10/5/2020
BYO Fund Raiser Video - Update
BYO Musicians,
We have extended the sign up for our Charity Video to support Music Meets Medicine to October 16th. Please visit https://www.charityauctionstoday.com/auctions/byovideo-14010 to sign up.
Here are the answers to a few more of your questions:
Q: Can my part be recorded on a computer or only on a phone?
A: You will be able to record on your computer or a phone. You may need two devices (one to play the music and one to record the video) depending on your setup. More information will be available to those who signup.
Q: Do I need to download an app in order to record my part or send my part?
A: No. You can use your standard phone video software.
Q: You said that I'll be listening to the backing track on headphones. What will the headphones be plugged in to?
A: The headphones will be plugged into one device (like a phone or computer) while you video with another device (phone or computer). On a computer it can be the same device.
Q: I have Bluetooth headphones but heard that wireless connections create latency issues when trying to play against a recording. Should only wired headphones be used?
A: Because you are recording a video that is independent of what you are listening to and we can match up later, you can record with either wired or wireless headphones.
Q: You mentioned that audio and video may need to be separately recorded in order for the audio to be picked up from the distance of the video camera. If I use a computer webcam on a cord to the computer, would the mic in the webcam be sufficient?
A: We will work with whatever you are able to record. A separate microphone is just a suggestion for those that are able to do more advanced techniques.
Q: If I play an acoustic instrument, does the instrument need to be played through a P.A. or amp separate from just using the mic in the camera?
A: We can work with it either way. Recording your instrument with a mic up close or through an amp is better, but get us sound and video!
Q: Can I record more than one take and pick the take that I would like to be used?
A: Yes, but just send us one final take of the whole song. We will only be using a part of your recording, so don't stress out if you mess up in one part!
9/19/2020
BYO Fund Raiser Video - Play and Get Involved!
Dear Busicians,
BYO Musicians is proud to announce our 2020 fundraiser which once again will support Music Meets Medicine, a 501c3 non-profit organization that donates instruments and teaching time to teenagers being treated in children’s hospitals. In light of the uncertainty about when we will be able to resume live jam sessions we have created this alternative to the annual Christmas Rocks event. We will be creating a video compilation where we can all “play together”. We will raise money for the charity by allowing our members to donate to the charity to secure spots in the compilation music video. This will be offered through the same web auction site we utilized last year: https://www.charityauctionstoday.com/auctions/byovideo-14010
We have decided to combine 3 songs and meld them into a single video: Everyday People, Tulsa Time and Born in the USA. On each song, we have several spots per instrumentalist, vocalist and even dancers. We will give you easy instructions to record your part over a set “backing track” so that we can all stay together (no special equipment needed, but if you have it, we will have instructions for using it). The first step though is to make a donation in the category of the part you choose by clicking on the link above. The selections will close on September 30th, so figure out what part or parts you are going to play and reserve your spot today. Remember you can reserve your spot and still donate more on the front page!
You will have the option of recording your part at your home or any location of your choosing, or for convenience you can make your recording at Stan Bradshaw’s rehearsal studio which will be set up for this purpose. In any case, you will be listening to a backing track through headphones and recording your part (video and audio) along with the backing track. The BYO Board will present both BYO and its Members in the best light possible with this video project, while at the same raising money for a great cause. We ask for your money, your talents, your sense of humor and your understanding that the video can’t feature all of us, but the Board believes that the end product will be representative of BYO and its Membership! Let’s Rock.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Q: What if I want to donate more than my $50 spot?
A: You can use the big blue Donate Now button on the auction site to donate some more. We will be promoting the donations once the video is live.
Q: What if I want to play an instrument that is not listed?
A: Sign up for “Dance or Other” and we will be contacting you.
Q: Where does my money go?
A: All your money except a small administrative fee charged by the auction site goes straight to Music Meets Medicine to help them deliver more music therapy to children.
Q: How will my video be used? Who will decide what part to use? What will the final video look like?
A: The BYO Board is responsible for the final video. We will mix both the music and the videos into a great end to end product that we are all proud of. You will see multiple performers on the screen at once all “playing together”.
Q: Can I just give money and not be in the video?
A: We would rather you dance or play some percussion, but sure you don’t have to be in the video. You can go to the auction link and just click on the big blue “Make a Donation” button in the top right.
Q: Can only BYO Members participate in this project?
A: Right now we are holding to only dues-paying BYO Members for this project.
Q: Can I get together with a group and sing or play together?
A: Not at this time. We are requesting each part to be separate.
Q: If I am doing a guitar part, should I play rhythm or lead?
A: You can play either or both through the whole song.
Q: What if the song lyrics call for harmony vocals. How do I know what line to sing?
A: We will have to work that out after September 30 when all slots are taken. If you want to sing harmony with another specific member then the two of you can work that out and make your recordings accordingly.
Q: Can I withdraw my video from being used if I am not satisfied with it?
A: Yes, by end of October, you can tell us if you do not want your video to be used or not record a video.
Q: I donated for a video, but could not record my part (or withdrew my video). Can I get a refund?
A: No. The purpose of this project is to facilitate donations to Music Meets Medicine. The donations are being made directly to MMM to support their very good cause. Your participation in the video is just BYO's way of thanking you for making a donation to Music Meets Medicine.
Q: Are there any other terms or conditions to participate in the video?
A: Yes. As indicated on the auction site under auction terms, your election to participate includes your agreement to the specified terms, including your acknowledgement that the BYO Musicians Board has discretion on the selection, editing and use of the videos for purposes approved by the BYO Board and your full release to allow your video or any part of your video and your name and likeness to be used as may be approved by the Board.
Q: Is my donation to Music Meets medicine tax deductible?
A: Although you should consult your tax advisor regarding your personal tax situation, it is our understanding that the recently adopted CARES Act allows people who take the standard deduction to also deduct up to $300 to public charities. For questions about the tax exempt status of Music Meets Medicine, please visit http://www.musicmeetsmedicine.org/
Q: Where will the video be posted?
A: We will post the video online on our Facebook page and potentially other public forums. The goal is to get as many people to see, share and like the video as possible.
8/22/2020
Dear BYO Members and Friends,
I trust that you are all staying safe and observing social distancing so that things can soon get back to “normal”. I think I still remember what that was like. I think.
In any event, I am writing to let you know that despite our current socializing restrictions your BYO Board of Directors continues to brainstorm and come up with new ideas to keep each of us connected during these challenging months. Our Charity Committee Chair and fellow Board Member Brad Bush is hard at work on a very clever way for us to raise money for Music Meets Medicine and its founder Dr. J Mack Slaughter. Details will be forthcoming in the next month or so, but I believe each of you will share my excitement with Brad’s idea, even if the current restrictions on gatherings continues into December!
We are also exploring a couple of ways to reinvent our Jams in today’s virtual world. Again, more to come on those ideas in the next months.
Finally, I wanted to give each of you a gentle reminder about the BYO Music Movie Madness programming that your humble BYO Music Movie Committee has organized for your at-home enjoyment. We are now in our third week of presenting great music-oriented films for your own critiques, ratings and, hopefully, comments on our BYO Facebook page. This week’s films are “The Wrecking Crew” and “Purple Rain”, and voting will remain open for these films until Wednesday at 6pm. I encourage each of you to watch these terrific films and then rate them from 1 to 10, with “1” being near torture to watch and “10” being an awesome use of your time! Music Movie Madness Voting
Your BYO Music Movie Committee will continue to offer 2 or 3 films each week for your viewing and voting, but to hopefully incentivize those BYO Members and Friends who have not yet enjoyed this friendly voting and rating process while catching what are some remarkable films, I am going to pull back the curtain a bit and share the entire list of Rockumentaries, Biopics, Fiction Films and Operatic Works by one band! Please see the attached document to pick out a few of your own favorites to look forward to!
Until we may resume normal BYO events, please take care of you and yours and keep in touch with your BYO friends.
All my best,
Len Musgrove
BYO President
7/8/2020
Dear BYO Members:
Happy Hump Day to each of you! I am writing to remind each of you who would like to submit your entries to our upcoming BYO Greatest Music Movie of All Time contest! All entries are due to Stan Bradshaw and me before 5:00 pm on this coming Friday, July 10!
As I mentioned earlier this week, I have taken the liberty of committing the collective genius of our BYO Members to determine once and for all of the Greatest Music Movie of All Time! Once all the nominations are received, then our duly appointed BYO Greatest Music Movie Committee will assist me in the challenging task of seeding a bracket of 32 of your nominations to seed into . Each week, we will pair 2 films to challenge each of you to watch that week and then vote on the winner. In other words, the will of the BYO Members and BYO Friends will determine, once and for all, the Greatest Music Movie of All Time.
The nominated films can be one of four genres: Documentaries (e.g., “The Wrecking Crew” or “20 Feet from Stardom”), Biopics (e.g., “Bohemian Rhapsody” or “Amadeus”), Fiction (e.g., “This Is Spinal Tap” or “Yesterday”) or Rock Operas/Album Movies (“Tommy” or “Hard Day’s Night”). Just bring out your best!
Your Nominees may NOT include the following types of films/productions, at least for this competition: Concert Films, Broadway Shows, Televisions Specials, Multi-Episode Series, or Soundtracks. As mentioned last week, the members of the Board and several Members have already contributed several great suggestions, but we want more from you! Remember, only 32 (8 of each of the genres above) will make the first cut to be seeded in our bracket! Everyone loves great movies and certainly everyone in BYO loves great music, so we hope this is a fun friendly competition that we will all enjoy! Think your movie is the best? Feel free to chat about it or talk smack on our BYO Facebook page!
That’s all for now. I can’t wait to see all y’all soon!
All my best,
Len Musgrove
BYO President
7/5/2020
Dear BYO Members:
Happy Monday to each of you. Our third weekly BYO Update brings to each of you a little challenge while we continue to safely protect ourselves while we ride out the latest COVID-19 news. Still not headed in the happy direction, alas. Maybe in another few weeks the stats will look more encouraging!
First, thanks to several of our BYO Members for their great suggestions for music-oriented films. For example, Max Tucker suggested “Almost Famous,” a terrific film written by Cameron Crowe that was loosely based upon his own experiences. Susan Schildt suggested the classic “The Eagles, Part 1 and 2” as her present to the group. I sincerely appreciate each suggestion from each of you, and I will make it a point to try every one of them with the time that this “new normal” will likely provide.
More about the music films below, but first, here are a few Top BYO Music Tips for this week:
That’s all for this week. Have a great week, be well and I can’t wait to see all y’all soon!
All my best,
Len Musgrove
BYO President
6/27/2020
Dear BYO Members:
Happy Friday to each of you. As promised, this is our second weekly BYO Update while we collectively ride out the latest COVID-19 news, which is bluntly not exactly what we were hoping to hear on this beautiful day. Shoot.
Since we apparently have been directed remain in some form of quarantine or social distancing mode, at least for the time being, here are my Top BYO Music Tips for this week, in no particular order:
The Board challenges each of you to catch one or more of these great music-based films and to let us know your favorites. Even better, come up with a film or two of your own and shoot me your choices to post for next week!
That’s all for this week. Have a great weekend, be well and I can’t wait to jam with all y’all soon!
All my best,
Len Musgrove
BYO President
6/19/2020
Dear BYO Members:
I hope all of you and yours are well and retaining at least a small sense of humor! To state the obvious, I’m really missing the BYO Jams, Breakfasts, Happy Hours and just plain jamming with my music buddies! I have, however, had more time to rehearse lately, so there’s that!
While we remain in some form of quarantine or social distancing mode, there are some creative ways to keep jamming! Some of you have probably come across some new ways to play or keep your creative juices flowing. So for this week, here are my Top BYO Music Tips, in no particular order:
Len Musgrove
BYO President
4/16/2020
Dear BYO Members:
Your BYO Musicians Network Board of Directors continues to carefully monitor the current COVID-19 situation and the shelter-in-place orders which the vast majority of our members are observing. Unfortunately, we have made the decision to CANCEL ALL MAY BYO EVENTS as well.
We are also aware that this unprecedented situation has placed a financial burden on each of us. Accordingly, the members of the Board have unanimously agreed to a one-time dues accommodation to assist our BYO Busicians by providing the credit of one year of dues, which will be administered as provided below. Since several months of our events have been postponed or cancelled in order to respect the municipal and state directives, we hope that this decision will be a comfort to each of you.
The current membership period for BYO members shall be automatically extended for a period of 12 months from a member's membership current renewal date for all members who either:
a. paid a new or renewal membership in 2020 on or before April 30, 2020; or
b. have a membership renewal date in 2020 on or after May 1, 2020.
FAQ’s:
Q: My renewal date has already passed and I have not yet paid the dues to renew. Do I get another automatic year?
A: If you are late on paying your dues, you have until April 30, 2020 to pay. When you do, you will automatically receive an extra year. If your dues are still not paid on May 1, 2020, you will not get the automatic extra year, and your BYO membership will have lapsed. You may rejoin at any time after April 30, 2020 by simply paying dues for a fresh year of membership, but the late payment will not be credited with the automatic extra year.
Q: My renewal date is later this year after April 30. What happens to me?
A: If your dues are currently paid on April 30, we will simply change your 2020 renewal date to the same date in 2021, thus crediting your account for an additional year. For example if your renewal date is presently October 15, 2020, we will automatically amend your new renewal date to become October 15, 2021.
Q: Why is the BYO Board doing this?
A: COVID-19 is causing hardship on all of us in a variety of ways. We are fortunate that BYO is financially sound and has the ability to make such a decision for the benefit of our members. In addition, with bars and restaurants ordered closed by the various municipal orders BYO has been unable to host jam sessions for our members, and the BYO Board wants to provide value for dues paid. This is a way of giving value back to our dues-paying members while we are in a time without jams.
Q: I currently receive BYO emails as a fan but planned to join as a member later this year. Does this mean that I do not need to pay the dues this year or that I would receive a 24 month membership if I join and pay later this year?
A: No. The extended membership period only applies to memberships that are paid by April 30, 2020 or due for renewal dates occurring during 2020 after April 30.”
As always, thank you for your able assistance. Hopefully life as we used to know it will start resuming in May and June, and we may restart the BYO Jams and programming.
Best Regards,
Len Musgrove
BYO President
4/2/2020
3/12/2020
The members of the Board of Directors of BYO are actively watching the world events and the recent World Health Organization pronouncement of a pandemic relating to the COVID-19 virus, commonly referred to as the Coronavirus. Your Board Members and Committee Chairs are serious about our responsibility to help protect the health of our BYO members and fans and to mitigate the spread of the Coronavirus. In light of the multitude of public events that have been cancelled and postponed over the past 48 hours, we believe the best course of action is to postpone all BYO events scheduled for March. The Board will continue to monitor the news and evaluate proactive steps to make our Busicians and fans as safe as possible. We thank you for your understanding and commitment to BYO and its events and charitable programs, and we hope to see you back on stage and at our breakfast events next month. Please take precautions and be safe!”
Faithfully Yours,
Len Musgrove
BYO President