That's kind of an open-ended question. Frankly, I wouldn't get anyone in North America to take care of your vinyl masters. Robert Babicz in Colonge (http://www.robertbabicz.com/?page_id=34) or Dubplates & Mastering in Berlin are excellent for taking care of that - the latter will cut a reference master (dubplate) for you as well. http://www.dubplates-mastering.com/prices.html The Germans are THE place to go to in my opinion because they basically invented pressing technology. Vinyl is very much alive and well there.

Masterpiece in London are also very good: http://www.masterpiecelondon.com/

Personally I had this guy cut one of my dubplates back in the day (Lacquer Channel were quite good). He was old as stink then, so I can only imagine how old he is now: http://lacquerchannel.com/the-engineers/george-graves/ Lacquer Channel used to do a lot of dubplate cuts for the Toronto drum n' bass guys. They used to be on top of their game, but I can't speak of them now.

Once you've got the master taken care of, I'd suggest manufacturing in Europe as well since that will likely be your main distribution channel... Some distributors (largely Germany, UK and Holland) still do product and design deals (P&D for short), whereby they distribute, manufacture and sell your product for a cut of the sales - usually in/around 15-20%. This is a good way to break into the market if you have a low budget, but it also provides the risk that you may end up with returns and owing THEM money. Again, I would press in Germany, but Holland is also a good choice.

Anyway, sadly there is only one active pressing plant in Canada and they're not too far from you in Ottawa. http://www.rip-v.com/ I can't speak of them because I'm not familiar with their work. At one point there was Acme Pressing in Toronto, but I think their stampers were sold off - possibly to Rip-V.

There's also SAMO media, who broker the deal for you but don't press in Canada: http://www.samomedia.com/vinyl/

I used to deal with these guys back in the day (early 2000s), but I think they stopped doing vinyl (which was pressed in the Czech Republic anyway): http://www.mmsdirect.com/

If you want to press 'close' to home but not in Canada, these guys do and did a lot of the Detroit techno records: http://www.archerrecordpressing.com/

Here's a pretty comprehensive and up to date list of plants around the world: http://www.totalsonic.net/vinylplants.htm

Pick your plant wisely. Ask a lot of questions. I would recommend going with a plant that can provide you with a digital download coupon. Some plants will include this in their setup fees. Also test presses are essential to getting an idea of what your end product will sound like, so make sure those come bundled in the pricing.

___________________
All things music: http://www.jaykaufman.ca
Beatport: http://www.beatport.com/artist/jay-kaufman/6241
Listen to my music: http://www.soundcloud.com/jaykaufman
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/jaykaufman
RA: http://www.residentadvisor.net/dj/jaykaufman
Beatport DJ: http://dj.beatport.com/jaykaufman
Blog: http://www.tumblr.com/blog/jaykaufman

I literally just want one single, record and sleeve done, is that viable? Have no intentions on mass producing anything.

Usually minimum orders are 300 units it would be very impractical to have a one off made

___________________
My Soundcloud Page | The Free Soundcloud Stuff Thread

quote:

Originally posted by SYSTEM-J Levels is...decent...damn better than a lot of the shite dominating the charts at the moment. It sounds absolutely nothing like...a billion and one similar tracks in this big-room style. I always had a soft spot.

Hopefully when 3d printers get fully capable this shit wont be a problem, and maybe it will be so cheap that vinyl will be more easily distributed.

quote:

Originally posted by sundrip I literally just want one single, record and sleeve done, is that viable? Have no intentions on mass producing anything.

If that's the case, then I suggest you do up a dubplate and get a crafty graphic artist to design the sleeve and print it via a colour photocopier. Get a little arts and crafts going, and there's your sleeve designed.

The set up costs alone for colour printing would probably make you rethink this idea.

A dubplate is viable. They are limited in the number of plays you can get out of them because the acetate used on them is a lot softer than standard vinyl records.

Basically a dubplate is cut onto acetate from the master recording. They were originally used as a way to reference masters on vinyl to see if there were any 'problem' areas that would cause the record to skip, sound off, etc. In the 1990s and early 2000s before CDRs took off, a lot of guys used them (myself included) to press up exclusive material to play out on vinyl.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubplate

___________________
All things music: http://www.jaykaufman.ca
Beatport: http://www.beatport.com/artist/jay-kaufman/6241
Listen to my music: http://www.soundcloud.com/jaykaufman
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/jaykaufman
RA: http://www.residentadvisor.net/dj/jaykaufman
Beatport DJ: http://dj.beatport.com/jaykaufman
Blog: http://www.tumblr.com/blog/jaykaufman

quote:

Originally posted by loopdokter That's kind of an open-ended question. Frankly, I wouldn't get anyone in North America to take care of your vinyl masters. Robert Babicz in Colonge (http://www.robertbabicz.com/?page_id=34) or Dubplates & Mastering in Berlin are excellent for taking care of that - the latter will cut a reference master (dubplate) for you as well. http://www.dubplates-mastering.com/prices.html The Germans are THE place to go to in my opinion because they basically invented pressing technology. Vinyl is very much alive and well there. Masterpiece in London are also very good: http://www.masterpiecelondon.com/ Personally I had this guy cut one of my dubplates back in the day (Lacquer Channel were quite good). He was old as stink then, so I can only imagine how old he is now: http://lacquerchannel.com/the-engineers/george-graves/ Lacquer Channel used to do a lot of dubplate cuts for the Toronto drum n' bass guys. They used to be on top of their game, but I can't speak of them now. Once you've got the master taken care of, I'd suggest manufacturing in Europe as well since that will likely be your main distribution channel... Some distributors (largely Germany, UK and Holland) still do product and design deals (P&D for short), whereby they distribute, manufacture and sell your product for a cut of the sales - usually in/around 15-20%. This is a good way to break into the market if you have a low budget, but it also provides the risk that you may end up with returns and owing THEM money. Again, I would press in Germany, but Holland is also a good choice. Anyway, sadly there is only one active pressing plant in Canada and they're not too far from you in Ottawa. http://www.rip-v.com/ I can't speak of them because I'm not familiar with their work. At one point there was Acme Pressing in Toronto, but I think their stampers were sold off - possibly to Rip-V. There's also SAMO media, who broker the deal for you but don't press in Canada: http://www.samomedia.com/vinyl/ I used to deal with these guys back in the day (early 2000s), but I think they stopped doing vinyl (which was pressed in the Czech Republic anyway): http://www.mmsdirect.com/ If you want to press 'close' to home but not in Canada, these guys do and did a lot of the Detroit techno records: http://www.archerrecordpressing.com/ Here's a pretty comprehensive and up to date list of plants around the world: http://www.totalsonic.net/vinylplants.htm Pick your plant wisely. Ask a lot of questions. I would recommend going with a plant that can provide you with a digital download coupon. Some plants will include this in their setup fees. Also test presses are essential to getting an idea of what your end product will sound like, so make sure those come bundled in the pricing.

great post!!

___________________
http://www.soundcloud.com/gera

quote:

Originally posted by sundrip Hopefully when 3d printers get fully capable this shit wont be a problem, and maybe it will be so cheap that vinyl will be more easily distributed.

I don't foresee it anytime soon. The amount of audio data that needs to be processed is huge in order to make your own record via 3D printing.

This girl is experimenting, but the results are pretty poor:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Las...Record-version/

It's hope, but I still think for the average person this is not a process that will be able to be replicated beyond industrial means. Years ago Vestax made a hobbyist lathe cutting machine so you could do up your own dubplates. That didn't take off because the end result was terrible.

___________________
All things music: http://www.jaykaufman.ca
Beatport: http://www.beatport.com/artist/jay-kaufman/6241
Listen to my music: http://www.soundcloud.com/jaykaufman
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/jaykaufman
RA: http://www.residentadvisor.net/dj/jaykaufman
Beatport DJ: http://dj.beatport.com/jaykaufman
Blog: http://www.tumblr.com/blog/jaykaufman

quote:

Originally posted by geroin great post!!

Thanks man.

___________________
All things music: http://www.jaykaufman.ca
Beatport: http://www.beatport.com/artist/jay-kaufman/6241
Listen to my music: http://www.soundcloud.com/jaykaufman
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/jaykaufman
RA: http://www.residentadvisor.net/dj/jaykaufman
Beatport DJ: http://dj.beatport.com/jaykaufman
Blog: http://www.tumblr.com/blog/jaykaufman

maybe you can try this!!! never tried it so i cant assure you that its good choice!! but you can contact them and ask!!

www.djmr.com

That might be the second sketchiest website I've ever seen but ill inquire xD

How did you come across that shit?

quote:

Originally posted by loopdokter Years ago

\

exactly
give it time.

___________________
kotsy.ca | maximum drums (podcast) | facebook

Download my latest podcast or go to hell