Sometimes it Pays to Ask for Help...

Sitting here having a smoke (I know, I need to lay off those things) and contemplating how fast things can turn around...and then turn around again...and again (getting dizzy yet?).

STRESS:
The second reference CD mentioned in the last post showed up, and I was not pleased. The opening song, which I'd remixed in hopes of a better-sounding master, was now completely unusable. The more I listened to the ref CDs, the more I realized that the overall sound on everything was just not what I wanted. Everything was just too "hyped" sounding; my ears were feeling tired after listening to one or two songs. So, just to try and get an "echo" from someone else and confirm that things were indeed as dire as I thought, I posted "before" and "after" samples of a couple of songs on my webspace and posted a link to them in a forum for professional engineers and musicians. It was embarrassing to admit that I was lost and needed a hand, but it's better to swallow your pride and get straightened out than to keep stumbling around getting nowhere.

RELIEF:
The first poster seemed to like the mastering job. I began to think maybe I was being overly critical and that it didn't really sound so bad (I know, that sounds really flighty and erratic on my part, but that's how stressed out I was getting...I couldn't even tell what I was listening to anymore).

STRESS:
I checked back a while later and subsequent replies to my post were pointing out the same flaws that had been bugging me...the harsh, grating upper mid frequencies and cloudy bottom end. It wasn't just me - things were indeed not right.

RELIEF:
To my amazement, one of the respondents to my thread took it upon himself to do a quick impromptu remastering of one of my songs from one of the "before" files I'd posted and emailed it to me. It sounded great...natural, not overhyped, and more true to the sound I'd been going for when I was mixing. I emailed him back and asked if he did mastering work as a regular thing. I spoke to him on the phone today, we came to an agreement, and he'll be tackling the remastering of my album as soon as his schedule permits, hopefully within a couple of weeks (he's currently working on mixing the audio for a concert DVD). I feel reasonably confident that he'll do a good job for me, and I actually feel relaxed now for the first time in weeks.

Needless to say, the new CD will now probably not be out until early March, but it's worth it to wait a little longer and have an album I can be happy with.

So, on that note, I think I'll go have a cup of hot chocolate, plunk Dangerous Liaisons into the DVD player, and let the last of my tension flow out of me. Tune in next time when we'll be talking about the safest positions for avoiding back injury when having sex in the modern SUV.

Yes, I'm kidding. ;-)}