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So it's tools down from me and final listening party time. That means the guys have a last opportunity to tweak before we head for mastering. Also: 'famous last words'. This is like Bake off for audiophiles. Did I add enough stuff in the right amount? Will it be Souffle or Soufloppe?

Good time to thank some of the folks who sponsored this madness, Sue K and Sue G. Your contributions meant we did even more wackadoo stuff than normal. Like 105% additional nuts this time. Thank you.

Also thank you to the folks pre-ordering the limited edition CD's. They'll surely be limited edition cos we wont make many of them (LOL). CD Players are so passe, nest-c'est-Pas?

Big thanks to Don H and Marcus H and superbig thanks to Mr Coggins for all the engineering and mixing on the first parts of the album.

and....yeah I'll write the official thanks on the cd. heck imma need more space (again).

So close. Theo wants to add Djembe. We've paused to get that sorted, 

I'm ok with taking some additional listening time. AJ's mixes and Ben's mixes are so good and I...um...well...err....Ok my mixes are ok. Pretty ok. I think. Maybe. On the other hand, I am a very reasonably priced mixer.

I'm working on the credits, the art etc etc. There's stuff to do.

We set the deadline for mixing as the 9th of September, we're not there yet. We're close. After that is mastering. Thus, I imagine allowing this week to get all the ducks in a row means mastering the following week, although it can start as some of the songs are pretty much complete.

I'd like to think it gives me enough time for the last songs to make the cut, and yet I know that's fanciful. Sooner this is done, the sooner it's done.

Stormcellar 'Signposts' limited edition CD's now available on pre-order. https://py.pl/8jpKHjnG6rd

As a long term student, I am used to the occasional bout of sagely smart alec-ness from my Gurus. 

This time I was with it tho'.

'What is an Album' my master said to me, knowing full well that what he was really saying was 'Aren't things completely shithouse in the business of selling music as discrete physical units.'

He's right.

At recent shows I have asked who has a CD player. The numbers are not looking good for the once pinnacle music sales form.

Our online retailers have stopped selling physical product. It's over.

'Oh but MuH ViNyL' I hear.

(sigh) Its like the Penny Farthing Appreciation Society decided to lobby for a return the golden era of unstable bicycling 'cos it's cool.

Yeah it's cool. I have so far asked each person who suggested it for their credit card number. Strangely, I haven't received so much as a digit.

Yes, streaming is low rent. Yes we pay for data and pirate the content and everybody knows it, from the Telco's to the VPN providers. Yes some people support by paying for their new forms of 'radio' - the spotifys etc.

It takes a lot of views to make up the equivalent of one old school sale.

There's the really mundane aspects of recording a song that take time.

Writing, testing, arranging, rewriting, recording, mixing, mastering.

Or you could bang it down in a tiktok (I'M AN ISLAAAAN BOIIIIII) in 60 seconds on your phone and whammo! A Hit!

The formats have always affected the product. From time limits (singles, eps, lp's, the cd's max size etc).

The music royalty system is still based in part on Player Piano Roll sales back in the day. Who says it has to make sense? Who says there's logic at play here? That's outta my pay grade ;) As a Mastering Engineer quipped to me one day, 'You're a painter. Paint'.

Ok yeah so that's a fair analogy and that's what we do. 'Cos we can. Cos that's what drives us. And that's cool too.

Back to the mundane. To do it, ya gots to do it. And that takes either as short or long a time as it takes. For us, we have been able to produce around 14 songs a year, or roughly what they would call an album in old school terms.

For us, it's a 'record' - where we were, what we were doing, what was influencing us at the time.

Mostly for practical reasons, they all have an individual sound as we have recorded each one in different ways and places.

After that, is it a playlist? An Album? I've leave that to the Gurus. Meanwhile, I'm working towards final mixes :) 

Listening party started two days ago and we're tweaking the stuff now. Mr Wizard says it adding magical fairy dust. for a few others it's more fundamental work as we aim to finish the last few songs.

Can't sit here blogging I gotta mix.

We've officially reached 'last chance for final ideas' stage of mixing for this album, from here it's fixes and then mastering.

We have 2 possible contenders for the album that might make the cut off. Maybe. I'd still like to add some things, tweak some things, aaaand...it's time to complete this one :)

Thank you to Ben and AJ for their volunteer efforts in mixing. Thank you to Don Hopkins for piano work. Thank you to Marcus Holden for some outstanding string arrangements.

This album may have the largest collection of musicians we have assembled thus far. Hmm...Kansas City Gold notwithstanding. We have had folks from all over the world play on it. Turkey, Nigeria, Kenya, France, The US, The UK and down here in OZ. I am sure there are some I have left out. No worries, I'll sort it for the album.

Oh yeah it also almost has a name. Sort of. It has a few names. It started with a Project Name and then it became a concept. Now I gotta do the art so we'll need to settle.

From here, we do the last stuff, master it and release it. I do the art and then...we do it all over again for the next batch.