i am in the process of sorting out my best tunes onto a few cd's.
does anyone have any rules/suggestion for this sort of thing with regards to the tracklsiting.
ie. should your best tune go first, should you put the african water music in the middle and should you on no account finish on a death metal tune.
but seriously ?
cheers,
steve.
putting together a cd
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- KVRAF
- 4074 posts since 28 Apr, 2004
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- The Teach
- 8273 posts since 23 Jul, 2002 from flatness
no experience but it depends i guess ...
... whats the CD for ???
i would say ...
... demo - best track first then demonstrate other facets of your work ...
... self-produced CD - try different tracklists out to see which 'flows' as an album better ... no hard and fast rules IMHO (although doubtless there ARE formulas that producers / record companies work to) ...
slainte
rob
... whats the CD for ???
i would say ...
... demo - best track first then demonstrate other facets of your work ...
... self-produced CD - try different tracklists out to see which 'flows' as an album better ... no hard and fast rules IMHO (although doubtless there ARE formulas that producers / record companies work to) ...
slainte
rob-
- addled muppet weed
- 111324 posts since 26 Jan, 2003 from through the looking glass
as rob says depends what its for
demo yes best track first obviously make an impact.the fact you do tunes of lebgth also 3 mebbe 4 tracks at a push.
self produced for sellin online/to mates and such only advice is dont rush it,make sure you listen to the track listing loads make sure it has some flow.check it on a few systems also once your happy trackwise,make sure the mix transfers well
as rob again says no real rules but you want a product people will enjoy listening to from beginning to end
after youve done all that tho remember to let me know
demo yes best track first obviously make an impact.the fact you do tunes of lebgth also 3 mebbe 4 tracks at a push.
self produced for sellin online/to mates and such only advice is dont rush it,make sure you listen to the track listing loads make sure it has some flow.check it on a few systems also once your happy trackwise,make sure the mix transfers well
as rob again says no real rules but you want a product people will enjoy listening to from beginning to end
after youve done all that tho remember to let me know
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- KVRist
- 493 posts since 9 Mar, 2003
The best method is to open all your mixed tracks in a multi-track audio editor ex. Cubase etc...Placed so that they all play at the same time, then burn the cd.
This way it keeps the listening time down to a minimum.
This way it keeps the listening time down to a minimum.
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- KVRian
- 1099 posts since 20 Nov, 2004 from Seinäjoki, Finland
Put the 2 best songs first and last. You'll want to grab the listeners attention as early as possible. On the other hand, the last song should be such that it would make the listener want to listen to the whole album again. An exception is a long ambient track. That should IMO always be the last.
Put the worst song (filler) second to the last. There it goes as unnoticed as possible and the good last track will save the album. If you have an ambient ending, then put the worst one third last.
Try to avoid having 2 consecutive songs that share the same tempo and/or key. This makes the album more interesting.
If you want to include some weird experiments that sound totally different from the rest of the album, consider putting them second last (if you don't have any crappy songs for the place)
Also, think about how "intense" your songs are. Put the most intense stuff in the beginning and in the end and the soft stuff somewhere in the middle but consider also the tempi/keys.
Put the worst song (filler) second to the last. There it goes as unnoticed as possible and the good last track will save the album. If you have an ambient ending, then put the worst one third last.
Try to avoid having 2 consecutive songs that share the same tempo and/or key. This makes the album more interesting.
If you want to include some weird experiments that sound totally different from the rest of the album, consider putting them second last (if you don't have any crappy songs for the place)
Also, think about how "intense" your songs are. Put the most intense stuff in the beginning and in the end and the soft stuff somewhere in the middle but consider also the tempi/keys.
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- KVRist
- 339 posts since 16 Aug, 2004
Just don't put any bad tracks on it, especially not the worst...gravehill wrote:Put the worst song (filler) second to the last. There it goes as unnoticed as possible and the good last track will save the album. If you have an ambient ending, then put the worst one third last.
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- KVRian
- 735 posts since 13 Jun, 2003 from Shrewsbury, UK
That is pure genius... When I finish my album (sometime next year), remind me and I'll do a special copy just for you...Gymnopedies wrote:The best method is to open all your mixed tracks in a multi-track audio editor ex. Cubase etc...Placed so that they all play at the same time, then burn the cd.
This way it keeps the listening time down to a minimum.
te he he
Rollasoc
Band: http://www.hairthieves.com
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Post Rock: Coming Soon
Solo Instrumentals : https://sineglidermusic.bandcamp.com/
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Solo Indie : https://rollascoc.bandcamp.com/
Post Rock: Coming Soon
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- KVRAF
- 3266 posts since 22 Sep, 2003 from under the sun
There's no general rules, IMO. But if you conceive your album as a whole (and not a collection of singles), it'd be interesting to care about the overall structure, as if they were different parts of a big classical symphony or a conceptual album a la PF (even though in that cases, the concept would actually come before the composition/production of the tracks).
As contrast and equilibrium are the basic rules of all musical work, it's mainly a question of balancing moods, tempi, keys, etc. A striking ouverture and a strong ending (with maybe a 'back-to-peace' ambient final mark, as suggested above) are most welcome. If you are into lyrics, it could be interesting to see how to create a coherent progression from one song to the other.
As contrast and equilibrium are the basic rules of all musical work, it's mainly a question of balancing moods, tempi, keys, etc. A striking ouverture and a strong ending (with maybe a 'back-to-peace' ambient final mark, as suggested above) are most welcome. If you are into lyrics, it could be interesting to see how to create a coherent progression from one song to the other.
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- KVRAF
- 4738 posts since 20 Feb, 2004 from Gothenburg, Sweden
Yeah. And, really, if you feel that some tunes are worse than others, should they be on a CD?
Different kinds qualities is fine with me, not all songs must be "cachy", "dancey", "evil", "cute" or "moody" etc. But if you're wondering where to put the good and the not-so-good tracks on the cd you're, imo, doing something the wrong way.
Different kinds qualities is fine with me, not all songs must be "cachy", "dancey", "evil", "cute" or "moody" etc. But if you're wondering where to put the good and the not-so-good tracks on the cd you're, imo, doing something the wrong way.
Stefan H Singer
https://dropshotaudio.com/
https://dropshotaudio.com/
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- KVRian
- 1099 posts since 20 Nov, 2004 from Seinäjoki, Finland
If there are no tunes that are better or worse than others, the whole album is probably very boring.
I don't suggest anyone to put any crappy material on album but nevertheless, I feel you should choose which ones on the album are best/worst. If those are too strong words for you, you can read it as "most/least accessible" or "having most/least hit potential", whatever the "hitpotential" in your genre might be.
I don't suggest anyone to put any crappy material on album but nevertheless, I feel you should choose which ones on the album are best/worst. If those are too strong words for you, you can read it as "most/least accessible" or "having most/least hit potential", whatever the "hitpotential" in your genre might be.
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- KVRAF
- 4738 posts since 20 Feb, 2004 from Gothenburg, Sweden
I'd say that it's more important to decide the "path" for the entire album. If you want it to start out "sadly" and end "happy" or start out "content" and end "unsatified" etc.
FWIW, I think there are plenty of albums where all the songs are great and I have problems pointing out which ones I like the most on the album. Otherwise I just skip the crappier songs.
FWIW, I think there are plenty of albums where all the songs are great and I have problems pointing out which ones I like the most on the album. Otherwise I just skip the crappier songs.
Stefan H Singer
https://dropshotaudio.com/
https://dropshotaudio.com/
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- KVRAF
- 6496 posts since 26 Nov, 2004 from Frederick, MD
Your asking about the art of track sequencing. You can see the trend already (best track first, blah, blah, blah) but that's not always the way to do it.
I always point people to Brian Eno's rock albums for a lesson in track sequencing. Another Green World starts with Sky Saw, a good song to be sure, but not the best on the album. Taking Tiger Mountain By Strategy begins with Burning Airlines Give You So Much More. Again, a great song, but the album's best? I don't think so. Here Come The Warm Jets starts with Needle In The Camel's Eye. Same thing.
Often the best song on these albums (a subjective qualification at best) comes 3 songs or more into it. Why's that?
I don't really have an answer except to say that the key isn't so much to put your best foot forward (except on a demo, where it's obviously the right strategy) but to build the track sequencing just like you would a song. Each track should lead logically into the other. After a few slow songs, you need to pep things up with a good fast one. Eno shows us this on Here Come The Warm Jets when he goes from On Some Faraway Beach immediately into Blank Frank. WHAM! But it works brilliantly.
As Kriminal said, make it a journey. One song pulls you into the next and then the next and then the next. Even weaker songs have more life in them when they are in the right surroundings.
Now . . . go and do and be a musician.
I always point people to Brian Eno's rock albums for a lesson in track sequencing. Another Green World starts with Sky Saw, a good song to be sure, but not the best on the album. Taking Tiger Mountain By Strategy begins with Burning Airlines Give You So Much More. Again, a great song, but the album's best? I don't think so. Here Come The Warm Jets starts with Needle In The Camel's Eye. Same thing.
Often the best song on these albums (a subjective qualification at best) comes 3 songs or more into it. Why's that?
I don't really have an answer except to say that the key isn't so much to put your best foot forward (except on a demo, where it's obviously the right strategy) but to build the track sequencing just like you would a song. Each track should lead logically into the other. After a few slow songs, you need to pep things up with a good fast one. Eno shows us this on Here Come The Warm Jets when he goes from On Some Faraway Beach immediately into Blank Frank. WHAM! But it works brilliantly.
As Kriminal said, make it a journey. One song pulls you into the next and then the next and then the next. Even weaker songs have more life in them when they are in the right surroundings.
Now . . . go and do and be a musician.
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- KVRian
- 1262 posts since 15 Feb, 2003 from Up the Pennine way
Kriminal wrote:Make it a journey, take the listeners for a ride
Hence.... "Please faster your seatbelts" vII 
If its a demo then you would probably only have a max of 4 tracks and as stated, best first and last.
Otherwise the track order i think is how you like listening to them in.
Burn a few versions and have a listen. You will soon find the order that suits you.
bernie You cant beat people up then have them say "I love you"
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 4074 posts since 28 Apr, 2004
thanks for al the help and comments.
i'm even more confused now than i was to start off with.... bt i've got some ideas to try out.
it is purely for mine (and others) i hop lisening pleasure. i've got no illusions about getting a record dela off this stuff.
i was just planning to burn some copies to give people who might like them, and offer up a bit of front/back liner art and a complete set of songs on here.
ta anyways poeples. i guess i've got some listeing to do.
steve.
i'm even more confused now than i was to start off with.... bt i've got some ideas to try out.
it is purely for mine (and others) i hop lisening pleasure. i've got no illusions about getting a record dela off this stuff.
i was just planning to burn some copies to give people who might like them, and offer up a bit of front/back liner art and a complete set of songs on here.
ta anyways poeples. i guess i've got some listeing to do.
steve.