Turn off the alarm on March 1st, the CD won’t be going on sale on that day. :-)
Here is what’s been happening. Found the Verbatim CD upon my return last night. Burned a copy this morning. It played in two out of three of my players. I know that this third player is thirty years old and has always been finicky, but still. I will go over to every friend and acquaintance and will ask them to put the CD into their player to test it… If it plays in everything, great. If not, I will have to rethink. Not many people still have CD players, I have noticed.
I remember always writing with a sharpie directly on a CD-R in the studio but those CDs were used to check the recording or a mix and were not meant to last. The ink probably leaches into the plastic over time. So I’ll probably have to buy blank CD labels that I can attach to the top of each CD for me to write on. I know, I know, I could have these CD made for much less money than what this is going to cost, and having them made will be a last resort, but I would prefer to have the CD look homemade, with a handwritten label.
I’ll keep you posted.
I have been giving a lot of thought to containers, especially as they pertain to music. There is the LP and the cardboard cover. Substantial, legible, large images. Then there are the music cassette and the compact disc, both invented by Philips and Sony. Not much visually, rather small, but nice containers. Part of the joy of these objects lies in opening and closing the container. This action turns listening into a ritual. A ritual must have a beginning and an end. An opening and then the closure. That’s very different from playing something from a streaming service.
What could a digital music container look like? It could be a virtual container or an actual container… perhaps something that has a flash drive attached. Whether the container is real or virtual, it would need a way to open and close it. I am going to work on a flash drive (with regular USB plus USB-C connectors) that comes in a book. Perhaps the drive could be skinny and made to look like a bookmark. Or maybe the drive could be connected to a large paper clip that allows it to be attached to a page of the book. Or there can be a number of pages in the back of the book that have the paper cut away to allow the drive to rest in the book. Maybe I should design the book pages to leave a hole in the center for the drive. Lots to play with, for sure.
What would a virtual container look like? It should open and close. It should contain a virtual booklet. It should be able to play all of the music contained in the proper sequence…
Hi, Ottmar…
I completely agree that the [ritual] is part of the experience of a great listing session. I remember fondly going to the record store and buying a record, followed by hurrying home to open and enjoy all the inserts and artwork, before putting the record on the player.
In some ways, the ritual remains, at least for me, though the ritual is very different.
Here is my ritual, these days, as I sit down to a listening session. My headphone gear is such that I turn on my tube amp for about 15-20 minutes to get the tubes burning hot and at their best. I then turn on my DAC and upscaler, and let them get warmed up as well. Finally, I turn on my network streamer, grab my iPad, headphones, and get comfortable in my chair and begin the experience.
If I am in the mood for speakers, it is a bit different, but it still involved setting in on the couch, pulling the window screens down, and settling in with iPad in hand.
So, the ritual is very different from it was back in the ‘ole days, but a ritual of sorts remains.
I am one of those without a CD player, and music for me is either from my library of digital files and those that come from streaming services.
I like where this is going for sure, and I love the idea of a flash drive, and having it be embedded inside a book, is very James Bondish. =^)
p.s. I use Roon software for music management and streaming, and for Classical releases that are released, there is often a PDF booklet that is provided [within the album page, along with the music tracks] that is rich in detail and illustration.
So, I thought I mention that as well.
Many thanks,
Ali