BNI is the largest business networking organisation in the world. Offering members the opportunity to share ideas, contacts and most importantly, business referrals. The organisation, which was founded 22 years ago by Dr Ivan Misner, believes in “Givers Gain” and concludes that by helping enough business people to achieve their goals, we will achieve our own.
Record producer Sean Kenny talks about his art and links with Cyclones mastering facility
To most gigging musicians a recording studio is a completely alien environment?
For the uninitiated, the studio session is a hand holding exercise with reassurance and assistance the main priority. From help with instrument tuning and intonation set up, to the unthinkable… “pointing out playing inaccuracies” and helping them adjust their style for the sake of the recording. Dangerous ground this may be, but when handled in an easy going matter of fact way, most players will readily take on board this kind of information when it makes sense and it’s coming from a player. more…
Vic Hyland is nationally known for his educational work with the guitar, and his research work into creativity in music. Vic’s guitar playing has also been likened to a mixture of Hendrix, Santana and Jeff Beck and his voice to that of Sting.
Kent based 6 piece Rock combo ‘Waterhorse’ choose Cyclone to master first EP release.
Based in Canterbury, Waterhorse has been steadily building a following for their distinctive fusion of rock, roots, folk, blues, and Celtic influences. Eschewing the prevailing fashion for style over substance, the 6-peice band is championing the welcome resurgence of a flourishing live music scene.
I first worked with Cyclone for the mastering/duplication of Mercury Rain's debut album - 'Dark Waters'(2000). We returned to Cyclone for our second album 'St. Mathieu' (2004) which included a DVD bonus disc, and full 16 page boklet and have a full release in the UK and France. I was tempted away once on price alone for a short run of DVD-Rs to distribute a promotional video, but the finished product was vastly inferior and did not put the band in a very positive light. When we do our next album, it will be straight back to Cyclone! You invest a lot of time, effort and money when going the DIY route of producing your own music, and it is so important that the final stages of the product are handled professionally - the mastering, the duplication, the printing, everything has always been right first time with Cyclone.
This is why, when I started to promote the ProgPower festival in the UK, and we wanted a company to manufacture the free CD/DVD sampler we hand out on the door of the festival, I didn't bother approaching anyone else. I went straight to Cyclone and asked them to be involved as a sponser and produce the samper for us. This sampler has to be completed by the deadline well before the festival, and be right first time as well. Bands and labels pay to be on the sampler, and it is a key source of revenue and promotion for us as well. Also, being a compilation, the mastering is key to having a professional product, and Cyclone handled this perfectly for us.
Cyclone have always given us good advice and an honest opinion, which has both given us confidence in them, and helped us to make a better end product.
Jon Hoare Mercury Rain & promoter of ProgPower UK
What a fantastic job you did on our CD. Not only did you significantly enhance the recorded material but also your expertise and guidance on the artwork has been a huge factor in our sales. From the outset it was obvious that you take enormous pride in what you are doing and it was such a pleasure to deal with a company committed to helping us achieve such an exceptional end result.
David Green - Musical Director Ashford Guitar Ensemble