Well, when it comes to it, that link above is what I have to show for some very hard work and some quite stressful decisions and choices I’ve had to make.
The project, which started out as a compilation album, has morphed into an exercise in finishing my own music with the help of a number of other people. I have in the end produced an album consisting of my own compositions, on what I like to think of as the A-side, and of resurrecting a collection of recordings of practice sessions and general jams with a group of musicians I have worked with for years on what I like to think of as the B-side.
The skills I have developed the most are around mixing and engineering. Much of the live recording was already done, although I have recorded guitar tracks with my son and a friend of mine, vocal tracks with my daughter and what I can barely call vocals, of my own. On the cutting room floor are other recordings that I’ve either assisted on or just felt were not right for the songs, but overall I would like to have done more tracking, as this was a fundamental part of the initial project plan.
In terms of things that have worked well, I feel that I have been able to be more creative than I thought I could be and I’m pleased with the fact that the ‘A-side’ is really all my own work, (and my son and daughter). Things that have not worked as well as I had hoped would, centre on finding the time to do the work required whilst balancing other demands, such as parenting, paid work and other family commitments. It’s been a slog at times.
I’ve been really pleased with how much I’ve improved some pretty ordinary recordings, particularly drum tracks. It’s been a very satisfying challenge and I feel quite proud of what I’ve achieved. Equally I feel that my overall mixing skills, both using real and virtual instruments has improved greatly. I feel I have begun to develop an ‘ear’, and feel like I have learned some effective ways of achieving what I want to achieve.
One technique or area that I feel I haven’t really made much improvement in is in mastering. I still feel a bit confused about what I’m doing and whether what I am doing is making any difference, but I’ve done the best I can, and hope that I’ll get better with more practice.
I haven’t really met my projects aims in that the finished product is somewhat different to what I had set out to do, but I’m satisfied that I have created an album of 8 songs. Some of my other objectives such as honing skills and developing my ear, have been achieved. I certainly feel more confident in offering my services as a sound engineer than I did at the beginning.
I think in that respect the project has supported me in my career progression. I have now got a quite varied protfolio of work that I would be happy to show potential clients. That was one of the really important objectives in terms of developing a career so I am happy to have done that.
I’d like to develop my skills independently by writing for music libararies and getting some of my compositions onto TV and film. I’m pretty sure that I don’t have my finger on the pulse enough to make music people will want to listen to, but I feel that I have created some quite cinematic pieces. I also feel able to offer myself as an engineer for other artists and I aim to start exploring this in the near future.
On a personal note I still feel like I can hear every defect in the finished product and will probably go away and remix everything over the next few weeks, (if I have the energy), but one thing I have learnt, which I think is essential, is how to stop tinkering and declare a thing ‘finished’.
Phil Wakely Audio 