Releasing a debut jazz album in Australia?

[dq]

trumpetguy, your gonna need more friends...

[antboy]

Don't freak the man out !
you can do it a whole lot cheaper than that,
and if what you are talking about is true about needing it for more of a demo than an actual release then maybe you only need 100 or so copies, you could even do it as a CDR.
gone are the days (thank god) where one needs expensive studios and pressing plants to make a recording. it's much more assessable to everyone now days,
you could find someone with a small studio, grab some good mics, get a mix, and print up some copies in a few days.

[aka]

Some important things to think about:

Recording quality:important because broadcasters take this into account....also part of the buying audience take this into account...good music will shine through either way but give it the best start you can....If you are going to a commercial studio talk to the engineer before about the appropriate production style...maybe take a cd or two that you feel is in the ball park..

Pre production: To make the best use of your time work out your arrangements beforehand..maybe to a test record at home and listen back...get to the studio early..helps the instruments adjust to the air con/dryer air etc....tune the drums....

Recording: Don't try and fit too much in..if you have a day then depending on length, 8 tunes in a 6 hour session would be plenty...50 minutes overall I reckon is fine...

If it's not to complicated and you trust the engineer, try going for a good stereo mix with a multitrack backup..if you're happy once you've listened and tweaked the first piece then go for it..It'll save you money that you can then spend on mastering and cd production...

Maybe think about a live recording?..track it to hard disk then spend some time mixing...

When you master ..do it with someone who understands the style..no point in mastering with the wrong template..death metal
mastering on a piano trio....

Release: Are you putting it out yourself and distributing?..or do you want to license it ?..In Oz there's not a whole lot of options..maybe Jazzhead (Melb)/ ABC(National)/ Pinnacles (in Bris)/La Brava...or if distribution: MGM/ Newmarket....

...You could also approach the broadcasters for help...Jazztrack
records a lot of sessions and they pay you !..if you want to release it you can license the recording for a lot less than it would cost to record commercially..and you get national exposure when your music is played....If you are in eg: Brisbane and it may not be possible to record there..think about maybe getting a gig in Melbourne or Sydney where a session may be able to be organised at the same time...
also public radio sometimes does live recordings for broadcast..eg:PBS in Melbourne/ maybe SER in Syd?/..not sure re Bris...

Publicity...well targeted press releases and advance cd copies really help..with all muso details and timings for broadcasters..a single sheet with background etc is all that is required plus emails for cd launch/gig details....again public radio and the various ABC programs..Jazztrack/Jazz up late/The Music Show/The Daily Planet..and the ABC Local Radio producers...they often have music features on..esp in the early evening timeslots..ring and findout who the producers are.....maybe employ a publicist short term to help with this..ask advice from those that have released cds......

Gig Sales: Always have the cd's for sale at the door..make them attractive..no more than 20 bucks...

Get a website...have cds for sale...offer downloads and streaming of excepts so people can hear what the music is like...organise getting your cd on cd baby....think about I tunes...


Good Luck!

[vickibonet]

If I was still recording as a musician in 2007 I would be moving away from CDs and have moved to DVDs by now (probably) and increasingly putting effort into selling phone/ipod mpeg downloads instead. There are heaps of strategies that can help get your music to sell track by track. It is good for publicity to still be releasing CDs but even Paul McCartney is having to flog his through Starbucks now so what does that tell you about the future of selling discs?

Perhaps instead of organizing festivals one year, instead that year's effort could go into organising a one stop e-card shop online (free e-cards) with the option of buying a track of original music to go with it. E-cards get loads of hits and if you marketed them as contemporary jazz/modern classical cards you would save a heap on the the google ads click-throughs as you'd only get people who are open to jazz.

I'm currently too busy to go into this in detail now but I'm quite happy to see someone else arrange it and help get our wonderful Australian jazz to a much wider audience. Please.

Meanwhile if anyone is interested in stopping the pulp mill in Tasmania please go to www.wilderness.org.au and sign up.

[andgar]

Hi vickib, thanks for the comments. While I see that this type of e-marketing is certainly useful, for me (and I imagine most young jazz musicians) a first recording is about getting the "Australian jazz community" to take a bit of notice and hopefully gain some respect and support. My goal at the moment is not to reach as wide an audience as possible or anything like that (I'm pretty much resigned to the fact that my music will never be "popular").

That said, I certainly see the merit in the e-card idea and it seems a good way to get a lot of people to listen to Australian jazz. I like the DVD idea (i'm thinking that getting a decent concert video recording to then sell at gigs would be a cool idea - can you release a DVD that will play the audio tracks in a CD player and audio and video on a DVD player? ithink the answer is no, but it would be useful)

[ironguts]

Listen to sb and antboy, make a CD, do it cheap but not nasty, get it out there however you can, get some money for the next one. A DVD will cost much more in all areas, recording, editing and mastering and probably packaging too.

Make sure you're ready for the studio. So much wasted time in studios getting forms etc right, it costs money. Make sure you know what you are going to record and make sure you can play it! The other thing I've found when recording tunes that often there is a 'time waster'. Only do a couple of takes on each tune and move on. That way at least you get a version of each piece down. If there is time later you can go for another if you like. Don't get stuck on a piece, in my experience if you don't get it in the first couple it ain't gonna come.

The other thing I'd like to say is don't get too anal in the studio, get some spirit in the music and take some risks, nothing worse than a tight album that sounds like you have a pole up your arse,,, though most my music sounds like that...

[trumpetguy]

I agree 100% with Guts - If you do the 2 take max thing and are REALLY prepared before you go to the studio then 1 (possibly 2) days recording should be enough. I would also ask around a get a good fast engineer - If you get someone that takes 1/2 a day to get a snare sound then you are wasting time and money - ask guys in your city who have done lots of recording, they'll know who would be suitable. Remember, it is better to pay a bit more per hour/session to somebody who can work much more efficiently.
If you have a concept for the type of sound you want (recording quality) maybe take a cd or 2 that represents that in for the engineer to check out.
It can sometimes be frustrating if you have a different concept for sound than the guy doing the recording.

[isaacs]

I have a little studio tip that's been working for me as producer. At the outset tell the engineer to record EVERYTHING that's played regardless of whether you formally announce something as being a take or not. With hard drive capacities this shouldn't be a problem. You might even forget the ruse yourself! What is purportedly a "run through" might produce some outstanding stuff as we're all human and tend to take more risks when we think the red light is off.

[vickibonet]

here's some more advice - don't listen back to the takes in the studio after the first one - get into your playing head space - saves studio time too then go back and mix & master another day

[aj]

ironguts said:

get some spirit in the music and take some risks, nothing worse than a tight album that sounds like you have a pole up your arse,,, though most my music sounds like that...

That's because you DO have a pole up your arse.

[ironguts]

Is it Stanko?

[trumpetguy]

ironguts said:

Is it Stanko?

Is he in prison too?