Search Results for: salsa
Manny Mieles Singer, Musician, Arranger and Producer
By: Diana Marie (ISM Correspondent in Miami)
From his own recording studio located in New York, the talented Manny Mieles has been providing good music to an extensive fan base around the night within their respective cities and alternating with big ones within the tropical market.
Born in New York City to Puerto Rican parents, Manuel “Manny” Mieles began his career as a pianist at the age of 15.
In 1983, he joined the Orquesta Generación and remained with it for four years. In 1987, he joined the Orquesta Herencia Latina as a lead singer. That same year he recorded his first musical production with Conjunto Imagen entitled “Algo Nuevo” since then Manny Mieles has become a sensation in the salsa genre.
Years later, he collaborated as lead singer with Johnny Ray “Salsa con Clase”, his performance within the salsa market has given him the privilege of sharing on the stage and being part of the musical repertoire of great artists and salsa legends such as; Marvin Santiago, Ismael Miranda, Richie Ray and Bobby Cruz (Carnegie Hall. NY), Hector Tricoche and Lalo Rodriguez among others.
And in other occasions, he has participated in tours of artists like Frankie Negrón, Nino Segarra, Anthony Cruz, Roberto Blades, Viti Ruiz, Paquito Guzmán, Michael Stuart, and artists of the LP signature. All-Stars.
Manny Mieles participated in 2005 in the song recorded by the great singer Ray Villegas titled “Puerto Rico” which has become an anthem for the inhabitants of the island of enchantment and the entire world; and which is heard as a voice of encouragement for all Puerto Ricans not to let themselves be defeated by difficult moments that are happening in the present.
His dedication and professionalism have led him to participate in various festivals within AND outside of New York City, recreational parks, beaches and private events, such as “The 116th Street Festival”, “South Street Seaport” “The National Puerto Rican Day Parade”, “NBC Stage”, “Univision” and “Telemundo”, among others.
He also worked with Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez in the film “El Cantante The Story”, based on the life of the legendary “Cantante de los Cantantes”, Hector Lavoe. In his spare time Manny Mieles is a producer, composer, sound engineer and chorus player.
In 2006 he produced and recorded the production “Paso de Gigante” of the conguero “Pequeño Johnny” and his own production “Sabrosexy Plin”, where the song “Llego el Amor” stands out.
At present Manny Mieles is part of the presentations of the artists of the new movement of the Dominican salsa within the United States, such as Yiyo Sarante, Michell, Alex Matos, Asdrubal, David Kada and Sexappeal, among others.
In July 2015 the new production Manny Mieles mi princesa was released with the first song that was titled.
INFIEL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53T5PGw-R1I+
A mix of Bachata recorded by Karlos Rose, the arrangements were made by Carli Maldonado, percussionist who accompanies artists such as Tony Vega, Victor Manuel, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Tito Nieves and others. At present this song is being played a lot in the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Peru and Mexico. The song has had the privilege of being selected for broadcast by Salsa RD of La Republica Domicana and has been heard extensively on Fuego 90. A few months later I continued working and had the opportunity to listen to a song entitled
I BELIEVE IN YOU
The song that the group Riek recorded is a mix of Balada, which touched my heart when I listened to it and I could identify with it. It was arranged by J.R. Rivera, a young man who in spite of his youth is gaining popularity and many singers with recognition have noticed something different in his arrangements because of the unique and peculiar way that his style has. Continue working and the theme that followed and recorded was
DIGITALISE
Theme recorded by Master David Bisbal, Spanish singer recognized nationally and internationally. When I heard the song I immediately identified with it and it touched my heart, without wasting time I contacted J.R Rivera who was the one who made all the musical arrangements to turn it into a Romantic Salsa.
At this moment Dígale is occupying the first places in Canada, Toronto, Venezuela, Puerto Rico and New York by the radio station Tropicalísima located in Mexico.
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Hector “Bomberito” Zarzuela Quality and Tuning in the Fania All-Star Machinery
Hector “Bomberito” Zarzuela, Instrumentalist, excellent sound, tuning and world-class reader.
Héctor Zarzuela, known in the entertainment world as ‘Bomberito’, passed away last Thursday, January 7 at the age of 84 in New Jersey, USA.
Born June 3 in the city of Moca, Dominican Republic, where he began his musical studies, played with several local groups and then moved to the capital city in which he played with
different orchestras. Then in the early 60’s, he decided to emigrate to New York City.
Shortly after arriving in New York, he entered the world of salsa and began working with local orchestras, and later with those that made up the famous Fania All-Star in which he remained for many years.
The former member of the band Estrellas de la Fania, was one of the most important personalities of salsa thanks to his great talent and participation with renowned groups and artists of the salsa world, among them the Fania All-Stars (1971-1976 / 1979-1988 / 1994), Cheo Feliciano (1973 / 1977 / 1993), Ismael Rivera y sus Cachimbos (1975-1978), Héctor Lavoe (1975 / 1981) and Ray Barretto (1979 / 1987-1990).
He worked with fellow trumpeter Luis “Perico” Ortiz for many years, being an extraordinary quality and tuning session and responsible for innumerable hits of different singers.
The name Hector Zarzuela earned a lot of respect for his beautiful songs as an instrumentalist, excellent sound, tuning and world-class reader.
His list of artists with whom he recorded is enormous, here are some of them: Pete Conde, Johnny Pacheco, Héctor Lavoe, El Canario, Ismael Miranda, Ismael Rivera, Tony Vega, Celia Cruz, Grupo Niche, Victor Manuel, among others.
In 1980, he recorded a production entitled “Merengues con Caché” with an orchestra which he has created. Around this time, he was also in the group “Africando“.
He traveled from Latin America to Africa, Japan, and Australia with all these artists, collected legions of fans, and set a great example to follow.
He also dabbled with some merengue groups, especially The New York Band, La Gran Manzana, etc. His career in merengue groups is not extensive, after all he has lived in New York City for many years, making him a living example of Constancy and Determination.
Lovingly called Bomberito, we know nothing about the reasons for this nickname, but he is highly known this way.
Zarzuela was a well-mannered, quiet temperament, respecful person when relating with others, and very responsible person in carrying out his work.
Man with a noteworthy trajectory in growing quality and respect by becoming one of the great figures abroad of our musicians.
Héctor Zarzuela deserves a predominant role in the pages of our history.
He was one of the greatest trumpeters of all time, always being the first trumpet in the ensembles.
He belongs to the highest elite group of musicians of the same instrument. The maestros Luis “Perico” Ortiz, Elias Lopes, Kito Velez, Orlando Pabellon, Rafael Labasta, Alfredo “Chocolate” Armenteros, Puchi Bulong and other great figures that make up the trumpet legends of the trumpet in salsa.
Trumpet
The trumpet is a wind instrument, which belongs to the family of brass instruments and is made of metal alloy.
The sound is produced by the vibration of lips on the part called mouthpiece from the air column (air flow).
Commonly, it is usually tuned in 9′ B ♭, that is to say, one tone below the tuning written on the staff, although there are also trumpets tuned in F, C, A and E, – flat-.
The musician who plays the trumpet is known as trumpet player or trumpeter.
Mechanism
The trumpet is made of brass tube doubled in a spiral of about 180 cm long, has several valves or pistons, and ends with a bellmouth weir, which receives the name of bell or pavilion.
The first two thirds of the tube are practically cylindrical, which gives it a loud and bright sound, whereas the cornet and the flugelhorn, which have a conical tube and produce a softer tone.
The remaining third is a conical tube, except in the last 30 cm, where the tube is widened to form the bellmouth weir.
The caliber is a complex series of turns that besome smaller in the mouthpiece receiver and larger just before the start of the bell. Careful design of these turns is critical to the intonation of the trumpet.
ISM April 2021
Understanding the music business
By: Eduardo Guilarte.
Why are so many artists broke
The mystifying extravagant language of music disseminates passions in a land the written word has never known. Music fulfills two major human needs, the need for self-identity, and to be accepted, to belong. Freud- “adopting the model of another is the psychological process of Self-Identity”. That T-shirt with “Rolling Stones,” is broadcasting “these are my values” does anyone out there feel the same?
Music identifies and defines our values. When music is sold, there’s a lot more being sold. Your values are what is sold. Your musical selection makes you predictable. Madison Avenue advertising was excited, with needs there are opportunities. Not much different than “sex sells.” Well, music sells.
The merchants learned the art & science of anchoring. Take the Pepsi / Michael Jackson commercial. Story says, that Pepsi offered Michael $15 million dollars for a commercial. However, Michael set conditions. He refused to tell people to drink Pepsi, wouldn’t hold the product in his hands, the product could not appear in the same frame as Michael. Pepsi agreed to all the conditions. Michael appeared performing, followed by series of fade in and out. Michael never appeared in the same frame with Pepsi. The commercial was a resounding success, shot with Michael Jackson performing, then a series of fades-in/out.
Technology is changing music
Technology is constantly changing industry and the world. Look at taxis. A New York taxi medallion was selling for $250,00 to $500,000, then Uber happened. An application with a better formula. Uber gave better security, women could work as drivers, no exchange of money, work the hours you choose, response time greatly reduced, and a great contributor to the reduction of unemployment.
Another example of technology at work are applications like Shazam, Sound hound, Hound, Spot search. You hear a song playing and you want to know the name and artists. Apart from giving you the information for free, what it is really doing is gathering data for the industry. These apps are really telling the industry who and what is popular with the people. It’s a guide to very current trends.
The dot com era revolutionized the music industry. In 1999, Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker, developed MP3 file sharing. Napster, with 80 million users taught a new way of consuming music. Universal, Warner and Sony who control 80% of western music were furious. Lawsuits were filed, arguing copyright infringement and pirating. Although a 9th circuit Federal judge blocked Napster, the door was now open. Through that door entered Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, Deezer, You Tube Music, Pandora, Google Music and others with music streaming services.
There has always been a music industry. The 20th century invention of the radio, television and record player redefined the industry. Those inventions became the start of what we call today the music industry. A multi-billion-dollar industry. Commercializing music is very different from being a minstrel. Two very different animals.
The world’s leading contemporary music institution, recommends that if you want to go into the music business, you take a year off and study the “business.” ICE, Institute for Creative Entrepreneurship at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA, offers online or on campus programs to learn the business. Berklee College phone +1617 266-1400.
It’s an understatement when they say that “how the music industry works and how the money is distributed, is very hard to understand.” Publications on the subject are:
- All you need to know about the Music Business by Donald S Passman, top music attorney Harvard Law. Reputed to know his business but he doesn’t go into music streaming which is what happens now.
- Music Money and Success by Jeffrey Brabec & Todd Brabec, twins, tracs the flow of money, using real examples. Not an easy read but it goes in depth. Todd was executive VP for ASCAP for more than 30 years
- Artist Management for the music business by Paul Allen, as the importance of labels diminishes, the manager’s role is more important.
- Hit Men: Power Brokers and Fast Money Inside the Music Business by Fredaic Dannen, it has become the unofficial history of the pop music business. Journalist who investigated the behind-the-scenes activity of the major labels in the 70’s and 80’s. Reporting excess, greed, ruthless practices, struggle for money and power and bitter rivalries between biggest labels at the height of the industry. However, he is heavily criticked by former CBS head Walter Yetnikoff.
The first order of business is understanding the elements that go into making a song. Author of the lyrics, composer of the music. A trademark is not a copyright. Examples of what you can copyright are novels, poems, photographs, movies, lyrics to a song, musical compositions in the form of sheet music, sound recordings, paintings and more, like software code for a website or code for an application.
Once the work is created you acquire rights, often referred to as the bundle of rights. They are the right to:
- To reproduce including phonorecords, physical or digital format
- Prepare derivative works based on the original
- Distribute and sell copies of the work, or rent, lease or transfer ownership.
- To perform the work
- To display
- Audio transmission publicly or digital
These rights are yours regardless of filing a copyright. However, you should copyright the song. 17 U.S. Code §106 is where you will find the copyright law that talks about the bundle of rights that the bill gives to copyright owners. At www.Copyright.gov you can create an online account and register your song. A publisher promotes the song, gets it added to musical libraries, pitches it film, radio, television, etc.
Anyone who uses your work, including streaming, must pay mechanical royalties. So, who will collect the royalties for you? Performance Rights Organizations/Societies are tasked with getting you your money. ASCAP, BMI, PRS, SOUND EXCHANGE, Descarga.com, Kobalt Music are some of the PRO’s.
In the United States the government has predetermined mechanically the royalties. Any artist can record your song under the law of “compulsory licenses.” They must put the author on notice of intent and pay the royalties. As an example Simon Diaz wrote and composed “Caballo Viejo.” Many artists recorded their own versions, like Roberto Torres, Celia Cruz, Ray Conniff, Ruben Blades, and Placido Domingo. Simon Diaz
The power of the major labels usually dictated who became a star and who got sent home. Not always though, we hear that Shakira auditioned for Sony and was told to go home, that she didn’t know how to sing. They also passed on “The Beatles” losing an incredible fortune. It was common for artists to throw themselves at the feet of the labels signing predatory contracts.
We hear of advance money being paid if the artist signed. These were contracts that indicated 15% of the record sales to the artist and the other 85% to the label. However, the contracts had clauses in which the artist sold the ownership copyrights, and agreed to pay many costs, which resulted in the 15% being reduced beyond zero, resulting in an artist in debt.
Historically Major Labels have had the funds to commercialize new talent and pay advances. Yet, technology is again making changes and opening new doors to the artists. Artists are using Social Media to create a following for their music. Kobalt is the world’s leading independent music services company. Founded by Swedish musician Willard Ahdritz, Founder & CEO who says that old model is on the way out. Kobalt was ahead with its technology. In 2017 it reported representing over 25,000 songwriters, 600 publishers, and 20,000 independent artists. On average over 40% of the top 100 songs both in US and UK. Kobalt’s global technology platform is uniquely able to track and collect royalties for the billions of micro-payments per song in digital music today [email protected]