a lesson on the compact disc and its derivatives (or, how things can be too good to be true)

okay, so, i said earlier...

"hey look at me i'm getting my first cd pressed, not burned!" and you all were impressed. i was impressed.


i am now ashamed.


ashame-ed.

i just picked up my 50 shiny new discs, with full color printing on the face.

while i was talking to my contact, i noticed that the prevailing color running up and down the spindle of discs was of a greenish hue.

as soon as i got in the car...i flipped the disc...and beheld the glory that is cd-r (formerly known as cd-wo.)

so, i did some research and found out some things about cd's:

1) short-run duplication of cd's typically means "we use cd-r's" which makes sense once i realized
2) burning cd's is radically different than pressing cd's. burning is done with a laser beam. pressing is done physically to the cd.

let's go over that one again, more in depth and in a different order:

pressing cd's involves physically pressing the grooves and pits into the physical disc using a glass master which i think is also a negative form of the final product.

burning cd's is done by using a laser beam to burn grooves and pits into a layer of dye on the cd-r, using data from a master cd, or a computer, or a tape, or whatever..

two totally different things.


also when one presses a cd, it involves making and then baking (!) a master. that's right. music is cooked.


in summary:

a) making a real cd is way more like stamping vinyl than i thought.
b) burning cd's just seems cheap in comparison.



on the plus side, my cd's have a nifty picture printed on the face instead of the words "sony" or "memorex" or..."80 minutes" i guess.

that's good.

and it's not, i repeat not!!! on a paper label that's been slapped on top of said words. it's actually printed on the disc itself.

that my friends is, at the very least, high-falutin' and serves as some sort of consolation.


i'm sort of bummed.


but. i suppose it's not bad. it is my first release. i was planning on giving it away anyways.

or at least asking for small donations. or something.


anyways.

here's some haps:

1. i am playing a show. i've said this (and been told it) many times before and was incorrect...or lied to...or something. but this time, i don't know how it could be wrong.

i'm playing May 23rd at a place called "illations cafe" here in tallahassee. i think it's on raymond deihl road.

i'm playing with three or four other acts and the show starts at nine. i apparently go on around ten. which i guess means i'm playing second or third.


2. since i have these shiny new cd-r's i plan on having them for give (or get depending on your perspective) at the show. so, if you'd like three songs recorded and written and performed by me, there's your chance. hopefully i'll have cool packaging.


more than likely, it will be cooler in my head than it turns out, but i'm sure it will still be great.


thanks,
joshua