Alone in the ethereal haze

Abstract

The start of the COVID-19 pandemic made it difficult to the motivation to do anything. With the cancellation of all future in-person concerts and recitals, including master’s composition recitals, I decided to release an album instead. This allowed me to utilize all of the recording and mixing skills I had learned in my undergraduate and master’s programs and experiment with electronic music techniques that piqued my interest, such as MIDI notation and cassette tape loops. In addition to releasing my album digitally, I choose to release the album physically via cassette. I learned each step of the cassette production process, including recording cassettes, designing J-cards, painting the cassettes, and wrapping the cassettes for sale. I also produced all marketing materials, including the cover and promotional photography, album trailer, and promotional photography. My thesis covers each step of self-producing and self-releasing a digital and physical album.