theme show

Neel, Michael, Ritah, Matthew, Phil, and Micah

Favourite Movie Soundtracks!

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by Michael Proudfoot

This week SongTalk welcomed our pal Matthew Reid to our studio to talk about movie soundtracks.

We chose our favourites and talked about why they made the cut and what were the runners up.

 

We talked about:

  • what are the criteria of soundtracks – are they a collection of songs from other sources, are they custom music made specifically for the film project or is there a grey area in between?

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Phil, Micah, Jeff, Ritah, Michael, and Neel

Creating Soundtracks with Jeff Alan Greenway

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by Michael Proudfoot

This week SongTalk welcomed Jeff Alan Greenway to our studio.

Greenway is a film composer, singer/songwriter and pianist from Pickering, Ontario. He has written music for film, worked as a session player, orchestrator and arranger, released his own original album “Great Expectations” and wrote the score to the international documentary The Secret Life Of Frogs, which won a Nature award at the Cannes Media and TV festival.…

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Neel, Michael, Matt, Vanessa, Phil, and Micah

Rocketman: The Elton John biopic movie review

Neel Modi
by Neel Modi

The Song Talk Radio Team discussed the latest biopic about Elton John in the movie Rocketman. Composer and Second City writer Matthew Reid joined us.

We talked about:

  • The framing of the story around Elton John’s addiction and therapy
  • The depiction of Elton John as a musical child prodigy
  • Similarities and differences between Rocketman and the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, which we reviewed in January
  • Taron Egerton, who played the role of Elton John
  • The friendship and collaboration between Elton John and lyricist Bernie Taupin (spoiler alert: this is the best thing about the movie)

Listen to the show:

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Vanessa, Micah, Neel, and Phil

Songwriting for Beginners

Neel Modi
by Neel Modi

We talked tips and tricks for beginner songwriters. Our producer Vanessa and techie Micah also joined in the conversation. Some of the stuff we covered included:

  • Our Rocketman movie pre-screening contest
  • How Phil and Neel got started on songwriting, and the challenges they faced
  • Get yourself a decent guitar to start on (or a ukulele!)
  • Basic melody development
  • The benefits of collaboration
  • Writing from a title, or a poem
  • How to take apart your favourite songs
  • How practice makes perfect better
  • How to finish songs
  • Writing a bad first draft, because you won’t be awesome right away
  • Vanessa’s post about stuff she’s learned on the show
  • We won a spot on FeedSpot’s Top 20 Songwriting Podcasts!

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College Radio: How Do I Get My Music Played?

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by Michael Proudfoot

This week SongTalk welcomed Adriel Smiley to our studio. Adriel is the Music Director of CJRU – Ryerson’s Radio station – and Adriel brought a wealth of information about college radio and the best way musicians can get their music played on these stations.…

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Back row: Phil, Lisa, Frank, Micah, and Michael. Front row: Vanessa, Ritah, and Neel

How to access Government funding for Songwriters & Musicians

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by Phil Emery

There are many Government Grants out there that can help you expand your songwriting career. The unstoppable team of Frank and Lisa Horvat stopped by and shared some fantastic tips to get funding for your musical projects.

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Back row: Michael, Blair, Linda, Neel, and Phil. Front row: Ritah and Micah

This Is Spinal Tap: 35 Years Later

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by Michael Proudfoot

This week SongTalk Radio has a special episode celebrating the 35th anniversary of the classic film, “This Is Spinal Tap”. And joining us in our trip down memory lane is one of our favourite guests on the show Blair Packham. We talk about where and when we first encountered this classic cult comedy and how true it was to our own experiences in the music business (hint: very!)

On this episode, Neel, Phil, Michael and Blair talk about:

  • how the film was made
  • what has made the movie so popular many decades later
  • our favourite Spinal Tap moments
  • why this early mock-umentary was so influential

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Social Media Tips for Songwriters: How to get the most out of social media with Emmanuel Lopez, the Social Media Wingman

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by Phil Emery

Emmanuel Lopez, the Social Media Wingman, stopped by to share tips on how songwriters can use Social Media to boost their brand and build their career.

Stuff we talked about:

Listen to the show:

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Bruce, Blair, Vanessa, Michael, and Neel

What’s a cover song anyway?

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by Bruce Harrott

Our own Michael Proudfoot proudly stepped into the world of cover songs. He uncovered a treasure trove of examples and ideas. Have a listen as the Song Talk Radio team plus Blair Packham (The Jitters) tackles:

  • when everything was a cover
  • the difference between 45, 78, and 33 1/3 rpm records
  • professional songwriters writing for professional singers
  • How The Beatles shifted pop culture by both writing and performing their own songs
  • Jimi Hendrix covers All Along the Watchtower (Bob Dylan)
  • authenticity (Sarah McLachlan) and self-expression
  • Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Carole King, Leonard Cohen
  • singing someone else’s song – making it universal
  • Husker Du, Love Is All Around (Sonny Curtis)

Listen to the whole show

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Michael, Bruce, Neel, Vanessa, and Phil

Bohemian Rhapsody, the movie review

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by Bruce Harrott

Did you love the new movie Bohemian Rhapsody? Hate it? Something in between? Listen as Bruce, Neel, Phil, Michael, and Vanessa let loose! Hear their takes on the Bryan Singer helmed Queen/Freddie Mercury biopic released in late 2018. While they found much to criticize, they had a few raves too.…

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Neel, Mike MacInnes, Michael Proudfoot, Vanessa, Linda, Bruce, and Phil

5-Year Anniversary Spectacular!

Neel Modi
by Neel Modi

For our 5-year anniversary, we visited moments past and our favourite bits. Song Talk Radio Superfan Mike MacInnes joined us (for the 5th time!)

Listen to the show

Some of our favourite theme shows:

Some of our favourite guest shows:

We talked about:

  • How to write lyrics that are specific but open enough to allow the listener in
  • The distance between being inspired to write a song and developing it with craft
  • What the heck is polytonality?

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Making the most of a three-chord song

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by Bruce Harrott

On this program Bruce, Neel, and Phil, (and Linda) each brought a three-chord song to share. We looked at what each song needed to do (if anything) to compensate for the lack of chord diversity. We talked about:

Listen to the whole show

The lyrics

Download the chord/lyric sheets to follow along:

Ming-Tea-BBC

Now-You’re-Leaving_Lyrics

Radiohead-Street-Spirit

The-Joker…

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Phil, Neel, Jeff, Bruce, Michael, and Vanessa

All about Modes with Jeff Alan Greenway

Neel Modi
by Neel Modi

Composer, singer-songwriter, and piano virtuoso Jeff Alan Greenway joined us to talk about musical modes — what they are and how they are used in songs.

Jeff went through each mode and sang a well-known song live with his piano.

Listen to the whole show:

Additional resources about modes:

https://ledgernote.com/columns/music-theory/musical-modes-explained/

http://openmusictheory.com/scales2.html

http://openmusictheory.com/popRockHarmony-EverettSystem2.html

Here’s an easy to understand video that explains modes.…

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All about the Songwriters Association of Canada

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by Bruce Harrott

The Songwriters Association of Canada (S.A.C.) is a Canadian organization dedicated exclusively to Canadian composers, lyricists and songwriters. Their mission is to develop and protect the creative and business environments for songwriters in Canada and around the world. Have a listen to Patrick Ballantyne, Chairman of the Board, Mike, Music Marketing Coordinator and Shri, International Communications Coordinator, Fair Trade Music International.…

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Heather, Carmen, Phil, Neel, Michael, Vanessa, and Bruce

Where’s My Hair Gel? The Best of the 80’s Draft

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by Admin Bot

Carmen Toth stopped by to play our first attempt at a “Best Songs of the  80’s” Draft!

Phil’s better half, Heather, volunteered to keep score: Bruce 8, Carmen 9, Neel 9, Phil 9.

Listen to the episode:

Let us know your fav 80s songs, and be sure to check out this super interesting video about the happy accident that resulted in the iconic gated snare sound of the 80s:

A big shout-out to The Incomparable Podcast where we got the idea for the draft show from!…

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