When I’m happy about something I always send Crystal a text that says, “I’m dancing a jig!” Yesterday it was because they moved our album release date up from April to February. At the risk of sounding snobby, I never say that albums “drop,” because as far as I know, nothing is actually dropped, except (I hope) some jaws when they hear it. Yuck-yuck. There are several wildly different stories of how the trendy term “drop” originated. But the album will go on pre-sale even sooner than the release date, and I’ll let you know when it does and shamelessly beg for you to pre-order it.

The last two weeks have flown by!  I met with my record company’s Wunderkind audio director to mix the recordings we made in Bulgaria. There had been several “takes” (playings) of each of the four symphony movements in Bulgaria. During those playings, if there was something that could be played better, I circled it in my score and tried to make sure it was played better the next time. We didn’t stop till that spot was correct in at least one of the takes. So, we ended up having a great-sounding performance that we could use of every moment in the symphony.

After that, we were able to focus on the overall sound, deciding which microphones’ tracks to make louder or softer. Listening live in the studio, it all sounded balanced, just like a concert, yes, but the mics might need to have their tracks adjusted a bit to sound the same way. There were around 70 microphones over the orchestra! For example, the “room” mics high up in the air give a more reverberant sound with more of those bathtub-like echoes to supply the ambience of a real concert hall, and you want some of that.

After two days of mixing, we had a fine first mix with a realistic blend. All you will hear is what the real human musicians actually played, with nothing artificially changed, only keeping the best natural takes among several that they played. I lived with that mix a few days to be sure it was right and asked a few expert friends of mine to listen to it, too (to whom I’m very grateful), and I listened on every kind of speaker and headphone that the public might use, even car speakers. Then I gave the engineer a list of several more little things to tweak in a final mix, most having to do with volume.

Next, another engineer is presently “mastering” the recording. In mastering, a small amount of “compression” may be added – The peak loudest spots and softest spots are set so that the recording doesn’t suddenly blast you out of your car or, conversely, suddenly disappear from hearing under the road noise. The amount of time between the tracks is set, and some inaudible codes are added, like the ones that display the name of the music on your playback device.

Meanwhile, the director of our Art Department who designed my last two albums has been working on the album art and its booklet of liner notes and bio’s. They will also be doing another “animated album cover,” which is really cool. These are used on social media and in advertisements. Below is what my last animated cover looked like. (Depending on your device, it might play automatically, or you might need to click on something to play it. Be sure your sound is turned on.

Finally, the music files and booklet are sent to the manufacturing plant. Then the distributor, Naxos, has to set up their accounts and supply chains to all the retail sellers like Amazon and iTunes and streaming companies like Spotify and YouTube.

Out of vanity, or just fun, or simply in celebration of all the blood, sweat, and tears having finally been finished, I ordered myself some “merch,” another trendy word – mugs with the album cover printed on them.  However, I’m afraid I only ordered ten of them to give as gifts to family and friends! Sorry! If there were some miraculous outcry for more to be made and sold, I guess I would do it, but that would be surprising. I’ll be very happy if anyone just buys the album!

So, what’s happening at the Hilltop? Aside from our usual activities, it appears that the large deer and the little fawns have been out in force. In order to drink out of our fountain, they knocked over the spout and some of the stones around it, and it has stopped working. About ten of them are daily munching down on acorns from our two big oaks in the front. Our beloved cat, who is getting on in years, is losing weight again and may need to increase his medicine, but he seems to grow more affectionate. He will go to the vet tomorrow for a checkup. Meanwhile, I have resumed the diet I was on before my trip to Bulgaria, from where I left off. It’s what we simply call, here in the South, the “unhook-the-feedbag diet.” (Hey, it works with horses.)

I don’t yet hear any new music playing on its own to torture me in my head, even though I confess I feel the first tiny sparks returning of at least a desire to compose. What that usually means is that some music is brewing somewhere way down inside of me and will gradually make its way to the surface, maybe in a few months. It is still a mystery to me quite how that works.

If you are in the Cincinnati area, I would like to invite you to hear the Cincinnati Symphony in its even more famous alter-ego as The Cincinnati Pops, play my Concertino for Celesta and Orchestra on its Holiday Pops Concerts. They will do six performances the weekend of December 13. I’ve been to many orchestra concerts where this piece was performed, so I won’t be travelling to Cincinnati for this one – mainly because the Bulgaria trip did me quite in for airplanes for a while. Till next time, I wish you a lovely fall. It’s still hot during most days here.