To do -list

Back from hiatus, premix done

I have been working as an expat in China for the past three months, and it means that I have had no chance to update the blog or do too much about the album, either. Anyway, now it is time for an update.

So, while in China I listened to the premix I took with me quite a lot. I also worked on it in mastering basis, meaning that I processed only the stereo track and not the mix. I eq:d in my opinion the nasty frequencies out, and took notes what that means from the balance point of view. For an example, I took almost 6 dB away from upper mids to compensate the nasty peaks caused by the cab impulses I used for the drums and guitars. On the other hand it means that I could bring the vocals up a bit as the nasty frequencies that peaked also there were gone.

Oh, by the way, I run vocals, guitars, bass and drums through different amp and cab simulations. So, all of them go through stuff like Fender tweed clean channel simulation or so. New approach for me, but it brought me a fresh angle to the music I needed.The drums especially seemed to benefit from the treatment

What next? I will listen through the mix for a couple of times, and if I'm happy I will split the album into songs. Everything is now in one large project, and basically I'm starting to run out of processing power. I need to do song-by-song adjustments to delay times and add some special effects to songs, so it is better to do it without automation.

I will also need to record some falsetto vocals. Also, I thought I could add some Black Sabbath magic to some of the songs by using Geoff Nicholls' old synthesizers I happen to own :).

Anyway, here is a link to audio file:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/5wol79kgjh9c4yc/levyn%20testimix%208.wav?dl=0

Pre-mix of the whole album

Following Vega's suggestion a long time ago, I decided to put a premix of the whole album public for you to listen to. It is not a mix as such, but more a template or canvas where I work. I will leave for a work trip within two weeks, and I will return to this project probably in June. Some falsetto vocals are still missing, but otherwise everything should be in place.

So, this is not a mix. All songs are on one big editing board and share the same roughly adjusted effects. Therefore, in the last song the quiet vocals are almost inaudible, delays are not synced to anything, there is no reverb anywhere but a dull hall that is applied to everything, and so on.

Yes, I dropped one song completely off. Therefore there is no drum solo anymore in the album :(. On the other half, the album is now much smoother to listen to, and lasts suitably a tad over 40 minutes.

EDIT: To save space, I needed to delete the file from DropBox, but I put a new link in the next post.

Main vocals done!

I have recorded 95% of the normal lead and backing vocals and 0% of the falsetto vocals for the album! I went to a doctor who changed the medication for the reflux disease, and my throat problems started slowly disappear. Voice is not yet perfect, but I have to remember that it has not been perfect in the past, either. I'm pretty happy with the results. Finnish sounds surprisingly good to my ear, and I was able to pull some stunts again with my high head voice.

Next, I'll let my voice recover for a week or so, and start doing the falsetto parts for the album. I think it won't be too hard, as I am very experienced in singing with falsetto and know my limits there well, and I'm not trying to do something that King Diamond himself would not dare to try. I think falsetto won't be in a big role in this album, just some spicing here and there.

I feel very relieved.

I have to leave the mixing of the album for next summer as we are planning to travel in March-May and I do not have proper equipment to mix with. But everything should be ready by then and I can start mixing with fresh ears and ready material.

No go with the vocals

I have been trying to sing the songs for three nights in the studio. The flu is gone but the voice is still fucked. I'm nasal, distorted, hoarse and dull all at the same time. It is like combining bad sides of Axl Rose with Mille Petrozza's. I can do the highs now, but I sound sick. Not sick like "Oh wow, that was sick!" but like "Oh man, you sound like shit, get some rest man!".

I think that this goes back to the reflux disease that has lately been worse than for ages. The answer most probably is that I have developed a chronic laryngitis that needs to be cured before I can proceed. The acid raises to my throat and burns the vocal cords and the surrounding muscles until they get inflamed. Great! This might also have been the reason behind the "flus" during the fall. It is difficult to know whether the symptoms are caused by a flu or the reflux disease as when being mild I do not sense the acid fluids in my throat in any way. Now the situation is so bad that I can taste the acid in my mouth while typing this.

No album or vocals this year. 

Lyrics done

I think that I have finished the lyrics! Now I just have to recover from the flu and I can start recording the vocals. I hope that I can make it by the end of this year.

Flu, again

I regained my head voice two weeks back! Yeah! Now I got a flu and it is gone again. However, I'm hopeful that I could start the actual recordings during this year.

I have finished some lyrics. Three songs to go.