June 1999 Articles
Who Cares if You Have a CD? - Part II
Side Benefits and Other Thoughts by Wally Shoup
Up Periscope: Links to Northwest Adventurous Music in the Net
by Mike Marlin

Who Cares if You Have a CD? - Part II
Northwest creative musicians discuss the state of the artifact

"When I made my first album in 1984, Nat Hentoff said this in his liner notes: 'Making your first record as a leader of your own music is like writing your first novel.' Nowadays, making your first CD is like getting your business card on some level. People make a CD to try and get a gig for the door. That is a little different."
-- Bassist Mark Helias, interviewed by Jon Morgan in the May/June 1999 issue of Coda

Out of 32,000 new records last year, 250 sold more than 10,000 copies.
-- Webnoize News

In last month's Tentacle, we asked a dozen Northwest creative musicians to talk about the ups and downs of making independently produced CDs of non-mainstream music. Their responses yielded valuable insights into what motivates artists to document and distribute their work, and shed light on the mechanics of putting one's music out there for the public to hear. In Part Two of our discussion, the musicians share their thoughts about the proliferation of inexpensively produced recordings, the phenomenon of music on the Internet, and the rewards and drawbacks of producing your own CD.

Do you feel that easy access to the means of production has watered down the quality of recorded music as a whole? In a world that's awash in inexpensively produced CDs, how does the listener separate the proverbial wheat from the chaff?

KEVIN GOLDSMITH: (as label owner) In general, I think that by making the production of music more accessible, the overall quality level is going to go down as the quantity increases; there are fewer filters out there controlling what appears to the general populace. However, I wouldn't want it any other way. The making of music is not something that should be controlled or filtered by third parties deciding what is really "music." It opens things up for adventurous musicians as well as listeners. As this trend increases, however, people are going to need more help finding music that they like. Magazines, radio, and word of mouth are going to be ever more important.

(as musician) I've found some really amazing records that never would have seen the light of day 10 years ago because they were too challenging. I've also heard some of the worst crap that never should have made it off the basement boom box it was recorded on.

DAN MOORE: Bringing digital audio technology to the consumer level has allowed people to make CDs that could never do it before, but it doesn't mean that their music will be any better/worse than professional productions. I have a cassette of a band from upstate New York that completely blows away anything I have heard on a CD since, and it was made on a four-track in a guy's basement. I'm not talking about recording quality -- I am talking about sheer talent. To me, the bottom line is that talent will shine through recordings of any quality, but it is up to the listener (in this case, the label rep) to make that call.

JEFF GREINKE: There's more stuff to weed through, so it's harder to keep up with what's out there, but I don't seem to have any trouble finding music I like. The sound quality of home-produced music has improved as well.

AIKO SHIMADA: I feel that there may be more good-quality music out there. When I say good quality, I mean good creative music, but not necessarily good sound quality. Now that it's easier to make records, musicians who weren't able to have easy access to the means now have the access to make interesting recordings. But at the same time, there is an increase of lesser-quality recordings for the same reason, I guess.

DOUG HAIRE: I hear it as an increase in quality generally. It may seem worse, but that's because there is plenty of subpar shit but more prime music as well.

DOUG THERIAULT: An increase by individuals, not corporations. I believe that everyone can release their own CD. That doesn't necessarily mean that it will sell anyway. Why should this be the goal? Quality is purely up to an individual to decide whether they like it or not.

ERIC AMRINE: I think that commerce chokes on [the flood of self-produced CDs], which is good and bad for those who want it to. Isn't there a lot more of everything now? It takes longer to cut through the noise, but the pathways are there.

SUE ANN HARKEY: I don't think that it has affected the percentage of quality stuff necessarily, [there's] just more of it, both good and bad, which is subjective.

ALLAN LOUCKS: Since there's more recorded music, there's both more bad and good music available.

TUCKER MARTINE: There's more bad music and more good music.

Have you ever used, or considered using, the Internet as a means for distributing your music? Do you think Web-based music distribution will eventually supplant physical discs and tapes?

SUE ANN HARKEY: Yes, Yes, Yes! I had a Web site for my CD way before I ended up putting it out myself. I used the Web site to try to get small labels interested in releasing the CD but had no response. When the bandwidth gets wider, music will come from the Net primarily, either through distributors or from the artists themselves. It won't be long before you'll be burning people's CD's off the net. There will still be discs, but you will be recording them yourself by downloading them from the Net. The technology is full-speed ahead. I rely on the World Wide Web. I love it. Now everyone owns their own press, just as it should be. Less waste. More clutter. But access at least.

DOUG THERIAULT: I think the Internet will replace our current form very soon. It already has. Corporations are shaking in their boots, and good for them. They are the ones that created this technology in the first place! Downloading CDs is as easy as pressing a button.

TUCKER MARTINE: Sure, I've considered it but my distribution ideas get less attention than musical ideas, so we'll see how quickly I'm set up for that. It might eventually replace physical releases. Just think, CDs will be popping up in antique stores!

JEFF GREINKE: I've been using the Internet to distribute my music for a couple of years. We do seem to be going through a transition period.

AIKO SHIMADA: I have used the Internet to sell my CDs. I'm not too familiar with Web-based distribution, but I think this will become more common in the future.

KEVIN GOLDSMITH: (as label owner) We're experimenting with downloadable music right now with our MP3 singles club and CD compilations Web sites and with people buying our music directly in Real Audio form. The future is really hazy right now with regard to how music will be delivered. We're just going to keep trying new stuff until we figure out what works best. I think that eventually Web-based distribution will get rid of discs and tapes. It makes too much sense financially to cut out the middlemen (which may include labels!)

(as musician) Since I don't have to worry about the bottom line so much, I'm going to try a bunch of stuff; at the moment, I consider selling or giving away music on the Internet mostly a promotional exercise.

DAN MOORE: Absolutely. This is also a result of bringing digital audio technology to the consumer. People will get their music sold however they can, and the Internet is a perfect vehicle for that to happen. I will be encoding files for selling individual songs so people can custom-tailor their CDs to be a collection of songs rather than an entire album. Having worked for Microsoft's Interactive Media Department and engineered audio for the Internet, I can say this with absolute certainty.

Would you release an independently produced CD again, or recommend that others do so? What advice would you give someone who wants to release a CD?

AIKO SHIMADA: I guess it all depends on what your goal is. Some musicians want to be known as musicians among the general public, and they need to make their recordings in a certain way. For me, I love playing my own music in my own way whether people like it or not. That means I prefer releasing and producing my music independently unless I can get help from a label that will give me 100 percent control over my creativity. I think I will keep releasing CDs independently until I can find such labels.

ALLAN LOUCKS: Yes, I would release an independent CD again. I would tell others to have everything worked out ahead of time before starting production of a CD.

ERIC AMRINE: Do you mean completely by yourself or with a small label backing it? I'd do either one again, and recommend the same to others. Advice? Get to know a radio DJ.

TUCKER MARTINE: Sure, I'll do it again. What is the other option, a major label? My only advice is to be sure you make music that means a lot to you and will hopefully sound good to your grandkids, too.

DOUG THERIAULT: I would recommend to anyone not to spend money on releasing a CD through a manufacturer, but to buy a computer and do it yourself. It will cost you the same amount of money, and you will have a computer to boot!

SUE ANN HARKEY: I feel a lot of hesitation about putting out a new release because I feel that I am only contributing to the immense backlog of all that stuff already out there. I felt this way with my first release. I find it is wasteful and self-centered. However, I would like to make more CDs myself but I want to make fewer copies. My advice to others would be: Don't expect anything from it. Do it for yourself and be prepared to do a lot of footwork. Don't get discouraged, expectations will make you grieve, be surprised if something does come from it. Make the least amount of copies possible.

JEFF GREINKE: I have two CDs coming out this spring that I'm independently producing. It makes the most sense to me right now, given my past experiences and the current state of the industry. The amount of work ahead of me is daunting, but knowing that I'm the one handling my distribution, that I'm not dependent on someone else (on another continent) to handle things properly, to send me prompt and accurate statements, etc., is quite satisfying. If you're serious about distributing your music beyond just your friends, realize that it's going to take a lot of time and energy and perseverance, and even then it may not amount to many sales, regardless of how appealing your music might be. But if your heart is behind it, and you care to share what you're doing, then by all means give it shot.

KEVIN GOLDSMITH: (as label owner) It's making more sense for artists to release their own music, but the age of the labels is far from over. If you can make a CD and be pretty sure about selling them out at your shows, I would say do it! Independent artists releasing their own stuff shouldn't bother trying to get it out nationally unless they want to spend more time being a label than being an artist. My suggestion is that if you release a CD, concentrate on selling it in your hometown and attract the attention of a label for your next one. Labels still exist because they can do a lot of stuff that it takes a long time for an artist to do.

(as musician) I started a label to release my own stuff and it's taken me over four years to release my first album because I'm spending all of my time doing label stuff instead of working on my own music. If you can get someone else to put out your record, I say do it. If you decide to put it out yourself, don't try and do too much with it. Sell it at your shows and at your favorite local stores. Don't make too many copies.

DAN MOORE: If you go with a label, there's no guarantee you will make any more than if you did it yourself. Where do you think the label gets its money from? The artist. Usually a record deal will involve a big loan to the group for recording, which is to be reimbursed out of estimated record sales. There is a false sense of security when groups sign the dotted line on a record deal. As an independent protected by ASCAP, BMI, or other performing rights organizations, you will make a lot more money if your album is a hit. Take a good look at the market and the direction in which music is going to estimate your album's market value, and perhaps that can shed some light on whether you stand a better chance on your own. For example, the first Nirvana album was made in Cobain's basement with a four-track analog recorder at a cost of well under $5,000. Because the album contained hit after hit, it generated millions of dollars in record sales. Would you rather that money go to you, or to the label? Labels will try to get you to give up your publishing rights, which is 50 percent of all profit generated by record sales. That is a ton of money you are giving away as a result of writing brilliant music.

DOUG HAIRE: Yes, I will do another independent release, and it is likely that a Web presence will happen. Audio compression mp3, etc., is welcome and will ultimately dominate the independent artists' world. The Web will change artists' lives for the better. Corporate music dismissed.

Have you considered releasing your music "on demand" with CD-Rs?

TUCKER MARTINE: Yeah, this really makes sense if you play out a lot or have your name out there and want to make some significant extra cash. You should talk to [banjo virtuoso] Danny Barnes about that. He's got it down!

DOUG THERIAULT: CD-Rs are wonderful. If it's good, people will like it for a while and then you can discontinue it and make something new at minimal cost. And you [can] put it up on the Internet at practically no cost!

JEFF GREINKE: No -- way too time-consuming.

ALLAN LOUCKS: No, because CDRs aren't as physically robust, and they don't look as good as finished product.

DAN MOORE: Yes, but that can work only to an extent. CD-Rs have a "demo" look to them, and people like to have more when they buy a record. They want to read the words, see the graphics, the whole nine yards. It is my opinion that you would have less success going that route than spending just a few dollars more to get the professional look. For the basement composer, though, it bypasses an entire leg of production and cuts down on cost significantly. The call you need to make is, what market are you shooting for?

KEVIN GOLDSMITH: (as label owner) Yes, I love the thought of doing CD-Rs for special short-run discs and custom compilations. We sell too many of most our discs to do CD-Rs for a release, though, and I'm not sure how many bands want their stuff released on CD-Rs instead of "real" CDs. One of our biggest costs is manufacturing; if we could make CDs as we need them, that would save a ton of money.

(as musician) Most definitely. CD-Rs rule. However, I'm somewhat concerned about their lifespan.

SUE ANN HARKEY: YES. This is exactly how I want to do it in the future. I would like to be burning my own CDs one at a time. I need very few copies since the demand, and my motivations, are minimal. This way I would not be wasting resources, money, and landfill space.

Side Benefits and Other Thoughts
by Wally Shoup

A side benefit of being involved in non-commercial music is the contrasting view it gives of what passes for commercial music. If you're interested in music that doesn't easily "sell" and you observe what does sell, it gives you an idea of the distance between the two -- what the one has the other lacks and vice-versa.

It seems that the major difference is in the particularity of emotional depth and resonance. Non-commercial music allows a more ambiguous and subtle emotionality to be investigated and expressed. It rarely satisfies immediate emotional needs -- heightened concentration and extended attention are needed to "get" its more complex emotional message. At best, it can stir deep-set feelings, ones either lost, barely remembered, or never previously experienced.

In fact, it puts the whole notion of immediate emotional response into question. When I think of the ethereal sounds of Ligeti or Xenaxis, for instance, I don't immediately think of blatant emotions such as glee, sorrow, exuberance, anger or sadness.

Instead, the mood is more likely be one of mystery, ambivalence and fear -- an eeriness that reflects, in sound, the emotions experienced in the face of the unknown. This immediate unease, this feeling of being "in the dark", while initially unsettling, can transmute into a sense of awe, a sense that life's mysteries might not be terrifying at all, but beautiful -- the beauty of the abyss, of deep space, of the micro-regions. Unfortunately, much 20th century atonal music has been appropriated by film and TV to accompany scenes of horror and terror, so it's difficult to hear the music on its own terms, free of negative associations. For such music, knee-jerk emotional responses not only miss the point, they prevent the possibility of experiencing something transcendent.

Commercial music, except when used for easy shock value, seems to avoid this "eeriness" like the plague. Instead, it likes to give us a pleasant surface ride, assuring us, through heartbeat rhythms and formulaic structures, that life is O.K., provided we don't look too deep beneath its commercial veneer. The tacit message is that life is basically unpleasant and scary, but if our music keeps us up near the familiar surface (a titillating and seductive surface in most cases), we can avoid thinking about the unpleasantness. This, to me, is a life-negating myth, and following it gives more negative power to the forces of the unknown than they're due. (One reason, among many, why commercial music makers perpetuate the myth -- the well-designed "hits" of ear sugar never question or challenge the underlying negative assumptions, they just obviate them for a few minutes.)

I should point out that these comments are primarily about the sound and structure of mass-marketed music and not about its lyrics. Recent events show that kids are negatively influenced by "dark" lyrics accompanied by machine-like, aggressive music. It's the words, and visual images, which are the problem. "Weird"-sounding instrumental music, in and of itself, rarely leads to violence. It's hard to imagine a kid into Stockhausen, Derek Bailey, Charles Gayle, Morton Feldman, late Coltrane, Kaoru Abe, Keiji Haino, Rudolph Grey, Ryoji Ikeda, etc. would be into violence, though in all likelihood, he or she might be an alienated soul. My point being that unfettered music, free of calculated word and image associations, is rarely the tool of propaganda -- in fact, it can lead to greater use of the imagination and freer thinking, in general. Particularly, music strong enough to command the foreground; background music is a whole other story.

Along these lines, one of the more confusing aspects of the reaction to late-period Coltrane was that he was no longer playing life-affirming music, that he was playing hate and "anti-jazz". I even read recently that he was transmitting the sound of death through his horn. How ironic that his most searching and eyes-wide-open, unflinching music was made during this period. Music of profound beauty and self-purgation.

What is it about this music that alarms and turns off followers of traditional jazz? Is it the lack of syncopated rhythms? Is it the sound of pain and joy expressed full-throttle, without the armor of cool and "hipness"? Is it the utter seriousness of the music, as if today's jazz, by becoming just another popular music, should function only as a "warm" sonic drug, doing what little it can to "smooth" over the woes of daily life?

It would seem that the urgency of the message, its sheer complexity, would inspire and exhilarate its listeners, suggesting music with vast spiritual and emotional realms to explore, provided musicians were willing to shed their fears and self-delusions, digging deep into their personal sound, refusing to follow the easier path of merely emulating their idols.

The adverse reaction to any intense music, which so eloquently expresses pain and joy simultaneously, tells me that great music will never be easily "sold" (or fully appreciated) until an extremely hard truth is confronted -- the knowledge that beauty and pain (the pain of existence) can neither be separated nor avoided. One is part of the other, and significant music invariably reveals this dilemma, not only helping us "live with it" without despair, but strengthening our souls in the process.

Music that solicits immediate, broad, and calculated emotional responses will never address this condition in any meaningful or satisfactory way. (Nor do I think it pretends to, but why pretend that it does and give it reams of copy it doesn't deserve?) Music does have healing and transcendent powers beyond the temporary, mood-altering "escape", but rarely when used in manipulative, button-pushing ways by a music industry driven by quick sales and sentimentality.

Wally Shoup is a Seattle-based free-improvising saxophonist, leader of the trio Project W, and one of the founders of the Other Sounds series, which for three-and-a-half years has presented biweekly performances of adventurous music at Seattle's Speakeasy Cafe.

Up Periscope: Links to Northwest Adventurous Music in the Net
by Mike Marlin

Since its inception, the Tentacle World Wide Pod site has striven to be more than simply a timely and comprehensive calendar of exploratory music performances in the Pacific Northwest. Our mission to extend the reach of challenging Northwest music has also been the impetus for constructing a multifaceted Web site that includes relevant Northwest adventurous music news, radio listings, onshore and online music outlets, literary resources, articles from our monthly Ink edition, information on new releases, and, in what we feel is a vital community service, a page of links to musicians and organizations committed to uncompromising music. The Tentacle Links page has grown steadily over the past two years to include the sites of nearly 60 individual musicians, a dozen stalwart organizations in Vancouver and Seattle, and other important New Music nodes in the Greater North Pacific Musical Sphere and beyond. New Music-related Internet sites are flourishing in the Northwest and all over the seven seas.

For instance, we recently discovered AIM, the Alliance for Improvised Music, a North Carolina-based nonprofit organization promoting adventurous music up and down the East Coast. Another discovery from our cyber-observatory is the Living Room Project, a nonprofit, grassroots project created in memory of bicoastal experimental pianist Randy Hostetler. The site features information on grants available to musicians; discussions of issues salient to experimental music; a constantly updated array of links to relevant music sites; and a collection of sound and multimedia files submitted by experimental sound artists from every corner of the planet.

Many of the sites on the Tentacle's Links page have been discovered serendipitously; others have been submitted by their originators. We welcome submissions from musicians anywhere in the Northwest whose music fits the Tentacle's stated purview. From time to time we'll highlight a few noteworthy sites in our Ink edition so you'll have a chance to survey potentially uncharted waters. We're heartened to find ourselves part of this global upwelling of online and print resources heralding creative, non-mainstream music.

Tacoma New Music Group
(formerly the Lake Washington New Music Center)
Emanating from the Puget Sound area, the TNMG is a nonprofit organization devoted to the collection, preservation, and performance of 20th-century contemporary composition in all its forms, from chamber works to computer music. The site features a vast array of links to New Music ensembles, performers, alliances, societies, collectives, festivals, competitions, conferences, symposia, nonprofit foundations, and commercial enterprises specializing in new acoustic and electronic music in the U.S., Canada, Eastern and Western Europe, Australia, and East Asia. Organized geographically, the breadth and scope of the Group's network is impressive, spanning sites as far-flung as the Iceland Music Information Centre and the Korean Electro-Acoustic Music Society. The TNMG site also contains a calendar of Northwest and West Coast avant-classical performances, information on newly published scores, record release notes culled from local and regional media, and instructions on how to sign up for the Group's email newsletter, featuring updates and upcoming concerts.

earsay
Earsay.com is an online New Music magazine based in Vancouver, B.C. Compiled and maintained by the Earsay Productions artists collective, the site contains literate treatments of contemporary music topics, a sound gallery of clips from Earsay's diverse artist cabal, Vancouver CD releasenotes, and a quarterly calendar of Vancouver New Music performances. Special attention is given to each issue's featured artist to mark their appearance at a local venue. May's Earsay spotlights Argentinean pianist/composer Damian Keller, taking an in-depth look at his philosophy and approach to music via an interview and sound clips. Upcoming features planned for 1999 include online tutorials by various experts in subjects ranging from instrumental technique to sound synthesis for the Internet, and Soundscrawl, an interactive/collaborative music-making area for inclined browsers. Earsay promotes and vends publications, CDs by its artists, and tickets to Vancouver New Music events produced by Earsay and other Western Canada music presenters.

3rd Pyramid
Portland-based nonprofit artist collective 3rd Pyramid was created to publicize several important music series in the Rose City, including UnSound Practices and Hypnotica. This modest Web site provides a schedule of events for these series and contact information for interested community members. Performers and fans of experimental music in Portland and surrounding communities are encouraged to participate, support, and become involved in 3rd Pyramid productions.