As you may recall just over a year ago I set out on a bit of a bucket list quest...specifically to produce a music CD with my then newly-formed band stereotypes. At the time of my last blog we had just started our early recordings and were experimenting with the process. Similarly I had reached out to my good friends Steve Polak (photographer) and Rich McCausland (designer) to cook up some interesting artwork for the CD. The goal was to produce a CD in time for Christmas 2013 and I am pleased to say we are on track to deliver!

There are quite a few considerations involved with a project of this sort and, typically as projects go, during the final stretch all of the intricate details culminate and time pressures increase. There are about six key areas of activity and everyone has played a role. First and foremost is the preparation of the music. That involves song selection (what do we like, what suits our style and what will our listeners enjoy), rehearsals, on site recording. Everyone is involved in this phase and Solle (our bass player) hosts and organises these sessions. Jim (our lead guitarist) has been quite instrumental (pardon the pun) in song selection. We have now finalised and locked in our song selection...18 tracks have been selected but we figure 12-14 will make the final cut to the CD (based on our producer Roy's experience). One personal high point for me was recording  a duet with my daughter Bianca who will make a special appearance (or two or three) singing with me on the CD.

Second is sound production...in terms of taking the digital inputs from jam sessions and other recordings, arranging them and generating practice tracks which are then used for audience testing and refinement. Roy (drums, keyboard, producer) is the wizzard in this area and has driven the creative process and lifted our combined abilities to another level. We are just finalising our final 'practice tracks' and arrangements. Once this is complete, which will be within the next couple of weeks, we will go into final recordings for vocals and touch up instrumental tracks. Third is CD artwork. I had to manage this bit. Thanks to Steve and Rich we have a great looking product...I can't reveal the final designs but I am anxious to share it with all of our friends and family soon.  There were three separate photo shoots to get to the final photo list. We didn't use this shot, but it is a cool photo so want to include it for posterity.

Fourth is getting permissions from labels to produce the songs...Solle is handling this as well. As we are producing the CD for non-commercial purposes getting rights is usually not a problem but it is a bit time-consuming.

Fifth is final mastering, printing and reproduction. Roy has a contact in London, UK who will give us a good deal on final digital sound mastering. As for printing and CD reproduction I have managed to get a local provider involved who is giving us a decent deal...you can get it cheaper online but we prefer to deal with a local supplier so we can oversee quality.

Finally there is distribution and promotion. Aside from direct distribution to family and friends, we are exploring other options. For example, the good folks at Kamazooie have agreed to conduct a social media promotion for the launch...more details on that later. We hope to have a youtube video at some point as well for the original track we are including on the CD.

Anyway work continues and the finish line approaches. We are all very focused and very excited.  Thanks for taking the time to read this blog, I welcome your questions and comments.
Cheers
Lorne