Running An Underground Death Metal Music Record Label

My first injection of Extreme Metal Music was back in 1985, i was 13 and a Metallica – “Ride The Lighning” cassette crossed my paths (Yes back then that was considered Extreme). I remember being at home alone with my crappy old “Ghetto Blaster” (that ‘ate tapes’) and fascinated at the cool “Electric Chair” cover art, it was at that moment within the first 30 seconds of “Fight Fire with fire” that my life would no doubt be set down a new path and Extreme Death Metal Music would be my fate. I remember being blown-away and scared shitless at the same time. The shear aggression and speed of the music was unlike anything i had ever heard (remember this was 1984 and i was 13 and Def Leppard was about the heaviest i had ever heard) and it was that very song that forever changed my life (thanx James) and led me to investigate this style of music even more. Bands like Slayer, Venom, Possessed and Death became the metal music that “Got me thru the day”

Well, the year is now 2008 and even though Metallica’s “Ride The Lighning” is still one of my top 20 favorite albums of all time, Extreme Metal Music is like drugs, one is too many and a thousand is not enough. The need for faster, heavier, more brutal and intense music dosages becomes the addiction. In today’s world of Extreme Metal Music – Metallica would probably be considered choir boys.

I guess it’s time to talk about what this article is actually about… running an underground Death Metal Record Label. First off, running an underground death metal label like this usually means running it from your parents basement, or if your a grown man who just can’t seem to grow up, your running it from your own basement and are constantly having to remind your wife, “would you rather me be here at home with you wasting all our money, or at the strip clubs wasting all our money). Truth be told probably 90% of Death Metal Record Labels that exist do it for the pure love of the music and do it on top of working 40 – 50 hours a week doing something that actually makes money, and to those who continue to do it while investing their own money and risking their marriages and relationships i raise my Corona and “Cheers You!”… But that’s just what Extreme Metal does to people, there is a devotion to it, there is just this undeniable force that encapsulates you… it’s likebeing in a gang… a really large gang!

I work for a small record label CDN Records, a basement run 2 person operation managing over 2000 Extreme titles in the genres of Death Metal, Brutal Death Metal, Melodic Death metal, Grindcore, Goregrind, Black Metal, Thrash Metal and more. The other person involved again and actually the one who started the label, a grown man like myself in his late 30’s obsessed with metal music in it’s most extreme form and probably the biggest “Death” (the band) fan you will ever meet. He started the label over 15 years ago, originally called “Civilian Death Network”, but after 9-11 it was apparent that we needed to change the name, hence (CDN Records). The label started out mostly as a “Tape Trading” network trading various Death metal bands demos with other Death Metal music fans around the world, and back then without the internet and low-cost’s of producing cd’s the cost involved could bankrupt most people. Most of us doing this tape trading stuff usually spent every last extra penny we had, we begged borrowed and stole just so we could pay for postage.But with the advent of the internet and the ability to manufacture “CD’s” cheap the label was able to evolve into a full-blown record label, signing and releasingbands.

Currently we have over 15 of our own titles, and what we do is trade our titles with other Extreme Labels around the world which increases our distro catalogue. It’s a great system, and its probably the only form a music in the world (that i know of) that operates like this… again reminding me of the bond and devotion to Extreme Music us “Metalheads” have. It’s like there is no competition between all Underground metal labels, we work together to create an even larger network. Its and even better deal for alot of the bands in the Death Metal, Extreme Music genre. We have taken bands who would never have been able to get their music on a cd let alone shipped out and into the hands of metalheads around the world… and that’s a great feeling and what fuels us to keep going.

Although, we first do this for the love of Death Metal music, we definitely work very hard at trying to get “Death Metal Music” to pay the bills. How much better could it get? promoting the music you love and making a living do it…

Tips for staring your own Death Metal Record label:
1. Find a band that you really like and has already recorded their own full-length cd (This saves you money)
2. Sign the band to a simple distribution deal, you press 1000 copies and give the band a few hundred copies (most death metal bands will jump at the chance for this)
3. Get yourself a simple web site and the ability to sell your product online.
4. Spend countless hours surfing the internet looking for other small Extreme Death Metal labels… create a long list
5. Contact all the labels you found online and ask if they do “Trades”, usually trades are based on a point system you’ll figure that out quick.
6. Most labels will trade 3-5 copies to start, trade with 100 labels you now have 300-500 titles to add to your web sites online catalogue
7. Don not take more than 10 copies of any one title… 3-5 at most
8. Promote online, Promote Online, Promote online… forums, blogs, myspace etc etc.
9. Repeat steps 1 thru 7 once you have no more of the original 1000 cd’s you pressed, of the cd traded well press the same release, if you struggled
to get other labels to take it on trade, search for a new band and try again.
10. You will be very lucky to sell more than a few thousand copies of any 1 Extreme Death metal cd, Grindcore cd or Black Metal CD (unless you happy to get lucky enough to sign the next Cannibal Corpse or Cradle of Filth) release so don’t get frustrated, the key is to
build your online catalogue with 1000’s of titles to chose from and enjoy the fact that you are now promoting and selling 100’s of Extreme Metal bands.

For all you Death Metal, Brutal Death metal, Melodic Death metal, Grindcore, Goregrind, Black Metal and Thrash Metal needs, stop on by www.cdnrecords.com

Sony S312 with TrackID Music Recognition

Another unique feature is its phonebook entry where the user can easily store 1000entries at a time. There is no need to delete data to log-in other data. Users can make photo-call to the desired person. It has been introduced quite recently in June in different colors, matching to users nature.

Sony handsets are smarter with many unique features, in its price range. This handset is with TrackID music recognition facility, where the system can easily recognize the track to provide its details.

Another unique feature is its phonebook entry where the user can easily store 1000entries at a time. There is no need to delete data to log-in other data. Users can make photo-call to the desired person.

Third unique feature is its scratch-resistant surface. It is very difficult to keep the phone absolutely scratch-free. Therefore, it is better to go for this handset to talk through a scratch-free screen.

Sony S312 has 2G networking with GSM 900/1800MHz. Users have the facility to use this mobile at few destinations only. It has been introduced quite recently in June in different colors, matching to users nature.

As per the dimensions, Sony S312 is 100x46x12.5mm and 80.1g by weight. Sony handset is versatile in functioning. The display is in TFT 256 colors with a size of 176x220pixels. Its screen is in 2.0″ with a facility to set wall-papers and screen-savers.

Who wants to put-up the mobile to his/her ears, all the time? Speaker phone facility is ultra-useful in case user has to use the mobile frequently for long period of time. Speaker phone makes the mobile less harmful and enhances usability.

Vibration facility is also present in this handset. Downloadable polyphonic ringtones in MP3, AAC ringtones along with composer facility is available in this handset. Consumers can use any ringtone of their choice and compose their own music as well.

Call record facility is for 30 missed, dialed, and received calls. Users can check their list daily to scrutinize and analyze all calls for a day. In case the users miss-out a call due to some important work, then log on to call-record facility and trace all important calls immediately.

2MP camera facility lets user click quality pictures through 1600x1200pixels and LED Flash. Videos can also be made through Sony S312.

Send sms, mms, and emails through Browser WAP2.0/xHTML. FM Radio is indispensable now days. So connect your mobiles through FM with RDS and start entertaining. Play games on your handset and relax with them whenever you are tense.

Salsa Timing – 5 Tips To Finding The First Beat Of The Music

One of the most challenging humps to get over for many beginning salsa dancers is to learn to recognize the first beat of the music and actually count the music properly to keep on the correct salsa timing . Yet, rhythms are often innate in us. Just like we can become aware of our heart beat, we can become to be able to recognize the salsa rhythm.

However, just like it is actually much harder to count your pulse, learning to count and understand the direction of the salsa music is much harder. But with proper guidance counting salsa timing will become easy as well. Here is how to do it.

Tip # 1 Listen To The Cow Bell To Find The Salsa Rhythm

The salsa rhythm goes quick, quick, slow, quick, quick, slow. The first step to learning timing is to make sure that you can recognize the rhythm. After you recognize the rhythm, half of your job is already done. One of the easiest ways to recognize the salsa rhythm is to try to find the cow bell in the music. The cow bell plays on the core beats of 1,3,5,7, loops over and repeats 1,3,5… and so on. Not all songs have the cow bell included, but many traditional salsa songs does and this can help you find the rhythm.

Tip # 2 Listen To The Montuno Rhythm To Find The First Beat Of The Music

In salsa there is a rhythm called Montuno that is often played with piano. If a particular salsa song is playing the montuno rhythm, recognizing it is one of the easiest ways to finding the first beat of the music. The reason for this is that unlike the cow bell, for example, the piano montuno rhythm is played over eight beats rather than just four. In other words, when you listen to the cow bell, you can find the rhythm, but you might easily mistaken the first beat of the music to be the fifth and vice versa. Piano montuno rhythm however can go something like this, 1, and, 2,3, and, 4, 6,7,8, and, 1 and so on. Obviously, this is harder to understand conceptually and it would be much better if I could actually play this salsa timing for you so that you could hear the difference. But nevertheless, this is one of the easiest ways to find the first beat to the music.

Tip # 3 Listen To The Vocals

In salsa music, like in many other types of music as well, it is often customary for the vocals to start on the first beat of the music as well. This is another concept that can help you learn to recognize the first beat of the music. So the next time you are listening to salsa songs, rather than pay attention to the instruments, if the song has a vocalist(s), pay attention when they begin and try to see how that correlates with the rhythm of the music. Chances are they start on the first beat and if so, you have found the one.

Tip # 4 If All Else Fails, Buy A Salsa Timing CD

Salsa timing CD is a great way to help you find the first beat of the music. What makes salsa timing so challenging is that there are many inter laying rhythms and not one easy beat to follow. What can be extremely helpful is to listen to a song with a voice over of someone who keeps you on count. This way, you can constantly monitor how you understand the timing and compare your counting to someone who is keeping you on track. By listening on a salsa timing cd at home you can take your time to develop your understanding and reflect how the counting reflects the rhythms.

Tip # 5 Keep At It

It is very easy to get frustrated if you don’t quite get a grasp of the rhythms and salsa timing right away. But don’t get discouraged. When I started, it took me months just to be able to hear the rhythm. I am probably one of the most ungifted children musically, yet, it has been my determination and perseverance that has made me one of the experts in salsa musicality. So keep at it and your ear will soon be able to detect even the subtlest of salsa rhythms and you will be able to recognize the first beat of them music with ease.

Listen Mp 3 Music Online

High speed internet has allowed internet surfers to listen to music online at internet radios and free music streaming websites but still some people prefer to download music to include it to their portable music players and make it part of their library collection. Whether you prefer to download music or listen online there are a plenty of free music websites where you can find free music.

Music website has top mp3 songs, top tracks, popular artists and genres, and you can listen to them or download mp3 to your computer. You can also first listen to the song before downloading and if you like a song you can make it a part of your music library. To start your search for new songs to listen online looks for songs in new music section that is usually located on top of the front page on most websites. Some songs are popular and you would have probably have heard them on the radio or a shopping store somewhere but some songs are brand new and you might not like some of them. Good songs gain popularity and lasts longer on music charts.

Most online music listening websites allow users to create their own playlist by creating a new playlist and adding songs to it from available songs from the library. To do that you need to signup on the free music streaming website that you will use to access your playlist of songs. Some websites have artists biography to tell users about legendry artists. You can use this biography to improve your general knowledge about music, and if you get inspired by any one of them, you can create a playlist of that artist and other fans will appreciate your efforts and music collection.

On most music websites you will find artists profiles with all the songs from the library. You can use such lists of songs to find all popular songs of an artist and even download free mp3 songs if available. You can listen to these songs online and download only those you like. Some albums become so popular that people want to download all its songs and you save on buying them online or you can download free mp3 albums if they are available legally. Some of the most popular music genres include pop, R&B, rock, hip pop, rap and techno, which are recognized and loved around the world.

Top 10 Yoga Dvds Of All Time

Yoga is the way to relax the body, mind and soul. It helps to relieve the stress and soothe the mind with its healing power. Yoga enhances the restraint power in human mind and body with which one can easily combat all the tensions and worries of the modern life style. Here music plays a very important role as adding some music into yoga practices can do the magical trick. Yoga music with its calm and serene sounds fills up the air with pristine tranquility ensuring better result.

Play the favorite Meditation music while doing Yoga or meditation and experience the difference. It can be spiritual music, instrumental tunes or holy chants that build the different forms of Yoga music. Spirit Voyage.com, offers you the list of top 10 Yoga DVDs of all time.

1. Yoga Shakti by Shiva Rea-A great gift from the internationally praised Yoga instructor Shiva Rea for the Yoga practitioners. It is an instructional yoga video exploring Movement Meditation, Prana Yoga, Kriyas & Namaskars, Cooling Down and Closing Meditation. Filmed on the serene lands of India and Maldives, it is the most favorite DVD for its awesome soundtrack of traditional Indian music and contemporary tunes.

2. Kundalini Yoga by Gurmukh-This DVD delivers superb instruction on Kundalini Yoga, the ancient practice of awakening the spiritual sense lying within, by the renowned Yoga instructor Gurmukh. This DVD has energizing series of exercises for awakening the spirit or breath in the beginning and meditative relaxation exercises at the end. Aerobics exercises are also included to compliment Yoga.

3. Ashtanga Yoga the practice 2nd & 3rd Series by David Swenson-It is for those who are already skilled in the First series by David Swenson, the renowned Yoga teacher. But without taking proper guidance from a Yoga instructor, this DVD should not be used as the self-help tool of learning. These 2 series have a complete finishing sequence following the First one and the way of pure meditative deep relaxation.

4. Ashtanga Yoga Beginners Practice by Nicki Doane-This DVD is truly made for the Ashtanga Yoga beginners. This introductory series offers admirable presentation of standing postures by famous Yoga instructor Nicki Doane. The vigorous postures of Sun Salutation or Surya Namaskar, clear instructions on breathing techniques and yoga poses make it one of the most favorite Yoga DVDs of all time.

5. Fluid Power Vinyasa Yoga by Shiva Rea-Another superb Yoga DVD from the inspiring Yoga instructor Shiva Rea. This is a brilliant introduction to Vinyasa Yoga or Flow yoga, one of the most helpful and appreciated form of yoga. Her original style of ‘Yoga Matrix’ will be helpful for customized yoga practicing. This high definition DVD has been filmed at White Sands National Park.

6. AM PM Yoga with Rodney Yee-A simple and concise introduction to gentle and energizing workout by internationally acclaimed Yoga teacher Rodney Yee for the beginners. From sunrise to sunset combat daily stresses of life with this Yoga DVD.

7. Kundalini Yoga for Balanced Chakras by Guru Tej-Stimulate the crucial chakras of your body’s energy centers by practicing Kundalini Yoga with this DVD. It is a vigorous and dynamic class to learn sixteen asanas with famous instructor, Gurutej Kaur. The pure spiritual chants and moving exercises will help you to energize the Kundalini power flowing evenly in the whole body.

8. Ashtanga Yoga the Primary Series with Richard Freeman-Richard Freeman, the eminent yoga instructor, will teach you the primary poses of Ashtanga Yoga in this series suitable for practitioners of all levels. The Ashatanga styles and postures harmonized with breathing techniques is demonstrated by this famous teacher. This DVD can be termed as the foundation for Ashtanga practice.

9. Awakening Intuition for Women with Kundalini Yoga by Guru Tej-Guru Tej Kaur teaches all women the Kundalini yoga techniques to redefine the power of intuitive living by yogi bhajans. You can acquire the knowledge and strength by practicing the yoga poses demonstrated in this DVD.

10. An Introduction to Kundalini Yoga and Chanting with Mantra Girl-Filmed in the serene lands of Malibu and California, this comprehensive Kundalini yoga class video by Mantra Girl is the best option for all beginners. It helps to increase the strength and flexibility of your body. The meditation music from her own album will help to stay relaxed and more focussed.

The undeniable magical combination of yoga and music is once again established by Spirit Voyage by its huge collection of yoga music CDs and DVDs. Music and songs by famous singers like Snatam Kaur, Deva Premal, Wah!, Donna De Lory and Gurmukh purify the soul with divine peace.