Ready, Set, Mix!

 The final pieces of the puzzle are being put together.  Back up vocals, horn arrangements, and the last few solos we haven't gotten around to doing until recently.  It's all coming together.  You know, when you're so close to the project it's hard to see the forest from the trees.  Every single note, rhythm, and lyric, just sound different to the people who've been listening to them from the beginning.  Sometimes I wish I had just done my parts and gone away from it, let somebody else put it all together... but I'm far too much of a control freak for that!

Hearing vocals without reverb, or horns without having been mixed together to find that perfect blend... it does take the magic of it away.  Not completely.  But it's hard to have the same impression of it as someone who's hearing it for the first time.  I end up thinking I should have done something different, or wished I had not changed something else, and so on.  My perception is riddled with woulda shoulda couldas.  And that's all part of it.  Don't worry, I'm not saying I don't love the album.  In fact, I do.  And as we approach the mixing stage, I'm more excited about the project than ever!  It's really sounding great, and I have Ross Murray to thank for that in a BIG way.  Happy Rock Studio in Chelsea has been like a second home over the past 6 months... or has it been 8?  I don't remember anymore.  Putting down takes, editing, and arranging all become magnified when you've got 8-12 different instruments/musicians on each track.  This is a big sounding record.  And I'm excited to also start rehearsing the band that's going to play it.  

I'm narrowing down on the release date.  It's looking like the end of May, or the very beginning of June.  It's coming fast, so once the final 3 or 4 pieces are completed, it's off to get mixed.  We won't be mixing the record ourselves.  We're far too close to be objective now.  That's normal, it's part of the process.  Ross and I will most certainly have some oversight in the matter, but it's best to harness as many points of view as possible to make the record the best it can be.  So within the next 2 weeks, the album will be off getting mixed somewhere.  And in that time, I now have to nail down that release date, prep the band, get some artwork done for the album, secure printing, and start building buzz.  Fun times!  I love what I do.  And coming soon, I hope you will too.

Cheers!
Jeff