9.5/10 beats done for the next, as yet un-named Beatserv pack. Then I have to break it all down into loops and parts, and see how the rest of the boys are doing on their packs. We have a couple guest artists making packs for this next series.
I met with Alan Ruffin this weekend, and through our conversations about music, I took inventory of the Bounte tracks. I have 8 songs that I’m happy with, and an equal number that I’ve thrown out. I’d like to write 2 more good ones, then finish my mixes.
The Beatserv launch has gone well. There were some technical difficulties to take care of in the initial rush, and while the rush and the tech problems have both died down, I’m sure there will be more. We’re already working on the second series, talking to some guest producers, and working on site enhancements.
One of the interesting (and awesome) things about Beatserv is that most viewers are not using IE. According to Google Analytics, IE users comprise about 8% of the visitors to Beatserv. I’ve blocked my own IP address from the tracking, so that data is not skewed. And one enthusiastic person is using Camino, of all things. What all that means is I can do a lot more cool design things with the site than I usually can, because I don’t have to accommodate, as heavily, old technology. Our users are cool and progressive.
Bounte had a nice chat with the Silver Atlas boys. Alan has agreed to work on vocals for a Bounte song, and Jason is going to send me some remix stems for a couple SA songs I like. I’ve got another couple tracks done, and a couple more to finish, then they will all be ready to mix.
Finally launching Beatserv this week has been a grueling and great process. We’ve been working on the concept of selling premium audio loops, and the ecommerce website for over a year now, and while the financial overhead has been rather low, the amount of time involved has been high. Despite the mad dash at launch to put out some fires (who knew collecting money could be so annoying?), it’s been amazingly gratifying to finally have it running and selling.
The best part is that now we can focus on making increasingly superior beats and improving the user experience on the site. I find that once something is running, it’s easier and more enjoyable to incrementally improve it, than it is to get it running in the first place.
Here’s the official About Us:
Beatserv provides premium, royalty-free drum loops for creative use in audio production and performance.
We utilize professional music producers, programmers, songwriters and musicians to achieve the highest quality samples and compositions. With a strong emphasis on superior production and unique creativity in our products, our goal is to support and foster excellence in both professional and hobbyist audio projects.
Our products are released exclusively as downloads, allowing customers to easily access files and keep track of orders in their online accounts. This helps us keep prices down, allowing access to higher quality beats by a wider range of audio creatives.
Go get em and enjoy!
Bounte album
I got in touch with J*Star, a rapper I met in Cleveland about working on one of my tracks, and he’s down with it. I just have to call him and work out how to work it out. Which is intimidating for me, Mr. non-verbal. Those of you who have met Phone-Dean can appreciate where I’m coming from.
I have 10 tracks lined up, and I want to write one more. Then I’ll bring in the rest of the guest singers (in addition to the absolutely wonderful track Lauren already did – you’re gonna love it), record them and do the final mixes. I want to talk again with Alan from Silver Atlas about doing a song (that’s the one more I was talking about). He has a wonderful voice and charisma. Then where we at? I’ll probably shell out for mastering, and a limited run hand printed CD or something like that, say 100 screen-printed copies. Then promotion. Then live.
Bounte live
The DJ set next week is going to be different than I expected. I have to attend a preview performance to be certain, but seems I’ll be filling in all the gaps between the theater performances, rather than doing a full-on set. But I still encourage you to come out and enjoy the evening of art – should be some good theater, and I’m going to pull out a couple exclusive new tracks.
Beyond that, Bounte live will get a serious overhaul. I’m going to find a singer that really fits the project, and rearrange tracks for a live instrumentation. In the end it may turn into a collaboration that moves away from Bounte, but I’m ok with that as long as I’m enjoying the music.
Beatserv
This is the most immediately exciting thing. We’ve got 2/3 of our beats packaged, with the rest on the way. The site is done and being proofread. Plans for the future are already being discussed. I’m having some problems uploading some large files, but some PHP research should take of that. We’ll give you some sort of fanfare when we launch.