Marching Band Arrangements
By johnb on December 8th, 2011
I don’t want to use this blog for this purpose too often, but this is one of those times.
As some of you might know I am also a marching band arranger. I have done this, actually, as my day job for the last ten years, so I have quite a bit of experience at it. I also have 3 concert pieces that are published as well that I wrote within that time period.
But back to to the marching band arrangements. I wanted to let you know, if you are a
high school band director, that I still have a couple of writing slots open for your 2012 marching band show. If you are interested, please contact me and we can talk about specifics and I can answer any questions you might have. Bands of mine in the past have made BOA regional finals and also have won their respective state championships.
While my arrangements do well competitively, my main goal is to make them entertaining, without dumbing them down. A good example is this Mozart show I wrote for a band in Minnesota this past year.
Also, here is a latin show that uses The Firebird as its opener, in true latin form. The rest of the show is original music by myself. The percussion music was written by Clif Walker.
As I stated above, I also write original music. One thing I try to do with my original music is still make it memorable, as if it were an arrangement of a pre-existing concert piece. One show, in particular, that I am quite proud of is the Bent show I wrote a few years ago.
I also really like my Burning of Troy show, which was performed by a band down here in Florida. The percussion is by Kent Hurlock.
So, if you are looking for a marching band arranger for this upcoming year please contact me and let me know what type of show you are looking at doing. I have ten years of experience under my belt of writing quality shows. I can also help you develop a show concept as well, if you are looking for that.
Thanks!
Feeding My Family
By johnb on December 6th, 2011
Last week I mentioned that my family and I are taking a huge step with Tone Deaf Comics by going full time with it starting in January. I can not tell you how appreciative I am of the many many positive and inspirational emails/comments you have sent me. It really means a lot.
In many of the emails people asked what they could do to help. Or, they also mentioned that they could not buy anything right now, which is a-okay. Well, there are many ways to support Tone Deaf. Here are some ways that you can help:
1) Buy stuff at the Tone Deaf Store
If you like Tone Deaf and you want to see if keep going, this is a very good way to keep the operations chugging along. We have many great items in the store including posters for your classroom (or home!), hilarious shirts, and even the first Tone Deaf book which includes the first year and a half of comics.
I would like to say though, that if you can not purchase anything right now, don’t. I know how hard it is being tight with cash so don’t feel like you have to purchase anything. Also, if you have a ton of credit card debt then do not purchase anything! Take care of your priorities first and pay off that debt. Our stuff will still be here later.
2) Visit the website
Even though it doesn’t seem like visiting the site will do anything (since you are reading the comic for free), but it does a lot. The more visitors (and page views) that I have on my site the more I get paid for the ads on my site. And yes, I do agree that the ads are ugly and if I had a choice to not have them on there I would take them off. But, they do bring in a considerable amount of money for me right now so they are here to stay. Again, the more page views the better.
I know some of you use adblocking programs and that’s okay. I totally understand. But, if you visit my site a lot then perhaps show a little love by purchasing something from my store every now and then.
3) Share our comics with your friends
This is probably the best thing you can do to support Tone Deaf comics. So far I have not spent a dime on advertising my comic. All of the traffic has been generated due to word of mouth by you, the fans, which is totally awesome! And, it is so easy to share our comics. Just click on the comic image and drag it to your preferred social networking site. The ease of sharing is already built in!
Another way to share the comic is to post it on a website. If you do this just be sure to include a link back to my website and give credit where credit is due. I love it when people share my comics, but it is really important to have that link back to my site and to give us credit.
4) Donate
Actually, I don’t accept donations. I don’t have a problem if other webcomics accept them, but for me I would rather you get something physical in return for your generosity. If you feel like just giving me money just head over to my store and buy something.
Thanks for everything so far. Again, I can not tell you how appreciative I am for everything you, the fans, have done to support Tone Deaf so far. I really could not be doing this without you guys. Take care and have a great week!
Ravel’s Bolero Shirt
By johnb on December 2nd, 2011
Pre-orders are now being taken for Ravel’s Carpal Tunnel Shoppe shirt in the Tone Deaf Store. Pre-orders will make it in time for the holidays. Be sure to head on over and get your own Ravel’s Carpal Tunnel Shoppe shirt. Thanks!
The Adventure Begins…
By johnb on November 29th, 2011
When I started Tone Deaf back in January 2010 the point of doing the comic was to draw traffic to my music arranging site, John Bogenschutz Music. Within a couple of months I split the comic from my music website as it was taking on its own identity; its own personality. I knew I would make that split at some point, but I did not think it would have been that soon.
Since January 2010 the site traffic and interaction with my fans has slowly grown, and I like that- slow growth. It’s more substantial than a sudden influx of visitors that only dissipates over the course of the next few days.
Where am I going with all of this? Well, it’s been no secret- especially if you are a fan on the Tone Deaf Facebook fan page- my goal is to get Tone Deaf to the point to where it could solely support my family. Right now my wife works full time as a bank teller and I work full time at home doing my music arrangements and watching my two sons (one is in 2nd grade and the other is two, and is a terrible boss and doesn’t let me get anything done).
Well, the adventure is now beginning. My wife and I feel that Tone Deaf is at a point to where she can stay at home and watch the boys, and I can focus 100% of my time during the work week on music arrangements and drawing the comic and running its operations. I’m not going to lie- this is a huge and scary step for us.
While I love watching Jackson during the day, it is incredibly difficult to get anything done while he is awake. Fortunately, he is a great napper and usually sleeps 2 hours during the day (sometimes three). However, having my wife at home means that I can work guilt-free. I can now spend more time with my music arrangements, which I have not been able to do during the day at all for the past 2 years. Everything I’ve written musically has had to have been done at night after my wife has gotten home, and that is not how I am used to writing. I write my best right when I wake up.
This also means that I don’t have to stay up until 2 each night drawing comics. I can do that during the day now at an hour that is not usually occupied with vampires.
However, even though we are taking this huge step with the music and comic business we are still not 100% where we would like to be with it all. We have a long way to go. I’m also going to be working part time at some local stores about 3 nights a week from 5 until 11 making up for the amount of our budget we still need taken care. It’s not ideal, but at least this way I can have guilt free writing time during the day.
Shelley and I knew going in that making a webcomic would not be easy. In case you are wondering, this is not an easy way to make a living. We knew that it would take a few years to get it off the ground to fully support us if- and this part is important- it ever would support us at all. There is no guarantee, and that is the scary part. This may not pan out, but we will not know until we try it. Things look good right now and have steadily looked brighter, but there is no guarantee.
Why do I tell you all this? Well, I want you to know what the state of the comic is. After my family, it really is my top priority. I enjoy doing this a lot, and when I say a lot I mean A LOT. Even if it never looked like Tone Deaf would ever become a full time gig I would still do it, because I love doing it so much. The good part about doing it full time is that I can devote more time to it and make it better than it is now. I can offer more of the comic (updating more often) with better quality and time behind each comic (instead of cramming in my drawing time during my son’s nap schedule or drawing late at night). I can do more things to reach out and interact with you, the reader. I can offer more types of entertainment other than the comic.
So, that is where we are at. Tone Deaf is here to stay for a while, whether you like that or not. Honestly, this doesn’t change anything for you guys at all- you guys will just read the comic as you normally do and it will still be there. However, on my end it changes so much and I appreciate you taking the time out of your day to read this and my comic. I really appreciate it so much. Thanks!
And so, the adventure begins…!!!
Two New Posters in the Store
By johnb on November 26th, 2011
I thought I would let everyone know of the two new posters now available in the Tone Deaf Store. Head on over and scoop them. Also, don’t forget that for this weekend only we are having a buy 2 posters get 1 free sale so please take advantage of that. Thanks!
