Our fantastic wedding band are having a show case on 31st May in Edinburgh!
This is a great chance for you to see the band in action, in an intimate environment. Its our small wedding band that are playing, its a small venue after all, but it gives you the chance to see our core band in action.
Rear View is fast becoming one of the most sought after wedding bands in Scotland, with a wealth of amazing reviews under its belt.
Dont miss out!
Tuesday, 21 May 2013
Monday, 20 May 2013
What You See, What You Get?
Marketing our wedding band is something we have have to do every day almost. The wedding entertainment market is very competitive as Scotland has a high demand for wedding bands adds to the amount of bands trying to get their slice of the pie!
When we market our wedding band, we pride ourselves on giving the most accurate impression we possibly can. All of our videos have been done 100% live and our studio recordings are no different. We have stayed away from studio magic and trickery in favour of being as honest as we can be.
Like any marketeer, we keep an eye the competition, seeing what other wedding bands do to attract customers. What we have found really surprised us in a number of cases, more cases than we thought. We have seen many of these bands show a music video in support of their abilities, but very few of them have been an accurate representation. Nine times out of ten, the performers are miming to a highly polished studio recording in their videos. And this highly polished recording employs all of the modern technology it can to enhance the performance.
We have to ask ourselves, do we blame them? Of course a wedding band wants to try and get as many gigs as they can. But imagine your big day, you have seen the video and they sound exactly like the record. The band set up and play your carefully selected first dance and its nothing like what you expected it to be.
Furthermore, we have seen another level of studio magic, so to speak. As a successful vocal school, we have a large selection of professional quality back tracks. And on investigation of some function bands we have found ourselves recognising the backing track in the band's demo. So only the singer is being showcased, not the actual band!
So when you are looking at a band for your wedding make sure you are seeing what your actually getting. If you see a group that comprise of a guitarist, a drummer, bass player and vocalist and their demo has lush brass parts, huge strings and fluent piano, you can be sure that this band cant give you that on the big night!
We take pride in our function band and believe its one of the best in Scotland. And when you check our website, what you see (and hear) is what you get!
When we market our wedding band, we pride ourselves on giving the most accurate impression we possibly can. All of our videos have been done 100% live and our studio recordings are no different. We have stayed away from studio magic and trickery in favour of being as honest as we can be.
Like any marketeer, we keep an eye the competition, seeing what other wedding bands do to attract customers. What we have found really surprised us in a number of cases, more cases than we thought. We have seen many of these bands show a music video in support of their abilities, but very few of them have been an accurate representation. Nine times out of ten, the performers are miming to a highly polished studio recording in their videos. And this highly polished recording employs all of the modern technology it can to enhance the performance.
We have to ask ourselves, do we blame them? Of course a wedding band wants to try and get as many gigs as they can. But imagine your big day, you have seen the video and they sound exactly like the record. The band set up and play your carefully selected first dance and its nothing like what you expected it to be.
Furthermore, we have seen another level of studio magic, so to speak. As a successful vocal school, we have a large selection of professional quality back tracks. And on investigation of some function bands we have found ourselves recognising the backing track in the band's demo. So only the singer is being showcased, not the actual band!
So when you are looking at a band for your wedding make sure you are seeing what your actually getting. If you see a group that comprise of a guitarist, a drummer, bass player and vocalist and their demo has lush brass parts, huge strings and fluent piano, you can be sure that this band cant give you that on the big night!
We take pride in our function band and believe its one of the best in Scotland. And when you check our website, what you see (and hear) is what you get!
Sunday, 19 May 2013
How does smoking affect my singing?
This is a great question, I get asked frequently by singers if it's ok to smoke and sing!
Truth is, smoking is not the best for you in any way, shape or form. There really is no way to beat about that bush, it's bad for you! If you want to be a singer, it's just not going to help you advance your career, and may very well do just the opposite.
So what does it do?
Breathing: - First and foremost, smoking affects your breathing, and as we know, breath is the fuel for your voice. The lungs contain little fibres, called Cilia, which help to move debris from the lungs. When you smoke, these fibres are damaged, so they don't work, debris sits in your lungs and you have to work extra hard to cough it out, hence, smokers cough.
This is when you notice changes to your voice, you sound hoarse, or dry and no matter how much water you drink, it doesn't go away. The swelling in the cords and the a-symmetry, (as seen in the diagram), mean that the cords cannot vibrate together freely, and do not come together cleanly, instead there may be airy gaps in the process, which can alter desired pitches, or may make a note sound like it has an overtone as two pitches can be created.
It's not about fear, but if you want to sing, best to drop the ciggies!
Truth is, smoking is not the best for you in any way, shape or form. There really is no way to beat about that bush, it's bad for you! If you want to be a singer, it's just not going to help you advance your career, and may very well do just the opposite.
So what does it do?
Breathing: - First and foremost, smoking affects your breathing, and as we know, breath is the fuel for your voice. The lungs contain little fibres, called Cilia, which help to move debris from the lungs. When you smoke, these fibres are damaged, so they don't work, debris sits in your lungs and you have to work extra hard to cough it out, hence, smokers cough.
The Vocal Cords: - The vocal cords are what create the pitch, their resonance is what creates the notes as the air from your lungs passes through. They are pale in colour and covered in a slight mucos, which helps them to vibrate. In a healthy voice, this movement is effortless. If you smoke, you can disrupt the blood flow in the vocal cords, and they can become inflamed, a-symmetric and dry.
It's not about fear, but if you want to sing, best to drop the ciggies!
Saturday, 30 March 2013
Breathe a healthy voice...
Did you know that your medication can have an effect on your voice?
Even over the counter medications can affect the way that the vocal chords work, drying them out, thinning the blood, or causing fluid retention. All of these things will affect the way that your voice works.
Your vocal chords have a protective mucosal layer covering them, and drying them out can make speech difficult. So it's important to make sure that you know how to look after your voice and keep it hydrated. Well, that's easy, just drink water and be careful of diuretics like Tea and Coffee, which can dry you out! But did you know that medication can have an effect. Anticholinergics (or Asthma Medication to you and I), can dry out this mucosal layer, and so Asthmatic singers need to bear this in mind. Of course, Asthma is a very serious illness, often overlooked for it's severity. Students with Asthma should be mindful that the control of Asthma must come before singing, because singing isn't potentially life threatening.
However, the breathing exercises that we cover at our tuition for Singing in Edinburgh can help you to improve your respiratory health and therefore you're need for reliever inhalers.
*VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Medication should always be monitored by a doctor, we are not advocating self medication.
Tuesday, 26 February 2013
Wedding Bands or DJ's, what's the deal?
So we get asked why people should take a wedding band over a DJ quite a lot. Its a good question really, a DJ takes up very little space, can play anything within reason and its only one person to be catered for!
Lets think about a night out. So you go to a club and they have a DJ. They play the latest chart toppers along with a few old classics. They sometimes talk over the mic, flirt with the clientele and maybe tell a few jokes. It's all pretty standard really! I think you can see where this is going?
A function band really gives a sense of occasion. When you go to a club and there is a band playing, its different. It gives a sense of occasion and brings energy to the room. And its no different at a wedding. Wedding bands in Scotland normally play a variety of music and a variety of styles. Overall, it brings something special to the table.
As an Edinburgh wedding band, we have played all over Scotland and have attended many weddings indeed. A band always brings something special to the table. Not that we don't like DJs.... they are amazing too. But for something that little bit different, a little more grand and as special as your big day.... Try and get a good wedding band in place, it really makes a real difference.
And if you cant decide, give us a call... we do both!
Lets think about a night out. So you go to a club and they have a DJ. They play the latest chart toppers along with a few old classics. They sometimes talk over the mic, flirt with the clientele and maybe tell a few jokes. It's all pretty standard really! I think you can see where this is going?
A function band really gives a sense of occasion. When you go to a club and there is a band playing, its different. It gives a sense of occasion and brings energy to the room. And its no different at a wedding. Wedding bands in Scotland normally play a variety of music and a variety of styles. Overall, it brings something special to the table.
As an Edinburgh wedding band, we have played all over Scotland and have attended many weddings indeed. A band always brings something special to the table. Not that we don't like DJs.... they are amazing too. But for something that little bit different, a little more grand and as special as your big day.... Try and get a good wedding band in place, it really makes a real difference.
And if you cant decide, give us a call... we do both!
Saturday, 22 December 2012
Magazine beauty and impossible singing!!!
Magazine beauty, the unimaginable, unattainable, unrealistic measure of perfection!
Girls have been obsessed. What is Victoria Beckham wearing this season, doesn't she look fab now that she's a size 00 (er... not really - have a mars bar love). When will Kristin Stewart smile, and wow doesn't Amanda Holden look amazing just weeks after giving birth?
With exposure and documentaries galore, as well as pressure on the European fashion markets to only employ models that have a BMI of 18.5 and over, we are much more savvy about photoshop, and the magazine market. We seem to understand now, having seen some pre and post photoshop pictures from the likes of Britney Spears and Lady Gaga, that the image we're sold is not real. It doesn't always stop us lusting after the perfect body, with no blemishes, and absolutely no cellulite, and it gives us a sense of schadenfreude, when we see the candid photo's of our celebs on their days off!
So, why oh why, in this world, where we know that the unreal is portrayed to us in so many ways, do we still feel the need to vocally out-master the masters? When we are in our singing lessons in Edinburgh, we're frequently asked, "why can't I sound like...?", "how do they do that?". 9/10 it's clever production, disguised fades to make it sound like someone is singing something all in one breath, when actually, they have laboured in the Studio for days. Taking the best parts of various "takes", splicing them together to make us believe what we here is the perfect rendition of a song, in truth, it's an amalgam of many hours of hard work. We've all heard Cher's "Believe", a song which was marketed as clever recording, but has become recognised as a use of auto-tune. Auto-tune, can now be used as a vocal effect to give the singer a more "robotic" sound, but let's not forget that auto-tune is there and was developed, to correct poor performance.
That's not to say that there aren't talented singers out there these days, of course there are. And it's not to say that we would want you to stop trying to be the best that you can be, but please remember that there is a very good chance that your desired vocal, has not even been achieved by the person you look up to!
With exposure and documentaries galore, as well as pressure on the European fashion markets to only employ models that have a BMI of 18.5 and over, we are much more savvy about photoshop, and the magazine market. We seem to understand now, having seen some pre and post photoshop pictures from the likes of Britney Spears and Lady Gaga, that the image we're sold is not real. It doesn't always stop us lusting after the perfect body, with no blemishes, and absolutely no cellulite, and it gives us a sense of schadenfreude, when we see the candid photo's of our celebs on their days off!
So, why oh why, in this world, where we know that the unreal is portrayed to us in so many ways, do we still feel the need to vocally out-master the masters? When we are in our singing lessons in Edinburgh, we're frequently asked, "why can't I sound like...?", "how do they do that?". 9/10 it's clever production, disguised fades to make it sound like someone is singing something all in one breath, when actually, they have laboured in the Studio for days. Taking the best parts of various "takes", splicing them together to make us believe what we here is the perfect rendition of a song, in truth, it's an amalgam of many hours of hard work. We've all heard Cher's "Believe", a song which was marketed as clever recording, but has become recognised as a use of auto-tune. Auto-tune, can now be used as a vocal effect to give the singer a more "robotic" sound, but let's not forget that auto-tune is there and was developed, to correct poor performance.
That's not to say that there aren't talented singers out there these days, of course there are. And it's not to say that we would want you to stop trying to be the best that you can be, but please remember that there is a very good chance that your desired vocal, has not even been achieved by the person you look up to!
Wednesday, 17 October 2012
Busy times at RVM
SINGING
It has been a while since we updated... singing lessons have been going well, fully booked for the next 4 weeks, and bookings are starting for next year too!
Lots of happy exports from RVM singers and we have a singing showcase happening on the 23rd November 2012 at the City Cafe on Blair Street, register your interest now!!!
We are now happy to announce that we are working with Edinburgh Council and Creative Scotland to bring music to youngsters through the Youth Music Initiative, a wonderful project to provide the arts to everyone!!!
FUNCTION BAND
The band is booking up quickly for next year, and the guys are very excited to be a part, and to have been a part of so many fabulous and special days! Don't forget that you can hire the band for Weddings, Birthday Parties, Corporate Functions, your own amusement really!
Keep your eyes peeled for news on Rear View Music's entertainment. There are some projects in development at the moment, including an upcoming showcase for the band. If you want to see the guys in action, contact info@rearviewmusic.co.uk for information on this.
RECORDING
As a freelance sound engineer, JamieT was living it large on the Ross Bandstand, during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, seeing a number of acts perform more than admirably and to very excited crowds. Bring on EFF 2013!
JamieT has been rushed off his feet. Having become the in house engineer for Edinburgh 's famous, Banana Row, he's booking up even faster!
JamieT was featured in an article in the Scotland on Sunday, talking about a recording session taking place at Banana Row, and is very excited to be part of the team!
It has been a while since we updated... singing lessons have been going well, fully booked for the next 4 weeks, and bookings are starting for next year too!
Lots of happy exports from RVM singers and we have a singing showcase happening on the 23rd November 2012 at the City Cafe on Blair Street, register your interest now!!!
We are now happy to announce that we are working with Edinburgh Council and Creative Scotland to bring music to youngsters through the Youth Music Initiative, a wonderful project to provide the arts to everyone!!!
FUNCTION BAND
The band is booking up quickly for next year, and the guys are very excited to be a part, and to have been a part of so many fabulous and special days! Don't forget that you can hire the band for Weddings, Birthday Parties, Corporate Functions, your own amusement really!
Keep your eyes peeled for news on Rear View Music's entertainment. There are some projects in development at the moment, including an upcoming showcase for the band. If you want to see the guys in action, contact info@rearviewmusic.co.uk for information on this.
RECORDING
As a freelance sound engineer, JamieT was living it large on the Ross Bandstand, during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, seeing a number of acts perform more than admirably and to very excited crowds. Bring on EFF 2013!
JamieT has been rushed off his feet. Having become the in house engineer for Edinburgh 's famous, Banana Row, he's booking up even faster!
JamieT was featured in an article in the Scotland on Sunday, talking about a recording session taking place at Banana Row, and is very excited to be part of the team!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)