Bob Ballard Music

I couldn't let any more time pass without at least checking in here and saying hello. I have been focusing on recording my music in the studio and am producing music that meets my professional standards. I have also found a great mastering engineer that I am working with and I think you will hear the difference in quality that his mastering makes.

I promote my music on my Face Book page because I have a good sized, 400+ fan base there. I released "Night Came Down" a couple of weeks ago and will be releasing three more new songs over the next few weeks. I add all of my new music to this web site as soon as it is released. My songs are uploaded and distributed on all major streaming and download services like Spotify, iTunes, Apple Music, Amazon, etc.

In addition to my songs, I write a lot of instrumental music. Tonight, I uploaded an awesome and very unusual instrumental, "Midnight Ride," It is written in 7/4 time and took me awhile to figure that out. I didn't start off to create music in an odd time signature, but after I worked with it, I realized that is where it fit. And it works! I pitch this music to the film and TV industry folks in hopes of getting it licensed in a production. I'm still getting royalties from a couple of placements I made years ago, so I must be doing something right.

Since all live music venues have been closed for quite some time here in my area of S. California, I haven't had a chance to perform live. Nothing else is like performing for a live audience and I miss doing it greatly. However, I have been doing some Facebook Live broadcasts and plan to do more. These are broadcast from my Bob Ballard Music page on Facebook. If you are interested, there are several video performances posted there as well as some from my past gigs.

Like many, I have feeling blessed that this very hard year of 2020 is coming to an end. I have been hunkered down for months now and so far have avoided getting the virus. I hope that you all stay safe too. Let's hope and pray for a better year, a year filled with love and respect for each other.

Peace & Love to All.

It has been a long time coming for sure. I wrote "Night Came Down" almost two years ago but have been working on getting it recorded and produced at a professional level of quality. I am finally there! At least that is what people have said who helped me vet this track, etc.

One reason why it took so long is that I am still learning. Yes. Even after twenty years in the studio, there was a lot I didn't know. In addition, the audio technology keeps changing and improving, so it can be hard to keep up with it. Also, as the technology changes, the recording and producing techniques I learned become obsolete. So it has been a struggle. It is tough to record and produce a song while simultaneously learning new software and production techniques. But what else is new, seems like I have always been learning that way, LOL!.

In any event, I hope you like "Night Came Down" and will listen to it and download the track. I'd love to hear what you think of it as well. Starting now, I am going to be communicating with you much more. I want to get to know you and hope you feel the same.

Back to the studio!

Hi all!

Sorry I have been neglecting to post here. I have been so busy in the studio creating music, I hardly emerge at all. LOL!

I have been honing my music production skills for the last 18 months, working with a great instructor from South Africa. Reaching commercial production quality has been my challenge for a quite a few years now. I finally got tired of hearing how great my music is, but sorry, can't use it in production. I am determined to eliminate that criticism and I have finally succeeded. Doesn't mean everything I do is great, but at least it of sufficient quality to be considered commercial quality.

I know this because of the feedback I have been getting from real Hollywood music supervisors and other professionals. I have been learning how to prepare and pitch my music to real people in the business and am now in a position to really get my music out to people who make music buying decisions for TV shows, major films and other outlets. Hoping to get a placement soon.

So between the production quality upgrade and my new connections in the business, I have been really busy producing music in the studio. Part of the production quality upgrade has been my equipment. I recently upgraded my audio interface, monitors, software, computer and microphones. I have a final software glitch to resolve, then I will be recording vocals and acoustic guitar via high end microphones and pre-amps. I am sure everyone will notice the difference.

I just posted a new instrumental, "Blast Off", which you can hear on my Instrumental page of this web site. If you compare it to the production quality of my older stuff (at the bottom of the page), you will see what I mean. Soon, you won't be able to do that comparison because the old, not-quite-there material will retired.

I am also performing live at local venues like the Joshua Tree Saloon, so rehearsals are an important part of my studio time too. Keep an eye on my event postings to see where I will be performing next. I am also planning to launch some live mini-concerts direct from my studio via Facebook Live. Stay tuned for updates on these.

Anyway, back to work for me. Thanks for hanging out here with me.

Take care!

Bob

Wow! I just received a wonderful acknowledgement letter from Campus Movie Fest thanking me for the all the music I donated to student filmmakers. My music has appeared in hundreds of student films over the years. I am very happy to have helped so many budding filmmakers find their groove. I continue to provide new music to filmmakers and other industry folk and look forward to supporting some great new projects. Check out my Songs and Instrumentals on this site for more.

Happy New Year!

So far, the new year is off to a great start. The latest...

Gigs

Just before Christmas, I performed at my favorite venue ever, the Joshua Tree Saloon. This is a one of a kind place and I treated it as such. From what I heard, I delivered a great performance. The crowd was awesome and so was the food. I love playing at places that feed me. I work up quite an appetite when I am on stage. I can't eat anything before I perform, but I make up for it afterward. They want me back, so I expect to be performing there again soon. Watch my Shows page for upcoming gigs. I'd love to see you there. Check out the videos on my Video page!

Studio

I am working hard to improve the quality of my recordings. Although I have been working at audio engineering for almost two decades now, it is apparent that I either missed or forgot a lot of stuff along the way. I have been studying with David Campos, an award-winning producer and engineer, for several months now, and I have really learned a lot. David has an amazing online presence with tons of videos that covers every aspect of music production from composition, to studio builds to mixing, master and lots more. He has been a godsend to me. If you listen to some of the music I have redone, like Retrospective or Silence, you will hear the difference compared to other music on my site. I am excited about taking my music to the next level!

Synch Licensing

I have been working for years to get my music placed in TV and film but have had limited success. Even when film folk like my music, they don't use it because they say the recordings are not high enough quality to drop into a production as is. To deal with that, I am working hard on my musical production chops as I mentioned above. I am also working with a music industry consultant from LA who is teaching me and my fellow students how to properly prepare and submit music to film and TV music supervisors and others who are responsible for finding music for the projects they are working on.. I am learning a lot about the film/TV music industry and getting an insider's view on how to get music licensed. This is a real hands on course and I am excited about all the opportunities it presents. It is a year long program, so I have a ways to go, but already I am learning to better focus my music and improve its marketability.

Well, that is about it for now. Just working hard trying to make it happen. Thanks for being here. I hope you enjoy the music!

Wow, it has been over a year since I posted on this blog. I hope no one has been waiting on me. LOL! So much has happened musically and otherwise in my life, that it is hard to write about it all. Actually, I do write about it a lot on Facebook and but not here. I guess I think of this page as my official music site, so I only post gigs and my music.

The Thomas Fire last December brought about some major changes in my life. I moved back to the Coachella Valley after the fire as we weren't able to live in our old place anymore. But we landed in a fabulous spot here in the desert and I am loving it here. I wrote a song about my experience of the fire and will releasing it this Fall.

Studio Upgrades

I have been slowly building my home project studio over the last few years. Lately, I have made some important additions to the studio including a set of Yamaha reference monitors, a Fender Super Sonic amp, a Zoom effects pedal and a new gig chair. Last week, I found my dream production computer, a MacBook Pro loaded with tons of audio production software. I am very excited about finally having the ability to raise the production quality of my music. It wasn't bad before but music buyers, production companies and others have told me that my music wasn't quite at the commercial quality level they need. They really liked the music just couldn't use most of it as is. With the new computer and incredible software, you will be hearing a new level of production quality soon (once I figure out how to use all this stuff).

Performances

I am excited about the opportunity to perform again in the Coachella Valley. There are some great venues here. My first performance here is coming up Sept. 28 at the End of Summer Bash '18. There will be wide variety of music and other performances, including Reggae, Rock, Hip Hop, Acoustic, Spoken Word, and more. I hope this will serve as a spring board to more gigs in the area.

Licensing

One of my instrumentals, "Surf's Up," is under consideration for use in a major ad campaign. This piece is one of my most successful; it has been used in a Kardashian show, a film and a cable TV show. With the new production capabilities I now have in the studio, I am expecting a lot more licensing success in the future.

Stay tuned!
 

Wow! I can't believe its been weeks since I last posted here! Some good things have transpired in the meantime though.

I started recording my live performances at the 29 Palms Inn a few weeks ago. Now that I am using a great Bose PA system and have learned to use my loop pedal really well, some amazing things are happening. When I played back these live recordings they sounded awesome. So much so, I have decided to compile the best recordings into a new Live CD! Yes!

I am working on editing and compiling the songs now and should have it ready in a few weeks. Not sure what to call it, except good! I think most everyone will be pretty amazed. I know I am.