First, the writing of the songs and the song selection. In this case, some are new. Some songs are older, but likely with new tunes (since I tend to forget the tunes I originally wrote for them).
Next, I go into the studio. Phil Heaven and Soundings of the Planet studio have been my “nest” for recording for many years now. It’s just me and my guitar. Scratch tracks are what I create for other musicians to play to. Nothing of the scratch tracks will be on the final recording. I’ve now completed eight, and I’ll likely do four or five more.
Now here’s where it gets really fun for me. I hire musicians, one by one, to play to the scratch tracks. I’ll begin with either a bass or guitar. Likely keyboards on some. Then it gets really interesting as I might add banjo, mandolin, drums….whatever seems to fit the song.
At this point, it’s time for vocals. I’ll redo the ones I’ve already recorded, and bring in musicians for harmonies. I might bring in some to do the lead vocal, if the song wants that. I love this part.
But we’re far from done! Phil, as engineer, will be doing the mixing….a process that takes as long or longer than the recording up to this point.
Somewhere along the line, I will find the graphic image for the cover, and will begin promoting the project via my mailing list and social media sites. I love to involve and hire artists at this point, who can bring to life the images I have in my head for the theme. I’ll also use a separate graphic artist to get it ready for the production of a small run of physical CDs.
I’ll be preparing notes for the recording, and registering it for distribution. It gets boring at this point, but necessary. I send it to the manufacturer, and wait for the new “baby” to arrive. Then I’ll send it out for reviews, maybe run ads, and do my best to get it out into the world.
Then we celebrate! Hopefully, there will be a CD Release event.
