Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Treasures from the Philippines

Back in 2002 VGo Recordings released "Philippine Treasures." Guitarist Angelo Favis played traditional and composed music from his native islands. The second volume is finally available, and we got it on the website post haste.

Volume 2 is a nice companion to the original release. Some of the works move from the traditional to the classical realm, and many of the composers are from the mid- rather than early-twentieth century.

While we've catagorised these two releases as "world music," they would not be out of place on the shelf of any collector of classical guitar recordings.

Here's a sampling of this remarkable collection.

Sampaguita

- Ralph

Friday, February 9, 2007

Another day, another podcast

Well, it seems that way sometimes. For DCD Records, creating a podcast is something that takes place over the course of several weeks. I usually break it down like this:

Pre-production: This phase includes selecting the tracks, and deciding on the sequence. This then dictates the flow of the script, and what I need to research in order to write said script.

The tracks are then flown into the computer, in preparation for --

Production: This is actually the shortest part of the process for me. I can usually cut all the voice tracks in about a half an hour, even with multiple takes (I credit my radio background). The tracks are moved into the editing program, and then its just a matter of editing down the raw voice tracks, and equalizing the levels throughout the podcast. If only this were all! But then there's --

Post-production: Easily the longest part of the project. Currently, I take the tracks used in the podcast and create one-minute sound samples for the DCD website. I also create the graphics and special pages for any special offers associated with the podcast during this phase.

I'll create the podcast post and add the relevant links, and do a final test to make sure the download works. At that point, the podcast is ready to be released to the world.

And its an ongoing process. While one podcast may be in post-production, I may be preparing to record another, and doing pre-production music selection for a third. Of course, there's always a possibility of a last-minute substitution for a new release -- but that's the kind of problem I like to have!

Our nineteenth podcast is now completed and posted, ready for your audition. I welcome your thoughts on our little production.

- Ralph