Halloween is the time of year when we indulge in the mildly macabre and faintly disturbing. It also seems to be the right time for the ghostly whisperings of scary secrets and the unlocking of the dark mysteries of the unknown.
This week we divulged some of music’s scarier secrets—such as how to make a song sound spooky, how to understand the mysterious Circle of Fifths and just how did Justin Bieber become a star?
Seven Strange Secrets for Your Scary Soundtrack
Halloween is finally upon us and to celebrate this most horrifying of holidays, we thought you might like some ideas to make your own music a little more macabre. It’s also a great excuse to binge-watch Stranger Things on Netflix, if you haven’t already (or to watch it again). Based on its now iconic retro 1980’s theme “Strange Things In My Closet”, we share seven secrets to writing your own disturbing retro Halloween soundtrack.
If you don’t have time to write a Halloween song you can still scare the kids with some sinister sound effects. Home Brew Audio has these ideas for making your own spooky audio for Halloween.
Can’t get enough of the Stranger Things score? Then you will be interested in the band S U R V I V E. If you want to know more about the composers of the Stranger Things theme song, have a look at this article from Midnight Society Tales.
The Secrets of the Circle of Fifths—Revealed!
We discuss the Circle of Fifths a lot on Easy Ear Training because of its importance for learning scales and key signatures. We are also aware that this magical tool can sometimes be difficult to understand. We were very happy to come across a great website called simply CircleofFifths.com. With its thoroughly comprehensive yet very practical, user-friendly view, CircleofFifths.com makes learning The Circle easy, clear, and—dare we say it?—fun! We had the opportunity to ask its founder, music producer Shranny, about his site—and his secret plan.
Are you looking for a great tutorial video about the Circle of Fifths? Presented by ABRSM Examiner Gareth Green, this in-depth video will help you to fully understand the Circle.
If you’ve gotten a grasp on the Circle of Fifths, then it’s time to consider some of its more practical uses. Leading guitar ed site fretjam lists these three practical uses for guitarists, which easily apply to all instruments.
Making a Name on YouTube
Did you know that before his was an international sensation, Justin Bieber was posting his videos on YouTube? So how did he go from posting home recordings online to being one of the world’s biggest teen pop stars?
There is no one way to make a name for yourself as a musician these days—some musicians are discovered in bars while others busk on the streets. YouTube is definitely a modern way to find fame and fortune and Musical U explains how four of today’s biggest musical stars got their careers off the ground by making YouTube videos go viral.
Now that you know that YouTube is a valuable tool for promoting your music, how can you use it to your advantage? Indie Band Guru has this advice for making the most of this huge resource if you don’t have a label.
How do you get more followers on YouTube other than just hitting the “view” button over and over again? Bandzoogle has great marketing tips for getting more fans.
It’s YouTube versus Facebook! Who will win? Startup Musician compares the benefits and features of both mega-sites for your band video promotion.
Build a Better Bandsite, with Bandzoogle
Are you a musician looking to build a career by yourself? You must already know that social media is vitally important for an independent artist, but all that traffic must eventually point to your most important promotional tool—your band website. Dave Cool (yes, that’s his real name) is the Director of Artist & Industry Outreach at Bandzoogle, a company that has been building band websites for more than 13 years. Musical U recently had the opportunity to ask him about the five most important aspects of a modern band website.
As Dave Cool mentioned, a good band bio is very important. Song Stuff has these ten crucial components of the band bio for your website.
Perhaps you have a killer band website but are running out of topics to discuss on your blog. Not to worry! Indie Musicpreneur has these ideas for blog topics that can be reused and recycled.
Spookify Your Songs!
Okay. We admit it. We just can’t get enough of Halloween around here and all the creative musical ideas it has to offer. So we’ve rounded up some more ways to make your songs sound spooky from some great sites on the inter-webs. From setting a macabre mood with some basic music theory, to the necessary tools to write a hit Halloween pop tune, there is something in our roundup for all of your Halloween songwriting needs. We hope that you’ve been as inspired by these cleverly creepy ideas as we have been.
Now that you know some of music’s darker secrets, we hope you have fun applying them to your study or to the pursuit of your career. Halloween provides us with a special excuse to have a little fun—so dress up your music studies in playful activities. We hope you’ll enjoy it as much as we have!
