CD's on Demand

I thought everyone knew this - but apparently not, so this is just a short heads-up!

I was amazed yesterday when two artists separately told me that they didn't have CD's for sale at their shows as they couldn't afford a full production run of 500 or so.

I was amazed that they didn't know about small scale replication.

Of course, you can burn CD's at home and do pretty good quality artwork but often the on-body print lets that method down.

For some years I have been sending people to Kunaki - a service where you upload all the parts of your CD to a site and they make them individually on demand. The quality is great and you get a full colour on-body print. These are replicated CD's not made from a glass master but for small runs they are perfect. You can then link this online CD to your band website so that you hold no stock and each time a CD is needed Kunaki makes it and ships it.

Of course, you can then also order, say, 10 or 20 at a time yourself to sell at gigs.

You can also use these to stock a CD Baby store etc.

Amazon offers a similar service with Create Space. I don't think it's as good as Kunaki.

There are more too - just search for 'CD on Demand'.

That's all. Hopefully this has switched on a lightbulb for those that didn't know!

A guide to recording

Lovely people at Discmakers helping us all out with a free eBook guide to creating professional recordings at home.

You know we think this is important (see this post on professional recording for why)

Get their guide here.

Why great recordings matter

Over on our main site we have a great guest post about why it matters that you have a great quality recording.

Check it out here.

5 pre-production tips for bands

Actually, at least 6 now that I have added my comment to the bottom!

Good stuff here on things you should do BEFORE you get to the studio to record demos or tracks for release.

Even for the most well-prepared band, going into the studio can be a stressful, expensive, and frustrating experience. Thankfully, it can also be one of the most rewarding. One way of keeping the cost, stress, and frustration to the bare minimum is to know exactly what you want to achieve before setting foot in a studio. You don’t want any last minute surprises unless they’re of the “magic studio grace” variety. Here are five practice tips to include in your pre-production preparations:

Read them here.

The image is by me. It's a band I use to manage, Chikinki, doing a session at BBC Maida Vale.

Online Mixing - improve your masters

This is a relatively new service that I came across the other day. It gives everyone access to professional level mixing (and mastering) at an affordable (-ish) cost.

Many DIY musicians will know that the area of their material which mosts let them down when self-producing and releasing is the final mix.

I genuinely believe that mixing is one of those skills that really does require that 10,000 hours of practice to get right - to have learnt every little nuance. Some people definitely have an ear for it and can do a good job early in their 'experience curve' but most people take a very long time to actually be great at it.

Trust me, this is part of how I make a living. I have a world-class mixer on my roster!

But, finding someone with that level of skill for the unsigned artist has always been difficult, but it is now easier thanks to this site. They offer a graded range of fees depending on what you want and hopefully it is within range of most aspiring artists.

Go and check it out.

What does a record producer do?

Image by The Daily Ornellas

I mostly manage songwriters and producers these days - so I found this short piece to be solid and useful advice.

So often a band these days will come to us thinking that because they have the equipment and some (pretty good) skills, they can record, produce and mix their own record.

And, some can - to a degree.

But, what people often forget is that production and engineering is a skill, like any other, that can be perfected and honed over many years practice - Malcolm Gladwell and his 10,000 hours (Google that if you don't know what I'm on about!).

So, whilst you might well have a great little studio set up (the democratisation of the means of production being a laudable step in the right direction for the music biz), and may be able to produce a pretty good sounding track or two, that doesn't mean that you wouldn't benefit from a producer.

Give it some thought.

The best way I know to describe what a producer does comes in the form of this analogy: A producer is to a recording as a director is to a film. When it comes to making a film, the buck essentially stops with the director.

In a film, the director steers the ship, working with everyone from the technical editors to the actors in order to achieve his or her overall vision of the movie. It is exactly that way with a producer when it comes to making a recording.

The producer have the experience to work with the studio engineer (often possessing the technical expertise to engineer the project themselves) and the musical understanding to help the artist with everything from song choice, structure and arrangement to the all-important vocal performances that are vital in giving a recording its personality. In short, a producer provides the experience and necessary perspective to guide a recording from start to finish.

Read this piece from Serve the Song in full here.

14 Tutorials to improve your recordings

This is a GREAT collection of detailed posts to help you get the most out of your recordings.

Not only that but the whole blog is a mine of information on everything to do with recording, production and composition - including technical tutorials on recording platforms and software. It's great - a must read for the DIY artist.

When is a track finished? Does what I’ve done sound good enough? Should I add a few more tracks? I ask similar questions when I’m cooking for the kids. I could heat up some pies, or serve sausages and mashed potatoes. They’ll eat it if they’re hungry enough, but I won’t win any awards. But if I’m cooking for a special occasion, the decisions I make and thought process I take are different. I’ll think about the best combination of ingredients I can get, and will usually add some subtle spices to the mix.

Making tasty music is similar. There are things you can do to add spice at each stage of the production process. Here are 14 tutorials that show us how to do make your tracks spicy.

Read this group of posts here.