Delicious Morsel #8 – Beautiful Imperfections

When mixing the music we talked about the beautiful gems, the unexpected, quirky sounds that made it in the recording, and how we love them. We love them because they stand out as something different from the norm, and because they remind us to be authentic and real.

Delicious Morsel #8
Beautiful Imperfections
February 8, 2017

I have been listening to many versions of the songs, different mixes and styles of mastering.  The good news is that I still enjoy listening… over and over again.  =]  And even though we thoroughly cleaned up the recordings, we left a few surprises that tickle us.  I call these the beautiful imperfections, even though they are just perfect where they occur and in what they elicit.

At the beginning of one tune, just before singing, there was a sound that we still can’t figure out.  Maybe it was a chair or a floor squeak.  At any rate, it sounds like someone passed the slightest bit of gas, and each time we hear it we roll with laughter.  We couldn’t bear to remove it because it warms our hearts so much.  Ha, ha…

There are places where you can hear a comical counting off, or a quick, “OK” before the music starts. Also, there are times when musicians finished their amazing track and then released some pressure by nervously piddling for a few seconds on their instrument.  We purposely inserted horn squeaks and violin knocks to add fun and interesting elements into the mix.  When you get your CD you can find these hidden delights if you listen carefully for them.

When we were doing the final sweep before mastering we talked about these beautiful gems and how much we love them.  We love them because they stand out as something different from the norm.  We love them because they remind us to be authentic and real.  We love them because, try as we might to be perfect, life can be messy and it’s okay.  Sometimes it’s in the messes that I end up learning the most.  And if life is all about love, I can learn to love myself no matter what… when life is clean, as well as when it’s messy.

Well, today or tomorrow I will most likely receive the final mastered audio files of the music for the Set Me Free CD.  Woohoo!!  I’m elated!

Steve Turnidge at UltraViolet Studios is doing the mastering, and what an amazing job he’s done!  To be honest, I really wasn’t sure what mastering involved, and I’m not sure if I know even still, but the songs sparkle and shine more than ever before because of his good work!  I can definitely hear the difference.  “Thank you, Steve!”

We are also pretty much done with the CD artwork.  It’s subtly stunning!  Julie Webb did an incredible job laying it out.  It’s clean and simple, yet it says so much!  “Thank you, Julie!”

For the cover image, I ended up using a sunset photo that Sheila took one evening at the Edmonds waterfront dog park.  (Lucky dogs! 🙂  I had played at a worship service that day, so I had my guitar in hand.  The landscape is gorgeous and the photo well composed!  To me it represents the Light bursting through the shadow of my life and setting me free one experience at a time. “Thank you, Sheila!”

So, the next step in this process is the CD printing and duplication.  That’s when the artwork and audio are combined into the actual CD.  I’m excited to have them hot off the press and I can’t wait to mail them to you!

Thank you so much for sharing this journey with me.  I am so appreciative!

Janie

Photo by Janie Worm near Mt. Rainier.

*The Delicious Morsel series were posts shared with those who supported the Set Me Free CD project by pre-ordering music, requesting custom songs and making donations towards my fundraising campaign on Indigogo. I am so appreciative of this group of stellar beings.

Insider Notes

Here are some sounds to listen for on the Set Me Free CD: floor squeaks, violin knocks, reed instrument squeaks, counting off “1-2-3”  and an “OK” in response. There may be more. =] Let me know if you discover which tracks these are on.