Educational Articles Archives - i2 Music Group

The Art of Strings image

Few things add more instant ‘feel good factor’ to a record than well arranged, performed and recorded strings. Great sounding strings and quality, authentic soul music go hand-in-hand, so getting that part of the production process right is quite essential. There are many variables to solve. Firstly: string players don’t simply turn-up and ‘play it by ear.’ There are good reasons for this. A solo violinist does not an orchestra make, so if anything remotely elaborate is to be attempted: an orchestration must first be written in great detail - so that the many different players (1st violin, 2nd violin, violas, cello and bass) all know what they should be doing at any given moment. Secondly: even if you have ...

The Credit Card Never Lies – part 1 image

One of the great wonders of life is humankind’s ability to invent new ways to profit from old ideas. Mobile phones are a common sight these days and people can pretty much communicate with whomever they want to – whenever they want to. They pay a nominal fee to their phone provider for the privilege of access to a ‘network.’ Many years ago telegrams were how people moved information across vast distances. Before that, people delivered hand-written notes (we call it text messaging now) but the essential principle remains the same. Despite the constantly evolving technology, what people essentially do really hasn’t changed much through the ages. I hear cries of derision from people who are convinced that people didn’t ...

Black to The Future – part 2 image

Back in the dark ages, one ignorant, lazy, egotistical person (who was quite possibly racist, sexist, ageist and moronic too) could pretty much decide the fate of someone else’s’ career – thank the heavens those days are long gone. Much of the rapid growth in internet speed and efficiency was driven by the porn industry, yet despite its dubious heritage, internet speed has made the movement, creation, manipulation, marketing, sales and general monetisation of music more possible than at any time in history. While many people bemoan the death of the old establishment, I celebrate the endless possibilities that new technology affords us all. If black music acts of yester year were born in this age, all talk of ...