MusicMaster Blog

Twice a year we go through Daylight Savings time changes and at MusicMaster, it typically generates a lot of phone calls.  No worries, let MusicMaster handle it for you! (more…)

By Marianne Burkett

So, your VP, owner or General Manager has announced that you will soon be switching to a different Automation system. You may be excited or you may be anxious about the new system coming in. With the number of clients we have here at MusicMaster… we’ve seen many stations approach this in various ways. I feel confident that this blog can provide you with some insight and steps you can take to make the switch less complex and overwhelming. (more…)

By Paul Ziino

After a long day’s work of editing logs, adjusting rotations, building clocks, and analyzing your data, it’s always a good idea to make a backup. Here’s how… (more…)

We have welcomed many new users to MusicMaster in the past 30 years. For many of you, that meant having your data converted from other scheduling software. Your converted data was returned to you set up, and ready for you to schedule and export a log to your automation system. (more…)

By Drew Bennett

Feel like you should set up Dataset Security in MusicMaster for your formats?  It’s a wise idea and helps you protect your database from unknowing hands roaming about the radio station. (more…)

Are you reconciling your logs?

You likely already have (or had used in the past) some method to keep track of what songs were actually aired on your station that weren’t initially accounted for when you scheduled the music logs. (more…)

One of the least-used and probably the least-understood property of the Rule Groups in MusicMaster is called Group Mode. (more…)

If you’re listening to urban or top 40 these days, chances are you’ve had that Pitbull song, “Calle Ocho” stuck in your head at least once. You know which one I mean: “one, two, three, four, uno, dos, tres, cuatro!” I can actually remember the first time I heard the song. I was listening to Ryan Seacrest’s Top 40 through an internet stream and after hearing him preface the track by saying how quickly it’d grown in popularity on the West Coast prior to its radio debut, I started paying attention. Back then, I assumed the song would take some time to filter through from both coasts to the midwest. Now, I hear it everywhere. While I’m shopping, while I’m at the gym, even while I’m trying to sleep at night and some kids are cruising by with their radio blasting and the windows down.

Since the debut of that song I’ve moved from the Midwest to the West Coast and have discovered some great Hispanic/Latino artists. One worth mentioning is Notch, an artist who I believe could be a significant contender to Pitbull if only he could get that shot at some syndicated radio play. Notch (“Normal Howell”) is an American born artist of Jamaican and Afro-Cuban descent. In the nineties, he was helping introduce reggae to North American while performing in the duo Born Jamaican. In 2007, he released a solo album “Raised By The People” – which happens to be the latest album that found its way onto my iPod. It’s a mix of hip-hop, R&B, dancehall and reggaeton with both English and Spanish lyrics. There are some truly solid tracks on the album. One of my favorites is the 200 mile per hour “Que Te Pica” which I’m certain I’ve heard before in my zumba dance class at the gym. The human body is not capable of sitting still while that song is playing. Other tracks of note include the rhythmically interesting “Layaway Love” which I think would make a uniquely exotic addition to a mainstream hip/hop or urban station. Or, for a station that’s playing to a primarily hispanic or afro-latino audience looking for something to blast from their car stereo while driving past my apartment at night, I’d recommend checking out “Dale Pa’Tra” or “Bailar Reggae.” I’ve got to say, while Pitbull is busy co-writing that new fight song for the Miami Dolphins, his worthy contender could make good use out of a shot in the spotlight. For more, give the album a test drive on iTunes or visit Notch’s official site here.

To accept my “Listen To Que Te Pica Without Dancing Foolishly” challenge, check out the YouTube link below. And seriously, if you know someone who takes Zumba, ask them about this song!

ACCEPT THE CHALLENGE

I can’t knock the choir nerds; I was one of them myself back in college. There’s something pretty unreal about fifty people weaving ten part harmonies together in perfect unison, grinding into some raw dissonant note against the melodic line of the tenors. But unbeknownst to me at the time, while we were rocking Americana and Mozart, our campus a cappella group was putting a new spin on the stuff that was on my iPod. Without any instrument accompaniment, these groups recreate indie rock with complex layers of harmony and a throwback to doo wap style (with a little beat boxing to cover the all-important drum track). It’s no wonder that a joke among these dedicated musicians is “All my friends think they’re instruments.”

From what I’ve discovered, most universities seem to have an a cappela group (more specifically, around 1200 exist in the U.S.). These bands have toured the country and even performed on Letterman, Saturday Night Live, and The West Wing. Remember Anoop Desai from this season of American Idol? Yeah, he sang in one too (The UNC Clef Hangers – see video below).

However, even with the help of the Internet, few groups are heard by anyone outside of the campus community. While many record albums, only a handful are available on the iTunes store. I myself might have never heard of the genre had it not been for musician Ben Folds. Along with covering their favorite music from bands like Death Cab for Cutie, Panic at the Disco, Regina Spektor, Muse and Rihanna to name a few, the a-cappellans have dipped heavily into the catalogue of Ben Folds. It’s no surprise; Ben Folds is a musician whose music is also a staple of the college curriculum. If you haven’t heard his work, you should. He can belt out a bitter rant about suburban hypocrisy one minute, then pull back into a stunningly poetic piece about a couple heading to an abortion clinic, or an old retiree being escorted out of his office. For a quick listen, I’d recommend “Brick” (I think this one even made radio play a decade ago), “Rockin’ The Suburbs” or “The Luckiest.” You might also ask your local college student/teenager to point you in the right direction.

In April of 2009, Ben Folds released an album that was a result of scouting some of the best college a cappella groups in the country that were covering his songs. The album features groups from Princeton to the University of Wisconsin -Eau Claire and delivers sixteen incredible tracks. Ben himself lends his vocals to two of the tracks, while the remainder are led by some astonishingly talented young soloists. In the background, Ben’s piano and modest backing have been transformed by a rich mix of harmonies and the mind-boggling fugue of non-vocal utterances (doh-dohs, ooh-wahhs, dongs, jims, joe-dahs, and Heaven knows what else). Some of the pieces are rendered tenderly in the lyrical choral style, while others resemble what you’d hear if the local Barber Shop Quartet was on an LSD trip. Whatever your tastes in music may be, this is one musical adventure worth checking out.

Here’s a YouTube link to the documentary Ben Folds created highlighting the project, which may give you a good idea as to what it’s all about. Or, for more immediate gratification, here’s one of my favorite selections from the album. It’s The University of Chicago Voices in your Head recording “Magic”

And of course, how could I let you go without a video of Anoop Desai back in his college a cappella days? This is the UNC Clef Hangers cover of Ne-Yo’s “Sexy Love” with soloing vocals by the “Noop-Dog” himself.

If you like what you’re hearing, I’d recommend searching for the University of Chicago’s “Voices In Your Head” album, the University of Wisconsin MadHatters, or the Freshen Fifteen on iTunes. You may also want to check out the annual collections of the “Best of College Acappella” or BOCA (2008 and 2009’s albums are also available on iTunes, but prepare for more beatboxing and studio rendering than you’ll hear in the others). There’s nothing quite like hearing one of your favorite hits reinvented this way!