The Limelight Hour

The Limelight Hour Week Twenty Two Final Show

2009-10-01T07:47:00.002+10:00

Week 19 Recap

2009-09-08T14:34:00.003+10:00

And...The song list from week 19's show!!

Soldier - Tyla Bertolli
Japan - Tim McMillan
That Song - Daphne Khoo
Overload - The Vulpine
Don't Wanna - Jo Dawson
Hymn For The Romantic - Scene At The Movies
Barbed Wire - Michelle Meehan
Trophie Girl - Sarah Eida
Until I Fall - Broken Scar

Week 18 Recap

2009-09-08T14:25:00.005+10:00

Here are the songs we played in Week 18!

Barbed Wire - Michelle Meehan
Comfort Me - Andrew Lim
Special One - Carmen Tong
Doll (Live At The Limelight) - Daphne Khoo
The Flower - Andrew Shepherd
Made For More - Charles J Tan
Right Here, Right Now - Asami
Don't Wonder Why - Josh Sperring
Green Eyed Monster - Clara Rhoden

The Limelight Hour - Week Nineteen

2009-09-08T07:46:00.000+10:00

2009-09-02T23:00:00.000+10:00

As the primary songwriter in my band, it generally falls on me to construct new original songs to play. What usually happens is that I will have a moment of inspiration (usually induced by a state of sleep deprivation) and write the chord structure, lyrics and melody of a new piece. I then take it to rehearsal with the band and excitedly exclaim: “guys! guys! I’ve got a new song to work on!” Not that I mind this, as song writing isn’t so much of a chore, but a release or media of expression for myself. However, having attempted to pen a few recently (not to suggest that they are any good or otherwise) I came up with a slight dilemma…

Do lyrics have to make sense…?

I mean, I suppose that truth is that they don’t! My favourite nonsensical lyrics that come to mind at the moment are from The Beatles ‘I Am The Walrus’

Sitting on a cornflake, waiting for the van to come.
Corporation tee-shirt, stupid bloody Tuesday.
Man, you been a naughty boy, you let your face grow long.
I am the eggman (woo), they are the eggmen (woo), I am the walrus,
Coo coo, kachoo.

I mean seriously?!?! What the hell were you smoking and where can i get some? I guess what I want to know is, how much does the listener really care about the lyrics?

Do you just hum along to the melody such that we words themselves are irrelevant? Or do you want them to tell a story and not just convey emotion?

Does it matter if its all just a bunch of mashed up mambo jumbo you penned when you were high?

- Nigel Nobody

The Limelight Hour Podcast - Week Eighteen

2009-09-02T07:46:00.001+10:00

A Change Of Scenes

2009-08-26T10:17:00.003+10:00

Thanks to Vivien and Giulia for getting me a last minute ticket for The Academy Is and Anberlin show, I managed to make my way down to The Billboard to check out my current favourite band, The Academy Is. It was a sold out show and naturally, the room was packed to the brim with little moving space. The one obvious thing that I noticed though, was that there were heaps of punters sporting tattoos (tatts). It's quite a contrast to The Limelight show, I reckon, as most of the punters that come through the door don't have tatts. So my question is, is it a music genre thing or is this just pure coincidence? What do you think? I mean, at The Billboard, it looks as though tattoos were the norm and if you didn't have any, you'd stand out and it is the other way around at The Limelight.

I reckon tatts are cool. It makes you look tough. But do you think anyone can look good in tatts? I mean, you know how some people don't have a hat head and no matter what hat or cap they put on, they just can't pull it off. Does it work for tats too? Do you have to be in a heavy rock band to pull it off or it doesn't matter? What is your take on this?

The Limelight Hour Podcast - Week Seventeen

2009-08-24T07:39:00.000+10:00

Week 15 Recap

2009-08-18T18:57:00.003+10:00

Thanks for tuning in for yet another week of The Limelight Hour! And a big shout out to the awesome Tyla Bertolli for coming in and sharing her story with us!

Japan - Tim McMillan
You 'n' UR Music
Comfort Me - Andrew Lim
Stars - Kieran Christopherson
Over and Over - Josh Sperring
Don't Wanna - Jo Dawson
Standing Alone - Avalon
Home - The Vulpine

Tyla Bertolli with "Ashleigh's Song"

"Loved Like This"

Learn to listen to yourself

2009-08-18T17:14:00.002+10:00

As I try to do as often as possible, I’ve watched a few gigs of late. It’s actually harder said than done when you promote shows and have your own to play as a band also. When watching other acts play I try my best to observe how they perform and how they behave on stage. I always pay special attention to what requests they make from the sound guy hoping to maybe pickup a few tricks to help my own stage mix.

The one common request I often hear is “Can I get more vocal through the fold back?” It seems to be the common bane of many a vocalist! For those of you who have not performed on stage, hearing yourself sing on stage (when there are massive amps and a drum kit blaring behind you) is a monumental challenge!

Whilst there is a professional solution to this problem, it is a rather expensive choice for the budding band. “In-ear monitors” are basically little radio devices that are worn by the singer / player which receive a transmission that is then output into earphones for the performing artiste. They give you near perfect monitoring allowing you to hear yourself sing and therefore stay in perfect pitch, especially if the earplugs are moulded and isolate sound. Also, you can request as much of the band as you wish to hear in your mix (channels permitting!). However, with a starting price of AU$1200, they are outside the reach of most aspiring musicians.

The good vocalists I have seen always seem to manage to stay in pitch, mostly regardless of the stage mix they are receiving back from the monitors. I have found that the more stage experience I acquire, the better I have become at this. I think it is partially muscle memory in the sense that you ‘learn to sing’ your songs not only from the pitch and melody of the lyrics, but also from the muscle movements required to achieve that melody.

However, more important I have found, is learning the skill of listening to yourself! It may sound strange, but slowly I have become better at using my own ears to isolate my vocals from the rest of the stage mix through the fold backs. You have to listen very carefully and focus on that range of frequencies in the signal that make up your voice! Give it a try next time you are on stage!

- Nigel Nobody

The Extended Family

2009-08-14T01:09:00.002+10:00

So you know Lionel, Kevin, Asami and I but we're not the only ones that make the magic work. There are a few people that hide behind the scenes.

Let's start with Jern. If you were stuck on an island with one person, the friendly, optimistic Jern would be a good person to have with you. Displaying a very warm personality and never failing to not smile, she has the character traits for helping to manage The Limelight event. The most recent event, Sunday Sessions ran so effectively, not only because of Asami's highly organised Japanese skills but with the help of Jern.

Just like Kevin, Asami and I, Jern enjoys her alcohol. The 4 of us have had drinking sessions where we do the stupidest things, that we later regret when photos come up on facebook. This picture is a good example. Jern doesn't (always) look like that when she drinks though, this picture was staged.

Then, there's Vivien. I attempted to put up an unflattering picture of her at first but she forbade me from doing so and justified her response by saying "i need to find suitors". To be fair to Vivien, she was just kidding.

This blog (and all its html rubbish) and The Limelight posters are all Vivien's doing. Quiet but kind and very considerate of others, Vivien is good to have in the team. Lionel, especially, likes people like Vivien because of how cooperative she is (and how much she listens to him). Not only that, she is also a very good friend and has agreed to join my future band and embarrass herself on stage with me.

Here is Alvin, murdering a duck. He's the scariest (scarier than Lionel) of us all.

No, not really. Alvin, is probably the most helpful and generous of us all. He willingly washes the dishes after a meal, drives us all home if we need the lift and is a really affectionate person. Also, because of all his social connections, if you happen to see The Limelight posters around Melbourne city, the person responsible is Alvin.

So there you have it. And the best part is...

We have so much fun together :)

The Limelight [AUG09]

2009-08-13T18:56:00.006+10:00

Today is Thursday.

In exactly one week, we will be bombarding Miss Libertine's Bandroom with 8 super duper acoustic acts...This month we'll be featuring 5 brand new acts!

Harriet McKnight
Rush In Attack
Preston Perche
Mechanical Pterodactyl
Melissa Toh

They will be joining our good friend, Charles J Tan! As well as Ai Hui and the always tasty You 'n' UR Music.

There's pop, rock, folk and some Aussie hip-hop, there's something for everyone and it's going to be awesome!

Don't forget the yummy $5 pizzas and $10 jugs AND our very own Limelight cocktail!

See you next Thursday!

Less Is More

2009-08-12T10:00:00.002+10:00

Photo taken from www.guitarfixation.com

I think often we get carried away with lots of gear that we forget the focus, which is whether all the gear is actually adding a positive value to your sound and tone. More overdrive pedals does not always mean you have a better overdriven guitar tone. Of course, if they are used wisely, they can contribute to an awesome tone. Having a large pedal board also means you may need to do tap dancing during your set and sometimes you may just hit the wrong pedal at the wrong time during your set or song and it could be diabolical.

I've always liked the idea of having many guitar effects pedals, analogue or digital, the more the merrier but over the years, I've learnt how to scale things down, make things simple and yet have good tone. It makes it easier to lug gear around and it makes it faster to set up which means more time to rock & roll!

At the end of the day, I find that you can make the best of what you have, even tough it is less. Don't get me wrong though, if you have plenty of gear, it is great, as long as it gets you the results you want, that's all that matters. I think my goldfish memory just can't handle remembering what pedal to stomp on at which time in the song. So I'll stick to simple.

Clara Rhoden

2009-08-11T21:09:00.003+10:00

Here are Clara Rhoden's videos!
Join Clara for her gig this Friday at 8pm!

"Keep It Real"

"Turtle"

Go Clara!

Baby Steps

2009-08-11T17:38:00.004+10:00

I think that like many novice musos, I began the journey with much the wrong idea. I thought: “This will be easy! I’ll write a bunch of songs, get a bunch of guys together, rock out at some shows, record an album, and become famous!”

Alas, it was not so. After starting my band (Nobody) over 2 years ago now, I’ve only really gotten as far as “get a bunch of guys together” …and even that part wasn’t easy! ‘Nobody’ is now officially on its third drummer since inception. The first one got married and re-prioritised his commitments, and the second sessioned with us and decided our practice regime was too strenuous. It took over 18 months to find the right drummer, with the right gear, right feel, and most importantly – the right level of commitment. I can only count myself fortunate enough to have started with the right people on guitar and bass.

It is only many months later that we are near ready to play proper and worthy live sets. The amount of work put into the ‘sound’ of our band cannot be enumerated, and neither is it anywhere near completion. However, every now and then you reach a milestone from which you find encouragement, and are able to propel forward.

Just recently ‘Nobody’ completed its first ever recording. It is a demo recorded as a ‘Live to 2’ track ie. one complete take of a live performance in a studio for which the output of the mixer is captured. Whilst this may seem trivial for the more veteran musician, for myself at least it was a small moment of pride. The amazement we shared at hearing ourselves recorded live (and sounding pretty good, if I may say so) has created in us a hunger for more.

If you are interested, you can check out our first ever recording @
myspace.com/nobodyliveshere

If you are a noob musician like me, look out for these moments and hang on to them to drive you forward. They are only baby steps, but they remind us that we are headed in the right direction…!

- Nigel Nobody

Special thanks to Top Notch Audio for the great work!

The Limelight Hour Podcast - Week Fifteen

2009-08-11T07:36:00.002+10:00

Week 14 Recap

2009-08-09T12:39:00.003+10:00

Tim from Cranbourne Music is almost like a regular on our show. What would we do without him?

And a big thanks to Clara Rhoden for coming in to the studio!

Four Walls - Josh Sperring
Shooting Star - Broken Scar
Hymn For The Romantic - Scene At The Movies
That Song - Daphne Khoo
Soldier - Tyla Bertolli
Almost Sunday - Charles J Tan
Low - Jo Dawson
X - Tim McMillan

The Limelight's coming up next week guys!! woot!

Andrew Shepherd

2009-08-06T16:48:00.004+10:00

Here is Andrew Shepherd with his awesome song, "These Strings of Mine" I love it!

Check out Andrew's band, Jakk's Azimuth

Your Best Friend

2009-08-05T13:00:00.000+10:00

Correction to Lionel's recent post. At a live gig, the sound engineer is your best friend, don't treat him like the enemy. The choice is in your hands because the sound guy can either be your best friend (and make you sound really good) or worst enemy (and would probably mute you) if you do not tread carefully. There is no competition. Sound guys and bands are meant to work together and not to have a go at each other. Respect goes on a two way street.

What can you do to help the sound guy, help you get a great sound?
1. Make sure your instruments are set up well, serviced, tuned up and in optimum condition.

2. Set up your backline quickly so that the sound guy can mic up all your drums, amps and vocals.
The backline consist of all amplifiers, drums, stands and other accessories your band needs.

3. Supply the sound guy a stage plot and an input list in advance. It is even more crucial especially if you have special requirements, like DI for ipod/sampler/keyboard or if you need converters etc.
The stage plot is where your instruments, backline and your band members will be positioned on stage.
The input list is a list of instruments that your band plays.

4. It doesn't hurt to introduce yourself to the sound guy and get to know his name. Everyone loves to be called by his name and not "hey, sound guy!!!".

The difference between a line check and a sound check

It is your duty to find out from the organiser/venue/mixing engineer whether you get a line check or a sound check at the gig.

A line check is where the engineer will quickly get the drummer to hit each drum, the guitarists and bassist to play a few notes and the singer to say a word or two to make sure there is a signal in each line. It has to happen very quickly. While you launch into the first song, the engineer tweaks as you go.

A sound check is similar to the line check, except that there is slightly more time for the sound guy to EQ and set up other intricate details like effects, compression etc. The process of a sound check usually goes like this:
Kick, Snare, Tom 1, Tom 2, Floor Tom, Hi Hats, Cymbals (if there are overheads). after all the individual drums are done, the sound guy will usually then say this, "time", which means, play a beat while rolling the toms and cymbals to get the overall drum sound.

Next would be Bass Guitar, Guitar 1, Guitar 2, Keys/Sampler/Ipod and lastly, vocals.

Important: A sound check is not a rehearsal for your band, it's for the engineer. Once the individual instruments are done, you play half of the quietest song in your set and half of the loudest song in your set. Next up, ROCK N ROLL!

In Closing
It's great to have heaps of confidence and all but when it comes to working with the sound guy, please leave your ego at the door, thank you very much.

The Limelight Hour Podcast - Week Fourteen

2009-08-04T21:20:00.002+10:00

Chance Favours The Prepared Mind

2009-08-04T12:46:00.006+10:00

Over 10 years ago, my Year 9 Geography teacher (Mr Sutter) proclaimed at the beginning of class:

“Chance favours the prepared mind”

It is one of those lessons in life that has stuck with me, and I have learned similar axioms along the long road since then:

“Expect the best, prepare for the worse”

…and so on, so on. Why am I psycho-babbling? Well, mostly because I like too. However, there is a greater purpose to this post! One of the great benefits of running shows like The Limelight and Sunday Sessions is the challenge of tackling an immensely steep learning curve and of watching other new and experienced bands do so as well.

In this case, I’m going to share some of my learning from personal experience, and also from observing much more veteran musos, on how you can get the best possible result from a live performance.

(1) Practice is King!
No matter how good you think you are, you aren’t good enough. There is also going to be another band that will blow your te$ticles away. So, you need to practice. More. I mean MORE.

(2) If it can go wrong, it will!
Without intending to be a doomsayer, this really is true. I have seen everything from broken strings, bad leads, straps snapping on stage, to shorted amps and busted drum skins. It is best to have a plan for when they do happen and keep your set moving.

(3) Bring more ammo than you need!
…and I do mean everything. Always carry spare batteries for your devices, and maybe even a variable transformer for DC power if needed. A set of spare strings, strap locks and an extra strap, way too many sticks, feedback busters, and extra cables are all a must.

(4) The sound guy is your FRIEND!
I have seen many bands crack it at the sound guy. Often, it is because they do not appreciate the nature of the beast that is live sound. However, if you are friends with the mixing engineer and you trust them, they will take care of you to the best of their ability given whatever gear is available at the venue. Worse case, bring your own to be sure! Leave the ego at home.

We’re all chasing the perfect live set. The more prepared you are, the closer you will get to it. Don’t just rock up thinking your name is Bono, and expect it to happen…

- Nigel Nobody

Week 14 Recap

2009-08-03T12:11:00.003+10:00

Hello world!

Thanks for tuning in again! This week we introduced a track from one of our newest and awesomest Limelight performers, "Loved Like This" by Tyla Bertolli!

And a big thanks to Andrew Shepherd who came in for an interview and who also helped out doing the sound at Sunday Sessions yesterday, (more on that to come!)

Sunset Maze - Tim McMillan
Desperate - Dee Khoo
Until I Fall - Broken Scar
A Song For Breaking The Barrier - Kieran Christopherson
Right Here, Right Now - Asami
Loved Like This - Tyla Bertolli
Sunlight - Hannah Elisabeth
Godspeed - Scene At The Movies

Hope you had a lovely weekend and chin up for the rest of the week :D

Two more sleeps to go!

2009-07-31T11:16:00.004+10:00

Sunday Sessions is going to be super. You should come! There's something for everyone :)

For those of you who may be sick of our warm and homely acoustic shows (is it even possible...) there will be FULL BANDS playing in the back room, making loud noises and flicking their hair! I personally am really excited about seeing Andrew Lim and his band for the first time!

And for those of you who are a bit precious...there'll be soft and gentle acoustic music wafting through the front bar all afternoon; perfect entertainment to sip your Limelight cocktail to ;)

Wow! Doors open at Miss Libertine at 3pm and there are 12 acts in total! Do your research and come along!!

Tim McMillan
Broken Scar
Samantha Lombardi
Andrew Lim
Nobody
Jo Dawson
Next Dimension
Cazi Gale
William Band
Caleen Chua
The Trolley Tragedy
Andrei Jerez

Take a peek at our Facebook Event for more details!

The GLAKs

2009-07-31T04:40:00.000+10:00

One day, on the assumption that Lionel, Kevin, Asami and I decide to collaborate musically and form a rock band, we would be The Glaks. That, or Nobody Broke Asami's Scar.

Lionel would be the drummer. Being able to learn (a new instrument) quickly and good with numbers (thus beats), that seems to be the most appropriate role for him.

Kevin would be the lead guitarist. Because he's already so awesome as he is now.

Asami would be the bassist. Just so she would have something to do with her hands.

Giulia, with her lack of musical ability, will have to make do with playing the random instruments like the triangle, the cow bell or just be the monkey playing the cymbals. (side note: I do such a good monkey face that it is evidence of Darwin's evolution theory)

All 3 of the musicians would obviously do vocals, while I might do the occasional "ooh" or "aah", if i feel like it. Maybe, just maybe, you might see The Glaks performing at a Limelight one day.

The Second Album Syndrome

2009-07-29T07:50:00.000+10:00

In everything we do, in every decision that we make and in every route we choose to take, there are always pros and cons. As an independent musician, one of the pros is the freedom to express yourself and make the music you want to make, when you want to make it without any external pressure from the label. However, that is also a big con because you don't get guidance and development from the label.

Having the freedom to produce your music is good but not having that external pressure can be bad too because you might tend to slack off and go off course.

Here's something to think about. Before a band gets signed, they would have taken three years (or all their lives) to find their sound, write a bunch of songs and chose ten of their best ones to be on their debut. Once they get signed, their debut gets released. Once the debut is out, the band goes on tour to support the album. Once that is done, they would need to follow up with a second album. With the frenzy of getting signed, recording and releasing the debut, hitting the road on tour and handling masses of fans, the band usually feels the pressure to produce the second album. The only time the band gets to write new material is pretty much of the road. Some people work best on the road while other's don't.

Notice how bands always worry whether their second album will top their debut? How do you expect to top something you took three years to write in a much shorter and unrealistic time frame? The bigger the band gets, the bigger the expectation by the fans gets, I reckon, which adds to the extra pressure to produce something awesome as a second album/release.

Life Is Too Short

2009-07-28T16:01:00.002+10:00

It is quite well known that I do not consider myself to be a musician. Quite honestly, I have no idea what note I am playing when I press on a guitar string, and there are only a few chords I play to which I actually know the name. All I really can do moderately well is sing, and I enjoy expression through song writing and appreciate the outlet it provides me.

So, this begs the question:

“Lionel, how on earth can you be in a band / promoting gigs & music?!”

The answer is actually quite simple: surround yourself when people who have the skills you do not, and learn from them as quickly as possible. It is so simple, in fact, that most people probably overlook it.

As a simple example, when I started song writing I began with the chord structure, lyrics and melody. I knew I couldn’t play the guitar to save my life. And so, I approached a great guitarist to play with me… and thus began the journey of my band.

Simple! I didn't know how to run a magazine either, but I did that for twenty months of my life. The same has applied to learning about live sound, promoting events, finding gigs for my band, etc etc.

Most people are likely to abandon an endeavour that is “too hard” or will wait until they have acquired all the necessary skills to begin. Not me. I believe that life is too short and that I will simply have to learn as I go.

Yes, sometimes you make mistakes, but you learn from them so do not be afraid of them. If you have conviction, you will see it through. You can only hope that others come along for the ride!

It dawned on me that we are now over half way through 2009.

What have you done with your life this year?

- Nigel Nobody

Next Dimension

2009-07-27T02:09:00.001+10:00

This is Brandon (Bill), Xavier and Luke from Next Dimension in the SYN studio with us. Asami and I are not very good mannequins.

And here are the vid's of their awesome songs :)

"Shine"

"8th of June"

Week 13 Recap

2009-07-26T09:31:00.003+10:00

We love putting together and presenting the show every week, but we really need to know you're out there listening to us! From next week, you can text in to SYN, and we'll receive your messages while we're on air! And we will read out the wittiest, awesomest messages ok!!

Save this in your phone, the number is: 0427 767 767

Don't Wanna - Jo Dawson
Don't Wonder Why - Josh Sperring
Right Here, Right Now - Asami
The Flower - Andrew Shepherd
Hymn For The Romantic - Scene At The Movies
Shine - Andrew Lim
The Cage - Clara Rhoden
On The Edge - The Vulpine

A big thanks to the Bill, Luke and Xavier from Next Dimension for coming in to the show! Watch out for their videos coming up in the next few days, and also catch them LIVE at SUNDAY SESSIONS exactly one week from today!

The Limelight Hour Podcast - Week Thirteen

2009-07-25T23:02:00.000+10:00

Behind the scenes at The Limelight

2009-07-24T09:38:00.011+10:00

Last night, The Limelight [JUL09] was a great success! Once again we were blown away by all of the performers, and the crowd cheered loudly and ... *yawn* .... and ... *scrolling down now* ... and ... ok ok, enough PR talk! Let me tell you what REALLY happens at The Limelight. hehehe
I guess I'll list things in order of occurrence.

Number 1. First we must be highly caffeinated/energy drink-ed, hydrated and fed.

They're some seriously small glasses of water! And here's a badly taken photo of Kevin and Jern chit chatting over a pizza. A delicious $5 pizza that is!

Number 2. Man hair must be discussed/compared and analyzed. New to the long hair obsession is Charles J Tan. Lionel is not impressed yet, give it a few more months Charles!

Number 3. We take "I'm a celebrity" photos

Number 4. We engage in conversation
Lionel: "ASAMI!! WHERE'S THE NEXT ACT?!"
Asami: *runs off to find the next act*
Lionel: "ASAMI!! WHAT'S HAPPENING AT THE DOOR?!"
Asami: *runs off to see what's happening at the door*
Lionel: "ASAMI!! GET ME A GINGER BEER!"
Asami: *runs...
haha no that's pushing it. Lionel is not scary at all! I promise!

Number 5. At the end of the night, we express our unwavering love for each other.

And that concludes our evening. We go home, and we count the days until the next Limelight.

The Reference Track

2009-07-22T11:58:00.000+10:00

What is a reference track?
It's your favourite song, a song that you know so well that you can recognise the slightest change in it. It can be a song that you have heard a million times from childhood or a song that you're really into now. There could be several reference tracks that you use for different purposes too and it you don't have to limit it to just one.

What do you do with a reference track?
There are several different ways to use the reference tracks depending on which perspective you're looking at it from, either as an audio engineer or musician.

The reference track from the engineer's perspective
Recording and mixing engineers use reference tracks to achieve a certain tone that is very specific to what the artiste wants or a general direction as to how the album they are working on should sound like. For example, an artiste can say, "I want my guitar tone to sound exactly like John Mayer's Fender Strat" or "I want my album to have an American pop rock kind of sound, similar to the feel of the latest David Cook album".

Live engineers however would use it to tune a PA System. Because they know how the reference track "should" sound like, they can tune the PA till the song sounds the way it ought to sound. Usually, a song that covers the whole frequency spectrum will do the trick. However, if you're tuning a room for a jazz gig, use a jazz song that you know best and likewise for other genres.

The reference track from the musician's perspective
They give you an idea of what you want so you can communicate that to the engineer. Communication is crucial in a recording and mixing process. The better you get your ideas across, the better the results will turn out. This will help you shape your tone too during the writing process and during the demo recording process. Sound is such a dynamic thing that it might sound good to you today when you record the track and when you listen to it tomorrow, it may sound terrible. Why does that happen? Because there isn't a track that the recording was referenced to, during the actual recording process. For example, the guitar tone from the amp sounds nice and warm during recording but when you review it the next day, it sounds too harsh. This happens because you would have spent hours in the studio and your ears would have gotten used to the harshness of the higher frequencies. Your ears are probably fatigued too. So the best way is to have a reference track, that you can directly compare the tone too and ask yourself questions like, "is it too harsh?" or "is it bright enough?"

I will share my current list of reference tracks in the next post perhaps as this is getting a bit too long already. Please share your thoughts. Let's make a forum out of this.

The Limelight Hour Podcast - Week Twelve

2009-07-22T00:28:00.001+10:00

Lionel, do we have to play acoustic?

2009-07-21T23:06:00.001+10:00

[In the beginning...]

Artist 1: "Lionel, can my band play with a drumkit?"
Lionel: "No. It's an acoustic show"

Artist 2: "Lionel, can we play as a full band with distortion and big stacks?"
Lionel: "No. It's an acoustic show"

Artist 3: "Lionel, do we always have to play acoustic at The Limelight?"
Lionel: "YES!!! g@wd-dammit! It's an acoustic show!!!"

[9 months later...]

Artist 72: "Lionel, can my band play as a band, like so we can rock out?"
Lionel: "OOokkkkkaaayyYYy!!! FINE! You win, Ill put on an show that's not just acoustic."

[Present day...]

And so it is folks, that I got terribly tired of saying 'no' to acts that would like to play our shows as a band. Therefore, for its second iteration, we have evolved our quarterly Sunday show into a mixed format mini-festival celebrating local independent Melbourne music! If it works out well and you guys, the live music listening audience, like the show then we will keep it that way for all future Sunday Sessions!

That's right! On the 2nd August 2009, Sunday Sessions "Mid-Winter Warmer" will have full bands rocking out on stage and acoustic solo & duos acts crooning in the front bar! With the best of both worlds, it's not one you can miss! Also, I shall at this point drop a shameless plug that my band 'Nobody' is playing!! Sweet!

Don't miss all your 'The Limelight Hour' favourites playing 6 hours of live music:

Tim McMillan
Broken Scar
Andrew Lim
Samantha Lombardi
Nobody
Next Dimension
Jo Dawson
The Trolley Tradegy
William Band
Caleen Chua
Andre Jerez
Cazi Gale

Sunday Sessions
'Mid-Winter Warmer'
2nd August 2009
@ Miss Libertine
34 Franklin St, Melb
Doors: 3pm+ $12

More details on Facebook

NVC is a very bad thing indeed

2009-07-21T22:03:00.004+10:00

I suffer from a condition known as No Volume Control.
That's why I keep turning my face away and looking strange- I don't usually sing like this, I hope...

Haha anyway here's Ranald and I singing "Here We Are Again"

The Limelight Hour Podcast - Week Eleven

2009-07-20T21:50:00.003+10:00

We apologise for the delay of Week Eleven's podcast of The Limelight Hour as we experienced some technical difficulties at the studio. We have rectified it and finally, it is up and running for your listening pleasure. Enjoy!

Week twelve's podcast will be up shortly!

Week 12 Recap

2009-07-19T08:14:00.003+10:00

We hope you enjoyed the show yesterday!

Down - Broken Scar
Turtle - Clara Rhoden
Personal Anthem - Charles J Tan
Wrong - Dee Khoo
Colours - Hannah Elisabeth
X - Tim Mcmillan
Comfort Me - Andrew Lim
Sunsets & Sketches - Scene At The Movies

Thanks to Clara Rhoden for coming in! And thanks also to the ever so patient Ranald for dropping by also! Hi RANALD :D !

It's time to go live my Sunday. Have a good weekend everyone!

:)

Music is the language of us all

2009-07-19T06:55:00.000+10:00

I sing in my bathroom. That's the most 'musician' I can get. Maybe it's the small confined space that makes me sound better than in public, but it's also the location I feel the most comfortable. The crew (actually only Asami) make me feel disabled about my inability to produce music.

Being musicians, Lionel, Kevin and Asami usually engage in music conversations. They have quite concentrated dialogues on singing in falsetto, contralto and chest voices. Mostly, I never contribute to those conversations and even if I did, who listens to the non musician anyway? They get excited about Midi keyboards, wave files, and have even taught me how to build my own microphone pop screen (something I am OBVIOUSLY going to construct very soon). So sometimes, I find myself zoning out of those chats. What? No sorry, I just lied. I always pay attention to everything they say. To the point, I'm the only non-musician in the group. But guess what, that's why I stand out.

They have not realized this yet but they actually NEED me to be a non musician. Who else is going to go to all their gigs and still tell them they are awesome, although they call themselves pitchy. Who else is still going to think how sensational they are on stage, although they screwed up a song. Who else is going to appreciate all their music and not worry about things like sibilance. Who else is going to boast about how cool she is to have such talented friends. The secret is out. The real reason I'm not a musician is because Lionel, Kevin and Asami need me to be who I am.

Don't Forget!

2009-07-18T10:53:00.004+10:00

Hi everyone,

Just a reminder that it is only a few days until The Limelight [JUL09] brings you another fine evening of live acoustic music!

Come down to Miss Libertine on Thursday 23rd of July, and see some of your favourite artists from The Limelight Hour, live!

+ + Announcing the final line up for The Limelight [JUL09] + +

Clara Rhoden
Asami
The Vulpine

Alongside -
Dee Khoo
Andrew Shepherd

Shana Sound

And brand new to The Limelight -
Sarah Eida
Tyla Bertolli

What a riot. As we promised, it’s going to be huge.
$8 Entry, $10 jugs, $5 pizzas... doors open at 7pm.

Jump onto our Facebook Event page for more details!

Can't wait to see you next Thursday, 7pm!

Houston, we have a problem...

2009-07-18T02:31:00.002+10:00

Some of you may have noticed that the podcast from last week's show has not yet been uploaded. Our apologies on the delay! There has been a glitch in the matrix and we will endeavor to retrieve the missing episode pronto...

Going Independent: Part Four

2009-07-15T22:39:00.000+10:00

The Big Picture

I have been reading music, guitar and audio magazines for years now and I can finally say that I've begun to understand the bigger picture. When I first started reading these magazines, I was looking at them at a micro level. I wanted the answers to the "how to's" and I wanted them quick. I wanted to know what frequency to cut or boost to make a kick drum sound larger than life. I wanted to know how many milliseconds of early reflections to apply in a reverb for a vocal take. But at that time, I got limited answers. Every now and then an article or two would go into the specifics but mostly, they talked about concepts. At that time, I was not interested in concepts and ideas, I just wanted to dive in and start doing things. So I got frustrated and stopped reading those magazines for a while.

After a while, I began to see the bigger picture. It is much better to understand the concept than to learn one specific way to do something. After all, music is dynamic and it is ever changing. There is no one method to do something.

Anyway, coming back to doing things independently, understanding the macro is as important as getting the micro details done.

Understanding how an acoustic guitar sounds is as important as how to specifically look for the sweet frequency spot to boost or cut. It's always better to get it right at the source during recording, than to try to fix it later during mixing. If a guitar isn't sounding good, don't think about fixing it later. Why not change guitars? Yes, good guitars are expensive and not all of us have a large guitar collection, but I am sure you have friends whom you could borrow from. These are just a few suggestions that could start you thinking of the big picture. Feel free to post your comments and we could discuss this further. Cheers!

Managing Successful Events

2009-07-14T23:42:00.004+10:00

I was asked to blog about how we run successful events. So, I sat down for quite a while and reflected. After several minutes, I came to a resolution: I have no idea how to run events, let alone successful ones! Thus, instead I will twist this discussion slightly into "How to put together a live music show"...

The keys elements are pretty simple:

- Find a suitable venue and book them for a suitable date
- Invite other bands / artistes you genuinely think are awesome to play with you
- Get a poster for your gig made and plaster it everywhere
- Invite all your friends, their friends, and maybe all your ex girlfriends too.
- Hire a live mixing engineer you trust to make you sound good
- ...and practice like a 8itch on 'roids.

The secret ingredients are a little harder to gather, and deserve a paragraph and not simply dot points...

At FVE, we do not simply run events so that we can play gigs. Whilst there is nothing wrong with this, I believe that our shows are popular because we sincerely have a deeper purpose behind our events, and our radio program, which people can sense and wish to share in it.

All our mediums, performance or broadcast, exist not as an end in themselves, but as a means by which we are able to encourage the consumption of local, independent music. We have a deep conviction to this, and when you come to our shows, or listen to our program, I believe that you can feel it also and that it is contagious.

...there is also the very strong possibility that I am full of nonsense!

- Nigel Nobody

Charles J Tan

2009-07-12T17:16:00.007+10:00

The first time I saw Charles J Tan perform, was at The Limelight way back in September '08.
I was so star struck that I was too shy to tell him how awesome I thought he was, even though we kind of bumped into each other after his set. Thankfully I eventually got over the fear, although he still amazes me with his catchy tunes!

The guys looking very nice.

But we all know that they're really more like this...

Here's one of my favourite songs:

"Feels Better Now"

And yes, only 6 more days until Sunday:

"Almost Sunday"

Go Charles Go!
Keep in touch with him at www.charlesjtan.com

Oh Andrew, why is your hair so nice?

2009-07-12T13:10:00.003+10:00

The four of us at The Limelight Hour, have a serious obsession with man-hair. We've already confirmed that one must have long flowing locks to be a Rockstar...therefore Andrew Lim must surely be on his way.

Compared to our own long haired song-man Kevin, who parts his hair in the middle, Andrew parts it on the side. Kevin has a red streak, whereas Andrew's hair is midnight black. When Kevin started talking about changing the position of his part, we just KNEW that he was jealous of Andrew Lim.

Luckily, Andrew's music is as awesome as his hair. See him perform live on the 2nd of August at Sunday Sessions!! Here's a sneak peek:

"Come Back To Me"

"The Worst Is Over"

Week 11 Recap

2009-07-12T11:37:00.002+10:00

Yesterday's show as a super special show, as we took a trip down memory lane and aired all the live recordings from the 10 feature artists we've encountered so far.

Freeze - The Vulpine
Untitled - Tim McMillan
The City and The Lights - Broken Scar
Stars - Scene At The Movies
Your Flow - You 'n' UR Music
JTUSK - Dee Khoo
Wish You Well - Jo Dawson
Record Store - Nobody
The Worst Is Over - Andrew Lim
Feels Better Now - Charles J Tan

Thanks so much to all the artists for their hard work and dedication. Don't give up! Keep living the dream, and never look back.

"If you don't change direction, you will get to where you are heading".

:)

Week 10 Recap

2009-07-06T11:33:00.004+10:00

Another fun Saturday at the studio for The Limelight Hour!
This week we tried to force Giulia to do the Thriller dance, but she told us she had forgotten it and would show us a video of it from her youth instead...Lucky for her the video is in Singapore!
Lionel said that he had to use his bum cheeks to warm up his fingers...(note to self, never shake hands with Lionel :P) and Kevin showed up at the studio carrying a big blue shopping bag full of sound-guy equipment so he could go and mix a gig straight after the show! As for me, I was super relaxed and happy because I had just returned from a week up in Far North Queensland ahhh.

Anyway! The songs we played:

Don't Wanna - Jo Dawson
Overload - The Vulpine
Special One - Carmen Tong
Comfort Me - Andrew Lim
Sunlight - Hannah Elisabeth
Shooting Star - Broken Scar
The Flower - Andrew Shepherd
Doll - Dee Khoo

Big thanks to Charles J Tan who came in and performed live!

The Limelight Hour Podcast - WeekTen

2009-07-05T22:39:00.001+10:00

Week 9 Recap

2009-07-01T13:40:00.002+10:00

Winter is here. The squirrels, chipmunks and woolly bear caterpillars have gone into hibernation. The whales are migrating south to breed. And the flies have died. Lionel's excited that rugby games are happening while Kevin and Asami have went on holidays to escape the cold. Giulia's just upset that her plant has died.

Here was our playlist for the week!

Until I Fall - Broken Scar
A Song for Breaking the Barrier - Kieran Christopherson
Only - The Vulpine
Hymn For The Romantic - Scene At The Movies
Right Here, Right Now - Asami
Personal Anthem - Charles J Tan
Wish You Well - Jo Dawson
X - Tim Mcmillan

Thanks again to Andrew Lim for coming to the studio. Remember to keep warm all! :)

The Limelight Hour Podcast - Week Nine

2009-06-30T22:37:00.001+10:00

Nobody live in the studio!

2009-06-27T11:35:00.002+10:00

Here are the videos of Nobody performing live in the studio!

This one's so funny! Nice shuffling around guys :)

And one of my favourite Nobody songs..."Why"

Week 8 Recap

2009-06-21T16:58:00.005+10:00

Another week has flown by! Lionel's band Nobody came into the studio for a chat and Keith Tan dropped by during his holiday to give us heaps and heaps of valuable info! More of his interview will be aired next week, be sure not to miss it!!

Hope you liked the music this week :)

Fall - Scene At The Movies
Real Again - Clara Rhoden
Sunset Maize - Tim McMillan
Desperate - Daphne Khoo
Four Walls - Josh Sperring
Shooting Star - Broken Scar
Good Things - Jo Dawson
Last Chance - The Vulpine

The Team with 3/4 of Nobody!!

The Limelight Hour Podcast - Week Eight

2009-06-20T20:49:00.001+10:00

We had heaps of fun at the studio today and I hope you guys enjoyed the show. If you missed it, don't fret. Here's the podcast!

See Jo Dawson Perform Live this Thursday!!

2009-06-17T20:39:00.008+10:00

Here are the videos of Jo Dawson and Andrew performing their songs for The Limelight Hour! Jo's performing tomorrow (the 18th) at The Limelight. Come and see her play live! Yay!

"Wish You Well"

"Good Things"

Alongside Jo at The Limelight [JUNE09] will be Andrew Lim, previously of Ashley's Affair!

And Samantha Lombardi who has supported huge names like Vanessa Amorosi and The Getaway Plan!

$5 pizzas and $10 jugs for all the silliness you need on a cold Thursday night :P

And don't forget there's free entry to see the Melodic's EP Residency, on straight after The Limelight!

See you at 7pm at Miss Libertine!

Will you be there???

The Limelight Hour - Just Like Pokemon Part 2

2009-06-14T19:51:00.002+10:00

If you missed the first Pokemon post, check it out here

Remembering and retelling stories about how we met usually results in laughter. To us, it feels like we've known each other forever. In truth, the longest relationship in the Limelight Hour crew has only been a year, and the shortest relationship, less than 2 months.

The central character of Pokemon constantly says "I know its my destiny!" Just like him, fate and destiny was what brought us all together :)

Lionel and Kevin met a year ago, in April. Whilst arranging his first show, Lionel contacted Kevin to arrange a coffee date. He was in Canberra renewing his passport. Coincidentally, Kevin was also in Canberra! And it was from that momentous occasion that their Baby, 'THE LIMELIGHT' was conceived.

Asami and Lionel were introduced through common friends. Lionel, wanting to show off his new Japanese language skills to Asami said "Anata o shi masu ka", which meant "Do you do yourself?" when he actually intended to ask "What do you do?" That query sparked a close friendship, where now, the question can be honestly answered :p

Giulia and Asami met at a Limelight event, where Giulia shamelessly approached Asami to introduce herself. They exchanged emails and then proceeded to forget about each other. 2 months later, they reconnected when Giulia suddenly realised who Asami was and replied her email.

Destiny is the power that predetermines life courses and events. Chance meetings and open opportunities led Lionel, Kevin, Asami and Giulia together. Now that they're so familiar with each other, they can't recall life without one another. If they didn't have each other, life wouldn't be worth living...

Week 7 Recap

2009-06-14T14:38:00.007+10:00

Hope you enjoyed another installment of The Limelight Hour! Thanks to Richard King and Jo Dawson for dropping by! Don't forget, you can catch Jo performing LIVE at The Limelight this Thursday at Miss Libertine!!

Here's a picture of the team with Jo and Andrew!

...And the songs we played this week! Let us know your favourite track!

The Cage - Clara Rhoden
Live Recording - Tim McMillan
Live Recording - You 'n' UR Music
Live Recording - Andrei Jerez
Shine - Andrew Lim
Clouds in the Street - Ai Hui
Control - The Vulpine

The Limelight Hour Podcast - Week 7

2009-06-14T00:19:00.002+10:00

Here it is guys. Check it out!

Going Independent: Part Three

2009-06-13T02:16:00.002+10:00

When it comes to recording in the studio, there are a few roles to fill and I'll go through them briefly below. By the end of it, you should be able to get an idea of the roles and how you can do as much as you can as a musician with some recording knowledge.

Recording Engineer
As the title suggest, this engineer records the musical performance in the studio. His/her duties include, placing the artist in suitable areas in the studio, placing microphones and instruments and setting up and balancing levels on the recording console.

Assistant Engineer
In large studios, the Assistant Engineer is usually also the Studio Engineer where they know the ins and outs of the studio layout and set up. He/she will assist the Recording/Mixing Engineer in patching outboard equipment like effects units to the console, setting up the playback, and pretty much gets things done for the Recording/Mixing Engineer so a session can run smoothly.

Pro Tools Engineer
If you read the credits in big budget albums, there usually is a Pro Tools engineer where he/she does all things Pro Tools related. Pro Tools is one of the leading industry standard for recording softwares.

Mixing Engineer
This engineer mixes what has been recorded by balancing levels, applying equalisation and effects to give the songs a good blend between all the instruments and vocals. The mixing engineer could also be the same person who did all the recording.

Daphne Khoo's video!

2009-06-10T15:50:00.003+10:00

Here we go! Daphne Khoo performing "My Attempt"

And a lovely picture of Kevin, Giulia, Daphne and Lionel!

Support SYN FM by subscribing!

2009-06-09T19:00:00.001+10:00

You already know that The Limelight and The Limelight Hour are completely independent initiatives run for and by members of the Melbourne independent music community! Did you also know that SYN FM, the station that broadcasts The Limelight Hour operates completely independently as well! SYN needs your support to keep great shows like The Limelight Hour on air!!

SYN is funded completely by support from subcribers and operates without any government or corporate sponsorship. It's a great organisation that, exactly like us, gives youth an oppportunity in media and supports the local music scene.

This year's SYN FM Subscription drive is totally unique - The cost of subscription is completely up to you! So whether you can donate $5 or $500, every little bit helps.

If you enjoy shows like The Limelight Hour, please subcribe today!

Remember to say "The Limelight Hour on SYN fm ROCKS!!!" when you subscribe!
Member Referral: Giulia Tan, 20080079 OR Asami Koike, 20080477

The Limelight Hour Podcast - Week 6

2009-06-07T11:48:00.006+10:00

Hey all, this was my personal favourite week so far. Have a listen =)

Week 6 Recap

2009-06-07T11:39:00.005+10:00

Thank you for tuning into another episode of "The Limelight Hour"! A big shout out to Daphne Khoo and Dan for coming in to the show - Thank you!!
Alrighty, here are the songs we played:

Down - Broken Scar
Turtle - Clara Rhoden
Right Here, Right Now - Asami
The Flower - Andrew Shepherd
Overload - The Vulpine
Goat Song - Tim McMillan
Sunlight - Hannah Elisabeth

Stay tuned because we'll be uploading the videos of Daphne's live performances very soon!

And don't forget to check out SYN's website, and join in their subscriberthon! We need your help to stay on air!

The Limelight [June 2009] is almost here!

2009-06-05T16:51:00.024+10:00

Hello Hellooo!! I am so excited because this month's 'The Limelight' is just around the corner!Come hang out with us at Miss Libertine on the 18th of June and enjoy some super duper local independent music! Like...

Charles J Tan - you've heard his stuff on air, now come and see him live in the flesh!
Andrew Lim - returns after an awesome set at Sunday Sessions! and...
Samantha Lombardi - Brand new to The Limelight!
plus many more!

Stay out of the cold, come and cheer for your favourite... what better way is there to spend a Thursday night?

Join our Facebook group to stay up to date! Don't be a stranger, come and say hello!

X Asami

The Limelight Hour - Just like Pokemon Part 1

2009-06-05T04:20:00.009+10:00

No doubt, the readers are probably determining that Giulia is a bit of a nut. What association can the personalities of a radio show, featuring independent music, possibly have with Japanese cartoon monsters. The oh wise one is here to tell you, lots. So much in fact, that this has to be broken up into a series of posts.

The Pokemon theme song begins "I want to be the very best, like no one ever was" Like the protagonist of Pokemon, The Limelight Hour crew aims to do just that.

Since starting the LLH, not a day has gone by without contact within the group. Sometimes, being away from your computer for 2 hours means having 37 new emails to read when you get back. The LLH is just like taking an extra subject at university, except the contact hours are greater. At the beginning, Lionel, Kevin, Asami and Giulia would see each other almost everyday that there wasn't even a need to say hi or bye anymore, because the next encounter was less than 24 hours later. This also resulted in them canceling social appointments because of exhaustion. Amid the group, there even is a running joke of moving in together so time, traveling and phone bill costs would be reduced.

TRUTH: Lionel, Kevin and Giulia (possibly with the exception of Asami) interact with each other more than they do with their OWN family. However, this also signifies that they themselves have become a family. Lionel is like Daddy, the authority figure ("You do this." "NO NO!" "Good job!"). Kevin is like Mummy, compassionate towards the well being of the family ("What's wrong?" "Are you okay?"). Asami is like Big Sister, the child that talks a lot, but no one really listens to ("Can everyone do some yoga?" "Go to sleep!"). Giulia is like Baby, sometimes in her own world (laughs in the middle of serious conversation because she remembers something funny that happened earlier).

We meet so much, to work hard because we don't want to achieve anything less than our best. The good thing, we have fun doing what we do :)

Going Independent: Part Two

2009-06-02T12:11:00.013+10:00

There are various roles during a recording process. One of them is The Producer, whose role is to collaborate with the artiste and engineer to produce a marketable final product. With duties in both the business side and creative side, a producer manages recording schedules and resources and importantly budgets, but is also involved in musical and artistic arrangements, and helping the artiste deliver their best performance.

A producer is usually selected for their knowledge in the music business, their understanding of the target audience, their creative insight, their understanding of the musical performance and their mastery of the recording process. The best way to shop for a producer is to find out who produced your favourite album. You could also engage producers through word of mouth or by recommendation. Once you've tracked them down, make sure you check out their list of credits to see if what they do is in line with what you are after.

Alternatively as an independent artiste, you can be your own producer by having a clear idea of how the final product is going to sound, the mood and feel, and so on. For example, a pop-punk band would produce a CD differently from an electronica act, unless of course, there is the intention otherwise. When you produce your own music, you need to detach yourself from the musician in you so that you can judge the recording objectively. The bottom line is to have a clear direction and vision of what you want to achieve.

The Limelight Hour - Week 5

2009-06-02T01:05:00.006+10:00

After some unexpected technology dramas, here it is!

The Road Ahead...

2009-06-01T18:00:00.002+10:00

So no, I didn’t really quit The Limelight Hour team. Much like the fabled faked death of Elvis, I did it partially to get attention for the program (my work as a top secret government agent can not be discussed here), and as an (apparently) failed gag. No disrespect to The King, of course - may he rest in the soulful soil of Memphis. I would not simply leave the family that is The Limelight Hour, as I love every one of them far too much. But that’s enough warmth & fuzziness for one day!

I am, however, quite taken aback by the responses I have received from this little media stunt! Emails and messages of surprise and of life lessons on winners and quitting abound! It was nice to know that there is a listening public out there who cares. This is a personal thank you for listening from me, and also from the team that work so hard to make Melbourne’s independent music accessible to you.

In fact, The Limelight Hour team is far from quitting, with many dreams and schemes yet in the works. Whilst we continue to bring you both The Limelight acoustic showcase series, and The Limelight Hour, there are several ideas currently at inception that I am personally very excited about!

However, not wanting to spill the beans prematurely, I thought I’d throw it out there to you guys instead…! Tell us, either by commenting on this post, or by emailing thelimelighthour@gmail.com what you guys would like to see us take on next? Is it a TV show or web cast? A magazine? More and different types of events? Or something completely left of field? Let us know!

- Nigel Nobody

Getting Personal - Part 4 "Giulia"

2009-05-31T01:40:00.004+10:00

Once upon a time, this man met this woman, got married and decided to procreate. 8 months later, a very cute (albeit fat and bald) little girl was born.

Now, Giulia with a G, is a key figure in the LLH. She won sexiest voice, although everyone disagrees. She looks at the three other musicians and shakes her head and gives "real" advice and direction. Giulia is not a musician and is reminded of that fact at every meeting with the LLH crew. The other three sometimes make her feel like she has a disability but Giulia knows that it's not true.

Her favourite line is "i can do that" which makes even scary Lionel stop for a second and smile. Giulia has A LOT of friends, but by the end of the LLH, she will probably have none, as she gets so tired that she ditches them after work. Giulia's mind is very healthy, but she has a lot of "body" issues. If you asked her, she could entertain you for hours talking about things like the balls in her nose, and the disc in her back. She also takes a HUGE amount of drugs *legal* which makes Asami shake her head and say "Giulia, you need to do some yoga it will fix everything" but will she ever listen? If you get to know Giulia, you will come to realise that she is incredibly busy. She multi-tasks like no one else and yet she keeps her promises and still has time to make those around her feel happy. (paragraph contributed by Superstar Asami)

Giulia molded her life based on advice from the wisest person she knows, her father. She learned success by surrounding herself with people who were smarter (Lionel, Kevin, Asami :p) and listening to them. And she accepts that everyone is smarter about something than she is. Although not a musician, she is very versatile and talented at many things. Here are some of her fine talents - writing up 2000 word essays in 2 hours, blowing spit bubbles, talking like Mr Bean, making monkey faces and tripping over nothing. WOW she is so accomplished in life!

Week 5 Recap & Performance Vidz!

2009-05-31T00:12:00.007+10:00

Thanks for tuning in to The Limelight Hour again this week! We loved having You 'n' UR Music performing on the show (watch the videos!), and we gained some valuable info about home recording equipment from Cranbourne Music's Tim!

Here are the awesome songs we played on The Limelight Hour:

Sunsets and Sketches - Scene At The Movies
Comfort Me - Scarletta
Save You - Asami
Freeze - The Vulpine
Real Again - Clara Rhoden
Sunset Maze - Tim Mcmillan
The Alien Song - Broken Scar
Wrong - Daphne Khoo

Check out the two videos of You 'n' UR Music performing live in our studio. They're just so cool!

Untitled

Your Flow

Stay well and join us again for the next show, Saturday 4pm :)

"The Flower" by Andrew Shepherd

2009-05-29T19:47:00.004+10:00

On last week's show, Andrew dropped by to talk about his experience at The Limelight. We love his music and hope you do too!

Here's a video of his song "The Flower", enjoy!

Going Independent: Part One

2009-05-28T21:32:00.006+10:00

All a muso really wants to do is play music, right? Play your instrument or sing, join a band and rock & roll all night long! That's the dream we all chase, and dreams do come true. But for those who want to take things into their own hands and do it independently, there's more to it than just playing and writing great music.

There are various "business" aspects that a muso needs to handle if you're doing it independently. Here are a few points to get you thinking and I hope to elaborate on them in a series of posts.

Assuming that you've written 20 good songs. What next?

Pick the best 10. Be harsh, be critical. No, your girlfriend's and her mom's opinions do not count.

Get those songs recorded. If it financially permits, record a full 10-song album because the fact is, pressing 10 songs for an album or 5-6 songs for an EP does not reduce the cost of pressing the CDs. The number of songs does not change the cost of pressing a CD as long as the songs are within the size of a CD's capacity. The only cost you'd save is actual recording costs.

Recording options. There are various options you could choose from. Recording independently does not mean recording it badly. It does not mean it has to burn a hole in your pocket either.

1. Based on my previous post, recording gear is cheaper these days and with some skill and gear, you can start recording yourself in your bedroom. Or,

2. You can hire a recording engineer that owns an independent home studio. You can produce it and the recording engineer simply records and mixes and gives you the final product or you could have him co-produce too, if he is up for it of course.

3. This would cost the most. You can hire a producer and an engineer that can get you to create magic with you to be captured on tape.

I'll elaborate on the roles of the recording engineer, mixing engineer, editor and mixing engineer in the coming posts.

Mastering. I believe this is crucial. I mentioned this in one of my posts here. You will want to master your CD before it goes for pressing. This gives your CD the standard listening levels that can compete with all the other international CDs out there.

More "business" side of things in the coming posts.

Scene At The Movies live in the studio!

2009-05-27T20:03:00.011+10:00

We had an blast with Scene At The Movies last week who performed their songs Hymn For The Romantic and Stars (a new unrecorded song) live! Watch out for Dharen's fantastic new slogan for The Limelight Hour in the Stars video! Thanks for the good times and great laughs guys...!

Remember to enter the contest to WIN A SIGNED Scene At The Movies EP!!!

Stars

Hymn For The Romantic

Getting Personal - Part 3 "Asami"

2009-05-26T00:03:00.007+10:00

Approachable and friendly, Asami is someone the team cannot live without. She's the event coordinator and handles all The Limelight musicians. She's the one that talks to them, makes them feel better and gives them advice when they're nervous or anxious before a show. Asami is a better friend than she gives herself credit for and is the most affirming and encouraging one out of The LLH crew.

What is admirable about Asami is that she attempts to connect with her music fans. I started out as a supporter of her music and if she had not made the effort to get to know me, The LLH wouldn't have happened. Usually dependable and efficient, it falls apart when around me. I tend to distract Asami, until Lionel gives me his death stare. We do however get our work done, it just takes a while.

For some reason, every time Asami is around me, she becomes clumsy. She walks into lamp posts, bicycle racks, I find cheese dangling from her mouth... Although she's sometimes in embarrassing situations (especially when alcohol is involved), Asami does have a very good sense of humour and is great fun to be around.

Lastly, Asami's the biggest fan of her own work and is absolutely in love with the jingle you hear on air. She already thinks she's a superstar and makes me carry her umbrella, and Kevin, her guitar. She's always ready for a photo opportunity and strikes poses at random moments. She also displays diva-like behaviour. When people unintentionally collide into her, her first thought is "Do you know who i am!" She's joking. ~~Most of the time. Sometimes.~~ I think.

Click to read other entries in the Getting Personal Series - Lionel or Kevin
Leave a comment and tell me what you think of Asami (or if you even think of Asami).

The Limelight Hour Podcast - Week Four

2009-05-24T01:01:00.004+10:00

Hey boys and girls, here's the latest podcast! Thanks to SceneAtTheMovies and Andrew Shepherd for being our guests this week!

Week 4 Recap

2009-05-24T00:42:00.009+10:00

Gosh time flies, I can't believe The Limelight Hour has been running for a whole month now! Make sure to check out the Podcast!

This week we had the Dharen and Rohan from Scene At The Movies drop in for a chat. Thanks guys! We'll upload the video of their live performances of "Star" and "Hymn For The Romantic" soon so keep checking back!

Here are the songs we played today:

The Cage - Clara Rhoden
On The Edge - The Vulpine
That Song - Daphne Khoo
Almost Sunday - Charles J Tan
Clouds In The Street - Ai Hui
Shooting Star - Broken Scar
Colours - Hannah Elisabeth
X - Tim McMillan

Hope you enjoyed the show!

Win a SIGNED SceneAtTheMovies EP & 'The Limelight' Double Passes!!!

2009-05-23T18:45:00.006+10:00

We've got 2 Double-passes to June's THE LIMELIGHT on the 18th June 2009 and 2 *SIGNED* copies of SceneAtTheMovies EP Take A Chance to give away!!!

Simply write to us at thelimelighthour@gmail.com and tell us...

"According to the boys from SceneAtTheMovies, who gets the most female attention in the group??!" (The answer is in the 23rd May 2009 Podcast - up soon!)

For example...

To: thelimelighthour@gmail.com
Subject: SATM Most Female Attention - David!!
Body: David, make babies with me...!

Entries close 12pm AEST Tuesday 16th May 2009, and the winner will be notified by email on Wednesday morning, so keep an eye on your inbox. CD prize is available for collection only at THE LIMELIGHT event on 18th June 2009. Non-Melbourne listeners, will have to make their own way here to collect the prize(s).

Wrapping Up May's Gig!!

2009-05-23T10:25:00.013+10:00

Thursday night was a great showcase of live independent music at The Limelight! The 8 acts all brought their own unique style to the show, including our first Aussie Hip Hop band, You 'n' UR Music, and the infamous Tim McMillan band, back with Goblincore to take over the world. Also back on The Limelight stage were Lionel's band "Nobody" all mellowed out, and song birds Daphne and Tee.

New to The Limelight were Andrew Shepherd (check out his chat in this week's podcast!), Brodie Gaudion, and last but not least Andrei Jerez. All of them blew us away and will definitely be back at The Limelight soon!

We also ran a competition where we asked you to tell us who you thought had the sexiest voice out of Lionel, Kevin, Giulia and myself: for the chance to win a double pass to The Limelight [MAY09] and a signed copy of Broken Scar's "Midnight In St Kilda".

Thank you to everyone who voted, especially for me *ahem*, but there could only be one winner and that lucky gal was Cherie! Yay! Hope you had a great time at The Limelight!

So that was The Limelight in May! Special thanks to the staff at Miss Libertine, Laurence and Richard on the sound desk, and of course to all you independent music fans who came along! We hope you had a great night!

See you at the next one June 18th 2009!

Be sure to join our Facebook group to easily stay up to date with The Limelight!

Immortalised

2009-05-19T14:12:00.024+10:00

I think most human beings like to leave some form of a legacy behind before they exit stage left from this world. Some go in search of a formula for cloning while others strive to win a gold medal but I would like to be remembered in a different way. As musicians, after writing our masterpieces, the next thing to do is to immortalise them. Long after we're gone, the music will continue to live on. How do we do that? We simply record the songs. So where do we start?

The obvious would be the traditional way of doing things. Get signed by a label, get a recording deal, get into a studio facility, make music and at the end of it, have a CD produced. However, not all of us have the luxury of doing just that. We've got to start somewhere so we do it independently on a budget. We record out of our bedrooms.

The advancing of technology has made recording more accessible these days. Gear is cheaper and there is a variety to choose from. The quality may differ, but with persistence and lots of hard work, something decent may come out of it. So here's how you could start recording demos from your bedrooms on a budget.

What you'll need:
A decent computer with a decent soundcard
Most people will have this already. So there's pretty much no further investment in this area.

Headphone/Speakers
A decent pair of headphones or speakers for monitoring the recording is important.

Microphone
To get a decent sound, you may want to look into getting a Condenser microphone. These days there are even USB microphones that plug directly into your USB inputs of the computer. Something like the Samson C01U will do the trick. there are other brands that make these mics. Just look them up on Google and you'll find heaps of options. Behringer also makes affordable entry level mics.

Recording software
Something like Reaper that is readily available for free download will do the trick. It takes some time to get used to the recording software but mess around with it and you'll get the hand of it in no time.

As for me, I record my demos with Reaper into an old PC and it works fine. I've got an old-skool Shure wireless mic that has a preamp on the receiver which gives me nice levels going into the computer. Of course, there are other ways to go around starting a home studio with awesome tools like Digidesign's ProTools that have audio interfaces and preamps but that will incur more cost. Another post, perhaps.

By the way, all the sweepers that you hear on The Limelight Hour were made within Reaper itself. If you want to find out more about recording, you can pick up a copy of Audio Technology Magazine from your local news agent.

Get Involved With The Limelight Hour!!!

2009-05-18T15:38:00.005+10:00

If you are catching the buzz around The Limelight, and The Limelight Hour, and are as excited as we are about what we are achieving today and what we might achieve tomorrow, you can now get involved!!

We are looking for people of all skills sets and backgrounds to join the team on a voluntary basis to help in areas such as:

- Website development / Web mastering
- Graphic Design
- Sound Engineering & Radio Production
- Film, Video Editing & Photography
- Event Management & General Crew
- Booking Management & Talent Scouting
- Marketing, Promotion & Advocacy
- Content Generation, Editorial & Copy Writing
- Voice Talents

So, whether you are an experienced production engineer, a budding music reviewer, a hobby film maker, a student designer, or even if you’re just a fan of The Limelight, write to us at thelimelighthour@gmail.com and get in touch with us today!!

Win A Double Pass & Broken Scar's CD !!

2009-05-17T17:00:00.002+10:00

For your chance to win both a double-pass to May's THE LIMELIGHT and Broken Scar's CD Midnight In St. Kilda, simply write to us at thelimelighthour@gmail.com and tell us who you think has the sexiest voice: Lionel, Kevin, Asami, or Giulia!!

To: thelimelighthour@gmail.com
Subject: Sexiest Voice - Lionel!!
Body: Lionel, make babies with me...!

Entries close 12pm AEST Tuesday 19th May 2009, and the winner will be notified by email on Wednesday morning, so keep an eye on your inbox. CD prize is available for collection only at THE LIMELIGHT event on 21st May 2009. Non-Melbourne listeners, will have to make their own way Down Under to collect your prize(s)!! ;)

Getting Personal - Part 2 "Kevin"

2009-05-17T13:14:00.008+10:00

Broken Scar's Kevin is the cool one of the group. Despite all his music success (four charted singles, three number 1 hits!!!) and popularity, he remains down to earth and humble. Very receptive to his fans, he never fails to take the time to say hi. ("this is a subliminal message - www.brokenscar.com, free song downloads!") Kevin, the hardworking and conscientious person that he is, is responsible for all the sounds you hear on the show. He is also the reason there's a podcast.

The sound guys never get enough acknowledgment for all the work they do but everything you hear (jingle, sweepers, ids, music bed, even the 'tick tocks') takes a lot of hard work and effort. Listen to The LLH and notice all the sounds involved, we have Kevin to thank for that!

Kevin, the soundboard, and his BIG FRIENDLY SMILE

Before meeting Kevin, i had heard about his accomplishments and ability as a musician from Lionel and Asami, and i imagined a bit of an arrogant prick. Unexpectedly, it surprised me how easy and fun he was to work with. He's also much funnier than he looks. I've not had much time for social interaction with Kevin but i have great respect for how well he's able to balance all the different elements in his life structure - a strong faith, marriage, friends, career: musician, career: sound engineer... giving adequate time, energy and attention into each component. As the individual who has the least life experience and is somewhat more naive, Kevin's key advice to me is... to date my friends. Don't take this out of context though, he just happened to find his life partner among his friends and just wants me to be open to the idea.

Another thing about Kevin is his hair! It always falls into place, there are no split ends, it’s bouncy and shiny and he never seems to have a bad hair day! And when he flips his hair, it's like a shampoo commercial. I have a suspicion he spends more time on his hair than he admits. He probably owns a straightener but out of fear of killing his rock star image, he denies this. Or maybe i'm just saying that because I’m jealous, just a little bit.

The Limelight Hour Podcast - Week Three

2009-05-17T12:42:00.002+10:00

Comment and tell us what you think about this week's show! Have a good Sunday :)

Week 3 Recap

2009-05-17T11:59:00.010+10:00

Oh what fun we had this week in the studio!

A big big thank you to Kevin, who took time out of his panelling duties to give us insight into his life as a rockstar and a sound guy! What a busy fellow he is. Be sure to keep up with him at Brokenscar's Website.

And here's a photo of Kevin with us in the background...

And Broken Scar's awesome live performance of "The City & The Lights":

This is the running list of all the songs we played on the show:
Until I Fall - Broken Scar.
Rush - The Vulpine.
Standing Alone - Avalon.
Feels Better Now - Charles J Tan.
Hymn For The Romantic - Scene At The Movies.
Shine - Scarletta.
Desperate - Daphne Khoo.
X - Tim McMillan.

Thanks for tuning in and we hope you enjoyed the music as much as we did!

It's that time of the month! And no, it's not what you think...

2009-05-16T01:00:00.007+10:00

The third Thursday of every month is the day we usually run The Limelight, the super event showcasing 8 local independent acts! This will be our first event since launching the radio show, and I’m even more excited than ever!

Some of the artists you’ve heard on The Limelight Hour, will be playing live at The Limelight this Thursday, the 21st. Your favourite Mr Sexy Voice (aka Lionel) will be back in business with his band Nobody…alongside Daphne Khoo, Allan Pascual and some brand new faces, like You ‘n’ UR Music. After working out how to spell the band’s name, we realised how excited we were to have an Aussie Hip hop act on the Limelight stage!

I want to say, 'come and meet us', but I think it’s more that we want to meet YOU. Are you real? Or are you just Giulia, typing under a different name? haha no, in all seriousness, The Limelight is where it all began, where the community is, where the artists themselves hang out…join us *joiiin usss* and cheer for your favourite act, eat & drink yourself silly with $5 pizzas & $10 jugs (ok that was an advertisement) and say hello to us…

The Limelight is always a really fun evening of live music :)

THE LIMELIGHT [MAY09]
21st May 2009
Miss Libetine
34 Franklin St, Melb
7pm+ $8 door

For more details, visit: FVE's Facebook Group

Love Love

Call me Lazy

2009-05-14T11:12:00.002+10:00

If you've been listening to the show live or to the podcasts, you would know by now that I am the production engineer on The Limelight Hour. As I've mentioned on the show, I look out for different things in a song but that sort of geeking out session will make this post into a thesis. So here's a much shorter version, without too much self indulgence.

As the production engineer on the show, I really appreciate well mastered tracks. In a nutshell, mastering brings up the quieter passages in a song and tames the louder parts to give the song an overall balanced loudness by using signal processors like compressors and limiters. Apart from that, mastering engineers use EQs and often reverb to sweeten the mix and give the song, or all the songs in the album an overall feel and vibe. Some even say, it's a process of filling up the gaps. Lastly, noise reduction processors are used to fix little noise issues like electric guitar hum or buzz that sneaked into the mix either during the recording or mixing processes. If you want to know more about mastering, here's a good link to an article on Sound On Sound Magazine's site.

I personally enjoy Dahpne Khoo's and SceneAtTheMovies' CDs. It gives me great pleasure to work with such fine tracks. Much respect to their respective mastering engineers.

In the case of building a radio show, the production engineer will not have to do any mastering-type work and concentrate on balancing the overall levels of all the elements that go into the show. These well mastered tracks will blend into the radio show easily without having to tweak much.

Imagine this. As a listener, you get up to turn the dial when the song goes into the quieter parts. Worst still, if it suddenly gets really loud. You would jump right out of the couch to reach for the volume dial to turn it down, if not the mute button. Well mastered tracks simply gives the listener the freedom to enjoy the song without having to reach for the volume dial when it gets quieter and when it gets too loud.

So yes, I enjoy not having to get out of my couch when I listen to music. Call me lazy.

Two Wrongs Make a Right

2009-05-13T11:50:00.004+10:00

It seems so long ago now, but The Limelight is really only eight months old. In that time, we’ve had a series of successful acoustic showcases, met many a talented local artist, and have evolved the platform into a weekly radio program!

In the beginning, the story was not always so sunny. In fact, The Limelight as it is today evolved from what might be considered a series of disappointments! About a year ago, I had just organised my second gig. In truth the motivation was simple – I wanted a show for my band "Nobody" to play!

The night had a great turn out, and whilst the sound was a bit lacking, everything appeared to be going fine. However, as the night progressed, the situation deteriorated. The venue management became extremely concerned about the decibel levels that were being produced. To this day, it still escapes me why they agreed to book a band night!

The net result was simple - the show was shut down, and the last band was rudely asked to get off stage. I still feel terrible about what happened to the boys from The Final Eclipse. In any case, I learnt a few important lessons, and also decided that my next show was going to be an acoustic one.

Not long after, Kevin Broken Scar was looking to put together an acoustic night for which he invited myself to play. Once again, everything appeared fine. Then suddenly, two weeks out from the show, I received a phone call from Kev…

Kev: “Hey dude, slight problem with the show…”
Lionel: “Wassup bro? Did they double book us?”
Kev: “No. They lost their license and closed down!!”
Lionel: “No way! F#@k me sideways.”

Anyway, a flash of inspiration led me to suggest that we combine his gig with my upcoming show. So essentially, we kept the event name and headline acts from Kev’s gig and mixed them into my indie acoustic showcase, and *BAM* The Limelight was born!

I guess sometimes two wrongs can make a right…

- Nigel Nobody

We want to know who you are!

2009-05-12T10:06:00.003+10:00

Got 2 minutes?

Help us fill out a simple survey (on the right, below artiste links) for a chance to win our love! NAH just kidding - we love all of you! We want to know who you are so as to create and customise our website just for you!

Thanks for dropping by The Limelight Hour. Have a good rest of the week!

Getting Personal - Part 1 "Lionel"

2009-05-12T05:24:00.047+10:00

If it’s not yet obvious by how many times we say our names on air (yes, we're a bit self obsessed), The Limelight Hour is produced by Lionel, Kevin, Asami, and I. To help you get more acquainted with us, I will be posting a series of entries dedicated to each individual, so that each one will get the Limelight they deserve.

According to the order we say our names on air, let's begin with Lionel…

Nigel Nobody (Lionel) might seem upon first impression, a bit of a dickhead to some. Get to know him better though, and you will learn he's actually an altruistic, nice, caring boy. He's a lot more compassionate than he gets credit for. Just recently, he abandoned a night out with The LLH team to be a good companion and listening ear to a friend. He would hate that I'm making him sound like, er... a little kitten; so let’s move onto his more stereotypical masculine virtues.

He's a born leader, a successful entrepreneur and the creative ideas man. After 3 days of knowing him, he appointed himself my personal mentor in life. I agreed, not being able to say "no thank you, but my personal mentor is Oprah". It works out well because he loves to teach (and does offer good guidance), by imparting knowledge and skill on those with less experience than him, namely Asami and I.

Lionel doing what he does best - overseeing production
(Special thanks to Julian for all his help)

When I first met Lionel, I was a bit wary of trusting him. He possesses a very intense aura and can come across as overbearing. This changed when Lionel and I realised that our personalities resulted in a great working relationship. I lack focus and direction and have a really short attention span while Lionel likes to educate someone like me, because I listen to him. Don’t tell him this though, but that statement is not entirely true. I once made the choice to eat popcorn instead of talking to him on the phone. Since Lionel has no patience for inefficiency, he likes that I learn very quickly. He helps to inspire me and is a reason why I wanted to be involved with The Limelight Hour team.

Although he might not admit it, using my superhero powers of observation, I sense that Lionel is currently in search of ‘The One'. He enjoys music, cuddling, the moonlight, and romantic candlelight dinners. He can offer you love and ~~a big package~~ he's a good package. No, but seriously, if you think you can handle a guy like this, please leave a comment! ;p

The Limelight Hour - Week 2 Special Guests

2009-05-10T14:04:00.014+10:00

Hey Everyone!

As Kevin wrote in the blog below, we had heaps of fun in the studio again this week! We were so lucky to have Tim McMillan and Matt Crute coming in for a chat. Thanks heaps guys, you made the show awesome!

Tim and Matt performed two songs live, Sunset Maze and X. Just an interesting note, Matt played his awesome drum part on an upside down trashcan! Despite the smell of trash juice lingering in the studio ( haha...no way) the four of us felt so so lucky to get an intimate concert!

Kevin has posted the play list from the show, but here are the artists' websites! Make sure you log onto your favourite artists' page to keep up to date with their gigs and shenanigans :)

Daphne Khoo - www.myspace.com/daphkhoo
Clara Rhoden - http://www.clararhoden.com/
Hannah Elisabeth - www.myspace.com/hanelisabeth
Carmen Tong - www.myspace.com/carmentong
Broken Scar - http://www.brokenscar.com/
Scarletta - www.myspace.com/scarlettaacoustic
Scene at the Movies - www.myspace.com/sceneatthemovies

One more thing... all these amazing acts have performed live at our monthly acoustic event, "The Limelight". If you would like to join these guys, and are an independent musician with loads of enthusiasm and a stack of original songs dying to be heard, please contact us here! We'd love to hear from you.

Hope you enjoyed the show, and tune in for more pics, stories and chatter to come!

Big hugs :)

The Limelight Hour Podcast - Week Two

2009-05-10T08:30:00.002+10:00

We had a stack of fun again this week on The Limelight Hour. It was such a treat to have viking metal guitar shredding goblincore legend, Tim Mcmillan as well as superstar booking agent Matt Crute in the studio. Here's the podcast, for those who missed the live show.

Shout outs to all the mothers out there. Happy Mother's Day!

This week's playlist:

Overload by The Vulpine
Doll by Daphne Khoo
Real Again by Clara Rhoden
Sunlight by Hannah Elisabeth
Special One by Carmen Tong
Shooting Star by Broken Scar
Comfort Me by Scarletta
Sunsets and Sketches

The Limelight Hour Podcast - Week One

2009-05-07T20:16:00.001+10:00

Click on the player to listen to the very first The Limelight Hour show!

The Limelight Production

2009-05-06T18:30:00.004+10:00

Q: What goes in to the production of a radio show?

A: It involves no sleep, lots of staring at the screen, listening to the same sounds repeatedly and working really fast with keyboard shortcuts.

The show can be broken down into a few parts. The songs that we choose to play, the program jingles (intro and outro), a music bed and a heap of sweepers which are used to segue between songs and also tagged on the start and ending of songs. They are made up of a voice over announcing our program, The Limelight Hour on SYN 90.7 fused with a bunch of sound effects.

The songs are pretty straight forward. Once they are imported into the program, I'd balance the levels over all the tracks to make sure they are of equal loudness.

Recording the jingle was heaps of fun. Thanks heaps to Julian the lightning speed Pro Tools man, for recording and for the studio time. The jingle was pretty much recorded and mixed within 1.5 hours.

The sweepers are the most fun. Although sweepers are only 5 secs worth of audio, there's actually a lot that goes into them. Firstly, the Voice Over (VO) will be treated to give it a cool effect and sound. Then I'd layer several effects and tweak them to make it sound like one heck of a giant effect. Look out for these sweepers when you tune in to The Limelight Hour next Saturday, on SYN 90.7

Just in case you're wondering what we look like. This is the only picture of all of us together freezing at a bus stop.

The First Show

2009-05-05T15:53:00.003+10:00

Hello! A big Thank You to everyone who turned their dials to 90.7 and tuned into our very first broadcast of 'The Limelight Hour' last Saturday!

We'd love to hear what you thought of the show, preferably good things like how pretty our voices are...or perhaps not... keep in touch with us here and in the little Chatbox to the right!

I'll take this opportunity to thank our wonderful guests, Jam and Jay from The Vulpine! We were lucky enough to get an intimate live performance of their song, 'Freeze', that left us at the studio a little bit stunned...And the guys were nice enough to stick around and play our word association game, Word Up! They have set the standard high, with a total of 24 words...let's see how long they can keep the number one position.

Keep up to date with what The Vulpine are doing at http://www.thevulpine.com.au!

Here's a list of the songs we played on our 'The Limelight Hour', and where to find them!

Fall - Scene At The Movies
Down - Broken Scar
Lullaby - Kieran Christophersonb
Save You - Asami
Personal Anthem - Charles J Tan
Wrong - Daphne Khoo
Clouds in the Street - Ai Hui
Turtle - Clara Rhoden
Goat Song - Tim McMillan

All of the artists above have performed at our Limelight events. The Limelight is a monthly acoustic gig that we've been running for the past seven months in the city. Stay tuned for our next event where you may be able to see your favourite artist perform live!

Next week, we have Tim McMillan, Goblincore-ing it up in the studio! If Goblincore means nothing to you...don't worry we won't tell anyone, just make sure to tune in next week to see what all the fuss is about!

We've also got Matt Crute, booking agent superstar, coming in to share some insiders' tips with all of us struggling musicians, as well as more Word Up! and more (wildly entertaining) banter from Lionel, Kevin, Giulia and myself!

The next show is going to be a lot of fun - join us at 4pm Saturday on SYN 90.7!

*virtual high five*

Welcome to The Limelight Hour !!

2009-05-01T06:00:00.001+10:00

Dear All,

It is with much excitement that I am able to welcome you to The Limelight Hour - a weekly radio program, Saturdays 4pm, on Melbourne's SYN 90.7 fm! Featuring artists and music from The Limelight, and showcasing the best independent talent Melbourne has to offer, with live performances, artist interviews, and advice from industry experts.

The Limelight Hour blog you are now reading is our online portal to stay connected to our listeners. Remember to hit 'Follow Blog' and be sure to spread to word to everyone you know!

It feels like it has been a long journey from the very first Limelight acoustic showcase to today, but in reality it has only been a short seven months! However, in that time the team behind the magic has grown from just Kevin and myself, into a small family! That, however, is a story for another time.

For now, I would like to shout out especially to Giulia and Asami, without whom The Limelight Hour on SYN 90.7 fm would not exist. Tune in to catch the four of us each Saturday 4pm on SYN 90.7 fm!

Keep the world rockin'!

- Nigel Nobody