Recording Finished!

Finally the recordings are all finished and now I have plenty of time to mix before I have to press the CDs! The last recording session went better than all of the others, we managed to get one great take after one great take and I came home feeling very positive about the end result.


This meant that I had a final track list to give to Milli, the graphic designer, to work with ready for the CD stencils. Today, I have also ordered the CD sleeves ready for the designs to go on - can't wait!


CD Sleeves Website

 

During more research today I found this artist, Karizma, who has individually designed and printed each of his 500 vinyl covers. This has inspired me to continue on with my idea of unique packaging at the perfect time (as I had begun to have a few doubts about how realistic the idea was). I particularly love the part where he talks about how each individual cover is a little piece of him, and I believe that's what it should all be about as the music is so personal in itself. Well done Karizma! :) 

Also today.. I found these eco-friendly colourful sleeves - How exciting!

Sneak Preview...

Today was really eventful. I got a lot of footage filmed that I definitely want to use in my music video, and met with the graphic designer I am working with for the EP. I was concerned that my idea to spray paint individual CD's was too unrealistic due to the intricate nature of parts of the design, such as the font on the track list. Milli informed me that this would be easy to create in stencil form, which was a huge relief and now I can't wait to get making them on Wednesday night!

I've also been looking into CD pressing today, and I think the most realistic direction for me to go is to do it independently myself using the facilities in Uni. In the Institute of Creative Technologies (DMU) there is a Rimage CD/DVD printer that I can duplicate and print 50 CD's on, which is perfect for a project of this size because online, I have only been able to find large duplication packages of a 100 minimum. 

Also, today, a uni course mate promoted the Cub Facebook page through his label which has a large following of thousands and I had some interest from the States and even got a message of an artist who is interested in collaborating for my next EP - exciting stuff!

On Wednesday my plan is to call the packaging company that I am interested in buying my casing from and meeting with Eric to show him where things are at the moment and ask him some questions regarding the copyright legalities involved with the EP etc.

Always workin'!

Facebook...

It's hard to find an organisation that isn't connected to facebook through one way or another, which is why I decided it would be beneficial to do a lot of the networking and promoting concerning the label through a 'Cub' Facebook page.

Already through Facebook, I have managed to promote the label through Kevin Russel, who owns and runs an extremely popular and successful company called Mud. This is a collection of musicians and artists who gather to create a space where creativity is encouraged. I am very excited to have Kev and the gang on board and hope to help Mud in any way I can.

I have also alerted very useful contacts to my label through Facebook and just today was contacted by a student that I know from studying Music Technology in college. His dissertation involves many music industry related legalities and he is very interested in displaying his skills by working the label and advising me about the legalities it will involve.

Click here to be directed to the Cub Records Facebook page.

Video ideas so far...

Here are just a couple of preliminary ideas for the music video. The first three are to show the kind of footage I have planned to capture based on the first recording session, and the second three are images I would like to include in the video based on the lyrics of the song.

Recording: Day 2

Today was also really successful but also really fun as we were both more relaxed and confident after recording had gone so well yesterday. We decided to record a cover of a song we both really loved and had influenced our previous improvisations. Here's a link to the song - The Cinematic Orchestra - To build a home (Youtube)


I moved the room mic as I had planned to yesterday, but in this process, we also decided to change the position of the piano and have it facing the wall but with a lot of space for the sound to develop but close enough to the wall that there were not too many reflections. I listened to how the piano sounded with the top opened, and there were far too many squeaks and clicks from the mechanisms inside the piano, as the mic was very sensitive, even after I tried taking out some of the high end, so we kept the top on and it sounded great!

You can see the overhead mic here, plus the back of Mike's head and some studio junk!


After I got the piano take I was happiest with, we recorded the vocals using the 414 and a pop shield with Mike facing the wall, singing in a special area of the room that had been deadened for vocal recordings.


Today was a great day for footage for the music video too - watch this space!