This post will be for the Cd replication process. This is the point when the actual copies are made. This process will be a bit costly ($1,500 for 750 copies, or so). Once I get to this point the Cd is completed in its entirety (graphic design and recording). Despite the cost, I will be very happy when I get to this point. I think it will probably take about one month, or so, for the copies to be finished. So, I will need to have the "Crazy Like A Fox" Cd totally finished by about mid September. At the beginning of the year, I set my target release date for this Cd to be around Oct-Nov. If all goes well, I will be back to this post around early September.
7-4-10, How cool is this ... I completed the graphic design for my "Crazy Like A Fox" Cd on the 4th of July ! This day also marks the end of my 2 month storage unit rental, which means that all my vocals are officially completed.
7-11-10, I have just finished recording the last track on the entire Cd. All that is left now is the mastering ! Talk about timing, my studio monitors just arrived a few days ago.
8-29-10, YES !!! According to my first post, I am about 2 weeks ahead of schedule. I finished up the "master" copies of the Cd today. Last night I put the finishing touches on the graphic design. After all these months of hard work it all comes down to one memory stick (graphic design artwork) and one Cd ("masters"). In 2 days I going to visit my brothers in California for one week. As soon as I return, I will call my friend Dan at Total Media and make arrangements to replicate the release. YES !!! I can see the finish line ! Tomorrow I am sending out both copyright packages, and my application for ASCAP membership. The Cd replication is all that is left to do. (10:00 p.m.) I sent a message to Dan, letting him know that I will ready to replicate the Cd, around September 9th (Thurs), or 10th (Fri). This will all coincide with week 1 of the NFL ... YES !! I have 2 fantasy teams ready to take care of business. This will keep me occupied while I wait for the copies to arrive.
9-8-10, I just got home from my California vacation. Tomorrow I will give Danny a call at Total Media and set a time to meet him. I still have the radiator problem with my jeep to deal with, so I may have to use my parents car to drive there. One way or another, I am going to get this done.
9-9-10, I brought my jeep to a local garage today. Hopefully it is just going to be a hose, or the radiator. I also called Total Media and made arrangements to come in tomorrow afternoon (going to use my parents car). Danny is out of town for 4 days so I am going to work with Gary, the company owner. Before I go to bed tonight, I will have to listen to the Cd one more time and make sure everything recorded alright.
* Yes ! The NFL season starts tonight (Saints vs Vikings). The last time I watched a Saints/Vikings game it was the playoffs this past January. At that point in time I was just starting my Cd. Now, here I am 9 months and 14 songs later, getting ready to have the Cd replicated ! I am also proud to say that I have 3 fantasy football teams ready to take care of business.
9-10-10 (12:00 a.m.) I am listening back to my Cd, to make sure everything recorded alright. While in California I played the Cd for my brothers. The only problem was that I had to use the DVD player, as a result I was at the mercy of the speakers as they were (no EQ that I could adjust). To cut to the quick, the Cd didn't sound very good because the speakers were loud on the low end and the high mids were obsolete. I do have a bit of a husky voice, so the speakers didn't compliment my work very well. Anyway, I am really enjoying hearing the Cd through my PC. Everything sounds good again ! (5:00 p.m.) I had a very good day today. I went to Total Media to start the Cd replication process. Gary was gone for the day and Danny is on vacation, so Jennifer and Sarah helped me out. Everything with the graphic design looks like it is going to be alright. Not having the actual disc design in the right format wasn't a problem at all. The specs on everything else should be perfect. I am also going to have a barcode added to the copies (on the back panel), for resale and extra copyright protection. Once they have checked the audio on the Cd and put the graphic design together they will email me a copy for my final approval. Once I give my approval the Cd is sent out for replication. I was happy to hear that the replication will only take 2-3 weeks, instead of 1 month. The total cost to have 1,000 copies made is going to be $1,440 ($60 below my projection). I left a $700 up front payment with Total Media, the other $740 will be paid when the copies arrive. The other good news is that my jeep has been repaired and the cost was only $282. The problem wasn't the radiator, is was actually a worn out o ring in one of the hoses. All in all, I spent $1,722 today, but it was money very well spent.
9-13-10, I talked to Sarah at Total Media today. As it ends up I saved all the graphic artwork in the wrong format. I had everything in the Bitmap format and it needs to be changed over to JPEG. I just finished converting the pictures and saved them to a memory stick. The girls were just leaving the office, so I will have to make another trip over there tomorrow. Whew ! Just a minor setback.
9-15-10, I made it to Total Media around 1:00. The JPEG version of the pictures will work out just fine. The resolution was still low at 90, so Sarah had to enhance them all up to 300. I think what happened is that I have my camera set to the bitmap, low resolution, format. If I wanted all the images to be 100% perfect I would have to go back and retake all the pictures (in JPEG) and do all the editing all over again. I decided to go with what we got. The images, as they are, are good enough (about 90% perfect). The slight blurriness adds a bit of a mystique to the overall graphic design. I was also thrilled to find out that Sarah is a classically trained musician, who can play multiple instruments ... and plays in a symphony ! I told her that if the occasion arises where I need to put together a band, I may be in need of her talents. I am definitely serious about this. When I go to pick up the Cd copies, I will make sure to set up a day to hang out with her and check out her work. Sometimes life has a funny way of making things happen.
9-16-10, OK ... I just gave my final approval on the graphic design, so the Cd has officially been sent out for replication. I feel like I just handed off the baton and now the entire project is out of my hands for a while. The final prints of the graphic design looked perfect. Sarah and Jennifer did an excellent job centering the design for the top of the disc, so that worked out well. I'm not going to worry, everything is going to turn out excellent !!!
9-19-10, I am totally enjoying all this down time while I wait for the copies to be finished. Thankfully there is a lot of good TV going on to keep me company (NFL, Rays games, Boardwalk Empire, Dancing With The Stars, etc). The Rays are battling the Yankees for home field advantage and the Bucs have started the season 2-0. The season premiere of Boardwalk Empire was excellent. It's going to be a very memorable series.
9-27-10, Jennifer just notified me through an e-mail that my Cd's will be available for pick up on either Thurs, or Friday (today is Monday). It's so cool of them to keep me updated. When it is all said and done the Cd will be completed and available for purchase by the first day of October ! This means that I finished the entire project about 3-4 weeks ahead of schedule ... how's that for delivering the goods ! From start to finish the entire process took 9 months to complete (and it is all captured here in my "Crazy Like A Fox" blog).
9-30-10, YES !!! My Cd's are completed and ready to be picked up. I e-mailed Jennifer and told I would be in around 1:00 tomorrow to pick them up. Once I get back home I will have to spend some time getting all my websites up to date, with links to purchase the new Cd (Etsy and ebay). Friday October 1, 2010 is going to be the official release date for my "Crazy Like A Fox" Cd. I did it !!!
10-1-10, I picked up my Cd's this afternnon ! Everything turned out perfect ! Sarah and Jennifer rock ! I ended up getting an extra 75 copies, bringing the total to 1,075. The total cost ended up being $1,390 (another wise investmebt). We forgot to include the barcode in the graphic design so it isn't included on any of the copies, which is alright. The barcode will just have to be added during the 2nd printing (hopeful thinking). This will make the 1st printing more distinguishable. Thanks again to the girls at Total Media. Well, that's it for this post !
UPDATE (2-16-14): All songs from my "Crazy Like A Fox" Cd can be heard in their entirety through the tune player below. Please make sure to also visit my home website at: www.foxmanmusic.com
About Me
- Foxman Music
- Tampa Bay, Florida, United States
- My name is Brian Fox (aka Foxman) & I am an Independent artist, songwriter, photographer & actor from the Tampa Bay area. In 2001, I founded Foxman Music & began writing/releasing my own albums. I currently have 6 albums to my credit & am working on the 7th, titled 'Hit List'. I am best known for being a creative writer & a witty lyricist who employs a bit of a Hollywood approach, which means that I don't always write through my own eyes. I'm the primary musician (bass, guitars, keys and percussion) and vocalist on all of my releases. Outside of the music, I'm a semi-accomplished artist and I've also had background acting roles in 2 Netflix movies (Bloodline & The Last Thing He Wanted).