Test pressings

Lunch time so a few words on what has kept me busy at Enfant Terrible HQ these last days… I have been silent as I am sending new records to the pressing plant for production and planning and imagining  some future releases…

One of the things I like best about running a label are the moments only I and the musician have the music… nobody else has the music yet… this is an absolute great idea to me… of course at some points in the process more people have the music… like Rude66 who is doing my mastering for vinyl… and the people at the pressing plant to make the records…

Before you get the actual records you always get test pressings (also known as white labels) to check if it all sounds like it was meant to be… on the one hand this is a great moment as only I have the music on vinyl right then… the exclusivity is what I like about this… and also what made me do the super limited give away edition of the last Europ Europ album…

On the other hand it is always a bit stressful… is the record good? Does all sound as it should sound? I am always nervous about faults made in the process… Once you say to the pressing plant the record is okay there is no turning back… but the point is test pressings never really sound 100% the same as the final product… there are some reasons for this… like the machine it is made on (often different from the one used for the final product), the vinyl used for test is not always the same as for final product and due to the small numbers pressed for test pressings the machine might not be on the ideal temperature (yet)… it all depends on how a pressing plant deals with it basically… and you never really know…

Anyway… these days I am enjoying the test pressings of the Diamantener Oberhof and Brunnen albums coming next month… and right now during my normal job I am enjoying yet unreleased tracks by Neugeborene Nachtmusik… just to make you jealous!