i can't think of a title for this entry

Doo Da Lang came over for a second night of mixing the new tracks for the album last night. He's leaving for France this weekend and so I'll have 10 days to really mess around with stuff while he's gone. My hope is that when he returns, we get the big work done and can set a date for mastering this thing. It's time to be done with it.

I mentioned this before....the reason I'm afraid of finishing it is that then the real work begins: getting people to listen to it--hoping people will listen several times and hear all the hard won subtleties that we've carefully mixed in. That listeners will love the lyrics and understand them in the way I intended, but also in the way that they want. That the sequence of the songs and the flow of the album will affect the listener. That they will find themselves singing along, without even knowing it. In short, that they will feel the way I do when I hear a song I love: swept away.

As I sat there listening (and I'm just there for moral support at this point) to him listen to sections and whole songs over and over and over again, I started to remember what a task mixing is. The next time you listen to your favorite music, think about a producer and mixing engineer who sat there for hours and hours on end listening to one drum track or the backing vocals, changing things slightly and listening again and again. The point of this entry is to tell you that I realize what a mammoth task this album is.....the songs are pretty much "done." And that took me a long time to do. Now the real work begins.

I've re-read this entry and realized that it sounds like I'm complaining. I don't mean to. It's hard work, but I'm happy to have this work and feel completely and overwhelmingly lucky that my life has led me here. And also that I have the companionship and support of such wonderful people to keep it going. I am lucky lucky lucky. I read this quote yesterday:

"An artist cannot fail. It is a success to be one."
(Charles Horton Cooley)

Although it doesn't always feel successful, I do understand this statement. If you're reading this, I thank you for being a part of that success.