RMMGA CD II FAQ

RMMGA CD II FAQ

What is RMMGA CD ll?

Can anyone be on this CD?

How many pieces can I submit?

What do I need to do to be on the CD?

How do I get the submission in?

What file format should I use?

Where do I send my submission?

What if I am doing music written by someone else?

When is the deadline?

When can I start submitting music?

What info should I include with my submission ?

How do I order a CD?

How do I pay for the CD once I've ordered?

FAQ DETAILS

What is RMMGA CD ll?

This is the second CD to be put out by RMMGA (Rec.Music.Maker.Guitar.Acoustic). The first is all sold out. At this point we do not know how many submissions there will be, how many CD's will be in the set, or what the price will be. It will be made up of musical submissions by the members of the RMMGA newsgroup.

Can anyone be on this CD?

Yes. The only requirements to being on this CD are that it has to be acoustic guitar based (after all this is an acoustic guitar newsgroup.) There can also be other instruments, and/or vocals. It can be an original work or a cover of someone else's work. Even if you submitted a piece or two for CD 1 you can be on this CD.

How many pieces can I submit?

Good question. I have been thinking that 2 would be enough. However, if it seems important that you send in more, contact me (frie4@sonic.net) and we can talk it over.

What do I need to do to be on the CD?

You need to get your work recorded, and then send it in. There are many ways to record your piece. It can be recorded into a cassette deck, a multi-track recorded, a Mini Disk recorder, a DAT recorder, into your computer, or even a professional recording studio. Whatever way works for you.

How do I get the submission in?

Your work can be on tape, CD, MiniDisk, Dat, or Zip disk. I do not have a SuperDisk drive, but will find one if that is needed. At least one piece was submitted in mp3 format for the last CD. That is also an option.

What file format should I use?

I can handle any file format you can send it in. (At least so far.) .Wav and Aiff are the most common, but there is also Sound Designer ll, and QuickTime. I also have a program called Shorten or .shn that will do some compression of sound files without loss of information. If your file is too big to fit on a Zip or SuperDisk, then this program might help. It is also cross-platform so it can be used on a Mac or a PC or even Linux. The URL for the Mac and Linux versions is http://www.hornig.net/shorten.html. For the PC it is http://www.softsound.com. I have had very good results with it. I can also uncompress mp3 files.

Where do I send my submission?

All submissions should be sent to:

Bob Alman

4325 Deer Trail Rd

Santa Rosa CA 95404

(Thanks Bob!)

What if I am doing music written by someone else?

(Thanks to Harold for contributing this info) In order to include material which is copyright controlled, a mechanical license must be obtained. If the work which is desired to be included has been previously recorded (by the composer or by someone else), the publisher/composer/copyright owner is mandated by law to grant the license. "Standard" licensing fees are set by statute. In 1999 these fees were, as I recall, 7.1 cents per copy. Rates have gone up for 2000 to, I believe 7.5 cents. Probably, you won't be able to obtain a license for less than 500 copies (which is what we did for CDI). A license can be obtained directly from the publisher/composer/copyright owner under any terms which you can negotiate. Otherwise, for many many works, a license can be obtained from "The Harry Fox Agency." Publishers and record companies use Harry Fox as sort of a clearance house to funnel licenses and cash back and forth between license grantors and license grantees. The only information required to apply for a license is the name of the work, the name of the composer, the name of the publisher and information about the recording (who and how long). Most music of interest will be listed in either the BMI or ASCAP on line data bases where publisher information can be ferreted out. Finally, arrangements of public domain material. A copyright for an arrangement cannot (as I understand it) be obtained for a work which is not in the public domain. This means, for example, that Charles and Donna cannot copyright their stirring arrangement of "Blowin' in the Wind." A copyright of an arrangement of a public domain tune, though, can be copyrighted and if a copyrighted arrangement of a public domain tune is used, a mechanical license is technically required--the statutory rate for an arrangement is 20% of that for an original work, I have been told. Fortunately, we didn't have any of these for CDI; I'm not sure how to obtain such a license. Exactly what constitutes an arrangement is not real clear. It can't be the melody (obviously) and you can't copyright a chord progression (thank god). You also can't use the arrangement path to copyright control something which has previously been in the public domain (though it has been suggested that A.P. Carter sure did try). I think that the solution to the whole arrangement thing is that any public domain tunes that are included should have "original" arrangements.

When is the deadline?
The deadline for submissions is July 1.

When can I start submitting music?

Now!
What info should I include with my submission?
LinerNote.pdf
Make and model of guitar(s) used 
What strings were used 
What tuning(s) were used 
What transducers or microphones were used 
What preamps, DI boxes, etc. were used 
What recording device was used 
What software was used 
Why was that piece picked
Something about you. 
Any credits you might have 
Whatever else you want us to know. 
Any or all of this is optional and due to space limitations on liner notes some info may be abbreviated or left out. But all of it will be posted on the CDII web page...

How do I order a CD?

Use the order form at http://www.rmmga.org/CDII/order_form.htm

Or send an email to John Sorell with your info.

How do I pay for the CD once I've ordered ?

The amount of orders we get will determine the final price of producing the CD sets, thus the final cost to you. We need at least 500 committed orders to start the production at the expected $15.00 rate. The more orders we get over 500 the cheaper the production costs per CD set. The order gathering process will last only so long then we will cut it off and commit to the production.
When the "pressing" is nearing completion, announcements will be made on where to send $$ and when to expect shipment.

	Make and model of guitar(s) used
	What strings were used
	What tuning(s) were used
	What transducers or microphones were used
	What preamps, DI boxes, etc. were used
	What recording device was used
	What software was used
	Why was that piece picked
	Something about you.
	Any credits you might have
	Whatever else you want us to know.