Travis Dickerson Recording Studio Forum

I would like to introduce you to our new revamped download service. We have added, and will continue to add over the next several days, out-of-print CD\'s, all-new releases like the new Pity The Rich CD with Vince Di Cola, Somewhere over the Slaughterhouse, Day of the Robot and Island of Lost Minds by Buckethead, for starters. Buckethead is going through his vast archive of tapes and videos, as is Vince. I\'ll be talking to Viggo as well about what fun stuff we might add. Between the Cornbugs and Population Override CD\'s we recorded a CD of crazy jams we are planning to offer, and we have a bunch of stuff that was never used for a record that we may add as well. The download service is now tied to a PayPal gateway by popular demand and is now automated to email you a link to your download as soon as you finish your order. I\'m hoping this can become a direct conduit between the artist and you. I have been asked many times how I feel about trading out-of-print CDs and trading in general. I\'m working on an artist support page I will post shortly in response. I\'ll post a link here. In the meantime, check out the download service here over the next few days. Any suggestions will be appreciated.http://tdrsmusic.com/tdrs_music_download.html

This sounds wonderful, Travis! I\'m going to keep watch on the page for whatever you come up with. Anything by anyone on your back-list would be super!  8)

[size=8]VIDEOS?[/size]

 :o :o :o

Man, if only you were releasing hard copies of this stuff.  Collectibility be damned; my copy of SOTS got effed up by amazon and I want a neat copy.  

But i\'m not gonna be greedy.  I\'ll gladly take Day of the Robot and and some VIDEOS instead.

I am HAPPY.

swotsh is a buckethead masterpiece, it\'s total tape manipulation acid and dub. im lucky anough to own it on cd and vinyl.

Hey, Travis,
I told a friend about the Viggo CD I bought and she\'s an ebayer.  She went on there and found what appears to be bootlegs of a bunch of Viggo\'s stuff.  I looked to make sure but I don\'t know how to tell.  Thought you or he or someone should know.  Like I said, they looked like bootlegs but they could have been copies someone made.

woof!  positive growth and joy!

Used It for Slaughterhouse.....which have been after for ages...Great stuff!! Thanks Travis!! ;D

I just checked it out yesterday and it looks quite efficient. I\'ll be trying it out soon, fo\' sho\' T. Plus, it appears that giving both you and the consumer direct control will allow you to offer a greater catalogue of music! Rock on! I also followed the link to the service owner\'s site (1-2-3) and I can see why this would be a great service.

Peace.

I now speak from direct experience, Travis\' new download service works flawlessly. And if you\'ve never heard Somewhere Over the Slaughterhouse, it\'s a must-have!

I know I\'m probably the minority...

but I RARELY use a credit card online.  and by rarely I mean once...  But aside from that, it sounds like A really great thing you got going here Travis.

Now I konw it\'s not really pratical to pay for something real-time with a money order, and I don\'t even have a decent conncetion...hence no "live wedges" for me  But when I hear stuff like

"Between the Cornbugs and Population Override CD\'s we recorded a CD of crazy jams we are planning to offer, and we have a bunch of stuff that was never used for a record that we may add as well"

I tend to get exicited...and I\'d have to side with spencer about had copies...I dunno if that would work or not...cost/effective...

anyway buckethead b-sides sounds interesting and I\'ll have to check back for more info...

thanks...

I\'ve had a few broadband impaired people ask me about alternatives means of getting the music from the download store. I think if there is enough demand I may offer the folder that you download ( the mp3\'s and the artwork PDF) as a CD-R through our mail order store for a buck or two more.
I\'m still feeling out the the particulars of the download store. The other thorny problem is if we release CD\'s as "download only" and sometime down the road we feel there is enough demand for a regular CD, I don\'t want people to have to pay for the same music twice, perhaps a coupon based on your download invoice against the price of the CD, something like that. Obviously the ideal goal of  tdrsmusic is to be an artists studio with an immediate and unencumbered outlet to to the customer at a discount as compared to traditional means of delivering music. As I give this a whirl I may run into some awkward old school, new school blending of accomplishing this.  As usual, any feedback is welcome.

being broadband impaired myself i welcome the concept of the CD.  i think the coupon idea is a good one!

as always, you\'re thinking of your customer base as you "upgrade" your services and that\'s a rare thing these days.  so cool!

thank you for putting lost minds up so quickly!! TRAVIS, you rock!!! thank you thank yOU!!  ;D

 ;DExcellent man, nice work. Gotta get me some new d/ls from the store.

Travis, I\'m in the Stone ages I fall into that group... so sad so sad :\'( Boo whoo... Dail Up but Internet is free and software only cost(ed) me 7 dallors, to bad for phone lines.

Thanks this sounds great Mp3 CDR hmmmmm!......

Chris

Travis,

Thank you for this service!!  Great idea.

Suggestion:
Would you please consider using a LOSSLESS format for the
files instead of MP3 (no matter what encoding level set- still compressed audio and lost frequencies)?

The price is great (!!), but I do not trade AUD recording boots in MP3 and I wouldn\'t want to buy a CD from a record store in MP3.
Truthfully, you are degrading the source files by converting your mixing board original source files to MP3 - its a shame to archive Buckethead\'s material that way.

MP3s were great 5 years ago.  Its like a VHS vs Beta (or PC vs MAC in the old days).  Beta & MACs were superior technology by FAR when they first came out.  Beta & MACs did not license their superior technology out to Third parties.  VHS and PCs let anyone make movie tapes/software (for a licensing fee).  This allowed VHS and PCs to become the winning technology EVEN though they were inferior technologies.

(i did a case study on this in college)

Anyway, MP3s came out and became what was figured as perfect compression software (for space saving).  Now it is very well known that FLAC, APE, etc... are not LOSING any frequencies upon compression while MP3 does (regardless of encoding level).

Now it is tough to find a Audio player (now commonly referred to as MP3 player - like Band-aids or Kleenex) that can play anything other than MP3s.

TEST IT YOURSELF!
Take any store bought CD.  Convert the CD and rip it to files
as FLAC.  Reconvert to wave file and burn to any CD.  Listen to it.

Now, take the same CD and encode it to MP3.  Decode it back to a wave file and burn it to CD.  Compare it to the other CD and you will definately notice the difference.



Sorry, it just seems that the mass wave of MARKETING as washed over people and they are conditioned to think that there are no differences (besides size of file) between any of the formats  - NOT TRUE.

Thanks again Travis.  Love your music/work.  Can\'t wait for the new THANATOPSIS - the other 2 are two of my favorite Jazz-fusion that exist.

Agree totally, would be great if could get the stuff in FLAC.

I downloaded some of the stuff from Buckets Live Wedges site in FLAC and burned it to a CD and the quality was fab!!

My Buckethead  related CD collection now stands at 28 CD\'s!! (much of which I have obtained thru this site) and there is not a single piece of music on any of it that I don\'t love!!!

Not many other artists I could say that about!!

Is there no end to this mans talent....And yours of course Travis.

Next stop prob day of the Robot and Disembodied.

One sidenote on my above post.

The only difference in cost to have FLAC instead of MP3 is
file storage.  

Your current Download store is not really that large.  My 10 gig
hard drive could easitly hold all of those CDs in the FLAC format.
FLAC is basically a 2:1 compression of space.  (If a CD is 700 mb it  would roughly be converted to FLAC @ 350 mb).

A quick look at Best Buy shows that you can get a super nice
LARGE capacity hard drive (250 gig+) at roughly $1/per gigabyte.

This is not very expensive and would pay for itself very quickly.  PLUS you could have a lot more Audio and Video up for sale.

Just suggestions.  FLAC converters are open source and
free, by the way.

Thanks again TRAVIS, love your productiion and your instrumentation.

"Now it is tough to find a Audio player (now commonly referred to as MP3 player),,that can play anything other than MP3s."


You kind of asked and answered your own question.I have been recording for over 30 years and 5 years ago Producers were having this conversation about mp3\'s, just like we were about CD\'s 20 years ago in frustration, we finally gave up and gave in. By far and away the most people that download end up putting the music on ipods. People drive the market and despite the fact that there are better formats out there and some would say the best isn\'t even digital,  that millions are using mp3\'s tell you it must be workable for a lot of people. In fact it\'s quite amazing you can take a 50 meg file and reduce it to 7.5 and have it sound as good as it does. I started my download store with mp3\'s for one reason, practicality. I do have them at 192 instead of 128 but any larger and the disc space and bandwidth become a problem. The fact that hard drives are cheap is fine till you hook it up to a T3 line, then every gig is a major expense. The download service was really conceived as a service for people who were going to buy the CD and rip it to mp3 anyway or for those wanted to find out of print CD\'s and wanted to make sure the artist gets paid something for their work rather then download (low rez files I assure you) from alternative sources. I know you can find FLAC on BT\'s and some download stores offer better file formats but at a higher price and or much longer download times. Right now the best alternative to larger file delivery is still a CD and the mail, that may change soon enough as more people go high speed and high speed gets faster. I will definitely endeavor to improve and expand the download service and your suggestions are duly noted and appreciated. I have considered all the variables of the download store and I have tried to make it as useful to as many people as I can, but it\'s still very new and I\'m just getting started.

I used it a few days ago to download Vince DiCola\'s "Pity the Rich". It worked very smoothly.

Thanks for all you do to give us access to the music, Travis. Your site just keeps getting better.  8)

Oh and by the way, the MP3 format is still convenient for a lot of us. We may lose a little resolution, but for most applications, like playing through the speakers on my computer, which is how I listen to a lot of stuff, it works just fine. And if it reimburses the originators, so much the better.

For all you BIg B fans I can heartily recommend "Day Of The Robot" !!

If you dont have it a real bargain at $9 or £4.50 UK.

Thanks Travis!!

 ;D ;D;D

The store is great. I\'m sure you will add options like lossey or lossless audio format downloads when you get the chance. Nice job integrating it the store too. ;)

Thanks Travis for taking time out to read my question/suggestion
regarding FLAC vs MP3.  That is all I could ask and I appreciate
you thinking it over.

By the way, more and more FLAC compatible players are emerging
in the market.  Most audio people want the hightest quality they can
obtain and manufacturers are seeing the market in that.

Thanks again, great job at TDRS!!

(note - I saw the Praxis and the Tabla Beat Science shows
in Chicago.  I loved them.  I listened to the audiece recording
of the Praxis show numerous times now and it is an extraordinary
performance.  Could I have taken 3-4 hours of Praxis?  SURE!
But quantity does not make quality.  Great show.
The Laswell legend crew on Sunday was goose-bump inducing.)

QUESTION: will there be an opportunity to own a copy of the
Praxis 4/1/05 show in audio (sbd release) or video?
Same question for the 4/3 Tabla + opener audio or video?

That would be a great reward to all of the non-complainers who
would love to see/hear these performances again!!

I don\'t know about the video stuff, that would be something thats handled
on Bill Laswell"s end.

hey travis
 ever time i try download , with a creditcard or  debit card ,after typing in all the info required,the resulting screen says time ran out . very frustrating and non profitable for you and buckethead .
why?
 your bot jetzilla

Hmm, not sure what your dealing with. Is the time out happening with the Paypal service?

i\'ve only tried the creditcard i\'ve never needed to use paypal as your site\'s product is the only one i\'ve ever desired.
thanks for replying it\'s like my brush with greatness
your bot jetzilla

Well the download store only operates with Paypal. You can use a credit card through the Paypal gateway, but it\'s still Paypal. I guess what I was asking is, does this time out happen while your in the process of paying?

Well the download store only operates with Paypal. You can use a credit card through the Paypal gateway, but it\'s still Paypal. I guess what I was asking is, does this time out happen while your in the process of paying?  
 
yes
i guess i haft to get a paypal account
sorry to have bothered you

No you don\'t need an account to use a credit card through the Paypal gateway.
There\'s a checkbox that you check if you don\'t have a Paypal account, then you just fill in your credit card info and your card is charged through the Paypal gateway. If you have a Paypal account it\'s easier because you don\'t need to fill in any form. So any way, I\'m still not sure why you are having a problem, try it again sometime and see what happens.

I just purchased Cobra Strike II from the Download store. I can\'t afford eBay prices just now and I couldn\'t hold out much longer lol.

Really impressed with the service. The covers are not the right size though, is there a way to fix this, or are they not meant to be the right size? just curious?

Thanks Travis!

Well, it\'s not meant to be a high resolution image, it would be too large a file if it was, but it should print out at the right size. You sure your PDF reader is set up correctly. I\'ll look into it.

Yeah I think it\'s all set up right... Not a problem though... It\'s the music I wanted not the cover.

However... Do you think you can get the real CD in as I love this album and would love to have the real thing.

I ordered another 2 today and I haven\'t got the links for the first one I ordered. The one I ordered after came instantly. I got the links to CSII instantly yesterday also:-/

I sent you 2 emails about it, I am also missing the first 2 Cornbugs songs, Hopefully I can get them soon  :)

Those problems are related to your hotmail account. Did you see the warning at the top of the music store about hotmail accounts? Hotmail seems to filter not just mail into your junk filter ( always check there first) but any mail generated by a PHP script like the download store is filtered out at the server, no trace is ever seen. I resent your links, so let me know if you still have problems, and if you have a different account for email.

I\'m writing this here because this is happening a lot because of hotmail and AOL sometimes, just to get the word out. I\'m working with the scripts author for a solution but in the meantime if your using the download service and you have a choice between email accounts, don\'t use hotmail. If you have nothing else, gmail is free, or give it a try and let me know if you have a problem.

Thanks a lot for sorting that out for me. I do have a yahoo account and a work one... But I don\'t think work would be too happy if I d/l Buckethead albums from it lol. ;D

 :) This is the future of buying music and I think it is wonderful! I DO NOT like paying a middleman for the music I love to hear, and I know that the ARTISTS will receive the compensation for their beautiful art.

I just bought Chicken Noodles as a download last night and have listened to the CD I made of it and its great!

I hope you will always have the download store--

I first saw Buckethead a couple of years ago at this small place in SF called The Independent. Later that summer I found a website through his called livewedges and found that very show for sale. I immediately bought it it is a great way to relive what I was seeing and hearing that night. So I am hoping you guys will add some more live stuff (hopefully recorded even better) in the future.

Anyways thanks for the great music and have a great weekend!!!!

I am a new member and a new bucket fan, and I have a question about the download service.  If you buy the CD itself, does it come with a booklet, and if so, does that booklet come with the download in PDF, or does it just come with cover art? Do all of the albums to download include the cover art? I like to have an actual CD for my collection (but I end up ripping them to my mp3 player anyway), but  it would satisfy me if I could print out the cover art and burn a CD that I could put in my collection, and I can get a lot more music for my money if I use the download service.  

The download includes a PDF with all the art work except the CD label.

Thanks a lot, I should be downloading Pepper\'s Ghost sometime soon!

Yes, mine also printed way too big, and I printed it actual size using Adobe PDF reader.  

EDIT: nevermind, I copied the images into Word and resized them to the exact size of the CD covers and it worked out.  Yes, I AM fanatical about my CD covers.

The covers are PDF at 150 dpi, not the normal 72 dpi that you have on the web. I did this so you could print a decent looking cover. So for those that are having trouble with the size of the printing, check the program your printing from and make sure it\'s set to 150 dpi.

this service works great for buying out of print stuff, and it also helps if you dont have alot of money to spend! ive purchased inbred, EMAC and SOTS and i plan to get the cobra strikes in the near future. awesome!!