23 September 2009 — Listening to Mixes
Plastic Palace Alice is in the process of having some tracks mixed, most likely for an album that is tentatively scheduled for some time next year. We recorded a few songs quite a while ago now, maybe over a year ago, but they were sort of put on hold for a while. More recently, we went to another studio and re-recorded some parts with our new pianist Quinn, and relatively recently we released the first single of the bunch, "No Shame", to a fairly underwhelming response. Now we are listening to the next two songs, and it's quite funny to hear them again after such a long time.
Work commitments meant that I was only in the studio very briefly for each of the two days of the re-recording. I didn't hear any of the other parts, but simply turned up with my equipment, ran through a few takes of each song, then packed up and went home. There was little time to discuss much, but these were songs we'd played quite a lot live, so at least I didn't have to figure out what to play, which can be difficult to do on the clock.
So, getting these mixes back has been fun. There is always much emailing between the members of the band, working out what we like and what we don't, before sending all of our thoughts back to the mixer, so that he can refine his take. It's surprising how much of a difference very small things can make, too. When we got out first mix back of the song "Carrion" – a live staple for two years now – I was disappointed, largely in my own playing in various sections. However, the second mix, with only some relatively minor changes, sounded much better as soon as I heard it. A couple of effects have been added, the balance of instruments and vocals changed in parts, and suddenly it's a whole different thing, while still – paradoxically – sounding the same.
It's a little bit like The Uniform Project: you can see that it's the same dress, but you keep seeing it in a different light. I think that makes the stuff Ben adds in the mixing rooms the accessories.