Same as yesterday. And by the end of the day we were done with all the songs except Oh Genevieve, which we were half way through. Also had intense detailed discussion concerning the exact sound that we are going for. I played Mick records which sound close to what I envision (nothing is exactly it) – Karen Dalton, Rod Stewart (c1972), Gillian Welch, Lucinda W, etc. We ended up thinking we want to be somewhere in between recent Ryan Adams (to clean for me) and Exile on Main St (maybe a bit too chaotic). These references are for sonic character (brightness, warmth, dryness, roominess, etc) only, not music.
I also figured out the mastering for the record by email and telephone. I will work with Emily Lazar at the Lodge in NYC. Emily was a rising star when she worked on The Negatives, eyc and Plastic Wood. She is now big league. The budget takes another hit, but I need someone I trust for this crucial final stage. We WILL master for vinyl, also. I still haven’t figured out what we will do, but Gunther from Tapete really wants me to do it, so we will, one way or another…
I also found myself wanting something different to my standard vocal sound which Mick figured out in 1995 (it’s a budget Lexicon unit preset called Gold Plate). This reverb, on me, sounds like there isn’t any reverb, so the voice seems dry, even though it isn’t, which has been ideal for most of my work the last 15 years.
On The Flipside we need something more, I think so we combined the Gold Plate with a fairly long (400ms) delay and it works very well. Occasionally the delay is too apparent and we will automate the return to duck it at such times.
Progress.
Took bus to Marble Arch then tried to find somewhere I might want to eat. Walked about a mile up the road, finding nothing – I’d had Falafel for lunch so I wasn’t in the mood for Lebanese. Eventually gave up and took another bus for the last mile or so. At the hotel the Arsenal vs Spurs match was on so I ate the awful bar food (possibly the worst Caesar Salad ever) but it was worth it. No wonder the Premier League is so popular. Great match.