GaaaaaH!

I have spent the last two months recording a band who pride themselves on getting everything right.

I have carefully worked out appropriate levels and types of amplitude compression and excitation for all tracks, plus reverb for the vocals. At each stage, I have submitted the results to the band to check it sounds as they want it, and done minute editing on guitar and voice parts to correct trivial but annoying errors in performance.

I played back the final master mixdowns to general approval two days ago, agreeing to burn around 50 copies today.

Today, I got paid back £15 for £20 worth of CDs and cases, and started work. The test CD sounded okay, so I went ahead and burned more. After 40, Paul T took a listen and decided the whole sound was too muddy and not 'live' enough.

So I played him rough mixes with no sound processing at all, and after weeks of saying how much he liked the cleaned up, beefed up sound, says he wants the finished CD to sound like the rough mixes.

To quote an old John Le Carre novel, "I am possessed of an extremely forviging temprement. I positively seethe with goodwill."

We would have done final 'unpolished' mixes and started burning them, but his teenage female muse payed a visit, so we deferred till tomorrow. I think their relationship is based upon each having a massive crush on the other, but being unable to do anything about it.

Oh yes, and the CD cover designs were wrongly sized. My fault for believing what I was told instead of checking actual CD sleevenotes.

So, in summery: GaaaaaH!