BigRedX

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1492697298' post='3282451'] When I buy music from independent artists I prefer a hard copy if at all possible, but I will download if that's not available. Though having said that, the band I play guitar in have had a surprising number of younger people come up to us at gigs, look at the CD's and pronounce that there's not much point since they don't have anything to play it on. That always makes me feel old, and I'm only 36! Typically we shift more t-shirts than CDs at gigs... [/quote] We haven't sold anything like as many T-Shirts as we have CDs and records, but our T-Shirts sales have made a profit for both designs unlike the music which has yet to sell enough to cover the recording, and production costs for any of the 4 releases. It always seems strange to me that people will happily pay £10 for a T-Shirt that probably cost less than £3 to produce, but aren't so keen to spend the same on an album whose unit cost will be considerably higher.

[quote name='MartinB' timestamp='1492693819' post='3282408'] I've bought Terrortones releases from Bandcamp Spotify's great for checking out artists at minimal cost, but if I decide I like them, I'll always support them by buying the album - on CD if possible, otherwise lossless digital is ok. CDs offer the best combination of reliability, flexibility and sound quality... plus they look good on my shelf! For singles/EPs I generally prefer lossless, because (1) I don't have enough space to store them, and (2) almost no-one releases them on CD anyway. It winds me up when the only options for singles are vinyl or lossy digital - why wouldn't you want me to listen to your music as close to the recorded quality as possible? It's like painting a masterpiece and then only letting people look at polaroids of it. I wouldn't consider streaming any good for long-term usage, as there's no guarantee that a song will still be available the next time I want to listen to it (plus the obvious issues with releases being fragmented across different services). [/quote] Thank you! I'm glad someone else feels this way about the streaming services. I was beginning to think that I was on my own in this opinion.

Does anyone buy anything from record shops these days? We have a Rough Trade here in Nottingham, but the selection is pitiful. For a name that was associated with all that was cutting edge in music in the late 70s the current incarnation is depressingly mainstream. For Spotify users do you not find the catalogue too incomplete? I suppose it very much depends on your taste in music, but when I was asked by the Death Notes (the band I've joined recently) to contribute a Spotify playlist or two to their Facebook page along with the other members, I found that in the two genres I wanted to highlight - J-Pop and Post-Punk Electronica were severely limited and many of the tracks that I considered essential listening simply weren't available. Spotify seems to be fine for anything released in the UK and US since 2010 (if you release your music through an aggregator you'll be on Spotify by default), but once you start looking for older tracks by non-mainstream or artists who aren't UK or US there are massive gaps in the catalogue.

Following on from a couple of recent discussions about music formats and digital aggregators, I was looking into how sales for the different formats of The Terrortones music broke down. I'd always known that we sold a lot more physical product than downloads, but what I didn't expect was just how much it was skewed towards the physical product, no matter whether you look at income or the number of songs sold. We weren't very good at keeping actual sales figures for the physical product, but looking at what I have left of each release and taking into account how many we gave away as promo copies, I can estimate that over 5 years we made around £2500 - about 600 actual items sold, split over the 4 releases. That's from selling CDs, records and cassettes mostly at gigs and the rest mail-order through our web site and Bandcamp. In the same time period we made $200 from downloads and streaming from CD Baby, and £80 from downloads on Bandcamp - roughly 10% of our total sales. Of all those sales streaming only accounts for about 15% (that's less than 2% of the total sales by value). Looking at the actual sales numbers for downloads it was 138 tracks from Bandcamp, 137 tracks from iTunes, 14 tracks from Amazon and 7 tracks from eMusic. Interestingly by far our most popular release on download was "The MonsterPussy Sessions" which was otherwise only available as a cassette, which probably goes to show that although our audience prefers physical product to downloads they also prefer downloads to cassettes! For The Terrortones audience at least (and we did have a good spread of ages across our audience), physical product is far more popular than downloads, although they will buy downloads (in limited numbers) if there is no corresponding physical product, or if it is on a less popular format like cassette. Geographical location doesn't seem to be a problem. We sell a large number of our CDs and records to addresses outside of the UK, so AFAICS our audience isn't choosing to buy downloads because it is easier and cheaper than getting the physical product shipped to them. This tallies with my experience as an audience member. I have to admit that I am biased towards CDs, but I find that I buy most of my new music from bands at gigs. It goes a bit like this: I've enjoyed the band, had a couple of beers and there's money still in my pocket. If the band has CDs for sale I'll buy one (maybe even 2). The next day when I listen to them sometimes they are great, sometimes they are disappointing compared with my memory of the gig, and sometimes after a couple of listens a disappointing CD will start to grow on me. However if the band only has downloads available they are at a distinct disadvantage. Even if they have a card with the web address on it, there's a good chance I'll have lost it by the time I remember to check out their music, I might not even remember who the band were by then. That's a sale definitely lost. Also the next day when the buzz of the gig has worn off, I might not be quite so enamoured with the music when I check it out on iTunes before spending my money. A CD available at the gig is a definite sale. A download in the cold light of the following day... probably not. I'm sure I'm not alone in this. Also (probably because of my age) I can't help but feel that a band who have gone to the trouble and expense to put their music on CD or Vinyl take themselves a bit more seriously. And I'll take them more seriously too. After all anyone with recording and $50 can get their music up on iTunes etc. It's hardly a big deal any more. So are there any musicians on here who are selling more downloads than CDs and records? And how do you feel as an audience member. Does anyone buy a download after a gig? Would you rather be buying physical product?

By replacing them with new ones. Many years ago when I had almost no money I did experiment with cleaning strings. I found the process was long and laborious, the results were disappointing, and at least one string would break on the second attempt to clean them. These days I've found that Warwick Red Label string suit my main basses. They are relatively cheap by bass string standards, so I don't feel any need to waste my time and effort in order to try and make the strings last another couple of weeks.

[quote name='Bigwan' timestamp='1492612619' post='3281640'] Where did you find that if you don't mind me asking? [/quote] On eBay. I did have to wait for a couple of weeks for a suitably priced one to come up, and the cheap price was partly due to the fact that the casing had suffered some cosmetic damage, but the internals work fine. The 2008 models ought to be even cheaper now that they no longer support the latest Mac OS (Sierra) - I bought mine when El Capitan was still the most recent. And if you are prepared to travel to pick one up in person you should be able to get an even better bargain.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1492612230' post='3281636'] Why do cars have left hand threaded hub nuts do you think? [/quote] So if you ran a car only in reverse would the wheels eventually come off?

[quote name='PaulWarning' timestamp='1492596004' post='3281444'] I think it will be a toss up between CD baby or Soundrop, depends whether we think it's worth paying the upfront fee, I think they all take the first few quid (£10?) before they start paying you [/quote] Expect it to take up to 6 months from your first download sale before you see any money. The main download sites iTunes and Amazon take 3 months to pay the aggregator who then take at least another month to pass the money on to you. For example: our first release for download was made available in September 2011, our first sale was in November and our first payment was in February of the following year.

[quote name='PaulWarning' timestamp='1492591311' post='3281375'] guitarists and drummers are replaceable as I have found out, with good frontmen and singers it can be impossible [/quote] Especially when your band is named after the singer! The final line-up of The Terrortones was guitarist number 8 and drummer number 5. Anyway back to the OP have you decided on an aggregator then? The Terrortones used CD Baby, and I've used Catapult Distribution in the past. Both have been perfectly good, although it does take a long time for your first payment to come through.

Thanks! My time with The Terrortones was not only musically rewarding, but also the most fun I've ever had in a band. I'll be pleasantly surprised if I'm ever in that situation again. It's a pity it's over, but IME nothing lasts for ever and while from a song writing PoV we still had plenty of new ideas, had the band carried on we would have been looking for yet another guitarist and drummer. The most disappointing thing about the end of the band was the fact that we had just taken delivery of our first proper full-length album which was getting a lot of interest, but in the absence of any gig activity, few reviewers or publications were prepared to give it any real exposure, which means that I have a load of boxes full of unsold records and CDs.

[quote name='inthedoghouse' timestamp='1492372333' post='3279768'] I've never done step 3 with my basses but I always do with my 'other' guitars [/quote] I've got one guitar with slotted post machine heads and I use this method for the plain strings. Even then it's not always completely secure, and at some point I'll probably fit some Gotoh locking machine heads instead.

I've been using Schallers since the mid-80s and never had a problem with them that wasn't down to user error. When I bought my Warwick Starbass it came with the Warwick version of the Dunlops. Within 3 months of getting the bass the locking mechanism on one of them failed very embarrassingly just before a gig which resulted in a rather more subdued stage presence than normal. I ordered some Schallers the next day. If you follow the instructions given by EBS_Freak earlier in this thread, you can't go wrong.

IIRC the Violent Femmes use the massive-bodied Earthwood bass which has a unique sound all of it's own and not something I would like to have to try to replicate with a standard acoustic bass guitar no matter what type of pickup and amplification.

[quote name='gs_triumph' timestamp='1492114626' post='3278134'] It's definitely a 5 pin on mine. TC says standard midi here [url="https://tcelectronic.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/228343988-RC4-What-kind-of-cable-"]https://tcelectronic...-kind-of-cable-[/url] [/quote] Then they are wrong. The MIDI standard only requires pins 2 (the middle one), 4 and 5 the ones immediately to the left and right of pin 2 to be connected. Most good-quality MIDI cables only connect those pins as it allows a far more chunky 2-conductor and screen cable to be used. Can you power the footswitch with a separate PSU? That way it would probably work with a 3-wire MIDI cable. Peavey did something similar in the 90s with their foot switches which would work as standard MIDI patch select pedal using a MIDI cable and an external PSU, but connected to Peavey gear with a 7-way cable, it was self-powered and you got access to a lot more functions.

[quote name='PaulWarning' timestamp='1492515443' post='3280817'] have I missed an announcement? didn't know you'd stop gigging, what's behind that? assuming you want to tell us of course, if you don't that's ok [/quote] Unfortunately since the end of 2015 Mr Venom has been too unwell to gig, which has effectively meant the end of the band. We had to cancel most of our album launch tour and I've been stuck with about 350 unsold copies of the album... Since then Mr Venom has started a new very low-key musical project that is mostly recording, and I am currently playing bass with The Death Notes.

Of course everyone's audiences are different, but if this helps here is how The Terrortones sales have broken down over the past 7 years. 1. By far out biggest source of income from selling our music was from CDs, Records and Cassettes sold at gigs. This accounts for about 75% of our total income through music sales. 2. CDs, Records, and Cassettes sold on-line either through our web site or Bandcamp - approximately 15%. 3. Streaming via Spotify - about 5%. 4. Actual downloads from Amazon and iTunes - just under 5% in total equally split between between the two services. This has recently been overtaken by Spotify streams in terms of income. 5. Everything else - mostly Apple Music streams and a few from Deezer. Negligible compared with any of the above. So if your band is gigging regularly, then selling physical copies is probably going to be the biggest source of income from your recorded music. Now that The Terrortones are no longer gigging, everything except Spotify streaming has dropped to insignificant proportions. HTH

There is no right answer to this question although the aggregator mentioned in the OP is obviously the wrong answer for everyone except the lazy and stupid. What you have to do is look at the deals and work out which is best for you in terms of projected sales vs up-front costs. Unless you can guarantee a lot of download sales I would go for one with a single fixed fee and who takes the lowest percentage of your sales. If you do go with CD Baby, don't bother with the "Pro" version as they don't offer anything that UK artists with PRS and PPL membership don't already have for free. I also wouldn't bother with getting the aggregator to do your physical product distribution. IME the vast majority of sales come from people buying CDs and records at gigs. If you don't have the technical know-how to set up your own merch page on your website then Bandcamp seems to offer the best VFM. One thing that all the aggregators make a big deal of is how many different service they will get you music on to. However does anyone actual use any service other than iTunes, Amazon and Spotify? When I look at our stats, that is where 99% of our income comes from.

It's not really 4 "bass Players" though is it? It a band with 4 musicians who happen to play the bass guitar. There is an important difference.

[quote name='Osiris' timestamp='1492019865' post='3277287'] I assume you mean the RC4 foot switch, [url="http://www.tcelectronic.com/rc4-remote/"]like this[/url]? The cable that came with mine (I bought it new a few years ago) was an 8 pin midi cable and was around 5 meters long. It was a bit flimsy feeling and I was concerned about how long it would last. It was replaced by a sturdier 8 pin one that our keyboard player had going spare. But obviously that's no real help to you at the minute! Amazon have a no quibble returns policy. I'd send yours back and order an 8 pin midi cable to replace it. [/quote] Are you sure you meant 8-pin? Looking at the specification and the photos of the RH750 on the TC Electronic web it is most definitely a 180° 5-pin DIN connector on the amp. And to be fair to TC Electronic it doesn't say MIDI anywhere in their on-line specifications or description for the connector. The problem haas arisen because the original MIDI specification was never supposed to use DIN plugs as their connector standard, but 3-pin XLRs, and that the DIN option was an alternative to be used in low-cost cases only. Of course everyone went and used the DIN option rather than the far more professional XLR one, and the 5-pin connector was used because it was the most common.

Nothing wrong with liking J Geils Band. Their music saw me through the uninteresting times between Glam Rock and Punk in the 70s. And IMO Centrefold was one of their weaker songs.

[quote name='Chiliwailer' timestamp='1492019118' post='3277276'] Worryingly, the plug ins are acting up too, without fx being used anywhere else. I put it down to having an i3, but wonder what difference an i5 or i7 would actually make. I've no reason to be cynical, just a nature flaw [/quote] If you want to get the maximum out of your current computer try the following: 1. Make sure you aren't running any applications other than your DAW program. 2. Turn off Bluetooth and WiFi 3. Unplug any USB peripherals that aren't actually being used for making music. For a laptop that should be everything except your audio interface, and external audio drive if you are using one (you really should be). 4. If you are feeling really brave make sure you are complete disconnected from the internet and turn off your anti-virus programs. Don't forget to turn them back on when before you reconnect! Does your version of Cubase have meters for showing the amount of processor and disk usage while it is running? These can be invaluable in tracking down performance bottlenecks. IME the biggest performance boost you can give a laptop is to replace the system drive with an SSD, and then buy a big fast external USB 2 or 3 drive to store all your audio files on.

[quote name='Chiliwailer' timestamp='1492013565' post='3277210'] I'm new to all this, like a week in. Already, possible laptop issues are presenting themselves. I have a 2-3 year old HP, i3 processor and 8GB RAM. Running Cubase Elements, but getting a lot of processing issues so need to constantly freeze tracks. I use a lot of inbuilt fx and instruments so wonder what, if ever, would be a worthy upgrade? [/quote] Probably. However if you are using a lot of effects it might be worth thinking about how you are using them and work in a more efficient and processor friendly fashion. There is a great temptation because it is quick and easy and you can use each effect as many times as you want (given that you have enough processing power) to slap each effect onto the instrument or audio channel that it is processing. However if you have several channels all using the same effect with the same or very similar settings, then it is far more efficient to route all these channels to a bus and put one instance of the effect on the bus.

[quote name='Maude' timestamp='1492013789' post='3277214'] A 70's effect pedal with a siren? Cool! [/quote] IIRC it wasn't so much an effects pedal as some circuitry designed to produce a siren sound housed in an effect pedal shaped case. There was a foot switch to activate it, a volume control and an output jack socket. It didn't actually process anything so there wasn't an audio input.

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1492005055' post='3277098'] And all the bodies need to be cut to the same shape and depth. Otherwise the size of the piece of wood could have an effect. [/quote] And if the bodies were made from multiple pieces the joins would need to be in the same place on each body, bonded with the same type and amount of glue.

[quote name='KingPrawn' timestamp='1491978777' post='3276830'] When your not changing in the toilets �� [/quote] IMO there's no need to be changing in the toilets whatever level your band is at. I've found that a polite word with someone in charge at the venue will always result in being shown a room with a dry floor and that doesn't smell of piss where the band can change. [quote name='Roger2611' timestamp='1492005235' post='3277102'] When you get paid for playing original music [/quote] I've never had a problem getting paid for playing original music. Still haven't "made it" though. [quote name='PaulGibsonBass' timestamp='1491984980' post='3276886'] When someone comes up to you in the street and says 'are you that guy from..?' [/quote] Happens to me quite a lot, including once at a HIM gig in London, where someone recognised me as being from The Terrortones despite the fact we're not local and hadn't even played in London recently. [quote name='PaulWarning' timestamp='1491981882' post='3276856'] when you can pack up your day job [/quote] /Thread.