The CD's I mean, there finally here! Picking them up today actually. These are only promo CD's, but it's a start. Also, I know this blog has been pretty damn boring, especially for all you bon vivant's, no pictures recently, a crappy link to some hippies smoking pot, but that will change soon. I may post some of the album artwork just so you can ponder it before purchase. Keep checking back.
Thanks to everyone who came out to Snug Harbor last Wednesday, it was great to play, and great to see familiar faces. Thanks to Gringo Star for stopping by too, keep your ears out for their new stuff. The next Charlotte show is July 5th at the Penguin, big party, streets are blocked off, beverages being consumed, cool t-shirts, and obviously killer food.
On a side note, which I will tie into music eventually, the new Mario Kart on the Nintendo Wii is too much fun! You can connect to WiFi and challenge people all over the world, so freaking cool. If you want your butt whooped just sign on when Backgammon (yes, that is my Mii name) is logged on. I'll use Peach and still wipe my ass with your cart! When I don't have the TV muted enjoying some tunes, I do actually enjoy the Mario Kart music. Very old school video game music, very Japanese, but awesome, random kazoo's, poot noises, wood blocks, etc. It would be fun to write game music, one day...
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Thursday, May 8, 2008
The Art of the CD
Making a CD:
A wee bit tired from last night’s show @ Snug Harbor with Gringo Star, but I’ll pull through. It was a good time, very nice to get out and play again, and also nice to be allowed to play for as long as we want. Over the past couple years our catalog has expanded to say the least, expanded at such a pace not all of it is recorded yet, so, rarely do we get to play some deep tracks, and last night was the exception. I think the set was 20 songs long. One day, maybe, we’ll be able to Springsteen it, but right now, we’ll be happy with our 45 minutes, or whatever we get.
CD update; I have been informed the duplication is almost complete. If you’re a blogger, or music writer, you should get a CD soon; if you’re a fan, those CD’s should be ready August 9th @ The Visulite Theater, at least I sure hope so, b/c it’s the damn CD release party! No theme yet, but I will keep you in the loop. Any good ideas for a theme, or any other thing that comes to mind that feels so good you must share, shoot me an email, frank@the-sammies.com.
I just realized an explanation may be in order for what takes so dang long to get CD’s out. I mean shit, if you have the CD’s, why can’t you just go ahead and sell them? I have had this whole process spelled out to me before, this will be the second time going through it, and still, I don’t get it all sometimes. Alright, so you have recorded something, and it is complete as far as you are concerned, not so fast. You have a diamond in the rough; the next step is mixing your recording. Mixing is important b/c it establishes levels, it can make an album. Once mixing is done you can now master. Mastering is glorified mixing as far as I’m concerned. Mixing gets levels, left and right, loud and soft, mastering mixes the whole spectrum. It can puts sounds at about 10 o’clock, as opposed to 9. Mastering also gets the quality of the sounds at max, and makes the levels standard with other CD’s, so when you pop in the Sammies CD the volume should be close to the new Carrie Underwood you just took out. Now, you have a quality product that can be duplicated, but wait, since digital music is now wildly popular there’s a new step, embedding digital codes. This helps track songs, and also labels songs so when they come on your XM Radio, for instance, the correct band name and song name appear. I’ve heard bad stories about this going wrong. Say the company that is duplicating your CD also is doing a Disney DVD. Your little indie band is only pressing several thousand CD’s, Disney is doing tens of thousands, so are very low on the priority list. John Doe forgets to change the codes before he switches to your project, and now when you pop in the Sammies CD it says Artist/Sammies, CD/The Little Mermaid, ooops! Hell, I almost forgot the artwork step. You have a cool concept, or picture you like, now you have to put it into the proper format for the company to duplicate. They have their own template they want you to use, and other nuances. That cool CD design you had in mind, oh, that adds about $5 to each CD, so now your record company tells you to do something else, and you’re back to the drawing board, literally. Now, you have to call your friend, who did the whole thing as a favor, and beg them to do more work for peanuts; and you’ve delayed the CD even further. Finally, you get the damn CD’s back. Being a young band we need all the press we can get. You have to try and build a buzz. So, the next step is sending out CD’s to every Tom, Dick, and Harry that is in the industry. You have to send them out so much earlier than the actual release date b/c some publications write 3 months in advance. So, that means Rolling Stone is writing Augusts’ issue as we speak. You have now spent a fair amount on mailing, the free CD’s you sent cost money, time is money, and then some jackass will sell the promos online without even listening to it. Or maybe they listen to it, burn a copy, then sell it online. Either way they are jackasses! Hopefully, by that point Spin gave you a 10, pitchfork said it was the best thing since Animal Collective (they butt sniff those guys), Letterman can’t wait to have you on, and the official release date is next week, successful buzz is built!!! Now tour your asses off, don’t eat too much junk, don’t drink too much beer, do your best to stay healthy b/c you have fans you don’t want to let down.
Next shows, Memorial Day weekend:
May 25th
Local 506
Chapel Hill NC
w/ The Houstons and The Huguenots
May 26th
Soapbox
Wilmington NC
WE Fest
A wee bit tired from last night’s show @ Snug Harbor with Gringo Star, but I’ll pull through. It was a good time, very nice to get out and play again, and also nice to be allowed to play for as long as we want. Over the past couple years our catalog has expanded to say the least, expanded at such a pace not all of it is recorded yet, so, rarely do we get to play some deep tracks, and last night was the exception. I think the set was 20 songs long. One day, maybe, we’ll be able to Springsteen it, but right now, we’ll be happy with our 45 minutes, or whatever we get.
CD update; I have been informed the duplication is almost complete. If you’re a blogger, or music writer, you should get a CD soon; if you’re a fan, those CD’s should be ready August 9th @ The Visulite Theater, at least I sure hope so, b/c it’s the damn CD release party! No theme yet, but I will keep you in the loop. Any good ideas for a theme, or any other thing that comes to mind that feels so good you must share, shoot me an email, frank@the-sammies.com.
I just realized an explanation may be in order for what takes so dang long to get CD’s out. I mean shit, if you have the CD’s, why can’t you just go ahead and sell them? I have had this whole process spelled out to me before, this will be the second time going through it, and still, I don’t get it all sometimes. Alright, so you have recorded something, and it is complete as far as you are concerned, not so fast. You have a diamond in the rough; the next step is mixing your recording. Mixing is important b/c it establishes levels, it can make an album. Once mixing is done you can now master. Mastering is glorified mixing as far as I’m concerned. Mixing gets levels, left and right, loud and soft, mastering mixes the whole spectrum. It can puts sounds at about 10 o’clock, as opposed to 9. Mastering also gets the quality of the sounds at max, and makes the levels standard with other CD’s, so when you pop in the Sammies CD the volume should be close to the new Carrie Underwood you just took out. Now, you have a quality product that can be duplicated, but wait, since digital music is now wildly popular there’s a new step, embedding digital codes. This helps track songs, and also labels songs so when they come on your XM Radio, for instance, the correct band name and song name appear. I’ve heard bad stories about this going wrong. Say the company that is duplicating your CD also is doing a Disney DVD. Your little indie band is only pressing several thousand CD’s, Disney is doing tens of thousands, so are very low on the priority list. John Doe forgets to change the codes before he switches to your project, and now when you pop in the Sammies CD it says Artist/Sammies, CD/The Little Mermaid, ooops! Hell, I almost forgot the artwork step. You have a cool concept, or picture you like, now you have to put it into the proper format for the company to duplicate. They have their own template they want you to use, and other nuances. That cool CD design you had in mind, oh, that adds about $5 to each CD, so now your record company tells you to do something else, and you’re back to the drawing board, literally. Now, you have to call your friend, who did the whole thing as a favor, and beg them to do more work for peanuts; and you’ve delayed the CD even further. Finally, you get the damn CD’s back. Being a young band we need all the press we can get. You have to try and build a buzz. So, the next step is sending out CD’s to every Tom, Dick, and Harry that is in the industry. You have to send them out so much earlier than the actual release date b/c some publications write 3 months in advance. So, that means Rolling Stone is writing Augusts’ issue as we speak. You have now spent a fair amount on mailing, the free CD’s you sent cost money, time is money, and then some jackass will sell the promos online without even listening to it. Or maybe they listen to it, burn a copy, then sell it online. Either way they are jackasses! Hopefully, by that point Spin gave you a 10, pitchfork said it was the best thing since Animal Collective (they butt sniff those guys), Letterman can’t wait to have you on, and the official release date is next week, successful buzz is built!!! Now tour your asses off, don’t eat too much junk, don’t drink too much beer, do your best to stay healthy b/c you have fans you don’t want to let down.
Next shows, Memorial Day weekend:
May 25th
Local 506
Chapel Hill NC
w/ The Houstons and The Huguenots
May 26th
Soapbox
Wilmington NC
WE Fest
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