Black and Blue Summit!

Recently Bill Fischer and Matt Munson got together for some rock and roll! Here's the breakdown of how it went.

Munson arrived at precisely 12:15. At 12:16, mayhem. After a brief tour of the newly outfitted garage (freshly prepped for operation Buff and Bronze 2010) the duo headed off to Carl's Jr, to dine on the typical Black and Blue staple foods. Much chatting was done about the red status of the album project, and how we faced pressure from senior management to finish the project, or risk having our funding pulled. Munson dropped the gauntlet by announcing that he will be "pressing click" on the DiskMaker website on August 15, hell or high water. The not so subtle threat being that if Bill wants to have a hand in the mixes, he had better pony up! All in good fun, natch.

After Carl's, it was time to hit the hangar where BNB discussed getting big, and progress on the airplane project. Matt also revealed that his todo item for the day was to create the liner notes for the album. Overall, it was really fun kickin' back in the "man cave" that is the hangar, and catching up on all the various goings on. And by Various Goings On, I specifically mean getting big with P90X.

Once back at Bill's house, Matt busted out the NetBook and Liner notes were produced. There were a few false starts as the boys struggled with the overall ethos of the notes, and how much they wanted to give away. A fairly technical yet straightforward approach was finally decided, which reveals more of the mechanics of the recording sessions, and less of the motivations for the songs. Due to pending old age and early onset alzeimers, Bill and Matt relied heavily on this very blog for most of the details of the liner notes. Thank goodness for the interwebz. Without them, their failing memories would have yielded a big fat pile of nothing for the liner notes.

Or they could have just made a bunch of stuff up.

With the bid-ness of the day behind them, it was time to move on to the party. Guitars were passed around, video camera engaged, and BNB got down to doing what they do best: The Nasty. And by "The Nasty", I of course mean "Rock and Roll".

It started light with Matt pounding out the chords for "Married with Children", the soft acoustic number from Oasis, with Bill improvising a respectable lead that was very reminiscent of Noel's line from the album. After that warm up, the goal was made clear: play through all of the songs that are on the album. Which oddly enough, proved to be more difficult than it sounds. But mainly for Munson, whose lifelong struggle to remember lyrics continues to plague his every day existence. Refusing to let Bill print out lyrics, he was much happier to simply stumble through the songs, with the frequent "Deer in the headlights" glances at Bill when his lyrical knowledge reached it's end point.

Somehow they struggled through, and along the way had a lot of fun. All of this was sort of prep/feasability-study for the oft promised Supporting Tour of the upcoming album.

Bill also unveiled his newest acquisition, a Fender Telecaster with a B-Bender, something Matt had never seen before. The guitar sounds great, and serves as a great addition to the ever growing quiver.



It was around this time that Lisa revealed to Bill via a guarded whisper that today was actually their wedding anniversary. Congrats all around, followed by looks of shame as Bill and Matt realized they had just pissed away this historic occasion with rock and roll and hamburgers. And they say romance is dead!!!

Family Fun Time followed, with Brandon keeping up his "oh no, I'm dead" act. Will was uber proud of his 100% organic bug boat, as Erika showed off her collection of horses, both from the real world and the fantastical one.

A few handshakes later and Matt was back on the road, heading for points unknown.

Mixing Slowed to a Crawl by Rhinovirus!

A nasty cold has stopped up my mixing progress for the last week (brought home by the Fischer shock troops from Walteria Elementary kinderclass). Should be fully cleared by the weekend.

I should have left it alone, but you know it wasn't easy. And now two noses are blown. The rhinovirus made me queasy.

Me queasy.

High Desert Mystery - On The Road?

Now that High Desert Mystery is headed toward sequencing and release, Matt and I have started to explore our options for taking the material “on the road.”  As usual, the foundational discussions occurred at the Carl’s Jr. on Pacific Coast Highway near Torrance Airport! 

We settled into the window booth with the usual low-octane biomass at our disposal accompanied by ranch dressing, and swapped our respective Black & Blue takes on getting back to playing live.  For me, returning to the stage to present strong, soulful performances to an audience is something I have been eager to do for a long time, and Matt, too, has felt the urge to get in front of a crowd with his guitar.  In fact, not long ago he was actively prepping for a few solo gigs in Ohio.  So first and foremost, the inclination is definitely there.

So how would we approach things, given the impetus of the High Desert Mystery CD?

At a high level, we both agree that if it comes down to a choice, we are more interested in making an entertaining show than in any promotional agenda, but we would obviously try to emphasize the overlap between the two.

Matt has taken to heart a lesson learnt from his past coffee-house experience: that audiences appreciate hearing songs that are familiar to them.  Back in the Stickmen/My New Invention days, I had a rule of thumb that “cover” songs should optimally be about 1/3 of the set, but now I agree with Matt that 50% or even higher is probably more like it – especially since we are starting over, without the active fan base we had built up with our old band.

So we have to be geared toward winning over first time listeners.  The goal should be that at the end of the evening, you enjoyed the show enough to take home our CD at very low cost or maybe free, because what we really want is for you to hear our recordings.  For the rest of the universe, the CD will be available dirt cheap on the web from CD Baby.  And also, when you listen to the CD, it should ideally bear some resemblance to what you heard and liked at the show.  So the show can’t be all covers, because the CD is all original songs.

Note the contrast with the My New Invention commercial model, which was: put on a show that caters to the existing fans in the audience, with the hope that other strangers in the audience will be won over instantly and purchase our CD on the spot at full price – which was the only way to obtain a copy, due to total lack of distribution (apart from one store in Fullerton).  This business model failed; CD sales just didn’t become reality at our shows.

(This was despite turning in some pretty darn solid performances.  The band was at its peak, but we found ourselves out of college and playing to empty bars on weeknights.  Ah, memory lane.  Now I can’t believe we felt even slightly old back then.  Why did we stop?)

The next big question for Black and Blue is how to present our music in a way that serves both the High Desert Mystery material, and the realities of the venues we are likely to play.  In particular, our forthcoming CD is a full-band rock and roll album, but our “Black and Blue” lineup is just Matt and me.  We did the album by doubling up on instrumental duties – Matt playing the drums throughout and me doing a lot of guitar and bass overdubs – but obviously that won’t work on stage.

So the two obvious options are (1) to switch to the traditional Black and Blue acoustic duo format, optimized for the coffee houses, and adapt the songs accordingly, OR (2) to recruit some musicians to present a rock-and-roll show at the more roadhouse-like venues.  The latter option has tempted me for a long time.  With my old band(s) defunct, I have been tempted to “get back on the road” as Swamptooth, somehow constituted as a rock and roll outfit.  Black and Blue might accomplish the same thing, but as it turns out, Matt is leaning more strongly toward the pared-down coffee-house format, mostly out of reluctance to roll the dice with new band members.

Okay, the rock-and-roll route appeals to me in many ways, but I can relate to Matt’s reservations about the compromises and teething pains that go along with growing a new band.  It takes a big investment of life force to parse out all the band members’ agendas, musical tastes and personality issues, and make it all work.  My own idiosyncrasies are enough as it is.  So whose favorite songs do you end up playing?  You might say that Matt prefers, as Don Varner once famously quipped, to “play what I want.”

Still, I have a hard time letting go of the band approach, because there is an itch that only rock and roll can scratch.  I also have found that what you gain from a good band is much more than you lose.

Bottom line though, both options hold plenty of appeal, and I can’t see regretting either choice.

Fun conversation over a burger and fries.  But then as now, it’s time to get back to work on the CD!

Good progress!

I finally had a chance to read the updates to the blog, and I am pleased! Not that my opinion matters, but it's good to see things progressing. I think we're officially behind schedule for a June release, but I think we can still pull it off if the final mixes become reality soon.

Your serve, sir!

Mastering, Compression, and Loudness

As we press on through the mixing and mastering for for High Desert Mystery, we have to wrestle with the question of how much compression is OK.  This decision is critical to the end result in terms of the "listening experience."  Most new CDs are way overcompressed.  But the flip side is that without much compression, the end result just doesn't sound like a real "record."

What Happened to Dynamic Range?

I think we should do this.  And maybe this.

April Mixdown: Surveying the Baseline

April was the first song recorded for High Desert Mystery, so now that we are vetting the final mixes, what better place to begin?

This song was completed in a single session, January 20, 2008, with me acting as "producer."  Matt played the drums, which we recorded with only two microphones: kick drum and overhead.  I operated the digital audio workstation (DAW) while performing the scratch vocal and guitar.  I had one mike for the vocal, and the two built-in pickups in my Martin D-1 acoustic guitar: one piezo-acoustic bridge pickup and one internally mounted condenser microphone.

We warmed up with one recorded take of "I Ain't Never" before beginning numbered takes of "April" as follows:

Takes 1-4:  missing (probably deleted immediately)
Takes 5-8:  false starts
Take 9:   complete
Take 10:  false start
Take 11:  missing
Take 12:  false start
Take 13:  complete
Take 14:  false start
Take 15(?):  the master take

As it turned out, my basic guitar track was error-free and therefore usable, so we kept it.  Matt then recorded a second acoustic guitar part using the same internal pickups, plus the Apex condenser microphone, which was our best available mike throughout the High Desert Mystery sessions.  Matt's guitar playing imparted a quasi-swing feel which unexpectedly enhanced the basic arrangement.

My harmonica part was next, followed by Matt's tambourine, and then my bass guitar.  Probably all with the Apex mike, though the bass might have been direct.  I doubt it.  I also don't remember whether it was "Red Bass" or Julian Kingston's Jazz Bass.

Finally, we worked on my vocal track.  We recorded two tracks: one called "crap vocal" - whose chief fault appears to have been a few missed lines - and a second called "double vocal" which includes some drop-in fixes, but intentionally left in a flub that was perfectly doubled from the scratch vocal track.  At the time we liked the flub.  Now we have to live with it, or else revive the "crap vocal" for that line.

Matt's final mix from April 4, 2010 dispensed with the "crap vocal" altogether, which has been deleted from the master project file.

Matt's mix is pretty spartan, without effects or equalization except on two tracks: the harmonica features reverb, as does the main lead vocal, which is also heavily equalized with 3-4 dB cuts around 750 and 6000 Hz, a -8dB shelf at 9000 Hz, and a 12 dB boost below 180 Hz (the "proximity zone").

Matt automated the fader on his acoustic guitar track to bring it as an accent on about half the song, but only on the internal condenser mike.  He also automated the scratch vocal, but muted it out of the final mix.

Overall, this mix sounds pretty decent.  There are a couple of potential edits that are tempting me: I would like to fix the flubbed vocal line by flying in that section from the deleted "crap vocal," and I would also like to eliminate or steeply diminish the final cymbal crash, probably with fader automation rather than editing.

UPDATE: edits are complete!

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.