So you finished your CD, what now? part 3

So as I laid out in the first 2 installments of this series, there a lot of things to do and to take care of once the CD is finished.

My latest tasks have been

• updating my website(s)

  Check it out nilsmusic.com got a total make-over, so did nilsmusicproductions.com. There is still more work to do , but they have come a long way over the last 2 weeks. My website has to represent my image and look. That’s why I always like to give it a facelift , when I have a new album out and new photos available.

• I have a show coming up in 2 weeks, so I also started on the first live arrangements for the new songs.

What works on a album does not always work live and vice versa. So I came up with a different arrangement for three of my songs. I will add the new material in stages to my show.  Not only will I have to practice my new melodies and arrangements, so does my band. And with that I had to write out charts for the musicians. I also edited together a mock recording of the live version, by cutting up my tracks and rearranging them, take the bass out here, bring the chorus up to the front of the song, add a break down, etc. I am a big believer of getting off the paper ( charts) as soon as possible, and it helps when I can offer my band recordings of the live version to play in their cars while they are driving, to get the music and the arrangements into their heads.

• I made backing tracks for the live versions

I like to run additional sounds from my laptop for certain songs in my live show. Those tracks are usually, string parts, rhythm guitar parts and maybe some additional synth lines and such. I am only working with one keyboard player live, so that helps to enrich the arrangements. I have a pretty slick system going, where I can control the length of certain sections on my laptop with a foot switch, so we are not stuck playing an arrangement with solos etc a certain pre-determined length. We keep it dynamic and open, solos and vamps are open till cue. As a further benefit I also have the bass, drums and keys in that laptop and they can be un-muted if needed. I.e. in case a bass player shows up late for rehearsal or I need to play a solo track date. I use Logic Pro X for that and I think I might do a separate educational video on that subject in the near future for my YouTube channel.

• I created jam tracks with lead sheets for every song on the album

The jam tracks have been popular with my guitar player fans. I sell them as downloads from my web store.  They are basically the songs with my guitar taken off. Some guys use them to perform with as backing tracks or just for fun to jam at home. All jam tracks do have an ending. I planned ahead in that when I recorded my album I recorded every song with an ending, even the ones I know I would fade on the album. But I did have to do a separate mix for that ( not from scratch, just one without a fade) and I had to write chord charts / lead sheets for all the songs.

• The publicist is hired

He had me do an epk ( electronic press kit)  page, specifically for press with album notes , bio , music and such that he can distribute to his contacts. we hired a review to write a new bio and review of my album for press distribution

•  I made radio edits and radio single artwork for the single

Radio does not like to play songs that exceed 4 minutes ideally one likes to keep the length of radio singles between 3:15 and 3:50. Unfortunately the song that the label selected as a single (Straight Down The Line) came in at 4:20. So I had to make an edit to shorten it. Sometimes this is easy sometimes this can be pretty tricky. This was somewhat of a challenge, but we got it done. The radio promoter we use does still believe in sending out physical copies to radio stations. So the label will press up a limited series of singles with the radio edit and the album version ion it and distribute it to the radio station program directors. These CDs also need artwork, which had to be created. They are off spins of the album art, but it still has to be done.

• I have several plans at hand for music videos

The original place I wanted to shoot at wanted too much money. 3 grand for the rental of the facility plus liability insurance. So I am coming up with alternatives. I have friends who have an empty pool. That might be a cool place to shoot a video in. I also could rent a rehearsal stage and film there. Then I have a friend who own s a drone and I was scouting locations for an out door shoot. The idea is to just get as much cool footage as I can and edit the video(s) myself. I have gotten pretty good with final cut pro.

As you can tell there are plenty of important steps to be taken once the CD is finished. This is certainly not a complete list and it will vary from artist to artist, depending on your situation. But I hope this series gave you a bit of an overview and insight about what is required from an artist, whether he/she may be independent or signed to a label.

Here is a list of resources I had mentioned in this series.

Kim Giles –   independent arts services  www.independentartistservices.com

Ron Boustead – Resolution Mastering  www.resolutionmastering.com

Jürgen Reisch  – Photographer       www.jurgenreisch.com

Copyrights –  library of congress website. www.copyright.gov/registration/

Help with production and writing – that’s me :o)    www.nilsmusicproductions.com