8/22/2018 1 Comment CLOUDS BREAKINGAbout eight months ago, I was listening to my first project, Rain, which I released in December of 2015. It was the first time I'd listened in a while, but I knew I had come a long way as an artist since then - I've spent countless hours in the last six years learning and teaching myself how to build a song from the ground up, from arrangement to equalization to compression and everything else it takes to make a great record. I don't pay anyone to mix my own work, partially because its easier on my wallet and mostly because I don't trust anyone else to find the sound I'm looking for. I try to learn new things every single day about creating music. Every time I write a song, a design literally appears in my head. The instruments and vocals blend with and support each other perfectly in this blueprint, most times long before I even record a word. I decided a while ago that if anyone is going to fall short of the perfection I envision, its going to be me. And when I was listening to this project from three years ago, I realized just how far short I had landed in my ambitions for my first universally-available project. I admit now that compared to today, I knew nothing about what a good song sounds like. But I am also still just as resolute in knowing that Rain I, as I'm calling it now, is lyrically and thematically a work I am proud of creating. To me, it deserves every opportunity to be as polished as possible, because my goal from the jump has been to make music not as throw-away content, but as lasting art - so I built the entire project again from the ground up. When I began, I was essentially betting on the idea that I had grown significantly as an audio engineer. I wasn't entirely sure there would be a big enough difference to even follow through on the project, but as soon as I began applying my current practices to the new mixes, the difference in clarity and emphasis was amazing. When played next to each other, even people who say they don't have "the ear" for music are going to notice a major upgrade in the way these songs sound and feel. Whereas the tracks from three years ago sometimes sound cloudy and distant, every word of the new mixes cuts crisply through the stereo. I'm confident in telling you now: I've created a new, more powerful experience from all of these songs you've heard before.
Don't worry, there's also a lot of new music still on the way in 2018. Rain III is definitely coming by the end of the year, the final chapter of the trilogy I started with this original 6-song EP. My plan is to show you exactly what I mean when I say it was worth it to re-create this project by showing you side-by-side comparisons of the 2015 and the new versions before I officially re-release the EP. I'll continue to fall short of perfection, but I pray I'm always getting closer to it, and I truly think I'm headed in that direction. In the meantime, I want to show you how much it means to me to create long-lasting art that I'm proud of. And I want to bring you with me. We'll talk soon, CM
1 Comment
|
|