from JS: STUDIO REPORT though the snow-plough had come an hour earlier, i hear, the back roads into the studio kept that a secret, calling, whispering come down this road, we are white as the driven, you are driving the white as and so i did the usual canadian thing, headed for the middle of the road, sped downhill and bore down uphill, praying no one was coming the other way. no one was. they were parked at the top of the hill. in the MIDDLE. it was the fedex man. he was taking a picture. he had a package for me. today was invisibly good. fell asleep trying to get a guitar part right, it was so comfortable hanging over the top of my guitar and the studio was peaceful. went through all songs, sang most so im really ready when my voice opens up, 3 of them have ever-changing lyrics so perhaps i inch a bit closer to the final ones, but i tell them that as soon as i go on tour, they can change again. they are just like their mother (me). the engineer and i went through past mixes and other peoples mixes. i havent found the right mixer yet. mixes can take a lot of hard work and flatten it. i prefer mixes that make the ears open up and you can lean into them. the engineer says there is a muscle in the ear that tightens things so they dont reverberate with sound that is too loud. that must be what relaxes when we go somewhere quiet and it feels like our ears OPEN UP. many mixes tighten that muscle, cause bracing and tiredness, i find. i must remember to be more ruthless in not filling all spaces in my arrangements - empty space is such an electrifying thing. constant strings, cymbals, organ all take up a lot of space. but the down side is it is very tricky to not use things like that because the music can sound cold if its not just right. as i listen to different mixers i often feel assaulted and im not sure if it is the high compression or the sizzles around vocals or what. ive been guilty of that myself as i heard well today. often i find a vocal sound hooded - like the singer was in an accident and has a dent in their forehead. i believe it comes from too much carving of the vocal eq though often this is done so that every instrument has its own space. it was a good day, tuning in and picking up speed. i feel like a panther, circling, looking lazy but busy inside. meanwhile, the wind is howling and rattling the panes. this is March as Lion. and there is a brand-new lamb waiting to spring up from beneath. hope everyone is doing well. j
Posted on: Thu, 13 Mar 2014 03:57:29 +0000
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