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Hi All In my ongoing social media efforts, I have been trying to write a new blog post every month (last month I published the interview with Floyd that seemed to be much enjoyed.) On the 24th of May Bob Dylan turned 75 so this month I wrote a blog post about some songwriting lessons I have taken from his song "Blowin' in the Wind". I do not claim to be an expert on this topic, and some of my points may be quite contentious but would love to hear your comments. 6 Things I learned from "Blowin' in the Wind"
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Josie
Congratulations. What an absolutely excellent article. You ought to be extremely pleased with the way you have both recognized Dylan's lyrical genius and the way that you have articulated your subject points so perfectly.
Readability? Certainly! Great effort. Congratulations again.
Trev
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
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Thank you so much Trevor. I am so glad you enjoyed it. This blog writing thing is slowly getting easier. 
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Very nice blog Josie! I think you hit the nail right on the head when it comes to music. I think learning music theory is important but don't let it get in the way of making music. If you can't play from the heart then all the theory ain't gonna help!
{edit} You might want to add one more thing and that is you don't need a really good voice to sing. Again singing from the heart adds emotion and that is more important that tone IMHO. Off course you still have to sing in key.
Last edited by MarioD; 05/27/16 02:07 AM.
Back in my day the only time we started panic buying was when the bartender shouted "last call"!
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Very nice blog Josie! I think you hit the nail right on the head when it comes to music. I think learning music theory is important but don't let it get in the way of making music. If you can't play from the heart then all the theory ain't gonna help!
{edit} You might want to add one more thing and that is you don't need a really good voice to sing. Again singing from the heart adds emotion and that is more important that tone IMHO. Off course you still have to sing in key. Thanks Mario. I will add a your point under the comments section 
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I've become guilty of study rather than creating. Not just in songwriting. I set a goal for this year to study, practice and play the guitar more. I gifted BIAB to my granddaughter as well as to a friend praising the educational aspect and power of BIAB. I had never taken that aspect as a benefit to myself.
Having a hard time getting off the ground with it so far this year.
For recording, I upgraded my 2 channel Presonus Audiobox to the 4 channel Audiobox 44vsl, purchased two Presonus Eureka channel strips and a Martin guitar and upgraded Studio One 2 Professional to Studio One 3 Professional.
I've not recorded a single track.
Have begun to record BIAB tracks to play along and practice.
Maybe your blog will give the bump that I need to jump start myself.
Good article and good points...
BIAB 2025:RB 2025, Latest builds: Dell Optiplex 7040 Desktop; Windows-10-64 bit, Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz CPU and 16 GB Ram Memory.
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Very nice Josie, you not only have a gift for music but writing as well. Good job!
Jeff
Win11, Intel i7 7700K 4.2Ghz, 32Gb RAM, 2x1Tb HD, 500Gb NVMe, BIAB/RB 2026, MOTU 828MK3 audio, MOTU Midi Express, Yamaha Montage 7, DX7II, TX802, Motif XS Rack, Roland Fantom XR Rack, Oberheim Matrix 1000, VoiceLive3 Extreme, Kontakt 6, SampleTank 4.3
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Hi Charlie
I think we all get bogged down in equipment and studying rather than doing. The tough part its that both are necessary but if they take too much time away from "doing" then it is probably counter productive. I think that Dylan's example of writing this song in 10 minutes and then performing it that same night (and messing up the lyrics) is a fine example of getting things done.
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Thank you Jeff. I guess it also takes practice but I do write (be it business software specifications) for a living.
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I've become guilty of study rather than creating. Not just in songwriting. I set a goal for this year to study, practice and play the guitar more. I gifted BIAB to my granddaughter as well as to a friend praising the educational aspect and power of BIAB. I had never taken that aspect as a benefit to myself.
Having a hard time getting off the ground with it so far this year.
For recording, I upgraded my 2 channel Presonus Audiobox to the 4 channel Audiobox 44vsl, purchased two Presonus Eureka channel strips and a Martin guitar and upgraded Studio One 2 Professional to Studio One 3 Professional.
I've not recorded a single track.
Have begun to record BIAB tracks to play along and practice.
Maybe your blog will give the bump that I need to jump start myself.
Good article and good points... Study beats the heck out of neglect. One thing all forms of creativity have in common is prep time. That takes many forms, one of which is study. At least you aren't letting the embers go out. The songs will come. Josie, EXCELLENT article! I love what you are doing on Facebook.. you inspire me! Keep up the good work!
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Let me go on record here as being the first to name Joanne the first 'breakout' artist from here on the forum. I did so quite some time back.
She's been working her plan all along and doing all the right things. She's writing, she's performing, she's blogging and she's collaborating.
Joanne has a presence on Facebook, YouTube, Streetjelly, Periscope and Soundcloud via PGMusic Radio.
She has always had the drive and talent and has made phenomenal progress in the few years I've been acquainted with her.
Pat, it always takes a bump to get me out of my funk.... First time was around 1974 when I was brought into a band. Happened in 1982 when I had the honor of working with a great vocalist who was stationed here in Myrtle Beach.
1998 my brother brought me into Nashville and introduced me to every producer and took me into every recording studio he could cram into a week's visit.
It's coming back. I came out of the shower last Thursday with a complete set up lyrics..... Hadn't done that in a while.
BIAB 2025:RB 2025, Latest builds: Dell Optiplex 7040 Desktop; Windows-10-64 bit, Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz CPU and 16 GB Ram Memory.
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Let me go on record here as being the first to name Joanne the first 'breakout' artist from here on the forum. I did so quite some time back.
She's been working her plan all along and doing all the right things. She's writing, she's performing, she's blogging and she's collaborating.
Joanne has a presence on Facebook, YouTube, Streetjelly, Periscope and Soundcloud via PGMusic Radio.
She has always had the drive and talent and has made phenomenal progress in the few years I've been acquainted with her.
Ah Charlie. THANK YOU so much. Breakout artist! I like that very much. I have been very fortunate in having two years of formally working very little (only about 20 hours a month) which has really allowed me to do all these things. It has been completely wonderful and I wouldn't change it a bit! Unfortunately my husband is getting tired of carrying the income can (a while back I commented on something about income and he commented back "well you can help too!"). So I have gone back to work in the mornings. This involves a jump from 20 hours a month to 120 hours a month. So my musical activity is curtailed a bit. However, that is not all bad as having less time certainly concentrates your efforts. For example, I think communities like FAWM and 50/90 are great places to write and record a lot of songs in very little time. On my Facebook strategy, I have been doing a lot of work on this lately and let me say, it is not easy. It takes time and it takes effort. Things don't go viral by accident (mostly). If anybody wants to know how I have gone about this let me know and I will gladly write about it. Thank you so much, Charlie, for your ongoing support. I am so happy that you got out of the shower with a new set of lyrics. If you need some vocal support on it give me a shout.
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Josie,
EXCELLENT article! I love what you are doing on Facebook.. you inspire me! Keep up the good work!
Thanks so much for reading and commenting Pat. I have made some comments above in my response to Charlie about what I am doing on Facebook.
Last edited by JosieC; 05/29/16 11:31 PM.
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On my Facebook strategy, I have been doing a lot of work on this lately and let me say, it is not easy. It takes time and it takes effort. Things don't go viral by accident (mostly). If anybody wants to know how I have gone about this let me know and I will gladly write about it.
Hi Josie, You have already shared some of this with me, but it has broad value, and would be well worth sharing with everybody. It deserves its own thread.
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"Unfortunately my husband is getting tired of carrying the income..."
There's a recent article about Graham Cochran, founder of 'The Recording Revolution'. He lost his job in 2007 and started the web based Recording Revolution and now earns $75,000 USD per month!!! Destiny can be fleeting. You have to be vigilant and ready to grasp it when it comes.
Destiny comes into everyone's life at some point. It gets away from most because they are too busy living life they fail to see it or they lack confidence in themselves and fear to leap out and grasp it.
With music, you only have to get it right once to generate enough money to take care of yourself for life....
BIAB 2025:RB 2025, Latest builds: Dell Optiplex 7040 Desktop; Windows-10-64 bit, Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz CPU and 16 GB Ram Memory.
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On my Facebook strategy, I have been doing a lot of work on this lately and let me say, it is not easy. It takes time and it takes effort. Things don't go viral by accident (mostly). If anybody wants to know how I have gone about this let me know and I will gladly write about it.
Hi Josie, You have already shared some of this with me, but it has broad value, and would be well worth sharing with everybody. It deserves its own thread. Okay great Pat. I will do a blog post about it for my June blog post and put up a new thread when done.
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"Unfortunately my husband is getting tired of carrying the income..."
There's a recent article about Graham Cochran, founder of 'The Recording Revolution'. He lost his job in 2007 and started the web based Recording Revolution and now earns $75,000 USD per month!!! Destiny can be fleeting. You have to be vigilant and ready to grasp it when it comes.
Destiny comes into everyone's life at some point. It gets away from most because they are too busy living life they fail to see it or they lack confidence in themselves and fear to leap out and grasp it.
With music, you only have to get it right once to generate enough money to take care of yourself for life....
Hi Charlie. Wow! I guessed Graham was earning some big tom but 75K a month. That is awesome. He has a great concept and puts out some wonderful content. And make no mistake, he has worked his butt off since losing his job in 2007. I was a member of his dueling mixes for a while and found it very worthwhile. I am definitely what my friend Cuzzie would call "Miracle Ready". I am still continuing full steam ahead with my music (am even thinking about doing 50/90 for my sins. ha ha) just going to be spending less hours on it. The main problem with music is that there are so many thousands of talented youngsters doing what I am doing. You just have to hang around on Periscope and see the depth of talent in that small microcosm. Last night we streamed 40 artists back-to-back for 9 hours on Periscope (between 10 - 15 minutes was allocated to each artist). And nearly everyone I watched was talented and fantastic. So, getting it right once is a little like winning the lottery. But hey, you gotta buy a ticket to stand a chance of winning the lotto, right?
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"Graham was earning some big tom but 75K a month." First hand narrative from the man himself. Also, he's just one of so many thousands of talented youngsters doing what he's doing.
"So, getting it right once is a little like winning the lottery."
Somewhat. Both take time and money. However, with the lottery, you have no input to what the winning number will be or the amount you can win. In music, you create the winning number and decide what amount of money you are willing to work for.
Forget the masses. You are unique. Rory Storm and the Hurricanes were the most popular band when the Beatles broke out. Ed McMahon told Randy Travis to forego a music career when Randy auditioned for Star Search.
Understand your future. One day you may do a Streetjelly, Periscope or Facebook show and only have 6 viewers. BUT, one viewer may be a producer looking for a specifically themed song for a new breakout artist he's producing. He stops on your page, doesn't like your voice, your look or playing but the song itself is perfect for his artist. He contacts you, arranges to place your song - It strikes gold, Song of the year,songwriter of the year and millions of downloads. Likely, who knows. Impossible if you don't keep doing what you're doing.... There are a lot of mix engineers, producers and A&R people and especially songwriters that started their career on the dream of being a star. They settled for rich instead...
BIAB 2025:RB 2025, Latest builds: Dell Optiplex 7040 Desktop; Windows-10-64 bit, Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz CPU and 16 GB Ram Memory.
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Thank you, Charlie, for the encouragement. Especially "forget the masses. You are unique". I think sometimes I forget that
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