Another busy week working on the new Better Than The Book album! Lots of progress + some other exciting news! Lets get started!

Firstly, another 2 mixes for the album are done, meaning 8/9 of the songs are now finished! Only one more left, which is the collaborative track with Cyberdevil (lots to do on that one!). However, while I had originally planned to do a 9 track album, I've since decided add in a few short transition tracks / extended introductions to make the album flow together better. Originally I'd planned to make them parts of some of the tracks themselves but after discussing it with some of the Beta team, it appears that separating them would seem more appropriate. That'll be an extended intro to tracks 01, 04 and 07, which brings the total track count to 12 (still need to work out the track names). That means now that I guess 8/12 tracks are done, though 2 of these transitions are probably only 20 seconds or so long, and aren't really songs so hopefully won't take too long. Don't worry, though, since the album still effectively only has 9 songs, I won't be upping the price of the download, you'll just be getting a little more :D Hope you like the additions, and I think these little tracks will help make this project not just a collection of songs in one place, but a true album! Just a little more work to go!

Next, following some of the exciting news in the past 2 weeks, both Better Than The Book and Jabun have been signed (confirmed now) to the Lollipop booking / promo agency, which means if the demand is high enough (and I'm able to sort it out) that Better Than The Book and/or Jabun could be hitting the stage in the future! Again, no promises as it really depends on the funding we're able to receive for specific gigs (and whether I'm able to get a band together), but it's certainly exciting times! Whatever the future holds we shall wait and see!

More news, it seems like Facebook has been a great tactic for selling the last hard copies of the "One Small Step" EP. 8 copies left so grab them while you can (just send me a message if you're interested). On the topic of CDs, while I wasn't originally planning on making hard copies of the "Two Years On" Album, some people have been asking about it, so I'd be interested to know how many people would be up for a hard copy of the album, and how much they'd be willing to pay for it. I'd need to crunch the numbers, but if there's enough demand, I'd love to be able to do a physical release! Of course, the digital release would go out first, but I don't mind discounting the CD for those who bought the digital download! Maybe a good time to make a full album booklet too :D That'd certainly be fun!

That's about it for this week. I'm away again next weekend so there'll be no update next week, but I hope to have the audio mostly complete by the next update (not sure how long that final track's going to take as it still requires recording and a lot of work). Not long now though! Hope you all have good weeks and thanks as usual for helping support Better Than The Book and JabunAudio! Take care and see you in December!

It's been a busy week mixing and doing promo stuff for the new Better Than The Book Album. Lots to tell so let's straight to it!

Firstly, yes! Better Than The Book finally has its own Facebook and Twitter (<<< Click these to get to the pages), which I will be posting frequent updates on for more info about the album and daily goings on in the project :D People seem to like the page so far (no pun intended) so please like and follow if you so desire for a closer look into the album's progress! I'll be posting some other fun facts soon enough too, so stay tuned for those!

Speaking of album progress, this week's been super productive with 2 more mixes being finished! That brings the total to 6 out of 9, which means 3 left to do (tracks 01, 06 and 07 + an in-between track thing to sort). I also received the final recorded audio from Bob for our collaborative track 07 and it sounds GLORIOUS!!! Bringing things back down to Earth though, it means that the song (and album) is now entirely in my hands (no pressure at all)! I hope to get another mix (or 2 if things go really well) done next week. We shall see! It's getting there :D

Another announcement, I still have some hard copies of the "One Small Step" EP if anyone would like one. I'm doing them for £3 (+ shipping) and already one's been sent off to the USA since I made the announcement earlier this week. Only 9 left, so if you're interested, send me an email or a Facebook message and we can try to sort something out :D 

That's about it BTTB-wise. In other news, I was doing some voice work for Fun Station 4 Kids on Monday which was good fun. I've also been signing up to certain things, though I've yet to receive confirmation replies yet so we shall have to wait and see before I can share anything. I think that's about it for this week! More mixing next week I think and maybe getting started with that sound design project I mentioned last week (Need to pick up some reference material first). Should be busy! Anyways, hope you like the new Facebook Page and thanks as usual for supporting JabunAudio! Have a good week and see you next time!

Oh! And happy Friday 13th too XD

Busy week, though not a lot to report. The weather's been rather demotivational, though I guess it's a good excuse to stay in the studio and get on with work! Still, as usual there's some interesting things to share so lets get started!

Firstly, another mix is done for the new BTTB Album which brings the total to 4 (5 left to do). I was hoping to get 2 done this week, but due to some recording anomalies, I had to rerecord some of the guitar parts in this weeks mix which put me behind schedule by a day... What was supposed to be this week's second mix is well on the way though so all is not lost. It's definitely feeling like the closer I get to the finish line, the faster it's moving away from me (like a video-game I suppose?). Funny too, this album's not finished yet, and I've already been gathering ideas for the next album! I will no doubt take a break after "Two Years On", but there'll definitely be more Better Than The Book to come in the future after this one!

Next: some interesting announcements! I was recently approached by a gig booking / promo agency which is interested in my music, both Jabun and Better Than The Book, which means there's a quite substantial chance that after over 3 years of studio time, Jabun and Better Than The Book could finally hit the stage! I'm not making any promises just yet, as I'd certainly need to work out a lot of problems (such as not having a band to gig with) before this can be made a reality, but it's definitely exciting times! I've been offered a position already and just need to get some promo details together to sign up. Wonder how this'll play out? Certainly though, it's unlikely that I'll be hitting the stage again this year (gotta finish this album first). Gotta start sorting some things out soon!

Another opportunity that's arisen is an open freelance sound design project from a film sound design company I admire. It's audition based, so I'll have to pull out all the stops for it, but I've downloaded my audition packs and shall be making a start on them soon. Should be very interesting too!

Finally, prompted my the new album release and the possibility of gigs, I'll soon be making a Facebook page dedicated to Better Than The Book! I'd like to ask, what would you like to see from Better Than The Book in terms of web content, posts and other things? Leave your comments below or the Jabun Facebook page, and I'll see what I can do! Should be fun!

That's about it for this week. I'll get back to mixing now I think, and hopefully there'll be another mix or two for next week's update! Home stretch (still that pesky track 07 to finish recording though...). I've gotta think about cover art and all that jazz soon too... it's gonna be busy! Anyway, hope you all have a good week, the weather gets better and as always, thanks for supporting JabunAudio! Take care :D