Mwah,Gets to mix the Songs…
Hi to All You n-Trackers:
I’ve had this link for more that a week now… I hesitated to post it, but I re-considered and here it is…
Some of you may remember that a thread, on one of the “Old” builds of this Board, asking for anyone interested in supplying mixes for a “Work-in-Progress” Project… I stand corrected, but this goes back to the winter of 2001-2002… Or was it 2002-2003 ?..
I seem to remember that there were ten of us who replied to the request…
Anyway, here is the link… to the credits… Well… it’s not a link to the page, but it’s what was contained in the page…
Mabey, Doug, or one of you will have a way to find the link and post it… on this thread…
The Recording
McivercorK was initially created as a song writing and recording project. We had recorded some earlier demo’s, but for a recording project, we actually had very little idea about recording. However, after a skim through Audio Technology magazine, and a whip around the internet, we were ready to record our first album.
We would hire Rachel’s Retreat, a peaceful retreat at Faulconbridge in the Blue Mountains. It would have been great had it in fact been a studio, but that was not an option, so a house would do. Late one Sunday night we lugged a great deal of gear, borrowed and accumulated into this house. Thanks must at this point be given to Chris Pile, who managed to unlock the front door, at a point where I really wanted it to be unlocked.
The hardware itself was a fairly simple rig. My PC, running an INCA 88 soundcard (Thanks to the generous Dave Andison), a Behringer Eurorack 1604A mixer running in tandem with a Yamaha 16 channel mixer. These powered a varied accumulation of microphones, the centre piece being a Rode NT-2, which recorded most everything that be recorded with a microphone. Software was provided by Flavio Antonio, his N-Track recording studio software was used throughout. Our gratitude goes to Flavio for providing a product of such value at such a reasonable price.
Our first major hurdle was that of recording drums. Never before had I recorded drums with any success whatsoever, I had tried 3 times, and each time been highly unhappy with the results. This time I set up a lot of mics and ran leads to a far away location, and really hoped it would work. It did. It was a great relief. Relief did not continue however to be a word associated with recording the drums. There were several occasions when both band members strongly considered tears as days slipped by, and drum tracks slipped away. We went through 3 drummers in 5 days. All three contributed to the final album. Our thanks go to (in order of recording days) Luke Glanville, Craig Collier and Jonathon Andison.
All of the drum tracks were recorded in tandem with the piano tracks. Due to a reasonably devastating mistake on my part, many of the piano tracks were re-recorded at a later date. Vocal’s were added, many at ridiculous hours of the morning. Also contained by the need to finish writing the last verse of several songs.
Guest musicians also feature heavily in the recording process, often appearing with hours of notice. Three guitarist attended, Damien Odell, Aaron McCaffery and Simeon Tow. Each added another layer to the songs, some songs feature multiple guitarists. Though we are a piano band, guitar came to have a great place on Emotional Songs, solely due to the talent of these three. Kate Coulart was also brought in to add her Cello to the fray. After a nervous start Kate loosened up to provide Cello on many more tracks than even we had hoped for. On such a roll was our Kate, that before anyone knew what had happened, she had layed down the backing vocals for ‘I Just Play’.
Dustin Odell joined her with an equally inspiring back vocal part on the same track. Dustin must also be commended for his lifting and transporting responsibilities, particularly regarding Daves soundcard, which was delivered mere days after entering his Cortina. Mat Bounds and Tim Purdy also assisted a great deal during the week and should be duly commended by all who they meet.
I am not sure in this account of the weeks recording whether the full emotional turmoil can be understood. On many occasions it seemed that the all hope was lost. When the original drum tracks had beats missing, when Cork developed a severe lack of sleep due to not sleeping, when I went to a Jackson Browne concert, when there appeared to be no more drummers in the mountains, whenever a mealtime came about, when Lauchy fell asleep on the floor and personified our band, when we hated everything, when the world was not enough, these are the times that have made McivercorK what it is today. These are the building blocks of something much bigger. Emotional Songs is the fruit of a week that will never be forgotten, despite all efforts.
The Mixing
After a week of intense recording, mixing was the next stage. Turning these raw recordings into songs. After a bit of research, it became quite clear to me, that my skills in this area were grossly inadequate. Outsourcing would be required. Professional mixers were consulted, it became obvious in very quick time, that the sort of money required to have the album professionally mixed was not the sort of money we had at our disposal. There would need to be another way.
In the process of investigating mixing I had come across several Internet personalities, who had given me invaluable advice. It would soon be more than their advice that I was seeking. Before long, these great men, had volunteered to be part of a pioneering intercontinental mixing project. The album would be mixed across 4 continents, 10 men would set out on this voyage, not all would make the distance.
The raw materials were dispatched, 6 CD-Rs sent to each of the 10 mixers, Nova Scotia, Michigan, Texas, California, Washington, Helsinki, Melbourne, Lago Norte and Surrey. McivercorK was spreading its emotion all over the globe.
Upon receiving the raw tracks, everyone set to work, upon completion of a mix, the mixer would upload an MP3 to a secret Internet location for review by the band. With time being limited, not all had the time or resources to get mixes for every song in prior to the deadline. Two mixers however stood out, both submitting all 12 tunes, and managing to impress with there contrasting but pleasing mixes. One other mixer makes an appearance on the Album after some controversy with the selection of the final mix to be used for HAM.
William Philips, mixing in his Melbourne home studio took a very acoustic approach to the task, his mixes capturing the style and vibe of the live McivercorK experience. Willy’s contribution to the album has been tremendous; several of his mixes appear in the final cut.
J. Pekka Mäkelä (alias Mwah) mixing in his home in Helsinki, Finland took a starkly different approach. Mwah took what we had created and mixed it to a place we had not imagined. He too contributed to this album more than we could have hoped. Mwah submitted 42 distinct mixes for consideration, and was a pleasure to work with as the process dragged on. Mwah managed to contribute 8 of the final 12 mixes.
Doug Hammond, mixing in Surrey, England, submitted only one track, Ham. After hearing this mix McivercorK was divided in its reviews. In the end band love prevailed and Dougham was accepted for the album.
There were other mixers who contributed to the album though don’t appear on the final CD. William Oxner (Nova Scotia) submitted several mixes and worked hard on several songs. His efforts have been greatly appreciated by the band. Rodrigo Siqueira Alves and Andrew Hernandez also deserve mention after also contributing.
McivercorK owes a great debt to these men who dedicated their time and emotion to this project. The Album would not be what it is today without there hard work.
I was mailed the link to the page by Ronnie, who lives downtown, where I call home.
I’m not sure what Editors/Software, were used in the final mixes, of the project. Mabey, a reply to this thread from Doug, if he feels so inclined to, would be fastenating/interesting…
I would be Interested in receiving a copy of the finnished project… just as a " Keep-Sake "… Whatta-think?
Mabey, for the rest of us who responded to the challenge… “Better Luck Next Time”…
Anyway, Good for you … Doug…
Bill…
I haven’t heard from Tim for ages, but I really enjoyed mixing those songs.
Quote (Willy @ Mar. 01 2005,12:44) |
I haven't heard from Tim for ages, but I really enjoyed mixing those songs. |
Me, too. Great learning experience for me. And the songs were so good you really wanted to shine your best light on them.
About an year later Andy contacted me and asked if I wanted to mix an album for their friends' band. The project started, but then they needed to get the album done faster than they originally thought (big showcase coming) and I couldn't deliver that fast. I'm not a fast at this, and there werelots of things to do at the time. And their rough mixes were pretty good, so they just decided to refine them a bit. So everything went amicably.
I guess the McivercorK will sell the album through their web site. I'm not impartial, but I still recommend everybody to buy it. Great songs, great band!