I'm Doing It All Myself Without A Computer

[Roy Brooks]

All I use a computer for is to talk about my stuff and to look up places to send my stuff for review. Everything, except for the occasional trip to Staples, is done by me by myself. I record, mix, master, burn CDs, do artwork and liner notes, and put the thing together.

 

The first one I did was this one.

 

It is all acoustic guitar and only one guitar on each selection. There is a link in my signature to the Graveyard Guitar MySpace Music site if you want to hear some of it. I finished it up a couple weeks ago and have sold about ten of them so far. Pretty soon I am going to send a few to a few places I think might possibly dig it and review it. Graveyard Guitar is also the most commercial stuff I recorded.

 

But I am pretty realistic about what I do. All the stuff I record is instrumental and leans toward the "experimental", I reckon. Some folks would call it weird {censored}. And most people probably wouldn't like my stuff. I am cool with that since I don't like most music most people like. And I have no aspirations to sell thousands of CDs. I aim to sell no more than twenty or so of each release. That is why I do the artwork and only make about ten or fifteen copies of each thing I make. Though I can make more if anybody shows enough interest to make me think I ought to.

 

I have my own "record label" that I put everything I record on. The first one was called Graveyard Guitar. The next two are Alabama Space Monkeys. One will be a limited edition two CD set.

 

Here is the artwork for the single CD.

 

And this is the artwork for the very limited edition two CD set.

 

The Alabama Space Monkeys MySpace Music site is at www.myspace.com/alabamaspacemonkeys

 

Both those will be on the Hobson Dog Records label along with Graveyard Guitar. And as I record more stuff I will make new CDs and add them to the Hobson Dog Records catalog.

[slight-return]

 

All I use a computer for is to talk about my stuff and to look up places to send my stuff for review. ... I record, mix, master, burn CDs, do artwork and liner notes, and put the thing together. ... That is why I do the artwork and only make about ten or fifteen copies of each thing I make.

 

 

 

For that low of a volume (10-15 per) that you could ditch a dedicated CD duplicator or the burner in a dedicated digi recorder [which is really a specialized computer, but I dig what ya mean] -- depending on how you work

 

and just use your personal computer for that too

[BlueStrat]

Sometimes, DIY isn't a good idea, and results in diminishing returns.

 

Just sayin'.

[Roy Brooks]

 

-- depending on how you work and just use your personal computer for that too

 

 

My recorder is a Yamaha AW1600. It has a CD burner built in. It only burns one CD at a time. But it only takes five or ten minutes to burn a CD. Since I am only doing limited runs I burn them one at a time while I am doing stuff in my music room. And before I label a CD and put it in a jewel case or jacket I play a little bit from each selection on the CD on my stereo to make sure it is working.

[slight-return]

 

My recorder is a Yamaha AW1600. It has a CD burner built in.

 

 

yup, hence the or the burner in a dedicated digi recorder part in me first post

 

 

I'd suggest it into the ground and as it EOLs switch over the the PC (as things can be less proprietary, cheaper and faster for the burn, you can chose the SW, you can support multi formats and even media as things change, etc)

[Roy Brooks]

 

Sometimes, DIY isn't a good idea, and results in diminishing returns. Just sayin'.

 

 

Explain please.

 

For the stuff I record by myself on my recording equipment DIY is the very best idea for the stuff I do. And by doing my own artwork it costs me no more than $100 to make fifty CDs. All my supplies come from Staples. For each separate release I burn maybe five or six at a time. I have already made back my investment for Graveyard Guitar.

[Roy Brooks]

 

yup, hence the or the burner in a dedicated digi recorder part in me first post I'd suggest it into the ground and as it EOLs switch over the the PC (as things can be less proprietary, cheaper and faster for the burn, you can chose the SW, you can support multi formats and even media as things change, etc)

 

 

What is EOL? Right now I am at the make a few copies and see what happens stage. I can do that without hooking my recorder up to the computer. Though I might try what you are talking about if and/or when it looks like I might sell more than I thought I would.

[slight-return]

What is EOL?

[/quote

 

End-of-life

 

Though I might try what you are talking about if and/or when it looks like I might sell more than I thought I would.

 

Even if ya don't I think the switch is worth it as you don't have to port as things change and you can choose what to use (better verification, different formats, flash media, etc)

kinda went through something similar a few years back - I find it's better off keeping the duplicator unit flexible and scalable

[Roy Brooks]

 

What is EOL? [/quote End-of-life Even if ya don't I think the switch is worth it as you don't have to port as things change and you can choose what to use (better verification, different formats, flash media, etc) kinda went through something similar a few years back - I find it's better off keeping the duplicator unit flexible and scalable

 

 

I am trying to dig what you are talking about. But I do not know what verification, different formats, and flash media are. Nor do I understand scalable.

[richardmac]

I dig the whole DIY thing. But it depends what you want to do. For my first CD, I made them myself. Burn the CD on my computer, print the artwork on my computer, and hand-wrote on the CD's. So they looked good on the outside but not the inside.

 

My second CD, I did a little different. I had discmakers make me up 50 cases with artwork and 50 CD's with my design printed on them, and send them to me, and I burned them. Saved a little money burning them myself.

 

When I ran out of those and needed more copies of my first CD, I bought an Epson printer that could print on CD's and DVDs, and bought the high quality blank CD's from discmakers. And they look damn good - they're glossy. The final output looks really good. So I'm sort of making more copies of CD's 1 and 2 by hand.

 

But for my new CD, which I'm recording in July, I'm letting discmakers do the whole deal, including shrink wrapping. It sounds stupid, but I am convinced I would have sold more CD's if they'd been shrink wrapped. I've talked to other musicians who feel the same way - it just looks way more professional and people take it more seriously when they pick it up and look at it.

 

I'm thinking that I may go ahead and do short runs (maybe 50 copies each) of my first and second CD's, just to have more good looking merch to sell at gigs.

 

Maybe that's what BlueStrat was saying.

[slight-return]

 

But I do not know what verification, different formats, and flash media are. Nor do I understand scalable.

 

 

verification is read-verification (different software can perform different test to make sure the data is readable, can be helpful)

different formats -- well, there are a couple of different things there - there are file and file system formats (you may find yourself at some point wanting to release extra material or "ipod friendly" or even "headphone optimized" files) and media formats (there are different types of CD-Rs)

media types (like flash drives, DVD, etc) - as the tech marches, we get more options such as cool little releases on thumb drives, etc - and some options can fall by the wayside (such as compact cassette) -- this may be especially important for you as your current volume makes the per-units costs possible and you mentioned it's kind of experimental music so your target audience may include early adopters

 

 

scalable means able to change scale -- the CD writer n the workstation and the way you work (hand checking each disk, etc) might be OK for now, but you may find yourself wanting to release larger volumes or working on collaboration...if the solution is scalable you can do the small scale (as you are now) AND MOVE to the larger scale (as you might) WITHOUT having to rework the solution.

 

So - to break it down to single deal - using the general purpose box allows you to navigate changes easily without having to re-engineer the solution

Which can be ESPECIALLY important for very limited run material (a big run operation can take the front-heavy hit retooling b/c it's going to be used for a long run and the tolling hassle gets amortized across more units...not so with smaller runs)

[BlueStrat]

 

Explain please. .

 

 

 

Well, not to be harsh, but the artwork is amateurish and looks like it was done either by a 12 year old or by someone who didn't give a crap what their product looks like. If it works for you, that's cool, but I wouldn't even pick up a CD to look at it if it had artwork like that.

 

Again, just sayin'. WTF do I know?

[Roy Brooks]

 

verification is read-verification (different software can perform different test to make sure the data is readable, can be helpful) different formats -- well, there are a couple of different things there - there are file and file system formats (you may find yourself at some point wanting to release extra material or "ipod friendly" or even "headphone optimized" files) and media formats (there are different types of CD-Rs) media types (like flash drives, DVD, etc) - as the tech marches, we get more options such as cool little releases on thumb drives, etc - and some options can fall by the wayside (such as compact cassette) -- this may be especially important for you as your current volume makes the per-units costs possible and you mentioned it's kind of experimental music so your target audience may include early adopters scalable means able to change scale -- the CD writer n the workstation and the way you work (hand checking each disk, etc) might be OK for now, but you may find yourself wanting to release larger volumes or working on collaboration...if the solution is scalable you can do the small scale (as you are now) AND MOVE to the larger scale (as you might) WITHOUT having to rework the solution. So - to break it down to single deal - using the general purpose box allows you to navigate changes easily without having to re-engineer the solution Which can be ESPECIALLY important for very limited run material (a big run operation can take the front-heavy hit retooling b/c it's going to be used for a long run and the tolling hassle gets amortized across more units...not so with smaller runs)

 

 

Thanks. Not only did I get good advice but I learned some new terms as well.

 

Graveyard Guitar came about because I was fascinated by some Mississippi Fred McDowell footage I watched and listened to. I was really liking the sound of his acoustic archtop guitar. But most of the sound I was liking was a result of room sound. So I did some experimenting with microphones in my music room until I got a sound I liked. And I proceeded to record some tunes with an acoustic guitar and a couple microphones, one close to the sound hole and one in the center of the room high up close to the ceiling. I was basically trying to imitate the sound of field recordings. Being a graveyard enthusiast I was looking at some pictures somebody took of some graveyards in southeastern Alabama where I am from. And that is when I decided to call the thing Graveyard Guitar. So I did a couple fingerpicking arrangements of old black gospel tunes since most old graveyards were by or near a church. I drew a picture of a grave that I am very familiar with. And I got some cardboard jackets from a company who made similar sleeves for a John Fahey record I have. A few folks have bought them. And the folks that did buy it seem to really like it.

 

The Alabama Space Monkeys Explore The Inca Ruins Of Your Mind thing is just a one off thing that I decided to do when I saw that Staples had some two CD jewel cases. I bought ten jewel cases so I am making ten sets- two I am keeping and the others to sell if anybody buys them. The recording method for that is exactly the same as for Graveyard Guitar. But this time I recorded acoustic guitar instrumental stuff that is not roots-based and is more influenced by Jandek and Derek Bailey. The artwork drawn by me instead of hiring somebody else to do it was influenced to some degree by Daniel Johnston. But the thing I have to give the most credit to for making me think I could make some CDs myself was a book I read called I Hate The Man Who Runs This Bar by Dr. Eugene Chadbourne, one of my heroes. Many of his CD jackets were made in his house. And every time I find a Eugene Chadbourne record or CD I immediately get it.

 

I really don't know what I am going to do when I decide to record more CDs, or whatever medium I decide to use. I haven't gotten to that stage yet. If what I am doing now works I may continue making more in a similar fashion. Though I may take some of your advice and try some of the things you mentioned too. But first I need to get these few I am working on now done.

[Roy Brooks]

 

Well, not to be harsh, but the artwork is amateurish and looks like it was done either by a 12 year old or by someone who didn't give a crap what their product looks like. If it works for you, that's cool, but I wouldn't even pick up a CD to look at it if it had artwork like that. Again, just sayin'. WTF do I know?

 

 

You trying to crush my dreams or what?

 

You are also making that comment to somebody who knows at least as much about playing music and making money from it as you do. I play paid gigs all the time and have been doing it since the 1970s. And I don't work a day job either. Not that there is anything wrong with it. But I am a 46 year old man. I do what I want because I can.

[BlueStrat]

You trying to crush my dreams or what? You are also making that comment to somebody who knows at least as much about playing music and making money from it as you do. I play paid gigs all the time and have been doing it since the 1970s. And I don't work a day job either. Not that there is anything wrong with it. But I am a 46 year old man. I do what I want because I can.

 

Hey, you asked.

 

Crush your dreams? Please. I didn't say you don't know anything. I said your artwork looks amateurish which, IMO, it does, and it wouldn't make me want to buy your homemade CDs. No need to get all Nancy about it. So what if you've played music for 100 years? It still doesn't make you a graphic artist, does it? You're free to do what you want, and if you're so successful, what do you care what I think? I hope you sell a million.

[Roy Brooks]

Hey, you asked. Crush your dreams? Please. I didn't say you don't know anything. I said your artwork looks amateurish which, IMO, it does, and it wouldn't make me want to buy your homemade CDs. No need to get all Nancy about it. So what if you've played music for 100 years? It still doesn't make you a graphic artist, does it? You're free to do what you want, and if you're so successful, what do you care what I think? I hope you sell a million.

 

You could make your own CDs at your house if you wanted. I assume you have a music room in your house. And I reckon you could afford some recording equipment. You could even draw your own CD covers. All you need is some paper and fountain pens. You probably have some paper and fountain pens somewhere. If not you could go to the drugstore and get some.

 

All things considered, if you made a CD in your house and did every bit of it yourself I would want to buy it, especially if you drew the cover.

[kurdy]

It depends on who your audience is. I've seen quite a bit of CDs, even on major labels that actually try and imitate that DIY look. If you're aiming for a younger, or more "indie" audience, such a crowd really wouldn't be turned off by that kind of artwork.

 

If it's a release from a pop artist aimed at mainstream audiences, or even the more traditional genres such as jazz or blues, then yeah, it's usually the standard glossy photo of the band/artist on the front, with the artist's name in a shiny typeface, and the whole nine. But from what the OP describes, that isn't the kind of music he makes, nor the audience he's going for. So in this case, there probably isn't a problem.

 

EDIT: just out of curiousity, I went and listened to your Myspace page. You’re right--totally not the kind of music I would put on just for the sake of it. But I do think it would work as music accompanying something—like some kind of trippy, short animated film. I like the cheesy organ sounds on the second track. If it were me, I might want to explore that more layered approach further, and add more weird sounds and effects to the mix.

 

But yeah, I think the packaging works as a pretty good reflection of the music. Good luck in your endeavor.

[BlueStrat]

 

It depends on who your audience is. I've seen quite a bit of CDs, even on major labels that actually try and imitate that DIY look. If you're aiming for a younger, more "indie" audience, such a crowd really wouldn't be turned off by that kind of artwork. If it's a release from a pop artist aimed at mainstream audiences, or even the more traditional genres such as jazz or blues, then yeah, it's usually the standard glossy photo of the band/artist on the front, with the artist's name in a shiny typeface, and the whole nine. But from what the OP describes, that isn't the kind of music he makes, nor the audience he's going for. So in this case, there probably isn't a problem.

 

 

Well, it's all a matter of preference, I suppose. I just think there's enough homemade crap in the market now. Then again, I wouldn't buy a car that someone painted with a roller and brush, either. I don't see the point in DIY if the results are mediocre to poor. Being DIY is not a virtue in and of itself.

[kurdy]

Well, it's all a matter of preference, I suppose. I just think there's enough homemade crap in the market now. Then again, I wouldn't buy a car that someone painted with a roller and brush, either. I don't see the point in DIY if the results are mediocre to poor. Being DIY is not a virtue in and of itself.

 

I absolutely agree. If the music sucks, it's going to suck, no matter how it's packaged. I'm just saying not everyone will automatically see DIY as a detriment. Different audiences have different expectations. And if the music does happen to suck, they'll find out soon enough anyway.

[Roy Brooks]

To summarize, it is basically an experiment. I came up with the concept of Graveyard Guitar a few weeks ago after I had recorded some music that was influenced by country blues and gospel acoustic fingerpicking music and specifically Mississippi and Gulf Coast fingerpicking as opposed to, say, Piedmont picking which is slightly different.

 

1) I thought I should call it something. Graveyard Guitar came to mind because my biggest interest besides music is old and rural graveyards. I spent my formative guitar and graveyard exploring years in southeastern Alabama.

 

2) Upon coming up with the name Graveyard Guitar I thought I should figure out what to do about the artwork, liner notes, titles for tunes, packaging, etc. So I just did it. I found some cardboard CD jackets that looked appealing to me. I drew a picture of a tomb that is in a southeastern Alabama graveyard that I am very familiar with. I was a mechanical draftsman for a spell during my day job working days. So I knew how to letter, hence the handwritten liner notes. And I gave the "original" tunes southeastern graveyard-themed names.

 

3) I have quite a few of those cardboard CD jackets. And I thought maybe I should put some of the other stuff I had been recording and am still recording on CDs that I could also put in those cardboard CD jackets. For some reason the name Alabama Space Monkeys came to mind. And I drew a picture that represented Alabama Space Monkeys, the second picture I posted. And that picture will be used on the stuff that I want to put under the name Alabama Space Monkeys. But all the "official releases" of things I record will be in those cardboard CD jackets with things I have drawn glued to them.

 

4) The thing entitled Alabama Space Monkeys Explore The Inca Ruins Of Your Mind two CD thing is all about "because I can". This is the "psychedelic relic" of the group, influenced by such things as Hampton Grease Band's Music To Eat and Red Crayola's Parable Of Arable Land. This is a) entirely drawn by hand (each CD jacket is slightly different), b) totally instrumental and crazy detuned and unusually tuned guitar, and c) includes one forty two minute selection on one CD and eight shorter pieces on another CD. This is for the hardcore collector geeks. It is not intended to be a normal release but a "limited edition". It is not meant to look like the cardboard jacket stuff. Also, I can make up stuff like this just whenever I get a hankering to do it. And it can be anything I want it to be. Because I can.

 

But I am really just trying things out. I like DIY. Many of my favorite records are DIY in varying degrees. And I think that it fits with the particular kind of music I record that I think goes with that concept. Other things I record, by myself and with other people that I don't think would fit the DIY thing I will find some other way to present and maybe not so DIY.

 

5) All of the stuff I have recorded by myself has not been pop music nor is it stuff that I think I could fit into a particular already established genre.

 

6) I need an outlet for the music I make that is completely separate from what I play in bands since in bands I am generally a hired sideman.

 

7) The doing it without a computer thing is partly about being 46 and of the pre-computer age and the sort of music Graveyard Guitar was influenced by and which is also definitely of the pre-computer age and partly of the pre-electricity age.

 

8) I actually have some ideas of how I want to "market" some of this stuff. But at this stage of the game I am still in the process of putting these things together. Once I have three or four or so completed "CD projects" and a small selection of them to do things with I will start dealing with what exactly I will ultimately do with them. I have considered sending copies of the CDs, maybe without the artwork, to some folks I know or who my sister knows who make independent films. I have also considered sending Graveyard Guitar to various publications that review CDs and which I think might like the stuff on it. And I might possibly sell more. I have already sold a few. I reckon I should try selling more. But I really need to finish up the "products" before I take the next step and start sending them places and doing things with them. It is all part of the master plan. And that plan may go through many changes as I get more involved with it.

 

9) Basically what happens happens. I am really just making this stuff because I want to.

[BlueStrat]

 

To summarize, it is basically an experiment. I came up with the concept of Graveyard Guitar a few weeks ago after I had recorded some music that was influenced by country blues and gospel acoustic fingerpicking music and specifically Mississippi and Gulf Coast fingerpicking as opposed to, say, Piedmont picking which is slightly different.

 

 

I meant to tell you, I do like your picking style.

[slight-return]

7) The doing it without a computer thing is partly about being 46 and of the pre-computer age and the sort of music Graveyard Guitar was influenced by and which is also definitely of the pre-computer age and partly of the pre-electricity age.

 

A couple of things to consider

-being in your 40s doesn't put you out of the computer age (kurfu and I are both in our 40s and had a little reminiscence about some of the computer technologies not-so-far past) in a lot of ways you've surfed the wave in -- you ain't exactly calling us on the telephone

 

-You ARE using a computer. Ya know that digital recording station...it's a...yup

I mean you are even burning to CD -- you ain't exactly cutting to wax

 

 

seriously though (well that actually was, but...)- I just bring that up b/c we're not talking about a painstaking historical reconstruction deal -- so you have some degrees of freedom to make it easy on yourself.

the internal burner is fine for now as you are already rolling - I suggest the migration so you don't run into the wall in a little bit and have more flex

[Roy Brooks]

 

I meant to tell you, I do like your picking style.

 

 

Thanks.

[Roy Brooks]

A couple of things to consider -being in your 40s doesn't put you out of the computer age (kurfu and I are both in our 40s and had a little reminiscence about some of the computer technologies not-so-far past) in a lot of ways you've surfed the wave in -- you ain't exactly calling us on the telephone -You ARE using a computer. Ya know that digital recording station...it's a...yup I mean you are even burning to CD -- you ain't exactly cutting to wax seriously though (well that actually was, but...)- I just bring that up b/c we're not talking about a painstaking historical reconstruction deal -- so you have some degrees of freedom to make it easy on yourself. the internal burner is fine for now as you are already rolling - I suggest the migration so you don't run into the wall in a little bit and have more flex

 

Somewhere around here I have a book about computers that was written in the 1960s or early 1970s. I am definitely of the computer age. And I would imagine that there were computers in some form in 1962 when I was born.

 

I reckon my recording machine, a digital one, is a kind of computer. I reckon what I actually meant to say is that I am not using my Mac laptop as part of the recording or CD jacket making process. Well, I guess in a way I do. Whenever I record something that I know that I will want to keep I put it on a "master" or reference CD and then put that music in my iTunes.

 

I don't consider myself to be very computer-savvy. I am not particularly interested in computers. Only briefly, maybe a couple years, did I work a job where using a computer was part of my job. I am not a techno geek. I am a geek in other areas. Though I use the internet sometimes to gather information about the things I do geek about.

 

Yes, the CD burner in my recording machine is fine for now since I basically make one at a time at my leisure. If I ever see that I need to try a different method I will go get the required device and start using it.

 

With Graveyard Guitar I put the cardboard CD jackets together first. For each CD I cut out the picture and liner notes from the page it was copied onto and then glue the picture and liner notes to the jacket as the CD is burning. When the CD is finalized and is ejected from the recording machine I stick it in my CD player to make sure it is working and then write information on it and stick it in the jacket. And I repeat. Maybe ten minutes per CD. The other method is that I already have the picture and liner notes glued to the jacket and I burn CDs for the jackets as I am doing other things in my music room.

 

For now the thing called Alabama Space Monkeys Explore The Inca Ruins Of Your Mind is all done by hand. Each picture and liner notes is drawn and written by hand with scraps from what is left from the page that I cut the Graveyard Guitar picture and liner notes out of. Though if I do much at all with this stuff I will be making copies of that stuff too.

 

I don't know if any of y'all noticed but neither Graveyard Guitar or Alabama Space Monkeys Explore The Inca Ruins Of Your Mind has my name on the front. On the back of Graveyard Guitar it does say Roy Brooks- guitar. But not on the front. Alabama Space Monkeys does not have my name on the back but is mentioned as part of the liner notes when you open up the jacket or jewel case. I did not intend to call them Roy Brooks- Graveyard Guitar or Roy Brooks- Alabama Space Monkeys Explore The Inca Ruins Of Your Mind. Although I did play everything on them they are intended to appear to be two completely separate entities that are on the Hobson Dog Records "label".

[Synonym Music]

Well, not to be harsh, but the artwork is amateurish and looks like it was done either by a 12 year old or by someone who didn't give a crap what their product looks like. If it works for you, that's cool, but I wouldn't even pick up a CD to look at it if it had artwork like that. Again, just sayin'. WTF do I know?