Recording Your Band
For Fun and Profit
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Here are the main points from the presentation.
DISCLAIMER: All links and software referenced on this page are forwarded as recommendations because these are the sources I use myself. Except for my own web design services, I gain no benefit if you use any of these sources.
Presentation at the 2009 ACB Convention
in Houston, TX, April 16, 2009
UPDATE: These are now more than just the main points; due to quite a few requests, I've filled in the points here with more information.
GETTING COPYRIGHT PERMISSIONS: U.S.C. Title 17, § 115
Tunes In The Public Domain - Music published in the U.S. before 1923 is in the public domain, and you may record it without paying any fees.
Tunes Requiring A Compulsory (Mechanical Rights) License are those still protected under copyright. A license is required if you want to Produce and Distribute recordings of a copyrighted work.
Required Timing - you need the license BEFORE you produce the recordings.
Small vs. Large Publishing Houses - Sometimes small houses will give you the license at no charge if you ask, if you're a non-profit group.
Harry Fox Agency – www.HarryFox.com - a good place to get a lot of licenses at once.
Official Copyright Information: http://www.copyright.gov/title17/
Excellent commentary: http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/
Appoint A Copyright Administrator for Recordings - have this person be responsible for obtaining and keeping copies of all licenses for your recordings.
MAKING THE RECORDING
Using A Digital Recorder –Types of Recorders - Ask your local music store; I use a Marantz; I've seen Edirol, Zoom, and others that are equally good.
Use The Best Microphones you can get – You can usually borrow good mics from a church or school; if you're buying them, ask an expert in your local music store. The mics should cost more than your recorder.
Positioning the Mics - We've found the best place is about 25 feet in the air in about the third row of audience seats. The mics should be set up in an "X" configuration with one mic pointing left and the other right, with about a 70 to 90 degree angle between them.
Recording as WAV vs. MP3 Formats - An MP3 format is compressed, and means you'll necessarily lose some information. MP3 files were developed to allow people to email music files (a 3.2 MB MP3 can be emailed, a 34MB WAV file of the same tune usually can't), which is not the case when you're making a recording. With the ready availablility of storage media - you can get a 4GB media card or USB key for less than $10, which is plenty big enough for a whole concert - you should always record in WAV format. We turn on our recorders before the concert and just leave them till we're done. We put nearly 3 hours of WAV files into about 1.2 GB of space.
PRODUCING THE RECORDING INTO TRACKS
Use a digital Music Editor – I use Audacity, which is free and very powerful. You can download it for Windows, Mac, or LINUX at http://audacity.sourceforge.net.
- Cut the concert recording into Tracks. Name each track with a sequencing number plus the title of the track. The sequencing number helps you order the tunes on your Master CD. The title tells you what the tune is. Then edit each track as follows:
- Edit 1: Cut the beginning and end off the track length. Leave about 1/2 second of silence at the beginning, and leave all the applause. You'll fix the applause in Edit 4.
- Edit 2: Amplify the overall sound levels to peak. Watch clipping. A little clipping is okay, don't allow a lot of it. You might have to take some quieter sections and boost their volume so you can hear them better. Remember, you want all the tracks on the CD to have the same maximum volume, and you don't want the quiet sections too quiet. The objective here is you don't want your customers to have to constantly adjust the volume of their player.
- Edit 3: Listen through entire tune for needed tweaks. For example, you can use graphic equalizer to boost the bass volume, or to boost an oboe solo. You can cut and paste clips to eliminate clams. As an example, if a French Horn stepped into the silence in the first ending but the second ending was fine, you can copy a half second from the second ending and paste it into the first ending; if you are careful, no one will be able to tell.
- Edit 4: Amplify applause and fade it out. The mics are pointed at the band, not the audience, so the applause will probably sound weak on your recording. I usually amplify the applause to sound like the volume I hear from the stage, compared to the music volume. Generally, we include about 5 seconds of applause followed by a 2-3 second fade-out.
At the convention, I offered a video tutorial CD containing nearly 3 hours of instruction: "Mastering An Audio CD Using Audacity." See details about this CD here. You will see the sales price for this CD is nearly $30, but if you or your band are an ACB member, Email me for special convention pricing.
MAKING THE MASTER CD
Use good CD burning software. – www.BurnAware.com- is free CD burning software that works well in PCs. I haven't tested it in Macs.
Have several people audition the master CD - You need to catch any errors in the master before uploading the master to the manufacturer.
Check the master in several players; NOT just in computers. Specifically, listen to it in car players and home stereo systems.
GETTING YOUR CD DUPLICATED
CD Artwork - You can use one of several templates from your CD manufacturer (but in my opinion these usually look too out of sorts), you can design the CD artwork yourself or get someone in your band to do it, or you can hire a professional designer.
Xara X2 -- Excellent design software at a bargain price. I negotiated a special deal for seminar attendees -- the Xara company will sell for $20 a download-only older version of their product; contact me for details if you're interested. In my opinion, it's worth the $
Barbara Hudson - BHudson75@gmail.com -- does much MCSB design work for programs and CDs
Shelley Clem - ShelleyClem@gmailcom -- Gold medal-winning designer in Tulsa, OK
CD manufacturer selection – I use www.Kunaki.com - They offer only one option: Single CD in a jewel case, with shrink wrap. They will print in full color for the CD label, the jewel case label, insert, tray card, and spines, and will include a bar code at no additional charge. Cost is currently (April 2009) $1.75 per CD plus shipping, with a minimum order quantity of ONE.
Use the manufacturer's software to compile and upload master CD
Order and Audition the Prototype - It's much safer to order one to five CDs at first and listen to them to be sure they're right, and THEN order the big batch.
DISTRIBUTING AND SELLING YOUR CD
To Band Members - We can usually sell enough CDs to band members to cover the entire cost of the recording.
To Audience Members - We sell CDs of past concerts at our concerts as a fund-raising measure. Once the costs are covered, all additional sales are profit.
On Your Website – You can sell CDs on your band's website. Kunaki will provide you with a direct sales page, handle credit cards, manufacture, and shipping, and send you the profit over your cost. Need a Website for your band? See www.DMillerWeb.com Special rates for ACB member bands.
THE ROI ON SELLING CDs
Setting your selling price -- $15 is an accepted selling price for CDs, but for that price I like to include 1 hour or more of music. If you have less than an hour of music, you might want to set your price at $10 or so.
Figuring The Break-Even Point
Your total cost, divided by the selling price; round up.
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