Session XVIII: Are We There Yet?

Well, it looks like we’re in the final stretches. I had a great mixing session today. Made some more minor tweaks and now it’s time to burn them to disc and test them on the various listening devices. For those that don’t now, this is the crucial secret of mixing. Get a mix that sounds good on your monitors but then test it in different environments. Test it in the car stereo, the home stereo, the PC speakers and the portable listening device (iPod, Zune, Sony Walkman, etc). Get an idea how it sounds in all the different environments and then make your little adjustments from there.

There was one casulty to the album, a song called “Hope”. As I stated in a previous post, it was just one of those songs that when I listened to along with the other songs, it just didn’t seem to measure up and stand with the others. It seemed like a weak link and so I just aborted it. It’s not to say that I will give up on it. Much like songs have done in the past (ie, Sailors Progress), maybe it’ll come back stronger and with a life of it’s own. There were a couple of songs that I REALLY wanted to make this release but I just couldn’t connect with them in a solo setting so much like Hope, maybe they will live on a future album.

So for those that don’t know, the album is called “Planes, Trains, Crickets & Central Air”. Why is it called that? Well, I hate to tell you ALL the info but maybe you can head over to http://www.donontheweb.com, browse around at the new design and read the new bio!  The tracklist for the album is (not in sequential order yet):

Back To When
Rest Stop For The Lonely
Sailors Progress
Crescent City Girl
Prison Story
Green Is The Colour
Ghost Town

Anyways, I’m off for now.  I cannot wait to share this album with all who will listen to it.  We’re almost there!

Session XVII: Finding Frustration

For the most part, the album is in the mixing stage. I say “for the most part” because one of the songs that was intended for the album just isn’t cutting it for me. When I wrote this particular song (titled “Hope”), I wasn’t all that fond of it. I mean, I thought it was a good song but it just didn’t seem to capture me or seem to capture the same mood and feeling as the other songs. I tried layering multiple instruments, I tried changing the vocal phrasing and I even tried playing it in different tempos and in the end, I still squinted my eyes when hearing it wondering “Why???”. I’ve never put more energy into a song that I didn’t love. Maybe it’s something that will see the light of day in the future but for now, I think it’s going to take a long deserved nap.

As for the other songs, they all seem to sound really good and I’m happy with them. I ended up re-cutting the vocals for “Rest Stop For The Lonely” because there was some peeking which caused some distortion. Now it’s just a matter of going back through the other songs and adjusting levels and getting them to sound the way I want them. So now I’m a song short for the album. Do I keep it at seven songs now or do I try and add another one? I think for now I’m just going to work with what I have and go from there. No need to complicate things at this point. Just move forward and when its all done, see where I’m at.

I was reminded by Lady L. that THIS is how she remembers all my previous album’s sessions going. I knew it was feeling too easy!

Session XVI: Stepping Away

I finally managed to get the 1st mix of the album done. I burned it to CD to give it a listen in the car and I was reminded of the world of difference in hearing a mix on different systems. What sounded great on my studio monitors had some things sounding thin on the car stereo. Of the 8 songs, 2 of them need to have the vocal tracks re-recorded and one of the songs need to be totally re-done because there was a few signal peeks in the guitar and vocal tracks that were irreparable. All in all, I’m REALLY happy with how the songs have come out and this is literally the first album I have ever done COMPLETELY solo with no outside guests or help. I’m really proud of this one and it’s definitely a rootsy album. It’s the album I’ve been wanting to make and I think it’s one that I hope everyone that hears it will enjoy it.

I actually have been asked by a few people what the track list and the title of the album is. Well, first off, I have a working title but I’m not ready to release it until I’ve decided upon it. As for the track list, here it is (not in order yet).

Back To When
Rest Stop For The Lonely
Sailors Progress
Crescent City Girl
Hope
Prison Story
Green Is The Colour
Ghost Town

“Green Is The Colour” is indeed the Pink Floyd song from “More”. Most of these songs were written while I was fronting Mystery Road and there are a couple that were never performed live with Mystery Road. “Sailors Progress” was actually on my first ever EP “Songs For The Ride Home” that I recorded almost 10 years ago and was always a favorite of my good friend Matt. I decided to re-record it and dedicate it to him so he better fucking like it!

Anyways, I’m going to step away from the album and give it time to breathe. I’ll go back to it on Tuesday and move forward from there as far as fixing all that needs fixing. I’m almost there…

Sessions XI – XV: Getting Into The Mix

Wow, talk about time flying by.  Since last post, I managed to put in 4 sessions and complete all of the recording.  There were some duds that I needed to go back and fix and I and now I’m on to mixing process.
This part is both rewarding and painful.  The rewarding part is hearing the fruit of my labor and finding any kind of missed mistakes that need fixing or just flat out re-recording.  The painful part is finding those mistakes and also just hearing your own voice back over and over again.  I have to say that I don’t think this one sucks so that’s a good thing.  I’m actually finding these tunes quite listenable so that’s a good thing for me.  I hope others will share my sentiment.

Anyways, so far, I’ve mixed 3 songs and they seem to sound really good.  I’m moving forward as we speak so I will report back on the mixing process!  Thanks for checking in again!