So a brief update on the computer sitch – I got ‘er up and running and my data moved over. The dead hard drive actually mounted in the new machine, so all was not lost. Migration Assistant really did a good job of grabbing my junk and setting it up. That saved me about a thousand clicks right there. The bad news is of course Pro Tools and Logic are having to be rebuilt. Picky, picky programs. There are a lot of errors trying to open these sessions; Pro Tools hasn’t actually even opened at this point – it crashes. So, I’m trying to fig out how to get those back in order. I’ve got a couple paying gigs this week that will distract me a little, but within the work week I hope to have the programs settled. My to-do list is starting to get back to normal, after this time-consuming speed bump of a lightning strike tapped me out.

So, since I haven’t been posting I decided to throw this fresh ditty up. This is literally the third time I’ve played around with it and the verses are improvised here. I was feeling poppy obviously. This is the kind of tune I should sell off to someone better at pop.  :]  I can already hear the funky bass, the shuffling beat, the shakers, and some choice lead acoustic guitar…

http://www.ntbullockmusic.com/mp3/NTB_Date_Night_rough.mp3

Got the tower in today. It’ll take days to set up and config.

I ordered a new Mac Pro tower today. I was hoping they would have announced the new machines by now, but I can’t afford to wait for the update unfortunately. I should get it next week. I’ve got a TON to set back up. I also haven’t been able to grab ANYTHING off my dying hard drive. Sigh. I have one more idea I’ll be trying when I go out of town this weekend. I don’t expect much.

The bad news is my Mac hard drive is also now bad and the tower won’t boot. I may have lost my setup, which will definitely take me a moment to get back up and operational. I’ll have to set a new Mac machine. The good news is that my insurance is covering most of my lightning damage. Finally, a ray of… sunshine?,… hope?, or something?

Anyway, there’s a ton to do just to get to another ton of do right around the corner.

I sent the tracks to some friends who have a studio out in LA. They’re going to try and be some second ears for me as I head back in to master – whenever that’ll be. I’m going to try and order the new Mac Pro tower in the next few days.

I only had a brief break from bad news. When I finally got my tower back home last Thursday I instantly had to take it back to the shop because it now wouldn’t boot. I heard a small, subtle clicking. That’s a death knell for a hard drive. It was at least booting fine before I took it and could at least open Pro Tools. I find out today that the hard drive has gone bad and it won’t boot. Awesome. I’ve NEVER had a Mac with a failing hard drive. This is definitely a speed bump. Just reloading Pro Tools and all those plugins and hoping that it all lines up congruently makes me sit back in my chair for a minute. I’ve not had to do that before. On top of the album, this is my bread and butter machine. I hate that this journal has turned into an account of this mess.

Well, the day is only half over. I’m sure there’s bad news somewhere this afternoon. *leans back in chair*

My little world has been in upset. My Mac tower has been getting evaluated for insurance purposes all week. Even if I needed to alter the music I couldn’t right now. This lightning strike just came at a bad time. Lightning should be more considerate. So, anyway, I’m supposed to talk to another guy I know tomorrow, but I have a sinking feeling like I may be back on my own with this very soon. If that’s the case I’m going to have to concede on presence and volume levels of the tracks. Now I just need my damn computer back.

To let ya in on my last few weeks, yesterday was the first day in quite awhile that I received no bad news. Uncanny.

An upset that was hinted at days ago has come to fruition. It was just clarified to me that the mastering team that was trying to help out couldn’t fit the project in time-wise, because it was a “bigger job.” I don’t know if that’s good, bad, or indifferent, but it’s where it stands. So, today I’m supposed to speak with someone else about it. I hate that I’ve lost a week just to get a negative response, but that’s how it goes. It almost would’ve been “too good to be true,” that route.

Anyway, so back to the drawing board yet again. The roller coaster has me stuck upside down.

Alright, I’m coming clean here. I was hoping to post this with concrete news, but I haven’t gotten it yet. I’ll update when I do with more specifics.

The truth of the matter is that trying to master these songs in the most professional way I could muster about drove me mad, folks. I’m proud of how close I got to the sun, but alas twas not enough. I truly felt like I was mangling a couple of the songs in the process. The tracks sounded great in my car and on my monitors, so at least that. And I will say that the weeks I spent with my nose to the grind I was able to find and fix some minor details that had never grabbed my attention before; at least that, as well.

But one night recently I realized that I had done terrible things to fix the frequencies in Stepping Stones. And as I stared vacantly into the black, glass top of my desk I was able to admit that I couldn’t achieve the desired results with my limited knowledge. I had to lose the battle to win the war, so to speak.

Without getting into the deets of it all, I put a call in to a friend and am now waiting to hear back about getting the tracks professionally mastered. They’d be wedging me in, so I’d have to be patient.

Having to admit defeat against an obstacle like this has rarely, if ever, happened to me, but I do feel the songs will be in much better hands if I don’t cling so tightly. I hate for this to drag on, I do, but hopefully it’ll be worth the wait for those who care. And to those who care, I appreciate it. Thanks for the messages of encouragement.

On a side note, I’m just now able to look into fixing everything from the lighting strike I had. I’m still running at half capacity here. I truly need a break.

News soon.

My apolowologies for the crypticness.

Such a trial and error project for me, more so than usual. Anyway, worked yesterday and back at it today. I think I’ve made progress on eliminating the frequencies that turn ugly on less capable speakers for most of the songs. Stepping Stones is the only one I didn’t feel good about, and I’m going to start over on. I think I went too far on that one and it sounds bizarre to me now. I still need to “mp3″ them and test them on the crappy speakers, but I ignorantly [again] feel good about it. This Groundhog’s Day has to end soon for my sanity.