The Living Rockumentary

My new notes on the new batch of songs are somewhat more complicated, Henning, but I can explain via blog some suggestions for Good Night and Candy Cane. Basically, all Good Night needs is some kind of normalization to the lead vocal. I'm not suggesting "normalization" as in the official Cakewalk/Sound Forge function but just in that the vocal is much too quiet in the first verse, gets progressively louder in the second so that when you sing a touch louder on certain lines, it drowns out my harmonies, which were sung at about the same level throughout and then your vocal is much too loud when you get forceful with the volume in the third verse. Other than that, the instrumentation is in the pocket right-on, although I won't speak for the bass because I know that's a dilemma on everything.

As for Candy Cane, I still feel my vocal harmonies are too quiet. If they're not sung that well and hence low in the mix, I can take another stab at them but right now at the current level of volume, they're just kinda slightly felt without being heard and it's too sweet a part to not bring it out into the sunshine. As with Good Night, the instrumentation is mixed well. Like Grandma's recipe.

Max sent a little feedback re the mixes via email after hearing everything, couching his comments in the plushest diplomacy. Lemme tell ya, Max, Henning can take it. He's accustomed to sifting through reams of Tony's notepads of nitpicky ephemera, full of inscrutable descriptions like "guitar sound wonky." Brian, for his part, can listen to a mix Henning just made and let the air completely out of the balloon with telltale dramatic hesitation and clipped withering gasps. And when Ken finds something to be unfavorable, it's like Tuesday Weld morphing into Agnes Moorhead, whatever that means.

Lemme add some more to your plate, Henning. There's no link to the new Chain CD page from the Rockumentary page. Also, if one clicks on the Discography page, you get this old, old page with "News" and "Schedule" links that are woefully out-of-date and "Contact" and "The Band" links that don't function at all. I'd love to see Danny find a new home somewhere, though, if possible.