Well, dear readers, I spent a rather astonishing evening last night finessing the Follies mixes. There actually wasn’t that much to finesse. For example, in the first track all we had to do was bring up two brass figures ever so slightly and that was done. And so it went. Some songs we didn’t have to do anything – on a couple we realized the vocal was too loud (not for the entire track, but at the top) so we lowered that when we needed to. Otherwise, it was just occasionally lowering or raising something in the orchestration, bringing the vocals down or up (basically smoothing them out), and getting rid of some odd orchestra noises. I hadn’t heard the final two mixes, but they were basically fine with just some tweaks. We spent the most time on Who’s That Woman getting the vocal blends just right. From the time when all the women start singing everything was just too loud – it took a little time to find the right blend between the lead singer and the rest of the gals, but I think we got it just right. The most astonishing thing was the clarity and detail. Jonathan Tunick’s orchestrations are just brilliant and you’ll hear details you’ve never heard before. Interestingly, in the original orchestration there’s a wonderful piano part occasionally. For the recent revival, all of those parts became celeste played on an electric keyboard, and I think it’s better with piano. We would occasionally compare our new mix with the original, and doing so was so illuminating. Vocals are frequently too far back in the original, and the orchestra is occasionally muddy and unfocused. My biggest problem with the original mix was when a certain orchestra part would suddenly blare forth out of nowhere and drown out everything else. Remember, not only was the original mix done in a day, there was no automation back then – they had to ride the faders on the board by hand. It was funny – my engineer, who is not a musical theater fan really, was bowled over by the score. And he really thinks that the new mixes are real improvements in every case, and I think he’s right in a major way. I’ve had some people wonder if they’ll actually hear the difference – I hope so because it’s quite blatant. But then again, I have those kinds of ears and have been doing this for twenty years now.
The only bad news was what I feared – One More Kiss, which was recorded but not used on the LP did not exist on the eight-track masters. I think it’s probably been lost forever. My guess is that when they included it on the CD it was from a rough mix done back in the day – because it’s actually the worst of any of their mixes. However, we loaded it into Pro-Tools and at least got it to sort of match up, and I think the mastering guy will be able to get it even closer – and it’s a short track. Anyway, it was a thrilling evening. When I got home, I had the engineer send me all the finessed tracks (only the ones we’d finessed) and they all sounded great so we’re done with this phase and off it goes to mastering tomorrow, which means we will announce on Thursday, most likely. What an adventure this has been.
Prior to that, I’d gotten up at nine after about seven hours of sleep. I finished the set of liner notes I’d begun, then got some additional notes from the composer, which were fun. I then approved some packaging, got the new notes to the designer, then went and had a bacon cheeseburger and no fries or onion rings. Then I picked up some packages, after which I came home. I then had to do a lot of organizing for all these upcoming projects – it’s getting very confusing. I have to assign all of them release dates and make sure all the components are coming along. Then I sat on my couch like so much fish.
Yesterday, I watched the first half of a documentary about the Nordic crime phenomenon, called Lone Wolves and Dragon Tattoos. Other than being not that well done, the information and interviews are very interesting, thanks to the involvement of Krister Henriksson (the best Wallander), Henning Mankell (the Wallander author), Hakan Nesser (the Van Veeteren author), and other actors and authors. Looking forward to finishing it tonight.
Then I headed over to the engineer’s home environment and the rest you know. Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because it’s very late now and I must get some beauty sleep.
Today, I shall be prepping the Follies announcement, making sure the mastering guy gets those mixes, and letting him know which six tracks to do first so I have those audio samples. So, we’re all set for that this week, and a double soundtrack announcement on Monday – two scores on one CD, and Wallander. Should be a nice week, at least that’s the hope. I will eat something amusing, hopefully pick up some packages, and then begin yet another set of liner notes, as well as getting the packaging in for Follies and Monday’s releases. Oh, I forgot to mention that I heard from Michael Kerker of ASCAP, who’s putting on this Sondheim event Friday. He said he got an e-mail from Mr. S saying that I should be brought backstage before the show for a short visit, as Mr. Sondheim is planning to leave directly after the show. That I shall do.
Tomorrow and the rest of the week – meetings, meals, hopefully packages, liner notes, the Sondheim thing, and lots o’ other stuff.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, prep an announcement (actually, I’ll prep all three), make sure the mixes are to the mastering guy, get my audio samples, eat, hopefully pick up some packages, write more liner notes, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What is your most favorite cast album, the one you’ve listened to more than any other. What do you think the best-sounding cast album is and why (it doesn’t have to be a favorite – just that it sounds great to you). And what is your least favorite cast recording (don’t be afraid if it’s one of mine) and the worst-sounding cast album you’ve ever heard. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, thrilled to be finished with the brand new remix of Follies.