60 Day Warning

I gave myself a deadline to complete my mixing and master of the San-Ship album of June 30^th.  Will I make it – possibly but I think I may go until July 30^th.  Issues are primarily time – everything from my law practice to assisting a very good friend with a personal crisis.  The “good” delay is that we’ve been upgrading ESQ Music to include a new digital mixer and Argosy housing console for it.  The console was fully assembled last night but now we have to break down the old console, fit it into the new console and re-wire the connections.  A lot easier said than done.

Here are a picture of the new mixer/control surface.  It's a Tascam DM-3200:

Here's the Argosy Console/Desk to house the DM-3200:

At the mid-point of assembly

Fully assembled Argosy Console, (without arm rest) but "naked."

I plan do to a full review of both pieces but I'll say one thing about the Argosy now.  To the right of the console, there is a 13-space rack bay for outboard gear.  To the left, it is a blank "producer's desk."  For us, this was wasted space and we're willing to pay extra to make that space rack space for another 10-13 spaces.  Argosy said that they couldn't do it because there was not enough room and some of the pictures of the console online suggested that this was the case.  However, having the console in real life -- the left producer's desk area is identical in size to the rack bay.  So, a little down the road, we will get our buddy Ricky to drill some holes and fit the bay with rack rails and we'll be good to go. Always work to do... 

I’m down to tracking the last song to be used for the album, (though it will likely be the first song on the album), “God of The Gutter.”  However, I still have to go back to a few tracks to record various overdubs, but about 85% is fully recorded.  Given the flexibility of modern DAWs, I “mix” as I track.  Many others work this way such as Kevin Churko, the engineer/co-producer for Ozzy’s 2010 Scream album.

While I enjoy, composing, playing, recording and mixing, I am looking forward to the end of the process, releasing the record and moving onto my next musical projects, which will include video and a prog rock EP.