Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Mixing

It is that time of the year to put together the Hope Chapel CD. Somehow in the next month or so, I've got to edit and mix a whole CD worth of the worship songs we have been singing this year. I've been working on one song for a week now off and on and think I'm going to lose my mind. Getting back into the studio to mix is like trying to relearn how to ride a bike--except for its the exact opposite of riding a bike. Bike riding is supposed to be one of those things you never unlearn. Mixing is one of those things you aren't sure you ever did learn, so elusive.

Further complications: we have so much more and better gear in the studio now. I want to learn it all over night and make it perfect.

I bought a book over break called Mixing With Your Mind. It is helpful to distinguish between left and right brained tasks that the mix engineer has to accomplish. I need to get the left brained stuff, the cable patches, the track setup and internal computer routing all taken care of as quickly as possible so that I can attend to the creative flow without being jerked back into the technically tedious distractions.

I'm trying to repeat the mantra that Kendal Combes had me chant during my first record, "there is no such thing as a perfect record...there is no such thing....etc. etc...."

Pray for my sanity. Please.

3 comments:

Courtney Kay said...

praying for your sanity... CD will be great as always!

OKC Herbivore said...

yeah i am "mastering" my own stuff as we speak. i think i have found a stopping place (thanks to Logic Pro's mastering plugins-the best i have to work with pro bono) though i am never fully sated.

perhaps it is the balancing act of the technical and emotional responses/tasks that makes someone loony, but also it could be the sweat of helping the child to walk, the closeness and pride giving way to the sudden independence that completion brings-the mixes will be out there walking where people can love them and hurt them...

probably not that dramatic but hey...

Joshua Banner said...

Thanks Courtney. Really. Thanks. It is great to know I'm being prayed for.

Mr. Herbivore, it is always a treat to hear from you. Send me an mp3 of something. You're on Logic now!?!? Geesh. I've heard it is tough to learn. What do you mean pro bono?