White Beetle's Royalty Free and On Hold Music Blog

Mello Moments - On Hold Music Collection

2009-04-27T09:10:00.000-07:00

White Beetle proudly announces the release of On Hold Music Collection - Mellow Moments - available on Compacts disc or down loadable in MP3 and WAV format.

Mellow Moments - On Hold Music is a collection of twelve music tracks chosen carefully to keep your customers, having been put on hold, calm, patient and entertained. Light and melodic arrangements mostly based around the piano but also several pieces with guitar based melodies or dreamy ambient grooves. This collection of On Hold Music is typically designed with the general public in mind so is suitable for a wide range of businesses who deal with the public on a daily business.

Feel free to preview our other On Hold music products in our White Beetle On Hold Music category. Remember White Beetle On Hold products require no subsequent license fees or hidden charges, they are off the shelf solutions thus offering you excellent value for money. Please note licenses are sold per location: for instance two separate office locations would require two On Hold Licenses. For further information please consult our FAQ or On Hold Music License.

2009-02-19T01:31:00.000-08:00

White Beetle proudly presents its latest Royalty Free Music CD release: Techno CD - Volume One is an original compilation of background music in the Techno genre. All sixteen tracks were composed by Steve G Veloudos, BMI apart from track 12: Safari Dance, which was composed by George McGarty/Ronnie Green. Offering outstanding value for money this compilation is rich in depth and variety, including within its genre many different musical themes with different keys and tempos.

Techno is a type of dance music featuring electronic instruments, principally electronic synthesizers and drum machines. Also its production is largely undertaken with music sequencers such as Cubase, Pro Tools and Logic. Originating in Detroit towards the end of the 1980s Techno now has many sub genres but its initial inspiration was the fusing of European synth based music with Afro American styles of music like House, Electro, funk and even electric jazz. There is a futuristic and aesthetic quality to Techno which some see as a marriage between technology and spirituality and even the transfer of spirituality from humans to machines... scary stuff!

A brief outline of the CD's tracks with audio preview links is laid out below:

1 - Can't Catch Me - 3m29s - This is a fast paced techno track with a fat bass line, heavy drum beat and great sequenced keyboard elements. Composed by Steve G Veloudos BMI.

2 - Cops - 3m05s - A fast paced energetic Techno style piece of music. Hard Rave drum beat with analogue synthesizer bass lines and chord patterns, scratching effects and other interesting array of added electronic sounds. Nineties 90's sound. Composed by Steve G Veloudos BMI.

3 - Do It - 4m02s - This Techno track uses electronic drum machine, synthesizer bass, synthesizer sounds, and percussion elements to create some dreamy layered parts and funky parts. Feelings of fun and positive energy. Nineties 90's Industrial/Electronic sound. Composed by Steve G Veloudos BMI.

4 - Faster Faster - 4m05s - (Fast and energetic Techno track. This tune makes use of heavy analogue bass synthesizer sounds and electronic drum sounds. Nineties 90's, Rave club sound. Sounds like The Prodigy, Orbital. Composed by Steve G Veloudos BMI.

5 - Game Plan - 3m15s - Electro style piece of music featuring electronic snare drum, compresses piano, analogue synthesizer chords and sounds. Has a classic club scene feel. Medium tempo and variation in the music. Nineties 90's sound. Sounds like Depeche Mode, Sneaker Pimps. Composed by Steve G Veloudos BMI.

6 - Jump - 3m48s - Techno track with a pulsating bass synthesizer and programmed electronic drums. Featuring some classic sampled effects. Medium tempo, Nineties 90's sound. To suit all kinds of media especially advertising, documentaries and film. Composed by Steve G Veloudos BMI.

7 - Number One - 3m11s - Techno/Electro piece of music with fat analogue bass synthesizer parts. Call and answer with various electronic synthesizer (DX7) riffs. Sounds like Depeche Mode, Tears For Fears, MOD. Eighties 80's Nineties 90's sound. Composed by Steve G Veloudos BMI.

8 - Perpetrator - 3m23s - Fast paced electronic/techno track. Big synthesizer bass sounds, piano stabs and guitar riffs drive this non-stop action track. Eighties 80's Nineties 90's sound. Composed by Steve G Veloudos BMI.

9 - Production Line - 4m08s - An Electro/Techno piece of music. Featuring cool synthesizer bass lines, electronic drum machine grooves, sampled vocal sounds, and handclap. Has a real Electronic vibe with Roland TB-303 synth sounds and classic Nineties 90's Electro Dance Music feel. Medium tempo. Composed by Steve G Veloudos BMI.

10 - Profit - 3m40s - Techno/Electro style piece of music. Nice grooves with insistent electronic bass lines and classic Nineteen Nineties Dance record drum sounds (808). Catchy synthesizer melodies and good ambient sections of music. Medium tempo. Composed by Steve G Veloudos BMI

11 - Redline - 3m02s - A solid and energetic techno track with a sequenced bass and sampled orchestra hits. Medium tempo and featuring excellent drum grooves and interesting techno sound effects. Perfect for depicting a Rave club setting. Composed by Steve G Veloudos BMI.

12 - Safari Dance - 2m59s - Hard hitting techno dance piece. Classic Nineteen Nineties 80's dance sounds. Perfect for depicting a Rave club scene. To suit all kinds of media especially documentary and film. Composed by George McGarty/Ronnie Green.

13 - Spotlight - 0m60s - A concise and trippy Techno tune with a driving synthesizer bass lines and electronic drum machine grooves. Featuring orchestra hits and analogue synthesizer parts. Medium tempo. Composed by Steve G Veloudos BMI.

14 - Teamwork - 3m28s - An upbeat Techno piece of music with solid dance beat and repetitive synthesizer bass lines. Nicely implements dreamy synthesizer effects, hand percussion and House Music style piano rhythms. Ambient and Nineties 90's sound. Composed by Steve G Veloudos BMI.

15 - Thumpin - 3m44s - A Techno styled track with solid insistent fat bass line and drums and cool orchestration hits. Medium tempo with off beat guitar stabs and classic Roland TB-303 parts/melodies. Eighties 80's Nineties 90's sound. Composed by Steve G Veloudos BMI.

16 - eMarketing - 3m32s - Infectious synthesizer melody with handclaps and a Techno sound. Uses syncopated electronic tom toms and other drum sounds, piano elements and synthesizer arpeggios to create a modulating dance track. Medium slow tempo. Eighties 80's Nineties 90's sound. Composed by Steve G Veloudos BMI.

Smooth Jazz CD - Volume Two

2008-11-28T02:27:00.000-08:00

White Beetle proudly presents its latest Royalty Free Music CD release: Smooth Jazz CD - Volume Two is an original compilation of background music in the Smooth Jazz genre. All twenty tracks were composed by the very talented William E Peklinsky, BMI. Offering outstanding value for money this compilation is rich in depth and variety, including within its genre many different musical themes with different keys and tempos.

Smooth Jazz is modern blend of R&B, funk and pop music to produce relaxed, background music that features typical Jazz instrumentation and improvisational elements. Sometimes also known as new adult contemporary Smooth Jazz has a laid back tempo of between 88 and 110 beats per minute and is usually instrumental. Saxophone and guitar are popular lead instruments in this genre due to their expressive nature. Jazz purists are not generally that keen on Smooth Jazz as it is seen quite commercial and very radio friendly, some feel that it is more like background music and that it lacks originality, others though like it for precisely the same reasons finding it soothing and not too taxing.

A brief outline of the CD's tracks with audio preview links is laid out below:

1 - AMPED UP - (Latin rock) grand piano, Fender Rhodes electric piano, acoustic guitar, electric bass, drums, percussion; smooth tight groove, makes you want to move.

2 - AT FIRST SIGHT - (smooth jazz/fusion) grand piano, B-3 organ, electric bass, tenor sax, drums; velvety smooth tenor sax and electric bass play in unison while being lifted up by the driving drums and Hammond B-3 organ this song takes flight from the first note.

3 - DREAMS OF YOU - (soft jazz rock) grand piano, Fender rhodes electric piano, acoustic guitar, electric bass, synth pads, drums; Every time I close my eyes I’m faced with dreams of you...

4 - FAITH - (smooth jazz) tenor sax, electric bass, electric piano, drums; blues riffs take it to church.

5 - FRUMOS - (African rhythm) - grand piano, synth pads, acoustic bass, drums, acoustic guitar; Frumos means ‘Beautiful’ in Romanian, and this song has a beautiful melody, chord changes and arrangement.

6 - I DREAMED OF JEANNIE - (SAMBA) Fender Rhodes electric piano, vibes, flamenco guitar; a musical nod to “I Dream Of Jeannie” American TV show of the 60’s, it’s fun and whimsical!

7 - I KNOW JUST WHAT YOU NEED - (swing-nova) grand piano, electric bass, drums, acoustic guitar, electric piano, B-3 organ, trumpets, saxes, trombones, percussion; Your woman is laying down the law on this one, man! Better listen up!

8 - I RAN AWAY - ( smooth Latin rock) acoustic piano, acoustic guitar, acoustic bass, drums;

9 - IT MAKES ME WANT TO DANCE - (swing-nova) grand piano, acoustic guitar, acoustic bass, drums; swing-nova beat was started in the 60's after the popularity of the Bossa-Nova craze by jazz musicians who blended the bossa beat with the swing of be-bop. just what the title implies, you have to move to this one.

10 - LITTLE GARDEN - (soft Latin rock) grand piano, synth pads, acoustic guitar, acoustic bass, drums, percussion, finger snaps; soft bluesy and sultry, with a bit of intrigue.

11 - MYSTERY MAN - (soft samba) tenor sax, electric piano, electric bass, drums, synth pads; seductive, clandestine and dangerous

12 - SAY WHAT? - (swing-nova) grand piano, acoustic bass, drums, acoustic guitar; swing-nova beat was started in the 60's after the popularity of the Bossa-Nova craze by jazz musicians who blended the Bossa beat with the swing of be-bop.

13 - SCHOOL DAYS - (soft rock blues ) Fender Rhodes electric piano, acoustic guitar, B-3 organ, drums; Elementary my dear! It’s fun kid stuff set to music.

14 - SEND ME YOUR LOVE - (soft jazz rock) grand piano, electric piano, electric bass, drums; straight ahead rock theme with a bouncy cheerful feel.

15 - SONG FOR JAMES - (soft samba) grand piano, electric piano, acoustic guitar, acoustic bass, drums; sadly sweet song for my brother, or your brother...aren't we all brothers after all?

16 - SWEET REMEMBRANCES - (soft jazz rock) Fender Rhodes , electric piano, acoustic guitar, electric bass, drums, synth pads; A tender melody to reminisce on the good times.

17 - TELL ME ONE MORE TIME - (smooth jazz fusion) tenor sax, electric piano, electric bass, drums, synth pads; seductive sax brings it down and dirty, bass & drums get your groove on right here.

18 - THE WATER IS BLUE - (smooth jazz) electric piano, acoustic piano, acoustic guitar, electric bass, drums; deep longing as blue as the sea.

19 - TRAVEL BY NIGHT - (jazz rock) Fender Rhodes electric piano, grand piano, acoustic guitar, electric bass, drums; gliding through the darkness on silken wings.

20 - YOU KNOW JUST WHAT I LIKE - (smooth funky) electric piano, acoustic guitar, acoustic bass, drums, percussion; feel good possibilities, happy good time blues.

Smooth Jazz CD - Volume One

2008-10-07T03:17:00.000-07:00

Whitebeetle.com proudly presents its latest Royalty Free Music CD release: Smooth Jazz CD - Volume One is is an original compilation of background music in the Smooth Jazz genre. All twenty tracks were composed by the very talented William E Peklinsky, BMI. Offering outstanding value for money this compilation is rich in depth and variety, including within its genre many different musical themes with different keys and tempos.

Smooth Jazz is modern blend of R&B, funk and pop music to produce relaxed, background music that features typical Jazz instrumentation and improvisational elements. Sometimes also known as new adult contemporary Smooth Jazz has a laid back tempo of between 88 and 110 beats per minute and is usually instrumental. Saxophone and guitar are popular lead instruments in this genre due to their expressive nature. Jazz purists are not generally that keen on Smooth Jazz as it is seen quite commercial and very radio friendly, some feel that it is more like background music and that it lacks originality, others though like it for precisely the same reasons finding it soothing and not too taxing.

Whitebeetle.com's is professional production music/ background music for use in media production such as commercial and corporate film, television, radio, websites, pod casts and video games.

Whitebeetle.com's 12th Royalty Free Music Podcast

2008-07-16T04:59:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

Our 12th Royalty Free Music Podcast has now gone live and can be accessed in either AAC or MP3 format from our podcast page.

More and more content is coming on to the website from our team of composers and the diversity is growing day b. A great way to keep up to date with all the new music going onto our website is to subscribe to our RSS feed. That way you can see complete details of new music (and recent music - last 100 pieces) and of course you can preview them instantly as well, all this from inside your RSS reader. Neat eh? Popular RSS readers include Google Reader and if you use igoogle you can integrate your rss feeds directly into your homepage.

Happy listening from all at whitebeetle.com.

Basic rules and tips for recording music (continued) - Part 2

2008-07-15T01:00:00.000-07:00

Two - Playing in Time. Ok you have got your click track all set up and you cannot wait to start laying down some cool vibes. You and your fellow musicians put down your tracks live or one at a time but when playing back it sounds slightly disjointed and, frankly, quite loose and a bit dodgy. Just knowing it sounds not quite there is a good sign. Why does it sound like this? Well this is where being a good musician comes into it. The closer you play to the click track the tighter your music will sound, you can still play to the click track while playing before or after the beat (slightly) : great musicians can do this at will but for us mere mortals it is best to try to hit the beats, that’s right : bang on the money! Practice helps enormously. In the digital domain editing can really improve slightly out of time parts but it is very labor intensive and it is not for the dabbler as once you start you have to finish to make any tangible improvements.

Three - Tuning. I do not need to go big on this one, just make sure all your instruments are in tune with each other, use a pitch fork, piano, guitar tuner or whatever but make sure all your instruments are all good to go before the tape rolls. If your singer cannot sing in tune to the detriment of the music then do not buy some auto tune software rather go out and find another singer.

Four - Level : get it down hot. No matter what type of equipment you use, how you record the signal of each instrument is crucial to the end result. People sometime get nervous about this and there are numerous articles out there that completely over complicate this issue. If a recorded signal goes over 0 DB then it will distort and generally speaking be good for nothing. If a recorded signal is weak then it is difficult to place in a mix without turning it up very loud and this can make it very noisy. On tape you can record very hot, this means the level of the signal going onto tape can be quite high.. but still you do not really want the loudest parts to over -4 to -2 db. For recording digitally your highest peaks should not probably be over -4 db: leave yourself some head room… the odd peak a -2 db is acceptable. Many of us do not use compressors while laying down tracks but if you have one and have a very dynamic part that is difficult to record then you should use the compressor to control the peaks so that you do not overload signal – be conservative so as not to squash the sound just control those naughty peaks.

Royalty Free Tango Music CD - Volume 1

2008-06-23T03:30:00.000-07:00

Whitebeetle.com proudly presents its latest Royalty Free Music CD release: This latest release is an original compilation of music in the Tango dance genre. All ten tracks were composed and performed by the very talented William E Peklinsky, BMI. All ten pieces feature several themes and are played in several different keys with differing tempos.

Tango is a musical dance that originates from Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the latter part of the nineteenth century and more precisely the Spanish /Italian immigrant communities. It took on fast and soon became very popular, spreading to Europe, particularly Paris and London before being introduced to New York before the onset of the First World War. The Tango dance is well known for its sensual and passionate qualities, usually exhibiting sexual overtones:

Photo: The Street of Buenos Aires (Tango) I - Copyright: Romain Donadio

Fast and slow tempos have been applied to this Dance which was typically in a 2/4 or 4/4 time signature. Tango dance and its music, although going in and out of style in the twentieth century, remains a popular dance and music genre all over the World today.

Whitebeetle.com's Tango Music CD - Volume 1 is professional production music/ background music for use in media production such as commercial and corporate film, television, radio, websites, pod casts and video games.

New Royalty Free Music Ragtime Piano CD - Volume 1

2008-06-13T05:28:00.000-07:00

Whitebeetle.com proudly presents its latest Royalty Free Music CD release: This time it is an original compilation of Piano music in the Ragtime genre. All ten tracks were composed and performed by the very talented William E Peklinsky, BMI. All ten pieces feature several themes and are played in several different keys with differing tempos.

Ragtime is an American musical genre that became very popular in Western societies at the start of the twentieth century (most people think of Scott Joplin's 1902 composition "The Entertainer" when they think of Ragtime music).

Typically in 2/4 and 4/4 Ragtime pieces usually develop three to four themes or melodies that employ syncopation to create a "swing" in the music. Many people now feel that Ragtime was an important influence for Jazz Music, perhaps as important as The Blues.

Many people also associate the background music for Black and White silent films with Ragtime. This makes it useful when TV producers and the like caricature silent movies.

Whitebeetle.com's Ragtime Piano CD - Volume 1 is professional production music/ background music for use in media production such as commercial and corporate film, television, radio, websites, pod casts and video games.

Basic rules and tips for recording music - Part 1

2008-06-09T00:15:00.000-07:00

Most of us who record music at an amateur or semi professional level are not content to rest on our laurels as the quest for better sound quality and better produced music is practically endless. When one listens back to ones earliest recordings it is usually not hard to hear inherent problems in the performances, recordings and of course, the mix. At times listening can make one cringe. The fact that they might make you cringe is a positive thing as it proves that you recognize the faults in the recordings and if you were to rerecord the pieces of music in question then you would probably want to correct certain issues immediately. This article’s sole purpose is to lay out several important techniques for achieving better recordings.

One – Tempo. Pieces of recorded music that unintentionally fluctuate in tempo are the hall marks of shoddy musicians and engineers. Many musicians get nervous and excited when they play so they need something to keep time to i.e. a click track or a metronome and yes even the drummer needs something to keep his beat steady when recording. Why bother having a click track, you ask? Well, fluctuations in tempo make it harder for other musicians to lay down their parts to the recorded music and the music will not be able to “breath” properly, sounding rushed and congested at times and dragging its feet at others. If you are recording with a DAW or a sequencer then use the click track facilities when laying down the basic tracks.

Obviously you need the click be set up for the right speed and time signature so spend five minutes making sure these are right for the music you want to record. If you are recording onto tape, such as a four track porta studio, then the easiest solution maybe be to set up your metronome and record it onto a track before you commence recording your parts. A drum machine is a perfect metronome. If you are limited for tracks then once you have solid “keeper” parts down you can record over the metronome track.

One enormous advantage to recording with a click in is that you can easily and properly edit bulk sections of your song/music piece i.e. you can cut and paste a whole chorus and it will be perfectly with the rest of the song. I record royalty free music and albums for Rock Bands and ninety five percent of the time I record with a click.

Tenth Royalty Free Music Podcast.

2008-03-05T02:38:00.000-08:00

Whitebeetle.com proudly presents its tenth Royalty Free Music podcast. Featuring excellent new music in a variety of different styles:

Regular Royalty Free Music Podcast

iTunes Royalty Free Music Podcast

Why not also take a listen to our new selection of On Hold Music CDs and a look at our on hold music squidoo?
Other news is that lots and lots of new content is coming your way and perhaps the most important news is that Whitebeetle.com will soon be available in several different languages.
First one up will be Francais, MUSIQUE LIBRE DE DROIT.

à bientôt!

Why Buy On Hold Music?

2008-03-04T04:10:00.000-08:00

There are many reasons to buy on hold music for your business and in this small article I will briefly outline these reasons and also offer some insight into what is really available to you in terms of On hold music and what your business should be looking for.

First things first, when a caller to your business is put on hold the fact that they can hear music through their earpiece assures them that their call is still connected. Obviously this means they are much less likely to hang up through uncertainty.

Secondly, hearing music helps the caller to not focus too much on the amount of time they are waiting for your response.

Important though is the music they hear because if the music is of bad quality, which in many cases it is, the caller will become more impatient and is more likely to hang up. The most frequently used On Hold music in the United Kingdom is Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. It is very, very clichéd to use mainstream classical music and the main reason it is used is that it has no copyright and is therefore free. Using clichéd music shows that the business has not thought about their on hold music very much at all and that it is not really concerned about what the caller hears while on hold. Not a good sign.

Look at your on hold music as a way of advertising or of pulling your customer in. If you pay thousands of dollars a year in advertising why your lose your potential customer at the last and smallest hurdle by subjecting them to corny and unoriginal music? Show some class, buy some music that matches the aesthetic or image of your business. You want something more relevant to your business not just some badly put together elevator music that you bought for ten bucks off the internet. Give your potential customer a good feeling about your business. Stand out from the crowd.

If you look at badly made corporate films their music is usually one of the reasons they seem so bad. A good corporate film always has good music to underline the meaning of the film. Listen to your On Hold music in this way. If your company sells pizzas then obviously you would look for some happy sounding Italian folk music. If your company sells software you probably want something more contemporary and state of the art. Where you are in the world obviously has an impact too, especially if your company operates at a local level. For example, the music tastes of people living in Texas are not the same as people living in New York State. There are lots of on hold music companies out there but all were not created equal. Look for quality and relevance not just a cheap bargain that you yourself cannot bear to listen to.

Have a listen to the On Hold Music at White Beetle.

More Royalty Free Music

2008-02-04T05:33:00.001-08:00

Hello Everyone,

it has been a short while since our last blog but Whitebeetle.com has been very busy. Lots and lots of new music will be coming your way this year and lots more functionality will also be added to the website. Serious film makers will find that the quality of our music is becoming topclass. Check out Peter Schreiber' new piece "Landscape" or William E. Peklinsky's "Long Lonely Highway" . Cartoon and comedy makers just have to have a listen to our new section "Comedy"

Businesses now looking for quality On Hold Music need look no further than our specialised On Hold CD collection.

Also French speakers will soon be able to access our website in French very soon. More languages to come.

À Bientôt!

Weird War - Girls Like That

2007-09-19T01:44:00.001-07:00

great band with real funk rock sound, bit electro bit psychedelic too

read more | digg story

Best Rockabilly Guitarist in London

2007-09-17T01:33:00.001-07:00

I saw this guy play with his band in the Marathon Bar in Camden ( plenty of faces milling about there). You gotta go see him, this guy is one hell of a guitarist and performer.

read more | digg story

Ninth Whitebeetle Royalty Free Music Podcast

2007-09-14T05:37:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,

our Ninth Royalty Free Music podcast is now live and as usual it exhibits our better than the usual fare music, there is a lot of eclectic content going on at the moment.

Ituners can get their enhanced podcast here and for those of us in the cheap seats the good old trusty Mp3 version can be found here.

bye for now.

Best Rockabilly Guitarist in London

2007-09-13T07:15:00.001-07:00

Your Analogue Mixing Desk: Think Twice Before Selling It.

2007-09-12T03:10:00.000-07:00

Recently on a trip to Wales I had the good fortune to sit in with a very good sound engineer who was mixing down five tracks for a band that he had recorded. The engineer, who shall remain nameless in this article, had basically set up a digital studio in a farm house and was using an adjacent barn to record in. He had a multi core going from the barn into a small room in his cottage that was essentially his control room.

His basic set up was a 24 into 4 into 2 Behringer mixing desk which was hooked up to two delta 10/10s which were in turn connected to his PC ( a 64 bit AMD chip on an ASUS board….. that is if I am not mistaken). As a software sequencer he was using Cubase SX3 with the waves diamond pack, the waves SSL pack and an assortment of other plug-ins that I was less familiar with. He also had a Behringer stereo valve pre amp and a couple of stereo compressors. Pretty modest you might think, and you might be right but I soon found out he did not need much more. His microphone collection was nice I thought with a Neumann TLM 103 being the pick of the bunch and a Shure SM57 and AKG D112 shoring things up in the drum department.

The band he was recording was a metal outfit who were good musicians and the music being mixed displayed much prowess in structure, melody and dynamics. This however does mean it was easy to mix. When I arrived the engineer and the band’s manager were ruminating over the snare sound. In fact it was the first thing I noticed when I came in and as the afternoon wore on it became clear that this was really the only problem with the mixes. Generally speaking, though, the music sounded pretty damn good and after I made a few coffees and teas I started to ask a few questions about the engineers set up. He was the first one to admit that his gear was ordinary and that he even bought the desk second hand on EBay for less than two hundred pounds. That said, he used twelve microphones to record the drum kit and its overall sound was jaw dropping.

The engineers main point about not having an expensive set up was that you just do not need it. Why? He told me that the most important piece of equipment is your ears and of course he is right. Afterwards, he argued, knowing where to put the microphone, getting enough signal to tape, knowing how to use EQ, compression, and reverb were essential and these skills, as many of us know, take some time to master. Some never get the hang of these skills completely completely and not knowing what you are doing is going to sound just as bad through a Neve desk as it is through a Behringer desk. Point is: Technical prowess does not come in a box and there is no silver bullet.

To eliminate room sounds when recording in less than ideal environments he advocated recording as close and dry as possible and being isolated from the source obviously gives you the chance to hear what you are recording and make those essential adjustments before going for a take. A close sound could easily be made to sound more back in the mix or larger with convolution reverbs or with other types or reverbs and delays.

Perhaps the most interesting thing I discovered was how he routed his soundcards into and out of his mixing desk. Bearing in mind that most people recording with a modest setup seem to only use their analogue mixing desk for tracking and then stay in the digital domain even until after mix down. This engineer had four stereo group tracks, as well as his Buss Mix going from Cubase, through his Delta 10/10’s into his mixing desk. Of course he had routed some back into Cubase. What is the point you might ask? Well, lots to be honest. Firstly, he could easily EQ any of the stereo groups using his analogue EQ’s on his desk and I do not care what anybody says, using an analogue Equalizer is more intuitive and usually sounds better than using a digital equalizer. Remember you can send reverb and effect sends out onto these stereo Busses. This gives you much more hands on access to your mix and can really help you shape your mix or identify where it is going wrong.

He also had hands on control for muting, soloing and fading. He could easily route them back into Cubase if he wanted. He could use his outboard compressors and valve pre amps which were all patched into his desk auxiliaries and patch bay. The master Buss on his Behringer desk, had become, in real terms “The” Master Buss and was routed back into Cubase when he wanted to run off a mix.

There is no doubt to my mind that the analogue desk and outboard gear also really helps your mix to sound, well, more “Real” and warmer. Driving home, I was reconfiguring my own studio in my head and I have finished my reconfiguring and have started mixing and remixing pieces for my royalty free music website. In fact I am really happy as I have realized that I now want to keep and utilize much of the analogue gear I have that were starting to gather dust. If you are thinking about getting rid of you analogue mixing desk and all those great pieces of redundant kit you have lying around, you too should think twice.

New Flash Player!!! Juke Box on its way

2007-08-06T04:00:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

new royalty free music going on today includes a killer dance floor tune going by the name of Disco Daz. Also up is a classy new piano piece called Time Out.

But to improve the way you audition our royalty free music we have now installed a flash player which works at category level.. At the product level you can still use your own media player and this gives you the opportunity to download the piece as well. A jukebox will soon be added to the site and this will give you immediate access to our hottest products. As ever things are moving on.

A warm hello goes out to all participants and staff for the thirty day challenge

bye for now

Royalty Free and Commissioned music

2007-07-13T06:17:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone.

the music keeps coming and so do the podcasts. The eighth and and most recent Whitebeetle.com Royalty Free Music Podcast features one of our newest writers who goes by the name of Mike Cusato. We are very excited to have him on board as his musicianship and engineering skills are exceptional. Here is a taster of some of his electric guitar skills.
Tasty huh?

To augment what has been for us a busy week, Matthew, our piano man, has also added some splendid Royalty Free Music. There is definatley a buzz about what we are doing at the moment and there is the feeling that we are starting to offer music that has that little extra thrown in...... more feeling and less cheese.

Seventh Whitebeetle.com Royalty Free Music Podcast

2007-07-02T06:38:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone.

It is here! The seventh and latest Whitebeetle.com Royalty Free Music Podcast is here and features a new and varied blend of our music catalog. Enjoy!

Music Loops Are Here

2007-06-11T05:56:00.000-07:00

Yes it is the Here. Prepared Music Loops have come to Whitebeetle.com .....
and there are many more to come. Goto Whitebeetle Music Loops to check them out.

Have you Ever been to Audio Effectsville? The Pit Falls of Audio Plug-in Effects – Part I

2007-05-02T04:50:00.000-07:00

Have you Ever been to Audio Effectsville? The Pit Falls of Audio Plug-in Effects – Part I
These days most people who write and record music use a computer somewhere in their audio recording set up. Some of us, me included, record, edit and master our recordings without actually leaving the digital domain. In the old days, before reliable digital processing was available, everything stayed in the analogue domain; everything was recorded onto a multitrack tape recorder and would then be mixed onto two track tape recorder, which in many cases gave way to the dat machine, before being mastered onto a vinyl master which would then be used to duplicate the music. One might think that all this “progress” had led us to higher quality audio recordings. This has become a hotly debated issue over the last twenty years or so and it seems as if the jury is still out. Personally, I have to concede that if you want to know what quality is then try listening to Steely Dan’s greatest hits as it will give you a few pointers.
The top studio’s all use digital equipment but you can bet your last buck that their “business end” processing will be mostly analogue and most of it you or I will never be able to comfortably afford. So where does that leave us mere mortals? Well the humble plug-in has become a cheap substitute for expensive analogue processing and allows us unprecedented levels of audio manipulation. Naturally these plug-ins need a sequencer such as Cubase or Logic or an audio application such as Sound Forge to be of any use but anyone can, even with a reasonably humble computer, get these applications and plug-ins to run. Also, most audio sequencers also come with an array of plug-in effects built in so you need not to spend much before being able to play around with effects plug-ins.
When you first start to play with audio effect plug-ins, especially if you have no experience of studio or analogue type recording, you will probably be over-awed with the possibilities for manipulating sound. Indeed it seems that whatever type of effect you need there will be some space age plug-in that is available with more parameters than you know what to do with. It is like being a child in a sweet shop, there is too much choice and you want to try everything all at once. You will get sucked in like a fly to the proverbial turd. As your pc grinds to a standstill and you manage to turn off all the plug-in effects all you are left with is the humble sound you started with and after hearing it with phasers and pitch shifters and distortion and delay and reverb and autopanners it suddenly sounds small, uninteresting and useless. When you reach this point, and you might not realize that you have, you have fallen into the audio limbo where you will waste many hours on music that will never see the light of day and even you will not be able to bear to listen to it even years later. You have reached audio Effectsville where nothing is real and everything is out of phase. ...... to be continued

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Garage Band in the hills

2007-04-18T07:05:00.000-07:00

Recently a friend of mine and myself decided to take some time out and head up to the mountains for some rest and recuperation. The pressures of city life are only too obvious these days and the desire to get away from the office and computers were main motivating factors. We planned to do some hill walking, relaxing, eating and drinking. Both being musicians it only seemed right that we take a few instruments with us to help us wile away the nights. It had to be on an acoustic basis so I took my flamenco guitar and my friend took his little Ukulele. Just before setting out on what would be a five hour journey we pondered on whether we should take my friends Apple laptop. After thirty seconds of weak resistance we caved in and decided to take it. As my friend picked up his Apple laptop I noticed his little USB audio/midi interface sat next to the laptop. He looked at me and smiled “well there’s plenty of room in the car might as well take the C1000 and the SM58, just in case we record anything, we can improvise some stands if needed …..oh this little slim line two octave midi keyboard might be good too.” He did not even mention the headphones; they just went straight in the bag. So there it was; a small sports bag with a portable recording studio inside it.

“What music software do you have on there?” I asked as we drove away from the seemingly unending urban sprawl that is London. “Not much really, Garage Band is on there though…. Not really checked it out yet. We can always have a bit of a play with that, let’s try not to get too geeky …….” My friend replied.

We did not even bother plugging in the laptop for the first couple of days and really enjoyed just jamming with the guitar and uke. If you have not got a Ukulele then I can heartily recommend that you buy one. They are such great fun, easy to play, cheap to buy, and easy to carry around with you. I think it was the third night when we decided to try to record an idea that we had been playing around with. Setting everything up was a breeze as the USB audio/midi interface and USB midi keyboard needed no external power units to make them work so we just plugged them straight into the Apple laptop. We used the USB audio/midi interface as the Garage Band audio inputs and the laptops internal sound card for the Garage Band audio output. Normally we would not have needed to use the onboard sound but we had forgotten our quarter inch mono jacks to phono leads. Luckily we did have a 3.5mm stereo jack to phono lead (very useful cable to have lying around!!). To record without using the stereo hifi’s speakers we just plugged the head phones into the hifi’s headphone socket.

At first we had a quick dabble to see how it all worked and we soon found that Garage Band has some very usable midi instruments available. We were getting maybe 8-10 milliseconds of latency using the midi keyboard and one of Garage Bands on board piano sounds. This was more than acceptable. Using the phantom power on the USB audio/midi interface enabled us to record the flamenco guitar and ukulele with the C1000 and we were both surprised by the quality of the recorded sound. Another massive bonus was that the apple laptop was so quiet.

We found Garage Band to be a very useful piece of software. It is great for throwing ideas together and if you really went at it you could probably create something of note using just garage band and live instruments. You have to be careful as there are some very tired sounding drum loops in there but they are useful to sketch ideas with and the time stretch facility works quite well. If you want to piece together a John Bonhamesque drum track it should not take you long in Garage Band. All the built in midi sounds are a little too manicured for my liking but having said that they fit in well and I particularly like the electric piano sounds. My only real gripes are the transport and locator features; after using Cubase for years it feels quite restricting in how you drop in and out and navigate around your little project….. They need to sort this out.

In the end we used Garage Band to record a kind of Eastern European polka type instrumental which featured just the flamenco guitar and ukulele. We obviously used a click track to record and did play around with several midi instruments to experiment with the piece. In the end, though, it seemed quite apt that the piece that became known as Boris the Red should remain a simple instrumental duo of guitar and ukulele. I was that pleased with the piece that I put it on my Royalty Free Music website, Whitebeetle.com. I like the fact that you can hear the acoustics of the room, while it does not have a polished sound it does have character and I find it, ultimately, a believable piece. The simple recording set up we used helped us concentrate on just the music as we wiled away our evenings. Top marks to Garage Band and the little set up we used. It now really fascinates me that one can get away from it all, travelling relatively light, and still have all the marvels of the digital age at one’s finger tips to help the creative process. I am already dreaming of stating in a cottage in the Tuscan Hills…… with my guitar and laptop.

Singing and recording : What has changed?

2007-04-08T07:24:00.000-07:00

Following up my last entry I decided to try to write a better article:

The techniques used to record vocals these days are essentially the same as those used fifty years ago. Microphone technology has not really progressed; pre-amplifiers and compressors have not really changed either, though they might sport more features and controls. Even though the way we capture the sound has changed some people still prefer to record onto ferrous tape. Digital recording is no longer new either and dates back to the early nineteen eighties.

So what has changed?

Well, software and accessibility. We are now able to manipulate what we record beyond our wildest dreams. When I started recording in the late nineteen eighties I was using an eight track tape machine which meant when you recorded a vocal it had to be a near to perfect as you could get it because timing and pitch could not be altered at all. Today with a few clicks of the mouse you can move every word around to your heart’s content in an audio sequencer. Auto-tune plug-ins can correct pitch issues in very near real time. To top it all, most people with a pc, microphone, pre-amplifier and a modicum of interest in music and recording can have access to all the marvels of the making music in the digital world right there in their front room or bedroom. It does not, however, guarantee they will become the next George Martin or say, Freddy Mercury but it does mean they can record and edit to a pretty decent standard with limited means. For musicians these advantages are obvious as they no longer need to pay for expensive studio time to record their music. Perhaps they will record just the drums at a studio then edit the results to tighten the performance before laying down the other instruments in the comfort of their own home at their own leisure and speed. There is also so much information on the internet that if you do have a technical issue then someone, almost undoubtedly, will have posted a solution on the internet that you can find within minutes. Go back fifty years and you would have struggled to find someone who knew what phase cancellation was in your own city never mind find someone who knew how to correct or avoid it. Skills are therefore becoming less specialized as more information is available to us all.

You would think that this technological revolution would mean there are more amazing singers being discovered. Sadly, the answer is probably no. Why? Well, software is making people lazy and blunting their performance skills. For instance, I record someone singing a vocal; the take is ok but slightly out of time and out of tune. I try to coax another take out of him but he is tired or needs to be somewhere else. “Come on John, a bit of auto tune and a nip and a tuck here and there and it will be fine” he might tell me. On one level he is right. If it is not too bad then it can be corrected using software and good judgment but that will not make him a better singer. These days everyone thinks they can sing. Probably half the singers in the top forty cannot sing properly and their careers rely on clever engineers and the latest software. Let us face it: you need to have talent or work very hard to become a good singer! If I can offer any advice laymen advice it would be as follows:

It is important with vocals as with all REAL instruments to learn how to ''get them down". By that I mean how to get a good take down. Identify your weaknesses and work to overcome them rather than relying on software that can sometimes often cheapen the results. Always try to get a good signal recorded. You should not exceed -2 decibels. Try not to record with any equalization and if the performance does not need compression to control it then you can leave that until later too. Always use a pop shield.

A good tip is too really practice singing your lines without the music and indentify where you are going wrong. Then break it down and focus on the bad bits. Let the microphone do the work, you do not need to shout or force it. Try to control your breathing from your diaphragm (this takes practice). Practice your vowels and mouth sounds too as this helps develop clearer execution. Good timing is essential but not difficult to master if you know your lines. Try to know your lines off by heart so that you are not distracted by reading at the same time as you are trying to sing.

Most people tend to sing out of tune when they cannot hear what they are singing properly i.e. the mix is too loud in their headphones or the bass is too loud in their headphones. In fact headphones are difficult to use for many singers; some top producers have the mix coming out of the control room monitors with the singer and microphone in there in front of the monitors (you can use a noise gate to take out the spill later). Try it and see if works for you. Remember not to have the volume too loud or the microphone pointing at the monitors. It is essential, however, to always use a pop shield.

The gap between mediocre and great music is narrower these days as more and more people are having a go at making music and in general we are getting used to hearing mediocre music while thinking it is something special. If you are serious about singing, recording, or making music then strive to improve continually in every area. Do not rely on software to make you sound good rather use it wisely to help nurture and express your music. I record royalty free music for whitebeetle.com and album for artists and I am constantly trying to improve what I do. To me it is an endless quest.

Singing and harmonies

2007-04-06T07:58:00.000-07:00

Somebody was moaning to me the other day about having lots of trouble singing in tune and laying down harmonies. He had basically thrown the towel in and was looking for software to make him sound like a star. I tried to offer him some encouragement and this is what I told him:

auto tune may help you for small pitch adjustments. I'm not aware of melodyne but it is important with vocals as with all REAL instruments to learn how to ''get them down" so it is really important to work to overcome you difficulties rather than relying on wares that can sometimes cheapen your results.

A good tip is too really practice singing your lines (without the music helps) and indentify where you are going wrong. Let the mic do the work, you do not need to shout or force it. Remember to breath from your diaphram. Practise your vowels too as this helps develop cleaner and clearer execution. Timing is key too ( editing can really sharpen a performance).

Most people go out of tune when they can not hear what they are singing properly ie the mix is too loud in their cans or the bass is too loud in their cans. In fact head phones are difficult to use for many singers, some top producers have the mix coming out of the control room monitors and the singer in there singing (you can gate the spill out) in front of the monitors. This way you might feel more comfortable with the music.

Remember a bit of eq can make all the difference with vocals and always use a pop shield.

Putting down harmonies is fun but write out the part on a midi piano track if you cannot get it and practise singing along with the midi part without the main melody. If you want lush harmonies then put two or three down for each harmony.

hope this helps. Also when I started recording I was really bad at singing and it took me a while to find where I was going wrong