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Creating a Music Compilation
I’m currently working on the 7th compilation album that I’ve helped to create and distribute through Concatenation Records. It’s quite a process, so I wanted to write a little about it.
I’ve been part of multiple online communities over the years that have been rife with musical talent (all of which were dedicated to certain bands), and as there are many musicians are interested in expressing themselves through their creative works, putting together a compilation to exhibit said talent always seems like a good idea.
It does require someone to keep things organized and on-schedule, as I’ve seen more than a few compilations fall to the wayside after the organizer is unable to keep things on target. In fact, the Willow compilation likely wouldn’t have come out (or it would have a lot later than it did) if I hadn’t jumped in and offered to take the reins of the project.
Once the deadlines are met, extended, and met again (as is usually the case), it’s time for the project organizer to figure out the order that the tracks go in. This is usually the hardest part of putting a compilation together for me, as I tend to over-agonize about it. It is important to have proper flow with an album, and having even one track in the wrong place can throw the flow of the compilation completely off.
I think the one I’m currently working on (NSD4) is the hardest of the bunch, as I’m having a hard time finding a proper opening track to use. There are a few candidates, but I’m not sure which one I can build the compilation off of. It’s still early enough that I have time to experiment with different arrangements of tracks, but I hope it doesn’t hang me up for too long.
Once I get the track arrangement figured out, the mixing will be the next step. Getting volumes properly adjusted for a compilation that contains metal, rock, electronic music, chiptunes, and a few other genres will be difficult, but I’ve done it before. Thankfully, the artists have done some quality work with the mixes they sent in, so getting an overall final mix together shouldn’t take too long.
After that, I listen for the spacing between songs. With a compilation, I like things to move along at a good clip, which is why I don’t leave much space between tracks. If there’s a track with too long of a space at the beginning or ending, it takes me out of the listening experience. So, I’ve stuck with a 0.3 second space at the beginning of a song since looking at the .wav files for Meshuggah’s “Nothing” album (as it’s a personal favorite of mine) and seeing that they started all of the songs at that point. The amount of space I use at the end of a song tends to vary, but it’s usually less than a second.
Once all of that’s done and the artwork has been taken care of (usually by folks that have contributed tracks to the compilation), everything is ready to be sent to the CD manufacturer. Once it’s sent, I’ll have the completed product in my hands within a week or so, then all I have to do is set up the Concatenation page and get ready to send out some CDs!
While it’s a lot of work, it’s always rewarding to help fellow musicians get their music out to a larger audience.
Discuss this post at the For the Love of Creativity Forum!
Posted on September 19th, 2010.
External Links
• Concatenation Records – Concatenation Records
• Meshuggah – M E S H U G G A H – T h e . O f f i c i a l . W e b s i t e
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