CD Compilation

[Jeff & Vonda McLeod <subversive@mindspring.com>]

Howdy,
        Here's the compilation info that I mentioned in a previous post. 
Seems
like a great idea. I thought this might be of interest to everyone.
Sincerely,
Jeff McLeod

I invite you to participate in Pure Granulated Sound, a
CD compilation project coordinated by Interfear Recordings
(myself) and co-produced by all who contribute. All you need
to join in is one minute of sound, and twenty-five dollars (US).

                         The General Plan:

It's pretty simple really: You send me a one-minute recording
and 25 bucks, and your recording will be part of the CD. Once
70 submissions are recieved, 1000 CDs will be pressed, and this
pressing will be divided up amongst the contributors. If you
contribute a track, you will receive 14 copies of the CD. Isn't
this a cool idea? I got it from Brent C. at Thora-Zine. Is it
really so simple? Of course not! Read on for details... 

                      Acceptable Types of Sound:

Just about anything, but it better be interesting. I'm starting
this mostly as a showcase for experimental artists, which includes:
electronic, noise, avant-garde, collage, all those terms and more.
However, I would not refuse to place a pop song or punk band or
hip-hop act or techno piece on this CD so long as it was interesting.
Different. Distinctive in some way. If you sound like Hootie and the
Blowfish, well, save your money, the world already has enough of
that. However, if you sound like Hootie and the Blowfish being
lowered into a vat of rabid hamsters, well, I want to hear that.
INTERFEAR RECORDINGS (me) RESERVES THE RIGHT to reject any submitted
track for lack of interesting qualities, but I'm actually a softie,
so you'll have to be pretty darn ordinary for me to reject you. 

                          Submission Formats:

I'm anticipating a variety of entries, from lo-fi to hi-tech. Here's
what I can work with:

 Cassettes: Cassettes are cheap and easy. You can send your track in
on any bias tape. I can play tapes encoded with Dolby B, C, and S.
No Dolby is also perfectly acceptable. PLEASE MARK DOWN WHAT SORT
OF NOISE REDUCTION YOU ARE USING, EVEN IF YOU AREN'T USING ANY. If
you don't label your tape clearly and I have to guess what's going
on, I'm not going to feel at all gulity if I mess it up.
 Digital Computer Files: DO NOT E-MAIL TRACKS!! E-mailing me large
sound files will get you rejected out of hand. I would prefer audio
files to be sent in CD-quality .WAV format (44.1khz, 16 bit). I can
do some conversions, but of course, this degrades sound quality.
Digital files can be sent on Iomega ZIP disks or CD-ROM. If you can
write your own audio CD-Rs, you can send your track as an audio CD.
Contact me if you have any questions. At this time, I am not able to
handle mp3-encoded files.
 Digital Audio Tape: I also accept tracks on DAT. Again, have the
recordings made at CD-standard 44.1khz sampling rate.
 Other: If you must be difficult, I can play 8-track cartridges. I also
have an old homestyle reel-to-reel machine (1/4" quarter-track stereo,
plays the two-sided home stereo tapes). At this moment, I have no
pro-style reel deck. (well, I do, but it's in the shop, and I'm not
sure if it can be fixed, or if I'll be able to afford repairing it.) 

                             One Minute!

Why one minute? Several reasons. 1. If it sucks, it'll be over soon.
2. I hope to have as many different artists participating as possible--
It's a good way to share your name and work with lots of other artists!
3. It's a challenge (lots of experimental artists, myself included, tend
to make long epic compositions. I found it a challenge to make an
interesting track that kept within one minute for Brent C.'s Noise
Kills Punk Dead [still not quite released yet]). 4. It keeps the cost
down for each contributor. 5. Frankly, I just like the idea of a whole
bunch of short tracks thrown together in chaotic fashion on one disc.
So there.
Please keep your track as close to a minute as possible. If you're
working in the digital domain, you should have no problems keeping it at
a minute. If you're recording on analog, it's trickier, I know. I won't
bitch about it if you're one or two seconds over or under. If, however,
you start going over 5, 10, 15 seconds, well... I will not be afraid to
edit. Be warned. 

                         The Disc Roster:

This project is open-ended-- if it looks like I'll be getting enough
submissions to do more than one disc, I will. Positions on the disc
are on a first-come, first-serve basis. I will not be taking
reservations; your track will be placed on the disc's roster only when
both your master tape and your payment are in my possession. You may
enter more than one track; however, in order to encourage a wide
variety of artists, I am limiting an artist's appearance on each
disc to no more than 2 tracks. (Some leeway may be granted for
collaborative efforts.) Excess tracks will be rolled over into the
next edition of the compilation. 

                          The Financial Plan:

If you send cash, conceal it well. Make checks or money orders out to:
                             Colin Wales.

                  Send master tapes and payment to:

                  Colin Wales / interfear recordings
                          P.O. Box 1324
                      Muscatine, Iowa 52761
                              U.S.A.
          questions/comments by email: stophim@muscanet.com

I encourage international contributions; however, I have no way to convert
foreign funds-- please pay in U.S. funds.
70 tracks/contributors at $25 each means a fund of $1750, which should be
enough to press 1000 CDs, as well as handle mailing 70 packages out to
each contributor. Each contributor will receive 14 CDs, the remainder will
be used for promotional purposes.

I am currently looking at different CD plants and possible options for
packaging (suggestions are welcome), and there is a possibility of coming
in under budget. If this happens, I'll try to increase the number of CDs
pressed. In such a case, 1050 CDs will be distributed among the 
contributors.
Anything over that amount, I will attempt to distribute and sell through
commercial channels. Any profit from such sales will be retained by 
Interfear
Recordings (me). Consider it my fee for organizing this project. Don't 
worry,
it will go towards producing more quality strangeness. 

                            Final Notes:

I'm looking forward to putting this CD (and many more after) together-- it
has the potential for being a fun and interesting little artifact. Comments
are welcome. Do you have a suggestion for 'zines or other suitable review
publications? Do you have distribution tips if the thing goes over a
thousand copies? I'd love to hear 'em... If, for some reason, you have a
dire objection to some aspect of this project or the way I'm coordinating
it... well, start your own project! We need lots more of this kind of 
stuff!

     http://members.xoom.com/stophim/interfear/granular.htm