"full length"

[bed eternity]

i am working on putting together a "full length" album and am getting to the point of making track selections and picking the order of said tracks. i am thinking that in all it will be in the neighborhood of 40 minutes.

i need to find the balance that lets me really pick the best of what i have, not be too long where it gets boring, but not have it so short that people are like, "what its already over" after the last track.

what are peoples takes on "full length"

[JGriffin]

For good or ill, the length of 2 sides of an LP has long been the defining criteria for "full length." Some folks will think that the 74-80 minutes a CD can hold should be the new "Full length" but IMHO and in the opinion of lots of folks I've talked to, many projects that go past 40-45 minutes tend to include a lot of chaff/filler/extraneous stuff that's not too strong. My new CD is around 40 minutes I think. I think you're on the right track.

[@?,*???&?]

iTunes now dictates what is deemed a full-length. If you can buy a complete album for $9.90, then anything beyond 10 songs is a waste. No one will buy 16 individual songs for $.99 each if they can get it cheaper in bulk.

btw, with inflation, we should be paying around $4 per song in single format. Somehow, inflation does not apply to the music industry.

[chris harris]

iTunes now dictates what is deemed a full-length. If you can buy a complete album for $9.90, then anything beyond 10 songs is a waste. No one will buy 16 individual songs for $.99 each if they can get it cheaper in bulk.

btw, with inflation, we should be paying around $4 per song in single format. Somehow, inflation does not apply to the music industry.

anything beyond 10 songs adds value for your customers.

[wedge]

Ultimately, I think it's the length of disk that matters, not number of tracks -- although the iTunes point is well taken. The disk I'm finishing up for my band has 14 tracks (one instrumental) but it's only 45 minutes long. I think if you're scratching 50 minutes, you're playing with length-fire... IMHO, 40 to 45 minutes is perfect for a full-length CD, regardless of track count...

[lapsteel]

between 40-50 minutes

[bed eternity]

Ultimately, I think it's the length of disk that matters, not number of tracks -- although the iTunes point is well taken. The disk I'm finishing up for my band has 14 tracks (one instrumental) but it's only 45 minutes long. I think if you're scratching 50 minutes, you're playing with length-fire... IMHO, 40 to 45 minutes is perfect for a full-length CD, regardless of track count...

yea thats why i asked about length not track count. track divisions are more of a pacing issue

[adhooker]

nothing wrong with a shorter "full length"

a lot of my favorite albums clock in just a little over 30 minutes (Replacements catalog)

look at the Beatles records... a lot of them are 14 songs in about 33 minutes.

Once an album gets beyond the point of fitting on a 12" I get a little bored... over 45 minutes is too long to me. maybe I have ADD

[mjau]

Somehow, inflation does not apply to the music industry.

Sure it does, just as much as the free and open market, technological innovation, and the consumer's buying preferences apply to the music industry (not to mention some shadiness with the fine folks behind our latest payola scandal).

[@?,*???&?]

I need to check the number of movements in Mahler's 2nd Symphony. It took me some time to get my head around the thematic contentof that symphony and it's close to 2 hours. Memorizing a classical album like one would a pop disc is a challenge- the more music on a disc, the greater the challenge. One could argue that if you treat the listener as if they are smart, then they will be.

?

[lancebug]

nothing wrong with a shorter "full length"

a lot of my favorite albums clock in just a little over 30 minutes (Replacements catalog)

look at the Beatles records... a lot of them are 14 songs in about 33 minutes.

Once an album gets beyond the point of fitting on a 12" I get a little bored... over 45 minutes is too long to me. maybe I have ADD

Short is good. I would think about what you are trying to convey by making the project an "album". Is it a collection of songs on a related theme? Is it just to package it to make it affordable in terms of songs/dollar? What is your objective? I like records that are short and good because they keep my attention. I pay less attention to good songs when I have to shuffle past bad ones. I have less tolerance for bad "pop" songs than bad sonic experiments too. I could listen to 20 minutes of feedback more easily than 5 3minute songs by Jimmy Eat World. 45 minutes is a lot pop songs but maybe not a lot of ambient music. I think its kind of like asking "What size should my painting be?" without know what it is you are trying to paint and why.

[drumsound]

I need to check the number of movements in Mahler's 2nd Symphony. It took me some time to get my head around the thematic contentof that symphony and it's close to 2 hours. Memorizing a classical album like one would a pop disc is a challenge- the more music on a disc, the greater the challenge. One could argue that if you treat the listener as if they are smart, then they will be.

?

Though I understand what you are saying there is a huge difference in form and function between Mahler and a rock record.

[syrupcore]

rebecca gates' Ruby Sessions is one of my favorite albums of the last few years. I think it's like 25 minutes. I consider it to be very 'complete'.

the record I've been finishing up for forever (see protools thread) is about 30 minutes.

[cgarges]

Though I understand what you are saying there is a huge difference in form and function between Mahler and a rock record.

Yeah, but isn't it funny that classical music is the reason why CDs are 74 minutes long?

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

[effector]

i think your record should be exactly as long as it needs to be to convey whatever it is that you want to convey. then again, i come from a prog rock background, so 20 minute epics and sprawling double or triple disk albums do not bother me.