That's Catchy

"Its a small world after all" say that 3 times in a row.  Now it's stuck in your head the rest of the day. How do they do that?  What makes a song stick in your head all day long? Just by writing that lyric down I have it stuck in my head at the moment. A lot of songs repeat certain lyrics throughout the song to emphasize their point. This can really get stuck in your head and make you either want jump out of a window, like the above lyric, or bring you back to the song to where you want to listen over and over. Usually the songs are really simple, nothing to them, but the simplicity of them can stay in your head all day long. 

I made a song several years ago called "What'z Up." (Listen Here) It was so catchy that a local DJ working for HOT 104.5 wanted the song on the radio and it aired for several weeks in 2005. When I wrote the song, I was just thinking of something to repeat that would get stuck in your head. I guess it did for a few weeks. It hit #471 out of over 1 million on the soundclick charts in 2007 several years after it was originally created. Artists use these catchy tracks to bring in the listeners and get them to listen to their real music. Take Eminem for example. "My Name Is" Eminem's first hit single that brought him to fame was a catchy track.  It brought fans of pop into rap, but if he would have come out with "Guilty Conscience" first, he might not have been so popular(I don't really believe that). Eminem is probably one of the best examples of this because he has done this on every album. The very next album he did "The Real Slim Shady," then "Without Me," "Just Lose It," "We Made You." He seems as though he has stopped this trend in his most recent album "Recovery." Most of the songs on this album are more serious and aren't silly like the others, but he has reached a point in his career where he doesn't have to do those silly songs to get attention anymore. 

What are some of your thoughts on why songs are catchy? Do you believe it works for artist's advantages?

Leave your comments below and share with your friends

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Video for "Stand Tall" is almost finished. I am putting the finishing touches on it, and going to have a viewing for a few select people before it is posted next week. 
In the mean time, you can still listen to "Stand Tall" (LISTEN) and view my other videos here (YOUTUBE). Just click the hyperlinks and they will take you straight there. Subscribe to my YouTube channel to receive updates on future videos.

Thanks!!!!

Video Shoot Day 2

We (Louis and Trae) started video shoot today off by going to the chicken wing festival in the middle of World's Fair Park. While I didn't get any footage at the park I did however quench my hunger. I thought the Knoxville trivia guys made the best chicken wings. They featured some kind of Frankenstein sauce which I thought had the perfect amount of spice. After leaving the World's Fair Park, we met up with my boy Sandeep. We talked a little bit about the direction of the video and how I wanted him to be the antagonists. My friends Trae and Louis were also featured in the video. I was able to find a few spots in and around Market Square to shoot. It's pretty tough to shoot in Market Square with all the people walking around, it's hard to get a shot without people interrupting or walking through. I was a little worried that I may need release forms if for some reason someone ended up in a take. Luckily people realized what we were doing and didn't interfere with my shots too much. I took shots of a police car with the lights on for part of the story line. I wanted to shoot actual police officers, but they were not allowed to be on camera without written permission first. I also got a few landscape shots around market square area. I think the video is starting to come together, once I look at the tape and start editing I may not need anything else. I feel like I got a bunch of footage though. I posted the teaser video, 16 secs of what has been edited so far. Things may change as I see more footage I like.  Hopefully I will have the video done by the end of the week and it will be ready to post by July 1st. Take a look at the teaser video and comment and like. 

Teaser Video 

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A Day On The River

If you have ever been white water rafting, then you will know how fun and dangerous it can be. If you haven't been before, you should at least try it once. Make sure you go with pro river guides though.I have been before, but not on a river with big rapids. This would be my first trip on a big rapid river. Rivers have classifications for there rapids, 1-6. 1 being still or calm water, and 6 being Niagara Falls. Ocoee's rapids are rated class 4.
I was able to white water raft the Ocoee river in the southern part of Tennessee with my dad, uncle, and cousins. We drove the hour and twenty minutes early in the morning to get there. Our pro guides were part of the Ocoee Outdoors group. Our Guide, Nick was a veteran of the river and a great guide. Nick brought some of his friends and his fiance with him along the trip. My dad and I sat in the front to fill up the boat. My cousins and I had a bet going to see who could stay on the raft the longest through these rapids. When we hit the second rapid, my older cousin from New York got knocked out of the raft, along with the guide too. Pretty funny considering these guys go down the river several times a day. My dad was the next one to get thrown out of the raft. We got to a point in the river where we were spinning around in circles in a rapid, and the next thing I know my dad flies off backward and starts floating down the river. As I watch him, our raft is still spinning, and then...BOOM! I am knocked out from behind by another river group's raft. I was pulled under the water inside the rapid under the raft. I came back up because of my floatation device, but the raft was directly on top of me. Lots of water coming down on my face to where I couldn't see and I couldn't find which way was up. Finally I was able to get away from the 2 boats that were directly on top of me and swim a bit down river. That was probably the hardest hit I've taken since football. I'll be sore all day. We hit another rapid later down the river where the whole raft turned on its side and everyone including my dad, on the raft came toppling down on me. Couldn't avoid falling off the raft at that point. Thank goodness for the helmets. We hit a few more rapids after that, but lived through them.  I had a great time even though I got knocked off the raft by another company. So exhausted that I slept most of the rest of the day. I did get up to watch the NBA Finals though. 
Sorry I don't have any pictures right now. The lady at the shop said the printer was out and I could order them online when they put them up. I checked and they have not been uploaded yet. I will try to get them at a later date.

This weekend:  Video Shoot 2 finishing up "Stand Tall".

Comment below if you like the blogs.

Thanks


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Lyrics or the beat?

What do you prefer, a really booming or engaging beat/ instrumentation, or lyrics that grab your attention and really give you an image of what the artist is going though? 

Considering that some of my favorite artists are 2Pac and Biggie, I am kinda partial to the lyrics side. Don't get me wrong though the beat can really carry a terrible song. Example:  Trinidad James-Gold Watch song. I think that song became popular because of the featured artist in it. When I write my music, I try to speak from experience put that to writing. One of the hardest things is to create an image with writing, but once you do you can really captivate and audience. Putting that to a great beat makes a great song. You can really tell the great artist from the ones who will be gone quickly. Just think about your favorite artist for a second... Do they have good content... Lyrics... most of them do. Now what about the popular songs you hear on the radio... Do you see yourself listening to that particular song over and over? Most likely not. Most of the songs we hear are fads that will fade in a short amount of time. The reason the particular song made it was probably because it had a great beat that you could bump in your car. I cant tell you the last time i listened to the radio. Most of the songs i make now i try to put thought into every lyric. What are some of your thoughts? Let me know if you prefer the lyrics or the beat and why. Leave a comment below and share the discussion.

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Music Secrets

People have asked me the process for making a good music track. While there are many techniques in the music business, not one way is the correct way. Music can sound good to many different people, but it can also annoy or not sound so good to others. Certainly there is a fine line and it can go either way.
I know my music isn't for every one's taste or preference, but I also know that being in this business its all about finding your audience and targeting people who will follow. I try to put the best content I can together for people to listen.
Secret #1:  Do not get discouraged because people do not like what you put out there. As I said before, people have different tastes. Find your audience and target the ones who will actually listen and like your content.
Secret #2:  Keep going...do not stop, keep trying no matter what. You might just catch a break. That one time that you do stop could be the time you could have been noticed.
Secret #3:  Develop your skills. Keep evolving. Music changes like babies change diapers, so you gotta keep up. 
Secret #4:  Get the right equipment/software. Pro Tools and Nuendo are studio standard, along with Logic, Cubase, Adobe Audition, etc. Need a Mic. A good condenser can give you great sound on certain instruments and vocals, and a good dynamic mic can produce amazing results. Get both!!! and do your research to find out which one will work best for what you are doing. Your going to need an interface or soundboard also. Usually if you have a studio at your house you will not need a soundboard unless you just want to be hands on and have the room for it. If you are on a budget, and need something smaller for your home studio, look for a brand known for making good mic pre's. I have a Motu Ultralite MKIII. but brands like RME, Universal Audio, Avid are all great too. You will probably need a Compressor and EQ also. Personally I think Universal Audio makes some of the very best, but for budgets I would pick up a presonus studio channel. You can pick one up for $299 and it will give you Tube sound with compression and EQ. You will also need plugins. Most of the top Digital Audio Workstations (DAWS) come with there own plugins, but if you can afford it pick up Waves and Universal Audio plugins you will not be disappointed. 
Secret #5:  Study. Learn the basics, but keep looking for information on new techniques and use them in your mixes. Trial and Error. You never know unless you try. I find many things online showing how people make music, so I try what they did. Sometimes it works out, and other times it doesn't sound very good. I have a very nice library of presets I use now after coming across them online doing research. Of course every mix is different so you still have to tweak, but having a good starting point is essential to taking your workload down a bit. 

I know this is kind of broad, but this is how I learned. No one is going to reveal everything to you. You still have to work for it. If you still want to learn more though. Leave a comment that you would like to learn more.  

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Video Editing

I started editing my video for "Stand Tall" and I am getting really excited. I hope you all are too. I still have a long way to go, but I have already added a lot of the footage I took from Saturday into Avid Media Composer and put some shots together already. I know I need some more of the actual storyline to put in to fill it up, but what I have seen so far looks great. The background looks great too. Love the colors that Latitude 35 had downstairs and the alley shots turned out to really enhance the video. I am looking to get day 2 shooting done this Saturday and really fill in a lot of video. Most of this is going to be just the acting part. (Extras Welcome) We will be in the Market Square area again. My boy Corvette makes an appearance in the video too:

 

You can check his video I did on YouTube at:  Lord I Just Wanna Ball

Almost to 1000 views in only a month!!!

I got a sneak peak of the video for you, but before you watch, PLEASE COMMENT AT THE BOTTOM AND SHARE THIS BLOG WITH EVERYONE YOU KNOW!!! The links at the bottom will help you share on Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc.

I really appreciate you taking the time to check out my blog. (This is an unfinished video with very little editing done so far) Here is your sneak Peak:

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Don't forget to comment and share with your friends. #Juicebeats on Twitter and Facebook

Thank you,

Juicebeats

Father's Day

Fathers day started off with brunch at Copper cellar. The whole family was in attendance. My grandparents, my uncles, aunts, cousins, Staci's parents, sister and brother in law, and my niece and nephew. If you've never been to Brunch at Copper Cellar you need to go, it's amazing. After brunch we split up as families hung out deciding what time to go see the new Superman movie. We decided on 5 o'clock so we had plenty of time before the movie to hang out as a family. I stayed at my parents house with my sister who came in town as a surprise for my dad. We all shared crazy pictures and posts that we created. This picture is pretty crazy:  

That's rapper Drake as a kid next to me as a kid. Pretty crazy that he could have been my brother...

We had a lot of fun reminiscing with each other and watched a little bit of the US Open Golf Championship before heading to the  movies to see Man of Steel. 

Man of Steel was great new adaptation of the Superman comic. The plot and storyline were much better than the original Superman movies. This movie explained a lot in detail of how Superman came to Earth and how he came to have powers. I won't give away the whole story for those who have not seen the movie yet, but I thought this movie definitely was better than the others. Superman has always been one of my favorite superheroes, so I was glad this movie didn't disappoint. 

After the movie, we went to Newks to grab a bite to eat with my family and talked about the movie among some other things. Had a great time with my Dad on Fathers Day. 

Juicebeats

Video Shoot for "Stand Tall"

This video shoot was pretty tough for me. One thing that was pretty tough was finding a venue and a place to actually shoot most of the shots. I was lucky the night before I was able to talk to a few people at Latitude 35 and they said that I could come and shoot video downstairs while no one was there during the day. I was able to get permission from the manager and the DJ to use the lights downstairs. Once we had that I pretty much had my background shots. I took about 6 different takes with just me. Several different takes with a few friends behind me, and once we got all that done then I had to create the storyline. I was able to get some shots down the alley ways behind Tupelo Honey and behind the new Urban Outfitters. Still have a lot of work to do on the storyboard but I think that we got a really good start going. Most of my friends that were going to help with the video were out of town this weekend, so we're probably going to have to shoot some more this coming week.I don't want to give away too much just yet, but I'll leave you with a couple shots.

 

 More to come soon!!!

 Juicebeats

Check the Song here:  https://soundcloud.com/juicebeats/stand-tall

Check out other videos from Juicebeats Productions:

Wedding Photography 2

The wedding day...I was pretty excited to be able to go to this wedding and see a beautiful couple get married. I also wanted to keep practicing my new found hobby and interest. I brought by 55-210mm lens with me this time to get those close intimate shots. I could really tell a difference in how much room I could see around my subjects. It was a lot closer and tighter shot, and I could really zoom in on faces and expressions. I wanted to be able to enjoy most of the evening and partake in the whole celebration, so I only took 175 shots which will probably come down to the best 50 or so maybe. I haven't finished editing all of the pictures yet so I will see what that number comes down to.  

The day was pretty perfect for lighting and the weather couldn't have been better for a day in June. The venue:  The Bleak House is an antebellum Classical Revival style house in Knoxville, Tennessee. It is on the National Register of Historic Places.
The house was first occupied by Robert Houston Armstrong and his wife, Louisa Franklin. It was built for the couple as a wedding gift by the bride's father, Major L.D. Franklin. Robert Armstrong's father, Drury Armstrong, gave them the land. The Armstrongs named the house after Charles Dickens' "Bleak House" novel of the same name. ^[1] The bricks in the house were molded on-site using slave labor.^[2]
The home was used by Confederate Generals James Longstreet and Lafayette McLaws as their headquarters during the 1863 Battle of Knoxville. Three Confederate sharpshooters who were stationed in the house's tower were killed by Union cannonballs. Two of the cannonballs are still embedded in the walls, and Civil War-era sketches of the slain soldiers are displayed on the walls of the tower.^[1][2]
The home now belongs to local Chapter 89 of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and is commonly called Confederate Memorial Hall. (wikipedia)

"These walls have history" as I would say. The venue was beautiful and the set up of the ceremony around a fountain made it all the more surreal. 

 This is a view of where the ceremony was held. 
They had live strings to set the mood.

The ceremony was a traditional Christian wedding and the reception was lively and entertaining with a great local DJ.

I feel like a captured some pretty good moments during the wedding. I was towards the back of the seats, but with my 55-210mm lens I was able to still get those close intimate shots. It was really good practice for me. My next attempt will probably be nighttime and low light photography. Its pretty tough without a good flash or a tripod/mono-pod. I noticed toward the end of the night that the shots I was taking didn't come out too well in the dark, so I definitely want to practice on that. 

All in all it was a good experience, had a great time with some amazing friends, and got a chance to practice on my craft. 


Juicebeats


Next Up:  Video Shoot Day
 

Wedding Photography

Some of you already know that I have recently added photography as a part of my production company.  I have always had an interest in photography, but never had the tools and the time work on it. There is so much beauty that a picture can bring. The old saying, A picture is worth a 1000 words, is still very true. I enjoy the geometry, the science, and the artistic elements that go along with making a great photo. When I bought the Sony NEX 5, I didn't understand a bit about it and just knew from doing research on the computer that it was a good camera. If you are or were like me, when buying a camera we looked strictly at megapixels. Which camera has the highest? A professional photographer or even someone that knows a bit about photography will tell you that its not always the case. The sensor comes into play, the lens, shutter speeds, flash, etc. Over the past few months I have been learning these things and how they all work together to create a great shot. I am not a professional photographer by any means, but I think maybe one day I could be in a sense. 

Last night I was able to practice a bit on some of my new learned photography skills at a wedding rehearsal. At first I was a bit shy in taking photos of some of the people I barely knew, mainly because I wasn't a hired photographer, but I knew that I needed to practice my skills and this would be a good test. I shot something like 200-300 pictures some bad some good. As I was taking pictures one of the brides relatives noticed what I was doing and we had a chat. He said that he did professional photography and he gave me a few pointers. If you know anything about lenses, I was using a 18-55mm lens last night to shoot pictures. He told me that for wedding photography you may need to use a bigger lens 55-210mm or 75-300mm. I asked, "Why?" He responded saying that the smaller lens will get you great wide shots with lots of surrounding room, but for wedding photography you really may want some tight close shots which is why you would use a bigger lens. I thought, wow that makes great sense. Most of the time when I see wedding photographers shooting they usually have a bigger lens on their cameras. It's great to know why now. The wedding is tonight, so I will definitely be bringing my bigger lens to take shots this time. Here is just a preview of last nights shots I took:

Check out some of my other photos I have been working on at flickr.com/juicebeats

Juicebeats

New Directions

I am really excited to see where my company (Juicebeats Productions) is heading. I have an up and coming artist, Corvette Polo, new equipment for the studio, and a bunch of new fans. Recently adding some artistic photography to my repertoire  I am beginning to cover all areas of entertainment. With the recent success of Corvette Polo's "Lord I Just Wanna Ball" music video, I am going to concentrate hard on bringing more entertainment to the fans and hopefully branch out further than just the Knoxville and surrounding area. This weekend, June 14-16 I will be planning and executing my new video "Stand Tall." I have lots of ideas and different directions the video can go, but just know that I will bring the best content I can.  I'll keep this blog short and sweet. Don't forget to check out Lord I Just Wanna Ball on YouTube(http://youtu.be/OS0V-izMMBk) and Stand Tall coming soon to YouTube. Track can be heard on soundcloud (https://soundcloud.com/juicebeats/stand-tall).


Juicebeats