DEBRIS.COMgood for a laugh, or possibly an aneurysm

My long-delayed mixdown is complete. Tune in for the next three Thursdays to hear the results. (Is that a cheap ploy to build interest and traffic? Why, yes it is.)

Long-distance mixing takes a lot of time. The engineer, Evan, has a pretty amazing ear, so the basic tracks came together immediately. The fine tuning is what takes the time: he sends MP3s, I take two weeks to listen to them (through two pairs of headphones, two pairs of speakers, on a portable stereo, in the car, at high volume, at low volume, from the next room, etc.), then he takes another week to adjust the mix, and then we do it again. We’ve been working on this since Thanksgiving — I downloaded the first round of mixes in Hawaii, over dialup, before I realized I could sponge off the neighbor’s wifi if I sat by the kitchen window.

Had I been present for mixdown, the turnaround time on the various EQ and level changes we made would have been measured in seconds instead of weeks. Next time, I’ll probably just fly to LA for this.

The four songs I sent Evan covered the spectrum of genres from acoustic ballad to heavy rock. One was recorded about 12 years ago with an early incarnation of the band that would become JAR — an abandoned track rescued from some dusty ADATs in the garage. I didn’t write it, and had no designs for it (other than posting it here). If JAR had become famous this song would have showed up on the box set after I’d gotten old and fat and bought a castle next to Elton John. Alas, now I’m old and fat, and the closest I’ve been to Elton John was the time I sat on a People magazine at the dentist’s office. Anyway, Evan nailed this mix on his first attempt. It blew me away. It’s a better song now than the day we recorded it.

The other three tracks were recorded here (and chronicled here). One was an old JAR song, Bleed. Another was an acoustic tune by JAR’s guitarist. The last was my own song Ode to Soup, which was a bitch to mix for a lot of reasons: there were two lead instrumental voices, the recording engineer was an amateur (this means me), the drum and guitar tracks were assembled digitally from multiple takes, and I was sweating every detail.

I’m happy we’re done, and I’m happy with the results. I am in the midst of writing new songs, in hopes of finishing up my first CD within 12-18 months. (It’s a long time… lots of concurrent plans for the next year.)

MP3s coming your way:

• 2006-02-02: No Regret
• 2006-02-09: Bleed
• 2006-02-16: Ode to Soup

Y’all come back now, y’hear?