Members Billster Posted December 20, 2005 Members Share Posted December 20, 2005 Originally posted by elamberth On a whim, I sent a recording to Recording Magazine and got a good review. This gave me the confidence to release a full CD (takes me about 2 years to finish a full length CD) with CD baby, and I continue to get sales on the CD and through digital distribution. 3 independent radio stations (on 3 continents) contacted me and play my music, and I am thrilled at this small modicum of success! I am now 99.99% done with my second CD, and looking to scrape up the funds for a release, and I'm thinking about my next project! Not a whim, but that's my goal for the coming year. Turning 40 gives you a little push You should be proud of the interest you have earned. What part of PA are you in? I grew up down in the southeast corner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members elamberth Posted December 20, 2005 Members Share Posted December 20, 2005 Billster, I'm outside of philly. Thanks for the support from you and Phil. CD Baby has been great, and I would recommend them highly if anyone is considering an independent release. My biggest hurdle is [still] distribution and publicity, especially since this is a part time hobby. But, I guess that's the case with everybody. My son is convinced that I should take out a TV ad for the CD during the superbowl. Now let's see, where did I put that spare million dollars... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Billster Posted December 20, 2005 Members Share Posted December 20, 2005 Originally posted by elamberth Billster, I'm outside of philly. I'll be passing through there next week on the way to my sister's place out on the main line. I'll wave out the window. Playing any gigs? Originally posted by elamberth Thanks for the support from you and Phil. You're welcome. Originally posted by elamberth CD Baby has been great, and I would recommend them highly if anyone is considering an independent release. My biggest hurdle is [still] distribution and publicity, especially since this is a part time hobby. But, I guess that's the case with everybody. My son is convinced that I should take out a TV ad for the CD during the superbowl. Now let's see, where did I put that spare million dollars... I know a few other people who have used CD Baby and they are very user friendly. Can you post a direct link to your page, I'm gonna order a couple of discs from them after Christmas if Santa Claus doesn't come through on 'em Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted December 20, 2005 Members Share Posted December 20, 2005 CDBaby is wonderful. I've had nothing but great experiences with them, both with my stuff and my band's. Also, through them, I was able to contribute to Katrina relief through CD sales....very cool!! Elamberth, congratulations on your success!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EerieDreamZ Posted December 21, 2005 Members Share Posted December 21, 2005 Originally posted by elamberth Billster, I'm outside of philly. Thanks for the support from you and Phil. CD Baby has been great, and I would recommend them highly if anyone is considering an independent release. My biggest hurdle is [still] distribution and publicity, especially since this is a part time hobby. But, I guess that's the case with everybody. My son is convinced that I should take out a TV ad for the CD during the superbowl. Now let's see, where did I put that spare million dollars... Thanks for the info on CD Baby, I'm nearing my cds completion. To answer the initial question though, I do everything BUT the mixdown part. I just dont have the ears to hear the subtleties of it all. I DO have a friend who is a literal genius at it and he makes my work sound really good when all is said and done. I also believe that its a team that makes the best albums. Mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fuzzball Posted December 21, 2005 Members Share Posted December 21, 2005 I know a few other people who have used CD Baby and they are very user friendly. Can you post a direct link to your page, I'm gonna order a couple of discs from them after Christmas if Santa Claus doesn't come through on 'em Feel free to order mine, it will make a nice stocking stuffer! cdbaby.com/quixotic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitwizz Posted December 21, 2005 Members Share Posted December 21, 2005 Im withya bro!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members elamberth Posted December 21, 2005 Members Share Posted December 21, 2005 Here is a link to my CD Baby page: http://cdbaby.com/cd/elamberth I also have a website for the cd: www.CandlewoodBlues.com Yes, I do play a few gigs each year, mostly hospital benefits, cafe's, the occasional private party. I make sure that I can pull off every recorded song live - since I was a performer long before I started recording, that was important to me. That album was made on simple equipment - a Tascam R-8 and a Tascam M-1516 board with a simple Boss reverb and Midiverb III, drum machine and Boss Jamstation. That's it. The Candlewoodblues website has sound samples of everything on the CD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members elamberth Posted December 21, 2005 Members Share Posted December 21, 2005 CDBaby is wonderful. I've had nothing but great experiences with them, both with my stuff and my band's. Also, through them, I was able to contribute to Katrina relief through CD sales....very cool!! Thanks UstadKhanAli! I'm just a hobbiest though with a little training, not in your league... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fuzzball Posted December 21, 2005 Members Share Posted December 21, 2005 Thanks for sharing, I really enjoyed the clips that I heard, I will put that on my list of CD's to get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members xiomara Posted December 22, 2005 Members Share Posted December 22, 2005 i have a VERY modest home studio (a few guitars and amps, M-Audio Luna mic, couple Radio Shack condenser mics, tiny Behringer mixer, 2.1 speaker system and decent headphones). however, i use a PC and with all the software and plugins available i'm able to produce CD quality music. i can't get that 'super pop radio' sound, but there are a ton of artists out there making incredible music of lower sound quality so i don't worry too much about it. i do prefer having my stuff mastered by professionals so it will sound good on different sound systems and also to add that 'analog warmth'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members squealie Posted December 22, 2005 Members Share Posted December 22, 2005 I make records for my band. The last one, we had professionally mastered. Then we press 'em up, and sell 'em. When not tracking or mixing, my DAW is a sketchpad for arrangements. That's about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members logicprofiles Posted December 23, 2005 Members Share Posted December 23, 2005 May i post as pro guy working at home...??? The key factors for professional music made at home are not many, but they are important: - the musical talent - the sound engineering talent - a very good listening environment (loudspeakers model, placement, listener placement and room acoustic) - one single DAW even a free one (any recording software can be enough for a lifetime top selling evergreen. I produce at home music that is sold and distributed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kendrix Posted December 24, 2005 Members Share Posted December 24, 2005 I'm a hobbiest do-it-all type. Completing a sonic production from start to finish is what I do to entertain myself. I don't perform live. I do have a demanding day job. Shoot me. However, I do write, perform, record, mix & master. I also save unmastered 24 bit mixes in case I ever decide to engage a real mastereing service. Ive got a few guitars, one good weighted action keyboard/synth, a sampler, one alto and one tenor sax, Fender Jazz Bass. Ive got a Yammy AW4416 digially linked to Cubase run on a genx clock 24bit/44.1. KRK 7000 monitors driven by Hafler. Some room treatment. Soundeluxe, AKG C460, AT4033 and AM 57/58 mics. GR1NV pre. RNC, Other compressors Tech 21 PSA-1, A few plug ins and a few outboard effects boxes. TC Finalizer for mixdown to 16 bits. HHB 800 real time CD recorder via AES. If I told you how much I have invested in this I'd have to kill you Enhancing my room treatment recently allowed me to improve my mixes a notch. Im starting to feel reasonably good about the sound. Hopefully , I'm still improving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dougb415 Posted December 24, 2005 Members Share Posted December 24, 2005 Originally posted by Kendrix I'm a hobbiest do-it-all type. Completing a sonic production from start to finish is what I do to entertain myself. I'm pretty much the same way, at the moment. I moved from Northern CA (where I was a performing musician) to Alabama to get married earlier this year. I'm not in a band here and don't have any plans to look for one. My wife has an excellent voice and plays guitar, so she doesn't mind that I am turning the upstairs into a studio. We both have fulltime day jobs. We have our 'control room' which has a dedicated P4 PC running Cubase SX 2. Our current interface is a Tascam US-428. Monitors are Behringer Truth 2031As. No real audio treatment in the room to speak of but it is not a box, the floor is carpeted, the ceiling is textured and we have large throw pillows in the some of the corners. We also have an Alesis QuadraSynth Plus that I use strictly as a MIDI controller (nice feel). I mainly use it as a front-end for NI's B4 organ VST. Guitar-wise we have a '68 Gibson Melody Maker, a mid-80s Fender MIJ Stratocaster, an '05 Stellar Les Paul copy, a brand-new Fender MIM Telecaster, an '05 SX Jass/Precision Bass copy and a '99 Yamaha Compass Egyptian edition acoustic/electric. These get played thru a Tech 21 Trademark 10, an Epiphone Valve Junior, a Pignose, a Crate acoustic amp and an SWR LA-10. Mics we currently have include the brand-new Rode K2, 2 Behringer B1s and a Shure SM-58. We have set another bedroom as the 'recording room', even tho right now it is just used for vocals. I also have a few pedals, some little mixers, some VSTs, etc. We did a couple songs in the past month, and even tho I have been in bands for over 30 years, have recorded and have been recorded, I still realize I have a *LOT* to learn. I don't know squat about panning because as a live engineer I always mixed in mono. EQ'ing is still somewhat of a mystery to me; when I look at one of my recordings thru an analyzer, it looks scooped with way too much low-end information. We need to have our control room acoustically treated, because right now my wife and I experiencing that phenomenon that we have ALL gone thru at some point - "Why does it sound so good in the control room, but not as good anywhere else?" .... and yet the reaction (admittedly from non-professionals) has been "This is you two? You're kidding me! It sounds like a real record!" We burned 25 copies of a 4-song CD for family and friends as a small Christmas gift. We had only planned on doing this ourselves as a hobby, but we've already had requests from others to do recording work for them - everything from spoken word to a younger metal band. Should be interesting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members shniggens Posted December 25, 2005 Author Members Share Posted December 25, 2005 This thread is very inspirational. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members C JoGo Posted December 27, 2005 Members Share Posted December 27, 2005 It's all about making the client happy >> on the budget they present.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cada7 Posted January 4, 2006 Members Share Posted January 4, 2006 Great Question! Finally after years and years of slowly assembling a good set of tools, I finally finished a song with a good room, good monitoring, good software, etc. (not to get into all the picky details). I have a fantastic home studio set up for a writer/arranger. Only thing I need is a remote control system (Frontier, or even my trusty SR-16 to send Midi Control.) I have to say that I am EXTREMELY satisfied with the results and plan on completing a small 7 song accoustic CD in the next year - have no idea where it will go. After cutting my teeth on this I will expand to work on some friends' projects. Just need to touch up the mix a bit, but not much. I may wait to upgrade to Sonar 5 for the convolution reverbs for the final cuts, but for now, the song I have turned out quite good. I do agree that mastering / engineering could be much better left to a seasoned professional. I might pursue this after I get the completed tracks. IT IS TRUELY A WONDERFUL AGE WE LIVE IN. God Bless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tusks Posted January 4, 2006 Members Share Posted January 4, 2006 I'm a hobbyist also. My goal is to write and produce a CD of decent quality. I have a number of synths and have had DAWs in the past. Recently got an MBOX 2 to do some more tracks. I don't have any acoustic instruments save my Steinway, so I haven't invested in any studio treatment or mics/pres. It's just a room in my home with a desk, a PC and some electronic noisemakers. My weak spot is that I monitor using lousy speakers (home speakers, headphones, computer speakers, etc.) and that I haven't got a clue about mixing ... but hey ... I'm having fun. Nice to see you here, Shniggens. Jerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members shniggens Posted January 4, 2006 Author Members Share Posted January 4, 2006 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted January 4, 2006 Members Share Posted January 4, 2006 I guess I'm pretty much a non-pro now. But I used to actually work as a fader jockey (I've been traumatized out of calling myself an "engineer" by all those E-degree-jockies out there ) and producer and I've mastered a commercial CD release (I never marketed myself as an ME [er... "mastering 'engineer' "] , it just fell in my lap -- and the customer was already mostly happy with the overall sound so it was more a matter of prepping the master for mid-90s replication. (Now, they're used to everyone and their CD-R masters. Back then, it was totally new to the rep houses and there were still a lot of them who simply wouldn't take a CD-R rep master, wanting the old digital tape formats, instead.) My "band" is me, so at least I don't have to please a lot of people (a lot of personality fragments, perhaps). For the longest time I was geared up to release one or more replicated CD's of my music but the closer I got to being what I considered "ready" -- the more 'behind-the-times' the whole CD distribution thing seemed. And I really HATE the music biz. Since I figured I didn't want to sign my soul away to a label (in the undoubtedly highly unlikely event one would have me) and I knew I didn't want to go to the expense of starting up the kind of promotional mechanism it takes to get CD's distributed and sold, I decided to simply give my music away. (I figured most folks weren't willing to pay for releases by big name artists. It seemed highly unlikely that they would rush to pay for my CD(s).) And once you're giving your music away, $300/hr mastering labs start looking like a foolish indulgence... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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