"The Elephant Diet" Day # 146 Proofs!

Here's a sweet e-mail I received today from a fan.

"Greetings Frances, just read your blog 145 and wow Satan sure has his attack force out. May you know we are praying for you during this time of another new experience. May you heal quickly, allow the Lord to minister to you in these days of why and frustration. Love the cover for the CD. I'll be sending you a check to order one. May you sense His love today in a special way. Remember His hand formed you and made you the person you are today - comparing you to no one else. You lack nothing that His grace can't give you in spite of the attacks you face. I believe He has so many good things He has prepared for you in this coming year. You are a blessing and loved! Warmly, Sue"

Thank you readers for your amazing support through e-mails, comments and for the prayers.

Today was the first morning I woke up without a sore throat and I could talk easily and even did a little bit of singing this morning to test the waters.  Still hurts to eat, but I can tell that I am on the mend.

Also received the artwork from the manufacturers to approve.  My producer gets a hard copy and goes over it with a fine tooth comb.  Once he gives the approval, we can move ahead when the music arrives.

You've seen the front cover - I'll give you a sneak peek of other parts of the CD.  These are only screen shots of the real thing, so they aren't as clear, but you get the idea.

"The Elephant Diet" Day # 145 The Blossoms After The Limbs

"If you're going to climb, you've got to grab the branches, not the blossoms". 

Blossoms outside the WORD Music building in Nashville, TN

I've been climbing for over a year.  Eating elephants one bite at a time.  

I've really enjoyed some blossoms along the way - they've kept me going when the climb got hard.  But this past week proved to be one of the most challenging by far.  It's as if someone walked up to me and threatened to chop the whole tree down - blossoms and all.

I'm listening to the 4th reference CD for the project.  After some odd noises appeared on one of the tracks, we had to re-do it.  Then my producer wanted one of the songs re-mixed so I jumped in and requested that something be adjusted in another track while we were at it.

The new CD came and new noises appeared on TWO tracks.

The mastering guru said he had not encountered anything like this in a very long time.  To spare the details, I'll just summarize by saying that I began wondering if I would ever see a finished project in time for Christmas.  I had pictured an easy finish to this journey.  The blossoms after the limbs so to speak.  I called a friend and asked her to pray with me that this would get resolved.

I haven't been able to blog about it because I couldn't get into the blog for some reason that I still don't understand and it took me all week to get it remedied.

Today, I went to the hospital for a procedure to try and discover why I have trouble swallowing food. This has gone on for years and I finally decided to have it looked into.  They looked into it alright. Apparently my esophagus is so small that they couldn't put a regular scope down.  They had to go with the size they use on babies.  That's comforting....NOT.  In the process they tore my esophagus.  

I had pictured the blossoms after the limbs.......Tom and I going out for breakfast (since I had to go without food since early the night before).  But, the last thing I wanted to do when I came out from the procedure was eat.  In fact, I can only have liquids for 2 days and light food for a week - like yogurt, pudding, jello - that kind of stuff.  Even the liquids are painful at this point.  No singing for a while.

Down the road I'll have to go on to a specialist to have my esophagus stretched.  Apparently my esophagus has an unwanted lid on it that stretches halfway across the opening that shouldn't be there, along with having shrunk for some reason.

So I sit here with my cup of chicken bouillon listening to the final ref CD (for the second time tonight) which now seems to be ok. They identified the problem.  The artwork is already at the manufacturers and they are waiting on the music.

I'm really ready to sit at the top of the tree, with no elephants at the bottom trying to get me and enjoy the blossoms.....with a steak dinner.

"The Elephant Diet" Day # 144 "Portraits of White" has a cover!

Here it is:  The new project has a cover.

"The Elephant Diet" Day # 143 One More Time

Tonight I sat and listened to the new Reference CD.  We needed to make some changes in the last Master CD.  I wasn't satisfied with the spacing between the songs on the CD.

It's a matter of 'feel'.  The person mastering the project chose certain amounts of timing between each song.  It's certainly subjective.  I decided to ask for a little bit more space between a few of them.  I like the dust to settle from the last song before we move on to the next.  It's something people probably never think about, but I do.  It's my project, why not ask for what I'd like, right?  

So they made the changes and sent me a new CD to approve.  In the meantime, my producer asked for one of the songs to be remixed.  Didn't feel the piano stood out enough.  And I requested a change in one of the songs.  A section (about 2 seconds long) that was starting to bother me.  My producer told me that no one is going to hear what I hear, but again, I decided that since I have paid for this project with blood, sweat, tears and money, I want it to be just the way I'd like it.  He graciously allowed me to state my preference.

So, we will wait a little bit longer until the 2 songs are remixed and a new ref CD will appear.  And I'll listen, one more time.

Good news: the front cover has been designed and agreed on.  When I get the green light, I'll let you see it.

# 25 Who needs money?

Listen in on an interview with a very special friend of Frances Drost.  Leslie McKee is a guest artist on this episode and you'll get to hear a song from her that was written by Phil Naish and Lowell Alexander.  Leslie's new song "What Love Looks Like" is featured on the new project "We Are Creative Soul" (Creative Soul Records) with 15 other artists, including "Nobody Sees" - the song featured on episode # 24 with an interivew of Grammy award-winner Phil Naish.

Between the music and the stories, you'll hear some giggles as they reveal some of the quirks of doing music.

Check out this episode!

"The Elephant Diet" Day # 142 The Master

Today I sat and listened to "Portraits of White".  The Christmas/Winter CD soon to be released to the world.

Yesterday I received the CD master in the mail from Airshow, Inc., the company mastering the CD.   This is the final process that the music goes through before we send it off to be manufactured, once I approve it of course, along with my producer.

Mastering is an art all in itself and though I don't understand all that happens in this process, I know that it makes a difference.  It's like adding the frosting, sprinkles and candles to the cake.

Here is wikipedia's definition:

Mastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device (the master); the source from which all copies will be produced (via methods such as pressing, duplication or replication). Recently digital masters have become usual although analog masters, such as audio tapes, are still being used by the manufacturing industry, notably by a few engineers who have chosen to specialize in analog mastering.

Mastering requires critical listening, however, software tools exist to facilitate the process. Results still depend upon the accuracy of speaker monitors and the listening environment. Mastering engineers may also need to apply corrective equalization and dynamic enhancement in order to optimise sound translation on all playback systems. It is standard practice to make a copy of a master recording, known as a safety copy, in case the master is lost, damaged or stolen.

We are in correspondence about final details.

Right now, there are so many colors abounding in the trees as I drive around from here to there.  But soon, maybe even by the time the CD is ready, it will be just the right time of year for some portraits of white.

My elephant diet will be over.  Oh yes, there will always be more big dreams to work out (the Christmas show of 2014 for instance) but I am contemplating a new blog title to bring in the next dream.  For now, the Christmas/Winter CD elephant is almost non-existent.  

"The Elephant Diet" Day # 141 Sloughing

Sloughing may refer to the act of shedding or casting off dead tissue.  

A friend once told me she thought that what I was experiencing was 'sloughing'.  I had to go home and look up the term.


I think I really am sloughing.


I have been receiving proofs from the graphic designer for the CD cover design.  My producer and the graphic designer are not agreeing on which photo to use.  I have my own preferences and the designer started with my preferences (thank you sir!).  But I trust my producer and so I have left this final decision up to them to work out.  They are professional creatives.  They can handle it.  


Me?  I need to slough.


I have to admit when I saw the first proofs I wanted to start sloughing.  Cast off dead tissue.  What is the dead tissue?  


Fear.  


Insecurity.

Doubts.

Is this the right choice of title?

Is this the right choice of photo and design?

What was I expecting?

Are those expectations being met?  (It's hard to know when you're not sure what you want in the first place.  You just know that you have spent years working on something and you want it to be the absolute best it can be.  First impressions are everything they say and so people will make decisions about this CD based on the cover if they haven't heard the music already).

These are the kinds of things that are dead skin from long ago and should have been shed by now.  Really?  Do I have to keep going through all this insecurity and self-doubt?

Someone asked me the other night - "so are you happy with the CD".  Of course I'm happy.  It's my baby.  It's a concept and a dream come true.  But of course I'm scared.  I wouldn't ask a mother if she was happy with her newborn.  Though I totally understand where they might have been coming from in their question, it sort of startled me.  

More dead skin to shed.

Tomorrow the final CD master will be sent out to me by mail for my approval.  My producer will also receive a copy for his approval.  I'll get the CD, sit down and listen.  

This is it.  

Time to stand up, shed the insecurities that still lurk in the shadows and move on.

'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house

The artist was sloughing, please pray for her spouse!