Techno for Luddites

It's a sweltering night in the studio. A light rain has stirred up all the humidity, and I'm soaking up the heat generated from the console and various humming computers.

Tonight we're mixing the first single off the next record. It's packed with bad attitude, a menacing vocal and a hard, punctuated groove that has been slowed down with varispeed in Adrour. I've entered some sort of stupor, listening to it over and over again, till the repetition has started numbing my brain.

When confused - I make tea. It gets me out of the room, clears my ears, and provides much-needed sustenance for the producer. I walk around in the garden, glance at the moon and breathe in some fresh air.

Usually at this point in the mixing we reach cabin fever. But it's gone the other way this time. The main thing that weighs us down now is distractions - dealing with being broke, a constant stream of visitors, and balancing this with our other bands/software projects. I prefer the luxury of uninterrupted concentration, but this is a bit of a far-fetched aim for a self-funded project.

OK, it's 2.30am and the mix is gathering momentum. These early morning hours are the best for working. Even though my brain is sluggish, the phone is quiet, the traffic has died down, and the only creatures I can hear right now are the possums and our resident owl. Bliss.

posted by deprogram @ 12:26 AM