Tape Project Forum
Tape Project Albums => Tape Project Albums - general => Topic started by: High and Outside on March 09, 2009, 04:23:21 PM
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We weren't shipping for a while--waiting for some parts in the supply chain--but duping was still going full steam ahead. Now we are able to ship again, and I am seeing very large piles of tapes going out the door today. This includes lots of catch-up of earlier titles for people who subscribed more recently as well as some TP009's. More will be shipped over the next few days.
Many subscribers will see shipping notices in their email inboxes over the next couple of days. If you just can't contain your curiosity you can email romo at tapeproject dot com and he'll look up your orders--but BE PATIENT. He's super busy right now supervising this big batch of shipping, and it might take him a week to recover.
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it might take him a week to recover.
A thorough application of gin and tonic every evening at precisely 7 p.m. will probably speed the recovery.
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as well as some TP009's
woo hoooooo!
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Gee, I wonder who's getting the big box? Somebodies gonna get a whole bunch of catch up on his door step!
Ooh boy! I can't wait!
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as well as some TP009's
woo hoooooo!
i'll second that!
this is great news. i will be camping out at the end of my driveway holding my breath until it arrives.
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I guess he don't live in the MID WEST at this time of year!
BTW how was STAR WARS :)
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I got my shipping invoice!!! Yipee!!! Yipee!!!
Jay
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I guess he don't live in the MID WEST at this time of year!
actually; i have around 2 feet of snow at the moment. i live in the mountains 30 miles east of Seattle.
the end of my driveway is in the center of the picture. we are a hearty breed out here.....and love our tapes.
...and i just got my shipping invoice.....thanks guys.
(http://imgs.inkfrog.com/pix/mikel/DSC_0671.jpg)
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Wow,.. nice pad Mike. I haven't lived in an area with lots of snow in a while but it snowed quite a bit up in the mountains when I was working up there in 2007. I think I prefer to look at the pretty pictures of it now.
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I think I prefer to look at the pretty pictures of it now.
although the kid in me still loves the snow; this year it's been frequent and i finally purchased a Honda tracked snow blower.....so i can clear a path to the music barn and my wife can get out of the garage. i'm getting pretty tired of it. it is nice to listen to music and look outside at the snow. i think i'm ready for spring.
'Global Warming?' Hummmmmm.
i was born in Minnesota so the whole snow thing is a natural for me.
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I hear you, Mike. Looks like you got the brunt of this last snow. We got by with just a dusting. It's a certainty that everyone around these parts is getting tired of being cold. We're looking at a new facility for Bottlehead (and the packing and shipping part of TP) and discussion of how well the furnace heats the place was a disproportionately large part of the negotiations yesterday.
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LOL!!! Who could blame you after looking at that pic!!!!
Jay
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Looking at that pic ...
Well a good day to stay indoors and listen to some R2R music. :)
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Great news!! Got my shipping invoice the other day. TP009 on the way....
Too bad the view from my driveway isn't like Mike's. I'm looking at brown late winter grass, bare trees and a clear driveway. winter has been a big disappointment this year. I grew up in the Buffalo area and still love a big snowfall now as much as I did as a kid. Thanks for that pic Mike! At least I can live vicariously....
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Great guys, I got email!! Hope that big box is mine! :-)
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No email on this side. This is weird as I'm #29!
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Perhaps they started shipping from the back of the line as a gesture of good will.
To misquote the Bible "He who shall be first, shall be last".
I am just about dead center, so unless they divide and conquer, I will get my tape about the same time no matter which end they start from.
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LOL!
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I am just beyond center at #61 and I got my notice that 009 will be delivered 3/16. I am on the East Coast. I think the notice was in my email on the 9th
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I never got the mail but the tape has arrived! Of course I have to go and pick it up at San Diego but I'll go there in two weeks!
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#009 is a real toe tapper. You'll love it!
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I have received，thanks
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MOre going out this weeks all... Just hang on....
Some shipping notices come back to me even thought the shipping goes out. I guess email addresses might be off for a few. Xavier, I'll look at yours. Might be mistyped.
BAck to grinding...
romo
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Anything else new in the "lots of tapes shipping" dept. ?
Still waiting for my last 3...
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I'll trade ya ... your last 3 for my last three. I am expecting one today or monday but all
the notices I got was from around the 23 of March.
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Ben, I got a shipping notice for 1 tape as well right after I posted that.
But you have not been waiting over 1 year as I have.
This will either be that last one of the 6 from my March 2008 order, or one of the 2 I ordered this year right before the original deadline to order at the old price.
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In my case it was not saving $$$ for the tapes , it was finding a Good Reel to Reel
in Canada for sale late last summer. I hope your tape shows up soon, it is about
week for to get my package here from the day posted.
Footnote: Arg! I got a click and ship notice as well after I posted too!
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Is the Tape Project still alive ? Since I paid some two months ago I don't hear anything and I get no replies on my emails to Eileen, Dan or Romo. Any reason to become nervous ?
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The Tape Project is alive and kickin'. Please bear in mind that I'm just a fellow member here and can't speak for the management but I think I can allay your concerns. It can take quite a while until you receive your first tape. Since each one is made for you and no one else there isn't any stock of tapes that the guys can just go over and pull off the shelf. Another difference is from your typical media providers is that only 4 tapes can be made at a time of the same release. And since each release consists of 2 tapes all produced in real time it probably takes a few hours to make 4 tapes. So, obviously it's impractical to produce 1 tape since it would still require the entire duplication line and still take the same amount of time.
There are two different types of production runs. In the beginning there was only one kind as the guys produced which ever was next in the catalog. These primary runs started out with the first release, Jacqui Naylor and then BlackJack David. There were only a handful of subscribers during these early releases and as the number of subscribers grew it was not that tough to go back and do a catch up run of the Naylor tapes. I don't think there was really a need at that point to be that organized about scheduling the duplication line since the number of tapes that needed to be produced was pretty low and there were only a couple set ups of the dup line for each release.
As you can imagine when these primary runs grew, with over 100 subscribers, into a major deal. With a very little problem we're talking about 2-3 hundred hours just to produce the tapes. Each reel is individually numbered on a CNC machine. Then it needs to be packaged with the individually number artwork packed up and shipped.
Ok, this would seem pretty straight forward and it is until you throw new subscribers into the mix. Like I said, when it was just a few releases the guys could just go by "the seat of their pants" as to when it was time to go back and produce some more of the earlier titles. But the more titles there are to produce and the more new subscribers (actual tapes) there are, the longer it takes to do these catch up runs. This delays the release of the next title in line for continuing subscribers. So, now that we have 9 titles that could be waiting for these catch up runs (and god knows how many of these tapes need to be produced since there are far more subscribers that need catch up tapes than not) these runs now need to be scheduled to keep the new titles from having 6 month delays between releases.
Add to this that producing one tape would increase the lag time and further complicate matters you'll also see a delay from the time that you order until the other 3 (or however many) new subscribers that need to fill out a run.
As you can see, this has become a pretty complicated production scheduling issue and many decisions have to be made all along the line. You can be assured that the very highest quality will weigh heavily in all these decisions.
Unlike any other music release I've ever known of, the Tape Project is dedicated to producing the best musical experience possible. And while that copy can be seen from lots of other companies, I think that these tapes will be considered to have actually lived up to the title " The Best" two hundred years from now.
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Hey Steve you bring up a good point that I been meaning to ask about. Doc how many subscribers do we have?
Jay
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Hi guys,
I have posted what's going on with TP here and there lately but I think the posts have fallen down the pages. Romo got home late last night after driving our entire packing and shipping setup up from the studio to Chateau Bottlehead. We are currently in the process of setting up the engraver, organizing our inventory and generally squaring away our database. Once we have everything in place we will be working on catching up all subscribers for catalog numbers TP-001 thru TP-009 and getting TP-010 out.
The idea with this move is that we are centralizing order processing and fulfillment to speed up the delivery process as well as being able to give quicker responses to subscriber inquiries.
Hi Wim,
Check your spam folder, as Eileen has responded to your inquiry.
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As Dan says, we moved packing and shipping up north. This is part of an overhaul of our operations that we have been planning for months. We had decided to gear up for increased production, both as a response to an increase in subscribers and in anticipation of starting Series Two. We want to send all the Series Two tapes to all subscribers in a more compact time frame. To this end we looked at every step of our production process and tried to find ways to streamline things. The various pieces of our plan are falling into place, and I think you will be pleased with the results when shipping starts up again.
The duping is still handled here at the studio in San Francisco. We have made some changes here too, to increase output but in no way compromising quality. Each tape is still duped in real time on the highest quality duping rig ever assembled.
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Thanks for the updates guys! I sure hope the move went as smoothly as it could. good luck in the "new" facility. Keep up the great work!!
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Sorry Dan, but Eileens email didn't reach me or was lost some were in the deleted spam - much appreciated if she could resend it - I'll look carefully in the spam.
Thanks & great news that the production is full steaming ahead.
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Thanks for the explanation/news Steve - Great !! I'll wait patiently for great musical tapes !!
I was only worried not to hear anything for 2 months.
Regards - Wim
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Just a quick update....
The new setup has greatly increased our output. Thanks to all who have been patient with us as we continue to grow. As of today, we are almost completely done with all of the duplication for every tape ordered by everyone with extras ready for us to be able to now sell individual titles. They are in transit to Poulsbo to be packed and shipped out to everyone. If you haven't received all of your first series tapes yet, they are indeed coming very soon. The last order of business before moving on to Series Two, Which we will start duplicating as early as next week, will be getting test tone tapes to those who haven't received theirs yet. Carly will be running those perhaps Friday. And then to the shipping dept up north, then on to you.
Thank you all again for you patience as we grow in this process. We are very very excited about Series Two. We may be able to announce the full line up shortly as well. The licensing agreements take a lot of time. And it is different for every title. Even after approval, getting the paperwork signed is not a speedy process. Just to let you know, we are already working on Series Three. ; )
Happy Listening to all
Romo