YouTube and You

YouTube and You

Have you ever thought about a career in film making?  I think most people have.  It would be so great to work at the dream factory called Hollywood, wouldn't it?  Well with today's technology you don't have to move to Hollywood to make it big in film making.  Or should I say video making?  But really what's the difference between a video and a film?  The length, maybe?  Let's forget the semantics and jump right into YouTube!

I have my own YouTube channel.  I can upload just about anything I want onto it and people all over the world can watch the videos I put up.  There are restrictions and you can't just post anything.  It is possible to get banned and have your channel removed.  My friend Chinstrap has had his channel removed.  You can't be a bad boy (or girl) and be putting up copyrighted stuff such as videos using copyrighted music!  Don't be posting a video of yourself dancing to Lady Gaga's latest hit and expect the video to stay up.  You don't own the music so you can't use it!  What a lot of people may not realize though, is that YouTube has a huge selection of music that you can download and use in your videos for free!  Just do a bit of research!  And don't post really offensive things.  The world doesn't need to see people getting their heads chopped off in an execution, or women being roasted over an open flame.  You may want to see that stuff, but it's offensive and will get you banned.  Don't post stuff like that.

Now the big question is how do you get people to watch your videos?  Uploading them to YouTube just isn't enough to get views.  Once you have an established channel you might be able to just upload stuff and people will watch it, but that takes time and effort.  So what kind of videos will people watch?  Who the hell knows?  For instance I uploaded this video and it has 7 views.  So only 7 people watched it.

Is it a bad video?  Hell no, I think it's pretty good!  But apparently no one was interested in my reading a bit from one of my own books.  What is interesting then?  How about chicken?  Is chicken interesting?  Take a look at this video:

As of right now while I'm typing this blog the video has 705 views.  People want to know how I cook chicken in a microwave.  *chuckle*  So should I make cooking videos?  I don't want to do that mostly because I can't really cook that well.  That's why I cook chicken in a microwave!  But it comes out well and so I thought I would share that secret with people.  

How about video games?  They're pretty popular right now.  There are some guys who play video games and do commentary while they play.  The videos are called "Let's plays", or "Walkthrus".  Some of these commentators have millions of subscribers.  Yes, I said millions.  Take the guy named Theradbrad for example, he has over three million subscribers.  Here is one of his videos:

Brad is so popular that I guess once in a while a smart game developer will send him their game and allow him to play it and put up a video before the game is even released.  I say they're smart because having him play your game will get the game a lot of buzz and promotion.  Brad is good at what he does and believe me, what he does is not easy!  I've tried it a few times and haven't had the same level of success.  But then I don't stick with it.  One way to find success on YouTube is to keep a steady stream of videos uploading.  So to compare, here's a video I made of the same game.  My video only has 6 views.  But then I don't keep adding videos and finish the game.  

Believe it or not, there is more to this than just pointing a camera at your tv and recording the game.  You need specific equipment to record game footage.  I think I paid around $200 for the small thing I have.  It connects the game to my laptop computer and I can record the game footage with commentary if I want and then save it as a digital file.  Now these game walkthrus might not be easy to get views on, but sports games are a bit easier.  They take a LOT of editing, though!  Football is fun, but you need to cut out all the stuff in between the plays in order to make the video short enough.  Long videos are really nice, but they take forever to upload!  Shorter is better.  So here's me editing some football:

I really was going to keep up with this series, but my Playstation 3 died after a couple of videos and I wasn't able to make any more for a while.  Months and months had passed before I was able to make video game videos again and when I finally could, I had lost the saves I needed.  That sucked.  But this thing has 75 views right now!  So people love to watch football and see how you play!  I know I like watching it!

So let's get back to making videos.  What does it take to get a YouTube video channel?  Just sign up.  That's about it.  It's all part of Google.  Now YouTube can be more than just something to show videos to the world.  There's so much to it.  I don't even know half of what you can do with this stuff!  There are people who make "daily vlogs".  I follow two of these people.  One is in Orlando, Florida and is called TheTimTracker and the other one I follow is in England and is called WanderingDaz.  These husband and wife teams do videos every day about what they're doing, what's going on in their lives, or just whatever they're thinking about.  They upload videos every day!  I honestly think they're fun to watch.  For a while they barely had any views, but eventually after they had stuck with it, people found their channels.  And now they get more and more subscribers.  That's a lot of work to upload a video every day!  I love and respect what those people do!  

So even if you don't want to make videos yourself, check out YouTube.  It's a fun thing.  You can find anything at all you want.  There are literally videos on just about anything you want to search for!  Such as this:

This video is insanely funny!  Learning about a habanero pepper the hard way is always fun!  You can search how to build a computer, or how to change out a sink!  How to train your dog, or funny golf videos.  You can type in the name of any video game at all and find things!  YouTube is fun!  So help support a YouTuber today.  You don't need to give them any money or anything like that, just watch videos and then leave a comment, or click the thumbs up icon to leave a "like".  

Music with Marc

The Guitar Master

 

Today I get to interview another of my Facebook friends, Marc Johnson.  Marc not only teaches and plays music, he also writes!  With such a fantastic combination of talents, I talked him into answering a few questions for the blog.



Since you give guitar and bass lessons, let’s start with a few questions about that.

I’ve heard people say there are no bad students, only bad teachers.  I’m not sure I agree with that.  I’ve been in classes with plenty of bad students.  Have you ever had guitar or bass students who really aggravated you?

Most of the people I’ve taught have aggravated me. Bad students will always outnumber the good ones 3 to 1. It’s a certainty in the universe. 

That being said, there are bad teachers too. And, somehow those bastards manage to stay teachers for a long time while the good ones get discouraged and leave. There’s a real dearth of good teachers out there.   

One of the jobs of a good teacher is to get students excited about the subject. And the best way to do that is to be enthusiastic about it yourself. If the teacher loves the subject, and the student is genuinely interested in putting the time in, then things will work. If the teacher is a lump on a log, then they’ll probably ruin whatever ambition the student had. 

When people come to you for lessons, do they sometimes think that learning to play an instrument is a quick and easy endeavor?

In their first lesson, everyone acknowledges that learning the guitar is going to be difficult for them, and they say that they are up for the challenge. The following week, the second lesson rolls around and they say, “I didn’t think it would be this hard.” Usually, that’s where I’ll begin to notice signs if the student is going to last or not. 

Unfortunately, the parents are rarely helpful. In order for someone to be a good student of music, they have to immerse themselves in it. And, it seems that very few households have any music in them. Even something as simple as a parent blaring some music while dancing in front of their kids can have a significant influence on how the child perceives music. They have to know that music is meant to be enjoyed and not just something that plays in the background of movies. 

It also doesn’t help that music education is seen as extracurricular instead of being part of a standard education. In some countries, learning an instrument is part of a student’s normal study. Where in the US it’s seen as frivolous or flighty. Hell, some parents make it next to impossible for the student to pursue music by bogging them down with a bunch of sports or other shit that the kid doesn’t even want to be involved in. Would you rather be a freaking boy scout or learn how to play Bark at the Moon? Which would you rather have, a merit badge or a Jackson Randy Rhoads “V” guitar? 

As both a writer and musician you’ve seen two different worlds.  Would you say it’s easier to get your writing or your music noticed?  Or are they both difficult?

They are both very difficult, and they are both very similar. While there are definitely more outlets than there used to be, there are so many shit writers and musicians clogging up the pipes that it makes it hard for anyone with anything interesting to say to get through.  

Writers and Musicians both have to work harder and smarter to get noticed. While you can still play some shithole bar (My favorite kind) or sign books at some hole-in-the-wall bookstore (Also, my favorite kind), you’re going to get very little notoriety from that alone. 

The hardest thing is that few are willing to pay for books or music. There’s an expectation that, if someone writes a book or records an album, they’ve done so because they love it and that should be enough reward for them. But, the writer or musician has to sacrifice time and opportunity to create these things. If they can’t make a living off of writing books or making music, how can you possibly expect them to keep doing it? 

Publishing houses have even pulled their heads out of their own asses long enough to notice this trend, which is why unless you’re a writer with an existing track record of selling books, good luck getting published. That leaves writers with independent houses, which have been doing good work lately, or self-publishing. Either way, it’s difficult to get your name out there. 

Some market the shit out of themselves and some cling onto niches that are big thing for the moment. It’s like the 90’s grunge thing. Every terrible band out there was calling themselves “grunge” so that they could get in on the action. Just like tons of terrible writers are getting in on the vampire or zombie thing for the same reason. 

The good news is that there are many great writers and musicians out there for anyone willing to look. Writers like you and Steve Morris have managed to get their stories out there without any big publishing house help, which is big. And musicians like Andy McKee have managed to garner a strong following based on YouTube performances. Something like that wouldn’t have been possible fifteen years ago. 

Have you ever incorporated music in your writing?

Music strongly influences my writing. When I was writing Becoming, I wanted to have a song threaded throughout the narrative. Portions of the song would pop up from different characters and even from the narrator at times in either lyrical or musical form. It was intended to be a stream of continuity through an otherwise fragmented story. I’m not sure if anyone caught on to that. 

The relationship between music and writing is a complementary one. They both rely on moments that can’t be relived but we search to relive them anyway. That moment when I finished Cormac McCarthy’s The Crossing will always haunt me, but I will never be able to experience that moment the same way again. When I first heard ORIGA’s voice in the song Inner Universe, my guts twisted and my hands started to quiver. It’s like heroin. You’re always chasing that first high. 

Generally, I like to create a song for the story that then becomes part of the narrative. I’m currently working on two new titles that are both heavily influenced by music. Given how quickly I write novels, they should both be out by 2045.

Do you listen to music when you write?

Always. The mood that I’m trying to convey in the work determines what kind of music. If the writing calls for something more ethereal, I’ll listen to ORIGA, Little Dragon, Florence + The Machine, Yoko Kanno, or Michael Hedges. If the writing calls for some crazy-maniacal-blood bath, I’ll put on something a bit heavier like In Flames, Soilwork, Sybreed, Bring Me The Horizon, Opeth, or Katatonia. Or, if I’m just feeling sorry for myself, I’ll put on some Soulsavers or Chris Whitley. 

I even composed a series of songs that were influenced by my first book, Becoming. Originally, they were supposed to be background for an audio book, but then I realized the monumental horror I would unleash if I narrated three hundred plus pages with my monotone lilt. The songs weren’t bad, though. So, I anticipate I’ll eventually get around to releasing them all somewhere. 

While we’re on the topic of writing, tell us about the books you have out and where we can find them.

My overly ambitious work Becoming is available from Amazon in hardcover, paperback, or for Kindle. But I’d rather people purchase it from Powells.com because Amazon is the devil. Becoming is a very violent piece of speculative fiction with elements of fantasy.  The characters of have no memory of who they are/were but find themselves in a reality that is manifested from their dreams and nightmares. They live in a world of their own design, and somehow they even manage to fuck that up.  

(Click above to find Marc's book on Amazon.com, or use the link below to visit Powells.com.  Marc prefers the link below.)

http://www.powells.com

I also have a short story, Uncanny Valley, which doesn’t cost very much and is awesome. It’s only available on Kindle through Amazon. 

Although I have another novel on the way, these are currently my only two stories. There is another writer named Marc Johnson on Amazon, so don’t confuse me with him. He didn’t like my book, and I haven’t read his. 

I’m also the Head Writer/Editor in Chief for TheToneKing.com, which is a site dedicated to guitar gear. So, if guitar be your thing, you’ll want to check that out. 

Let’s keep going with the plugs - Where can we find your music?  Any YouTube links we should see?  (I know there are!  *chuckle*)

There are some vids of these “On The Mark” videos I did for TheToneKing.com. You can hear me play a bit, see my pretty face, and let my soothing tenor wash over you. I wanted to do some videos comparing/contrasting top shelf guitars with their less expensive counter parts. Those can be found here: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVhq4yQIFVM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWZQtfstNC8

I also have a Soundcloud account, which I don’t use as often as I would like. That can be found here: 

http://snd.sc/1hOrqyV

Some people have told me that there’s other stuff of mine floating around out there. I haven’t seen it, but who knows what’s out there. 

Is it true that the guitar players get all the women?  Silly question, I know.  

The groupie hierarchy goes: Singer, Guitarist, Drummer, Horn Section, Bass Player, Roadies, Percussion, and Pianist. So, guitar players get almost all of the women, but not as much as the singers. But, at least we’re not pianists.  

While we’re talking about that, do you ever have guys come in and want music lessons because they think playing a guitar will get them girls?  Does this work out?

A huge part of playing the guitar is attitude. If you think you’re the best guitar player in the world, chances are, everyone else will agree. Same goes for picking up girls. If you act like every girl in the world would be lucky to hang out with you, you’ll probably never go home alone. Only one of my students has ever realized this. I wish I could’ve been so wise at his age.  

Music is sexy. So is writing. They’re both expressions on how people deal with the world around them. And sex is a big part of that. When you’re looking to understand the passions that go into creating these things, you are looking to better understand sex. Most importantly, how to get more of it. 

Are you more of a purist, or have you used music synthesizers before?

I enjoy the sound of grit, dirt, warmth, and things I can sink my teeth into. Which are impossible to get with synth. Synth by its nature is a calculation and an estimation of things that we hear in nature. 

Practically, though, analog is a pain in the ass. You need to be really loud to achieve the right tone and usually you’re getting yelled at by somebody for being too loud. So, when I record, I use computer emulator software that mimics certain sounds that I’m trying to achieve. 

Synth also gives players the ability to orchestrate for as many instruments as you want without having to play a single one of them. I’m terrible at brass instruments, but I can program the shit out of a horn section. 

As far as what I listen to, some of the most exciting stuff that I’ve heard has been synth based. Whether it’s Anime or Film Soundtracks, Dubstep, or bands like Daft Punk, Yelle, Little Dragon, and Yoko Kanno, there’s something intriguing about that point where the synth sounds end and the organic instruments begin. There’s this great song by Yoko Kanno called Fish ~ Silent Cruise that starts out simply with a voice and some strings and slowly morphs into a slow-driving beat with all of these synth sounds that threaten to swallow up everything around them. It’s amazing. 

But, there’s nothing sweeter to me than hearing the resonance of a minor 9^th chord played on a guitar as it slowly dissipates to the point where you can hear the notes waver around each other. Synth could never reach that level richness or beauty in timbre. 

And of course, what are you working on right now? 

My second novel, Drugs and Pancakes, should be out early next year if my alcoholic editor can manage to work through the manuscript in between bouts of insanity and cursing my name. 

Drugs and Pancakes is a story of a drug addled youth who is suddenly confronted by a suicidal lesbian. High jinks and hilarity ensue. Lots of drugs, sexual depravity, and inquiries into the nature of human relativity, fear, and interdependability. 

I’m also working on a documentary titled, The Future of Gear. It’s pretty obvious what the subject is by the title. Basically, I’m asking all names big and small in the guitar instrument industry where they think things are headed. The first episode will be available before the end of October. You can watch the teaser here. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LO8rsAXp9Q

I do have a website dedicated to all of my stuff that I neglect often and update occasionally at http://www.Marcjohnsonbooks.com

You can also follow my awesome tweets @Mjohnsonbooks. 

Or Face my Facebook at Facebook.com/marcjohnsonbooks. 

Writing a Book

NaNoWriMo

Have you ever wanted to write a book?  Well, now there's really nothing stopping you!  If you have a computer, or at least a library card, you can get started right now!  If you don't have a computer at home, use your library card to reserve some computer time at your nearby library.  They should have everything you'll need and you'll be surrounded by books to boot!  Great inspiration!

What I'm going to go over will apply if you want to write your novel and submit it to a publisher, or if you want to self publish your work.  Both are equally viable options.  I've done both.  I have books published with Secret Cravings Publishing such as A Writer's Love Story...

And my self published novel Frigate: November...

A Writer's Love Story was professionally edited and formatted, Frigate wasn't edited at all and was formatted by me.  I had to learn the hard way how to format a book for the Kindle.  When I first uploaded Frigate to the Kindle store it was unreadable.  I had no idea the book wasn't formatted correctly, it came out fine as a paperback.  I don't feel too badly because when I first uploaded Frigate the Kindle was just becoming popular and no one seemed to know what they were doing with uploads.  Some of the major publishers had uploaded unreadable files just like I had.  They eventually dedicated entire departments to formatting their books for the Kindle.  But I did figure out what was wrong with my book's format and fixed it.  I had to go through over 120,000 words to fix everything, and it took me a long time, but it does now look ok on a Kindle.  And now I'm ready to teach other people how to format.

So what was wrong with my formatting?  And what did I have to go back and fix?  Well, I'm going to make a few videos as we get near November and show you exactly how to get started so you'll have everything formatted correctly as you go.  For now I'm working on a small laptop while my PC is in the shop, but I should have it back soon and then I'll get started on the videos.  

For now, I've made this simple little introduction video.  Be sure to check out the quick looks at two of my self published books in the upper left hand corner of the video.  For now, think about what you'd like to write about, or even dust off an old story you've had in your closet since high school, and we'll get started learning how to get moving in the publishing world!