Thinking About Recording The Next Album

I've been thinking a lot about recording lately. My misbehaving left vestibular system has kept me from doing much recording, but I've still been thinking about it. Mostly, I've been pondering how to record the next School for the Dead album (working title, "Back to School").

My issue is this. I can't make up my mind how I would like it to sound.

I've been listening to a lot of albums over the last few months on headphones during my morning and afternoon walking commute. It's in that kind of environment that I can listen with real clarity and concentration. So, I've been listening to many different albums from many different eras and almost every one that I listen to, I think, "I'd like the new album to sound like this."

What I mean by that is, the type of production, the drum sounds, the mixing, the dynamics etc. So I listen to R.E.M's "Murmer" and I think, yes, this is how it should sound. But, then I listen to Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and I think, oh yeah, reverb is awesome. Then I listen to the latest Lonesome Brothers album and I remember that I had wanted to record the whole thing live. But then I listen to the new Haunt album and I think, wouldn't it be great if it was this big sounding?

I just can't make up my mind. And I think the crux of the problem is this: I can't decide if it should sound like the band sounds or if it should sound like the song sounds in my head.

Does that make sense? You know, on a lot of recordings you can really hear the band playing. You consciously think about them playing the instruments. On other recordings, the music is just this thing that exists, that floats around, and that doesn't conjure up images of musicians. I want both. I want the music to be powerful and solid and other-worldly and I also want it to feel homey and personal and human. How do you do that? And if you try, do you end up with a half-way compromise that's just weak?

I'm probably over thinking. The thing is, "The New You" (our last album) isn't as good sounding as it should be. A few songs are just right. "Campground Daughter" and "Candy Cane" come to mind. But others are really lacking something…I'm looking at you "Pick a Gripe" and "Thug". And I think part of the problem may be just what I was saying, it's sometimes a watered down compromise of band-sound and magic-sound.

The other issue that I have with "The New You" is that when it is played back-to-back with other music it generally sounds kind of thin and weak. That's something that I am going to keep in mind while we embark on this new record. I really want to concentrate on getting the right bed of rhythm tracks. The drums need more power, the bass needs more definition (this is the time when all the recording engineers point to their compressors – well, maybe you are right, maybe I need to start really using some more compression). The songs need a real definite solid groove for everything else to ride on top of. This time around, we're gonna spend a lot more time on getting the drums sounding just right from the start. Hear that, Brian? Hear that, crazy room in which we will be recording?

Anyway, the point is, even though nothing physical is happening yet with the new record, it is, in a way, making progress in my crazy head. I think it's gonna be good. I hope so.