Making a Scene Presents

Making a Scene Presents Gerry Casey's Interview with Tola Lamont and Kurt Michael of Coastland Fair Blending coastal soul with Americana grit, Coastland Fair is the creative union of Tola Lamont and Kurt Michael — two artists whose musical chemistry feels as timeless as the tide. Based on a shared love for organic songwriting and heartfelt storytelling, the duo crafts songs that blur the lines between folk, roots rock, and modern indie pop, wrapped in harmonies that shimmer like sunlight on open water. http://www.makingascene.org

Making a Scene Presents - Mid/Side Processing in Mixing: The Secret to Width, Clarity, and Control Have you ever listened to a pro mix and thought, “Why does this sound so wide and full, but everything still feels perfectly in place?” That’s not just good EQ or compression — chances are, the engineer used a little Mid/Side processing to get that balance between focus and space. Mid/Side, or M/S, is one of those behind-the-scenes techniques that can take your mixes from sounding flat and two-dimensional to open, clear, and three-dimensional. Once you understand what it does and how to use it properly, it becomes one of the most powerful tools in your mixing toolbox. http://www.makingascene.org

Making a Scene Presents an Interview with Billy Branch! Billy Branch is one of the most respected and influential harmonica players of his generation — a true ambassador of Chicago Blues. Discovered by the legendary Willie Dixon, often called the “father of modern Chicago Blues,” Branch was still in college when Dixon took him under his wing. Dixon urged him to complete his degree, which he did, earning a political science degree before joining Willie Dixon’s Chicago All-Stars. http://www.makingascene.org

Making a Scene Presents - AI for Session Musicianship: Tightening, Not Replacing There’s this fear floating around studios lately — that artificial intelligence is coming to take the jobs of session musicians, singers, producers, even mixing engineers. The truth? AI isn’t here to replace you. It’s here to help you sound tighter, cleaner, and more confident in the studio. It’s a tool, not a takeover. http://www.makingascene.org

Making a Scene Presents - Neutron 5: A Deep Dive Review For Real-World Mixing If you make music at home or in a small studio, you already know the hardest part usually isn’t the songwriting. It’s the mix. Tracks pile up. Levels fight. Vocals hide behind guitars. Drums either feel weak or way too loud. That’s where iZotope’s Neutron 5 steps in. Think of it like a modern, all-in-one mixing toolkit that combines powerful modules with smart, AI-assisted workflows. You can drop it on individual tracks, stack the modules you need in any order, and even let it listen to your song so it can give you an honest first pass at balance and tone. You still make the creative calls, but it gets you to a clean starting point fast. http://www.makingascene.org

Audius Introduces Artist Coins! Think of an Artist Coin like a digital fan-club pass. You make a coin under your artist name on Audius. Fans can buy it inside Audius. Holding your coin gets them into your inner circle: early listens, coin-only posts, private chats, special drops, and whatever else you decide to offer. It’s all built into the same Audius site where your music lives, so fans don’t have to learn a bunch of new tools. On day one, Audius already lets you gate music for coin holders and send message blasts to those holders, which makes the coin useful immediately—not some “maybe later” promise. http://www.makingascene.org

Making a Scene Presents - Mix Clarity: The Truth About Masking (And How to Fix It) by a recording engineer who’s spent way too many nights chasing clarity in crowded mixes There’s a moment every indie artist hits when a mix sounds almost perfect… but something feels wrong. The vocals are there, the bass is there, the guitars are crunchy, the kick is thumping — yet somehow, it all sounds like a muddy soup instead of a clear, powerful record. You might try turning things up, EQing harder, or adding compression, but nothing seems to fix it. That’s not a “bad mix.” That’s masking — one of the most misunderstood problems in music production. http://www.makingascene.org

Making a Scene Presents - Know Your Fans: How AI Analytics Shows You Who to Market To (and How) Picture this. You’ve just dropped your new single. You check your stats on Spotify, maybe glance at YouTube views, and you’re left wondering—Who’s actually listening to my stuff? Are they in your hometown? Across the country? Maybe on the other side of the world? Most indie musicians have asked these questions at some point. The thing is, guessing who your fans are is kind of like throwing darts blindfolded. You might hit something now and then, but you’re mostly just hoping for the best. That’s where AI analytics comes in to lift the blindfold. http://www.makingascene.org

Making a Scene - Building Your Web3 Artist Brand: How to Present Yourself as a Forward-Thinking Musician If you’re an independent musician trying to stand out today, you’ve probably noticed that the music world is changing faster than ever. Between streaming algorithms, AI, and blockchain, it can feel like the ground keeps shifting under your feet. But here’s the thing—change isn’t the enemy. It’s the opportunity. http://www.makingascene.org

Making a Scene Presents an Interview with Jimi Primetime Smith Jimi “Primetime” Smith has lived and breathed the blues his entire life. A veteran guitarist and vocalist, he’s performed with legends like Otis Rush, Albert King, Albert Collins, and Etta James. Though his humble nature often keeps him under the radar, his recent surge of attention is making sure blues fans finally know his name. http://www.makingascene.org

Making a Scene Presents Gerry Casey's Interview with Preacher Stone Preacher Stone was born from guitarist Marty Hill’s vision of creating a world-class Southern rock band—one that carried the torch lit by legends like Lynyrd Skynyrd, Molly Hatchet, and The Allman Brothers, but with its own modern grit and swagger. Hill’s idea came to life when he teamed up with powerhouse vocalist Ronnie Riddle, whose raw, soulful delivery gave the songs their authentic Southern edge. http://www.makingascene.org

Making a Scene Presents an Interview with Kaitlin Cassady Kaitlin Cassady is an indie-folk-rock artist rooted in the vibrant Minneapolis, Minnesota music scene. Her sound blends the heartfelt storytelling of Aimee Mann and Carole King with the modern textures of Phoebe Bridgers, Norah Jones, Billie Eilish, and Kacey Musgraves—all tied together with a touch of Brian Wilson’s harmonic sophistication. The result is a rich and emotionally resonant style that explores love, grief, self-discovery, and mental health with unflinching honesty. http://www.makingascene.org

Making a Scene Presents Rethinking Crowdfunding for the Indie Musician in a Decentralized Music Industry Why rethink crowdfunding? Let’s begin with a simple question: when you ask fans for money to make an album or go on tour, is that “donation” or “investment”? Traditional tools treat it like donation: you promise perks (a signed CD, a shout-out, backstage passes). But the fan gives you money up front, hoping you deliver. That’s okay, but it doesn’t change the relationship: you’re asking, “Will you support me?” Web3 crowdfunding changes that. Instead of begging, you offer fans a stake in your project. They become partial owners (in a clearly defined way) of future revenue streams. They share upside with you. That is closer to how businesses raise investors. This flips the incentive: fans want your success, because they benefit when you succeed. http://www.makingascene.org

Making a Scene Presents - A Deep Dive Review of Sonible's Learn:Bundle What is the Sonible learn:bundle? First, what is this bundle anyway? Sonible’s learn:bundle is a set of five intelligent plug-ins meant to help with core mixing tasks. Those tasks are: Equalization (EQ) Compression Reverb Limiting Unmasking (i.e. helping reduce frequency clashes between tracks) Sonible describes them as “assistive AI plug-ins” that guide you while you mix. The idea is that instead of turning knobs blindly, you let the plug-ins analyze your audio and suggest where to cut, boost, compress, etc. Then you can accept, tweak, or override those suggestions. http://www.makingascene.org

Making a Scene Presents - AI-Generated Videos & Visuals: Turning Your Songs into Scroll-Stopping Content For decades, video production has been one of the biggest hurdles for independent artists. Cameras, crews, editors, colorists, and motion-graphics specialists were luxuries reserved for labels with budgets to burn. For indie musicians, even a simple music video often meant calling in favors, borrowing gear, and learning to edit on the fly. http://www.makingascene.org

Making a Scene Presents an Interview with Miss Emily Back in the 1990s, twelve-year-old Emily Fennell from Prince Edward County, Ontario was already turning heads at county fairs, winning one singing competition after another. While other contestants played it safe with songs like “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” or “I Will Always Love You,” Emily stopped audiences in their tracks with K.D. Lang’s haunting version of Patsy Cline’s “Three Cigarettes in an Ashtray.” That bold choice — and the spellbinding performance that came with it — said almost everything about the artist she would become. She had a voice that demanded attention, a fearless approach to music, and an instinct to take creative risks. http://www.makingascene.org

Making a Scene Presents - AI in Metadata & File Prep: Smarter Exports for Distribution What is metadata, and why should you care about it? Imagine this: you write a song, record it, and then send it out into the world. But who “owns” that song? Who wrote it? Who should get paid when people listen? How will streaming services or radio stations know which song it is, among millions of others? That’s where metadata comes in. Metadata is “data about data.” In music, metadata is all the information attached to a recording (or a track) that describes it: the song title, who the artist is, who wrote it, who owns it, when it was released, the track number on an album, and unique codes like an ISRC (International Standard Recording Code). Without good metadata, your track is like a book without a cover or title page—it’s hard to identify, harder to track, and easier to lose. http://www.makingascene.org

Making a Scene Presents - Reverb: The Secret Sauce of Space – History, Types, and How to Use It Like a Pro When you listen to your favorite song, there’s something that makes the sound feel alive — it breathes, it moves, it fills the air. That magical sense of space comes from one of the oldest and most loved tools in audio engineering: reverb. Whether it’s the dreamy echo behind a vocal, the lush wash on a guitar solo, or the big, booming snare sound of the ’80s, reverb shapes the emotional depth of music more than most people realize. But to really understand how to use it, you have to know where it came from — and how it evolved from the real world into digital code. http://www.makingascene.org

Making a Scene Presents Gerry Casey's Interview with BillyBoy Miskimmin BillyBoy Miskimmin first made his mark on the Northern Ireland music scene in the 1980s, stunning audiences with his emotional power and jaw-dropping harmonica technique. Performing alongside local legends such as Jim Daly, Jackie Flavelle, and Ronnie Greer, he earned a reputation as a fiery and soulful performer in pubs and clubs across the region. http://www.makingascene.org

Making a Scene Presents an Interview with "The Name Droppers" The Name Droppers are a powerhouse blues-rock band forged from the DNA of true road warriors and seasoned session pros. With decades of collective experience performing alongside some of the biggest names in rock and blues, this Connecticut-based group delivers a sound steeped in authenticity, groove, and soul. http://www.makingascene.org