Keeping in touch about PHL3!

Hi Everyone!
If you have been getting the updates on Twitter, Facebook and our other social network sites, you already know that we are way over 1.9 million plays. The social media blitz that we have been on over the summer has certainly resulted in a lot of our community’s music being played by people all over the world. Here are some statistics from roughly the past week or so:
– China – 121,470
– Indonesia – 41,142
– Russia – 15,148
– U.S. – 35,460
– Brazil – 23,226
These statistics are from the top 5 list of plays for this week. The latest report on the number of plays comes in at 1,941,846 plays as of 12:03 a.m. on August 26/2013. I’m sharing this to make sure that our community understands that our music has been played all over the world; our collective mission to bring the word of God to the world through the power of metal music is “alive and sprouting!”

Ever since I made the announcement about PHL3, I have had many questions and I’d like to take the time to answer the top 3 questions that have been asked by the community.
#1 – Why can’t I send you an mp3?
Here is the answer….first of all, all of the songs have to be mastered. When mp3 files are made, they are compressed and even if you use a higher bit rate, when the files are converted to wav files for the mastering procedure, there will be all sorts of sonic artifacts. If an mp3 file is converted to wav and then mastered and converted back into an mp3 file there are some issues not only with sonic artifacts, but there is also some signal loss. Some people will argue that the signal loss is minimal, but I have yet to hear a really “successful” result of this process.
#2 – Why does it take so long to master?
When I master a song, I listen to each song at least a dozen times before I even start to make a signal chain. For example, the first time through, I’ll listen to the song in it’s entirety, the next time through – the kick drum, the next time through – the snare..and on and on. You need to listen to each instrument in the mix and see where it sits. In another blog I go into greater detail about the mastering process – but if you figure the time it takes to listen to one song this way – it could take an hour or two depending on the arrangement. PHL2 had 17 songs on it and they had to be “listened” to in great detail. I wanted to release it January 1, 2013 – but it’s official release date was sometime in February 2013 because I needed more time to “listen.” This is why I get a little angry when I see these “fly-by-night” mastering services offered on the internet. If someone charges you $20 a song for mastering…you are getting railroaded. About a year ago or so, I sent a horribly mixed song to 6 of these companies – one of them – I never heard from – they took the money and did nothing. Four other companies mastered the horrible mix and charged me the fee….they just put a preset on and rendered it without listening….one of these four companies sent me the “mastered” version in less than 2 hours!! (LOL!!) Only one company got back to me and said that the mix was distorting and couldn’t be mastered properly. One out of six….but this one out of six was trying to sell me their “advanced” services for $400 a song. Sorry, but even this is a little sketchy. Most reputable mastering studios charge $60-80 an hour…I’m not sure that this “advanced” service was really “advanced!”
Another reason for the time is that often a couple of submissions need to be “tweeked” or “fixed” a little. This allows the band/musician to fix the problem and resubmit it in a timely fashion for mastering. I usually give a lot of detail to these people – hey, I’m not trying to be a “know-it-all” but there has to be a certain level of quality. About a decade ago, a lot of Christian artists thought Catholic recordings were a joke! And most of them were – whether it was due to limited budget or a DIY philosophy that was well intentioned but resulted in inferior mixes – but in the last 6 years or so – a majority of Catholic recordings are erasing this audio misnomer!! I’m hoping that we are doing our best to be professional, metal and Catholic!
#3 – When will we go on tour?
This question always makes me smile…not in a sarcastic way….but ….wouldn’t it be cool to do this!!! RAWK ON!!! But here is the problem with this….it’s a logistical nightmare! A majority of our bands are a “one person” operation; in other words – they are a studio band but not a live band. This would make playing live a bit of a problem. Second of all, we are world-wide; if we were to do a concert of any type, the expenses would be prohibitive. Third of all, how would we choose who could or could not play? The logistics are crazy for this as well. For example, if I was to form a band of Catholic Metal members – here is how wide-spread we are….not to play favourites, but let’s say I want Sean from Last Rites on vocals (Florida…used to be in Georgia), Mike Brumley from Cradle Catholic on bass (Texas), Mike Grothem from Seven Sorrows on rhythm guitar (southern California – I think?), Incruentus from Divine Blood (Ontario, Canada) on keys…ya I know I’m leaving out a lot of other musicians…but remember THIS IS JUST A QUICK, SIMPLE STUPID EXAMPLE! LOL!! Hopefully you are starting to see the problem…to get 5-6 individuals together in one spot to rehearse for a day or two and then take the stage and get them and their gear home safely is financially beyond our scope right now…but someday???? And keep in mind – we have members/musicians world-wide…not just in North America!!

Anyhow! I hope that this answers some questions. Please keep in mind – if you have a song that you have already recorded but hasn’t been on any other Catholic Metal compilation, you can submit it…you don’t have to write a new song and go through the recording process if you have done this already. I have had about 4-5 bands ready to submit their music, but please be patient. We want to wait until the submission form is ready in mid-October before we start collection music. Why the long wait?? Mainly because some bands are currently writing and getting ready to record their material. They need the time.

Please let me know if anyone has any other questions or concerns – I’ll respond to each one individually, or if I see a reoccurring lot of questions, I’ll write about them in a future post.

Before I sign off….please pray for the conversion of all the militant rebels that are persecuting Catholics/Christians in places like Egypt, Syria and in other various parts of our world. Please pray with me,

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit!
Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle;
be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host,
by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all the evil spirits
who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit!

Yours In Christ!

dave@catholicmetal.com

PRAY THE ROSARY EVERY DAY!!