I’m launching a new website this week called VirtualMusic.tv which I’ll talk about at the end of this article. First I’d like to share a story and four life lessons that have helped bring me to today.
Two years ago today I was in New York to have The Spin Arounds’ debut album Black Light One mastered at Sterling Sound—one of the world’s top mastering studios. I had spent the months leading up to that date recording my heart out (in my apartment), mixing, mixing, and mixing my songs. It was a peak in my musical creativity, and I was easily writing song after song. I experimented with double-tracked vocals, and—since I sequenced all the drums in Fruityloops—there were some unique beats. I was aiming for the album to have 10 tracks. Because I had recorded so many songs that year, it took me several weeks to decide which ones made the cut and fit on the album. On that Saturday morning when I walked into Sterling Sound I had my list narrowed down to about 12.
Lesson 1: People are great to meet, and even famous people are often down-to-earth when you meet them. We’re all in the same boat. It was my first time in such a high-end studio, and I didn’t know exactly what to expect. But of course I knew that Fiona Apple’s “Tidal” was mastered there by Ted Jensen, so I knew it would be something good. I had the chance to have Justin Shturtz as mastering engineer. Being that it was Saturday the studio was virtually empty, and we pretty much had the run of the place. I realized that Justin and I weren’t that different, and we got along great.
Lesson 2: Be prepared, but don’t second guess yourself. I made the choice to title the album Black Light One, named after the song that had been one of my greatest memories from the previous two years, and the album included a new version of it as the title track. When we began the mastering session, the first thing Justin asked me was which track was first on the album, so that we could have a road map to follow. But I had only loosely mapped out the track order, and like I said, I still had only narrowed the list down to 12—not 10. I wrote the order on the spot, and we adjusted it slightly as we went. Justin was in the zone, and he breezed through the tracks. I was amazed at how efficiently the mastering was done. Justin is an absolute pro. We even had time to master seven extra tracks and still finish an hour earlier than estimated, which was great because it meant the price would be less than estimated too. Let me tell you, it was expensive, I had saved for months to afford this, and it was well worth it. The end result sounded better than I had envisioned, and it was true to the music. To this day, I still love it. All the decisions that I made that day worked out for the best.
Photo: Justin Shturtz (left) and Ryan Van Etten (right) at Sterling Sound on 7-14-07.Lesson 3: It’s never too late to say thanks, but you don’t have forever either. I had always meant to mail a letter to Justin to thank him for the great job he did. But I kept putting it off, because I was waiting until I had the printed CD to include with the letter. But that day never came. Black Light One became a digital-only release (available free via last.fm or mininova). I couldn’t rationalize spending the cash to print real CD labels in the days of mp3′s and the internet. But if I had printed them, they would have looked like this: Front/Back/Lyrics/Lyrics. Justin, thanks for the great mastering work you did on Black Light One!
Lesson 4: Don’t look back too long. Move on. Think bigger. I’ve spent the last two years working at a dead-end job. It’s drained my energy day after day. I was never very good at managing my finances. I had credit cards that destroyed me for years. I’m making a turn around. I’ve even been learning how to trade. I’m still not far from living paycheck to paycheck, but I am out of debt and confident enough to risk my cash flow while I reinvent my creative flow. In the words of J. C. F. von Schiller, “Who dares nothing, need hope for nothing.” I’m focusing on my strengths such as writing, and I’m ready to make an imprint. I have faith in life, people, and the world around me.
So here’s the news: I’m launching a new website community called VirtualMusic.tv. It’s not about me; it’s about us, our world, and our culture. The focus of VirtualMusic.tv is to share ideas about virtuality, and discuss how virtual technology is affecting us, our future, and in particular the future of music. But I can’t do it alone. I’m calling all writers and video-makers, and seeking people willing to contribute editorial articles or videos. I’m really excited to see what we can dream up.
