August 19, 2003

A Twilight of Vague Extremes

This is probably the strangest time in the gestation period of an album: where the tracking trail-off elides into the initial technical, set-up part of the mixing. Usually, I'm there for every single, tedious, repetitive, mind-numbing second (which I vaguely enjoy, when I'm not feeling vaguely suicidal-- I'm a man of vague extremes.) This time, though, scheduling and technical complications meant that we got off to a bit of a rolling start. We decided that the most efficient way to go, once the set-up was pretty complete, was for Kevin Army to get basic mixes of everything without "artist interference"; once that's done, I'm supposed to start interfering, making sure the arrangements are right, all the parts are there, etc. Arguing about this, that, and the other.

So there have now been two full days of mixing without my involvement (other than a couple of brief phone consultations.) It feels very strange.

The raw tracks are all pretty together sounding, and Kevin says it's sounding great. But there are, of course, many different approaches to take. This is another instance, perhaps the most important one, where understanding plays a role in how the record comes out. And understanding can be elusive, hard to come by. I've tried to communicate my "vision" of each song, via home-made demos, and during the tracking, and through many, many intense and often hilarious discussions and arguments about the arrangements and sounds I wanted to get. But if this studio journal experiment shows anything, it's that such things are extremely hard to communicate.

In many cases, I'm pretty sure we're on the same page, but you never totally know for sure. There will inevitably be cases where there will be discrepancies between my view and Kevin's, between the intention and what's achievable given what we have to work with, and, most maddeningly, little aesthetic judgments where leaving something off solves some other problem-- what if one of the "producers" thinks that the thing to be left off is trivial, while for the other it "makes the song"? To use an example I've already outlined in detail, there is a major-7th vocal harmony on the song "Elizabeth or Fight!" that is pretty crucial in my view; the issue got a little obscured by the other argument about the minor-9th harmony in another bit when we were doing the back-ups, and I have no idea whether (a) I was really able to communicate how important it was and (b) whether what ended up on tape (sung by me in the face of seeming incomprehension from everyone else in the control room) is good enough or effective enough to be as prominent as I might like it to be. We'll probably have another argument about the minor-9th, and I'm willing to give some ground on that, but I'm going to have to insist on the major-7th, even if it means re-doing the part, which will take some time.

We'll be able to revise stuff like this, of course. (We'll find out just how much is in contention when I finally go in.) The nagging worry in the back of one's mind is that, in the end, and if there's a lot, there won't be enough time to revisit everything, and we'll just have to "live with" some things that are (for me) less than perfect. But it's preferable to wasting a lot of time arguing from song one, as we have to end up with something more or less release-able by the end of the week. (We've got that show in Campbell, CA on Friday night, and I leave for England the following day. I think there's still room in the budget for one more fix-it session when I return before the mastering, but obviously we want to come as close to finished as possible.) Having a basic mix to start with in every case will be a big time-saver, in the end. And, of course, I could be quite wrong about some of this stuff. And I'm extremely pig headed. Sigh.

The most daunting thing, though, isn't the fact that I may have to argue for my arrangements or this or that little aspect of them, but that in order to get everything to come out as I wish I've got to remember all this stuff. I've taken some notes, but not nearly enough. (Plus I doubt if I can remember where I put most of the notes. Note to self: use a single notebook next time. Other note to self: put first note in a safe, obvious location.) It's mostly down to my leaky brain, under pressure of time, and in the face of an unavoidable Sounds Good Let's Move On ethos. And I'm just a bit frazzled at the moment.

I believe today is the day, though, and I'll let you know what happens. I have no earthly idea, though high hopes, as to how it will go.

Posted by Dr. Frank at August 19, 2003 05:08 PM | TrackBack
Comments

This sounds like a tough time, sort of like just before a set of exams when you're trying to remember a million things you've crammed in over the last few months, and think you don't know anything. But actually when you're in there and asked something specific you're ok. So maybe it'll work out like that. That's the only thing i can relate to anyway!

I hope this isn't an invasive question but is the trip to england a personal one or might you be playing?

Posted by: Georgina at August 20, 2003 08:12 AM

Georgie, I made a small effort to look into the possibility of doing a solo show during my time in England, but the whole recording thing distracted me and I never got anywhere with it. Maybe next time.

Hey, I think you mentioned somewhere that you're interning at the studio where Sticky Fingers was recorded? Would that be Olympic? How's that going?

Posted by: Dr. Frank at August 20, 2003 04:23 PM

Thanks for getting back to me about that. Not to worry, the time will come i know that.

It is indeed Olympic that i'm at. It's been good; i won't bore with the detes but Eric Clapton's been in, and a few well known british artists (sugababes or elbow, anyone?) I got to set up 14 mics for a drumkit, and today i got to twiddle all the knobs on one of the desks (it wasn't in use at the time- oh well) I'm just doing voluntary work after i wrote to them (we're encouraged to 'experience a workplace' by school) I do mostly washing up and tidying, but it's a nice place to be. Great facilities, very plush. A man i was talking to today told me that quite recently Brian Wilson came into record something, on the recommendation of Clapton who does all his stuff there. PS. I hope you can relax and enjoy the british scenery i read you so lovingly speak of somewhere.

Posted by: Georgina at August 20, 2003 10:36 PM