The album is done

from 2015

After what feels like a lifetime, the album is done. All the recording, mixing, and mastering has been completed. The raw files generated, mp3 friendly ones, etc. Honestly I can't say how I feel right now. Vascillating somewhere between proud, happy, disappointed... I hear all the flaws, see what could be, wondering if I should take more time. Just gotta cut that cord and let it go. I've realized that cycle never stops if you don't break it yourself. So here we are.

I guess I shouldn't say it's completely done, as it still needs album artwork, but that will come.

No rest for the wicked though, as I need to have a distribution plan in mind. Right now I am mostly leaning towards using one of the services like Tunecore that allow you to distribute across all the major digital distributors, but do take a fair cut of your earnings. Need to research more, and those experiences will be a separate blog entry.

Also, need to decide about the physical medium that I will use. Do I have a run of CDs ordered? Does anyone listen to CDs anymore? I am learning towards actually having cards printed with a QR code linked to a site providing listening options. Seems that would be a good, cheap way to get your music into as many hands as possible, and anyone with a smart phone can scan and listen easily.

I will admit though, I miss the artifact. I like having a CD or an album to hold, display, be proud of. I've looked into short run vinyl, but that presents lots of issues. First, it's expensive. Second, my album is not mastered correctly for vinyl. I have read enough to know that due to the grooves in the vinyl and sound frequencies inherent in writing to vinyl, you need to make sure your album is mastered for it. And, I have no clue how to do that without spending tons more time learning, and frankly, I'm exhausted. Third, the length of how many songs I can get in there, in conjunction with the cost of larger vinyl and track size of my songs mastered. There are 14 songs and I am sure I'd have to cut some or just have an EP style album made. No idea how I'd choose what tracks make the cut. I kinda like em all, and they all together tell the story of my life the last few years.

Honestly, it almost feels surreal I will not be working on this album anymore. It's become like a third job for me. Don't get me wrong though - I am ecstatic to be done with this. Anxious to start writing some songs :)