Getting To Know . . . . Tiffany 'SongBird' Starks

I recently had the chance to meet with Tiffany Starks and find out more about her, her music and her thoughts on today's musical landscape. We went off topic a little when we started discussing the state of current music, but I had a great time speaking with her.

Getting To Know . . . . Will Brown

I had an opportunity to speak with a profoundly talented young man making his mark in the gospel world. Will Brown is the leader of the group Will Brown and Another Level. They are a small group located in Newark, NJ that was started about five years ago. I had a discussion with him about why he does what he does and what he hopes to do. In the first section, he discusses his background, gives some info on Another Level and how he writes music.

In the second part of the interview, he talks about his musical progression, an album that he loves and what type of impact he hopes to make in the industry and the world.

A Year in the Life of Harambee Records, Part 2

This is the second six-month installment of my assistance with Harambee Records. At this point, we are getting closer to producing an album for Will Brown and Another Level. In order to ensure that everything is done properly, the correct protection is needed. I helped Will Brown secure the proper copyright information for the fourteen tracks on the album. It is also important to make sure that everyone involved in the songs gets paid correctly. Splitting the copyrights properly between the parties is a timely process and took about a month to complete.

While this is going on, it is important to keep the groups in the public eye. I helped find venues for other live events for both Tiffany and Will Brown & Another Level. They were also asked to sing with other artists in the area. I assisted in the review and approval of the live contracts for these events. I also made sure that they had transportation to the concerts to ensure they arrived on time.

During the recording process I learned the importance of different types of engineers for the studio. There is a tracking engineer who handles the basic music for the track and then you have a recording engineer who makes sure that the sound is correct when recording the vocal parts of the song. It is also important to have the proper producer with the correct engineer. I researched the mastering engineer for Will Brown’s project since it is in the final stages of creation. This person will finalize and polish the product for distribution and duplication to the masses. Below there is a clip of a studio session going over the little things that can come up in song when reviewing for final mastering.

Over these last twelve months I have learned so much about the recording process and how much work it takes to put out an album. I will continue to work with Harambee Records because even though it’s a lot of work, the fun is seeing the final product. I haven’t see a final product yet so I want to stick around for that.