Success Beyond The Score

Time For My Music is our online private membership group for emerging female musicians. This denomination includes singers, instrumentalists, singer-songwriters, rappers, DJs and spoken word artistes. Starting today, and for two weeks, it is open for new members. If you have been reading our updates from the group, and wondering how you can take part, this is your chance!

Specifically, Time For My Music is the right fit for you if:

• Music is your hobby, but you would like to perform and eventually get paid.
• You're returning to music after a break, and want support to get back in and boost your confidence. 

• You have gigged occasionally, but it doesn't seem to be working. However, you'd like to give your music one last push to see if you can realise your music dreams.

You can read more about the project in the about page.

Still unsure? No problem, signing up allows you to access the community group for 14 days before you have to pay even a penny. Come and have a look!

Click...

We have already covered the basics of health and safety, and also what amplifiers and mixers are. Now, to round up this first batch of summaries, we will go over how to set them up and down properly.

Recap on risk management

Before setting up, check for potential hazards: uneven surfaces, proximity to transit areas, and whether there is a chance your equipment will get wet (by being outdoors or close to where drinks are being served).

Tape your leads to the floor in order to prevent accidents. You can also tape them to the sides of poles or tripods, and if it's important that people see them, you can wrap them in colourful or reflective tape.

Set up your equipment within your reach, but not so close that you could hit it by accident while you perform. If you have poles, extend the legs as wide as the space allows it, and don't make the pole higher than yourself.

During soundcheck, make sure that there is no risk of interference between your devices, and that you have enough spa...

Today, we start revisiting the third, and for now last, season of the podcast Success Beyond The Score. For it, Millicent changed formats once again, deciding to explore the world of livestreaming.

The biggest advantage of recording the episodes live with an audience was the interaction. As you will see, she answered questions on the spot, and also reconnected with listeners at later episodes to clarify things. It was a good experience that reflected on her later e-learning opportunities. Speaking of that, you can join the mailing list to learn whenever more of those become available.

Here is the first episode, which outlined the structure of the whole season. It explains the seven stages that every gigging musician goes through during their career:

Here is the audio-only version. As always, you can find it at most podcast streaming platforms. Shares are appreciated!

You need only claim the events of your life to make yourself yours.
—Florida Scott-Maxwell, in ‘The Measure of My Days: One Woman's Vivid, Enduring Celebration of Life and Aging’ (1972) 

Florida Scott-Maxwell was an American playwright, author and Jungian analyst. When she was in her eighties and living in a nursing home, she turned her journal into the memoir ‘The Measure of My Days’ , where this quote comes from. The title of the memoir itself might come from psalm 39:4, which reads: “Oh Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am!" 

• What does this mean to you?
• What influence could this have in your music?

As always, you can share your thoughts here.

As we have discussed before in the blog, New Year's Eve is not the only point in time where we can stop, look at what we have done, think about where we want to go, and make plans. In fact, to reach your goals, you should most definitely be tracking your progress and adjusting your actions way more frequently.

The beginning of September is a good checkpoint. Summer vacation is mostly over, kids go back to school. The demand for gigs decreases slightly, and the uninviting weather of early autumn is a great excuse to sit down inside and focus. Also, there is still enough time before Christmas to assess your situation at different levels of your life (family, music, finances, etc.) and make a solid plan to tweak what you need to tweak.

Dust off that list of new year's resolutions you made in January and evaluate. First, acknowledge any and all achievements and progress you have got so far. Good job! Then, in regard to the goals that are still pending, ask yourself why that is and answer...

Here is the second season's finale of the podcast Success Beyond The Score. If you had to pick just one episode to revisit, this would be the one. Although it doesn’t include clips from the interviews with the wonderful guests who made the season possible, it has Millicent telling you what were the absolute best takeaways from her conversations with them.

Let’s hear, then, a brilliant summary of what we learnt from Tony Bean, Louise Dengate, Abigail Kelly, Anna Brooks, Dan Whitehouse and Ruby Turner MBE:

In the first post of this series, we talked about health and safety. Now that we know the necessary precautions we have to take, we can talk about the main devices we are dealing with: amplifiers and mixers.

1. What is an amplifier?

Amplifiers are not unique to music. In fact, they can be found in most, if not all, electronic equipment. Their basic function is to increase the magnitude of a signal, which is itself defined as a current that varies through time. Microphones, electric instruments and digital devices feed signals to audio amplifiers and mixers, which then amplify (i.e. increase loudness)them to make them come out of speakers with the volume and characteristics that we want. 

The main difference between an amplifier and a mixer is the number of signals that each of them can handle. The amplifier is designed for only one, while the mixer can process multiple signals at the same time. Due to this, amplifiers tend to have a built-in speaker, while mixers don't.

2. Ba...

We are almost done revisit season 2 of the podcast Success Beyond The Score. This time, we have two more compilation episodes, in which, instead of hearing one guest talk about many things, you will get to know all guests’ opinion on a single topic.

On episode 18, we looked back at the event that completely changed the course of the 2020s: the coronavirus pandemic. It was a devastating blow for humankind at all levels that is still taking a toll to this day, yet it was also a moment of crisis that allowed us to think differently about what we were doing and what we really wanted. How did it affect the music industry during the first two years? Specifically, how did it impact musicians at different levels?

Episode 19 is all about practical information: from each guest, we are going to hear at least three essential tips, or things that you can do to help you make it in the music industry.

We hope this information is useful for you, and that you are enjoying this trip down memory...

Here is the first of seven posts in our series about amplifying devices, what they do, and how to use them. They are summaries of workshops that took place in the Time For My Music community group. You can learn more about the context in our intro post.

We are starting at the most basic, yet most important aspect of this and any type of work: safety!

1. Take care of your body.

By definition, the performing arts are physically demanding. Music too! You have to look after your health: diet, sleep quality, and fitness level all play a part.

Specifically in regard to amplifying devices, their weight can represent a risk. When deciding on what to buy for your PA system, think about how you are going to transport and set your new device up. Learn the proper form to lift heavy objects; you can do it at the gym or even through online tutorials, like this one.

If you find yourself in a situation where the weight of the equipment is too much for you, don't force yourself. There's no shame i...

Words are a form of action, capable of influencing change.
—Ingrid Bengis, in ‘Combat in the Erogenous Zone’ (1972) 

This Ingrid Bengis' pioneering collection of essays about love and sexuality is a key text for second-wave feminism. The quote that we extract from it today is one of the most referenced.

• What does it mean to you?
• How can you relate this idea with your music or your process?