Album in the Making

14th & 15th August 2023

After a year in the making, I spent two days at Appletree studio to work with Phillip Goss on the final mix and mastering of my album. It was really exciting to hear the work he had put into the production…

Throughout the year, I have been working on the album ‘Bricks and Mortar’ in my home recording studio where I record and arrange the piano, keyboard, acoustic guitar and vocal parts using Apple Pro-logic digital audio software. Once I am happy with my recordings, I send Phillip WAV files of each individual track (stem) so that he can add percussion, bass and electric guitar parts. It can be a little daunting trusting someone with your work as they may have conflicting ideas or misinterpret the mood and style of the song; however, Phillip understood exactly how to enhance each track without altering the core elements. When working closely with a recording artist, it is helpful if they have a similar creative vision – as a Christian and singer-songwriter, Phillip understood my music.

Both days in the studio were really intense as we were working on 10 of the 12 songs, which will be featuring on the album (the other two ‘Prince of Peace’ and ‘Freedom in Your love’ were completed and released as singles earlier in the year). Listening to each track reminded me of opening presents at Christmas when I was a child – each song was a gift that kept giving! The first one, ‘Hiding Place’ was really exciting and I was totally blown away by his arrangement – it was exhilarating to listen to at high volume. The following track ‘You’re All I Need’ was just as exciting with lots of ‘wow’ moments; he had created an awesome dance beat with elements of chill and indie pop. Some of the songs had an injection of rock with one or two electric guitar riffs to build dynamics and lift.

By the end of the morning, Phillip asked me which track was my favourite so far, but that was a question I found impossible to answer as each one had something that I absolutely loved. So many presents, but which one do I like best? It is definitely the thought that counts as far as these gifts are concerned!

Listening to music at high volume, and spending several hours adjusting levels and mixing the tracks, was extremely tiring (I’m in awe of Phillip’s indefatigable concentration and phenomenal work ethic). It is important that you listen to each individual element of the song in the mix to ensure that the production is well balanced. Establishing the best mix can be quite tricky as we use so many formats to listen to music, such as: mobile phones, headphones, car stereo etc. Each format can make the song sound different: too much treble, too much bass etc. Listening on high grade studio speakers will make the song sound very different compared to the sound quality on an iphone, so which mix is best for all devices? That is a difficult question to answer and often down to individual interpretation anyway. I personally felt that the bass guitar may have been a little too loud at times; however, Phillip wasn’t convinced. He reassured me that our perception of levels can change depending on where you stand in the room. Also, would the bass guitar be audible on an Amazon Alexa? As well as adjusting the overall volume of each instrument, you also have to consider panning (adjusting volume in each speaker) to create space in the mix. Mixing requires a huge amount of skill experience and personal preferences, which is why I hand the work I have created in my home studio over to the professional!

At the end of my first day, I headed over to Phillip’s house near Buckingham to spend the evening with his wife Christophine (we all go back a long way) before returning to the studio the the following day.

After spending the first day mixing each song to ensure the levels of each stem were set at the correct level, Phillip mastered the songs. Mastering is the process of adjusting and enhancing the overall sound by: adding compression to ensure that volume is consistent; equalisation to balance frequencies and stereo spread to distribute frequencies.

After another intense morning, we headed out to the cafe at Waterperry Gardens for lunch. I had a banging headache with all the excitement and concentration, so had to settle for something light (a child’s cheese sandwich). We discussed the order of songs and ideas for the album title and artwork, whilst being plagued by wasps. Phillip’s knowledge and experience at this stage was invaluable!

The remainder of the afternoon back at the studio was mainly over to Phillip to use software and skill to complete the mastering process, so I was able to curl up on the studio sofa and have a Power Nap to relieve my headache – apparently a lot of his clients fall asleep on this sofa whilst the master is at work!

Mastering complete, Phillip put all the songs in order and checked that the the songs worked in sequence by listening to the beginnings and ends of each track. The final order was saved onto a CD (that’s a compact disc 💿 for those who are too young to appreciate what these are in this age of digital streaming). The CD will be encoded with an International Standard Recording code (ISCR ) in preparation for distribution.

Beyond the recoding studio, my next steps are to design the artwork for the CD; put together some lyric videos for my YouTube channel and organise an album showcase gig ahead of the release date in the Autumn.

Watch this space …

Album Artwork

19th August 2023

Now that my album ‘Bricks and Mortar’ is almost ready for release, I need to think about the artwork for the CDs that I will get made.  In the 21st century age of digital screening, CDs are pretty irrelevant; however, like books, there is something special about picking up a physical CD: the smooth texture of the case; the smell of freshly printed paper; the sound of the case as it clicks opens and snaps shut.  Music, like reading, should, I believe,  be a multi-sensory experience.

With this in mind, I will be ordering 50 CDs to sell should anyone still have a CD 💿 player and wish to go old school.  My husband keeps warning me that they will be a waste of money and that we will probably only sell  3 and have 47 languishing in a cupboard gathering dust.  I have tried to convince him that it is a rite of passage for a published songwriter to produce a CD – it’s mainly about the artwork, which gets forgotten about when you click on a digital album in Spotify.  I guess it is because the music industry is so fast moving and accessible to all that people don’t have either the time or money to invest in a CD as it takes a lot of effort and skill to design the artwork.  As someone who loves learning new skills and also being creative, I thought that I would bite the bullet – in for a penny; in for a pound as they used to say in the old days before vinyl was even invented (that’s a record by the way – so old that there isn’t even an emoji for me to use.  

I decided to use my weekend away in the Isle of Wight to take a few arty photos to create a mood board for my album.  The Isle of Wight is a special place for me as I have holidayed in Freshwater Bay and Yarmouth since I was a child – it is my second home.  The Isle of Wight also has a lot of interesting 19th century military fortifications, which were built to protect the South of England from foreign invasion.  I used the ruined Cliff End battery over looking Fort Albert near Freshwater where I take regular weekends away for my iPhone photo shoot.  These buildings are the perfect backdrop for my album ‘Bricks and Mortar’, as both the title song and ‘Hiding Place’ on the album contain motifs linked with walls, bricks, ruins and battle against the enemy.  I took some interesting shots of brick work, ruins and battlements, which I am currently using to design CD artwork, inlay and lyric booklet (with the help of Canva, Crams duplication and my brother Simon who has extensive knowledge of photography and graphic design.  I might commission him to take a portrait of myself rather than rely on a selfie – I will have to decide; a part of quite likes the idea that everything is taken by one individual on an iPhone!

As an independent recording artist, I’m trying to manage my budget carefully by doing most of the work myself from the initial recording/production to photography, graphic design and marketing.  Even this website has been created by me using a basic package with ready made templates at minimal cost.  It may not be all singing and dancing, but it hopefully gets my message across as an independent recording artist who just loves creating music to honour God.  My ethos is to create the best with what I have at minimal cost.  As an English teacher, I love learning, writing and creating, which goes a long way!