Dubspot and Ableton present the LA stop of their “Live 8 U.S. Sessions Tour”
Workshops & Panel Discussions Featuring World-Class Artists
@ King King in Hollywood – Saturday, Nov. 7 and Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009 (daytime)

Dubspot, New York’s premier DJ and electronic music production institute, announces the Los Angeles stop of their Ableton Live 8 U.S. Sessions Tour. This unique series of interactive workshops, Q&As and panel discussions features a diverse pool of world-class artists as well as Dubspot’s top-notch instructors sharing methods for the studio and the stage, centered around the powerful music software Ableton Live 8. Special guest workshop presenters for the Los Angeles weekend include Scientist, Daedelus, Kid Beyond, Justin Boreta, Christopher Willits, Thavius Beck, and Peter Kirn, along with the Dubspot crew. The LA session will be held at King King in Hollywood (6553 Hollywood Blvd / map) on Saturday November 7 (11:00am – 7:00pm) and Sunday November 8 (noon – 8:00pm), 2009. For details and registration please visit www.live8tour.com.

Check out their previous tour stop in NYC, and hear one heck of an endorsement from legendary DJ and producer Richie Hawtin.

This truly unique educational experience is intended to help both aspiring as well as established artists. Each day is organized into five “sessions” designed to develop a diverse range of production and performance skills, while enhancing creative abilities. Saturday sessions focus on production. Sunday sessions focus on performance. Tour workshops showcase how far-reaching the capabilities of Ableton Live 8 are by covering a wide variety of compositional, programming, mixing, and mastering issues. Topics include drum-programming, instrument and effect rack management, sequencing, automation, creating melody, harmonic awareness, mixing and mastering principles, sound stage management, synth programming, PA/DJ hybrid setups, controllers, live instruments in Ableton, efficient set management, looping, routing, licensing, and much more.

The tour involves pioneers of electronic music, along with new blood, to provide a more complete experience and perspective of yesterday, today, and tomorrow. In addition to the special guests lined up in each city, expert Dubspot instructors will present personally developed production and performance strategies in a dynamic interactive workshop environment.

The Los Angeles event is the third stop in a series of Ableton workshops that Dubspot is presenting in 8 U.S. cities. Next up on the tour is Austin, with the event to be held at The Parish Room on November 14th and 15th. Presenters and performers at the Austin event include Francis Preve (Different Pieces, Fap 7), Christopher Willits (Ghostly International, Overlap.org), Daniel Wyatt (Sonica Media Group, Atlantic), Jon Margulies (Heatercore, Hobotech), Barry Cole (Spot Music & Blue Mountain Music Publishing), and Michael Hatsis (Track Team Audio).

Again, the LA session will be held at King King in Hollywood (6553 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90028; 323-960-5765 (map)) on Saturday November 7 (11:00am – 7:00pm) and Sunday November 8 (noon – 8:00pm), 2009. A weekend pass costs $195; a Saturday or Sunday day-pass costs $110. For details and registration please visit www.live8tour.com.

For more information on Dubspot, please check out www.dubspot.com

Lee Jarvis.

Tour:Smart is the brainchild of Martin Atkins. The ex- Public Image Ltd / Nine Inch Nails and Pigface drummer has applied his decades of experience and educated vision of the new music industry to a book, a DVD, and a series of crash-courses / seminars / discussions / school-events designed to aid musicians on their journey through the industry.

I don’t know how to describe the latest offering, Tour:Smart PLUS!, it is essentially a four year long educational course crammed into one 48-hour whirlwind weekend. It was intense, energising, humbling and motivating. Starting with learning from other band’s mistakes of touring, to learning to print your own merchandise, to filming and editing your own videos, and then what to do with them in the crazy online world of social media. This is as complete a course as you could find, without all the fodder of the ways the industry used to work or hiring other people who then get in your way (and cause you costly mistakes). It is the nitty-gritty of what YOU need to do to propel YOUR career forward; it is about taking responsibility, creating plans and leaping into action.

There is no magical guide to make you famous in six weeks, the music business is a long and dirty road, but with a hand from Tour Smart you will have all you need to prepare and inspire you to take this road, and start eating up the miles.

As I said, I could not even begin to regurgitate the learnings of last weekend, but here are just a few key snippets that were delivered by Martin in his own passionate way, and how they resonated with myself.

“The Music Business is Participatory…”
As a musician, you have to not only practice and record your music, but promote, network, hack, sell, distribute, tweak, market, deliver and everything else in order to create your own success. Sitting back and waiting to be ‘discovered’? (LINK) I’ll tell you now that it is not going to happen.

“Beware of Smokescreens…”
Hardware or soft synths? Cubase or Logic? MP3, CD, Vinyl or cassette tapes? Getting caught up in these arguments is a waste of time. Use what works for you, make your music, get it out there. Using your music wisely is far more important that the software involved.

“Free is the New Black…”
Giving your music away is pretty much essential. However, you shouldn’t be doing it just because other artists are, but because there is a lot to be gained. Collecting emails in return is often the simplest idea, but so much more can be created and retained, from remix competitions to treasure hunts, all in the name of promoting awareness of your music and your brand. Which leads nicely into…

“Sell the Space Around Your Music…”
If fans like your (free) music, how else would they like to relate to you and how can you monetise that? Live shows? T-shirts? DVDs? Skateboards? Coffee Cups? Music fans often want to be part of a community, and anything that they can wear as a badge to say that they are part of your support will appeal to them. Of course, the individual items or events will depend on your (sub-sub-sub-) genre of music.

“Data Driven Decisions…”
This is not about trial and error. There is something to be said for going whole-heartedly into a project, but you use the data you have to make smart decisions, and then commit yourself. Fanbase details can be collected and dissected in ever-more inventive ways, such as Google Analytics, Youtube Insights, mailing list tracking and good old at-the-venue discussing with fans.

Although just the tip of the iceberg, each of these points should give you and your career something to think about, and for further elaboration, I can’t recommend enough getting in touch with the Tour Smart Team.

Lee Jarvis.

Class photos (c) Lee Jarvis 2009.