Mastered the record!
Well, almost. Got to my mastereing engineer’s (Rob Beaton) house around 10:15 AM. Brought him my latest shirt! We spent the next hour converting the sample rates of 24 bit masters to 44.1 (keeping them at 24 bit). So, we yammered away during that process and plotted lunch expectations…. View Full Article »
Posing this question on a few social sites today:
Thinking about adding 3 alternate mixes to the record: vocal/mellow versions. You know, different interpretations of the new songs.
Would fans like something like that?
A great practice, followed by delicious Indian Food. That was my Sunday.
Officiated over the wedding of a lifelong friend to her long time boyfriend. It’s my 5th, I think, so far. They’re fun to do. That was my Saturday.
Boudin Blanc et Pommes Puree. Delayed interview with iProng (all good; re-scheduled for Tuesday). Laid down some alt mixes for mastering. Basically, when you master certain instruments shine through more and certain get brought down more. That’s just the nature of the beast.
In my experience, at least with my mixes, it always seems Guitars are helped the most by mastering, followed by vocals. And kick drum and bass guitar can get clobbered a bit, if they’re mixed a little low to begin with. So, each of my songs has a separate mix that has the kick drum and bass drum up. Just in case, if we hear the final mix being taken out of balance, we have the alt mix to save the day (sing that like Mighty Mouse).
And that was my Friday!
Computer problems this weekend prevented me from completing the record.
Apparently, my BIOS settings were re-set. Yippee. At first I couldn’t even get the computer to boot up. Now, it doesn’t see one of my drives. So, after getting more tech info, it appears it’s as simple as the battery of my motherboard. I just have to user install a new one and I should be good to go.
Practiced for a few hours on Sunday. Working up acoustic versions of some of the new songs for the Cancer Benefit on Wednesday at the Colony Theatre.
It’s been almost 8 days since I heard the mixes. I needed a break. I know there are a few little things I want to tweak, but for the most part, I’ve spent the last few days just de-compressing and cleaning the brain.
Went to Napa over the weekend to see a good friend get married. The day after, just drove around. Ate at Bouchon (Thomas Keller’s other restaurant). Took two wine tastings, and had a surprisingly good pulled pork sandwich at 12 AM. Didn’t listen to music the whole weekend.
Took some pictures…
And I’m starting to feel alive again.
Well…almost there!
Man, this is like the democratic primaries. Close, then delay; close then delay….
Computer problems, as usual, are what’s dragging me down. Essentially, I think that the quality, complexity of my mixes are starting to outdo the capabilities of my computer. It’s always running hot, and just gets squirrelly on me. But it’s too late to upgrade my computer. Besides, unless computer life as you know it is completely threatened, it’s crazy to change computers mid-project.
But the bottom line is I’m working on the last 3 mixes of the new record. Too tired now to review tonight; I’ll burn a CD tomorrow and listen with fresh ears.
Oh, and i haven’t talked about food lately. Made chilean sea bass with an orange glaze. And took french green beans, chopped into half inch peaces, and added them to some chorizo sausage, and some shallots. Added a little basil and chives, and man oh man, this was tasty.
Stressed. This CD is taking a lot long than I anticipated or certainly planned for. I’m happy with the results so far, but the path to those results have been frustratingly time consuming. And my stupid computer gets overworked and overtaxed, and having a day job sucks, and I just spent $500 on Superchunk’s vet bill, and there is just.not.enough.time.in.the.day. UGGGGGHHHH!
One of the things that’s most time consuming is the mixes and how hard I tax my computer. I have to re-boot a lot because I use Pro Tools LE and a lot of plugin activity. It’s extremely frustrating. I even bought a $600 a/c for the studio a few weeks ago, hoping that would help. Well, at least it makes the room more comfortable to work in, but it’s not helping that much with the stability. I hate having to be forced to print effects, but at some point, I have no other choice. Unless I don’t have enough tracks. THEN UGH!!!!!
After recording new guitar and bass parts for Ripped Torn Broken last week, I discovered the only thing worth keeping were the bass parts. Reason is the guitar performances on the original version, while not sonically up to snuff, were all about magic, luck and chemistry. And I just couldn’t duplicate them. Not without taking a couple of days. I’m telling you, that’s the worst thing for a musician to do: duplicate something he or she already likes. In this case, I bailed on the notion pretty early on in the attempt. It wasn’t even possible. Well, it’s possible; but it would have taken. more. time.
So, I have to keep my head in the game, big picture wise. I have to keep telling myself that the results are the only thing that matter, and since I’ve taken this long I can’t stress out too much if I’m so close to finishing.
But it sure as hell ain’t easy.
It had to happen some time. That time was Saturday afternoon.
The mixes I’m working on right now are literally taxing my computer to no end. I mean, I’m pushing it hard. And I use a product called the SSL Duende which, frankly, I feel is prone to crankiness at the slightest rise in temperature.
So, on Saturday, amidst yet another SoCal heat wave, I could no longer take marinating in my own juices. View Full Article »
by Chance
Yesterday’s practice was a blast. We’re working on all but one of the new songs. My guitar player Mike wasn’t there (he’s doing a couple of shows in Colorado with his other band, Waiting for Decay). So, the four of us plowed into and improved upon the newbies.
Tired today. Practice days are grueling, especially when I have too many other things to do during the day. Basically, the only power down time I have is watching the season finale of The Office. I can’t begin to tell you how much I love this show. And the cliffhangers they wrote into this episode. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
So, this weekend promises a lot of work. View Full Article »
