Production Update 9-15-10

The new album continues to progress. I haven’t given many updates recently because I’ve been quite pre-occupied in the studio. Nevertheless, I wanted to stop and give you a quick rundown of some of what’s been happening this last month.

On August 15th, I tracked acoustic guitar with Matt Meyer for 2 songs and tracked acoustic guitar for 3 more songs this past Sunday. This coming Sunday afternoon, we will be recording acoustic guitar for 2 final songs. Matt and I will also be meeting over the next month or two to record some additional rhythm electric guitar parts which we were unable to record on June 18th in Nashville, due to time constraints.

I’ve also exported about 75% of the audio from Logic Pro – this includes keyboards, organ, drum programming, and orchestral percussion - just to name some of the instruments. All of these audio files will eventually be imported into Pro Tools as the album will be mixed in Pro Tools. My good friend Dave Bechtel will be mixing the project.

I’d also say I’m about 75% finished with editing the audio that I’ve recorded to date – this includes real drums, bass, and rhythm guitar which was recorded on June 18th at DarkHorse Recording in Nashville, as well as the acoustic guitar which Matt Meyer and I have tracked over the last month or so.

I hope to spend much of October recording additional background vocals and preparing for the next trip to Nashville (which may happen in November, December, or January depending on how quickly I can raise the money). Preparations for this trip include (1) finishing the string sheet music for two songs that I’ve arranged the strings for (2), solidifying/fine tuning all piano arrangements, and (3) creating new simplified Pro Tools sessions which will be used during the Nashville recording sessions. This next trip will include 3 recording sessions – one for strings (with the David Davidson string quartet), one for guitar overdubs (with studio guitarist Mike Payne), and one for piano (which will probably be recorded at pianist’s Blair Master’s studio).

Snapshots of the Shattered Soul Synopsis

I wrote this last August as I began working on the new album...

"The over arching purpose of Snapshots of the Shattered Soul is to point the listener away from the lies of this world and toward the truth of Christ. Some songs seek to resolve a specified tension, while others simply define a tension, without resolving it (as sometimes, the awareness of a problem is what first sparks a desire for change). Scripturally, the lyrics are derived from a variety of passages, many from the books of Psalms, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes. The album deals with a number of difficult issues, including depression, addiction, self-esteem, materialism, fractured relationships and poverty. It would be easy for the listener to assume that the majority of these songs are written about me, when in fact much of the content of this project has been inspired by others and their stories of struggle. Some songs may speak of places I’ve been, but more readily, many of the songs represent the brokenness I’ve seen in the world around me, sadly often within the church and the circle of Christianity. Ultimately, I pray that these lyrics will inspire and/or re-inspire the listener to live a life grounded on the foundation of Jesus Christ and His promises."