Source
r/AskReddit•
Mulsanne

Back in April, kind folks on reddit helped make a dream of mine come true and their generosity (awesomeness?) helped change my life...so I want to give back/say thanks to this wonderful community in a tangible way. Also I'd like some new ideas!

So here's what happened: music is pretty much my life. I write because I love to create music. In the beginning of 2010 I decided to put together an album for the first time. This was that album. (you can stream the whole thing on the site) Around the time I released it, I was planning a move from Pennsylvania to San Francisco.

Here's where reddit comes in. I happened to mention the album randomly in an askreddit thread and what happened after that was unreal. Around 350 redditors bought my album just from that one post. I still can't believe it. Because of their generosity, my cross country move went much more smoothly and stress-free than it would have with just the money I had saved over the previous year. So, quite literally, reddit helped me change my life and achieve a success in a field that means the world to me (music!).

Here's how I want to give back...it's not much, but it is the best/most tangible way I can give something back to the community right now. I just finished my second album of music. (you can also stream the whole thing on that site). I've got a whole slew of free download codes here and I'd like to give them to redditors if they happen to want the album.

I've got 100 free download codes for "Parliament of Owls" and I'm prepared to give them to redditors. Am I offering something most people wouldn't give two shits about? Probably. But I felt like I needed to give something back to this wonderful community, and this is the best I can do right now. (but if you are feeling generous, this independent musician badly needs a new saxophone...just sayin...)

My real question is: I am trying to think of good avenues/sites/ideas to further promote my music. Obviously the more eyes/ears you can reach, the better chance of gaining sales/fans you have...right? Anybody have any good ideas they'd like to share?

EDIT: I'm leaving work now and going to watch the NLCS. I promise I will catch up with everyone and keep sending download codes later on tonight! Thanks for all the interest...I love it.

Posted Oct 21, 2010, 6:50 PM UTC · edited

68178
andrewsmith1986•

I'll give it a listen.

7
MulsanneOP•

thanks. Hope you like it.

3
andrewsmith1986•

I do like it. Kinda reminds me of Jude.

2
MulsanneOP•

Great! Glad to hear it. PM incoming whether you like it or not!

dealwithit

2
chocolateaffair•

I love your sound. I saw you a have a FB page and I'll post you up on mine. I don't have any ideas, but I hope good fortune finds its way to you.

4
MulsanneOP•

Thanks kindly. I'm glad you like it! Pm incoming.

1
rhoner•

Not sure where you are but I have a number of friends in radio in the Pacific Northwest (college and commercial) as well as a few working in recording. Send me a code and I'll make sure they get copies, can't hurt right?

As for ideas you can use... this sounds silly but find a producer of internet video (there's a ton out there) that has somewhat of a following and offer the tracks for free. If you have a decent FB following try giving a single away via free download.. those usually spread like wildfire. Join the reddit secret santa under 500 different usernames and only send out your disc.

4
[deleted]•

Thought I'd contribute to this idea - Youtube my friend.

http://www.youtube.com/user/nutnfancy

Nutnfancy here has a bajillion subscribers and a huge following. He's had music licensed to him from fellow youtubers for his videos. You're stuff is EASILY on par or better (I've listened to your first album) for what he uses.

Basically - Rhoner has the right idea - find a youtuber with a ton of followers and offer up the use of your tracks for free... there's 300k listeners right there.

Ninja edit: Favorite of mine is "On a roll." I don't know if this is the case or was on purpose, but I like how it's near the end of the album... just seems fitting.

2
MulsanneOP•

Join the reddit secret santa under 500 different usernames and only send out your disc.

this is a hilarious idea..I love it.

As far as your friends in radio/recording...I'd love if you could pass along my music to them. That would be fantastical. I am in San Francisco, BTW. I'll drop you a code here in a minute.

1
Yellowspaceman•

Mulsanne also helps moderate the rapidly growing r/formula1 subreddit. Here's a guy that's giving back to the community in a few great ways, entertaining race and music fans alike.

Kudos to you, sir, and if you've got any download codes left, I'd like to check out your stuff.

3
DrunkOnUnleaded•

THERE'S AN F1 SUBREDDIT?

Why did I never think of looking for this?

2
MulsanneOP•

If there's one thing for which my passion comes close to music...it's F1. I was pretty disappointed last summer when I discovered the F1 sub had only like 80 subscribers...I figured there had to be more F1 fans on here...and it turns out there are. I love that sub now. It's great fun discussing the sport in there. I always loved how it is not very partisan/fanboy-ridden like places like the autosport forums are.

And yes...download code incoming!

1
persnicketyshamwow•

Marvelous! You've got talent and I'm glad you followed your dreams. Congrats!!

3
[deleted]•

What type of music is it? Your album links are blocked where I work, I would love to give it a listen though.

2
MulsanneOP•

This is sort of a tough question for me to answer. It varies pretty widely. I play sax, keys, and guitar with some drums and bass filled out from a synth.

So there is a bit of jazz (sort of), a bit of funk, and also some folk/indie type singer/songwriter music with your sort of standard guitar or sax solos to tie the verses together and so on. I think it covers a lot of ground, musically. I really just write music that I'm feeling at the time and that I want to listen to...so it ends up varying.

That may or may not be helpful at all...talking about music is so tough...

1
[deleted]•

Cool, that answers it pretty well. Sounds like something I would listen to.

2
MulsanneOP•

Sweet. I hope you get a chance to have a listen at some point.

If you do, and you feel like it, let me know what you think of it.

1
spunky-omelette•

But I felt like I needed to give something back to this wonderful community, and this is the best I can do right now.

Write a song about Reddit? :P

Anyhow, congrats! That sounds awesome, and I'm glad you were able to make a smooth transition. Keep doing what you love!

2
MulsanneOP•

ha...I may do that but I can't help but feel like it would just end up sounding really contrived/shitty.

Naming an instrumental tune for reddit would work though!

1
spunky-omelette•

I never said it needed lyrics~

2
MulsanneOP•

fair enough. I always liked naming instrumental tunes with ridiculously goofy names.

My favorite that I've done might be "Rear Admiral Toastmaster".

1
sanalin•

I'd like to hear a song called Trollface, done in the style of Poker Face.

4
bubbla•

Record a theme tune for the Rally to Restore Sanity for Redditors to play on their iphones etc. One hook line vocal that'd make a good crowd shout. or something.

I'm listening right now to Doctober. Cool sounds.

2
WetHotAmerican•

Listening to your music right now, it's ambitious. Most people wouldn't try and pair Alto Sax and acoustic guitar like that, not the most natural fit of instrumentation. Is it just you?

2
MulsanneOP•

yup it is just me. It's all self-produced as well. You're right it's not the most common or natural instrumentation. The alto makes much more sense on the more funky/jazzy pieces. But I think it works on the others too (I guess I do...I wouldn't have done it if I didn't...)

1
WetHotAmerican•

Being a sax-a-ma-phonist myself I know how brash a tone it can produce. Definitely more suited for jazz or funk. I also believed that it could incorporate within a more broad range of music too though. You've done a nice job keeping it mellow. It's a hard instrument to record I’ve found, but again you've done well there.

2
MulsanneOP•

Yes, I agree completely. I struggled a lot with the tone of the horn on the recordings. It took quite a bit of EQing, filtering, sometimes a bit of overdrive (believe it or not), a touch of reverb, and compression to get it to the point where I'm pretty happy with the sound. It is touch.

Thanks for the kind words, it's validating.

1
WetHotAmerican•

No problem and good luck going forward. One last suggestion, do you own a Tenor or Bari? Might be a good investment to open up those sound options even more.

2
mighty_falcon•

Mind if i give it a listen?

2
MulsanneOP•

Please do.

1
[deleted]•

[deleted]

2
MulsanneOP•

PM incoming!

1
maw8wb•

Dude. This is awesome! I don't know about venues to promote..maybe an add on the side, or reddit radio does some stuff on the side. But either way, I am going to tell all my friends about this because it is sweet. I am pissed I didn't see the original post with the first CD. This second album is great!

Edit: Just to make it clear, I would love a code and would use it to download and then spread the music to peoples' ears

2
MulsanneOP•

I'm really glad you're enjoying it. I'll PM you a download code in a few seconds. I hope you do tell your friends about it...that is (IMO) just about the nicest thing you can do for a relatively unknown artist like me. I think it's an even bigger struggle to reach people than it is to write good music. I mean I've been practicing some facet of music for 14 of my 24 years...I haven't been practicing marketing myself for even a year yet...

I am pissed I didn't see the original post with the first CD.

I think that's awesome that you feel that way...ha...but think of it this way, now you have 28 tracks to check out immediately!

1
aimgorge•

I'd love to listen it :)

<3 From France

2
MulsanneOP•

PM incoming!

1
cpatrick646•

Any codes left so I can have a listen?

2
MulsanneOP•

You can stream the whole thing on the bandcamp page, as a matter of fact.

But, no matter, PM incoming!

1
zaklauersdorf•

I really like your sound! Keep doing what you love.

2
MulsanneOP•

Thanks kindly. PM incoming. I'll definitely keep at it!

1
Honeymaid•

I love this music, especially when queued up with rainymood.com; I can definitely feel your passion in the first song alone. I'm definitely donating my facebook status to your music, dude.

Hope you have a facebook fan page, cause I'm definitely going to be liking it. (You don't, make one!)

2
MulsanneOP•

But I do have a fan page...I think? Isn't that was this is?

Anyway...really glad you're digging the tunes. PM incoming!

1
Codaflow•

You know what, your music is not bad at all. Very well done. :-)

2
MulsanneOP•

Thanks kindly. PM incoming.

1
cyberjet189•

Do you have any codes left? You don't hear much sax in music like this these days, and I really think you've found a niche. :D

2
MulsanneOP•

No you don't here much sax in music these days, unless it is a funk or jazz band, or perhaps reggae.

Yeah I've got codes! PM incoming.

1
cyberjet189•

Thank you, I'm sending some friends to your site, I'm sure they'll enjoy your work!

2
MulsanneOP•

Badass.

That's about the nicest thing you can do for me right now.

1
Zhozers•

I just finished streaming both albums in their entirety. Sounds fuckin great man. You don't hear nearly enough sax now-a-days as you should. Props to you man.

2
MulsanneOP•

You don't hear nearly enough sax now-a-days as you should

I couldn't agree with you more! It's such a great sounding instrument when played with a lot of energy and intensity...deciding to play it when I was 10 was probably one of the best decisions I ever made...

Anyway PM incoming. Thanks for taking the time to listen to 28 damn tracks...that's awesome.

1
gamemasterAS•

Nice to see your still doing what you like. Remember me?

2
MulsanneOP•

CRAP...this is embarrassing...can you jog my memory?

Your user name is so familiar, but I just can't quite place it.

1
gamemasterAS•

http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/bpz3j/whats_awesome_about_your_life_right_now/c0nzsib

1
MulsanneOP•

Ah I figured you had to be in that thread...but that thread was such a crazy blur that it is hard to keep track of user names...know what I mean?

People like you are my favorite though...there have been a fair amount of people who have come out and said things like what you said...it's very gratifying to sort of realize that I touched other people's lives with my music...even just in the most minuscule way possible...it's very cool.

I like to say the music I've created means something to somepeople. It might not mean a lot to a lot of people...but it means something! And that makes me smile.

1
Spartikus84•

I will would like to hear it.

2
MulsanneOP•

PM incoming.

1
Spartikus84•

Gracias my good man!

2
MulsanneOP•

My pleasure.

1