Bring “The Lives of Dexter Peterson” To Life

Album mastering is the process where a finished mix is polished, balanced, made louder, and transformed into something spectacular. It’s the kind of sound that makes your chest thump and your head bob, but only if it’s done right. Sure, I could master this album myself, but this is the phase where bringing in a seasoned professional will turn the new album into a real masterpiece.

Think of it like making a ninja sword (as the L4D2 characters call it): A competent metal worker can fold steel and sharpen an edge, but only a master swordsmith can ensure that the balance, finish, and decorations are absolutely perfect.

What The Funds Mean

Though the ultimate goal is set at $2,500 USD (which we have now achieved!), I can have the album professionally finished for as little as $850. The choice is between two mastering studios and whether I use print-on-demand CD replication (like Songs from the Vault) or industry-grade pressed CD’s (like Goodbye Planet Earth). Here’s how the goals are broken down:

What Happens When You Contribute

The ChipIn widget is NOT a crowd-funding service like Kickstarter, it’s merely a way to track contributions towards a goal. This means that all of the money collected will go towards the album effort, minus Paypal fees of course. Unfortunately, the only way to do this in an orderly fashion is via Paypal. If you’re dead-set against the big evil non-bank and still want to be a part of this effort, contact me.

• Donations of any kind will get a thank-you from me on the website once we reach the final goal.
• $20 or more will get you a digital copy of the album AND the novella when they’re finished.
• $50 or more will get you a signed CD and digital copy of the novella when they’re finished.
• $100 or more will get you a signed CD, digital novella, a digital version of the graphic novel, and a Matthew Ebel dot net All-Access Pass for one full year. (See below for details.)
• $150 or more will get you a signed CD, printed novella, printed graphic novel, and a Matthew Ebel dot net VIP Pass for one full year. (See below for details.)
• $350 or more will get you a signed and framed CD, printed novella and graphic novel, and a Matthew Ebel dot net Robot Army Membership for one full year- this includes the entire Matthew Ebel catalog, even that first album that I really don’t talk about any more. (See below for details.)
• $500 or more will get you my firstborn child. (See below for details.)

I will contact you via your Paypal email address when it comes time to ship things out, so make sure you can receive email!

About the Matthew Ebel dot net stuff: All of the included goodies are listed at matthewebel.net/subscribe, so read carefully. Though normal subscriptions automatically renew every year, these are one-year-only passes so you won’t have to worry about canceling if you don’t want to stay subscribed. Existing members can use this as a way to extend their existing pass OR send one to a friend as a gift.

About the firstborn child thing: This was not intended to be a factual statement.

What About The Leftovers?

Every year I send out a goodie bag to my Matthew Ebel dot net VIP’s, so it seems only fitting to create the Dexter Peterson Doggie Bag for this effort. Any leftover funds will be used to send stuff to anyone who donated $20 or more. The amount of leftover funds will determine what that doggie bag will contain. Here’s an example:

• Let’s say fundraising stops at $1,700 with 40 people contributing.
• The nearest goal is at $1,500 (full mastering package at Georgetown), so that’s what the album gets.
• If there are any unexpected expenses or fees (extra studio time needed, taxes, etc.), the extra funds will pay for those first… but let’s assume the cost stays at $1,500
• When the mastering is done, I’ll divide the remaining $200 among those 40 people and see what I can buy for them… that’s only $5 per person, so it’d likely be a keychain or a Dexter-themed Starbucks card. Whatever I can get my hands on for whatever money is left.

What happens if we pass $2,500?

Pinch me, I’m dreaming. If I’m awake, then I’ll determine what to do with the extra funds at that point. Of course I’ll ask all the contributors for their input, it seems only fair. The likely options would be:

• Initial fundraising for novella/graphic novel printing
• Better CD packaging
• Dexter-themed shirts, coffee mugs, etc. that I could sell at concerts
• A Lamborghini
• Two Lamborghinis

If you have any questions about how this will work, please don’t hesitate to contact me and ask!