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This week has been an exciting exercise, and I mean exercise, in recording some God-inspired songs written by a good 
friend. Now, I know that I don't know many things that a beginning Studio Producer and Sound Engineer should know. I realize that it is more than knowing your equipment (which I failed at miserably -lots of waiting by patient musicians), or knowing the process, or knowing how to place a microphone or what pickup pattern to use. It is knowing people. Knowing who should play or sing what part and when. Knowing how much to push for the perfect take without getting diminishing returns. 
The things that I have made note of that seemed to go fairly well are; always use a click track that has subdivisions of the beat (in some cases, a drum loop), take good notes of edits that need to be made, always compress Kick Drum and Bass Guitar, have a prerecorded sync point (like a rap of a snare) recorded on every track to align tracks that have to be moved from recorder to recorder before you begin tracking. I never understood how time-consuming the whole task can be. I am about 1/3 of the way through, but I feel very positive about the future completion of "The Risen Lamb" and "Lonely Night in Heaven." I hope to share the original tracks with readers in the future. I am sure I have plenty more to learn in the mixing and mastering of this project. For those interested in equipment, here is a partial list; Win XP computer with Protools LE 6.04, Livedesign, Event TXL8 Powered Monitors, Roland DAW 880, Rode NT2, Audix mics, Headphones by Shure, AKG, and Koss, Headphone amp by Ross, and PodXTLive. Instruments include Pearl Drums, Sabian cymbals, Kawai Digital Piano, (2) Martin guitars, Shecter Bass guitar, Fender Squier Telecaster (amazing sound without the price - it's the only one I have heard that sounds like a real Fender Telecaster), and God's instrument, the human voice.
I want to conclude this post by expressing my thanks to Pastor Steve Clark for seeing the vision of this week and allowing some time for it to happen.
Our routine may have us, and we don't even know it. Recently I had the joy (thanks to some new and great friends) to get away from the familiar environment and spend the day with the ones I love up in the mountains beyond the Blue Ridge Parkway. The first thing that caught my attention was the sweet smell of cool air, almost like autumn, except fresher. Then I noticed the wonderful absence of the sounds from cars, humming lights, lawn mowers, and even the fans that try to keep everything cool (like this computer). It was replaced by a simple breeze with a background whisper of a trickling stream. The sights were as different as the sounds. I substituted the things that man makes (like billboards, four lane highways, and even backyard goldfish ponds) for clouds washing over 4,000 feet ridge tops and the shiny leaves and bursting blooms of wild rhododendron and mountain laurel. The things I touched were different too; the feel of prickly, but soft boughs of a growing Christmas tree 2 to 10 feet tall and the doorknob of a neighbor's cabin that was freely left unlocked for friends and family to enjoy. My thoughts were more about what species of trees we were discovering on our walk, and when could we find more time to return to this place than thoughts of the high price of gasoline or running over on our allotted cellphone minutes (which, by the way, will do you little good unless you walk to the top of the next hill). Yes, the pace is slower. It makes me wonder if God wanted it that way so that we might have a volume of time to spend with Him. He walked with Adam in the cool of the day. So, if you have a chance and know someone beyond the Parkway, take a day. It might serve your spirit as well as it did mine.
This week has been an exciting exercise, and I mean exercise, in recording some God-inspired songs written by a good 
friend. Now, I know that I don't know many things that a beginning Studio Producer and Sound Engineer should know. I realize that it is more than knowing your equipment (which I failed at miserably -lots of waiting by patient musicians), or knowing the process, or knowing how to place a microphone or what pickup pattern to use. It is knowing people. Knowing who should play or sing what part and when. Knowing how much to push for the perfect take without getting diminishing returns. 
Our routine may have us, and we don't even know it. Recently I had the joy (thanks to some new and great friends) to get away from the familiar environment and spend the day with the ones I love up in the mountains beyond the Blue Ridge Parkway. The first thing that caught my attention was the sweet smell of cool air, almost like autumn, except fresher. Then I noticed the wonderful absence of the sounds from cars, humming lights, lawn mowers, and even the fans that try to keep everything cool (like this computer). It was replaced by a simple breeze with a background whisper of a trickling stream. The sights were as different as the sounds. I substituted the things that man makes (like billboards, four lane highways, and even backyard goldfish ponds) for clouds washing over 4,000 feet ridge tops and the shiny leaves and bursting blooms of wild rhododendron and mountain laurel. The things I touched were different too; the feel of prickly, but soft boughs of a growing Christmas tree 2 to 10 feet tall and the doorknob of a neighbor's cabin that was freely left unlocked for friends and family to enjoy. My thoughts were more about what species of trees we were discovering on our walk, and when could we find more time to return to this place than thoughts of the high price of gasoline or running over on our allotted cellphone minutes (which, by the way, will do you little good unless you walk to the top of the next hill). Yes, the pace is slower. It makes me wonder if God wanted it that way so that we might have a volume of time to spend with Him. He walked with Adam in the cool of the day. So, if you have a chance and know someone beyond the Parkway, take a day. It might serve your spirit as well as it did mine.
