Album Developments

[catsittingstill]

My first choice for an artist was too busy for my commission, which I always knew was likely, but said it was okay to incorporate tiny elephants in the album art, so cool. 

And I thought of an artist I follow on LJ (I was alerted to his existence when he was having a "free icons; tips accepted" day) whose art and style I really like, and who is going pro, and asked him if he would do it, and he agreed!  Yay!  If he says it is okay I will link to him so you can admire his art.

I asked around and Oasis CD has more recommendations than any other company (in my admittedly small sample space) so I called them yesterday and then spent a couple of hours pacing around the house biting my nails.  Layout wise they want the art in one of four programs and the cheapest one is several hundred dollars.   Price wise without figuring that in, the cost is... more than I was expecting.  Not out of reach, but 30-40% more than I thought it would be. 

There are probably places that handle layout and put art and stuff in the correct program for a (nother) fee.  If the fee is more than the price of the educational version (Kip teaches college) of the program though, it might be better to buy the program and have it for next time.  Provided, of course, I have the time between now and the end of June to learn to use it properly.

I can, as Bill Roper mentioned, save some money in the short run by buying the CDs and the printed material in bulk and buying jewel cases only as I need them.  In the long run I would actually spend a bit more (if I sold through) as adding jewel cases to my order is slightly cheaper per CD than buying empty jewel cases (I guess 200 jewel cases isn't really buying in bulk by the standards of jewel case makers so the CD pressing place gets them cheaper).  And I got out a ruler and measured a stack of ten CDs in their jewel cases and I think storing the extra volume wouldn't be too much of a problem.  Maybe as I get more CDs out it would become more of an issue.

I must at some point not too long from now decide what price to charge.  I'm not sure what CDs go for nowadays.  Or whether my CD should cost more (Twenty--20!---songs!  You're sure to find something you like!) or less (played recorded mixed and mastered by an amateur.).  I'm not sure how many to order.  I was thinking a thousand, but the last time I made these kinds of decisions was going on ten years ago now, when people bought music on CD rather than as downloads.  I don't want to be stuck with 718 coasters.

And in the meantime I re-recorded the octave mandolin part for Sociopaths yesterday as it was sounding kind of ...blunt... compared to other octave mandolin parts I'd laid down and I thought maybe I had let the strings get too old before recording before.  Since I put fresh strings on Friday morning for re-recording Boats Have Bones I thought I'd have another try with less-than-a-week-old-strings, and I do think I hear a difference.  And I'm mixing like a mad thing (well a mad thing that mixes for two hours a day or so because my ears get full) trying to find any problems before I run out of chances to re-record if necessary.

I really need to find someone who has a set of speakers I can listen to this music on.  I have no speakers, except for the tiny ones in the computer, which I should use, because a lot of people will listen to their music that way, but I'm pretty sure good speakers are recommended too. 

I thought about buying some inexpensive ones from Amazon (well, inexpensive for reasonably good speakers; they're still 115$ and those kinds of purchases add up) but kind of stalled on a combination of the expense and not being sure they would even hook up to the laptop without another (expensive) part.  Though the main problem with hooking up speakers seems to be "can the computer put out enough power to drive them" which problem is solved with an amplifier and these speakers say they have a "20-watt-per-channel amplifier with Calss A/B architecture" which sounds like yes, this should work with the right cable.  Plus now I look again they say "front-panel 1/8” stereo auxiliary input for connecting your laptop" so that sounds like a male-to-male 1/8 jack cable would work, which I've got.  Hmm.  Okay, so maybe I ought to bite the bullet and get speakers.

This project keeps getting more expensive.  Though I suppose I could think of it as capital investments.  And speakers.  Just like I was a real sound engineer.  Hmm.

Comments

[kay_brooke]

I think it depends on who your audience is, or who you expect will be most interesting in buying. Younger and more tech-savvy people really don't buy CDs anymore and haven't for awhile (Christmas 2008, I think it was, I bought my brother a CD of a band he had just gotten into, and it was cool because he didn't have that particular collection of songs, but he was also baffled that I bought him a CD instead of a digital download). Less tech-y people, like my mom, still buy CDs. She has an mp3 player, but can't figure out how to get the songs on her computer on to the player without my or my brother's help, so she prefers CDs still.

All of this, of course, is anecdotal and not any kind of scientific study into the music buying habits of different demographics. But in my experience it tends to fall out the way I described.

[catsittingstill]

This kind of adds to my dilemma, as I think of filkers as tending to be tech-y but also recognize it's a greying population.

I still buy most of my music on CD but have bought digital downloads from Bandcamp and iTunes.

Some of my friends tell me part of the joy of a convention is perusing CDs in the dealer's room and having the physical object in their hands (and available to listen to on the way home.)

On the other hand, part of the joy of digital downloads at home is not having to wait for the mail...

If I had a better idea what proportion of filkers buy which way I could make a better decision.

[laughingrat]

This question will betray my ignorance, but when you say you have to put the art into a certain program, do you mean in a certain file format, that requires a specific, not-free piece of software to create the file type? I ask because it seems like graphic designers or artists who are pro/semi-pro would have at least one of those programs already for their own business use, and that putting the art into a needed format is part of the service you're purchasing. Then again I might be misunderstanding the whole deal. :)

That's a wise thought about downloads vs. CDs. Hmm.

[catsittingstill]

Basically there are two issues here:

Background art, which can be in various art formats: tiff, jpeg, gif, etc. (though the latter two are not recommended, probably because compression artifacts that are very minor on the web become very noticeable in ink) and a couple of others I don't remember.

Layout of text over the art. This is where they want Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Quark Xpress or CorelDraw. This (I'm guessing) gives the printer the option of quick tweaks of the text layer if the designer has put it too close to the edge or something.

Also the art layer has to be pixellated, but if the text is in a layout program, it can be vector, and I guess that might matter.

The artist I've been talking to said he could "get a plug-in" to make CMYK separations (a printing thing) and I would expect that the above four layout programs would already have that, so I'm guessing he doesn't have one of them. He generates art for books and such, but the turning pro thing is apparently kind of recent, and it may be he has handled art rather than graphic design to this point.

And frankly, I hired him to make art. "Putting the lettering on" was discussed in that context and he may not have realized that (x expensive program that he did not have) would be required to make that happen. It sure didn't occur to me until I got to that part of the FAQ.

[randwolf]

Oasis seems overly specific in their graphic file requirements; I've published a whole professionally-printed book on just PDF files. Still, they're the printer, and best to accommodate their process.

Would you like me to prepare layouts? I can do it, if there is not too much work. Or you can do it at a local self-service facility, but it will probably cost.

[philkmills]

I would be very tempted to ask whether there is a list of acceptable formats for the art work rather than specific programs. For example, the free graphics program "Gimp" can save in Photoshop's native format as well as a variety of others.

(I believe that when I delivered art work it was in Photoshop format which the printer converted to PDF and had me approve before printing.)

[catsittingstill]

Apparently shareware programs have stayed away (as far as I can tell from Wikipedia) from producing output formats for the programs listed. Though if Open Office is allowed to do it with MS Word, I don't see why a shareware program wouldn't be allowed to do it with InDesign.

The company in question doesn't recommend Photoshop but I think they will grudgingly accept it. I may go with that.

[mdlbear]

I believe Illustrator's default format is SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) these days; there are several free programs that produce it. I know Inkscape does, for example.

[mdlbear]

If the artist is going pro it would probably make sense for him to get a copy of Adobe Creative Suite. OTOH the academic price is pretty good for what you get.

For speakers, I'd suggest a pair of powered monitor speakers, which are in the ~$100 price range and will definitely work with a computer directly or with a soundcard with professional level outputs. You should have them anyway, for mixing. I have a pair of M-Audio Studiophile DX4s that work well for me.

Mine have all the inputs on the back, and a headphone jack and volume control on the front of the left-hand speaker. Very convenient.

[catsittingstill]

I think part of going pro involves living on a shoestring while building up his client base, so those kinds of expenses might be something for the future.

I have heard that speakers are recommended for mixing. I am giving this serious thought.

[mdlbear]

I use both speakers and headphones at various stages in the process; the 'phones are great for editing, but the speakers seem to work best for mixing. What you want are "nearfield monitors" -- speakers designed to be used close-up rather than across the room.

[randwolf]

I believe that most houses will accept PDF files from whatever source, though the Adobe tools are the most reliable sources. What kind of illustration are you thinking about? I have most of the Adobe tools and can help with layout and file formatting.

You might take a look at Inkscape and the Gimp, which are free illustration tools, but clumsy on a Mac--Unix apps running in X windows, rather than native Mac OS apps. There are a lot of artists using them, but I'm not sure of the quality of the results. For accurate color, one must go through the Gimp and use a calibrated monitor; Inkscape does not support color management.

Hmmm...you know, Jordn Block of Sepiachord would have some ideas on distribution and CD runs, though he doesn't do your kind of music. If you want, I could talk to him the next time I see him, or you might e-mail him at sepiachord@yahoo.com. Mention my name; it might help.

[catsittingstill]

Re: layout, the four preferred filetypes are:
• Adobe Illustrator (versions CS - CS5)
• Adobe InDesign (version CS - CS5)
• QuarkXPress (versions 5 - 8)
• CorelDRAW (versions 8 - X5)

Re: Images the preferred filetypes are:
TIFF (.tif)
• Adobe Photoshop (up to version CS5) (.psd)
• Photoshop EPS (.eps) – with 8-bit TIFF preview
• Windows Bitmaps (.bmp)
• Corel Photo-Paint (.cpt)
• Photo CD (.pcd)

If you can do layout for me, that would be wonderful! Basically it would be the front and back of the cover insert, the front and back of the tray card, and the disc (one side only of course).

But you may want to think carefully about whether you would want to take this on. I would need it ready to go to the printers by the 28th of June, and the deadline for the artist is the 20th of June, which could be a problem if that is a busy week for you.

And if you can't do it, the artist says he thinks he can do it in photoshop, which supposedly makes for blurrier text but which the manufacturer says they will accept.

[randwolf]

There's seven weeks to get it done it; I think I'm OK, unless it's a huge job in which case I'd have to think carefully about taking it on. How much are you looking to do? An entire little insert book including lyrics, a simple cover card, or something in between?

[catsittingstill]

I was not planning to do a lyric book but rather put a url on the inside cover saying where a pdf songbook could be downloaded. I've done lyric books for CDs this size and it is insane.

So it would be cover and tray card, two sides each, outside and inside, (in the traycard's case this would normally be hidden by the CD tray but Oasis uses clear CD trays and I got a cute idea for art that could go there), and on-disc art.

So kind of like five small pages?

I could send you the text plenty early (and a general idea of the art) but my current deadline for the artist is only a week before I want to have the layout ready to upload to Oasis (at the end of June.) Would that work?

[randwolf]

I think I can do that--I'm not seeing anything difficult on my calendar for that week. I'm taking a short vacation next week, but I think I can assemble a rough the following week.

So let me know.

[catsittingstill]

I would be so grateful if you could do this for me. I will send you the text in 2 weeks, and preliminary sketches from the artist if I have them by then. The templates for the printing I want are here: http://www.oasiscd.com/graphics/templates-jewelcase.asp

Specifically the 2 panel folder (why they call it a folder when it doesn't fold I have no idea) and the tray card and on-disc imprint at the bottom of the group.

[randwolf]

Audio...Aperion Audio makes good moderately-priced ($220 pair) bookshelf speakers. They are limited in their bass output unless you add a subwoofer, but they may do. Good-quality used amplifiers are widely available, not as small and attractive as new ones, but inexpensive.

[catsittingstill]

Adding an amplifier to the queue means figuring out how to hook up the the speakers and computer to the amplifier, whereas it looks like the speakers linked above can accept the computer's output directly, which would be easier for me.

[randwolf]

You're talking three versus two cables--one from the computer to the amp and two from the amp to the speakers. That doesn't sound so awful to me.

That said, if you've got the budget for powered studio monitor speakers, they're definitely preferable.

[catsittingstill]

It's not the cables I worry about so much; it's what has to go on their ends. ;-)