Posts Tagged ‘Features’

Featured in Classical Singer Magazine

Wednesday, May 11th, 2011

Crack open your May 2011 edition of Classical Singer Magazine (the one with Jane Eaglen on the cover) and you will find this fantastic article on Page 18.

Thank you to Sara Thomas, Jo Isom and Amanda White for their fine work to make this happen. I am so proud that they reached out to us and took notice of the impact we have been making!

In the article, we explore the newest features of Velvet Singer Software, what need it fills and how it is different than other products and services. We also talk a bit about Velvet Singer Seminars including our newest seminar: How to Sustain a Well-Tuned Business Plan.

From Your Resume Into Velvet Singer

Thursday, March 24th, 2011

I have gotten asked many times what is the best way to get started. I often recommend to start slowly, and to just focus on developing a regular pattern of checking in. Chip away at it and don’t stress yourself out.

For those of you who, as I do, sometimes like to jump into things with more of a splash, I would recommend that you start with your resume. Print it out so you have it right in front of you and carve out about fifteen to twenty minutes to pipe in some data. In entering your resume data and “velvetizing it,” you will have made a very strong step toward becoming organized and empowered.

Projects and Repertoire

Likely each line item on your resume will become both a Project and a Repertoire record. Create the Project and Repertoire records first. Then the trick is to link the Projects and the Repertoire together, which you can do from either the Repertoire or Project layouts by clicking the “plus” icon.

  • For example, Prince Karl Franz from The Student Prince is now an active role in my Repertoire, and Light Opera Works, Student Prince 2011 is an active project in the 2010-2011 season.
  • Mozart requiem is a “role” in my Repertoire that I used on the complete Project “Virginia Glee Club, 2011″ and which I hope to use again.

Contacts

Next add your professional contacts from your resume. Simple.

Vocal Study as Projects

Lastly, setup your active voice teacher and active coach as new Projects. I typically call Projects like these something like “Michael Lessons” or “Coachings with Alan.” You may also want to link your professional contact with your Project (which can be done from either Contacts or Projects using the plus icon on the Members tab).

You are on your way!

Version 2.8 — Personalized and Branded

Thursday, December 30th, 2010

This is arguably our biggest release to date! It is so big, we almost thought to call it 3.0, but we have some even bigger things planned so we couldn’t quite go there yet.

Enjoy and Happy New Year!

Branded Reports

We are thrilled to release this powerful feature: branded reports. Currently this branding applies to the Audition “repertoire selections” report — so when you print your rep list for your next audition, you can make it look just like your resume.

You can customize the font, size, bold, italics, add a headshot or add your own customized header logo image.

Navigate to the Main Menu, Settings, “Edit Branding and Resume Information”.

Now that we have this, think of what else might be on the horizon! If you can brand your rep list, why not use Velvet Singer to create your resume? More to come on that.

“Favorite” Reports

You can easily flag any report as a “favorite”, and even personalize the name of the report. We have started to build so many reports, that it is finally becoming necessary to be able to sift through and get to just what you need.

You will notice that we started you off with a few of our favorites. These reports are likely to be useful to you as well, so click through and to get a sense of what they each provide insight into.

Dashboard Menu and Totals

The top menu now has another menu item called “Dashboard.” We thought of calling it “Quick Menu” or “Quick Find” because we are convinced this feature will really help you do things faster.

Also, the Dashboard Menu (ie. the new thing) as well as the Dashboard layout, now display total record counts (including total dollar amounts for the Finance module). This is hugely powerful! That means that you can get a quick snapshot of how much you have been singing, how much money you have earned from your church job, or where your Auditions stand, just by looking up at this menu drop-down.

This should make reporting more powerful too:
1) Select your report
2) Use the Dashboard Menu to limit the records

Simple as that!

Three Contact Categories

The Contacts module now has a few new powerful ways you can group your contacts, making it more powerful than ever to invest the time in documenting your network.

Using the Category field, you can set which of the three primary ways you relate to this contact:

  • Professionally,
  • for Artistic Development, or
  • Personally.

Your contact might be a “VIP Contact” (in the Type field), but you primarily rely on them for your artistic development (coach or teacher) not for getting a job. Now you can more accurately record the nature of your relationship, and it will all be sitting there waiting for you when you need it.

Also, our professional contacts often have multiple jobs, so now you can mark up to three as this example shows. The information will appear on all reports and based on any Quick Find you run.

IPA Source

www.ipasource.com is a fantastic resource for singers, and now you can access it directly from within Velvet Singer. You may login to your IPA Source account or purchase songs “a-la-carte.”

From any Repertoire record, simply navigate to the Web Page layout, and toggle to the IPA Source option. That will search to see if your aria or song is among the thousands that IPA Source translates.

User Manual is Here!

Saturday, October 23rd, 2010

We are thrilled to have compiled a very comprehensive and user-friendly manual documenting the latest version of Velvet Singer! Sink your teeth into these 100 pages of information and you will know all there is to know about working with Velvet Singer.

You can download the user manual directly from our website. It is also included in the latest installation package inside of the Documentation folder.

The user manual will help you gain a basic understanding of how to use Velvet Singer. You will learn how to create records, navigate between modules and print reports. We guarantee that if you make even a moderate commitment to working with this powerful tool, you will quickly gain proficiency.

We have compiled your questions into this manual. So it can also serve to answer Frequently Asked Questions about installation, registration and navigation.

Customer service is our number one priority so please do not hesitate to contact us for help. We welcome calls, emails and instant messages. We help many of our new customers over the phone ranging from the initial installation and setup of repertoire to more advanced topics such as configuring your email or calendar sync. We are here to help!

Table of Contents

Introduction

  • Welcome
  • How to Contact Us
  • Operating System Requirements

Installation

  • Download
  • Move the Zip File
  • Unzip/Extract the File
  • Folder Orientation
  • Launch Velvet Singer

Initial Setup

  • Expand Pop-Up Windows
  • License Agreement
  • Enter Customer Information

Setup Steps

  • Audition Repertoire
  • Resume Data Entry Form
  • Professional Contacts
  • Lessons and Coachings
  • Reports Preview
  • Tutorial

Navigation

  • Main Menu
  • Module Layout Toggle
  • Dashboard
  • Go To Related Records
  • Four Standard Layouts

Working With Data

  • Editing Data
  • Adding New Records
  • Deleting Records
  • Working With Data In Portals
  • Finding Records
  • Sorting Records

Modules

  • Journal Module
  • Auditions Module
  • Repertoire Module
  • Contacts Module
  • Trends Module
  • Email Module
  • Finances Module
  • Projects Module
  • Events Module

Initial Close

  • Weekly Opener
  • Alias / Desktop Shortcut
  • Usage Logging
  • Backups
  • Restore From Backup

Registration

  • Purchasing A License Key
  • Enter License Code
  • Two Computers
  • Two Singers Sharing One Computer
  • Lost License Keys
  • Transfer to New Computer

Administration

  • Main Menu Buttons
  • General Settings

Email Settings

  • Gmail Settings
  • Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail
  • Check Mail
  • Check Email Timer

Calendar Settings

  • Google™ Calendar Syncing
  • Account Activation
  • Enter Settings
  • Sync Events

Appendix

  • Glossary of Terms
  • Speed Keys
  • Reports

Screen Shots and Features PDF

Saturday, October 2nd, 2010

The best way to understand what Velvet Singer Software can do for you is to check out this PDF. It shows the main menu and several modules including the popular repertoire module with sample reports.

When you are done having a peak, don’t forget to come back to Download Your Free Trial!

Version 2.6: Photos, Foreign Characters and Much More!

Thursday, September 16th, 2010

This release could not come at a better time! So many singers are busy managing their fall show and busy audition schedule, and so many are turning to Velvet Singer Software to help.

The summer tour among other great things, brought some great suggestions on how to improve Velvet Singer Software. Well, we are thrilled to have delivered so quickly on some of these fantastic ideas.

Contact Photo

Now you can add a photo for each of your professional contacts simply by drag-and-drop from any web page (use copy-paste on a Windows machine). With a photo inside of Velvet Singer Software, never again will you forget someone’s name!

This version also includes a photo report so you can print out a list of names and photos.

Foreign Characters

When you add your own Repertoire record, you may want to add accents and foreign characters. Now you can with the click of a button directly from the Repertoire layout!


New Journal Forms and Reports

We are very excited to release several new Journal forms and simultaneously greatly improve the functionality and reporting.

New forms include the following: self-management inventory, action items, entrepreneurship strengths, business priorities, time management, brainstorm new markets and several others.

Depending on the journal form, you will see labels describing what your choices represent.

Several new reports display the results of your journal forms grouping by “score”.

Required Materials And Fees

From any audition, you can now select the materials requested:

You can also enter an estimated fee for the audition (without yet entering the fee as an expense incurred). Entering these estimated fees and running the new due date report can help you budget for your next audition season.