MorningStarlett and a chart full of X's

I know I'm not the only guy to do this, but when you make an album (cd, record...whatever) it's helpful to have a checklist.  First on the left column, you list all the songs on your album.  Then on top you list each element of the songs.  So for us it's Drums, Rhythm Guitar, Bass, Richie Lead Guitar, Walter Lead Guitar, Synth/FX, Ann Marie Vocals, Background Vocals, and Mix. Then you draw boxes, and you put an X in the box when you finished that particular part.  Well, I've got a chart full of X's.  Except for the Mix column that is. Right now, in terms of tracking, this album is done.  Now I've made rough mixes of everything so we can obsess over minuscule details that no one will hear except us. This is part of our process. Once everyone gives me the OK, I'll start mixing.  Luckily, we recorded a lot of the instruments in the same session.  That means that we did all of the drums for the album in one day on the same drum set.  So now, when we mix, we only have to get a good drum sound once, and then we can make a template and apply that to all the songs.  This saves a massive amount of time.  It doesn't mean every song will have the same drum sound.  It means that we will have a much better starting point as we approach each mix.

I've been gearing up for this by watching a bunch of Pensado's Place episodes.  It's a free podcast on iTunes about mixing.  I highly recommend it if you're an engineer.  Some of the stuff I've learned from there has made my mixes instantly better.

Also, while I'm on the subject of podcasts.  Last week I did a podcast called the Glory Hole.  It's usually a pretty raunchy show in the same genre as Howard Stern or Opie and Anthony.  They decided to do a musical episode and called me to do it.  It was a lot of fun, and you should check it out.  It's Free!

http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-089-blue-oyster-cults/id378753355?i=115669025

If you listen to this show, there is a sneak preview of the MorningStarlett song, "No One Needs To Know" at the end.  It's a quick mix that I did, but I think it sounds really good.

-Richie