The Song Fight Bulletin Board

I finished an album earlier this year, and just got the CDs back from the plant.

You can check it out here: http://www.wakingupinaugust.com

There's some new stuff on it, and some SF stuff, though I completely remixed the SF tracks, and had the album professionally mastered.

And since this is the Concerts and Events thread, I should also mention that I'll be playing at The Harp in Port Credit on April 20th, primarily to showcase the CD.

Nice work Des!

Des, I'm curious since your stuff usually sounds so polished...

What were you looking for when you popped for "professional mastering" and in what ways and to what extent did it meet or exceed your expectations?

Your "why buy a CD" page is great.


When I order mine, I'd better get a signed copy though.
Preferably with whiskey stains.

I've been grooving on this for a while, and love it.

I even get to see the cat live in about three weeks—can't wait.

Nice work, Des.

Thanks guys. Whiskey-staining is actually non-optional.

LMNOP wrote:What were you looking for when you popped for "professional mastering"

Primarily, I just wanted a second set of ears on the project. For most of the tracks, especially the SF ones, I knew I'd spent far too long mixing them to be objective.

LMNOP wrote:and in what ways and to what extent did it meet or exceed your expectations?

I'd say it exceeded my expectations in every way. John Scrip did the mastering, and I gotta tell ya, the guy has amazing ears. He did a consultation on the album first, and pointed out some things I could fix in the mixes before he started (including some hiss, some low-end rumble I'd missed, and a faint 15.875 KHz whine that he attributed to my CRT. Yeah, like I said, amazing ears.)

In mastering, he mainly just "warmed things up." I have a tendancy to mix my tracks a little mid-rangey, partially because I don't trust the low end response in my studio. John addressed this, while simultaneously finding detail in the upper end that I didn't realize was there. (For example, the guitar intro on I Meant To Remember. And the percussion on Not The First.) That surprised me, mostly because I'm the guy who recorded the raw tracks in the first place!!

If you're interested, I can put up some before-and-after samples.

Leaf wrote:Your "why buy a CD" page is great.

Boltoph suggested I reword it as simply "Big Labels can all suck it." I'm still considering this.

When I finish my CD (ha!), I want to use your Why Buy A Cd page. It's perfect.

deshead wrote: If you're interested, I can put up some before-and-after samples.

Please do!
-bill

My copy arrived today. Looks and sounds fantastic.

Now come play some shows down here!

I agree with Jim completely, except "here" has moved.

I got my copy Saturday as well, and it's gotten heavy rotation Sunday and Today. The musical takes are easily cd-worthy, and were a pleasure to listen to. Some great instrumental moments too, however I can't pinpoint them at the moment.

At first impression, the album sounds like Bob Mould fronting a band made of Dada/Sugarspoon members.

The packaging looks very professional too, I'm curious where you got your CDs pressed.

Cheers!

Thanks guys, I'm glad you're enjoying it.

Plat wrote:I'm curious where you got your CDs pressed.

Diskfaktory. (It hurt a little that I couldn't use a Canadian company, but no one up here comes close to Diskfaktory's cost/quality ratio. Like, by an order of magnitude.)

HeuristicsInc wrote:Please do!

Here, in case you missed it.

deshead wrote:Whiskey-staining is actually non-optional.

I'm hopeful that my order will contain at least one signed / non shrink-wrapped / whiskey-stained copy!

deshead wrote:Boltoph suggested I reword it as simply "Big Labels can all suck it."

They have made an art out of the "suck it" form. Those which can, and will suck it, will also continue to all suck it.

I have one copy that's made quite a few rounds in my CD player already! Truth is, I scored to Deshead, as well. Scored! Big time.

This is awesome! I have to get a copy. Might spend some of my birthday "clothes" money. You totally should have put Not Exactly Normal on there. How long has this CD been out?

A couple of weeks. Though I sent it to the mastering guy back in January, long before NEN was written.

And clothes, for the record, are overrated. You'd look much better in one of my CDs.

this is awesome. I must have listened to 'I meant to remember' about 100 times since joining SF. and now there's a whole album of deluxe versions!
thanks

I just noticed Jolly Roger started his post exactly the same way. i feel silly but hey

Packed packed house for Des's CD release last night. That boy can sing a song with the power it deserves. He started with a handful of Des and guitar tunes, was joined by another dude for a couple, and finished with a full band joining him on stage. Fantastic sound, and Des was bang on. He finished on piano with the band backing him.

I took some video, and hopefully Des will post a link to it once I get it to him, hopefully today.

Great night, and Des should be proud of his performance.

Just ordered it ... can't wait.

Just want to say that I was at the show too, and it was great. Good crowd, and Des can totally belt! The live version of Storm was particularly awesome.

Twelve bucks on the CD is money well spent.

Awesome!!!! Just received mine today..Des, awesome packaging, even awesomer music. I love it. My wife loves it. It's going to be the requisite summer album in this house.

Kudos on a fantastic job, and thanks for the great music.

To all you non-having cats, get on the "have" side...order one!

I burned a copy of this for my Mum's car. She's now a Deshead fangirl

We just had to listen to "I Meant To Remember" 4 times in a row.

While she was asking me who Deshead is and all that stuff, I mentioned that I hadn't been able to buy the CD yet. To which she said, "What? You got this for free? That's crazy."

Very nice album, Des.

The subtle backwards antics in Prayer That I Pray is sweet. Some nice growls on this disk, too, and great slide guitar in there as well (can't recall the song right now), yet another fabulous weave in the many textures here. Great job Des!

Thanks for all the kind words, folks. You're all musicians, so you know how rewarding it is when others enjoy your work.

As an experiment, I added the option to buy high quality MP3s from the site, using a "you name the price" model. Inspired by Jane Siberry and Magnatune. (So now you don't have to buy a whole CD if you want to throw me a bone. I'm looking at you, Bjam's mum )

Do any other Songfighters have experience with a micro payment approach like this?