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Larry Migliore
Read more about Larry and hear some of Larry's work in our
Get Plugged In Song Directory.
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"Ever since I can remember, I was always singing, whistling or banging on garbage cans with a pair of 2-A drum sticks. I was born in the Bronx, NY and grew up in New Rochelle, New York, where I was raised by Rose and Neil Migliore. I was the middle of three sons, George on one side and Arthur on the other. I guess I got my singing chops from my mother, who used to sing on a radio show in Brooklyn, NY and was a standout in church on Sundays. My dad was a lover of music and great whistler. I made my bones in many local bands as a drummer and vocalist, fronting Eric Von Zipper And The Flies, The Mello-Kings, Danz, Moonlite, The Pills, Almost Human and The Bam Bam Project. I’ve had the distinct pleasure of playing and recording with bass player Huey MacDonald (Bon Jovi), Keyboardist Rob Sabino (Diana Ross, Bryan Adams, Madonna, Bowie, Jagger, etc….), Guitarist Ralph Perucci (Paul Reed Smith Band) , Drummer/producer Vito Luizzi (Johnny Winter), Guitarist Andy Aledort (Editor of Guitar World magazine, Dickie Betts), Bass player John Stoltz (Dickie Betts Band, Allman Brothers Band) Sax player Dan Cipriano (Ihorns.com, Springsteen, Allman Brothers) and a long list of great session musicians.."
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The Demo Service I remember those late nights and early mornings in the recording studio, watching the clock as the engineer kept rewinding and playing the song “from the tip”. Seems there was a little “weirdness” in a note played by the guitar player at a previous session that needed attention.
At $85.00 per hour, I was watching my money start to burn and soon turn to ash as the clock ticked off another hour of studio time. I would also have to undoubtedly explain to the wife again, just how important it was to get that mix just right and that I was sorry for getting home at 4 am. Not only that, I’d have to account for all the money I was spending in the studio and to give her a reason not to divorce me! She’d said she’d had just about enough of my foolish spending on my “hobby”! “What about our vacation? The kid’s college fund? Blah, blah, blah!
.............Enter my savior, enter the “Demo Service”
Because of my demo service, I’ve reached a point in my life where I no longer spend thousands of hard earned dollars on studio time to generate a song or two. I figure that since I’m no longer performing and strictly concentrating on my song writing , getting a good demo to publishers is my main objective. There are many demo services out there who can give you a professional sounding track with a top notch singer for a reasonable price. While doing my research however, I found many that were less than stellar. So my advice is to listen to samples of their music and listen more than once. Reputable services will have a website with samples of their work, others will gladly mail a sample CD to you but some will charge you for postage and preparation. Base your decision on quality , what you can afford and turnaround time? It’s important to me when pitching my own music to get a song done within a specific time frame. So always ask the service how long it generally takes to record your song.
For me, I’ll never go back to those long nights in the studio. No more waiting for session players running late, session players who don’t show up, hungry session players who never seem to have enough money for dinner. Cigarette breaks, phone call breaks, bathroom breaks and me all the while staring at the clock as the engineer tries to locate a specific part of the song or specific problem with the song.
Now I can finally spend quality time on the creation process and less time on the “excuse” creating process. The money I’ve saved over the year alone has been astronomical and again I’ve been able to avoid divorce court ! I’ve been using my demo service for over a year now and have been absolutely pleased with the way my songs are recorded. My turnaround time is generally 3-4 weeks and of the 15 songs they have done for me, 8 have been signed with various publishers. So I’ve found my savior and needless to say I’m sticking with them. For those who have the time and money for recording sessions, well my hat’s off to you. But for those on a strict budget, your savior may very well be “the demo service”
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As an avid fisherman and skipper of my own fishing boat, I would have to say that one of the most important elements for catching the really big fish, is having the right size hook. You wouldn’t use a flounder hook if you were targeting shark. In the same token, a shark hook would be a tad too big if you were fishing for croakers! As a songwriter, I would say it’s doubly important for me when I’m crafting a song that I have the right “hook.” In my opinion, the most important element of a song will always be the hook. It is defined as that certain “something” that reaches out and grabs the listener. It’s the proverbial X-Factor, that element of a song that gives it its staying power. Now remember, the story line is important too, don’t get me wrong, but think of a song, any song. What is it about a particular song that causes you to remember it? Is it that one line of lyric, is it that cool, off the wall guitar riff or that repeated chorus that rips the memory of that song right out of your subconscious ten years later? Is it the title or great middle eight? It really doesn’t matter. Any of these elements can make for a great hook, but remember, it’s the hook that will make a particular song memorable. I remember a CD by a group called Mountain that had a great song containing a memorable hook. The song was “Mississippi Queen” and the hook was the first opening guitar licks with accompanying cowbell. Man, when I hear that opening, I can sing that song word for word and recall those great times I had as a young teen. It is the hook in a song that prompts us to hum and remember it even after only two or three listens. It’s the hook that makes us strap on that air guitar and play the daylights out of it, even better than Eddie Van Halen himself! It’s what makes us love and embrace a song and more often than not, go out and buy the CD or download the single. Let’s face it, we as songwriters want our work remembered. It’s why we do what we do. We want the listener to derive pleasure from listening to our work. We want them to cry, to laugh, to feel what we feel when we create a song. We want to convey to the listener the essence of our creation. Having a powerful hook can almost guarantee that the listener will keep coming back to your song. It will make your song their song. A great hook will cause a person to remember your song and remember what he or she was doing when they first heard your song. They will know where they were, what year it was, who they were with, what they were eating at the time they first encountered your creation. A powerful hook will stir old memories in forsaken lovers, make us long for days gone by, long for a touch or tender kiss, or just transport us back to an emotion we haven’t felt in a long long time. It can release pent up fears and tears and maybe bring on some stress relieving laughter, too. All this and more may occur, simply because you succeeded in writing a song with a powerful hook. So when you sit down to construct a song, think to yourself and make sure the song contains that special something, that powerful magnet, that magic dust, yes! |
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