first cd

[ira]

we are putting the final touches on our first cd. choosing the order of songs, retouching songs to give them a better sound, but still leaving it a little rough so it sounds like us, artwork, etc... even though we are doing just a short run (100) to sell at coffeehouses, bars, etc... it is still a lot of work and thought (and the 300 plus bucks as well), and i have trepidation that it will stink.
anyone else go through this as you prepared to put something out to sell with your tunes (ours is 13 songs-11 orig and 2 public domain)?

ira

[rixter]

Ira: I've just traveled through that valley with a folksinger who put out her first cd this year (the cd release party was yesterday in fact). Luckily I had very little on the line with it (other than my credibility as a player - which was minimal to start with http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif ). She, on the other hand poured countless hours recording/re-recording/mixing/re-mixing ad nauseum. Ultimately there's no end to the amount of time/effort/angst/and $$$$ that you can spend on a project like that and still not be satisfied at the end. The only thing you can do is finish it up to your best ability and move on to the next project.The biggest help is to have somebody who's been through it and knows how to prepare for the recording process and where to draw the line. Now I know why so many recording artists can't stand to hear a record once they've completed and released it - after spending so many hours listening and tweaking things, it gets kind of nauseating.The biggest benefit that I can see is the amount of experience that everybody got. Beyond that it's like casting your bread on the waters - you never know what you'll get, whether people will like it or what will happen. One of the tracks got selected for a CBC1 Mother's Day program - my harp break got played all across Canada- so life is full of surprises.

[MartinD_GibsonA]

The first time you think, "OK, this is pretty good", leave it alone. First impressions are usually right, and you're likely to screw up a good thing in your search for absolute perfection!

Don Smith

[Fretbear]

I get rough cuts of any proposed pieces for release and I listen to them incessantly, until I not only have developed an aural "relationship" with each number, but am also implicitly aware of any and all of the number's strength and/or weaknesses. This allows me to know pretty early if a number can stand up to repeated listening (and scrutiny) and also allows me to get to a place where I can get behind a number emotionally, which for me means: This is what I do, to the best of my ability at the time I recorded it, and I believe in it and make no apologies for it; which is a must if it is going to go out in the world with my name on it.... that's just me.....

[ira]

thanks for the advice guys. it is so hard to balance the raw feel we want with a somewhat more polished piece for production. trial and error!

[Hoyt]

Ira,

I've heard some of your stuff on another thread here.
Trust me, your CD will sound good if it's anything like that.

I'd go with what you call "raw" sounding because it's a very natural/pleasing sound. Your songs are good, that's the main thing.

You could spend a bunch more to have it mastered, but I don't think that will improve it much. And it will just hold things up and make it tougher to complete the project.

Good luck and let us know what you end up doing.

Hoyt

[ira]

hoyt,

thanks for the kind words, truly made me feel more comfortable about all of this.:)

[Spruce]

"You could spend a bunch more to have it mastered, but I don't think that will improve it much."

Call it what you will (most people call it "mastering"), but I would definitely run your project past a set of fresh ears...

It's very important to get the levels up to where they should be so that your CD doesn't get lost in the "volume wars shuffle"--a common problem in home-produced projects....

I like to send a project out to a few friends who have some mastering knowledge, let them have a go at it, and then pick the finished CD I like the best.

To reciprocate, I'll have a go at their stuff...
It's a nice, sybiotic relationship... #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

"...retouching songs to give them a better sound, but still leaving it a little rough so it sounds like us..."

In this day and age where everything is so-ooo perfect on every CD (mainly because with ProTools it's so-ooo easy to do so), I love to hear stuff that has raw edges on it. #

I like to hear a song speed up or slow down a bit, or an occasional clam. #

That's the music I grew up on and still listen to, and the click-tracked, auto-tuned, Strobo-tuned stuff that passes for music these days just doesn't pull my ears to the speakers...

[Chip Booth]

Just a thought on mixing and mastering, I don't know how you are recording the project but I have worked on many recording projects in a wide variety of circumstances and, unless you are working with a talented engineer who is using other recordings as a reference through much of the project you may be dissapointed when comparing your sound to 'pro' records. #Often what sounds good to you or sounds correct in the studio environment can be decieving. #It's such a joy to hear your sound loud and clear and get a nice performance and you can get lost in what you hear. Either as you are making or once you have made a mix be sure to listen to a favourite record and see how it compares. #Is the vocal upfront enough? #Is there enough high end? (There never is in my experience.) #Are the solos buried or too in your face? #These things become more obvious when comparing with other records. #You may not be trying emulate another recording, but it gives you some idea of what works and what doesn't. #If you have already finished your mixes you can still do a lot in mastering, even doing it yourself with a couple of really nice pieces of gear or good software.

[ethanopia]

Tomorrow I am taking our 6 track home recorded demo to the duplicator for a run of 250. I'm going to IBMA to hand them out to everyone and their brother...

I'm nervous too, It's my first large run of cds but I think the final product sounds great. #Our guitar player is a real whiz at the home recording thing and did a fine job.

We did however run it over to a studio and they "mastered" it for 25 bucks a song. #Its a pretty good deal if you think about it $150 to tweak it up and polish it to a nice shine.

I know what you mean ira it can be a bit nerve racking, until this point we have been making cds home burned and packaged in batches of 25 so this is our first mass produced one, but I'm pretty excited, Ican post some mp3s to our site if anyone is interested, can you post any of yours ira?

[ira]

would like to run it over to master it, but at 13 songs- just can't afford it.
we did actually run it by a few folks to get their opinions and did a little altering here and there.

[ira]

well.... did the best we could. had a computer savy friend help with art work ( i like a simple easy format for visuals), and getting it off to the dup folks this afternoon. should have the cd by the weekend or monday at the latest. pretty happy with it. really eclectic mix of tunes from slow low-down blues to straight folk and more. whew!