Marketing Information

I've been researching marketing and social media information for a few days now.  Here are a few videos I've found.  I haven't watched them yet so hopefully they're useful!

This one is Introduction to Social Media (social media sites - how to)


 




This one is Social Media Marketing Training





We'll see how this goes.  If they're good, I'll post some more.

New Slideshow Video (Photo Montage) for my brother's 50th Birthday

This is a video I made for my brother for his 50th birthday (a few days late). For those of you that don't know my brother, he's a helicopter pilot so I tried to get creative and work this in as a theme. In the beginning section, I used a photograph of our childhood home as the background image. It has special meaning to all of us so I wanted to incorporate that as well. If you're wondering why I picked a goofy song like "Windy", it's because it was the only song my brother could play on the piano and every time he would walk past the piano, he would play that melody. Unfortunately, there was a shortage of pictures of Kermit from his teenage years (thank you Donna Taylor Petty for the Galveston picture! I remember having a blast on that trip!). If there HAD been pictures, I'm sure there would have been some of him racing motorcycles. That's the one big part of Kermit's life I wasn't able to incorporate into the video. I hope you enjoy watching it as much as I enjoyed making it. If I laugh, then cry, then smile at the end, I know I've finished. This was no exception!

New Website!

I finally have a website for my new business!  This is a temporary website (although the address won't change).  I want to design my own instead of using one of those prebuilt template types, but it's going to take a while before I get there.  In the meantime, please visit me at http://www.lalalandpresentations.com.

Lalaland Presentations

I finally got my business Facebook page setup and all my video samples uploaded.  The link is http://www.facebook.com/LalalandPresentations.  My next goal is to get my website setup and make a sampler video of my work.....that should be nice and challenging since I'm still learning how to work with video.

Darryl Grammer Graduation Video on Vimeo

Here's another slideshow video I made for my cousin Penni's son, Darryl, who just graduated from Crane High School. Most of these photos were taken by his mom (see her photography slideshow I made in a previous post) and a few were taken by his Aunt Donna. With each slideshow I make, I learn something new or come up with a new creative idea. With Darryl's slideshow (on his graduation photos), I did some cool editing using a new program that does special fx. Enjoy!

Darryl Grammer Graduation Video from Laura Upshaw on Vimeo.

Photography by Penni Fox Grammer

Here's another slideshow I put together of my cousin's photography. I love her photos and was inspired to make a slideshow. I used three songs from Michael Omartian's album, Conversations. It just seems like the perfect match for her photos. There are a variety of different types of photos.....some are of her kids, including her son's senior photos, and others are landscapes.

Slideshow for Colleen

For a few years now, I've wanted to start a little side business creating video slideshows to music. It all started with my 20 year high school reunion in 2006 when I taught myself PowerPoint and made a 20 minute slideshow with lots of great 80's music. It was a great success and I had a blast doing it. My grandmother turned 98 in February and I decided to make a slideshow for her which renewed my desire to start my own business. I decided I needed to volunteer to do a lot of free slideshows for different types of occasions in exchange for using it as a sample on my website (my future website is http://www.lalalandpresentations.com). A boy (well he's 27 now so I guess he's a man) that I used to babysit when I was in high school got married 3-27-10 and I just finished making a slideshow for he and his bride. It turned out really well. Next on my list was a slideshow for my niece who is graduating from high school on 6-5-10. Considering that Colleen has 300+ photos posted on her Facebook page, I feel pretty sure she's going to like the slideshow (it also made it a lot easier since all her photographs were already out on the web) since she loves pictures of herself with her friends. I've changed my process in how I design my slideshows and set them up and it saves me a lot of time. I design the slide in PowerPoint 2007 then export it to a graphics program and save it as a .jpeg file and the entire slide (which can have multiple photographs on it) becomes my photograph/slide which I then import into Memories on TV which is an amazing little slideshow program. The greatest feature is that you can sync your music to the slides. In PowerPoint you can spend HOURS tweaking your timings if you're using music.....and then it sometimes still doesn't time out right. So I started Colleen's slideshow Friday, thinking I was going to be pushing it to get it completed by 6-5-10.......it's Sunday and I'm finished! I've got it listed below so you can watch it. I had my brother and sister-in-law both watch it and they said they loved it and they were both crying! My sister watched it too and she said she loved it. I'm pretty proud of it too.....but I'm a little partial. The best thing was that my brother thought it was so good he said I ought to start my own business.......so that was an affirmation for me that I'm heading in the right direction.

Enjoy the show!

6/26/10 Here's the FINAL version of Colleen's slideshow which includes pictures from her graduation.

http://loopmasters.wordpress.com/2010/05/12/mastering-with-your-daw/

http://loopmasters.wordpress.com/2010/05/12/mastering-with-your-daw/

This blog is more just a reminder to myself that I need to read this article about mastering. I'm really wanting to learn more about editing, remixing and mastering.......like what's the difference between the three? I want to learn how and when to apply effects to a song.....especially panning in a song with a techno beat. I think that sounds so cool. Like a week or so ago I remixed the school song from Howard Payne University using two different recordings: one for the vocals and one for the band. It was hard to hear the harmonies over Dr. Bottoms and I want to know if there's a way to isolate the harmony parts and enhance them. I have sooooo much to learn in this area. But it's exciting.

Meanwhile, I keep churning away at slideshows. I just finished the wedding last night that I've been working on since March. I'm pleased with it. The only problem now is figuring out how to record a video onto a DVD. It's not quite as simple as burning a CD. The first program I used kept getting an error every time I would try to burn a DVD which is a shame because I had an awesome title menu set up and everything. My goal for today is to find a DVD burning software that will allow me to burn a video DVD with a title menu that can be played on a regular DVD player......not just on your computer. Guess I better quit writing and get on to my research in finding the right software program. I have quite a few so surely ONE of them will do what I want it to do.

Ahhh.....I just found another tutorial I need to read.....this one about mixing using reverb in Ableton. Just what I need.

Mixing Techniques | Reverb | Music Tech Tutorials

Old Contemporary Christian Music

http://oldchristianmusic.wordpress.com/

Whoa!!!! I found an amazing site tonight! You know all your favorite Christian music you listened to in high school and college on cassette tapes and it's no longer available? This site has links to downloading some old albums......such as Bryan Duncan's Holy Rollin' and Michael Omartian's Conversations. I have searched and searched for these albums. I've already seen a few more on the list that I can't wait to listen to!

Amy Grant - Innocence Lost

I have almost every one of Amy Grant's albums dating back to 1983 (except her most recent one......just remembered I haven't gotten it yet). This song, "Innocence Lost", is on her album Simple Things so I know I've heard it.....probably hundreds of times. But I don't think I TRULY heard it until about 30 minutes ago.

Yesterday was an odd day. I was watching/recording a VHS tape from my college graduation festivities in preparation for a slideshow I'm putting together. The evening before graduation is always "Chime-Out" held at the Bell Towers. It's just a short ceremony where the seniors pass the "torch" (garland) to the juniors to carry on the Howard Payne traditions (somebody clearly dropped the ball on the school song......read my blog from a few days ago and listen the remix of the school song I did for the slideshow). While watching the video footage yesterday morning of our "Chime-Out" ceremony, I decided to listen to the "charge" that Dr. Don Newbury (our school President at that time) gave to the seniors to see if it might be neat to include it with a song playing in the background (found a great Michael W. Smith song that I believe came out that very year, 1990)......it's going to turn out really cool.....we ALWAYS loved listening to Dr. Newbury speak so I think everyone will enjoy it. But listening to his words over and over while trying to work out the volume levels against the backdrop of a song, I realized I really dropped the ball myself 20 years ago. I don't represent what Howard Payne taught me or what Howard Payne stands for......or what I stood for 20 years ago on that Friday evening listening to those words from Dr. Newbury. So here this morning I come across this Amy Grant song that's really the story of my life from the last 20 years. It blew me away. WOW. Here are the lyrics:

I can't relive my life
I can't retrace my tracks
I can't undo what's done
There is no going back

I chased a selfish dream
Did not survey the cost
Illusions disappeared
I found my innocence lost

Some say it's lessons learned
Some say it's a living life
I say it's choices made
Knowing wrong from right

One night I fought to sleep
In my slumber I turned and tossed
I woke to a cloudy day
And found my innocence lost

Innocent child is a beautiful thing
Secure in her father's arms
Sleeps while a mother sings

There's no way to know
All the harm this world can bring
I miss my innocence
Oh, to be innocent

My heavenly Father
The way of eternal love
That overflows with grace
I can completely trust

My broken heart repaired
And all my sin forgot
I can be pure again
In spite of my innocence lost

In his eyes I'm a newborn child
'Cause I accept his love
I have a new found hope
Though I've found my innocence lost

I can be pure again

I've found my innocence lost

Groove 3 & Findremix present Timothy Allan Remix Contest! | Find Remix

Groove 3 & Findremix present Timothy Allan Remix Contest! | Find Remix

Check out this new remix contest as well as the sponsor websites, especially http://primeloops.com. They've got some great loops and free samples!

20 Years ago today . . . . .

Pomp and Circumstance.......I was filing into the Brownwood Colliseum for our graduation ceremony at Howard Payne University. It was an exciting time, but also a sad day because I was no longer a Howard Payne student......I was about to become an alumnus. I'll always remember my days at Howard Payne fondly and as probably the happiest four years of my life.  

The night before graduation is always Chime-Out, held at the Bell Towers.  This is when the seniors pass the torth (literally, the garland) to the juniors to carry on the HPU tradition.  Amy Coatney-Davidson, my roommate, was who I chose to go through Chime-Out with me.  Although Amy technically was in my class, she wasn't going to graduate for another year because she had changed majors.  Here's a picture of me with Amy right after Chime-Out.  

This is kind of a sad day for me as the last 20 years haven't turned out the way I had dreamed they would.  Nothing in my life has.  Oh well....what can you do?  Life goes on.  If you call this life.

Twiturm.com - Laura Upshaw - Implosion

Twiturm.com - Laura Upshaw - Implosion


Taking a break from FB for a while. If you're interested in what's going on in my life, you can find out here.

Howard Payne University's Alma Mater (The way it SHOULD be)

This is a "remix" of the school song as it was performed in the late 80's (I'm not sure how far back it goes). Unfortunately, there's no known recording (that I could find) of the arrangement that was used in the 80's. I had to take the vocals from the 1990 Graduation ceremony and the band part is from a studio recording the band apparently made around... 2002 that was a slightly different arrangement and in a different key. It took a lot of cutting, editing and mixing to get it to sound as close to the way I believe it should be sung/performed. I like the vocals being acapella because it puts emphasis on the lyrics, which I suspect is why it might have been arranged that way. Here's to you Howard Payne!

HPU Alma Mater #2 by Lalabell68

Three new songs.....or parts of songs

I've been playing around with making "computer music". These three songs are obviously quite different styles from each other (okay, one is different from the other two).....but I like them all. None of them are complete, hence the name of my "album" is Musical Thoughts. I can't take full credit because these are loops (royalty free.....no copyright infringement) that other people have created. These are free loops I've found on various sites on the web and I mix and move them around within Ableton Live 8 until I like the way it sounds and have a new song. It's a lot of fun and so simple. Next I need to learn to add effects, such as panning. I'll get there!

"Implosion" I was working on when they imploded Texas Stadium.....hence the name. "All Alone" just felt like a lonely song.....I guess I was feeling all alone with a lot of different thoughts and feelings and that's why I chose that name. "Love-Hate"--not really sure why I named it this. It starts out with kind of a dark tone and then towards the end (or where I stopped) it turns to a lighter and almost cheery feeling tone.....but that's where I got stuck. I hope you like my "musical thoughts"......hopefully I'll eventually complete these thoughts so stay tuned!

Implosion by Lalabell68

All Alone by Lalabell68

Love-Hate by Lalabell68

Chopin Scherzo in c# minor - Junior Recital at Howard Payne University

April 27, 1989.  This was my favorite piece from my junior recital at HPU........actually, one of my all time favorite pieces.  For me, it was probably the most difficult piece I played......at least most difficult for me.  But my awesome piano teacher at the time, Dr. Bettsy Dunn-Curtis, taught me some cool practice techniques for the arpeggios that helped tremendously.  I was literally using that practice technique on those arpeggios a few hours before my recital.......they were just a bear for me.  This song took a lot of endurance.  That semester I used to warm up for a good 30 minutes before even starting to work on any of my pieces.  I would do all my scales 4 octaves.......connected, going down a third (C major, a minor, F major, d minor, B flat major, etc.) non-stop.  I would do the major scale, then the harmonic minor, then the melodic minor, then move onto the next scale.  I actually learned to LOVE practicing scales with that exercise.  Then I had a Bach Prelude I had played my freshman or sophomore year that was just 16th notes so it was very "fingery" and a great workout.........then I would do a few Hannon exercises.  I loved my warm-up time........if you had told me as a kid that I would someday enjoy practicing scales, I would have thought you were crazy!  But that was Dr. Dunn......she made it interesting and I learned so much from her.

Photographic Memories by Lala

I'm wanting to start my own business creating slideshow videos......of weddings, for graduating seniors, birthday parties, wedding anniversary parties, vacations, etc.  If you know anyone who might be interested, please send them my way.

Classic House Pianos, House Piano MIDI Files, House Piano Sample CD, Piano Riffs, Samples, 5 Pin Media

I found this amazing site tonight. They sell loops and samples but have tons of free samples you can download. These piano riffs sounded really cool. Can't wait to start playing with them in a few minutes!

http://www.loopmasters.com/ is another cool site for downloads. On Loopmasters I actually found a whole list of sites where you can get loops and samples!

Charge what you are worth

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Charge what you worth

View more presentations from Iyabo Asani.

Music Quotes and Sayings

Music Quotes and Sayings: "Music has been my playmate, my lover, and my crying towel.� ~Buffy Sainte-Marie"

Boy, this is so true for me. It's been the only constant in my life. And it's mine......nobody can ever take away my music because it's in my heart and my soul. I'm not talking about pop music........but classical music I studied and music I've composed and arranged. It's therapeutic for me. And without it, I don't feel complete.

Hurtful Words

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."
— Maya Angelou

I guess that can be good feelings or bad feelings.  I don't understand people who, when in the middle of an argument, will say the most hurtful thing they can possibly say to you.......when it's not even related to the argument.  Why do people do that?  Is it to make themselves feel better?

I bruise easily, so if you don't have something nice to say, keep it to yourself.

YouTube - Norwegian Recycling - 8 Become 1

YouTube - Norwegian Recycling - 8 Become 1