"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!

"The Elephant Diet" Day # 140 JOY!

Day # 140.  Another milestone!

Typing more lyrics for my CD insert this morning. As part of the celebration, I thought I would show you what I'm doing.  In the insert, you will see the lyrics to the songs and a short story behind the song. I have found that people still enjoy reading the lyrics and hearing how the song came about.

These days, while I exercise, I'm listening to the mixes and the sound tracks so that the new arrangements begin to get into my soul as I prepare to share it on small stages this Christmas in prep for the big one next year.

If you'd like to schedule me to come to your venue to share the new music this year, let me know!  I'd love a chance to 'practice' in a small way what I will do in a big way next year.  I'm already booking some shows now and I'm excited!

Here's a sample of what will appear in my CD insert.  The song is another song done in the "Enya" style with multiple tracks of vocals all singing as one.

Song of Joy

Someone asked me to write a song about joy based on a scripture from Isaiah 35 for Advent.  This is what I came up with.  Since I don’t typically write about joy (yes, I need to work on that) it was a real treat to finally write something happy.  I enjoy singing this song.

Even the desert will be glad and the wilderness rejoice 

when the Lord comes near      

then blinded eyes will start to see and the deaf ears they will hear 

when the Lord comes near

Sing a song of hope sing a song of joy

when the glory of the Lord is near

sing a song of hope sing a song of joy

for the glory of the Lord is here

Then those who know the Lord will sing on the journey as they go 

when the Lord comes near

gladness and joy will overcome and the sorrow disappear 

when the Lord comes near (chorus)

Do not be afraid I bring you good news great joy to all to all the people

today in Bethlehem a savior is born he is Christ the Lord

he is Christ the Lord (chorus)

"The Elephant Diet" Day # 139 Lyrics Written and Lyrics Waiting To Be Written

Today was filled with lyrics.  Some were written down and some are yet to be written.

I started by writing out the lyrics I want to be included in the CD insert.  That's the next big step in this final process.  As the graphic designer begins work on the cover design, I must decide who to thank for this project and make sure I say all that I want to say. That includes typing all the lyrics to the songs and including any authors for the songs that are not mine.  

I spent the rest of my day forming memories that can be turned into lyrics for another project someday. Perhaps.  

That's where lyrics come from.  At least for me.  For the most part, my lyrics are a representation of moments in time or feelings that I've experienced and think others might relate to or be encouraged by.  

After getting a good start on the lyrics for the CD this morning, I left to spend the largest piece of my day with my Mother.  After a business appointment regarding her care, unloading my car of her clothes that I had taken home to iron for her, going with her to the Doctor and having lunch out on the patio with the sunshine keeping us warm, I asked her if she would like to take a drive through the country.  

She seemed extra sad today and I thought the drive might cheer her up.

She was concerned that we have a viable reason for the drive.  Yes, of course.  That's how she's always been.  Make sure everything has a purpose and don't throw anything away - even gas to take a drive together.  Make it count for something!

She announced that she would like to see the farm where she was born.  That must have felt like a viable reason.  I was concerned we could find it because some days she doesn't know if it's morning, noon or night and there have been times she doesn't even know when she was married.  I decided even if we couldn't find the place, it was worth the trip just to get her out of her room.  After all, we could always stop for ice cream somewhere along the way.

Sure enough, despite her fading memory, she knew when we got near the road close to the farm.  I have never been there, so I had to depend on her memory completely.  That can be as risky as my GPS system or my own brain system for that matter.

When we found the place, her spirits lifted and she began to recall things from over 80 years ago.  She pointed to the silo and reminisced the fact that her father had built it.  

Silo built by my Grandpa Sollenberger

I decided to get brave and do her a big favor.  We approached a newer house on the property to find out if this was the right place, though I was sure that it was from a photograph my brother had taken years ago of my mother by the old house.  

Suffice it to say that knocking on the door to the house led to an interesting chase.  A young man (probably in his 20's) answered the door and said he didn't know the history of the old farm, but that his mother worked at a local bridal shop and we could stop in there to ask her.

I decided to go for it.  We found the bridal shop and when we entered the large store with all kinds of colors and puffy dresses, my mother was totally distracted.  Imagine for a moment the bridal and tuxedo shop filled with fancy dresses and my precious conservative mother standing in the midst like Alice in wonderland.

"Now I know where people get all their clothes" she announced.  "I live at Menno Haven and I often wonder where all their clothes come from.  Now I know".  

Well, I'm not too sure that the elderly at her retirement community are wearing prom dresses, but it made me giggle inside nonetheless.

When I reminded my mother why we were in the bridal shop, she thought we were tracking down the people who built the retirement home where she now lives.  Oh well.

Our minds are a strange thing and as I watch her age, I realize how fragile and undependable our brains can become.  But she knew which road she grew up on.  That's what is so amazing.

We never did locate the woman who could tell my mother what we already knew.  But we did locate a Wendy's and sat in our car under an oak tree enjoying large root beer floats while the acorns fell on the roof of my car making it sound like someone was shooting at us from the sky down onto our roof.  

When I asked her if she remembered how she used to make root beer floats for her friends who would stop in to visit, she had no recollection of it whatsoever.  I was surprised once again.  I reminded her that she used to put vanilla ice cream in glasses and keep them in the freezer.  Then she would add cold root beer to the frozen glasses when company came and it made for a wonderful refreshing treat to serve at the last minute.  She became known for her root beer floats.  Now I had to remind her.

So there's another day in my elephant diet.  Writing down lyrics from the past that were inspired by life experiences.  Living life with my mother today to create more memories which will more than likely lead to more lyrics someday that represent some precious moments with the one who brought me into this world.

"The Elephant Diet" Day # 138 This Elephant Now Has A Name!

The music is mixed

took the best of the picks

and now we are ready 

to name this sweet baby

It could have been "Miracles"

that would have been spiritual

or "Ride in the Sleigh"

for a wintery day

How about "One Small Box"

or even just "MOPs"

"Back To The Heart"

would have been a nice start

"Joy To The World"

would bring joy unfurled

"What If" is neat

or just "You With Me"

"Christmas In Black and White"

will certainly bring you delight

and "Take Another Look"

is a very nice hook

"Song of Joy"

about a sweet little boy

but none of these fit

we just had to admit

It's been quite a journey

and the elephant's stirring

we've picked out a name

she is happy to say

Tonight is the night

it shall be 

"PORTRAITS OF WHITE"