Members Roy Brooks Posted July 5, 2009 Members Share Posted July 5, 2009 A few weeks ago I made a CD called Graveyard Guitar, a collection of nine acoustic guitar instrumentals- blues and late 19th century black gospel and four "originals" that were influenced by southeastern Alabama graveyards, and early blues and gospel. I did the CD on my own recording equipment, burn the CDs myself, and drew the artwork and liner notes. And I ordered some cardboard CD jackets to put them in. So far so good. I have sold a few and everybody who bought or was given a copy, directly from me in person or online, told me later that they really liked the music. The front picture and the liner notes were copied onto parchment colored paper. When I cut the picture and the liner notes out of the paper I have a scrap piece that I could either throw out or use to make stuff with. So I decided to make stuff with it. Since the CD is called Graveyard Guitar I decided to draw pictures of tombstones and graveyard scenes based on my memories of graveyards I visited in southeastern Alabama. Then I glue the pictures to card stock and make cards with them. They could be note cards, I reckon. They also stand up and could be prominently displayed if somebody was inclined to do that with them. But with the scrap piece of paper I can make about five of them. And with the scrap card stock I decided to make some boxes to put the Graveyard Guitar CD in along with the five or so cards. And I drew a graveyard scene to put on the front of the box. The box Inside the box And underneath the CD The picture and liner notes on the CD are copied. But the front of the box and the pictures on the cards are originals. It takes me about an hour to make each one including putting the box together. The picture that you see is of the very first box I made. The couple more boxes I made look a little bit better than this box. Basically I am just making it up as I go along. I created a "record label"- Hobson Dog Records www.myspace.com/graveyardguitar to put the stuff I record on my recording equipment on. So far I have assembled about four different CDs of my stuff. Graveyard Guitar is the first completed one. I am still toying around with different ideas for the different CDs. With the boxes and cards I have been making I reckon I could call it a "limited edition" version of Graveyard Guitar. And since the artwork on the cards and box are original I could call this stuff "original southeastern Alabama folk art" if I wanted since I am definitely from southeastern Alabama and am very familiar with the subject matter. And I am very much an untrained "artist". Actually, I am just a guitar player who plays in working bands but also records his own stuff at home. And I am trying out different ways to present my stuff. At least for these CDs- Graveyard Guitar and a few more I have been working on at home- I am doing it all at home as "DIY" as possible since I have the stuff here at the house to make it. I might as well. And this is definitely not pop music. I am not marketing this stuff to be played on the radio. This is pretty raw stuff. And the other stuff I record that isn't Graveyard Guitar or acoustic fingerpicked blues and gospel leans toward the experimental, minimalist, atonal, and possibly avant garde. Very limited audience stuff. But it is stuff I like. The music I spend most of my time listening to isnt too far removed from the stuff I record. But what do y'all think about this here box with cards in it idea for putting some copies of my CD in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Pankot Posted July 5, 2009 Members Share Posted July 5, 2009 As your overall idea is covered in the other thread you started ("DIY") I'll just comment on the "box with cards" angle. Packing CDs in more than just plain jewel cases is becoming more common, as artists looking to promote their work divide their market into those who just want the tune (more likely to purchase digital download) and those who are also collectors, demanding something more tangible. Hence the appearance of "deluxe editions", sometimes limited editions. Off the top of my head... Radiohead's In Rainbows, Steve Wilson's Insurgentes, Metallica's "Coffin Box" DM, even Judas Priest with Nostradamus... However, if you're doing everything yourself, preparing any extras - whatever they may be - is expensive - in time if not in hard cash. And you're not likely to sell more CDs as a result; the extras are there to encourage the fan who is already keen to buy the CD to pay more for it. So you need to price accordingly. There is probably a maximum price you can get away with (only you can judge that) so that should inform the extent to which you add "extras." Since you state that your work is "limited audience stuff", I'm guessing that you would judge this effort a success if you built up a small but loyal fanbase. Such a fanbase will react positively, on the whole, to collectibles. Whereas, if you were a completely different style of artist, pursuing a wide but more fickle audience (i.e. mainstream pop/rock) then it would be wiser to concentrate on selling more CDs at a much lower unit cost - duplicate the CDs professionally and sell from a box at gigs. All imho, ymmv, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Roy Brooks Posted July 5, 2009 Author Members Share Posted July 5, 2009 As your overall idea is covered in the other thread you started ("DIY") I'll just comment on the "box with cards" angle.Packing CDs in more than just plain jewel cases is becoming more common, as artists looking to promote their work divide their market into those who just want the tune (more likely to purchase digital download) and those who are also collectors, demanding something more tangible.Hence the appearance of "deluxe editions", sometimes limited editions. Off the top of my head... Radiohead's In Rainbows, Steve Wilson's Insurgentes, Metallica's "Coffin Box" DM, even Judas Priest with Nostradamus...However, if you're doing everything yourself, preparing any extras - whatever they may be - is expensive - in time if not in hard cash. And you're not likely to sell more CDs as a result; the extras are there to encourage the fan who is already keen to buy the CD to pay more for it. So you need to price accordingly. There is probably a maximum price you can get away with (only you can judge that) so that should inform the extent to which you add "extras."Since you state that your work is "limited audience stuff", I'm guessing that you would judge this effort a success if you built up a small but loyal fanbase. Such a fanbase will react positively, on the whole, to collectibles.Whereas, if you were a completely different style of artist, pursuing a wide but more fickle audience (i.e. mainstream pop/rock) then it would be wiser to concentrate on selling more CDs at a much lower unit cost - duplicate the CDs professionally and sell from a box at gigs.All imho, ymmv, etc. Thanks. I agree with everything you said. I'm just doing this stuff- the box with cards in it, individually hand drawn CD covers, etc- on a very limited basis with scrap paper on my own time as I feel like it. It gets me off the computer for awhile. And I actually really enjoy doing it. Sure, it takes a little extra time. But at least for now I really don't mind. These are my very first completely solo CDs. And I am making at least the first batch at home in limited quantities since I really don't expect to sell a bunch of them. If it turns out that I actually do sell more than I think I will then I will try some other methods. The "limited edition" stuff does take longer to make, maybe an hour for each one. And that includes everything from making the box to drawing the pictures. You'd be surprised at how fast I draw those pictures. A lot less work goes into it than you might think. I have these scrap pieces of paper which I draw on with a pen rather than throw away. It actually cuts down on how much I spend on supplies. The pictures for some of the hand drawn CD covers actually come from the sheet that the Graveyard Guitar CD pictures are printed on. One of the things that makes these homemade hand made CDs and jackets possible is that I don't work during the day. I play music full time and make my own schedule. A lot of the work for these CDs gets done between two and seven or eight in the morning while my wife is sleeping. It is quiet time. I am not practicing guitar or doing a lot of recording at that time. And by that time of the morning I am done with the computer. So I might as well put these CDs together. Monetarily these CDs are really cheap to make. I price them fairly. Yet I still make a profit for each one I sell. I have already recouped my investment for Graveyard Guitar. Most of the other CD jackets I make for Spontaneous Guitar and Alabama Space Monkeys CDs are made from Graveyard Guitar CD scraps. And it only takes about ten minutes to make each Graveyard Guitar CD. I glue the front and back to the jacket as the CD is burning. And I only make four or five at a time at my leisure. And like I already said, if this gets to be too much for me to handle I will explore other methods. But at the present time what I am doing works for me now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Roy Brooks Posted July 5, 2009 Author Members Share Posted July 5, 2009 I posted some of my CDs on eBay last night and sold a couple including the first box set to a cat in the Netherlands today. I reckon it is time to make more boxes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Roy Brooks Posted July 7, 2009 Author Members Share Posted July 7, 2009 Two more boxes made and ready to go. Making records=arts and crafts for musicians Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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