September 30, 2016

8.00 am: A rainbow graced the sky. A promissory. Now that the cogs of teaching admin were moving, I’ve an opportunity to slip back into research mode. The prima ‘must’ of the day was a return to the CD’s cover artwork. I’ve decided to combine the English and Welsh translation of the CDs title on the font image, rather than as two independent covers, on the front and back respectively. Since the concept of the album is translation, then why not make that demonstrable through the bilingual title of the project? Some realisations are so painfully obvious when they finally arrive. But, more often than not, they land at just at the right time.

The other ‘musts’ of the day were: 1. checking the stereo balance of the Bonus Material tracks on the new monitor set up in my study; 2. reviewing the record company’s first ‘proofs’ of the CD tracks on the domestic HIFI; and 3. determining whether a PDF version of the project booklet can be incorporated on one of the CDs, in such as way as to be readable by a computer.

Midday: a final tweak and trussing of Pedalboard IV:

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Thereafter and until lunchtime, I reworked the design of the CD’s ancillary web-based sites, in order to incorporate the logo of the National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales:

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Lunchtime. I disposed curricula, updated Blackboard and Facebook presences for my modules, and sent out emails in anticipation of new beginnings next week.

2.15 pm: A review of the CD proofs. Ah! The rainbow returns:

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Hearing one’s work post production, and cast into the mould of a CD, is a troubling experience — rather like seeing one’s artwork hung on a gallery wall for the first time. The ‘image’ sounds, well … different. For the most part, the difference is in the tonality of the whole and of the high-end frequencies, especially. CD transcription tends to make the sound far more brittle and bright. Listening, in this respect, is like viewing an over-sharpened digital photograph. (I’m not a fan of CD recording technology. It sacrifices too much detail and sonority.) Proofing is a process, however. Usually, the tracks are batted to and fro between artist and producer several times before a satisfactory outcome is achieved.

3.30 pm: I returned to the masters of those tracks that required a little taming. What I need to do in the future is review a version of the final mixdown at CD quality (44.1kHz/16 bit) before finalisation. (I’m used to hearing the tracks at twice CD resolution. That’s superbly good, sonically. Perceptibly superior.) You live and learn. And I aim to do both, always. Understanding and improvement are a heady cocktail.

In the late afternoon and evening I proceeded through the eleven scenes that comprise ‘Image and Inscription’, endeavouring to contain the tonal excesses of several tracks:

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The activity was maintained until I had no further misgivings. 9.30 pm: Complete. Disc 2 awaits me tomorrow. Then, on to Practise Session 2 and a road test of Pedalboard IV.

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