Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Swamptooth: On the Final Push

So now that the blue contingent (a.k.a. Matt Munson) has worked his editing magic, and handed the mixes over to me, I have set about the task of sprinkling black pixie dust over the whole affair.

I have to say I am VERY impressed at the high quality of the pure Munson mixes, and my philosophical starting point is that I will leave things the way they are, unless I am POSITIVE that the particular changes I have in mind will make a definite, noticeable improvement.  But what is critical (to me, anyway) is that I ensure that I am comfortable with the end result before it goes to the presses.

We definitely rushed things on the "Second Time Around" single - which Matt and I basically mastered at one sitting - and I must admit that I do have real regrets over the final mix on that CD (in a way that wasn't true for the My New Invention CD, which was well mixed whatever its other faults).  At the time I said "never again."

In retrospect, a minor disappointment on the single was for the best, because I had originally pushed pretty hard to release the whole album in December 2008.  Had we done so, and had an entire album of rushed mixes, I probably would have ended up dissatisfied with High Desert Mystery as released.  But that was my original premise for the album - for it to be a pure 2008 project, recorded and released that year, with no loose ends hanging out.

Oddly enough, it was Matt who put the brakes on at that time, and the album entered an all-too-familiar period of "My New Invention" style limbo in 2009.  But it wasn't truly in limbo, because Matt was busy tinkering, on and off.  At his instigation, we even did an extra overdub session in March 2009.  The months dragged on, and then we ended up recording a completely new track!  Each time he made it out to the West Coast, I requested that he bring the master tapes for mixing, but in reality the editing was still a work in progress.

All in all, it was probably worth the wait.  Mr. Munson is justifiably proud of the technological terror he has constructed.  And naturally, he wants it "out on the street" as soon as possible.  So back in April, Matt and I grabbed a burger at the nearby Carl's Jr. and laid the ambitious goal of releasing the CD by June.  To that end, Matt committed to delivering the files to me straightaway , and sure enough two DVDs arrived in the mail on about May 6.

Unfortunately, the timing couldn't have been worse.  The master tapes arrived hot on the heels of a new baby , who coincidentally was born right on top of not one but THREE new program assignments at work, all high visibility and two of them badly behind schedule, requiring late evenings and Saturdays at the office as far as the eye could see.  If that was not enough, we were also in the middle of some hard-core home renovation to accommodate our enlarged brood, mostly involving heat guns, scrapers, long hours on hands and knees, and some bonus time in the crawlspace.  Not very conducive to rock and roll!  Oh, and did I mention I had an airplane under construction, and18 months left to get it airworthy?

In light of everything, the goal of June album release was pretty ambitious.  The only bright spot in the thicket of deadlines was that I had planned 2-3 weeks off work after the baby was born: family leave, and intended for the family, but which would also provide breathing room for the final mixing push.  The trouble was (still is) that I am committed to getting all my new programs back on their feet before taking my leave.

Which is a long way of explaining that it's not been easy to give the mixdown process the priority it wants!  But I am managing to carve out time.  As part of the balancing act, I had decided to MIX rather than BLOG about mixing.  By May 22, I had my post-production studio up and running.  Now I have shaken off some of the rust from my Cubase skills, and I have a couple of mixes under my belt.  If I had time, I would definitely make some equipment upgrades.  The monitor situation is ... just okay.  The PC available for the job is ... marginal at best, and as loud as a hairdryer!  But the starting line has been cleared.

So now June has arrived and I am conscious of my collaborator's eagerness for product.  Well, deadline or no, this album is coming out pretty damned soon!  Kind of like having a baby.  I want it DONE, and I don't need external motivation to that end.  I also find it pretty irritating to be tracked to yet another deadline!  Still, it's not right to leave the "blue" half in suspense.  So what to do?  Well, now I think maybe I was wrong about the blogging thing.  Yes, "live blogging" the final mix will add time to the process.  But it has a few key advantages: (1) it will avoid surprises by keeping Matt in the loop, able to weigh in on technical and aesthetic issues, and aware of schedule realities in real time, (2) it will hold a mirror up to my own progress, and (3) it will add to the fun of doing it!

So enough "yacking" about process.  Time to get down to nitty gritty details.

Stay tuned.

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