In that time, Reason 5 and Record 1.5, new versions of the software I use to compose, have been released.

I started writing something very different tonight. I was not going to say anything until it was done, but this is too exciting not share.

Enjoy!

GothicFantasy.mp3

Today is the release of Radio Equinoxe 3.0, a French compilation album that is dedicated to the music of artists who are influenced by the French composer, Jean Michel Jarre.

Since I probably wouldn’t be as involved with music as I am today if it were not for him, I am honored to have my track, The View to Eternity, appearing on the album.

They even put together a short video featuring everyone’s music! I can’t wait for my copy to arrive.

Click on the link above, enjoy some music, and perhaps buy a copy if you like it. And if you’re a fan of my music, help me out with a review on iTunes or Amazon for my latest album, ‘The Passage To Eternity’.

I have a goal, and it’s a big one. My goal, musically, is to score a major motion picture. The first big step I took towards that was releasing an album. Today is the next big step. Help me reach my goal.

You see, a big part of this is the fact that I’ve got a song appearing on a French compilation album, today. My next post will be about this. It got me to thinking that I really need to promote my latest album and get some fans and reviews — but to what end?

That’s the point of this post, and it’s time for me to get much more serious about what the goal is, here.

Some time ago I was exposed to a marketing concept, known as SMART goals. Here is a link to Wikipedia’s definition. Those who know me know that I can’t STAND most project management/marketing types of buzzwords, because I think they are trash. No one in my experience ever made any of this tripe work, and so I tend to ignore it.

Besides, I really feel as if some of this should be innate. You have a goal; why the heck do you need to put it down according to some spreadsheet that some ‘guru’ who is likely charging a LOT of money for said spreadsheet came up with after a round of drinking? (Note: I feel the same way about ISO9001, and XML namespaces — beer had to be involved.)

Nevertheless, there are some points about SMART goals that do resonate. The key idea that I don’t think I have been good about is expressing specificity. What’s my goal? To write music is simply not specific enough IF I have something in mind. And to that end, I do. So I have decided to start tracking several items in a specific manner.

It’s time to start putting a name to the things I want, and directing my efforts to those ends.

Here are my overall goals, starting with my non-musical ones first:

* Complete, by the end of the year, my business plan draft Keynote presentation. I need to know what my company is about and what it is going to do.

* Complete, by the end of the year, two or three project plans as Keynote presentations, detailing what my software projects are about. I don’t intend to detail the implementations, but at least several bullet points indicating what my software will do, and the concept that can drive building out iterations (yes, I am an Agile developer) is required.

* Unify, or at least properly manage, my online identity(identities). I need to do this for my musical goals, listed below. It’s far too confusing, what with all the distribution points and websites available. So here is the specificity: iTunes and Amazon are my major distribution points; those need to be leveraged. I must select a streaming provider as well. Facebook, Ping, Twitter, and perhaps one other major site must serve as my outlets for information. I am currently using iLike to publish information to some of them; we shall see if I continue using it.

* Get at least 50 reviews of my album, The View To Eternity, up on both iTunes and Amazon. Shortly I will be emailing some friends with details of what I need… and I hope to generate more of a fan base. Those reviews will serve my much more long-term goal, which is below:

* Score a major motion picture. That’s what I want. That’s where I want to go with my music.

Big goals. The next thing I have to do after that is to ask people to help me meet them, and that’s a different post.

iTunes Link

More info soon!

Amazon.com: The Passage to Eternity: Joseph Gergis: MP3 Downloads

Yeah, I am giddy. Can’t wait to see it on iTunes as well. That will cover the major music distributors.

More info as it comes….

My album was finally sent out by TuneCore today. The reason for the delay was this:

iTunes Booklet

Enjoy! And expect a new post when the album is live on the various music sites.

Next up: the promotional push.

Thank ALL of you for patiently waiting and following along with me as I raced to complete a full album in 28 days. The challenge was met. The CD, as required by challenge rules, was mailed out this evening at 8PM. The album is mixed down. I may have a few things to correct (compression issues) before I can submit it to Tunecore (my distributor to the online digital music stores), but as far as I am concerned, I am done. Anything else can wait a few days while I get some needed sleep.

As promised, here is the final mixed version of the album. I am providing this in 128Kbps, MP3 version, for free. If you like what you hear, support me by buying the high-quality versions on iTunes, Amazon, or your choice of digital music store (I distribute to whatever Tunecore offers). I will post and let you know when the official release date is.

The Passage To Eternity

I want you all to know that I deeply appreciate your voting and helping name the album. Believe it or not, it guided some of the song titles, and indeed, the vision for the ending to this album.

This post has been updated with the last song’s pre-mixdown version. Please enjoy “The View to Eternity”.

Sometime tomorrow I will be completing mixdown. I will then mail out the CD (challenge rules), and beyond that, I will produce several versions of the final songs. There’s going to be a rather long and annoying post on my thoughts on copyrights and artistry and such that goes with why I produce several versions. Long story short: low-quality (by which I mean 128kbps MP3s) will be made available, for free, on this site. If you like what you hear, please consider buying the full quality versions from iTunes, Amazon, or your choice of online music store. I will have details as they happen.

Mixdown is almost done. I wanted to wait for the last song to be done to mix TR, TRWAV, and TVTE together to balance their levels. Train Journey is also in need of an additional track, which I will write in the morning (easy stuff, considering what I went through today).

I think this album is going to come together at the last second.

I will, before I sleep, finish TVTE, and post it up. I’ll also announce the winner of the naming contest, and say a few brief words about what’s left.

Next week, I will be posting once per day in this category, doing a breakdown analysis and adding my commentary about how each song was developed, culminating in a “parting thoughts” post when it’s all done.

I want to thank you all for taking this trip with me. There are now 25 hours left to the challenge. It’s been a heck of a ride. Thanks for listening.