Author: Ric of Ghmbeats

Beat maker /Music producer and author at ghmbeats.com
02Aug

Should I get Ableton or FL Studio? Pros and Cons

 

Should I get Ableton or FL Studio? Pros and Cons 

should i get ableton or fl studio?

Should i get ableton or fl studio

Should i get ableton or fl studio?

     As a beginner, trying to figure out the best DAW i.e(Digital Audio Workstation) to use, can be quite tough. Since you are not in a position to single out merits or downfalls of a each programs. When it comes to choosing a great DAW there No such thing as a best daw, it all depends on the producer and their techniques to obtaining results that he/she desires.

 

With that said ,both ableton and Fl studio are all full-fledged programs designed for quality production. When you are skilled musician it comes to which daw gives you more flexibility and functionality to produce great music.

 

 

 

should i get ableton or fl studio- pros and cons
Ableton 10 Live

 

 

     I have used both fl studio and ableton programs.Over time i have been accustomed to stick to fl studio  for my own personal reasons. Firstly, fl studio has been in the market longer than Ableton. So it has served musicians for a fairly longer period.

Long gone are the nostalgic days in which it was known as Fruity Loops.I remember the very first day i got a copy of Fruity Loops 3 from my cousin…i couldn’t put my headphones down till late at night. Since then,  Fl studio has evolved and grown to a fully functional DAW competing among many others in the market.  

 

Should i get ableton or fl studio
Old Fruity loops 3

  Fl studio is fairly easy to learn as a beginner. Since the G.U.I (Graphic user Interface) is a pattern based i.e is better positioned and well designed. So the user is able to have a steady learning curve as you continue to hone in your skills with time.

 

Should i get ableton or fl studio?

   

 

  1. Usage and functionality (Pros and Cons)

To be honest…you will not learn it within a day or two, but i guarantee you with continued usage/practice you will begin acquiring music production skills over time.

 

Firstly, Fl studio has very elaborate functions such as browser, piano roll, playlists, mixer e.t.c. However,this can be a bit tedious when it comes to page navigation’s and processes. Ableton Live has a more straight forward page design thus, more  intuitive and saves time  for beginner.

Secondly, fl studio has a built-in user manual/ tutorials which are under the help section Top right.They showcase in-depth steps in music production.From sound design,mixing,mastering and recording.

 

Fl studio also comes with free unlimited future updates once you make a purchase on any version. So once a new version is unveiled you don’t need to buy, all you need is log in to your user account and download the latest version for free.

 

The downside to fl studio is the frequent bugs associated to the mac versions of the program.However, i believe image line released fl studio 20 back in May 2018. This version addresses all these bugs and errors that people used to complain.

 

      should i get ableton or fl studio- pros and cons

 

  • Functionality

Downside to Ableton live is it only supports 64 bit version and requires a J.bridge plugin in order to get that to work on 32-bit. On the other hand Fl studio supports both 32–64 bit no bridge needed.

 

Both programs support Automation of effects on the instruments but ableton live’s automation is more intuitive. All effects are build on each individual track. While in fl studio you have to create and paste each individual instances on the playlist. However,in  fl studio you can have more options on automation than ableton.

Fl studio can boast of ability to self oscillate with the plugins automation. So both Ableton and Fl Studio kind of  tie on automation.

should i get ableton or fl studio- pros and cons

 

 

Both programs also support stock plugins. However, Fl studio has more built in plugins that come with the version you purchase  compared to ableton.

 

 

easy guide to mixing

 

Both daws have Asio drivers but they fail miserably when it comes to latency issues especially fl studio. Since it focuses it’s Cpu usage on the latency compensation. If you use hardware it will compensate on this issues.

Also ableton has a more straight forward lay-out .You don’t have to go through many navigation in terms of assigning different instruments on the mixer tracks.

Ableton has a less complicated way in Midi arrangement than fl studio .This is because you have to go through a lot of navigation options.

Ableton is better when it comes to live mixes on set, that’s why Dj’s prefer it for live sets. This is due to it’s  ability to use many live instruments such as samplers,live mixers, beat pads.This is an added advantage not only for Dj’s, but Music producers that are ‘hands on’  and  versatile when it comes to making music using hardware equipment.

 

2. Audio rendering & Quality

Moreover,ableton and Fl studio support audio recording and rendering capabilities. Fl studio has a slight advantage on its ability of time stretching on a track recording using Edison plugin. Ableton has an acid-loops codec embedded in the software to  fascilitate in audio rendering.

In terms of Audio rendering both Daws render high quality audio output. One downfall to Fl studio is it bounces down each individual track in stereo format instead of mono.Which is a pain in the butt for engineers in terms of track arrangement during post mixing.

 

Ableton is capable of exporting  single tracks and groups with return and master effects applied.

 

Another draw back to FL studio , any effects applied to master bus are not reflected while bouncing down audio.  

 

So Ableton has more flexibility on rendering so, it wins over fl studio on that.

 

 

3. Pricing 

Both DAWS come at a considerable price depending on level of upgrade or functionality that you opt for.

Ableton 10  currently offers three editions namely. Intro , Standard and Suite. They share common features, but standard and suite have additional features such as Instruments , packs and effects. The standard edition goes for  $449 and Suite goes for $749 once you convert from euros

 

 

should i get ableton or fl studio- pros and cons

When it comes to fl studio,the initial package could prove to be most important decision. As far as owning your edition music software. Since once you buy any package ,then all future upgrades version come absolutely free for that package.

 

 

should i get ableton or fl studio- pros and cons

 

 

4. Extra Features

Fl studio has mobile studio application that supports most capabilities included in the main software. This is an advantage to so many Fl users worldwide. It is convenient to put down music/song writing ideas at the touch of a smart phone. 

 

Should i get ableton or fl studio

 

FL studio has a far superior piano roll mode compared to ableton, with much more intuitive controls. The natural question you probably may be asking is  what does a superior piano roll got to do with anything? FL studio being an electronic Daw has more functions and tools embedded on the piano roll racks. This functions make it easier for the user to navigate his or her way through the music writing process.

Fl studios Edison can export WAV in 24 Bit version,while in the past it only supported 16 bit and 32 bit versions only.

Ableton live on the other hand has new capabilities to extend wavetable’s oscillator section by importing your own wavetables in your device.

Ability to choose different types of automation shapes, stretch and skew automation and enter precise values with your numerical keyboard.

Improvement in scrolling and Zooming –  New Ableton 10.1 makes it easier to switch between detailed views and bigger editing panels.This makes it faster in editing any music work or tweaking minute details.  Also enhanced pinch zooming on compatible computers and  resizable arrangement Overview window.

 

If for any reason you cannot  decide in terms which DAW to choose, get demo versions for both. <<Ableton>> << Fl studio>>

For further evaluation check these great videos for further information  below.

 

                                     

 

 

 

 

 

                                       

 

 

If you enjoyed this article on Should I get Ableton or FL Studio Comparison Pros and Cons? please leave a comment or share with a friend. If you have more questions kindly contact me

Salesghmbeats@gmail.com

 

selling music online

Author/producer

Ric Mukiri

“……Both ableton and Fl studio are all full-fledged programs designed to give quality production. When you are skilled musician it comes down to which one gives you more flexibility and functionality to produce great music..”

Sources

  1. https://www.quora.com
  2. https://imageline.com
  3. https://www.ableton.com/en/shop/live/
  4. Selling music online .BLOGS
  5. https://www.ableton.com/en/blog/live-10-1-is-here/
  6. https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/ableton-vs-fl-studio/
  7. My head
  8. https://www.musicradar.com/how-to/11-new-features-in-fl-studio-20-that-you-need-to-know-about

 

01Jul

HOW TO INSTALL SERUM SKINS

How to install serum skins

 

 

       Serum is cross platform dream plugin that promises high quality sounds,with a strong vision and graphic interfaces to work with.

 

It has a build-in editor that facilitates real time wave-table creations and a better workflow interface.

 

Serum has different oscillators that manipulate the sound outputs, to give a high quality sounds.  It has graphic editors to facilitate visual editing and various rack of effects such as the ADSR’s, voices, distortion, flangers, phaser, compressors and EQ. With these functionalities it is easier to import, edit, morph wavetables for playback in real time. Serum creators boosts of being one of the only few synthesizers that has no artifacts in its sounds output.

This is due to their ultra high precision resampling to yielding to aggressive optimization on the oscillators.

 

how to install serum skins
Create custom wavetables

Serum is available in Vst /AU /AAX 64 bit formats to cater for diverse needs of producers and beat makers. You can purchase the vst on Xfer records or try out their demo version. 

 

There is more demand for Serum skins .I bet this is due to the popularity for this wavetable synthesizer. 

 

More and more producers and designers are making countless skins. The skins come in various colors ,artist, holiday and tv show themes.

 

We know how tedious it can be, to look all over music sites, in search for the serum and other vst skins. So we put together this pack of 21 skins designed by various producers. In order to spark your creativity while producing music and come up with more new ideas. To download free serum skins check below.

 

HOW TO INSTALL SERUM SKINS

 

1. Download a Serum Skin or serum skin pack in a .zipped Folder!

 

2. Extract the folder zipped folder by double clicking on the .rar zip

 

3.Open the new version of Serum in your DAW e.g( Fl Studio, Reason, Logic x, Abelton)

 

4. Click Serum’s drop down menu and select Show Serum Presets folder

5 Locate the ‘Skins‘ Folder in your window that just popped up

 

6. Copy the unzipped pack of Serum Skin(s)from your download and drag and drop it into the Skins folder

7 Restart the Serum vst, and from the drop down menu select
‘Rescan folders on disk’

 

8. Click the Serum Logo on the top left of Serum vst. Click ‘Skins‘ and select your new favorite installed skin.

 

Enjoy your skins and making your beats!

If you enjoyed this guide on how to install serum skins. please leave a comment below and share this article with others.

“Click the Serum Logo on the top left of Serum vst. Click ‘Skins‘ and select your new favorite installed skin.” 

Requirements

  1. You need to have the latest xfer records serum updates for you to use the skins. 
  2. CPU with SSE2
  3. Windows 7 SP1, or Mac OS X 10.8 or greater
  4. 64 bit VST2.4 , AU or AAX compatible host software.

serum skins
             Click below to download the Skins

download free serum skins

 

15Jun

EASY GUIDE TO MIXING

easy guide on mixing

           

 Easy guide to mixing techniques

 Mixing is an art that gets better with time,practice and experiences with sounds.Also there is no two mixes that sound the same,each     got their own sonic differences.

 

  1. Sound Selection

Another way to achieve a good mix is having a proper sound selection.This point should be considered first even before composing any music.You do not want to use shitty sounding samples ,one shots.This because you will end up with a horrible sound.

Instead arm yourself with high quality sound arsenal be it instruments or drums that are in use. 

Using a proper sound selection can and will always save you hours of trying to filter and automating unwanted frequencies in the mix. This is battle half won in mixing the stage.

As a rule of thumb use high quality stock or buy 3rd party sounds such as Kontakt library just an example.you will never go wrong with this for a start. You can also get high quality drum sounds >Click here<

easy guide to mixing

easy guide to mixing

2. Leveling your sounds

To achieve a good mix,practice leveling all your instruments to optimum levels on the mixer which all daws have.The loudest sounds which are not the main sounds should be kept minimum or just to a level that is not annoying for lack of a better term.

 

easy guide to mixing

 

3. Panning

This is great way of ensuring you give all sounds stereo separation to avoid clashing.This is achieved by turning the sounds left or right to a percentage that suits you. Indicated by regions within the red circles.

4. Reverb/Room

  Moreover,consider adding reverb or delays to your instruments and vocals to create some room for them. The effect of reverb on sounds gives better perception and clarity to the listener. Most common ones are fruity reverb 2,delay 2 &3 ,ambiance ,reverb solo spring reverb e.t.c

Easy guide to mixing

5. Compression

Learn to compress some sounds using stock plugins or any 3rd party ones, like the Fruity Compressor.

Compression ensures to keep an optimum dynamic range of sounds i.e where the sounds is too low it raises it up,and where is too high it cuts down to minimum to fit a good mix.

Compression also adds punch to the mix. Examples of good vsts for compression are Limiter, Multi-band compressor,  Maximus and Fab filter

Compression using Fab filter

“The important thing is to keep practicing  to be better on you mixes everyday.Also never forget to listen to various types of music and learn from their mixes,try and emulate or even make yours better.”

 

 

6.Equalization

Equalization also is a great practice to achieve a good mix.This is done by toning down unwanted frequencies such as sub basses, too bright sounds on the Khz range that destroy a mix. Depending on the genre of music,Also boosting some frequencies is part of EQ equalization process.

 

easy guide on mixing

7. Stereo imaging 

 This is process of placing sounds either left or right,front or back,up or down in the stereo field. This ensures that the sound is well balanced and has depth. You can use third party plugin such as ozone imager,stereo shaper in fl studio,panagement e.t.c

Stereo imaging

These few points will keep you on a good start to achieving a good mix.

 

There are more advanced techniques you can always learn especially on you-tube or on our site.The important thing is to keep practicing  to be better on you mixes everyday.Also never forget to listen to various types of music and learn from their mixes,try and emulate or even make yours better.

 

If you enjoyed this post on easy guide to mixing,please share or leave a comment below.

 

selling music online

Music producer/Author/Sound Designer

Ric Mukiri

“The important thing is to keep practicing  to be better on you mixes everyday.Also never forget to listen to various types of music and learn from their mixes,try and emulate or even make yours better.”

 

16Apr

THE ADVANTAGES OF SELLING AND DISTRIBUTING YOUR MUSIC ONLINE

THE ADVANTAGES OF SELLING AND DISTRIBUTING YOUR MUSIC ONLINE

 

selling music online

 

selling music online

    In this digital era, there is an unlimited potential to distribute any product since you are dealing with social media platforms. Musicians can maximize their chances in getting to reach a bigger fan base and potential customers. These methods can be utilized by beginners, intermediate to seasoned professional artists and producers.

 

Moreover, it does not matter which part of the world you come from. More music is been consumed, streamed online via smart phones and tablets than via Personal computers. It is estimated that there are 2.5 billion smart phone users around the world and expected to pass the five billion mark by end of 2019.This study was researched and conducted by statista.

 

 

The advantages of selling and distributing your music online compared to the old-school way.

  • Organic Traffic – Having a different variety of social platforms like twitter, face book, you-tube, instagram enable you built a big fan base to which you can sell to easily, once you gain their loyalty. Moreover, vlogging involves use of videos on particular niches can generate traffic to offers. For example You-tube and vimeo videos. Blogging on the other hand is a reputable way to channel organic traffic to a website and then convert them to loyal customers.

Writing articles and useful blog posts with a genuine aim to solve people’s problem is already half battle won in marketing. Many People are interested in sites that aim to solve their problem(s).

Later on, you can blend in some form of entertainment together with valuable information. This is a major factor in keeping loyal subscribers or customers.

 

Most big online entrepreneurs know this simple trick and thus, the reason they set themselves apart from middle and bottom feeders.

  • Utilizing the existing music streaming platforms online is an added advantage, which already has millions of users’ worldwide, ready to consume the huge demand for music.

Music streaming may have closed out the old school type business model which relied heavily on cold canvassing and selling physical records such as cassettes, tapes and Cds. With just an online connection and opening a free or subscription account you can sell your music unlimited. Examples of streaming platforms: deezer, sound cloud iTunes, tune- core and Spotify to name a few e.t.c

 

Music producers can sell beats online with ease. These marketplaces cater to both producers as well as artists.  There are several main platforms available such as: – Beatstars, airbit, soundcloud, tunevibe, tunecore, rocbattle.com, soundclick.

 

selling music online

 

 

 

These beat selling sites offer many flexible features to producers and artists namely:-

 

  • Custom licenses
  • Instant payment/delivery
  • Html 5 and Flash-store players
  • Selling on unlimited sites
  • Voice/producer tags features
  • Major payment methods
  • Contract and licensing information

 

Producers are also able to embed their beatstore on their website to maximize their chances of selling more beats online.

 

  • You get to make unlimited connections with your client base from many walks of life, since online platforms are worldwide. It is easy and reliable to work with people of different walks of life that you have never even interacted on a one on one basis.

     

       Video calls and live-streaming have made people connect from different parts of the word.

       

 

  • Online marketing is another powerful market strategy that has proven time and time again, to earn a fortune from promoting your music to consumers. With a simple website with a built-in Opt-in page to collect emails is a possible and sure way of accelerating your offers and sales cycle day after day year after year.

 

       You can create this email pop up from companies like Mailchimp, aweber or Get response. On this website we use mailchimp to               collect emails to which we target and promote to every month.

       

 

selling music online

 

 

 

     You can offer incentives or lead magnets to collect e-mails easily then later give discounts and promo codes to further entice them.         This works like a charm once you master your subscriber demographics, mastering their needs and consumer habits.

selling music online

 

  • Conduct market research with different online tools you can easily research your customers needs and patterns. You can easily formulate surveys to find out what products are most popular to the less popular ones.

Examples of most popular free survey online tools: Survey monkey, qualtrics, Survey gizmodo, Google forms and survey planet.

Take an analysis of different criteria of the data and focus your promotions on the specific niche. When this is done professionally you are able to reach more warm audiences. As a result record big streams of income in a matter of short period.

 

Moreover, find out which complimentary products you can also sell together with the primary ones. Branded merchandise such as t-shirts, caps, mugs and bags are great examples to complement your brand marketing and awareness.  

 

  • Online Adverts- This is a way of promoting your product and music to a larger targeted audience in order to get sales or leads. However, it comes at a price depending on your budget.

Most popular ones are Face book ads, twitter, Google Ad sense and solo adverts.

The most effective strategy always starts on a solid brand strategy. This point will always go along way, without one it will be all hit and miss.

 

Face book as a social media offers entrepreneurs, online marketers a chance to make adverts targeting to potential customers. Advantages are its cheap and flexible to use even for beginners to intermediate to seasoned Ad campaign managers.

 

With a minimum $5 budget, you are able to target and position your ad to reach hundreds of thousands targeted potential clients. Your first campaign should be solely focused on cold traffic. Cold traffic is defined as a flow of potential customers interacting with your ad or website through organic or inorganic traffic.

 

Consequently, after getting the data from the traffic sources and interested customers you can then re-target to them. This is more easy and cheaper compared to trying to target completely new customers. Remember the famous saying “It costs five times as much to attract a new customer, than to keep an existing one.” Once you get some positive results then you can scale up your budget and keep re-targeting to your customers, who in turn become loyal to your brand.

 

Twitter ads are another useful way to get exposure and create brand awareness to the world.

Just like face book you can start with a shoe-string budget and then scale up as like. Twitter is uniquely more focused on business entrepreneurship than other platforms.

 

You can set up twitter ad video campaigns then select video ad campaigns to promote your business venture. Use of twitter cards comes in handy when you can insert your headlines, call to action to the video then enable the campaign to roll out and get traffic.

 

Solo ads is a marketing piece used in email marketing to acquire leads and traffic to an existing offer to get sales. In other words, solo ads are email ads to which you can promote your offer to get leads and sales. This method is very precise since you have already narrowed down your target audience, who are interested in your products.

 

Google ad sense is yet another form of adverting where business owners are allowed to earn from their content online. This works by matching text and display ads based on type of content and visitors on a site. Advantages of this method are that it is much targeted to specific niche you venture into. However, the disadvantages are the campaigns get very expensive over-time and it takes time to get favorable results. This is best suited for big corporations with huge budgets to spend over long periods.

 

  • Networking- As an artist, producers or song writers, the need to reach out and network with other like-minded individuals is very beneficial than trying to succeed on your own.

    This opens up the possibility of learning new target markets, methods that have proven to work with others. For example if musician   A collaborates with Musician B, both will gain fans from each other. You can also learn what works and does not work with your fellow  collaborator.

Artists, producers can reach out to A&R’s and record labels to provide music / instrumentals to be used for the music industry or for the film industry.

Music placements used for advertisement as music jingles, normally fetch great royalties depending on the companies in question.

With some television shows/series airing a few times a week, that would mean a constant flow of income for an artist/producer for the time aired.

 

Make sure your brand awareness is clear and concise across all offline and online platforms. Lastly great branding can take you a long way, by identifying you as a market leader in a certain niche. Return customers always identify with a solid brand.  

 

With all these advantages of selling and distributing your music online, it is possible to start with minimum resources and investment. When you build a huge fan base utilize it to earn a consistent income online. The thing you need to remember is to be patient because there is no such thing as overnight success.

 

selling music online

Author/producer

Ric Mukiri

“The most effective strategy always starts on a solid brand strategy. .”This point will always go along way, without one it will be all hit and miss.

Sources

  1. https://www.statista.com/statistics/330695/number-of-smartphone-users-worldwide/
  2. https://www.business.com/articles/blair-nicole-what-you-can-learn-from-successful-branding/
  3. https://soundoracle.net/blogs/soundoracle-net-blog/the-top-10-websites-to-sell-your-beats-online-2
  4. selling music online .BLOGS
  5. selling music online guide

 

21Jun

How can I record a voice via FL Studio 12 well

How can I record a voice via FL Studio 12
fl studio image (How can I record a voice via FL Studio 12 well)

HOW CAN I RECORD A VOICE VOICE VIA FL STUDIO 12 WELL

Fl studio 12 is full-fledged daw that is capable of recording high quality vocals or any other sounds.

First of all you would need to have a good quality recording microphone/headphones .

From there, make sure the recording mic is plugged in on your desktop. It should be detected by your fl studio after a while.

Then you would want to open your Fl studio 12 and head on to the settings section then click on audio.On the input/Output devices you can either select ASIO4ALL v2 or Fl studio ASIO . These are the best devices output/input you can use to record high quality voice using native fl studio interface. If you have 3rd party ones use them to your liking.

You have two options on the buffer length during recording:-

Set or adjust your buffer size to lower range (265–512),if you are using effects on your vocals for example reverb,EQ,compression e.t.c.

When using direct monitoring the higher your under runs are, the better your recording will go without any hitches (512–1024).Experiment with different values to get desired effect on your vocals.

On the preview mixer track section you can set it to 1, so that you can control the metronome volume.

Then head on to your mixer rack and select mixer channel 1, on the top most section you will see a drop down menu to, select your mic if for example you using USB ones just select those. Next on the same mixer track add edison plugin to which the vocals will be recorded.

Select (On play) on Edison top most menu so that your recording will have a maker on each section on different vocal takes during recording.

Depending on whether you have a beat/instrumental above it loop as it recording your voice.

The last step is to hit record on edison and press play on fl studio. You will have voice recording on your playlist.

Enjoy your recording

If you enjoyed this article on How can I record a voice via FL Studio 12 well ,share your thoughts by dropping a comment or sharing with your friends and family. 

Maurice Mukiri

Producer at Ghm Beats

In need of mixing and mastering services?

 

 

19Apr

HOW TO WITHDRAW MONEY FROM PAY-PAL TO MPESA

HOW TO WITHDRAW MONEY FROM PAY-PAL TO MPESA

Pay-pal to mpesa
Easily withdraw Money from Pay pal to Mpesa (written by Ric Mukiri)

HOW TO WITHDRAW MONEY FROM PAY-PAL TO MPESA

You can Now register your PayPal Mobile Money Service with M-PESA

Finally in Kenya,you can now move funds between your PayPal and M-PESA accounts. Your
money, your choice!

   Initially, the only service that provided the Pay-pal money transfer, was through Equity bank.A few years later saw the introduction of Nation hela ,a service which could facilitate money tranfer but as you all know it came with some limitations.One of them being you
could only wire the money through their Partner bank (DTB)Diamond Trust bank in Kenya.Using the Nation Hela card with the disadvantage being you could not withdraw money from Pay pal to Mpesa directly but only through your DTB account.

The service was withdrawn later in 2017, which in turn left people with the Equity Bank Transfer option.

With recent partnership between PayPal Mobile Money Service and M-PESA has eased a lot of time and inconveniences encountered during money transfer.

Any person living in Kenya, can now easily withdraw money from their Pay pal account to Mpesa.

All you need to do is follow the steps below:-

 

STEPS ON HOW TO WITHDRAW MONEY FROM PAY-PAL TO MPESA

1.Log in to your pay pal account

2.Visit https://www.paypal-mobilemoney.com/m-pesa  and you will be prompted to Get started

3.You will get a Pay-pal to Mpesa intergration request,enter your safaricom No. it will generate and send a code to your registered

cell-phone #No.

4.Once you receive your verification code Via SmS ,Enter the code in place provided then Verify.

5.The page will reload and your both accounts are intergrated.

6.You will get two options either Pay pal to Mpesa withdrawal or Mpesa to Pay-pal

Enjoy the service!!!

It takes approximately 2 hours,for the money to be wired to your Mpesa account.This eases a lot of hassles people went through going to the bank then to agents in this case equity bank.The only downside i have observed is the maximum withdraw limit per day which is Ksh 100,000 which coincides with safaricom’s limit.

HOW TO TOP UP YOUR PAY-PAL ACCOUNT FROM MPESA

1.Click on the “Top Up to Pay-Pal Button”Use the calculator to evaluate the amount of Ksh you want to convert
2.Open your Mpesa Menu,go to Lipa na Mpesa then to pay bill.
3.Click on enter business no.and type 800088
4.Click on Account no. then enter you mobile no. and Add the amount you need to send
5.Enter your Mpesa Pin no.and click send.You will receive your money on pay-pal in a few hours.

Your can now use the intergrated service for online shopping,online services and send money to your friends and family at the touch of a button.

If you have enjoyed these tips On how To Withdraw money from payPal to Mpesa kindly Comment,like and Share it with your friends and family!!

 

Written by,

Ric Mukiri

 

15Dec

HOW TO MAKE THE PERFECT DEMO FOR (SUBMISSION)

 

How to make a Perfect Demo for (Submission)

 

HOW TO MAKE THE PERFECT DEMO FOR (SUBMISSION)

This applies to artists, Producers, composers and musicians from all walks of life.

In order to be heard, you have to stand out in a professional way.

Any A&R or record label receives thousands of demos per day if not more. At first it starts out as exciting receiving many demos voluntarily from artists, producers and musicians without doing any work to get them.

However, as time goes the excitement turns into a drag and more troublesome. Eventually, you will find as the quantity of submissions increase drastically, the quality of submissions drops with each passing year. This can be likened to you going through your mailbox everyday and finding tonnes of sloppily addressed mail that have nothing to do with you.   

Many artists or producers sending their demo(s) have one goal in mind. To showcase their musicianship and skill, in order to get a shot at getting to either being signed by record-labels or their music being considered for placement by the A&Rs.

 Sometimes the submissions lack the necessary qualities, and do not meet the standard requirements by industry professionals.  

For any demo to be considered suitable for selection let alone being heard, many factors come into consideration.

How to make a Perfect Demo for (Submission) 

Below are the Do’s and Don’ts you should consider before sending your demo(s):

  1. Do not send Long Unsolicited bio with unnecessary details

     In many cases, you may be tempted to write long-winded bio about your musical background and what you are about. This may look good on your part, but to the A&R or record labels it comes off as ambitious and unnecessary and may be a strong reason to skip over your demo.

NB: The rule of thumb is sending your music first and if more details are required you will be asked for it.

 

  1. Do not attach Mp3’s

    You might encounter some restrictions on their website such as maximum – attachment size; the formats of your recorded music For example Mp3’s, Wav and Wma .Some of these might not be compatible with their websites.

 This might restrict chance of your demo ever being received let alone being heard (no pun intended).

Unless you are specifically asked to attach mp3s after a brief bio while sending the email.

 

 

  1. Do not send 3rd Party download links

   The amounts it takes to review the demo may be too long and tedious, considering some of the 3rd party download services like Media fire ,Send space are over-shadowed by annoying ads and pop-ups in order to download the demo. Avoid this at all costs to improve your chance of tour demo being heard.

 

  1. Do not send your demos in form of remixes or extremely long LP’s

  Many artists or producers may be tempted to send demos in form of remixes of LP (Long plays) which will come off as unnecessary and uncalled for. They might think they are showing off their skills to the A&R or record label but, in the process you hurt your chances your demo ever being listened to.

Let me put it this way, if you were an A&R and receive many remixes in your mail and you had other incoming submissions on the way waiting for chance to be looked at. Would you have the time to consider them or Skip them over?

 

  1. Do not openly send submissions to many record labels at once

     This comes off as unprofessional and might be considered as spam in many cases. Many producers tend to send demos ‘en-masse’ to several record labels or A&Rs without even considering the type of music they do or criteria in this case. Sometimes they do it out of ignorance but in many cases it is a sign of laziness or just testing out the waters to see which ones succeed at the least amount of time possible.  

As a rule of thumb, never forward a submission email or demo that you sent before to another record label just to save time. Just as you cannot send a rosy love message that has been forwarded to you by a friend and expect to be taken seriously.

Take time to craft specific demo and details to each specific A&R, this will be regarded highly as serious and professional to them. Remember you want to create the best first impression to them, just like you would do on a romantic date or business meeting with an important client.

 

  1. Do not send a link to your music ‘where all your music can be heard’

     This is counter-productive in the sense that the A&R will more likely get overwhelmed by all the types of music you got. In the process ruin your chances of being heard. The appropriate way is sending one or two links to the demos and preferably let them be private.

A good example is if you use sound cloud i.e. (audio streaming platform) they have a feature where ‘you can make a specific track private’.

LIKE https://www.soundcloud.com/ghmbeats

 This may look trivial and you may ask,

 What difference does it make to send a link to your main website that has a collection of your all music verses private links to a track?

To answer your question, remember while submitting to these record labels and A&Rs less is more.

If they are impressed by what they hear, they are more likely to ask you to send them more music

Again if they like your music the higher the chances of you getting a placement.  

 

  1. Follow Submission instructions

   In so many cases submissions fail to meet the required standards because they clearly failed to follow given instructions.

In case of the size of the files of the demo(s), the format of bio where you are required to fill details on their web-sites. Some usually ask you to send specific number of links like 2-6 links or mp3’s of your tracks.

 The type of content is also important for instance some record –labels may insist on submitting non- vulgar, explicit content.

The timeliness of the submissions is also important factor and may be taken into account. Always meet the set dead-lines to avoid your demo being locked out.  Technology has made it possibly easier to restrict late submissions as per a certain time, locking out any of them using online email based submission services that have that function.

Some may require you sign up and join the Artist Community. They ask you to send them links to your music website, Sound cloud, Band camp, and Face book.

They may ask you to visit their web-page and upon signing up upload your music demo directly to their servers.

In other circumstances, you may be prompted to watch or read tutorial(s) on How to submit to their site.

 

In conclusion, these are some of my insights and ways on  to how to make a Perfect demo for (Submission) to A&R’s & music producers make a perfect demo. Most of these factors I have personally used in the past to get my music placed with A&Rs and record labels.

If you have any questions, comments or you want a chance to get your music placed please contact me or drop a comment below.

 

Best regards,

Maurice Mukiri,

Ghm Beats

 

Official sites

EMAIL: Salesghmbeats.com

https://www.soundcloud.com/ghmbeats

http://www.twitter.com/ghmbeats

http://www.facebook/ghmbeats

https://www.ghmbeats.com

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15Aug

SIX WAYS TO INCREASE FAN ENGAGEMENT ON FACEBOOK

 

 

SIX WAYS TO INCREASE FAN ENGAGEMENT ON FACEBOOK

 

#1. STICK TO HIGH QUALITY CONTENT

 

In this era of digital technology, the amount of information on social media is really getting out of hand; if not overwhelming to most people. With the availability of mobile phones ,tablets and  laptops they have in turn improved the ease of Access of these very information that was not readily available 10-15 Years ago. So when you go out there write relevant content on your fan pages. I mean Content that will Add more value to your viewers .This way it is most likely that  your posts will create most engagement if not a buzz which will in-turn add loyalty and anticipation for the next post.

 

 

#2. KNOW THE RIGHT TIME TO CREATE YOUR POSTS

 

 

Knowing when to make your post is very important; it could mean a great difference in the level and quality of engagement by your viewers of fans. Therefore, one should anticipate the time of day when your post is likely to engage the most traffic.

      Ideally, most people are a bit free on the afternoon for instance 1.00pm to 2.00pm during a lunch break; this would mean many people being able to squeeze a minute or two of their time to open that irresistible face book post that has captured their eye on their notifications. In the morning being a bit tricky, bearing in mind most people are busy trying to catch a bus or the commuter train to their place of work. It is rare for people to open their face book  at this time but still possible for those early birds’  that get to work first and take advantage of the limited time before their annoying bosses get on their nerves. I remember this incident when I was working in the insurance co. Cfc life back in 2009,I used to make sure I get before our boss reported to the office and browse the internet sites. It was against our department rules as it is inappropriate in many companies.  This continued for several months however, one day as usual me and my work colleagues were watching a certain video that had gone viral via face book .This time the boss reported early and unexpectedly and there we were glued to our computer screens, you can probably imagine what happened next!!!Lol ,  to cut the story short,  you ‘see’ the importance of getting your posts placed at an optimum time.        

 

 

#3. USE ‘EYE CATCHING’ POSTERS AND APPROPRIATE VISUALS

On average day, we are bombarded with 6-15 articles, post on the countless mushrooming social sites everyday according to a survey carried out recently. In this posts we get to see many audio-visuals that either catch our eye or not in other cases. In order for you to keep your fans glued to your page posts’ it’s important to use eye-catching visuals aides.

SIX WAYS TO INCREASE FAN ENGAGEMENT ON FACEBOOK

 

 

       Never the less, try to imagine the last post that you remember in great detail, was it colorful, decorated or was it just dull? It does not take rocket science for the brain to decide whether to keep the most striking level of detail and message that the author, writer / blogger was trying to put across .

   Moreover, with the advent of ever-growing SME’s (Small Medium Enterprises) as well as Big companies the volume of information has increased ,as we see more of these companies have resulted to hiring experienced graphic designers, media experts and bloggers to come up with high quality images and posts. You too my friend should not be left behind, in your own way try to use high quality images in your posts and for sure will see your fan engagement day by day. There are several places I can recommend you to shop for high quality images such as dreams time, pixel bay and Shutter-stock photos just to mention a few by sparing a few dollars on membership or  making a onetime purchase which I often use .

 

#4. KNOW YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE WELL

 

Most of the time I have seen many people and to be precise producers and artists complain that their content is not creating any engagement well enough as they would want to. In most cases people fail to identify the type of content they are trying to put across. I would encourage you to conduct a research on what your fans would love to see on their face book walls. For instance you may be a hip hop artist and sometimes you are trying to post rock or reggae related articles or whatever you want just because you love these genres of music too. Remember to keep consistency with the content your offering; again there is a very valid reason why your fans liked your page in the first place. Therefore, do not give them a reason to get bored or in the worst case scenario even to unlike your page.

 

 

#5. KEEP YOUR POSTS SHORT AND INTERESTING

 

Six Ways To Increase Fan Engagement On Facebook

Many of the posts that keep me captivated to their message are the ones that are brief, precise and to the point and comprehensible. There is no need to use eleven or sixteen letter jargon Lol !  To explain what would have been explained by a word or two. It is true that our egos sometimes get into our way of life, but remember these are your fans we are talking about here, you would not like your fans moving on to your competitors……….Or would You!!?? Guess not………..

  In your posts Use jokes or poke some fun  along the way, a word of caution though; just make sure  you are not insulting any one’s individuality, religion, social lifestyle and last but not least their beliefs.  It is more memorable for fans to remember and keep engaging with your posts by liking and commenting if they are able to relax and have some fun with them.

 

 

#6. CREATE ANTICIPATION

Six Ways To Increase Fan Engagement On Facebook

This particularly refers to when you decide to go for those long posts. I know this seems to contradict Tip #No.5 however, at one time or another we have the urge to give long blog post on a certain topics.

 As a result, what I want to put across is when you find yourself having a long post remember to create anticipation. The way to achieve this is by ‘using breaks’ on your information.

For instance using Click Here to read more info or by use of this two arrow sign>> (meaning more info on the Next page) that is a typical example you’ve probably seen on any many sites.

  Another way to create anticipation is withholding certain piece(s) of information from the viewer only until, to a certain time that you deem appropriate for them to get the whole picture. An appropriate example to this is by reading Tip number 6 all over again Lol!

Literally, if you look closely at the content of Tip number 6 was primarily explaining one point. However, I intentionally used prolonged sentence structure before I could get to the main point. I used approximately three sentences to get to the main point which was Using breaks which are in quotes done again to create anticipation .In the mind of the reader he or she is probably wondering why they are been taken in circles ,But you now know the reason genius Lol!

With these simple tips ‘Six Ways To Increase Fan Engagement On Facebook’ if applied well you will see a change in your engagement on your page posts.

My Best Regards,

Maurice Mukiri

Ghm Beats

 

                            https://www.facebook.com/GhmBeats/

 

 

                                                The End

 

 

 

15Sep

6 Energy Boosters For Creative Mind(s)

6 Energy Boosters For Creative Mind(s)

 

6 energy boosters for a creative mind(s)
6 energy boosters for a creative mind(s)

 

11th March, 2016

Author: Maurice Mukiri

6 Energy Boosters For Creative Mind(s)

In today’s world people have more opportunities to become and attain the level of success they have ever dreamed of. 

With so many activities to deal with in a typical day, not to mention the many distractions like social media and exposure to more entertainment to say the least. 

As a result, this can leave a creative or a professional with little or no energy throughout the day.  

   

This article is more inclined to any professionals or (Creatives’) that I will keep mentioning in the course of this article. In the creative sectors of the economy i.e.  Musicians/Artists, Beat-makers, Producers, and any form of creativity you can think of. 

1) Fruits & Vegetables

   The cliché of maintaining a balance diet is well known fact to keep the overall health in the body. 

However, contrary to that belief, it is not enough to keep high energy levels.

   

A particular group of foods known as Vitamins ensures the constant supply of energy with some commonly known to cure and prevent many ailments.

   A readily available source of these vitamins can be found in fruits and vegetables Celery, Kales, Spinach, Zucchini, and green apples, oranges, water melon and mangoes. 

You can make a puree or mixed juice from these fruits on your blender preferably when you wake up in the morning. 

Sometimes, I add carrots and other veggies but this is the bulk of it. Then lightly sweeten the juice but keep sugar content low, preferably use honey instead of sugar which is natural and healthier to the body.        

 Moreover, I find supplements as a good source of Essential vitamins to the body.  I also take a multi-vitamin, rich Vitamin D, E in B12, Seven Seas Capsules which contain Omega 3 oils that are beneficial to a healthy growth and strengthen the immune system.

Naturally these can be found in Pumpkin seeds rich in Zinc improving memory which will leave you Feeling better and helps you do better throughout the day. 

2) Water

  Water has remained to be the universal solvent all around the globe. It is a naturally occurring substance that makes 71% of the body. 

Therefore, the body requires it for normal body processes and for digestion. 

This in turn helps in removal of harmful or excess toxins in the body therefore, leaving the body feeling fresh and re-invigorated. 

Contrary to the popular belief, drinking 8 glasses; which is known to have negative effects to the body by draining the essential vitamins through urine. 

Keep a normal and manageable intake of around 4-6 glasses of water daily. You will notice

 a replenished and more energized self in the course of the day .

3) Exercise

  The body requires day to day training and exercises, to help keep check body weight although some may differ on the ‘Weight’ part but this can vary from one person to another.

 Keeping a regular Exercise habit throughout the week means the body is able to burn the excess calories and even fat accumulated through our meals. 

The body has self-regulating mechanism of removing toxins and harmful substances in our body. 

However, this alone is not enough to for you sit all day passive thinking that you will be okay. 

It is a well known fact that the body emits some hormones called endorphins which are the feel-good hormones. 

That explains why you feel energized or report feeling more positive after hitting the gym, jogging, nature walk or performing any form of exercise.    

Maintain a regular exercise pattern, keeping it simple in the initial stages and slowly building momentum in the course until you comfortable with it. 

4) Rest and Regular sleep

a)Rest

This factor is normally overlooked in today’s ‘hustle infested age’ lol! or hustle and bustle for  any individual. 

Many people are not able to keep a balance between hours of rest and working. 

After working on normal hours i.e. 9-5 or whatever schedule you have it’s important that you take adequate breaks of 3-10 minutes. 

This ensures increased productivity when you resume to a busy work-schedule, which also kills monotony in work pattern.

  1. b) Regular sleep

Again sleeping is becoming more and more elusive to the normal population .

Due to the most acclaimed stress related issues maybe from work or family. It is therefore important to condition the body to proper a sleeping routine. Remember a sleep deprived person is most likely to be unproductive

I normally find waking up early i.e. 5:30 and sleeping before midnight working perfectly, as opposed to sleeping in the wee hours of the morning which will leave you feeling drowsy and the need to recover the sleep for the most part of that day.

Another way is taking a quick Power nap in the afternoon of 5 -30 minutes; that is off course when not in a busy schedule or workplace, but BEWARE of your baddass boss Lol! You may end up being sacked.

In a research carried out, proved even Power naps that last a few minutes recorded increased alertness and in some cases improved memory.

     

5) Harnessing your Creative Energy

     

 In most professions the most fundamental principle is the Creative Energy required to maximize the potential output. 

More often, we creatives’ are faced with more pressure to complete a given project and conceptualize ideas. 

It has prompted us to spend more energy, time and efforts into trying to achieve maximum output, in the process rendering us less efficient and hence less productive.

  1. i) Develop several Concepts –Instead of spending 2-3 hrs trying to push an idea to perfection, initially come up with 3-4 Concepts don’t be afraid to develop any idea that storms your mind first.
  1. ii) Think outside the box –Sometimes when we are in the process of Creativity, we get stuck by trying to over-analyzing ideas. Step outside your ‘level of awareness’ or what you deem normal thinking. The most revolutionary ideas come when you are in most relaxed state; that is when the brain sparks with great ideas and eventually achieves maximum output. Remember Einstein, one of the greatest revolutionary of the 20th century? It is said that he used to sit still in a dark room for hours…. and he could come up with brilliant ideas that no one dared to think of.

iii)            Brainstorming-You have probably heard that 2 or more heads are better than one. When a creative strives to come up with a certain concept(s) but fails, It is important that he consults his colleagues or professionals in his field.

It is a proven fact that the ‘Power of Mastermind’ outshines single mind in terms of more productivity and Revolutionary ideas.

  1. iv) Develop your Concepts- After you developed hard earned 3-5 concepts, it is now time to pick the most viable ones at a time mold, develop and perfect it.
  1. v) Keep repeating this entire process everyday and you will realize more growth and development in overall output.       

6) Positive Attitude

    

 The Last but not least factor on boosting your Creative energy, is always developing and maintaining a Positive Mental Attitude. As a matter of fact it’s easier said than done. 

In day to day work and busy-schedules we are constantly bombarded with negative vibes in our heads.   

That little nagging voice that keeps insisting you are not good enough in this or that or you cannot do this because you don’t have  certain resources. 

If this trend is left unchecked it can render a ‘creative mind’ redundant and unmotivated to complete a task at hand.

Remedies to Counteract this:-

i) Develop a Strong Self-belief & Confidence –This should stem from your core values that are unique in each & every individual. God created us in his own image and each person has his or her own abilities, which are a sure way to cast away any doubts in your capabilities no matter your current conditions and level of preparedness

ii)Develop Insurmountable Courage- Courage is defined as the ability to pursue anything in presence of constant fear to perform that very thing we fearful of. In our daily work sometimes we are faced with specific tasks or problems that we haven’t encountered before. This is where courage sets in , try to solve the problem beginning with the known facts and then eventually moving to the unknown. By doing this repeatedly, you find that you more energetic and able to cover more ground, in achieving your maximum level of output.     

Have an energetic day!! Peace!

Maurice.W.Mukiri

Ghm Beats 

15Dec

7 Tips On How to Handle Rejection In Life

7 Tips On How to Handle Rejection In Life

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7 Tips on how to handle rejection in life

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is inevitable you will be turned down at various points in your life. You may get rejected when applying for a job, making a marriage proposal or asking your boss for a pay raise.

It is not a nice experience to have,but thankfully it is possible to learn how interconnection without letting it destroy you.

Here are 7 tips on what you can do:

1. Don’t take it personally.There are times in our lives when we are rejected simply because of timing.If you ask someone out to lunch but they have already eaten lunch, well they are going to turn you down! If you apply for a part-time job at a department store during the Christmas holidays the week of Christmas, they are going to turn you down because they have enough staff. Some rejections have nothing to do with us. So if you got turned down, do not second guess that you are no good or that no one likes you. It may just be a question of timing!

2. Think positively. It can be hard to think positively when you have been rejected, but try to turn the tables on this. If some one declines your offer for a social event, think about all the times when you have said no to others as well. Also,sometimes, getting rejected is a blessing in disguise. It may provide you with the space for something bigger that is about to happen!

3. Listen to the rejection carefully. It is important to pay attention to the reason for the rejection.This will tell you if you have a second chance or not. If you apply for a job and the Human Resources Director says“Not now, but call me in three months,” you can choose to focus on the part about timing. Try asking a follow up question to understand why you are being rejected now and get creative in coming up with an alternative solution.

4. Be kind to yourself.Being rejected is a disappointment to say the least. It can be very frustrating to put yourself out there for either personal or professional reasons and then, be told “no.” So,be kind to yourself after getting rejected in someway.Engage in positive self talk and encourage yourself for the future. Do not be silly by drowning your sorrows in food, alcohol, cigarettes or over spending.

5. Have confidence in who you are. Learn to have confidence that people will like you just as you are and to make yourself the best“you” that you can be.Engage in hobbies and activities that you. Laugh and sparkle! People will respond in amazing ways and you will get to experience less rejection!

6. Know that every one gets rejected. There are six billion people on this earth. We are all beautiful,unique and different. There are times we are in demand and times we may get rejected. Knowing that rejection is an emotion that many people go through is a reality check!So get over your victim mentality and move on!

7. Try and try again. A popular sales motto is that it takes twenty “nos” to get to one “yes.” Many successful authors like Robert Kiyosaki and Mark Victor Hansen got their manuscripts rejected several times by publishing houses before they hit big time! Learn from these authors. Do not therefore take rejection as a sign of failure. Instead, press on in your dreams!A lot of rejection is not the actual rejection, but how you handle it. If you engage in positive self-talk and have a confident attitude,it is possible to attract a better outcome. Hence,keep picking yourself up when you fall. Do not feel daunted but rejoice because you have found one less way to being turned down. So,even if a new party says“no” to you, you will always be able to transform your negative state of mind to a more empowering one.

As we wave 2014 goodbye contemplate on the positives you have learnt throughout and build upon them to have a successful 2015!!My regards,
Ric Mukiri,
Ghm beats