Releasing your own music on your own label.

frobisher · 13-05-2008 11:05pm

PaulBrewer wrote: »

Completely off topic but .... I generally think the idea of Nicknames on Fora is childish

That means 99.9999% of the internet forum users are childish. Thank god I say!

PaulBrewer · 13-05-2008 11:06pm

frobisher wrote: »

That means 99.9999% of the internet forum users are childish. Thank god I say!

Just cos everyone's at it don't make it right!

PaulBrewer · 13-05-2008 11:08pm

Ball Ox is right though!!!

sei046 · 13-05-2008 11:13pm

I use this as my username everywhere because It was one of those....we dont have that name....or that name......or that one! So it suggested this. Its my username on everything as there is no way I could keep up otherwise!..... But yes thats a complete discussion on its own!

PaulBrewer · 13-05-2008 11:16pm

sei046 wrote: »

I use this as my username everywhere because It was one of those....we dont have that name....or that name......or that one! So it suggested this. Its my username on everything as there is no way I could keep up otherwise!..... But yes thats a complete discussion on its own!

Spose... however yours and my own surname wouldn't be very common!

sei046 · 13-05-2008 11:18pm

No not really but i would hate to have to write DavidArkins in EVERY time? Like DArk or something maybe..... DArk!!!!! I LIKE IT! Mysterious yet factual...........

PaulBrewer · 13-05-2008 11:19pm

sei046 wrote: »

No not really but i would hate to have to write DavidArkins in EVERY time? Like DArk or something maybe..... DArk!!!!! I LIKE IT! Mysterious yet factual...........

P-ewer doesn't really do it for me ......:pac:

sei046 · 13-05-2008 11:28pm

Lol!

sei046 · 13-05-2008 11:29pm

P-ewer... Myseterious, yet factual

frobisher · 13-05-2008 11:35pm

PaulBrewer wrote: »

Just cos everyone's at it don't make it right!

That's what I keep telling people thinking of taking audio courses in Dublin.

PaulBrewer · 13-05-2008 11:37pm

frobisher wrote: »

That's what I keep telling people thinking of taking audio courses in Dublin.

Hell Yea!

sei046 · 13-05-2008 11:37pm

Yeah I definitely agree. I may not know much about music production but what i know I know well and through experience

PaulBrewer · 13-05-2008 11:59pm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/6music/shows/tom_robinsons_introducing/

frobisher · 30-08-2008 11:26pm

Update: I basically decided to set aside the whole summer towards the very unmusical pursuit of getting a wee war chest together to be able to pay for things. Recording/pressing/PR'ing costs money! I'll be doing the entire thing on an absolute shoe string compared to an even modest indie label budget but at least now I have a bit of a budget to play with. No point waiting for someone else to walk into a gig with a cheque book in their hands these days! I've also been playing a regular weekly gig with my partner in crime (a classicaly trained multi-instrumentalist) through the summer, that's been great for getting to know the songs and finding how they feel in front of an audience.

The first recordings should start in the next few weeks. Initially I'll be putting shape on things at home then recording drums (where used) in a studio, possibly along with a few other bits and bobs. Then adding more at home before mixing in the studio. Haven't even looked at what studios yet. Haven't even considered mastering houses or pressing plants or publicity. Just itching to get into the meat and veg of making some music again. Will check by with the odd update following developments all the way through recording to release.

jtsuited · 31-08-2008 12:11pm

frobisher wrote: »

Update: I basically decided to set aside the whole summer towards the very unmusical pursuit of getting a wee war chest together to be able to pay for things. Recording/pressing/PR'ing costs money! I'll be doing the entire thing on an absolute shoe string compared to an even modest indie label budget but at least now I have a bit of a budget to play with. No point waiting for someone else to walk into a gig with a cheque book in their hands these days! I've also been playing a regular weekly gig with my partner in crime (a classicaly trained multi-instrumentalist) through the summer, that's been great for getting to know the songs and finding how they feel in front of an audience.

The first recordings should start in the next few weeks. Initially I'll be putting shape on things at home then recording drums (where used) in a studio, possibly along with a few other bits and bobs. Then adding more at home before mixing in the studio. Haven't even looked at what studios yet. Haven't even considered mastering houses or pressing plants or publicity. Just itching to get into the meat and veg of making some music again. Will check by with the odd update following developments all the way through recording to release.

Sounds good. Good luck with the DIY approach and fair play to ya for gettin a decent budget together to give you a fighting chance.

PaulBrewer · 31-08-2008 2:03pm

frobisher wrote: »

Update: I basically decided to set aside the whole summer towards the very unmusical pursuit of getting a wee war chest together to be able to pay for things. Recording/pressing/PR'ing costs money! I'll be doing the entire thing on an absolute shoe string compared to an even modest indie label budget but at least now I have a bit of a budget to play with. No point waiting for someone else to walk into a gig with a cheque book in their hands these days! I've also been playing a regular weekly gig with my partner in crime (a classicaly trained multi-instrumentalist) through the summer, that's been great for getting to know the songs and finding how they feel in front of an audience.

The first recordings should start in the next few weeks. Initially I'll be putting shape on things at home then recording drums (where used) in a studio, possibly along with a few other bits and bobs. Then adding more at home before mixing in the studio. Haven't even looked at what studios yet. Haven't even considered mastering houses or pressing plants or publicity. Just itching to get into the meat and veg of making some music again. Will check by with the odd update following developments all the way through recording to release.

Best o Luck!

frobisher · 31-08-2008 3:25pm

Thanks Paul & JTSuited. Today I did a bit of pre-prod on a song and have written a new one over brekkie that I'm delighted with. First day that I've woken up with music as my first pursuit in months. Feels f*cking amazing! I'd almost forgotten just how much fun it is making music!

As time goes on I might even give a bit of a break down on exactly what my budget has gone on. Could be a good source f info for others to work from. Although I know that there'll be a lot of, "What the hell are you doing spending €xxx on that for and why aren't you spending more on X, Y and Z?!" :rolleyes:

PaulBrewer · 31-08-2008 3:34pm

frobisher wrote: »

Thanks Paul & JTSuited. Today I did a bit of pre-prod on a song and have written a new one over brekkie that I'm delighted with. First day that I've woken up with music as my first pursuit in months. Feels f*cking amazing! I'd almost forgotten just how much fun it is making music!

As time goes on I might even give a bit of a break down on exactly what my budget has gone on. Could be a good source f info for others to work from. Although I know that there'll be a lot of, "What the hell are you doing spending €xxx on that for and why aren't you spending more on X, Y and Z?!" :rolleyes:

Spend nothing but time til you have the tunes.

frobisher · 31-08-2008 3:40pm

PaulBrewer wrote: »

Spend nothing but time til you have the tunes.

Them I got. Now I gotta bit of cash as well but before jumping in I'll be writing some more and honing what I have. In my heart I'd love to get this all out and done asap but my head knows that an extra month or two spent honing and preparing is well worth the delay to the release date. Speaking of which, does anyone know what are the good or bad times of the year for a small indie release to try and get media converage? Someone suggested that the start of the summer and xmas are bad times. So what are the good ones? What about January?

PaulBrewer · 31-08-2008 3:47pm

frobisher wrote: »

Them I got. Now I gotta bit of cash as well but before jumping in I'll be writing some more and honing what I have. In my heart I'd love to get this all out and done asap but my head knows that an extra month or two spent honing and preparing is well worth the delay to the release date. Speaking of which, does anyone know what are the good or bad times of the year for a small indie release to try and get media converage? Someone suggested that the start of the summer and xmas are bad times. So what are the good ones? What about January?

January is the classic Indie time ok....

You may remember last January 12 months (I think) yer man Mica burst out of nowhere when competition was low.

Not suggesting for a second you sound like him/her...

frobisher · 31-08-2008 3:52pm

PaulBrewer wrote: »

Not suggesting for a second you sound like him/her...

lol Well I'm a light baritone but a punter at my gig last week asked me if I had a tweezers in my pocket. Nowt wrong with winding on a bit of girlie falsetto the odd time! Don't think I'd be into Mika's bright orange pants though. Or the perm. Wouldn't mind the video budget he seems to have though.

frobisher · 30-09-2008 5:22pm

UPDATE:
I'm plugging away at pre-production at the mo. The guy I play with has just gone away on 2 weeks holliers (the bleedin cheek) so that has frustratingly slowed me down a bit but sure I'll survive.We've block booked a lot of time for working together on it between now and the end of November so that feels pretty good. I have to admit that diving back in after a summer away from it is tough. I expected myself to have sparks flying and for the kind of energy and drive that's in my head to manifest itself as great ideas in the music. But the writing and recording process don't worry like that, do it now?!

One exciting thing is that I've decided to nail myself to a very definite date to prevent drifting and pfaffing. Album launch date is now set Friday 30th January in Whelans. There will be a wee Irish tour to promote it too. In the meantime I've a few gigs coming up in various parts of the country which, if not good for creating a buzz are at least good for getting the songs more and more routined.

I'm now at the stage where, aside from the regular guy I play with, I need to start pulling in other musicians, both for the gigs and the recording. I've also decided that self recording & mixing everything is not the route I want to take. But budget is king so may have to bite the bullet on that one. If i can I may end up going to a grown up studio to do drums and then later to mix. We'll see!
Update over for now, but with a date set and the ball rolling, there will be more to come :-)

all the stars · 01-10-2008 8:33am

frobisher wrote: »

UPDATE:
I'm plugging away at pre-production at the mo. The guy I play with has just gone away on 2 weeks holliers (the bleedin cheek) so that has frustratingly slowed me down a bit but sure I'll survive.We've block booked a lot of time for working together on it between now and the end of November so that feels pretty good. I have to admit that diving back in after a summer away from it is tough. I expected myself to have sparks flying and for the kind of energy and drive that's in my head to manifest itself as great ideas in the music. But the writing and recording process don't worry like that, do it now?!

One exciting thing is that I've decided to nail myself to a very definite date to prevent drifting and pfaffing. Album launch date is now set Friday 30th January in Whelans. There will be a wee Irish tour to promote it too. In the meantime I've a few gigs coming up in various parts of the country which, if not good for creating a buzz are at least good for getting the songs more and more routined.

I'm now at the stage where, aside from the regular guy I play with, I need to start pulling in other musicians, both for the gigs and the recording. I've also decided that self recording & mixing everything is not the route I want to take. But budget is king so may have to bite the bullet on that one. If i can I may end up going to a grown up studio to do drums and then later to mix. We'll see!
Update over for now, but with a date set and the ball rolling, there will be more to come :-)

i kinda just wanna say fair play

really hope it works out..

frobisher · 01-10-2008 5:16pm

all the stars wrote: »

i kinda just wanna say fair play
really hope it works out..

Thanks! By doing it it is working out. Know what I mean?! That's not to say I don't have ambitions or plans beyond the small budget I have, I definitely do. But you have to start somewhere and you might as well start where you are and with what you have available to you. To paraphrase a certain multi-national sorts shoe company, I think more musicians should stop hoping that one day they'll get the chance to get their music out there and should just just do it. Obviously there are certain minimum requirements, poor songs recorded badly are waste of everybody's time. But even if you don't set the charts alight or record at the level of studio you'd like or even if you think you'll probably write better songs one day at least you've gathered momentum, got the ball rolling and are learning as you go. Ok, rant over!

frobisher · 30-11-2008 12:01pm

Things are all going well. It's a slow but steady move. I've decided, on some very good advice, to not do an album so soon and am instead going to concentrate on an EP or possibly even a few singles backed my more and more gigging around the country.

Yesterday was the first day of recording. After a long while out of the pro studios, playing solo and ploughing the self recording route it's great to get back into a room with a band, set everything up to record and 1-2-3-4 go. I'm happy with the guys I've got in working with me. My regular partner Jay Wilson is doing keys, vocals and various other instruments, Binzer is a highly rated drummer and has been great to work with and Karl Odlum is on bass and engineer/production/beard stroking. It's not going to be an uber posh expensive sound but that's not what I ever wanted. Hopefully we'll catch the atmosphere in the room and have some nice vibe in it. I'll post some pics and recording notes later.

PaulBrewer · 30-11-2008 12:20pm

Cool!

frobisher · 13-01-2009 1:19pm

So I've recorded and mixed the 6 songs. It took 9 days and was a pleasure every step of the way. Right now I'm in London as I'm having the songs mastered tomorrow morning by Steve Rooke in Abbey Road. Yes, THE Abbey Road. And of course I'm excited!

Instead of doing the album mentioned when this rather long thread was started I'm going to release an A & B side single every month in 2009. Yup, that's 24 songs. I'll be recording an album in the Autumn with a very rough release date pencilled in for Jan 2010 which will only use a few of the released singles so there'll be a few weeks recording in it still. Between that and a whole lot of gigs and a few festivals abroad it's going to be an extremely busy and musical 2009.

The launch of all this take place in Whelans Fri 30th Jan. I hope to see some Music Production boards.ie's there!

Jimbo808 · 13-01-2009 2:14pm

Sounds amazing dude! (what a long thread! :P )

Please post about your experience in Abbey Road as soon as you can!!...PLEASE!!!!

J*808

all the stars · 13-01-2009 2:44pm

Good for you man!

I'm really pleased that its working out for you!

Let us know how London goes! Best wishes and once again - good 4 u!

fitz · 13-01-2009 3:18pm

Good stuff Fro.
I'm getting my album mastered in Abbey Road too, with Geoff Pesche, on the 23rd of this month. Really looking forward to it.
Keep us all up to date on how you're getting on...

Releasing your own music on your own label.

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