Collaborative Effort
Feb 28, 2010 by Jeremiah
I've been making quite a bit of progress on many aspects of the project in the last several weeks. The mixing is coming along really well. We've worked on seven tunes so far, and are at, or nearly, the halfway mark in the mixing process. In the photography department, my good friend Matt Feyerabend has finished shooting the photos we will need for the album design. We've had a total of at least five shoots, and it is nice to finally have things nailed down.
Now that I've outlined where we stand on mixing and photography, I'd like to touch more deeply on the subject of album art. This is an area over which I've had much anxiety. Despite the digital bliss that can characterize much of today's music distribution, I find myself mainly purchasing physical copies of music. To me there is nothing like opening up a new CD (or vinyl when available), firing up my speakers, and enjoying the album art while I follow along with the music. Dave Matthews Band's latest effort, Big Whiskey, is a great example of this. I purchased a special edition vinyl version of this album and spent hours looking through and enjoying all the nuances of the artwork. Much like their music, the artwork provided something new to discover on each viewing.
The album artwork/design is the first taste a listener will get of an album and can make or break the beginning of the experience. My last album left much to be desired in this area, not to mention sonically. Three and a half years have been put into The Sun Still Rises so far, and it is critical that the album cover shows this. While still unreleased, it has quite a history. The album art must convey the amount of thought and work that has gone into every moment of this record.
With these things in mind, I wanted to find someone who has had experience in this field and shares a common love for great album artwork and design. I've been working closely with Short Handed Studio (John Holcomb) on the design of the album art, logo, and new website. The album art is being created entirely by hand. The only role that computer based image processing will play is with the text. I am blown away with how great the art is looking and can already envision myself opening up a copy of the album and browsing through while I listen. John spends a considerable amount of time thinking through his work and making himself familiar with what has already been created. It has been amazing to work with someone this knowledgeable, skilled, and who loves what he does to such an extent.
As I began to work on the list of credits to give to John, it struck me just how many people have been deeply involved in this project. Counting only those involved directly on the music side (audio engineers and studio musicians), the total comes to around seventeen or eighteen people! The final total will be well over twenty once we have hired the final musicians, include mastering, and the designers and photographers are added into that figure.
Let's go back to something I mentioned earlier in this post: my previous album. A total of four to five people were involved in that effort with me as the only musician. I remember taking pride in the fact that I did all of the recording, mixing, editing, mastering, songwriting, album design, singing, and playing. While it was fun to get to do so much, I realized that to make a great album, I couldn't just do it all myself. Besides the pride factor, I have historically found it very hard to trust pieces of my projects to other individuals.
We could have released what was finished in the first three months of recording, but it would have been much too similar to the last album by lacking an improvement in quality. At this point (May 2007), a total of three musicians had been involved and there was not very much diversity in the sound. I remember feeling worried when Lendell suggested the idea of putting some pieces into the hands of more competent people. While this kind of trust is still something I struggle with, I think tremendous growth has taken place. Looking back, it is easy to see how this album would not be nearly what it is without the many contributions of these incredibly talented individuals. This lesson is one I will continue to learn, and must learn if I plan on taking this where I want to some day.
I envision getting to work with a full orchestra and band live. To do this, the production team alone will be pretty large, not even taking into consideration the number of musicians! I feel that the experience of making this record has prepared me for what is to come. I must thank so many of you for being patient with me as I slowly learned these lessons. Thank you for your continued patience, I feel it is truly paying off!
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