It Doesn’t Go Any Louder
Hey, haven’t posted something since Christmas. Been working away finishing off the record. Myself and Michael flew over to London for mixing in January. It was possibly the coldest weather I’ve ever experienced in my limited travelling repertoire. We stayed with our good friend Ronan and became reaquianted with the wonder of Krispy Kreme doughnuts and the weirdness of Twin Peaks.
We travelled down on the train every day to Bluebell Sound in Kent, home to the charming Barny who has done a wonderful job gathering together the various guitars, bass, drums and warbly bits that make up the songs. A mastering deadline looms next week so at this very moment I’m listening to two ever so slightly different mixes of Sing It Without A Tune wondering if the snare should be a little bit louder or a little bit quieter.
A deadline of mastering for next week is a good thing. We’ve been listening to mixes now for too long. There’s an online diary by an anonymous/fictitious engineer about the process of making an album. It’s been around for a while and is mildly entertaining although probably not true. You can read it here: http://www.mixerman.net/. It’s obviously written by someone who has made a number of albums and one of the things he articulates well is the condition of hyper-sensitivity.
‘Hyper-sensitivity is the function of one’s brain being so aware and sensitive to minute changes that you are beyond any kind of “real-world” standards of listening. It is the exact opposite of over-saturation. This temporary condition can make differences that are normally nearly impossible for the human ear to detect seem like enormously drastic changes. Although this condition is generally less debilitating than over-saturation, it can cause the wasting of inordinate amounts of time, as this phenomenon will cause one to endlessly make adjustments that seem to make a big difference but, in reality, make no difference whatsoever.’
A common example of this will be playing a mix to someone for them to enjoy and take in followed by playing them an ‘alternate’ mix of the song. You’ll ask them, “which do you prefer?” “They’re the same aren’t they?” is often the reply.
“Well, the backing vocals are a little louder on the second one. Did you notice that?”
“No. They sounded exactly the same”
The album is almost done. Whether the snare is turned up a little louder or not is probably going to make absolutely no difference to anyone else listening. If I notice that the guitar drifts into the background for a second here, probably nobody else will. It’s the big picture people take in. We’re really happy with how the album sounds and how all the songs turned out. Hopefully it will surprise a few people.
All that’s left to worry about is the track order. That does matter quite a lot so back to the grindstone. More news to follow…
Eoin
