a little update

Spent the weekend gathering materials for pre-production. Here's the basic way I approach the production process:

1. Pull together lyrics
2. Record a rough-draft of the lead vocal and primary instrument
3. Determine musical influences already present in the song
4. Envision other influences that will compliment the song
5. Lay down the pre-production tracks in the decided key and tempo
6. Slice up the song and rearrange it to make the song either flow better or become disjointed as needed
7. Settle on the desired instrumental, chordal, and rhythmic textures
8. Record, record, record
9. Edit, edit, edit
10. Mix all along the way (allowing time between hearings to refresh my ears)

I've budgeted 100 hours in the studio for this project and have already spent 12 of those getting about half the songs to stage 7 and the other half to stage 4. Around 30 hours into the production process I hope to have all the songs to stage 7 and begin gathering the textures for layering the final sound. The 50 hours between pre-production and post-production (editing and mixing) involve a lot of playing around to experiment with sounds and arrangements.

One "new" influence for me is Bob Marley. Tim has tried for years to get me to listen to the guy's tracks. I finally check him out and can truly say that his recipe for sound is tasty... The bassist's sound is especially intriguing (as is his brother's drum sound). A tricky thing in production is to make the low-end clean enough to allow for a driving rhythm, yet open enough to allow the other parts to be heard with clarity. The Wailers were simply amazing at this, both in the studio and live, from what I can tell.

So, part of the process of designing this project is to surround the lyrics with a sound that invites listeners to listen. There's a lot of good sound out there with spiritually distracting lyrics. I'm glad Henig and I have spent some time studying up on The Beatles and other groups over the years. Glenn Miller may even end up influencing the sound (what an arranger!!). But in the end, this project will be about the lyrics and melodies. All the innovative chordal, rhythmic, and ear-candy tricks in the world won't make up for a deficiency in message.

I'll be posting the list of songs, if the Lord wills, later this week and rolling out lyrics for reviewers to start picking apart. One challenge is that I'm leaving room for at least one completely brand new song to come forth out of the wilderness that is this mind. It's a bit thorny and dry in here these days. However, the refreshing smell of the coming rain swings sweetly in the breeze...