In Part 1, I shared a little about what my new single “The Mystery of Your Gift” means to me as an artist but now it’s time to get technical and discuss the recording and distribution.
The Microphone
Back in the day, I had a simple Samson plug-and-play USB microphone but when I decided to get more serious about recording it was time for an upgrade. I experimented with another Samson microphone which actually is one of my favorites and only $69.99 at the moment on Amazon. Then, I tried the famed Shure SM7B mic that so many popular singers and Youtubers use. It was a huge fail because the dynamic microphone needs additional power to operate and I couldn’t get any sound out of it for weeks. I ordered a cloudlifter to amplify the sound but nothing doing, even after being sent a replacement. Turns out I had put the wrong connecting cable in, boy was that embarrassing!
Even after the cabling was corrected, I couldn’t seem to get the right balance of sound and fortunately was able to return the microphone to Amazon. My local engineer Matt Noble suggested purchasing the AKG Pro Audio C414 XLII Vocal Condenser Microphone particularly because I have a powerful voice. Each microphone also seems to have its own unique sound and emphasizes different things, this one is known for clarity and since my voice already has a lot of color it seemed like an ideal mix.
The microphone requires phantom power so I also upgraded my mixer to the Pyle Professional Audio Mixer Sound Board Console. It has 6 channels which is also ideal as we look to the future when Classical Crossover Magazine will do more recordings of multiple artists.
The Setting
I recorded this song in an Airbnb in North Carolina. My little pug Lily wasn’t very thrilled with the whole thing but that’s how it was done. Pajamas, a comfy chair, and my AKG propped on the table.
@asingingwife Trying to record at the airbnb and Lily is indignant #pugs #pugsoftiktok ♬ I’m The Greatest Star – Barbra Streisand
Accompaniment
Usually, I work with my extremely talented friend and CCM team member, Joshua Goines to create a custom track. However, this time I found something on pianotrax.com. After contacting them I received a response saying that recording is permitted using their tracks. They asked to be credited and reiterated it is the artist’s responsibility to get the appropriate cover song license. Easy peasy. I will definitely use their tracks in the future.
The Professional
I don’t know much about mixing/mastering but figured a good place to start would be to find an artist whose music I enjoy and use that as inspiration for what is possible. I have been a fan of the Christian singer Laura Williams for some time and own all her albums. Through the magazine, I’ve been able to interview Laura and also feature her in our Songs of Inspiration concert.
It turns out Laura’s husband Ernie does her production and has his own company called New Creation Media. We were able to connect on social media and discussed doing a track together to see how we worked together.
Ernie had me send the stems (a new term I learned! Literally it’s all the vocal takes, piano accompaniment, etc queued up at the correct starting positions) and then did an initial comp of the vocals before sending them my way.
For some reason, I really enjoy the raw sound when something is just recorded on my computer or phone but normally dislike when things get to the mixing stage though I can’t put my finger on why. In this case, having already been familiar with Ernie’s work it was easier even if it’s never pleasant to hear your own voice on playback! I suggested a few changes to the comp (which is literally selecting the best vocal takes, phrases, notes, etc) and the track was ready to go. It really was as painless as this stage could be and a real pleasure to work with Ernie. I definitely look forward to doing more with him in the future.
The Distributor
My sister and I released two albums when we were young kids but it really was a different landscape back then with physical albums and no streaming. When I started recording again a couple of years ago, my engineer recommended DistroKid. DistroKid is used by a lot of indie artists and one of the advantages is being able to have multiple releases throughout the year for an annual fee (plans start at $19+). The reason I decided to leave DistroKid is that you are required to use their cover song licensing which is $12 per year regardless of how many streams you get. This model was literally costing more than I was making. So I’m on a mission to find a distributor that is easy and cost-effective.
Through researching various websites I came across Soundrop. The company promised a different model, no annual fees, including no upfront cover song licensing. According to their website, “we don’t make money unless you make money.” The flat rate to release a single is $.99 and the Soundrop cut is 15% of what you make. It is pretty straightforward and ideal to try out with little commitment.
The portal is nice and clean and similar to others I’ve used. The process for getting those cover song licenses though is a bit less clear. Once I selected my release date, I would check but it always seemed to be processing or “locked.” Eventually, I realized my original release date would not be kept. That was frustrating but thankfully I hadn’t shared that publically so it wasn’t a big deal to change the date.
I will say the staff was very responsive both on the live chat and through e-mail follow-up. I was a bit skeptical when it came to the second release date so I didn’t share until the actual day when it appeared on Spotify.
Overall, it was a pretty good experience especially when it comes to affordability. If the date had been very important to me (i.e trying to be eligible for certain charts) that could have caused issues. I want to try releasing here again both for a song that doesn’t require a license and another that does with more time (‘Mystery of Your Gift’ was uploaded the track about 3-4 weeks before the requested release date ) and will update further but so farSoundrop gets 4/5 ★★★★☆.
Next month I’ll be releasing a new single with a different distributor so there will be more to share. Stay tuned!
Stream “The Mystery of Your Gift” on my brand new “Songs from the Heart” playlist.
