By Mr. Magic (143.132.229.199) on Wednesday, November 20, 2002 - 11:41 pm:

I was wondering if anybody out there know where I can get some very good recording & musical equipment to set up a studio in a home I'm about to purchase. It has been my dream to set up a studio, and I need lots of help about how I can start something good.

By M.McLeanTech (64.236.243.31) on Thursday, November 21, 2002 - 12:25 am:

1. Before you purchase any equipment, figure out how you are going to build a studio and control room with good acoustics, low noise level, and good sound isolation.

2. Next, solve the problem of selecting and installing a monitor speaker system that provides a "true sound." Before you ever set up a microphone, you should be able to play your favorite CD's on your monitor system and feel that the reproduction is truly excellant.

3. Start out with a small mixer (purchased used, so you can dump it when you have learned with little loss) and try out some microphones. You can blow a lot of money on mics, or you can select ones that works well from the less expensive units on the market.

4. Try to learn as much as you possibly can from modest equipment. Any fool can go out a blow a fortune on toys, but a person who wants to end up ahead of the game will hold off as long as possible so that when he/she finally makes a major purchase decision, it will be on a basis of knowing what they are doing.

5. Now try to figure out what you are going to do with the studio, now that you have it. Do you know any musicians that are willing to play for you? If you are going to make your own music, you had better have a customer in mind that will pay you for it. Actually, this step should be the first step, before any of the above.

Remember that a studio is a means to an end: Not and end in itself. Beautiful music is the end product. A plan that will lead to this objective is much more important then a plan that will lead to a studio.

A studio is to great music what the bat is to a home run. If Babe Ruth had worryed too much about his bat, he would have ended up running a baseball bat factory, instead of being one of the games greatest sluggers.

Mike McLean

By Mr. Magic (143.132.229.199) on Thursday, November 21, 2002 - 02:08 am:

I would like to first say thank you for the great steps and information. I have wriiten 27 songs so far, and one I am doing now as we speak. I have a lot of musicians in my mind because most of them I use to play in the band with in middle school and high school, and most of them still play there instruments today. I have been really searching for people who would want to give this a try. The houses that I have planned for this are very big houses, one is located on East Grand Blvd. and the other is on E.Palmer. The house is owned by my grandmother, and she asked me since its just sitting there, would I want them in the future. Can you also tell me how to make the house more effecient enough for good high-quality sound. I'm really putting my hard work into this, and I think I should be starting on this project this upcoming summer. I have not yet seeked a partner, but I am looking for someone I can trust, and they can trust me. I just need to know the game. I want to be a learner, and I am willing to first learn the very basics, before I buy anything. I want help from anybody, and I am looking for people to at least hear the songs I wrote, and sing them. I believe in helping anybody who wants to give it a try if this does work. I tell a lot of people I'm not trying to be like Motown or the next Motown, but I love music and I want to produce it. You may call me crazy when you read this, but everyday I hear music in my head, everyday it seems as if I can write a song, and during the night especially I can't sleep because I keep hearing this song and this music that keeps me up and typing all night. I think GOD really is trying to tell me something. I prayed and asked GOD to give me strength and guidance. I believe this will work with a lot of hard work and dedication from good friends and support. I never express ideas or the name I'm going to use for my record company because there are a lot of shady people out there looking for the same ideas, and will take them from me, so I just say I'm doing something related to music. I can't stress it enough on how much I want to do this, and how I am willing to do what it takes to do something good. I also want to know how much it's going to cost for something like this. My mother is very helpful in my finances, and she is willing to put money towards anything I want to do. I look forward to hearing more helpful steps.

By M.McLeanTech (66.218.59.165) on Thursday, November 21, 2002 - 04:57 am:

Dear Mr. Magic,

We might as well start with lesson one: Learn to use paragraph breaks. I am going to rework your posting in two ways:

1. I will use paragraph breaks to enhance the presentation.

2. I will add, in CAPITOL LETTERS additional remarks that would have rounded out your thought.

Please remember that I am a dark, jaded, satiricle fellow who can't spell.

START OF REWORK DEMONSTRATION:

DEAR MIKE,

I would like to first say thank you for the great steps and information. I VERY MUCH ENJOYED READING YOUR WISE WORDS.

I have wriiten 27 songs so far, and one I am doing now as we speak. I LIVE, SLEEP AND BREATHE SONG WRITING. I AM CONSUMED BY MY DREAM OF BECOMING A SUCCESSFUL SONG WRITER.

I have a lot of musicians in my mind because most of them I use to play in the band with in middle school and high school, and most of them still play there instruments today. I have been really searching for people who would want to give this a try. I HAVE NOTHING NAILED DOWN YET, BUT I AM GOING TO CONTINUE TRYING TO CONTACT THESE OLD FRIENDS AND TRY TO ASSEMBLE A LATTER DAY "FUNK BROTHERS" BAND. IT IS CLEAR TO ME THAT WITHOUT A "HOUSE BAND" I CANNOT HOPE TO RECORD MY SONGS IN MY DREAM STUDIO.

THANKS TO THE SUPPORT OF MY WONDERFUL FAMILY, I HAVE SOME SOLID PLANS FOR THE STUDIO LOCATION. The houses that I have planned for this are very big houses, one is located on East Grand Blvd. and the other is on E.Palmer.

The house is owned by my grandmother, and she asked me since its just sitting there, would I want them in the future. I AM SO VERY LUCKY TO HAVE SUCH A WONDERFUL LOVING GRANDMOTHER.

Can you also tell me how to make the house more effecient enough for good high-quality sound. (THIS SENTENCE SHOULD END WITH A QUESTION MARK [?])

I'm really putting my hard work into this, and I think I should be starting on this project this upcoming summer. I have not yet seeked a partner, but I am looking for someone I can trust, and they can trust me. I just need to know the game.

I KNOW THAT I SHOULD WAIT AND TRY TO LEARN MORE, BUT, ON THE OTHER HAND, MY EMOTIONS PUSH ME FORWARD TOWARD MY DREAM LIKE A TORNADO.

I want to be a learner, and I am willing to first learn the very basics, before I buy anything. YOUR WORDS OF WISDOM WERE NOT LOST ON ME. I REALIZE THAT IF I WASTE MONEY BECAUSE OF NOT INVESTING THE EFFORT AND DISIPLINE INTO LEARNING WHAT I NEED TO KNOW TO MAKE WISE DECISIONS, I WILL WASTE THE MONEY THAT THOSE WHO LOVE ME MOST HAVE INVESTED IN ME. THIS WOULD BREAK THEIR HEARTS, AND I WOULD LOOSE MY CHANCE TO SUCCEED FOREVER.

I want help from anybody, and I am looking for people to at least hear the songs I wrote, and sing them. I believe in helping anybody who wants to give it a try if this does work.

I tell a lot of people I'm not trying to be like Motown or the next Motown, but I love music and I want to produce it. You may call me crazy when you read this, but everyday I hear music in my head, everyday it seems as if I can write a song, and during the night especially I can't sleep because I keep hearing this song and this music that keeps me up and typing all night. I think GOD really is trying to tell me something. I prayed and asked GOD to give me strength and guidance.

I believe this will work with a lot of hard work and dedication from good friends and support. HOWEVER, I SENSE THAT WITHOUT A VERY CAREFUL SELF OVERVIEW, TO PREVENT MAKING FOOLISH CHOICES, I MAY "STEP IN A BEAR TRAP" WHILE "TROMPING THROUGH THE FOREST, HUNTING, AND STAUKING FORWARD TOWARD MY GAME, HOPING FOR A PERFECT TROPHY TO HANG OVER MY FIREPLACE."

I MAY SEEM LIKE A LOOSE CANNON ROLLING AROUND ON THE DECK, BUT I AM WELL AWARE OF THE NEED TO BE CAUTIOUS. I never express ideas or the name I'm going to use for my record company because there are a lot of shady people out there looking for the same ideas, and will take them from me, so I just say I'm doing something related to music.

I can't stress it enough on how much I want to do this, and how I am willing to do what it takes to do something good. I AM WILLING TO PAY MY DUES, AND ALSO, I AM WILLING TO CONTROL MY EMOTIONS AND BE SHREWD, ASTUTE, PERCEPTIVE, AND CRAFTY, SO AS TO INCREASE THE PROBABILITY THAT I WON'T MAKE A MAJOR BLUNDER, AS I MANAGE MY ACTIONS.

I also want to know how much it's going to cost for something like this. My mother is very helpful in my finances, and she is willing to put money towards anything I want to do.

I look forward to hearing more helpful steps.

SINCERELY YOURS,

CALVIN (OR WHATEVER YOUR NAME IS) A.K.A. "MR. MAGIC."

END OF REWORK DEMONSTRATION

I assume that it is clear to you, Mr. Magic, that the use of paragraph breaks is very powerful in making the presentation of your ideas clear.

Now for your homework assignment:

1. Make a deadly serious study to try to find out what the FACTS are about the amount of capitolization that your Mother can invest in your venture. You must have this number in order to have any hope of making a proper business plan.

2. In a like manner, make a deadly serious study to try to find out what the FACTS are about the amount of money that will be required to "wake up" each of the proposed houses.

A. Are there any back taxes owed to the city?

B. How much would it cost to correct all the shortcomings such as a leaky roof, plumbing that does not work, termite damage, broken windows, reconnecting utilities, and any funny special things that the City may require?

If you do a good job of researching these two questions, you will have made a vast step in the right direction towards understanding what to do next.

Also: Don't forget to work hard on nailing down the question of exactly where do you stand on the problem of using your old buddys to create a "house band."

Finally, don't be ashamed to admit that you want to create another Motown. You could do worse then that with some other goal.

One last idea: Visit the Motown Museum. Notice the cement block construction of the addition on the back of the house. Notice the way that the studio is acoustically treated. Notice that my picture is hanging on the wall.

Mike McLean

By Mr. Magic (143.132.229.199) on Thursday, November 21, 2002 - 10:32 am:

Thanks for the lesson in good paragraph structoring, I will put it to use. The two houses I wish to acquire are both in very good shape, and my grandmother is still paying the taxes on them and she has been keeping the porperties in very good shape right along with myself.

The first one she owns is all brick, but the windows are wooden, but a little rotten. The second house is aluminun and wood and I find it very hard to use the house, but I am willing to changes to it.

No back taxes are owed on any of the houses, and I am excited about at least putting a thought first into this, rather than put money.The only problem I think that both of these houses are facing is bad heating, otherwise they are in good shape. I was in the houses this past summer, and everything is looking good.

I can truly say that since I have been in Detroit all my life, I have never been to the Motown museum. When I get out of school for the winter, because I am in college, I will take a visit there as soon as I get out. I have come to find out that college is for me, but I want to do music too.

Well, as for my friends I know, they say they are willing to help out, but I have to be careful about some of them. They are my friends, but friends sometime will look for up front money and all kinds of other things they want for there services, but I know it's going to work out. If this doesn't work out with my own friends, then I will have to look around for some musicans who are willing to help.

I know I can at least give them some money out of my own pocket if that becomes a problem. I can see this is going to take a lot of time and efforts to do this, but I am ready for the challenge. Out of all the people I told that I wanted to do this, you were the only one who didn't laugh or made it look like it was something funny, I greatly appreciate that.

But one last question before I go, if a studio is put in one of the houses I wish to seek, will it give me that motown sound. I mean, I love the motown sound, but I don't want that house sound. What I'm concerned about is the noise levels and outside noise you may hear during recording. Thanks for all the help and I will be visiting the Motown museum next month. Again Thank you for all the great information

By Bob Olhsson (68.32.101.228) on Thursday, November 21, 2002 - 11:25 am:

Talk about synergy, Mike I'm sitting here writing an outline for a talk I'm giving this afternoon to a bunch of recording students at Middle Tennessee State University. You just said EXACTLY what's in my outline except now I'm gonna open with your great Babe Ruth analogy.

One difference between this plan and what Berry Gordy did is that the musicians were not just a bunch of his friends helping out. He went around town and found the most exceptional musicians he could find, worked hard at finding them paying gigs in order to keep them in town and at times worked a factory job himself in order to be able to pay them for sessions. He knew that a record can be no better than the weakest component of it.

I understand that BG wanted to create another Columbia Records and I know Mike wanted to create another DGG records. There is NOTHING all of us who were at Motown want to see happen more than for somebody to create another Motown Records.

By KevGo (64.115.26.80) on Thursday, November 21, 2002 - 11:32 am:

Mr.Magic:
First of all, congrats on your new venture.

Second of all (and maybe Mr. McLean may agree), there were many more factors that went into creating the Motown Sound than the structure of the house. The Funk Brothers & their musicianship (first & foremost), the eight track machine Mr. McLean built for Motown, the structure of the "Snakepit", the placement of certain instruments (a drum set gives a different sound when it's moved from one spot to another), the machinerey used for reverb & effects, the microphones used for vocals and instruments - these are just a few ingredients that helped create The Sound Of Young America.

As an up & coming record label owner myself, I understand the issues you are facing, especially about having friends involved. Keep this in mind - you have to be ready to do what you can to create the best music possible, whether your friends are involved or not. A very careful examination of strengths and weaknessess may need to occur so that you know what your friends can (or cannot) accomplish.

Finally, do your best to compensate your friends. While it's great to hear that they want to help, paying them for the work will keep them wanting to do more for you.

Good luck with the venture. Keep us posted with your progress.

Regards,
Kevin L. Goins
"KevGo"

By Ed Wolfrum (165.247.228.73) on Thursday, November 21, 2002 - 11:46 am:

Dear Magic:

I must agree with EVERYTHING that Mike, (who is very modest and has not mentioned that he was the Chief Engineer and basically built the technical portion of the Motown sound,) has told you. In the short paragraphs that he has written, he has presented you and everyone with the secret to good quality studio audio.

I have personally been quite verbose in my arguments about todays audio in the "HELP" thread. Russ and Ralph Terrana and others seem to agree. Please review that thread for some thoughts.

Making fine recordings is more than just having good music and good equipment. Anyone can buy that. The results are usually poor as my be witnessed by today's overprocessed poor sounding products. Today's gear is electronically light years ahead of to the gear we used to make the records mentioned on the forum. You must understand technically and musically how to use the tools you have. This will take TIME and experience. This is why Mike suggested you start small. Real learning is an experiencial process.


Learn how to listen. Listen to unprocessed real music, Jazz, Classical and well done R & B and pop. Learn what a real orchestra or band in a FINE room sound like. Try to duplicate the sound and the "feel" Don't get discouraged. This will take time.

By M.McLeanTech (66.218.59.120) on Thursday, November 21, 2002 - 03:54 pm:

Dear Mr. Magic,

I was very impressed by the fine job you did with your latest posting, regarding the use of paragraph breaks. It's such a pleasure to behold the ease and comfort with which you express yourself, now that you have taken this matter to heart. Anyone who is willing to learn as quickly as you do will go far in life.

I appreciate your general comments about the condition of the homes, but you still need to get down to the serious matter of adding up all the dollar numbers. That little matter of bad heat sounds like it could be a "big bucks" problem. Building a studio is a very expensive, complex business venture, and absolutely nothing is more important then having a pin point focus on what is happening with the money, in such a situation, if you are going to survive and prosper.

In other words, you still have a lot more work to do before you will have completed your homework assignment. You need to add up the numbers so you can take a hard look at the cash flow.

I might add, while on the subject of being realistic about the financial aspects of your plans, that you must not turn away in horror, like Dracula when he sees the cross of Jesus, at the idea that people who are going to help you will expect to be paid for their time and effort (their work.)

Like it or not, money makes the world go around. You might as well face up to it and start adding up those numbers and consider what they mean very carefully.

In line with this thinking, please do not waste the tuition money that has been invested in your education by thinking so much about music that you don't get good grades in your studies. More education will get you into a position where you can make more money, and this will (if you don't start fathering children, which you will have to pay for) lead you to a position where you will have the economic power to really get down to business with your dreams.

Thank you for your kind words about my kindness in regard to "laughing at you." I admire your spirit. It is clear that your family has invested a vast amount of love into you, because you really are a fine young man. I hope that my efforts to provide you with some serious help and advice will result in success for you in the future. Finally: I am proud of myself: Self control has never been one of my strong points.

Best wishes,

Mike McLean

By Mr. Magic (143.132.229.199) on Thursday, November 21, 2002 - 05:58 pm:

One thing I need to know, you said your picture was hanging on the wall in the Motown museum, can you tell me who you are. Because I prayed to GOD and asked him for a sign, maybe his might be what I was looking for, you never know.

As for college, I am doing very well, and I have very high academic standards for myself. I know that this will take a lot of money, so thats why I am saving money now to be secure on this.From what I'm reading about you, it seems that you must be a Motown legend yourself. It's great to be getting advice from someone who knows so much about the business.

I wouldn't mind having you for a mentor, you are good to talk too, and plus you make this so challenging, and I like a great challenge. Once again, thank you for the great advice, and everything you tell me I have written down.

By M.McLeanTech (64.236.243.243) on Thursday, November 21, 2002 - 08:22 pm:

I am:

Mike McLean
Technical Engineering Department Head (1961-1971)
Motown Record Corporation
2648 West Grand Blvd.
Detroit, MI 48208

The first time that Stevie Wonder ever heard a playback in his life, it was in a control room built by my department.

Mike McLean

By Ralph (209.240.198.62) on Thursday, November 21, 2002 - 08:28 pm:

Magic,
You just hit the mother lode pal.

By Mr. Magic (143.132.229.199) on Thursday, November 21, 2002 - 11:03 pm:

I got to meet you soon. If it's alright, I want you to look at the music I've been writing, I want a professional opinion to see if it's good enough to be put out there in the music world.

Most of the music I write is straight R&B, and there is woman who also writes music I know. She is in my art class, and for some strange reason she asked me do I write music, and we both just talked for a while about writing music.

Mr. McLean you are a great inspiration and a great person. The City of Detroit should honor you for the excellent work you have done for Motown. Look forward to writing more things down about good musical skills.

By mhc (172.175.215.218) on Thursday, November 21, 2002 - 11:14 pm:

Dear Mr. Magic, MIKE MCLEAN IS A F*CKING GENIUS, OK?!?!?!?!

By Sue (205.188.209.38) on Thursday, November 21, 2002 - 11:33 pm:

You guys should set up a Motown school here in Detroit -- Mike would lecture on how he constructed the sound, the Funks could give instrumental workshops, get some of the songwriters and arrangers in -- would people pay money for that ...start with a weekend seminar!

Then the grads get to play in Studio A ...or engineer a record, or ...

By M.McLeanTech (64.236.243.31) on Thursday, November 21, 2002 - 11:50 pm:

In the "ARCHIVES PAST" section, 19 threads down from the top, is the "MIKE MCLEAN 5" thread. If you look in there, you will find a couple of pictures of me.

It's always a good idea to know what your hero looks like.

I live in Burbank, CA, which is a just north of Los Angeles. There is a strong possibility that I will be in Detroit sometime next summer. I hope to meet with you then, so we can examine and review your findings, and take a look at the heating plant in that house.

Regarding my looking at your music, I have absolutly no ability whatever to do that. Unless I can listen to the finished product, my technical ability to judge music on the basis of marks on paper is absolute zero.

Sheet music is to my eyes what the circuit diagram for a television receiver would be to yours (I assume that you know very little about electronics.)

Even when I can hear the music, I would hardly be in a position to judge the commercial potential of your music. I am a 62 year old fart, who loves classical music played by a symphony orchestra of 100 or more players, written 180 years ago.

However, having built several studios, and having spent 42 years, 8 hours a day, dealing with the problems of making them successful, I am in a position to offer help in that area.

I consider myself reasonably expert on the subject of "The Recording and Reproduction of Sound." It is someone else's job to create the beautiful sound. Once the beautiful music exists, I want to capture it so that later I can drink a six pack of beer and play it over and over, and feel like I am in heaven because of the beauty of the musicial art.

I am strictly a music LOVER. I am NOT a music MAKER. I am like an art collector who can't paint. He gathers the paintings of great artists so he can enjoy them, but he does not create any paintings himself.

Mike McLean

By M.McLeanTech (64.236.243.31) on Friday, November 22, 2002 - 12:06 am:

Sue,

Here are a couple of places in Detroit where one can obtain some excellant training:

DLC Design offers very fine courses in critical listening, so you can learn what high quality sound reproduction sounds like.

http://www.dlcdesignaudio.com/litinfsem.htm

The Recording Institute of Detroit offers an excellant program to those who wish to learn about how recording, in the manner practiced by Motown, is done.

http://www.recordinginstitute.com/

Both of these institutions were founded by excellent men who, at one time, worked for me in the engineering department at Motown.

Mike McLean

By Sue (205.188.209.38) on Friday, November 22, 2002 - 12:15 am:

Ah,
But I'm talking more about a Fantasy League kind of set-up, where people get to write songs, arrange them, play instruments, etc., all under the supervision of actual Motown staff. It'd be a winner ...

By M.McLeanTech (64.236.243.31) on Friday, November 22, 2002 - 12:43 am:

Sue,

This "Fantasy League" thing sounds a little like it is, to creating popular music, what a harem is to sex.

Perhaps there actually is a place for me in your school. After all, I always wanted to be the "Clean Up Man" in a harem.

Mike McLean

By djdetroit (212.21.166.254) on Friday, November 22, 2002 - 03:40 am:

Hey, where can I sign in to that school?
I'll come flying in from Germany in a minute ;-)

By Larry (216.23.183.2) on Friday, November 22, 2002 - 07:40 pm:

Mike wants to bat cleanup in a Harem?!!
.....i'm dyin laughin.

Idea to self:
Notify SD to start a Birthday Fund for Mike's dream to bat 4th at a Gbang.

By Mr. Magic (143.132.228.207) on Sunday, November 24, 2002 - 01:43 am:

Mr. McLean I have been really giving this a lot of thought and I do want to go forward with my plans and dream of becoming a record producer. I want to know is it better for me to go to a recording institute or school to learn all of the basics of becoming a successful record producer. After college I want to do this, but this summer and the 2004 summer I want to start putting everything together as in building a remodling for the studio.

I am saving a lot of money, and putting a lot of money into this, and I should have enough to get this all running by 2005 spring going into that summer. I also will take that suggestion and look for musicians and pay them for each seesion we do. I got a few people in mind to sing and help write because I have talked to most of them this week and they are all for it and behind me 100%.

My grandmother and I are working on a deal and plans for the two houses I wish to occupy from her. I already know that she is going to be in my favor, so, I want to just get that part over with so I can move forward.I look forward to hearing more good things and knowledge from you.

By M.McLeanTech (66.218.59.241) on Sunday, November 24, 2002 - 03:29 am:

Dear Mr. Magic,

Let me draw a parallel with sex:

A young man has huge desire for a woman because of the chemicals that are released, by nature, into his blood.

If such a young man runs out and has sex with all sorts of immoral woman, he ends up with desease and child support payments. Clearly, there is a need for self disipline.

You desire to engage in a complex activity that will cost money. That money (called "capitol") must be provided by someone. If you have your own money that you have earned at a job, then it is your money, and you can invest it as you see fit. Still, I would advise that you not squander your own money on a sloppy business plan.

However, when one takes other people's hard earned money and squanders it according to his whims, instead of doing the homework, and planning out exactly how the business activity will be successful, and instituting controls so that the progress of the enterprise can be objectivly evaluated to assure that the investors HARD EARNED money is used wisely, he is no better then a self indulgent thief.

Do the homework. Go to the library and get a book about accounting and learn about how to control the financial activities of a business organization.

To take money and spend it on activities without first putting these safeguards into place is like a fellow who beds one woman after another, trying to spread his seed, while marrying none, and providing child support for none.

I know that it is no fun to worry about money. It is much more fun to pursue your dreams. All I know is that the Gordy family all worked together and there was a very strong spirit of concern about all these "boring" considerations. Without that concern, Motown would surely have failed. They almost did anyway, several times.

Add up the numbers. What are the cost factors? Define your objectives! What do you want to do, specifically, and in detail? Make an outline of all the cost factors that you can think of. Try to fill in estimates of the cost.

The best place to start is the house. What is the current value of the property? If your grandma were to sell it, and put the money in a bank, how much would she get each month in interest. You should figure that if you rent the property from her, you should, at the very least, pay her that interest each month, even if she dosent ask for it.

This number would be a line on your plan. What about improvments, like fixing the furnace? How much will that cost? How would you finance the repair bill? Borrow more from Grandma? Then you should set up an amortization schedule for the loan and pay her payments and interest each month.

That would be another line item on your plan.

Do you get me?

Mike McLean

By Mr. Magic (143.132.229.237) on Sunday, November 24, 2002 - 03:59 pm:

I understand everything that you are saying. I was going to get a loan from my parents and grandmother, and that should pretty much take care of what I need as in money. I'm pretty much taken care of as in all finances for this because I will work in order to pay everyone back, and I have been talking to my mother and grandmother about this, and they are behind me.

I have my brothers and cousins to back me on this. I already have a cousin who has a studio, but he is not serious about it. I think the only problem that I am going to have is finding musicians,thats the only hard part about this.

What I plan to do is look around in major clubs in Detroit and talk to musicans. The first thing I am going to bring up is money, I would tell them I would pay them up front before anything because I believe in being fair. But, the only thing I am afraid of is not having someone to help me in all this, I think this would really fail if I was doing this all by myself without soemone else by my side to help me.

By M.McLeanTech (66.218.41.27) on Sunday, November 24, 2002 - 08:24 pm:

Dear Mr. Magic,

I built my first amplifier when I was ten years old. It had three tubes. I just took an old chassis from a radio that I found in the alley and stripped it, and then mounted parts and wired it up. I did no planning.

The result worked, but it was one hell of a mess.

I have built hundreds of electronic projects over the last 52 years. Each time I built one, I hated to be bothered with the planning. I just wanted to pick up the chassis and start drilling holes.

Little by little, project by project, I found myself (thanks to the horror that I felt when my lack of planning badly degraded a project) willing to take the time to sit down with pencil, and paper and plan the design out first, and then start building.

Today, the very idea of starting construction without a whole lot of careful planning on paper first makes me sick.

There is a very simple reason for this: If you drill a hole in the wrong place, it is very difficult to correct the error. If you draw the hole on your plan in the wrong place, all you have to do is pick your eraser and erase the pencil marks and the problem is corrected.

It is very clear to me that you are beating around the bush: You want to get going, not study planning. You feel just as I did long ago.

You have a choice: Do the home work and draw up your plans, or go ahead and indulge yourself and make a lot of serious, expensive errors. There is no other way.

Having various mentors standing by your side would make it very easy for you, but, sadly, such tutors come at a high price per hour. I'm afraid that, like everybody else, you will have to do it the hard way and go to the library and get books on the subjects that you need help with and study them carefully.

If I see indications that you have made the effort, and done your homework, I will try to help you by answering your questions, free of charge. However, I am not going to waste my time and effort if you don't show some willingness to do some homework.

What is the market value of the home?

What would the interest paid in a savings account by a bank be on this amount?

How much per year are the property taxs?

What would the annual heating bill be?

I want to see some solid numbers. This would indicate that you are actually doing the research and work to get a realistic idea of what you are doing. In other words, have a proper plan.

Do you know how to write arrangments yourself, or would you need to hire an arranger? If so, contact an arranger and ask him how much he would charge. Get a solid number!

It is good that you are going to discuss the matter with some musicians. Get solid numbers. I suggest that you call the Musican's Union and inquire about this subject. Do the homework, and you will learn, and write down, what you need to consider.

I am inclined to feel that you should get your music end of it together to the point where you have recorded several tunes at commercial studios, paying their hourly rental fees, first.

Then you will have a whole lot better idea of what you are doing. Only then, should you be looking into the matter of making a studio out of one of the houses.

If you want to eat, come down to the market and get some free samples. Nobody is going to come to you and spoon feed you in the high chair.

Good luck,

Mike McLean

By Mr. Magic (143.132.229.237) on Sunday, November 24, 2002 - 10:53 pm:

Mr. McLean I have the information on the the property taxes, market value, state equalized value, and true cash value on the home, but the City of Detroit map is down so I can get that information, but I should have it by the middle of this week.

As for the heating bill, that one I will have to ask my grandmother about, the houses have good heating systems, but I think she told me that all they need is a new furnace because that ones that are already there are old fashioned, but I may be wrong, she might of have put new ones in.

I already have drew up plans for the houses almost a year ago, and I still have them. I do a lot of research on what I want to do,I'm not being lazy about this, I gurantee that. Also, I will have to go out and get an arranger because I know a little about arranging music, but I trust someone else doing that job.You asked for a lot of figures and I will give them to you sometime this week, I had the information before, but I lost the papers somewhere, I got to find them.

What I plan to do is borrow money, and use my money for the utilities on the house, and to pay people for there services. I don't want to use all my money on this, so I will use the ideas you gave me and put them to use. Also, I will got into my cousins studio, right along with hopefully some muscians and a arranger, and these three young women I know, and start making music. I don't want to rush into anything, so I am going to take my time.

It really doesn't matter to me how long this is going to take, as long as it is going to work, and I show a lot of progress.

For the information paid in a savings account by a bank on the amount, I would have to go to my bank and get the information from them, because I don't know it off the top of my head right now. Soon as the sight is up for the information on the houses I will get that information to you. This recent information you gave me is very good, and I appreciate that, I have a lot of work and more reseerch to do to keep me busy this week. Thank You again. Oh, I am Mr. W.K. Richardson.

By Mr. Magic (143.132.229.237) on Monday, November 25, 2002 - 12:40 pm:

Here is the information on the houses Mr. McLean

House - 1

1046 - Sq. Ft.
2002 - Assessed Value $9,700
2002 - State Equalized Value $9,700
2002 - True Cash Value $19,400
2002 - Capped Value $3,638
2002 - Taxable Value $3,638

House - 2

961 - Sq. Ft.
2002 - Assessed Value $10,750
2002 - State Equalized Value $10,750
2002 - True Cash Value $4,024.56
2002 - Taxable Value $4,024.56

And this is from the City of Detroit

By Mr. Magic (143.132.229.237) on Monday, November 25, 2002 - 11:26 pm:

I just got the information on how much it will cost for musicians to play during a session.

Detroit Federation of Musicians

The Union Limited Pressing Agreement is the least costly rate available. The final product is limited to 10,000 units (CD's) which is more than enough for educational projects. The cost is $52 per musician per hour with a two (2) minimum call. Add 10% for pension and the total is $52.20 per hour.

And that was from Mr. Gordon, Detroit Federation of Musicians

By M.McLeanTech (66.218.42.38) on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 - 12:15 am:

Dear Mr. Richardson,

This is fantastic! I actually have a serious student!

I a bursting into tears as I type. I am listening to an old CD that I made of the Funk Brothers.

Good for you! I am sure that the satisfaction of actually going and getting facts made you feel wonderful. It sure made me feel wonderful to see you produce some results!

(I might have a wonderful new son, (my first,) Mr. Richardson!

Now that you have some good solid facts, the next step is to never forget how to go get facts. I assume that in the future you will jump at the chance to have the fun of going and getting facts.

Next, you need to make a LIST OF FACTS!

It's time to start all over: Now that you have learned how much fun it is to go find facts, it is time to list the catagorys of facts that will be helpful to you:

Where will the gross profits come from?

How will they be paid?

Will their be a possibility that your ligitamite payments will be held back by "businessmen" (Berry Gordy Jr. suffered the agony of this problem?)

Are you aware that you can't be a jack of all trades and a master of your dream at the same time?

Berry Gordy Jr. was the Master of Motown. I was but a little wimp who related to him like a little son. This Man was as big as Moses. He gave me everything, and I tried as best as I could. However, I abused his warm, loving heart by spending his money foolishly.

All that I have accomplished has been tainted by this youthful self-indulgence.

Today, I have learned better. I plan out a project first, and then I only drink one tall boy during my drive home.

Yet I remember how I raced accross beautiful California, at 110 miles per hour, on my motorcycle (It still runs like a top, 27 years after I bought it new: A Honda 1975 GL-1000 "Gold Wing."

I remember how I thought of my own desires, instead of how Berry thought: about doing it right.

I used to think that I had a monopoly on "doing it right" because I liked high fidelity sound recording.

After last night, when I saw the film "Standing In The Shadows of Motown," I feel like getting another six pack of beer, drinking it all, and laying down on the floor and putting my arms around the toes of the wonderful musicians that made that "groove" that I never heard because I was thinking about high fidelity recording.

Don't make the stupid mistakes that I have made, and have them trouble your heart. Embrace one simple concept:

It is better to learn from others then to repeat mistakes.

Sincerely,

Mike McLean

By larry (12.141.160.25) on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 - 12:23 am:

Mike McClean:
Intelligent, Funny, Mischievous, Sensitive.
Carry on gentlemen.

By M.McLeanTech (66.218.42.38) on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 - 12:31 am:

Lariexyz,

Would you please stop mis-spelling my last name?

McLean, not McClean.

You honor me profoundly, and I appreciate it.

However, I honor my Father: Archer Patton McLean, the son of Sarah Patton, the daughter of John Patton, the Mayor of Detroit: in 1858.

Mike McLean

By Mr. Magic (143.132.229.237) on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 - 01:20 am:

If the musicans were to practice 4-hrs every session, this is the amount that each of them are expected.

They expect $52.20 an hour

2-Piano Player/Other musical effects
1-Drummer
1-Bass
1-Electric Guitar
3-Trumpets
2-Trombones

Total for 4-hrs would be $2088.80, I would pay each musician the amount of $208.80.

Total Amount - $2,088.00 for 10 musicians

*Not including the arranger, engineer, and other people for their services*

By Mr. Magic (143.132.229.237) on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 - 01:24 am:

Also, I need to know what other services are neeeded for this record label. I would need a secreatry, a lawyer, a business manager, and a mentor. So, what else do I bascically need as in, what other titles or people do I need to help out. Mr. Gordon will be giving me an cost on a arranger for all the music, and extra music writers.

By M.McLeanTech (66.218.59.230) on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 - 02:55 am:

Dear Mr. Richardson,

You have done well. Keep up the good work.

The proper thing for you to do is purchase a book called "THE BUSINESS OF MUSIC." It is a hard cover book that has been in print for at least fourty years.

There is no question that you could borrow a copy from the library, and I think that you should do this first. However, I think that you should plan on making a brand new copy part of your personal library.

I saw a hard cover copy of this book for sale, new, at Tower Records not long ago. It is a about the same size as the typical hard cover first edition novel.

Read this book from cover to cover, several times, and study everything in it.

I will not be able to answer questions about this subject, because I have never been interested in it, but I know for a fact that this book is stuffed full of the things that you need to learn.

Good luck,

Mike McLean

P.S.: If you write a letter that shows me that you have learned from the book, I will take the trouble to answer carefully a question on the subject of studio building that you submit.

Fair enough?

By Mr. Magic (143.132.229.237) on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 - 03:18 am:

Oh, I almost forgot, 2-Saxaphone Players will be included.

New Total - $2,505.60

By M.McLeanTech (66.218.59.230) on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 - 03:44 am:

Dear Mr. Richardson,

Now I feel like you are milking me for more praise. I can afford it: You are a dear one, oh beautiful student!

That, and a $1.50, will get you a cup of coffee, even though I mean it when I say such encouraging things to such a fine, eager fellow.

Those dollar figures are not for my use: They belong in the notebook that you are going to build.

Don't use a spiral notebook. Either get one of those high priced leather bound legal note books and hand write everything into it in permanent fountain pen ink, or get a loose leaf book and use it to organize your notes.

The legal book is designed to establish to a judge the proof that you maintain a responsible legal record of your actions so that the court can award you a favorable verdict.

The loose leaf book is great because you can punch holes in just about anything (with the exception of my advice) and put it in your book anywhere that you feel that it belongs.

When the first volume gets full, you can add a second and easily move the pages to make everything ideal.

Careful use of page divider tabs with "slip-in tabs" allow you to position your subjects in the best way you see fit. For example:

Tab 1: Cost analisis

Tab 2: Music writing

Tab 3: Acoustics

Tab 4: Phone list of hot contacts.

Tab 5: Phone list of business contacts.

Tab 6: Phone list of Doctors to fix hot contacts.

Tab 7: How to wire an XLR microphone connector.

Tab 8: What is hum, and why does digital make it obsolete?

Tab 9: Why should I pay a dividend to my investors?

Tab 10: How do I resist the temptation to punch Mike McLean in the nose?

I am sure that you can see how the loose leaf binder is the way to go. Be sure to buy a hole punch. You must be able to punch plain paper items like product specification sheets, Etc.

Get that book: "The Business of Music!"

I know what I am talking about.

Mike McLean

By Ralph (209.240.198.62) on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 - 09:37 am:

Er,,,Ah....ahem...Mike???
It's THIS Business Of Music. Carry on Proffesor.....

By M.McLeanTech (66.218.59.98) on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 - 04:38 pm:

I am going to stop at Tower today and get the full particulars on the book so that Mr. Magic can walk in to a book store or library and have everything he needs to obtain the book.

Thanks Ralph.

Mike McLean

By Larry (216.23.183.2) on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 - 05:16 pm:

Mike,

You are abso-phukkin-lutely hysterical.
How you mix sound advice and jest is a thing to behold and it's great to see you having fun doing what you love. Isn't that what life's all about?

By M.McLeanTech (64.236.243.31) on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 - 06:01 pm:

Here you go, Mr. Magic:

THIS BUSINESS OF MUSIC
The definitive guide to the music industry
New 8th edition
Includes CD with ready to print contracts
By William Krasilovsky and Sidney Shemel
BILLBOARD BOOKS
An imprint of Watson-Guptill Publications
770 Broadway
New York, NY 10003
UPC code: 9 780823 077571
$29.95
It has a silver cover.

Mike McLean

By Mr. Magic (143.132.229.122) on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 - 06:21 pm:

I'm about to go to the library and find the book "The Business of Music", and go pick up and general journal, and general ledger.

By Mr. Magic (143.132.229.122) on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 - 06:24 pm:

I just got these books from my library here at the University:

More About The Business of Music
This Business Of Music
Making It New Music Business
How To Make And Sell Your Own Record

*Thanks for all the helpful tips and knowledge you have given me*

By M.McLeanTech (64.236.243.31) on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 - 07:53 pm:

Mr. Magic,

You are a sure winner!

You posted your first post above (in which you said that you were going to the library to get a book) at 6:21 PM.

Three minutes later, at 6:24 PM, you posted a list of books that you just checked out of the library.

When I am sitting on the can, it takes me more time then that just to decide which magazine to pick up and read.

Anyone who produces results that quickly is a real hustler, and is sure to be a winner.

I leafed through the book THIS BUSINESS OF MUSIC, while I was a Tower Records. It really looks like it has a ton of great stuff in there that will be a lot of help to you. Make sure that you study the book very carefully.

Once you light up a big cigar (so you can be "the man with a big cigar") and start signing a great musical act, you don't want to have to be pulling that book out every couple of minutes and checking on details that you forgot. It would make you look bad.

Good luck,

Mike McLean

By Julian (152.163.188.68) on Friday, November 29, 2002 - 09:31 pm:

Good Luck Mr. Magic

I highly, highly suggest that you enroll at the Recording Institue of Detroit. The link was provided above. I'm halfway finished and educationally now light years away from where I started!

I am sort of on the same path that you are. Get ready to spend some money (and more money)!:o)

And time, too! I've been so busy that I haven't even been around here too much! Miss you guys chat! (Hey Xtown, Harry, Clay, Billy, and everyone else!)

Nothing comes easy, though. I guess that's what you have to keep telling yourself. Still, the pursuit is fun.

Remember, Recording Institute of Detroit!

Julian

By Phillysoulman (205.188.209.38) on Friday, November 29, 2002 - 10:37 pm:

Mr. Magic,
First and formost, it all starts with the song.
You MUST and I emphasize MUST start with a hit song . You and your friends can fool yourselves into thinking that you have "hits"
but study the radio, Billboard magazine record reviews and any other source that involves the genre of music you wish to record.

You can have fifty houses and all of the latest bells and whistles and not have a hit. On the other hand you can have very limited equipment and record in a "toilet" and have a smash!!
You will NEVER have another Motown. Never!!!
It was a product of the times and the elements which made it happen can never be duplicated, not in this lifetime.

Analyze all of the elements that make up the hit records which are selling and come up with a common denomonator which have made them hits.

Remember that a VERY small percentage of records that are released actually become successful and it is not always about the music.
Politics play a MAJOR part in the makings of a hit record.

Just because you think you have the next big thing, so do thousands of other aspiring creators of music.
There is something that I tell all aspiring "producers". Just because you can go into your bedroom and program a drum groove and a bass line, it does not mean that you can go and command a six figure recording budget.
The competition is FIERCE!!!
Right now as we speak, there are thousands of young hopefuls out there opening up the box to their MPC's and tapping out a "beat"

To be a producer you must be a psychiatrist, father, a mother hen, s brother and a sister(if applicable)

This buisnes is not easy and is not for the faint of heart and only 1 (one) percent who try, succeed.
So before you shell out your hard earned ducats, think again and stay with your day gig!!

Phillysoulman

By Julian (64.12.97.7) on Friday, November 29, 2002 - 10:48 pm:

True.

Cash, equipment, knowledge of how to get best results from it, talent, image, hit material, being able to capture and convey the spirit of the times, connections, and luck!
I am finding out that mastery of all of these and more are essential even if you are to make a blip on the screen!

By M.McLeanTech (66.218.41.150) on Friday, November 29, 2002 - 11:21 pm:

Mr. Magic,

There is no question that my old disc recording engineer, and pal, Bob Dennis, who cofounded the Recording Institute of Detroit, is capable of pumping your head full of solid stuff about pop (particularly Motown style) recording methods.

However, I think that you should try to learn as much as you possibly can, on your own.

When you can get a book about acoustics, written by a professor at the Massachsutetts Institute of Technology (MIT,) from the library, why rush to pay tuition?

Too much new information, pumped in to ones head at high cost, is no solution to the problem. Better to do everything that you can first to select your own study program.

It is pure luxury to pretend, as you sit in an expensive class, that you are on your path to success, while you daydream. It usually happens in a trade school, at the tragic expense of the family members.

A fine school like Bob's is great, if you have done all you can, and now you need to eagerly listen to all the pieces being put together.

However, you can waste a lot of money by taking for granted the cost of the tuition, and "coasting" through the courses, as you dream of how you will graduate as a successful music mixer.

And another thing: The music business is changing very rapidly. Why not tune in on what is happening, now, and try to "get with it."

Why pay old folks who did it then, when nobody knows how it will be done in the future.

Only when you have read every free book you can get from the library are you actually ready to get the low-down from the trade schools run by the old fellows who would like nothing better then to teach you their way, if they can, instead of letting you do it your way, which is the NOW WAY.

Have some self respect. Discover what YOUR WAY is. Pick YOUR books out at the library. Read them. Get ravinous for more information, and get more books and read them. Build a little amplifier. Learn how to solder.

Kiss ass at a studio and be a "second" engineer for a while. You will learn a ton!

Don't go to a trade school except to pull it all together! If you are a student in such a school, you should be challanging the teacher every ten minutes with a question about the conflict between your hip understanding, and his outmoded package of "wisdom."

It is very tempting to blow money on a place to sleep while you dream about how you are headed for success.

I never got beyond the 9th grade, yet Bob Dennis started out, after he graduated from Cass Technical High School, cutting discs at Motown, in my department.

Why? Because I had the gall, and ego, to think that what I felt, in my head and heart, was more important then the prefab curriculum that I was offered by all the smug teachers living in the past.

On the other hand: YOU NEED BOTH!!!! I say that you should bust your butt first to learn all you can outside of formal, trade school education. Then, you should take the courses.

The more that you make fools of your teachers, as you point out how they are out of date, the better off you will be, as they laugh all the way to the bank with your tuition money. At least you will be awake, as they walk away!

Sincerely,

Mike McLean

By Julian (64.12.97.7) on Saturday, November 30, 2002 - 01:30 am:

I agree with you, Mike, when you said that you need both.
When I started out I was like the blind guys trying to describe what the elephant is like ( you all know that story). I knew a piece of this and a piece of that. Then I began reading the magazines like Home Recording , etc. every month.
A few months after that I started the school and the theory and the hands on experience framed everything for me and put things in their proper perspective.
I guess the school works for me because I work a lot during the week so I'm not really able to do an internship (I go to school on the weekend). Besides, I asked on this forum over a year ago if anyone would give me an internship and no one responded, so the school was my only option to be in a recording environment until I set up my own. My job pays for the school so I guess everything is working out well for me.
I'm gonna read the books that were previously mentioned, as well as attend the school. The computer recording classes seem pretty up to date to me with in depth topics on MIDI, recording software like Pro Tools, and making your music available on the Internet.
All I know is that what I'm doing works for me. I went from absolutly knowing nothing (No-thing - nothing!) a year and a half ago to being able to release some viable product right now, recorded in my own facilities.


Ju

By M.McLeanTech (66.218.60.59) on Saturday, November 30, 2002 - 05:17 pm:

Julian,

You have been able to make a success of your use of the school in part because you earned the money for the tuition by working at a job. One is much less likely to coast along in school if one has spent his own hard-earned money.

Perhaps I am a bit biased toward the cynical side. As long as I live, I will never forget an incident which happened in my office in the shop in the basement of the Hitsville building.

(In the movie "Standing In The Shadows Of Motown," it is stated that the "Snake Pit" is in the basement. This is not correct. It is in a cement block addition on the rear of the old house which is the main Hitsville building. The Tecnnical Engineering Department was always in the basement.)

A young man came in with his brand new deploma. He had just graduated from R.E.T.S. (Radio Electronic Television Schools, a good electronic trade school in Detroit.) I was intreagued. I really didn't know what to say to him, so I played it by ear.

I asked him what he had been studying during the last semester just before he graduated. He said it was Industrial Electronics such as motor controls, magnetic amplifiers, servo systems, and so forth.

I had read a book from the library some years before, and had been facinated by magnetic amplifiers. I asked him to explain to me what a magnetic amplifier was, how it worked, and what it looked like.

The poor fellow went into a trance. The look on his face gradually took on a sense of horror. He realized that he couldn't think of anything at all to say in response to this request. He literally didn't have the faintest idea.

I asked him several probing questions about magnetic amplifiers to draw him out, but he had no more idea of what to say then would a four year old child.

I never forgot that moment. This was one of his first job interviews after graduation, and he really wanted to work at Motown. There is an old saying about balancing all the knowledge on the end of your nose and letting it all fall on the final test. This sure seemed to be the case with this fellow. He didn't get the job.

One thing: In your last sentance, you say "...being able to release some viable product..." This implys that you have built a record company capable of releasing records for sale to the public. That sounds unlikly. Perhaps you meant "...being able to PRODUCE..." or "...being able to MIX..."

The bottom line is that if one expects to accomplish great things in life, they have to work very hard, and they have to keep their wits about them at all times, to avoid foolish mistakes.

Thanks for the input. Mr. Magic will need all the help he can get.

Mike McLean

By Mr. Magic (143.132.226.238) on Sunday, December 01, 2002 - 10:27 pm:

Lately, I have been reading the books I picked up from the library. All this week I'm going to look at important information, and put most of it to memory. I only have about an week to read all of them, because they are due on the 10th. I plan to go to a recording school after college, and not kisu throw all this hard work away. I can gurantee you this though, I won't be clueless as a four year old child, I will know my stuff, and prove my knowledge at all times.

By M.McLeanTech (66.218.59.28) on Monday, December 02, 2002 - 01:11 am:

Dear Mr. Magic,

Thank you very much for your candid posting.

I assume that you communicate because you want to learn.

If I may, I would like to offer some observations about your manner of presentation:

You are very open and honest when you write to ask for help. This is one of your very best qualities.

However, you put your words to paper in a way that shows that you need to learn more about how to compose your written thoughts, and put them on paper. This is a fact. The way that you write is charming, and brings out the father in every reader, but I am afraid that you will have to learn more about putting your thoughts on paper before people will stop having a tendency to giggle, as they read your prose.

It is your writing style that makes folks laugh.

Not your ideals. Not your desire to pursue your dream of expressing your musical ideas in a successful way.

You have given me a new idea: Would you be willing to post one of your less inspired songs, exactly as you wrote it, so we could look it over and comment on the "grammer?"

I think that this would draw many helpful comments from the many experts on the forum. Phillysoulman (above) offered some very fine advice based on a lifetime of paying dues. This was very fine advice from a supreme old pro.

Don't forget, that both he, and I are playing footsie games with health failier. He just got out of the hospital, and I am sure that I will go into one, if I don't quit drinking.

You are a young person. You have vitality. You can take your time and do it right.

Number 1: Learn to accept the occasional snicker of those who try to help you. This is not the snicker of white folks about black folks. It is the snicker of old folks who delight in the toddling of young folks. You are a toddler. Face it. Try to improve your writing. It will help a lot. Take a course in English writing. In this case, I think the money would be well spent, if you pay attention in class.

Number 2: Accept the fact that just because you have a dream, and are accustomed to being supported by your loving family, this is not a licence to go out into the world and have everything work out as well as it did when you were being pampered by your loved ones.

You are very charming. You are a darling innocent. You have stacked up a very long thread on this forum by being yourself. Don't ruin it by getting huffy about being kidded a little about your writing style (which is a little like the classic: Last week I couldn't spell engineer! Now I are one!)

If you continue to be sincere and humble, and report the results of your studies, I guarantee that not only me, but many others, will nurture you as you walk through the valley of the shadow of death to the day that you make some money on your songs.

Please make sure that on that day, your family will not be in the hole, fanancially, as a result of your managment of their investments.

Please keep in touch. Don't take the easy way out and take offense. Know yourself.

I am a big wig hero on the forum. Yet I make fun of myself all the time. I dish out to myself ten times as much personal degradation as you can take, before you think that "people are making fun of you."

Respect yourself. You are good enough to beg for advice, in a delightfully sincere manner.

Respect yourself. When the replys that you asked for come from the experts, take the advice, including the friendly humor, with dignity. Learn from it, and leave your pride behind.

You can't be proud and beg at the same time.

I would like to hear a report about what you have learned from checking all those books out from the library. I sincerely mean it!

I love you, my Son.

Mike McLean

By Mr.Magic (143.132.226.238) on Monday, December 02, 2002 - 12:37 pm:

One of the reasons I write this way because its the internet. I'm not trying to be proper or please anyone about the way I write. I don't write like this when I am in my ENG-105 class, I just write this was because I feel nobody really cares, but they just want to read what I said.

By Mr. Magic (143.132.226.238) on Monday, December 02, 2002 - 12:43 pm:

I will post one of my songs as soon as I come from my 2:00p.m. class. I never get mad when people want to help me, if its for a good cause, then I take the advantage, and progree. I have two different writing styles, when I am in class its the right way, and when I'm on the internet, its more relaxing.

By M.McLeanTech (66.218.40.89) on Wednesday, December 04, 2002 - 01:02 am:

Mr. Magic,

I don't know how old you are, but I suspect that you are about 21.

When I was your age, I put words on paper in a much more error filled way that you do when you are "relaxing." It was horrible, and I wanted more then anything to have the skill to turn out a decent job.

It was not until the advent of the computer that I finally saw the possibility that I could actually achieve my goal.

My writing is not up to first class standards, but at least it is good enough that it will pass as civilized. (One hang up: My workmanship is almost as good when I am drunk as sober. Only my subject matter and outlook change. People don't know what to think!)

Keep up your efforts to achieve your dream, but don't let your obsession with music get in the way of your education!

With love,

Mike McLean

By Mr. Magic (143.132.226.238) on Wednesday, December 04, 2002 - 03:58 am:

I'm only 19, and I'll be 20 on January 7. One thing about me is that education is first, and music is second. I'm just working towards my music goal, and then after college I'll really start making it the most important thing I will focus on. Right now I just want to learn the basics, enroll in a recording institue, start buliding a studio, then start producing the hit songs.

My objective is basically learn the business of music, obtain as much information on becoming a suceessful producer, manage groups, and produce the hits. Just the other night I had a dream that I was graduating from college and I thought that was the best dream I had ever dreamt, next to becoming a record producer. Soon as I get home I'm going to pay a visit to the Motown Museum because I have never been there. Out of all the people I know, you are the only one who has given me useful information and I am ever so greatful for it.

I always had this thought if I had won $25 million dollars that I would use the money to finish college, buy a car, build a studio, and save the rest. But I always wanted to know this, Why did Motown leave Detroit? That has been on my mind for so long, but no one in Detroit really know the reason. The older citizens I know say it was because of the riots, Detroit wasn't producing anymore good talent, or Detroit was becoming a bad place to live, that's what they told me and I don't believe none of it.

Oh, I got to find the disk I saved all my songs on because I have so many disk and they all look alike, and I forgot to label the one I have the music on. But, soon as I find it I will post one. I already know that this is not going to be an easy task, but I think I will manage to come out on top. I know that along the way I may lose friends because of misunderstandings and betrayals, but I got to do what I got to do to make it. I've seen the Temptaions movie, and I know that things won't be all pretty. That movie really shows you how shady the record industry can be.

One other thing before I go, why don't Motown come back home and start it all over. When I see the commerical about the Motown Christmas that will be airing on Dec. 8 on USA, I thought it was going to be in Detroit, but i think it's in NewYork. If Motown ever comes back, I would probably want to work with them or even if my record company becomes big even merge the two labels into one, just a thought I was thinking.

*HAPPY HOLIDAYS*

By Mr. Magic (143.132.224.236) on Monday, January 13, 2003 - 02:44 am:

We'll Mr. McLean I am back, I have been away in Detroit, but I am ready for the upcoming year which will be the year for me. I have been continuing to read the books, and I should be done fully understanding them in a couple of weeks.Hope to hear from you soon

By Julian (205.188.209.38) on Monday, January 13, 2003 - 12:47 pm:

So did you go to the Motown Museum when you were here? Did you check out the school I mentioned?

By M.McLeanTech (66.218.41.142) on Saturday, January 18, 2003 - 09:24 pm:

Mr. Magic is obsessed with his dreams.

Mike McLean

PS: If you want to talk face to face, for a day, Mr. Magic, I will be in the Michigan area sometime next summer. All I ask is a chance to meet your Grandmother. Please contact me so we can make plans.

Mike McLean

By Mr. Magic (143.132.227.88) on Tuesday, January 21, 2003 - 10:34 pm:

Well it would be an honor and a privelege to meet you and to talk further about the music industry.I kind of got some bad news concerning the houses.My grandmother told me that they will be used for family living only, the neighborhood is a family type of neighborhood and that the noise level would disturb them.

But, when one plan had gone bad you go to the next one, so I got some information on a house on East Grand Boulevard and the price for it is 10,900. The house is approxiamtely 1,095 Sq. Ft. and it is an all brick home that kind of resembles the Hitsville buliding, but wider.

I still have not given up on my dream and I am ready to start the next phase of what is to be done. I have to read the books on recording and they have helped me a lot. From what I have recently read all these books deals with the artist, contracts & royalties, how to become successful, and how to start off.

Those books have answered some of my questions and it has not. I believe in hard work and commitment to make a dream become a reality. I am still writing songs and I still hear music in my head late in the night that keeps me awake. I appreciate all the help you are giving me and I really need your help on getting me started.

I plan to start some type of building and looking for talent within the next two years. The one thing that really got me puzzeled is that I and others can write the words to the music, but how do you actually put music to the words? that is one question that makes me think.

By Ralph (209.240.198.62) on Tuesday, January 21, 2003 - 10:49 pm:

OK kid, I'm going to talk to you like a Dutch Uncle now. I think Mike has jerked you around enough. You're light years from applying anything Mike is trying to teach you, so don't even try. Here's what you do. Invest a few hundred dollars in a Yamamha 4 track, get a decent keyboard and PRACTICE making records. PERIOD!! The more you do the more your questions will be answered. Got it??

By Mr. Magic (143.132.225.67) on Wednesday, January 22, 2003 - 03:16 pm:

Thanks for the helpful tip, but I'd rather take some years to learn what I need to know rather than just start something and no nothing about what I'm doing. I feel the longer I research and the longer I get a better understanding of the music business I can then train others under me the business. I'm really not in a rush to start anything, but just take my time and learn. I do want this to happen as soon as possible, but I guess it will have to just take time.

I figure if I can find someone to teach me how to use recording equipment I don't have to go to a recording institute. The plan I have is to start within the next two years, learn how to use recording equipment properly, continue to write songs, gather up musicans to help put music to the songs, find talent, and start putting hit records out there.

I strongly believe that this will become a reality because I go to GOD about what I want to do, and I know he will see me through. Without GOD in all this, I won't be able to anything. I just want help & guidance, leadership, and much need patients. I thank everyone who is trying to help a dream become a reality. GOD BLESS YOU ALL

By Ralph (209.240.198.62) on Wednesday, January 22, 2003 - 03:27 pm:

Well I wish you all the luck in the world son. You can always ask us questions and we will be happy to advise you as you make your way. I still stand by my advice though. Get a cheap little 4 track and practice, practice, practice.

By Mr. Magic (143.132.225.67) on Wednesday, January 22, 2003 - 06:08 pm:

I may take that thought into consideration.The chaep way sometimes is the best way. If you can tell me a good price on some equipment, I may start this summer. Not trying to rush into anything, but I do want to put what I have out there.

By Mr. Magic (143.132.225.67) on Wednesday, January 22, 2003 - 06:11 pm:

I was wondering if anybody have any good names I can call my record label if it ever becomes something big. I had a name for it, but it seems to be the name of a company over in Europe. I would also like to know if you can use an old record company name that use to exist but no longer does as a record label.

By David Meikle (62.252.128.6) on Wednesday, January 22, 2003 - 06:21 pm:

Mr Magic is probably free!

By Sue (205.188.209.38) on Wednesday, January 22, 2003 - 07:28 pm:

Mr. Magic,
What Ralph is trying to say, I think -- is that if you just start trying to write songs, and practice doing that over and over, then you'll most likely start answering your own questions.

You've never said if you play any instruments, but it helps if you're writing songs to at least have a keyboard or a guitar, and a little proficiency with chords. You can start practicing that. It's not enough to have music in your head, but you have to be able to explain it to musicians.

Berry Gordy started out writing songs for Jackie Wilson and others. He could play piano, although nothing fancy.

If you can write words to the music, I wouldn't worry about writing music to the words. Every songwriter has their own way of writing.

By Mr.Magic (143.132.225.67) on Wednesday, January 22, 2003 - 09:20 pm:

I understand what he was saying, but I was just putting my thought out there. I really had no intentions of putting the music to it, I would pay others for that. My style is writing the music, sing it to them, them come up with the music.

By Larry (12.141.160.25) on Wednesday, January 22, 2003 - 09:42 pm:

Mr. Magic Records

I like it!

By Mr. Magic (143.132.225.67) on Wednesday, January 22, 2003 - 10:05 pm:

Not bad, but I would drop the Mr. and just put Magic Records. That would be one of the finalist I have.

I just got through watching American Idol and they were in Detroit this pass October. Randy said that there is no Mo in Motown. Also, Simon said that he sees now why Motown left. What do you all think about all that? If I was a record producer I would be sitting right there outside trying to find talent.


They say there is no talent in Detroit, but I have heard a lot of strong singers. There is one woman in particular who attends my church and I would really sign her to a deal if I had a label up and running now. For them to come to Detroit and say there is no talent is simply an insult to us all. All I know is this, when I launch my record label everyone will be given a chance and I will find thee best talent around the city and country.

By Allen (24.165.80.12) on Wednesday, January 22, 2003 - 10:24 pm:

His First executive decision. A master stroke!

By Sue (205.188.209.38) on Wednesday, January 22, 2003 - 10:24 pm:

American Idol is sort of phony because they have a big build-up about picking singers who essentially are singing someone else's songs ...
usually Motown's...

Then once they "win," what do you have? Someone with pipes. That's not enough for a hit record. Who's the songwriter? The producer?

The way the music business is now, you either find a Motown-like producer or enclave where they provide you with the sound, the songs, the backing musicians, or you write your own bang-up material. Just being a good singer isn't enough, as their winners are finding.

By Ralph (209.240.198.62) on Wednesday, January 22, 2003 - 11:39 pm:

Hate to bust your bubble kid but there was a Magic City label.

Sue: Don't get me started on American Idol!

By Mr. Magic (143.132.225.67) on Wednesday, January 22, 2003 - 11:43 pm:

Sue that is that best comment I have ever heard in my life regarding the music industry, I give that two thumbs up, way up. What I do is watch a lot of the other producer and see what they do to find good talent and I learn from that. When I was wathcing the Tempations story on VH-1, I watched how Berry Gordy made his decisions and how he had others make a decision instead of him just doing it all by himself.

One thing I come to learn is that you cannot work by yourself, you need others to help too. Then I also realized that those same people may run off with your idea and make it first. I have some committed friends and family, but I will keep my eyes open at all times.

By Larry (12.141.160.25) on Thursday, January 23, 2003 - 02:02 am:

Allen,
You just slayed me man...
(Master Stroke) Hahahah

Mr. Magic,
I truly wish you all the best in your endeavor. Follow your dream all the way, til your last breath. Ralph's right. Crawl before you walk and get a 4-track. You'll learn everything about capturing performances which is a big part of Magic Records. How bout Madge Records? Well, anyway.... I'd send you my old PortaStudio but track 3 is out. Goto your local music store, ask questions, be hungry and make that dream come true.

Yours,

wasakid

By Mr. Magic (143.132.226.62) on Thursday, January 23, 2003 - 02:33 pm:

This is a great honor that there are people out there who actually care about people dreams. I really thought I was going to be alone on finding information, but you all have helped me. This type of committment and help is what I'm looking for in a team for my record label. I know that this will become a reality because I already had a dream about it. This is something I have always wanted to do, and all I want to do is help others who can sing and perform get to the top.

By Mr. Magic (143.132.224.184) on Sunday, January 26, 2003 - 03:46 am:

I was looking at numerous websites today concerning musical and recording equipment. I found a lot of very interesting things and I also saw that 4 track and it was about $449, but I did see cheaper ones. I was wondering when I finish college if the bank would give me a loan for all the equipment I will need in the future. But if not, I can always use the help of people like you and many others to help out.

The one thing I do need is HELP. If I have good trusting friends and partners then I should be able to get this record comapny going in the next 5 years. The one thing that makes me so positive that this will work is FAITH.

Proverbs 1:5 A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels.

Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the Lord is "the beginning of knowledge": but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Proverbs 2:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding (6)In all thy ways ackowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Proverbs 4:7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisodm: and with all thy getting get understanding.

Proverbs 8-9 Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser; teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.

By Mr. Magic (143.132.230.240) on Wednesday, January 29, 2003 - 11:54 pm:

I have an question. What was in between the walls at Motown to keep all the outside noise from being heard inside while recording? Also, How long did it take for them to transform the first level of the house into a recording studio?

By Mr. Magic (143.132.224.208) on Saturday, February 01, 2003 - 01:24 am:

I was searching the web for ways to get money instead of asking my parents, and I ran into a website that was talking about grants that the government give out and you don't have to pay back. I don't know if this is really true or not, but if it is I'm going to take the advantage and try to get some money to start my record company.

By Mr. Magic (143.132.224.208) on Saturday, February 01, 2003 - 01:33 am:

To Mr. McLean

Whenever I get this label up and running, I want you to help build my studio for me. I feel you have done everything to help me up to this point and I don't think no one out there can build a studio with good quality sound like you. So, whenever I start building, I'll make sure you are the first person I come to for excellent advice.

By johnny hitman (145.253.163.35) on Saturday, February 01, 2003 - 07:34 am:

Dear Mr. McLean and friends

I'm a german student and i'm writing my diploma about Soul Music. I questioned in another thread about recording and mixdown rules. It is very hard to find informations about that topic. Maybe you can help me?! If not you,who else!?? How does a typical recording/ mixdown day looked like in the 60ies.
what equipment did you use (mics, preamps, mixer, monitors etc.)? Or are there any recording documentation left. did you have special tricks, while recording/ mixdown. how did you get that special, fantastic sound. It is really a big honour for me to talk to you who brought us such beautyful sound. Maybe you have some time and give me a reply on that. It is very urgent!!
Thank you very much for your help

Roberto
Robbyfunkytuet@hotmail.com

By Ralph (209.240.198.62) on Saturday, February 01, 2003 - 09:55 am:

Roberto,
I suggest you peruse this entire forum. Go into the archves. There is a wealth of knowledge here that will assist you. Best of luck.

Magic: If you are fortunate enough to receive money from the government for your quest I would hope it has a direct link to Fort Knox. Mike doesn't come cheap I'm sure. It may take most of the U.S's gold reserve to glean all he has learned over the years.

By Mr. Magic (143.132.228.247) on Sunday, February 02, 2003 - 05:12 pm:

About 30 minutes ago I just went to an government website and I filled out a form to recieve information on getting a grant to start a business. Soon as I get the information this Tuesday, I will be writing up an proposal for them. But I don't know the format of a proposal, so if there is anyone out there please tell me how to set one up.

By Ralph the exasperated (209.240.198.62) on Sunday, February 02, 2003 - 06:08 pm:

Look kid. I've told you already, you don't have a clue about what you're getting into. Do as I told you. Get a cheap 4 track and see what it is like to try and make records. there isn't one producer, performer or musician on this forum that has had anything just handed to them. they went out and paid their hard earned dues and I suggest it's time for you to do the same. Now once you get the 4 track and you have questions about " bouncing " or whatever, I'm sure there are many of us here that will give you proper advice. Until that time pal, it's time for you to jump in the pool and start learning to swim. Once and for all...GOT IT???

By Mr. Magic (143.132.227.226) on Sunday, February 02, 2003 - 11:11 pm:

Now, I am taking your advice on purchasing an 4-track, but at the same time I like to think BIG. That's what wrong with people, they settle for less, and I like to think big and save. I'm going to write a proposal for a grant for me to put the money in the bank and save. When its time for me to get started I will use it. I understand you are trying to give good advice, but sometimes people don't understand, and then they want to come at me with an attitude.

If I want to think big and save, thats me, but at the same time this is what I have in mind. I don't want to keep spending my own money when the government wants to give it to you. A concerned friend told me about the grants, so I checked it out for myself. I don't see where the porblem is me buying a 4-track, learn how to use it, and then get the proper training on how to use the big stuff. It takes money for all this, and I don't want to burden anyone with money. I thank you for your concern, but I feel I know what I'm doing in going to the government for money that is waiting for an anxious person like me.

By Mr. Magic (143.132.227.226) on Sunday, February 02, 2003 - 11:53 pm:

One other thing, I will work just as hard as anyone out there who has to start from the bottom to get to the top. Most likely I will purchase a 4-track in about an week or two because I am an college student and I do have to manage my money. Also, after college I plan to attend the Recording Institute of Detroit to further my knowledge on recording music.

I will work just as hard as anyone to make a dream a reality. It's hard when people come so hostile towards you when they think you are doing something wrong, but they don't really understand how that person feels about what they are doing. It's exciting to know that there is a lot of help, but at the same time I'm listening to everyone that is lending a helpful hand.

People have told me this is a waist of time, and people have said it will work. But what I have set for myself is to better educate myself and get an better knowledge on recording, and go to the Recording Institute of Detroit.

By M.McLeanTech (66.159.205.61) on Tuesday, February 11, 2003 - 08:53 pm:

I posted this about a month ago:

By M.McLeanTech (66.218.41.142) on Saturday, January 18, 2003 - 09:24 pm:


Mr. Magic is obsessed with his dreams.

Mike McLean

PS: If you want to talk face to face, for a day, Mr. Magic, I will be in the Michigan area sometime next summer. All I ask is a chance to meet your Grandmother. Please contact me so we can make plans.

Mike McLean

I have carefully looked for his email address so I can set up my visit. No such luck. In the mean time, he has blown his chance with the two houses. I'm pissed!

The forum provides a place to post your email address in a somewhat discreet manner. Very elegant.

Mr. Magic will never get anywhere until he learns to see these things and put up his email address so that the "GREAT MIKE MCLEAN" (also known as one of the great drunken smart asses) can set up the visit that he proposed.

This is the problem with devout religous folks: They have their head up their world of fantasy so far that they miss the simple things like responding to my serious proposal.

Mike McLean

By Mr. Magic (143.132.226.236) on Tuesday, February 11, 2003 - 09:44 pm:

Kind of confused, but I understand a little. I'm really not that religious like some are,but I just like those proverbs, that's all. I didn't blow my chances on the houses, this woman meaning my grandmother is really unbelieveable, and her ways are very old fashioned. She can say one thing, and then when you bring it up again its different. Thats one of the reasons why I always have other plans because they can never workout.

Lately I have been looking at different websites and I'm going to purchase an 4-track so I can learn how to work the smaller one, then I can move on to the big stuff. Also, I have been looking into the Recording Institute of Detroit, and I may be going to there for school. I also have been writing letters to the city about another house and they told me when I come home I need to go to an auction to purchase the house before they decide what they are going to do.

Just this past week I sent in my letter to Washington, DC for my information on obtaining a grant for business. All I want is everyone who can and will to help me. I came hear because I was just surfing the internet and I ran into this forum. So I took the advantage, wrote my first message, and I have been getting a lot of helpful advice. I know a lot of people have been kind of rough, but its for good reasons, and thats why I really don't say anything negative to anyone because I have a lot of respect.

If you need to e-mail me about any information here is my email address: Detroit19east@hotmail.com

Hope to hear from you soon.

By M.McLeanTech (66.159.206.177) on Tuesday, February 11, 2003 - 11:39 pm:

Dear Mr. Magic,

I want to apologize for lacking faith in your good heart. I am so glad to hear from you! I fell in love with you as if you were my own son from the first time that I read your fine words.

Sadly, you posted your email address right on your posting. Now the entire music business knows who to call when they want to give you a hard time.

The Forum provides an option, if you look for it, where you can place your email address. It allows you to provide it, discreetly (do you know what that means?) when it seems to be needed.

I am going to provide my email address in just that manner, right now. If you can find it, please write me a friendly email, directly to me. I will be delighted to hear from you.

Bobby Eli has introduced me to a magnificent lady who is utterly adorable. I am planning a trip to Philidelphia in May to romance this sweet darling.

Naturally, I want to meet with you when I (going) or we are (returning) passing through the Detroit area. After all, there is only one Mr. Magic!

We want to meet your Grandmother!

This thread is the longest of any. There is a good reason for this: You, Mr. Magic, are a wonderful fellow whom I want to meet!

Mike McLean

By Mr.Magic (143.132.226.236) on Wednesday, February 12, 2003 - 12:14 am:

Well Mr. McLean I have more than one e-mail address and if they give me an hard time, they are going to be looking at future competition as well. This week I am writing my grandother a letter and see what she says about the house. If she says she not going to do any further with them, thats a thumbs up for me. But if she says there still going to be for family use then I will have to accept that. I was riding up East Grand Blvd. this past summer and I saw at least 8-10 potential houses. But the one the caught my eye is the one near the GM-Poletown/Detroit plant.

I've done my research and the house is all brick, strcutually sound, and is for sale by the city of Detroit for $10,900. Now, if this grant goes thorugh, and everything goes my way then I will be working on the house this summer when i return in May. I 'm telling everyone around me that this is it, its time to show the world what music is all about. I'm so excited, I cant even sleep at night. But everything sounds good and I look forward to hearing from you.

By M.McLeanTech (66.159.206.177) on Wednesday, February 12, 2003 - 12:50 am:

Mr. Magic:

Please don't forget to provide a response to my request above about a hidden email address.

I am sorry to put you through this, but you must learn to pay attention to things that are important.

For you to go off in your own world and ignore my request for a private planning communication and ignore me is not like the great Mr. Magic.

I assume that when we meet, we will be able to look over your ideas and various properties, so that we can reach a conclusion about value.

I assume that you will have time, after we close our proceedings, to take me out to a great soul food restaurant, on me!

Love,

Mike McLean

By Mr.Magic (143.132.226.236) on Wednesday, February 12, 2003 - 03:01 am:

When you do come throught the Detroit area we can go downtown to Leo's located inside Comerica Park or some great restaurants in Greektown.I am still working on my business plan, half of it is done, I oulined everything, and everything we need to discuss will be in it. I look forward to this to meeting you, and this will be an historical moment for me. Thank you again for all your help & kind words.

By David Meikle (213.122.33.111) on Wednesday, February 12, 2003 - 07:04 am:

Mike
Can I just ask you exert caution when you propose meeting with people who continue to communicate through aliases.

No offence to Mr Magic.

David

By SteveS (209.219.207.3) on Wednesday, February 12, 2003 - 11:11 am:

Interview with Bob Ohlsson:

http://www.prosoundweb.com/recording/tapeop/olmo/olmo.php

By Mr. Magic (143.132.226.107) on Wednesday, February 12, 2003 - 03:30 pm:

That was a very interesting story about Bob Ohlsson. I see that they mentioned the one and only Mr. McLean. That article has a lot of knowledge that I will put to use. I see that this won't be easy for me, but I think I will be ready for the challenge. But since you posted that website(SteveS) on that article, I have read it twice, and now I'm about to read it again because it is just so interesting.

And to Daivd, Mr. McLean knows my name. If you go up to the previous post, you will see my name, and one of my e-mail addresses.

Mr. Raymon K. Richardson

By David Meikle (81.135.50.243) on Thursday, February 13, 2003 - 11:01 am:

Thank you Raymon.

David

By Mr. Magic (143.132.227.224) on Sunday, February 16, 2003 - 02:49 pm:

I would like to know where is the Recording Institute of Detroit is located at? Right now I'm thinking about enrolling in the school sometime this fall.

By Julian (152.163.188.68) on Monday, February 17, 2003 - 01:45 am:

It's in Eastpointe on 9 Mile Road west of Gratiot. Address is 14611 9 Mile. 1-800-683-1RID. Email me, I can tell you all about it.

By M.McLeanTech (66.159.217.115) on Monday, February 17, 2003 - 10:35 pm:

Dear Raymon (Mr. Magic,)

What a pleasure to meet you. You are one of the few who defends his dreams.

I have spent my entire life in your mode. I want to be your friend. We have a lot in common. We both have dreams, and we stand up for them.

There is nothing wrong with that!

You have been made fun of on this forum. In a similar manner, I was made fun of in elementary school. The kids bullied me and wanted to smash my vacuum tubes, which I brought into class to show how electron flow from cathode to plate resulted in the discovery of wireless communications.

I will never forget how I felt, as I pronounced to the class, in 1953, at the age of 13, that Major Edwin H. Armstrong had killed himself.

This giant, who invented the superhetrodyne radio principal, and FM radio, was lost with nothing more then my standing up and praising him.

These were the days of Edward R. Murrow. Oh! How I loved that man!

I must visit you, so I can hug you and feel that I am with the very same person that I was when all these things happened to me in 1953!

You and I are going to be Pals!

Didn't you figure out how to find my email address? Take another look, please. I can't stand folks who are stupid and will not accept a challange (like finding the way that the forum allows one to post an email address, you monumental moron!)

Suddenly, I am becoming hostile.

There is no law against being moody.

I hate God. You love God. Let us start there. I don't think that there is a "God." Further, I feel that those like you that think that an imaginary "God" is looking over them, are utter fools.

If it were not that I identify with you so strongly, I would dismiss you as a total fool.

But no, you are a wonderful fool who stands up for his dreams!

That is what I did with Berry Gordy Jr.! I told him: If you will pay me $50. per week, I will try to build you a recording engineering department.

I was just as "laughable" when I was hired, as you are, now.

The hero is Berry Gordy Jr.

If you want to understand what happened at Motown, study the Gordy family.

I saw artists like you come and go all the time for many years while I was at Motown.

Why were we, the two morons who made it, to find such comfort in each others friendship. Perhaps it is that I have never worked with the mentally retarded.

Mike McLean

By Mr. Magic (143.132.230.174) on Monday, February 17, 2003 - 11:07 pm:

Mr. McLean, when I click on your posting name it says "the email address and profile indormation for the individual posting this message is not available."

Maybe it may be me.

By M.McLeanTech (66.159.217.115) on Monday, February 17, 2003 - 11:27 pm:

Dear mr. Magic,

It will be made right.

You could start by finding my email address and sending me a letter.

We must remove all those idiots that view our communciation and see a pair of morons.

The best way is for you to demonsrate that you can find an email address that is properly sent just below the level of forum.

Come on, you total idiot! Find my email address! You must be the most stupid, idiotic person that I have ever been insulted by an overconfident manner.

Smug is the key word for you! You are a total moron!

When are we going to get together? I hate myself. To be with you would be wonderful. You moron!

You may be offended by the above, but I will contact you. I want to be your friend.

Sincerely yours,

Mike McLean

By Ralph (209.240.198.62) on Tuesday, February 18, 2003 - 09:59 am:

Welcome back Mike. I think you're going to confuse the poor lad who, in my opinion, is already a little confused.

By PhilH (203.220.101.236) on Wednesday, February 19, 2003 - 08:39 pm:

Ralph -

I think Mikie has stunned him into silence!

By Mr. Magic (143.132.229.246) on Wednesday, February 19, 2003 - 11:41 pm:

Stunned me into silence, who are you people. Since I have been writing posts, I have had a lot of negative energy go my way. For you all to be saying all types of things and thinking you know who I am, you don't know the half of what I can do. If I told you about some of my accomplishments and how good of an student I am, you couldn't come close to what I have done. You all think I'm some young little boy who is very confused. You laugh and you come with your lame jokes, for once make me laugh.

No I have been quiet about a lot of things said, but now the silence has broken, if you got something negative to say, keep it to yourself. If you want to help someone who is asking for help, help that person. I could say more, but it would be a waist of time.

To Mr. McLean, contact me at the other e-mail address I provided for you. I will communicate through e-mail with you.

Now, yall have a nice day

By Vonnie (152.163.188.68) on Thursday, February 20, 2003 - 12:54 am:

Mr. Magic,

Waist is above your hips, waste is the word that should be used in the context of your post.

By Mr. Magic (143.132.229.246) on Thursday, February 20, 2003 - 01:03 am:

Thanks for the noticing the error, because i didn't. I meant to say waste.

By M.McLeanTech (66.218.59.97) on Wednesday, February 26, 2003 - 11:05 pm:

I am wasted. Typical.

Mr. Magic, I am going to be passing through Detroit this summer.

It would be nice if you were not too arragont to try my test, and find my email address using the standard forum practices.

However, you live in your own world. You feel that you are the center of the universe.

Still, out of sheer curosity, and because I always have loved a "freak show," I am going to attempt to set up a meeting between us when I pass through Detroit.

Don't forget that I want to meet your Grandmother!

Sincerely,

Mike McLean

By Mr. Magic (143.132.237.162) on Saturday, March 01, 2003 - 12:21 am:

Well let me tell you the recent updates in my life. Things are getting bad, and getting good. First, my mother doesn't want me to come home to go to the Recording Institue of Detroit, and my grandmother has no way I think of now letting me use those houses. I don't know whats been going on, but things are heading down. I told my brothers that this is my dream and no one will destroy it, even if I have to break my grandmother and mother heart and tell them I want to go to the recording school.

I don't want to hurt them, but I got to do what I go to do. I think one of the reasons why I can't find your e-mail address Mr. McLean is that I didn't sign up for all this stuff you talking about, and thats one of the reasons why I can't e-mail you. But if you just e-mail me at the one I gave you up in a recent post, I could write you and not write everything on the forum.

Also, I did tell you I had my eye on a house on East Grand Blvd. and if my granmother acts funny about the houses I will just find another one. I did my homework and the house goes in the city auction, and it's about $1700 now for the starting bid, and the house is worth $10,900 now. It's 1095 Sq Ft. and is not in bad shape.

One thing I plan to do is work and save. Since I know I made my own decision to go to the Recording Institute of Detroit I will have to work real hard. I'm going to try to get an job at one of the plants and work the assembly line. If that doesn't work, I have plenty of other opportunitiess. Please e-mail at the hotmail address I gave in one of the above post, then I can give you my other ones. As you can see I am determined to do this, I don't care if it does hurt people, it's just a risk I am willing to take. I really appreciate all the kind and mean words, they only make me laugh and more knowledgeable. I hope to see you this summer with or wtihout the help of my mother and grandmother. Thank You for everything.

By M.McLeanTech (66.218.60.93) on Monday, March 03, 2003 - 08:16 pm:

Mr. Magic sent me an email. I was thrilled, and touched.

I offered to send him a CD of "The Motown That Time Forgot." I hope that he will forward the shipping address.

I remember when I went to work at Motown, in January, 1961.

I had no better manners then Mr. Magic. Yet, Berry loved me, and offered me an chance to succeed.

I intend to continue to take interest in Mr. Magic, no matter how crude his manners are, in order to find a way to put to peace my sense of fair play.

Mike McLean