured song, “Sugar Man,” which plays through the low fidelity speakers of a car cruising down a winding highway etched in the side of a mountain. Hearing the song in low fidelity for the first time doesn’t do the song justice, but thankfully a higher quality version is dubbed in midway through the film and during the credits. The film cuts to a beautiful montage of Lake Michigan landscape photography and impressive pencil sketches of Detroit’s skyline, as we are transported to the early roots of the artists, Rodriguez.

The movie begins to construct the myth of the songwriter known as Rodriguez by interviewing record producers from his first album, Cold Fact. The producers tell the story of Rodriguez as the wandering mysterious poet from the shadows of Detroit. Digital illustrations are used to detail Rodriguez’s early career, which are used effectively to express the dream like sequence of him singing in the cigarette haze of a bar with his back turned to the crowd. Since there is only limited footage of Rodriguez in this era, illustrations are effectively employed throughout the film to add a compelling visual element to accompany the gripping recollections during interviews. The film frequently uses landscape illustrations that fade into time-lapse photography; this technique adds very sophisticated B-roll footage to the film and demonstrates high production value and originality.

The setting suddenly changes to a very unexpected place, Cape Town, South Africa, which is introduced with the song, “The Establishment Blues.” This song is a great selection to accompany the dated footage from the apartheid, which is edited tightly on the beats of the song. The film then takes on an unsuspecting twist and shifts gear into a great mystery being uncovered by music detectives Stephen “Sugar Man” Segerman and Craig Bartholomew-Strydom. Every leg of their journey is impressively documented with exciting and sometimes heated interviews with leads. As each small clue is uncovered, the film keeps you on the edge of your seat, pulling you into the shoes of these truth seekers, as they gain momentum towards finding the man responsible for writing, “The record that gave us permission to think freely,” during the times of apartheid.

This mythical songwriter is finally revealed at the climax of the search in absolute modesty, opening the window of his rundown Detroit home in old age, this is a brilliantly captured unforgettable moment. The pace of the film slows down during an interview with Rodriguez; his mannerisms make it really easy to relate to this modest man, he embodies the unsung forgotten hero that is in all of our hearts. The film does a great job skillfully presenting details that solidify Rodriguez’s character identity in this light, as a working class hero that is constantly unfairly cut down by society.

This documentary film has it all: An incredible touching story, seamless editing, brilliant song selection and great cinematography. As the film ended, many in the theatre stayed in their seats even after the credits, wiping away tears.

Collective Studio Space

Hello All

So music industry friends and myself are starting a collective studio space in the exchange where members can freely record and collaborate on music projects. We hope to resemble the electrical engineering collective space "Skull Space," which essentially is a member based work space full of like minded artists to share resources and skills.

We are having our first general planning session this Saturday Nov. 23rd, if you are interested in becoming a member of this music collective than come down to the planning session and have your questions and comments be heard!

We have several spaces in mind to rent around the exchanged area, with an added interest in members we will definitely be inclined to upgrade to a bigger space to accommodate everyone. There will be security storage areas for bands wishing to store their gear with purchase of a  membership, so no need to haul that drum kit in the cold every-time you are looking to rehearse.

The collective has deep roots in the local event promotion industry, so fundraising events will be held monthly to help reduce the monthly overhead. Recently we have received an arts grant to help get this project off the ground, so after a couple community planning sessions you can bet to see this project taking off full force. At this point in time we have 35 confirmed members and the number is growing steadily. Come check out the planning session tomorrow to get more info if you are interested, hope to see you there!

125 Adelaide St - 1pm - November 23rd

Cheers!

Recording Steps for Beginners to Intermediate

Sound Like A Pro
Recording for the first time can be an intimidating process for a beginning artist, especially in the wake of a music industry that has more competition for a smaller market share. Your first recording, or demo CD, is an important tool for marketing your music. If produced with skill, your demo CD can recruit new fans, land some high-profile shows, and attract record label interest. Patience is paramount when taking on this great challenge. Some tips and tricks can go along way, especially if you are your own producer, engineer and studio manager on a budget.

Once a song is first penned, ensure the melodic content and rhythm structure are tightened up with practise before heading to the studio, like the pros say, “There never can be too much pre-production.” When are tracking always remember, “Bad in, worse out,” which means you can’t polish up bad tracking in the mix (without a major headache and empty wallet), so spend the extra time getting the best tones and levels during the first essential steps of recording the foundation of your song, the “scratch tracks.”

Scratch tracks are recorded primarily to capture the rhythm section and “feel” of a song. When setting up for scratch recording, make sure there is acoustic separation between all performing musicians. The drum tracks are given special consideration during this step—the drum tracks from scratch recording almost always make it to the finished product. To achieve the cleanest audio to tape, choose a recording environment that has minimal echoes and ambient noise. Ensure the kick drum, snare and hi-hats have been miked closely with the mic facing away from the other drums—There are many resources online to guide this task of precision. Experimenting with mic placement is key for discovering the “sweet spot” on each drum for the first time.

After reviewing test recording and confirming that all the tones are sitting in their right places, record enable all of the tracks and run through the song as many times as necessary, just make sure you don’t run out of tape! Don’t fret if the guitar misses a note, or the vocals drift out of key, your main focus when recording the scratch tracks is to ensure the rhythm section is sounding pristine. Once this is achieved, its time to move on to the “overdubs”.

Overdub recording is the process of re-tracking over scratch tracks by correcting imperfections with small segments of “punch ins,” or replacing the whole track altogether. Recording layers of overdubs can add incredible depth and complexity to a song; it can fortify tones with reinforcement or add new musical elements. A great starting point is to layer the vocals and guitars phrasing them slightly different so they sound full and complex. Now the song is getting cluttered with all the new tracks, this is when the mixing process can carve out some of the muck and let the tonality shine through.

Mixing is a technical art form that takes years of critical listening and experience to execute professionally. If you are going to spend money on your record, this is the area to invest in the assistance of a professional. There are many points of reference that almost always take a certain treatment in the mix, but at the end of the day you need to know what to add or subtract to make the song most euphonic to your ears. As a beginning producer, it is beneficial to ask yourself why certain elements in the mix sound imbalanced before touching the board, this will slowly train your ears.

A great analogy for audio mix theory is imagining a chest of drawers, each drawer can only hold so much content, if one drawer is overflowing and the other is empty it will be out of proportion. The goal when mixing is to get a balanced spread of musical content in each drawer, the drawers representing frequency bandwidth. Let your ears make the critical decisions as you sweep with the equalizer on the soundboard, go through each track and slightly subtract the frequencies that sound too loud. Experiment with other plug-ins like compressors and reverbs, but don’t let your song get too “busy” with effects. When the mix is set and everything is sounding balanced and full, add a plug-in called a “limiter” on the main-mix output to tame the levels for CD quality.

These production tips are the very basic steps to recording your first demo CD. It takes years of practise and perseverance to train your ears to listen critically. I recommend reading further into microphone placement and mixing techniques. Not every engineer follows the rules, but you must know the rules first, to break them with confidence.

Joe Silva Interview

It really isn’t difficult to spot a DJ, even in a densely crowded trendy café. Joe Silva was sporting the typical DJ signature clothing that his generation of beat-slingers coined in the 1990s. His slender build is draped in a bright blue hoodie and track pants that flow into crisp white sneakers. I noticed Joe ordering an espresso while chatting diligently with the barista, as she flaunts her pearly-whites laughing at his joke. He was mild-mannered and pleasant as we sat down for a pint. He was full of youthful delight, making it impossible to guess his actual age. 

Photo Courtesy of LCPhoto

Joe is a rare variety of Canadian musician; he is one of Canada’s only veteran producers of house music. This genre of electronic music originated in the underground discothèque’s of Chicago, and is now a “Global phenomenon,” as stated by Forbes Magazine in September 2012.

Joe recalls, “For most of my teenage years I was playing keys in a three piece progressive rock-band, then I started listening to local DJ’s like Harry Chan spinning underground dance music and I was inspired.”

 Joe was a hard working teenager, he had an early morning paper route and in the evening he would work in the kitchen of his restaurant job, all for the purpose of funding his musical passion.

“I was finally able to purchase a Korg analog synthesizer.” Says Joe, as he grins re-living the moment.

Photo Courtesy of FPO

Joe was attending Red River College studying computer engineering when he composed his first house album on a – now archaic – Commodore 64 computer. He combined his skills of music and technology to create a groundbreaking record, when the house music genre was just beggining to emerge out of the shadows of warehouse parties. Residing in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Joe had to work extra hard to get himself heard and taken seriously as a producer.

Joe says, “I copied my album onto hundreds of cassette tapes, which took forever. I went to record shops and rave-parties handing my tapes to touring DJ’s, promoters and label owners. This was networking before the internet.” Joe taught himself the inner workings of the music business without a manager or mentor, networking the old fashioned way by calling up promoters and fellow DJs across the continent racking up massive phone bills.

The DJ, unlike musicians forming a band, is most often a one-man operation; which is an ideal musical outlet for a do-it-yourself enthusiast like Joe. James Wolf a long-time Joe Silva fan and record collector says, “Joe can be a reserved guy, before he plays a show he always hangs out and watches the crowd to feel them out. When he gets on stage he’s electric, he comes alive with the dance floor.”

It was in 2001 that Joe decided that he could make a living off music and he no longer needed the supplementary income from his day job as a computer engineer. So he quit with a smile on his face.

“In 2001 I decided I was never going back to work. My wonderful wife actually supported this decision. At times the bills start to pile up, but that gives me motivation to create more music.” He laughs; his eyes show happiness and no regrets.