Guys,
I wanted to give everybody an update on our GAS Reference Recording. The final editing is complete and we’ve got the discs ready.
Before we get into our Reference Recording, I guess it’s finally time to let the cat out of the bag. During the past month or so, John (Blaine), Dennis (Bergin), Adrian and I have been having conversations about a major project. Last evening Steve, Tim and I went over to John’s house to talk to him about this project.
As most all of you know, John has been a recognized recording engineer for many decades. Johns recording collection literally fills three or four rooms of his house. The media spans open reel tapes to Betamax tapes (all the rage at one time) to DAT’s and CD’s.
What John is offering is to let Gateway Audio Society produced and distribute select pieces from his vast accomplishments. In simpler terms, he is giving us the opportunity to start a record label and will provide us the material to sustain it.
It doesn’t stop there. Besides select access to John’s previous works, we also have a number of future recording sessions loosely planned. Obviously we want John to record Adrian in a string quartet but we also have Mark and Lisa Blackmore who have offered to put together a Brass Quintet and then John and Dennis want to combine and record select pieces of Organ and Brass music (there is a huge catalog of music to select from there).
All may seem quite rosy on the surface but before we jump headlong into this we need to step back and take a look at what this will entail. First and foremost, this small (possibly non-representative) group of us feel that this effort (should it move forward) should be a not-for-profit enterprise. Once the label is up, running and can sustain itself, any profits garnered after paying musicians and John for their efforts should go to either promoting Music and the Arts or possibly a scholarship fund that we sponsor (again for music majors).
Then comes the legal aspects of this record label. We have to be completely above board with everything we do. This means the (near) immediate formation of a not-for-profit corporation. We’ll need a board of directors, a bank account, specific accounting procedures and so on. Next, we’ll need to negotiate with the music publishers and secure the rights (read=pay them money) for any of the music we record and distribute.
Then there is the actual production of the CD’s. Here we are talking about everything from CD duplication, the artwork for the blank CD, to the cover art for the CD to the liner notes to printing all the way down to stuffing CD’s into mailers and sending them to potential customers.
One of the brightest points about this is that we, the Gateway Audio Society (as far as I know), will be the only audio society out there that is self producing music on our own label and promoting arts and music education. This will make us completely unique amongst our peers.
All of this is going to take a commitment. Personally, I don’t’ foresee it being a major time consumer but it will take some effort and dedication for your individual task. Please keep in mind, I don’t think that two or three of us can pull this off. This will need to be a group effort.
That said, Tim is checking to see if we can use The Sound Room to have an
all hands meeting to discuss this. We are thinking of gathering on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday of next week or the possibly the week after. Tim will make a post to confirm the availability. Do me a favor and check your schedules. This is one that we need as many people at as possible.
Be sure to click on the date above which works best for you.
Just a few tidbits of trivia…..Did you know that Dennis Bergin (our acclaimed organist) is a four time National award winning organist? Here’s a quick bio and article on Dennis from his alma mater, WSU.
http://webs.wichita.edu/dt/insidewsu/show/article.asp?233What some may not realize is that John Blaine is a Grammy Award recipient. John was the recording engineer for a Classical album that was nominated and subsequently won a Grammy.
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