My album.

After I finished last year's major music project ("The London Underground"), for whatever reason I started working on a number of Christmas arrangements that involved handbells and other instruments: handbells and cello, handbells and string quartet, handbells and full orchestra, etc. I didn't really have a good plan in mind what to do with these arrangements, other than, y'know, sending them off to publishers as usual. (Which, by the way, I'm starting to do.) For a time I was thinking maybe I could turn them into a cantata, although the inconsistency of the instrumentation (i.e. the instruments used change from piece to piece) might make that difficult.

My current and probably final thought, however, is that I think I'll turn them into a instrumental Christmas album -- to be released this fall. The main issue with an album is that I don't have the expendable money to hire people to record all the instruments, and even if I did (best guess: high four figures, excluding studio costs), the return-on-investment is almost certainly be worse than bad. The great thing about the wonderful era we live in, however, is you can make a palatable recording by using virtual instruments (i.e. carefully programmed musical samples) along with software that "humanizes" the playing of the notes on the page. (You could also use a sequencer, but I don't have that sort of time to learn.) And the great thing about both of those things is that Finale 2009, which I bought earlier this year for work, includes both a decent set of virtual instruments and probably the best notation humanizing software out there. So for exactly $0 out-of-pocket (other than costs of making/distributing the CD), I could make a decent album of Christmas arrangements. Of course, I could make it even better by buying awesomer virtual instruments (like, oh, this nice $12k investment), but my primary goal with the project is to not lose money, so I need to keep my total costs under about $100, or somehow raise enough money in advance to cover what costs I do incur. (First idea: presales. Second idea: this, although I'm not sure that's actually legal without setting up an actual security or something.)

(Aside: Actually, taking a look right now, studio time isn't prohibitively expensive: There's one in the northwest suburbs that's $20/hr with only a one-hour minimum. I could record some live bell tree/dulcimer/piano parts in two hours and throw them in the mix to give it an even more realistic feel. But, again, not much more than two hours, since my goal is to make this album self-sustaining. That said, if I do decide to record a little bit, and those of you who play instruments [Ed] would like to join in, I can schedule it around you.)

Anyway, I like the album idea for a few reasons: It's good promotion for myself and my sheet music -- it might have a positive impact on my other music sales. (And vice-versa: the name I've built up with sheet music should help the album sell better.) If nothing else, it'll definitely promote the music that's on it, making it that music both easier to sell and more likely to be picked up by a publisher. It's something else to give out when interviewing for handbell jobs (although, admittedly, I've been offered four of the five handbell jobs I've interviewed for). And it's just kind of fun to, y'know, have an album released. So, for now, that's what I'm thinking to do with this music, although I'm open to other ideas.