Jodi Krangle

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Nick Morrison

Making Music Fun: An Interview with Nick Morrison – Part 2

June 15, 2022 by Jodi Krangle

“People don’t forget that stuff. They remember people that blow their minds. They won’t necessarily remember the music, people won’t remember the thing that you did, but they’ll remember the way that you made them feel, whether that’s by your actions or by the actual emotion that you’ve imparted to them via your music, or your sound, or whatever it happens to be.” — Nick Morrison

 

This episode’s the second half of my interview with bestselling author, professional musician, teacher, session artist, and composer Nick Morrison, as we talk about the process of turning imagery and emotion into sound, the importance of networking and building relationships, and about the most valuable advice he has to offer about navigating a freelance career in the digital age.

As always, if you have any questions for my guest, you’re welcome to reach out through the links in the show notes.  If you have questions for me, just visit www.audiobrandingpodcast.com where you’ll find all sorts of ways to get in touch. Plus, subscribing to the newsletter (on the www.audiobrandingpodcast.com webpage) will let you know when the new podcasts are available.

 

Making it More Purple

As the second half begins, Nick and I talk about some of his memorable experiences with building an audio brand, including one particularly tricky suggestion. “His last note,” Nick recalls, “and this drove me crazy, was ‘can you make it sound more purple?” He reveals the answer to that mysterious request and we discuss a study, linked below, that showed how it’s audio, not video, that plays the biggest role in making or breaking a viewer’s experience. “Once you get better,” he explains as we talk about advances in audio technology, “you can’t go back with audio. There’s something in the human ear that, if you hear poor quality audio, it immediately turns off your brain and you stop listening.”

 

Always Say Yes

We also look at the role networking and building a positive reputation in the industry can play, and how online resources such as Taxi.com can help. “Places like that can get you a lot further, faster,” he says, “than just trying to put your stuff on one of the numerous websites that are just a repository of the world’s garbage. And that sounds harsh, but it’s like a needle in a haystack.” He also tells us his approach to forging lasting relationships with clients who are just starting out. “If I have a job offer or an opportunity that comes up, as long as it doesn’t hurt me financially or embarrass myself or my family in some way, shape, or form, I will say yes. Say yes to as much as you can.”

 

The World at Our Fingertips

Nick also offers advice on navigating the financial aspects of freelance audio based on his own experiences as a musician, and we talk about his bestselling, and unorthodox, instructional books on playing the guitar. “One of the biggest problems that I find,” he explains, “is that music is taught the same way as it was written down in the late 1700s.” Our interview concludes with Nick’s advice to anyone who’s looking to follow their dreams and make a living online. “We’ve got the internet and the world at our fingertips. There is no need to box yourself in and say ‘I am only this.’”

 

Episode Summary

  • The importance of sound in building a mood and creating a positive impression
  • Meeting the challenge of online networking and building client relationships
  • Financial tips about audio revenue and royalty income
  • How Nick’s working to bring music training into the 21st century

 

Connect with the Guest

Nick’s Morrison Media Website: https://morrisonmediagroup.com/
Nick’s Guitar Dojo Website along with a free copy of Nick’s book Essential Chords and Scales for Guitar for new email list subscribers: https://guitardojo.ca/
Follow Nick Morrison on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/theguitardojo/
Connect with Nick Morrison on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jnmorrison/
Follow Nick Morrison on Twitter: https://twitter.com/samuraifingers/
Subscribe to Nick Morrison on YouTube: https://www.facebook.com/groups/theguitardojo
Nick’s book Guitar Fretboard Memory Magic: Painlessly Memorize All the Notes on Your Neck Forever for Instant Recall: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08T43569M/
Nick’s book Basic Music Theory for Guitarists: The Plain English Guide for Beginner to Intermediate Guitar Players: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09BGN8Z4S/
Audio Engineering Society’s study “The Influence of Video Quality on Perceived Audio Quality and Vice Versa” (the study itself is behind a paywall, but the abstract can be read for free): https://www.researchgate.net/publication/243786211_The_influence_of_video_quality_on_perceived_audio_quality_and_vice_versa/

Stay tuned next week for the second half of the interview as we discuss a surprising study about how much of a difference sound makes, advice on everything from building a professional network to borrowing against royalties, and some of Nick’s latest books and upcoming projects.

Get your complimentary mini e-book and learn how to create your personalized and branded audio branding strategy with my Top Five Tips for Implementing an Intentional Audio Strategy.

Do you need a voice talent for your next project? Visit my voice-over website to find out more about how my voice can help you with your audio brand.  You can also subscribe to the Audio Branding Podcast on YouTube to watch the show’s latest episodes.

Please leave the Audio Branding Podcast a written review or a spoken review so others can find the show on their favorite podcast player!

This interview episode was very skillfully made to sound beautiful by the talented Humberto Franco.

Filed Under: Music Tagged With: audio branding, Custom Music, Guitar Dojo, Guitar Learning, Licensed Music, Morrison Media, Music Theory, New Media, Nick Morrison, podcasting, Samurai Fingers, social media, sound design, Video Game Music

Making Music Fun: An Interview with Nick Morrison – Part 1

June 8, 2022 by Jodi Krangle

“One of my Berklee professors, one of my favorite things that has stayed with me from my time there, said ‘you know, Nick, a bad day playing music is still better than a good day doing just about anything else.'” — Nick Morrison

 

This episode’s guest is an Amazon #1 bestselling author and a professional musician, composer, teacher, voice actor, YouTube creator, actor, and a music and media consultant from Calgary Alberta. He’s toured throughout the United States, Canada, and Japan as a guitarist, worked as a session musician, and as a writer and composer for Warner Bros, Universal Studios, Sony, MTV, ABC, NBC, HGTV, and HBO, among others. He was educated at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, where he studied guitar performance and music business management.

In 2021 he began writing guitar instructional books and continues to bring his love of the instrument to as many people around the world as possible. His name is Nick Morrison, and our discussion runs the gamut from music, to sound design, to audio branding and everything in between.

As always, if you have any questions for my guest, you’re welcome to reach out through the links in the show notes.  If you have questions for me, just visit www.audiobrandingpodcast.com where you’ll find all sorts of ways to get in touch. Plus, subscribing to the newsletter (on the www.audiobrandingpodcast.com webpage) will let you know when the new podcasts are available.

 

Getting into Sound

We start things off with a look back at Nick’s earliest impressions of sound, and he tells us about his mother’s lifelong love of music and his happy memories of growing up in a musical family. He talks about the surprising influence the original Super Mario Bros. had on his lifelong career and how it inspired him from an early age to devote himself to music. “It was at that point that I really decided,” he tells us, “that I was like ‘I’m going to do something with music.’ I didn’t have the vocabulary then to know specifically what I wanted to do, but I knew that I wanted to get into sound.”

 

The Cat and the Piano

“A cat can jump on a piano,” Nick jokes as we talk about his early music lessons, from the violin to the piano to his first guitar, “and it’ll sound good.” He tells us about the unique musical challenges and rewards that each instrument offers and how he’s come to embrace his role as a teacher and focuses now on helping people who might be returning to their love of music after a long career elsewhere. “What can I give to those students,” he says, describing his approach to teaching new musicians, “that in those fifteen minutes they can get the most out of the time they have with their instrument as possible?”

 

Making Music Online

We also take a look at remote learning, online groups, and how our post-COVID shift to virtual lessons and meetings has changed the musical landscape. “I can’t think of a single industry,” Nick says, “that doesn’t have at least some computer animation or computer modeling or computer monitoring or computer connectivity to keep us in touch and to help us with our jobs.” He gives us a few examples, such as how his Guitar Dojo Facebook group works to make learning about music fun for its members and listeners alike. “My mission statement,” as he puts it, “is to make music fun again.”

 

With Music and Sound

The conversation turns to some of the old computers we grew up with, and how MIDI controllers and digital sampling have transformed the creative process. We talk about some of the television and advertising themes he most admires, and about how licensed compositions compare to life on the musical road. “I’d rather be playing guitar,” he says, “writing music, talking about guitar, teaching guitar, composing music… something to do with music and sound and the thing that I love.”

 

Episode Summary

  • Nick’s memories of sound and experiences with video game music
  • How different instruments can result in different creative approaches
  • Nick’s focus as a guitar instructor on helping students reconnect to music
  • Teaching and performing music in the age of virtual learning
  • The blurry lines between modern commercial and creative music

Connect with the Guest

Nick’s Morrison Media Website: https://morrisonmediagroup.com/
Nick’s Guitar Dojo Website along with a free copy of Nick’s book Essential Chords and Scales for Guitar for new email list subscribers: https://guitardojo.ca/
Follow Nick Morrison on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/theguitardojo/
Connect with Nick Morrison on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jnmorrison/
Follow Nick Morrison on Twitter: https://twitter.com/samuraifingers/
Subscribe to Nick Morrison on YouTube: https://www.facebook.com/groups/theguitardojo
Nick’s book Guitar Fretboard Memory Magic: Painlessly Memorize All the Notes on Your Neck Forever for Instant Recall: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08T43569M/
Nick’s book Basic Music Theory for Guitarists: The Plain English Guide for Beginner to Intermediate Guitar Players: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09BGN8Z4S/

Stay tuned next week for the second half of the interview as we discuss a surprising study about how much of a difference sound makes, advice on everything from building a professional network to borrowing against royalties, and some of Nick’s latest books and upcoming projects.

Get your complimentary mini e-book and learn how to create your personalized and branded audio branding strategy with my Top Five Tips for Implementing an Intentional Audio Strategy.

Do you need a voice talent for your next project? Visit my voice-over website to find out more about how my voice can help you with your audio brand.  You can also subscribe to the Audio Branding Podcast on YouTube to watch the show’s latest episodes.

Please leave the Audio Branding Podcast a written review or a spoken review so others can find the show on their favorite podcast player!

This interview episode was very skillfully made to sound beautiful by the talented Humberto Franco.

Filed Under: Music Tagged With: audio branding, Custom Music, Guitar Dojo, Guitar Learning, Licensed Music, Morrison Media, Music Theory, New Media, Nick Morrison, podcasting, Samurai Fingers, social media, sound design, Video Game Music

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