so mixing is complete. satisfied with the result. i’m looking forward to handing it over to Byron Scullin to work his magic in the mastering studio. i’m always surprised at what the mastering process can do for a recording. having been recorded primarily in digital i’m hoping a little analogue warmth can be added.

ears and knows
i’ll be the first to admit that my eq skills and knowledge of compression is limited. the downfall of being self taught maybe? i have a lot of respect for good audio engineers… i’ll just stick to the creatives.

doubt
now that the creative process, audio wise at least, is over, i hit the period of doubt where you start questioning the quality and value of the work that you have poured so much time and effort into. quite a large emotional investment. well let this serve as a reminder that i’m creating this for myself, so in the end it doesn’t really matter what others think. if others like it, fantastic, what a bonus that would be.

visuals
one of two things i can focus on now is the visuals, the artwork. i’m very fortunate to have the lovely Ginta Mebalds working on some pieces for our collaboration. i have an idea of a single image/piece for each track on the album. i’m looking forward to seeing what she comes up with. These will also form part of the packaging artwork. we’re hoping to combine the audio and visuals in a gallery type launch once completed. which leads me to the other focus.

no body died live
i’ve been putting a lot of thought into transferring to a live situation. at first i am going to attempt to do it solo, which is going to be a hell of a challenge. first thought is using ableton live as a platform, using live and pre-recorded samples, live vocals of course and throwing in instruments, but keeping things quite minimal. the risk is getting so caught up in the instrumentation that emotional impact gets lost. so if i keep things simple i can keep the emotional core intact. i’m not going to try and reproduce the sounds on the album too closely. after working with matt chilton in london i’ve become quite fond of improvisation and the freedom it allows as a performer. if i can’t manage it on my own i’ll be seeking out a likeminded soul interested in creating some electronic improv loosely based on my album. if only i could bring matt to Melbourne, i hear he is working on a new project involving sensors, a mic’d up body suit, and his awesome audio program creations…

as always, lots of work to do.

j @ nbd