Three Sided Story : A CAPE Chronicle

[Azraphael.]

Three Sided Story: A CAPE Chronicle

Track 1: The Players On The Stage by The Narrator

It’s that time again. CAPE. It’s been said before that people came to this community for The Daily Adventures Of Mixerman, and they stayed for CaPE. Whoever said it, they’re right. At least, that’s the way it happened for me, many moons and several websites ago.

So, I thought, why not have a chronicle of the CAPE experience? Hopefully, it’s the combination of two already great ideas, and carries on some of the traditions of this community – music and writing. More likely, this will merely be the ramblings of a CaPE veteran, offering my humble thoughts on the goings on as we enter the CAPE era.

Oh, and those lower case ‘a’s are not a typo. For the purposes of discussion, I’ll refer to rounds I through V of this event in the manner that I believe is formally correct: CaPE I, CaPE II, etc… lower case ‘a’, roman numerals to designate which round. The new format we’re trying for the first time with this round, is CAPE 6 – all caps, and normal number. But, since this is the first CAPE, I’ll probably skip the “6” most of the time.

Anyway, by now we’re all familiar with how CAPE works – songwriters post their ideas, producer hopefuls pitch their ideas of what to do with them, and all the musicians that sign up get assigned to a producer with a song, and 6 weeks later we hear what everyone’s done.
Sounds easy, doesn’t it?

As those who have been there know, CaPE has been many things to many people, but ‘easy’ is rarely one of them.

This time, for reasons that aren’t even clear to me, I’ve decided to get very involved with this round of CAPE. But I’m not an admin, not an organizer, not a moderator… I’m just a guy who digs this place, and has had fantastic times doing this event. In other words, gentle readers, I’m just another average guy on the board. But I’m going to be busy for the next couple of months, that’s for sure.

For this round of my favourite internet event, I’ve offered up two songs as a potential songwriter. If I’m lucky, one of them will be selected by a producer and recorded by one of the CAPE teams. If not, there’s still something cathartic about putting your songs out there for all the world to hear, especially for CAPE, where there’s a serious chance that you won’t be on the team recording it.

I’ve also volunteered as a producer, and if selected, I will be responsible for turning one of the songs offered by the songwriters into a full blown, CAPE style number. And, the one guarantee I have about the song is that it will not be one of mine. That’s against the rules.
Thirdly, I’ve signed up as a musician, offering my various and humble services to whatever team will have me. So, provided my tracks make the producer’s cut, I’ll be playing and/or singing on another tune.

In an absolute worst case scenario, neither of my songs will be picked, my producer pitch will be laughed at and tossed out, and my tracks will be substandard and not make the final mix. That would suck. Quite a bit, really.

This would be a really short chronicle, too, come to think of it.

But I don’t think it will come to that. In fact, I hope and expect and plan to be successful in all my CAPE endeavours. In any case, there will be a story to tell in all three areas – songwriting, producing, and performing.

What you’ve just read is the introduction to that story. Three Sided Story: A CAPE Chronicle will be a multi-track tale told in four voices. This track has been brought to you by The Narrator, who doesn’t really count in terms of the story being told, but is necessary for general-interest posts such as this one. He also likes the capital letters. Makes him feel like part of the club, you see.

In the future, you will be introduced to The Songwriter, The Producer, and The Performer, as I tell this tale from each of those perspectives.

Some might call this Multiple Personality Disorder.

I just call it CAPE.

Cheers,

Dave The Narrator

[Azraphael.]

Track 2: First In Line by The Songwriter

This is the second time I’ve written for CAPE. On Team Enigma in CaPE V, I was assigned songwriting duties, and ended up providing five demos for my team to choose from. The decision was unanimous, and we got to work on the song.

This time, it’s not so straightforward.

In CaPE, the songwriters have been assigned to the teams kind of blindly, based on the same signup structure as our musician signups for CAPE. So, as a songwriter, it used to mean that though the pressure was on to write a great song for the team, I had the security of knowing that the rules stated that I had to be the songwriter for the team. So, even if I wrote crap, it would still end up as the song for the team. Obviously no one wants that, but there’s still a certain safety to knowing that you won’t get outright rejected.

Well, that’s all changed now, hasn’t it? There’s no safety net, and the gloves have come off. Now songwriters need to put their music where their mouth is, and offer up possible tunes for producers to pick and choose from. And there’s no guarantee that your song won’t end up on the sidelines, rather than in the game.

When the signups for songwriters rolled around, I jumped on board fairly quickly. Soon enough, we had our own Songwriters’ Forum to post our tunes in. So I did… two songs, as per the songwriter’s rules. I had the demos already, so I didn’t write or record anything specifically for this CAPE, so I figured I might as well make a good first impression.

As it turns out, I ended up offering the first submissions in the Songwriters’ Forum. On one hand, that made things a bit easier… I had the demos, I like the songs, and I figured that by getting stuff in early it might have a chance to grow on the potential producers. At that time, we (the songwriters) were under the impression that the producers would be given access to our forum once they had signed up. Turned out that wasn’t the way it went down, which is probably for the best.

So, there I was staring at the Songwriters’ Forum wondering what to do next. My songs were up, I wrote my blurb about them, nothing else was being asked of me at the time, so I just settled in to wait.

During my wait, I decided to listen to the songs as they were posted. It didn’t take long at all for me to get way behind, and start to doubt the chances that my songs had of being picked. I mean, there were a lot of songs posted, many of which are (IMO) better songs than mine. Still, there’s no accounting for taste, and the submission was already done. No need to stress about it, right?

It was about this time that I realized that having the songs up so early might not be a good thing after all. Not because other songs are better than mine, which some of them are. Not because I should have taken more time with the demos, which I’m pretty happy with (for what they are). Not even because it makes me look like a keener. No, none of those reasons had anything to do with my regret at being first in line.

The big regret came from the simple fact that, because my songs were posted first, the threads containing those songs were the first to get bumped to the second page of the forum. Out of sight, out of mind.

I toyed with the idea of bumping my threads, but decided against it. I’d put my stuff out there, it’s now up to the CAPE gods (and the producers) to figure out whether either of my songs goes any further in this event.

And the answer to that, ladies and gentlemen, is no.

Fuck!

Teams have now been posted, and no one is doing either of my songs. Due to my super secret spy abilities, I know that at least 1 producer had a song of mine as his B choice, and another producer shortlisted both of my tunes, so at least I can take some comfort in that.

The other thing that I really do believe is that I was up against some pretty stiff competition to get picked. As Aardvark pointed out somewhere, that pool of songs offers a potential wealth of opportunities for future collaboration and/or publishing deals. I really wish you could all hear the 70 or songs or so that made up the final submissions list.

So, even though one of my songs isn’t being done, I know this will be an awesome CAPE.

It would just be that little bit more awesome if one my songs got picked, you know?

Cheers,

Dave The Songwriter

PS: Given the situation, I’m not sure how much I’ll have to say about things moving forward. Most of my role as a songwriter for this round of CAPE is done, that’s true… but I’ll likely be back with some songwriter-perspective thoughts on the other teams I’m working with.

[Azraphael.]

Track 3: Cutting Room Floor by The Producer

Team Azraphael… how cool is that? For the first time, the teams in CAPE have been named after forum members. In this case, the teams are named after the producer. (Who shouldn’t be confused with me, The Producer. See the difference? Good. Glad we got that straightened out.)

Anyway, Jealous Lover by mousdrvr is an awesome song, and it was my A choice. It’s going to be raw, passionate, balls-out rock n’ roll, and I can’t wait for the team to sink our collective teeth into it.

But before we go there, I’d like to mention a couple songs that aren’t being done in this round of CAPE. The reason I want to mention them is that they made my short list, and in the end, I had a VERY difficult time deciding on which song I wanted to do most. I think these songs deserve some public mention and recognition, but the unfortunate reality of this CAPE is that the majority of songs simply couldn’t be picked.

I guess this is my small contribution to make up for so many great songs hitting the cutting room floor, so to speak.

The first song I want to give recognition to was actually my second choice in my pitch, Catch You If You Fall by Muzzleflash. The demo for this is just some acoustic guitar, and a clearly heartfelt voice. In all honesty, I think there’s a lot of work to build that into the great song I can hear it being in my head, and that’s why it got the B slot. If anything, I mean that as a compliment to the song. I didn’t think I’d have enough time to really turn that song into what I know it can be, and that being the case, I didn’t want to do a half-assed job of it.

Catch You If You Fall really struck me… it’s a fairly simple song, about a father and his daughter. And that was enough to get me, I guess. As the father of a 20 month old daughter, I can certainly relate to the song.

Furthermore, I heard this song for the first time on the same day that my wife and I decided to start telling people that we’re now expecting our second child, due in May.

Sounds like the stars were aligning, but part of me had a strong enough emotional response to the song that I didn’t think I could produce it objectively enough in the time available. So, special mention to Muzzleflash for putting up such a great song, but the fit wasn’t quite right for the event for me.

The other song I want to mention is Fail For You by McAllister. What a great song this is. Catchy as hell, great lyrics, lots of dynamic room. Thing is, all I could really think to do differently would have been to pick up the second verse a bit. McAllister’s demo was fairly fleshed out and in good shape. The tune sounds great as it is, so I backed off from this one a bit too. Again, not because it’s a bad song, but because I needed to pick something that would fit well with my own style, and my goals as The Producer for this CAPE.

While McAllister’s demo seemed to provide not quite enough room for my own creative interpretation, Muzzleflash’s entry was the opposite. It sounded like there was too much room to get creative with it for the limited time available.

That's not to mention the additional complexities of trying to produce a song working with people you’ve never met in person.

Just as I was starting to wonder what the hell I’d gotten myself into, the happy medium presented itself. Jealous Lover is a dirty, passionate rock song waiting to happen. I slapped together a rough demo last night, just guitar and vocals, to demonstrate for the team the sort of vibe I have in mind. So far, the two people who responded seem to like it.

And one of them is mousdrvr, our songwriter. So that’s alright, isn’t it?

We’ve got the tune, so let’s look at the team, shall we? I was fortunate enough to have padboy assigned to my team for the Hammond I need, and I finer player I couldn’t ask for. Nobby’s with us for lead vocals, and judging from what I’ve heard, his voice should be perfectly suited for what I have in mind.

Drummerboy and kingkai make up the rhythm section of Team Azraphael, and guitars will be provided by sqkychair and tomhansen. These 4 folks I haven’t worked with in the past, and apart from a passing familiarity with the usernames, I don’t really know these guys.

That’s part of the fun of CAPE, though. You get to meet and work with new people, new styles and new methods. Assuming no one on the team goes batshit crazy, we should be in good shape.

Time will tell, but so far everything’s shaping up as I’d like. The team seems upbeat and excited, we’ve got a great tune and a pretty clear idea of what we’re doing with it.

I think I’ll make a mental note to re-read those last couple of sentences a few weeks into this… I’m curious as to whether hindsight will give them a flavour of prophecy or naïve optimism.

I guess only time (and my relative stress levels) will tell.

Cheers,

Dave The Producer

[Azraphael.]

Track 4: If Ramones Blogged… by The Performer

ONETWOTHREEFOUR!

I just want to play guitar
Team dwoz is full of lots of stars
I just want to play guitar
But I’ve got nothing to do

We need a demo for our tune
We need to hear what dwoz can do
We need a demo for our tune
But right now I’ve got nothing to do

I’ll be back later with some more
When there’s anything I should report
I’ll be back later with some more
Once I’ve got something to do

Cheers,

Dave The Performer

[Azraphael.]

Track 5: Wrong Again by The Narrator

One thing you can always count on when writing any kind of public narrative is that people will check your facts. And, if you get them wrong, they’ll call you on it.

So guess what happened to me today?

In the discussion thread associated with this story, Brendo pointed out (and then went to the effort of quoting supporting information) that I had the whole capital letters in CaPE/CAPE thing slightly wrong.

As it turns out, the A went capital for CAPE V. This was also the first CAPE run here, at the new home. I must have completely missed it happening. Thing is, I rather liked having an easy way to distinguish events run under the old rules, and the new format for this round. But, when chronicling something, I suppose it’s kind of a primary goal to make sure that what you’re reporting is factually correct.

Moving forward I’ll try be more clear, and I will use the correct titles when I need to.

But if it’s all the same to you, I don’t think I’ll bother changing the earlier entries. I truly want this to be a chronicle of my CAPE 6 experience, and part of that experience is getting my can’t-be-bothered-to-check-facts ass handed to me by Brendo. Rightfully so, too.

So let this entry stand as a testament to the fact that a) I am reading and acting upon the content of the discussion thread, and b) I fucked up, and I admit it.

Better enjoy the latter part of b) above. It doesn’t happen as often as it should, probably.

Cheers,

Dave The Narrator

[Azraphael.]

Track 6: Progress Is Boring by The Producer

It’s been a busy week, but there isn't really much to report.

In the interests of getting things going, I’ve been polluting the Team Azraphael forum with all kinds of threads. There’s a thread dedicated to each performance instrument (and vocals, of course), scheduling threads, demo threads, song structure threads, etc. I was thinking that would keep it easier to keep track of all the info.

Turns out it just means more places to look.

Oh well, the team is communicating well, and we’ve just about hammered out the details for the structure of the song. The key was the most interesting thing to settle, and I’m still not sure we’re all the way there… the demo key didn’t work for our keyboardist, so we changed it. Turns out what we changed it to didn’t work for the singer, so we changed it again.

Thing is, there’s a bit of confusion here still. Last word from the singer is that it was too high… but we’ve just (I think) agreed on a new key, a full step up from the demo. But, this key is at the singer’s request, so I’ll trust his judgement and wait for the scratch tracks.

Right now I just hope that everyone is working in the same key… other than that, I think we’re okay.

We’ve got a schedule for all of our internal deadlines for parts to be submitted, we’re about 95% of the way there on the structure, and once we have scratch tracks to work with, we should be well on our way.

Somewhere out there there’s a shoe waiting to hit the floor. Until then, I’ll happily continue as we are. No drama, steady progress, and great attitudes on the team all around. Doesn’t make for a particularly interesting report (hence the time elapsed since the last one) but it does make for a successful CAPE.

I hope.

Cheers,

Dave The Producer

[Azraphael.]

Track 7: Walkin’ Papers by The Narrator

Hey folks, The Narrator here again with a quick update for you all.

Due to lack of anything interesting to say, The Songwriter has been fired. We’d like to thank him for trying, but ultimately his songs didn’t make it far enough in the process to even earn a crappy version of our home game.

But, since this is a Three Sided Story, an exhaustive recruiting process has been undertaken to find a suitable replacement.

Stay tuned for further details.

Cheers,

Dave The Narrator

[Azraphael.]

Track 8: Hurry Up And Wait by The Performer

Things seem to be moving pretty slowly so far in the Team Dwoz camp. In fact, there hasn’t been any activity at all in the team forum for over 3 days now.

I’m starting to get a little bit concerned, to be honest.

I mean, we’ve got text… a fair amount of it, really… dealing with some initial ideas and directions. But that hasn’t really materialized into anything tangible enough for me to wrap my head around as a player. I’ve listened to the songwriting demo several times, but I’m not really hearing what dwoz is hearing… either that, or I don’t correctly understand what he’s written.

The logical thing to do would be to post about my confusion. Which, of course, I haven’t… unless this narrative counts, that is. But, it’s been a pretty busy week for me with my other team and some other stuff going on, and I trust in dwoz. After all, it’s only been a week and I think Team Milk Carton (which I was fortunate enough be part of in CAPE V) put together our entire tune in less time than we have remaining for this CAPE, so I’ll refrain from panicking.

That’s the trick to doing more than one team, I think. Recognizing my own roles and trying not to step beyond them. Dwoz is producing this team, so it’s his call on how it moves forward. I’m pretty much rigged and ready to go, all I need is some direction and maybe a couple of scratch tracks, and I’m ready for the red button.

Maybe it’s all the frantic activity that my other personality is going through on another team, or the fact that I need to consider the writing of this story in addition to my other CAPE duties. I might not be sure of the exact cause, but this seems like a hurry up and wait kind of situation to me. Lots of build-up (at least in my own head), but in the first week, not much payoff.

It’s like I’m ready to jump in head first, but I’m still waiting for someone to fill the pool.

So, for the time being, I remain on active standby. Further bulletins as events warrant.

Cheers,

Dave The Performer

[Azraphael.]

Track 9: I Guess I Got The Job by The Mixer

Well, well, well… looks like I’ve been roped into filling in the third perspective of this story, since The Songwriter really didn’t have anything left to contribute. Oh, and I’ll be stealing his colour. I like blue.

Anyway, please allow me to introduce myself. I am The Mixer (for Team Azraphael).

I haven’t been mixing for very long… at least not at the point where I think what I do is at all listenable. I was actually very hesitant about signing up as a potential mixer for CAPE 6, because of some of the absolutely tremendous mixes I’ve heard come out of this event in the past. It’s a pretty tough standard to live up to.

Now, I’ll be honest and say that I’ve been told recently that my mixes are excellent, truly professional, full of gloss and shine, and represent the songs perfectly. But, since my dad can’t carry a tune in a bucket himself, I don’t put too much stock in his opinion on this particular topic.

Instead, I went to some people I can trust in this regard: you lot. I’ve posted a couple things over the last several months in The Sounding Board, and generally they were well received. I also sent a PM to the illustrious Goes211 prior to signing up for this CAPE with a recent example of my mixing work. What I was looking for was a basic interpretation of a) whether I should sign up as a mixer at all, and b) if so, at what level? Adequate? Skilled? Dare I say it, gifted? Okay, so maybe not gifted, but just you wait until CAPE 7…

Anyway, Goes seemed to agree with some other opinions I’ve heard, which is that though my mixes aren’t anything Earth shattering, they’re also not completely terrible, either. I signed myself up as adequate, and a couple weeks later got the assignment.

The upshot is, of course, that I’m pretty sure I see eye-to-eye with The Producer on the concept for the presentation for the song. The trick is going to be turning what The Producer hears in his head into what comes out of the speakers. That part’s not going to be so easy… but I think I can manage.

The team is enthusiastic, motivated, and well on our way. I’ve made a couple suggestions here and there about what I’d like to have in terms of tracks, but generally speaking I’m leaving that to the players and The Producer. My job is to try and make all the little puzzle pieces fit together once everything’s been submitted. I’m sure I can handle it.

Besides, all I’ve got to do is make sure that a couple guitars, a bunch of drums and bass, some keys and a slew of vocals all sit nicely together and present the song in the optimum way possible.

How hard can it be?

Cheers,

Dave The Mixer

[Azraphael.]

Track 10: One Voice Among Many by The Producer

I’d love to report that Team Azraphael is well into the tracking process, and that the song is already shaping up nicely.

But I can’t.

Here we are, a little over 2 weeks since team announcements, and we’ve just finalized the structure for the song. There were a bunch of great suggestions for what to do with it, and I think we’ve finally come to an agreement that works for everyone. So, once I put a new guide track together, we should finally be off and running!

That’s the update on the progress part of this. Now I’d like to take a moment to talk about the team dynamics as they are shaping up so far. As I have said, everyone on the team seems enthusiastic, and genuinely into the event. No one has disappeared, no one has quit, and no one has gotten into any fights. So far, at least… I hope it stays that way.

But it’s very interesting to me to see how people interact with one another in a situation like this. Most of the team has presented no challenges for me as The Producer, but one person (who shall remain nameless, at least for the time being) has been a bit more vocal than the others, typically with an opinion or thought contrary to my initial suggestion or opinion on the matter.

Which, for the record, I wouldn’t have any other way. This event is about collaboration, after all. I’m not interested in quieting any voices… but I would prefer that the voices were a bit more polite, for lack of a better word.

I confess to being thrown for a bit of a loop by some of what this person has posted. The core of his ideas are great, and sincerely welcomed. I haven’t agreed with all of his ideas, but most I have. I’m not so full of myself not to recognize a good idea when I hear it, so a bunch of stuff this person has brought up is winding up part of the final plan for the song.

The thing is, more often than not, the person’s posts seem to have a negative tone to them. At least, that’s how I read them. Chances are that there’s no ill will with these posts (at least, I hope there isn’t), but at the same time, it kind of irks me. Not enough for me to have spoken to the person about it, because I don’t think it’s actually an issue… more of a minor annoyance than anything else, really.

Though, I guess by me typing this (assuming he reads it) he’ll know how I reacted to those posts. Which reminds me of something rather important… I’m NOT trying to start a fight here. I’m just doing what I said I would: documenting my thoughts on this CAPE. So, I would ask all my teammates to keep the identity of the person in question to themselves, unless or until he chooses to reveal it personally. I’m not here to sling mud, or to insult anyone, so I’d rather leave names out of it for the time being.

Anyway, you’re probably wondering what has been said that got me miffed. So, here’s a paraphrased list of things that stuck with me, in no particular order:

I’ve been told to remember that people on my team were competant musicians before my parents had even met one another. While this might be accurate, is it really necessary to point out? I don’t think I’d given any indication of anything other than the utmost faith in my team, so I fail to see what could be gained by this comment, other than a rather snide “I’m older than you, so there!” kind of thing. The comment was even ended by calling me “sonny”.

Generally speaking, I’m always put off by people pointing out that they are older/smarter/better/stronger/faster/etc. than someone else. If it’s true, other people will notice. If it’s not, you shouldn’t say it. Either way, from where I sit, pointing this kind of stuff out comes off as pretentious.

I was also informed that the person in question didn’t want the producer’s job, but he definitely has the chops to do it (in his opinion, at least, since he’s the one who posted that). Again, I don’t doubt the accuracy of the statement, but it could have been put across better. Or, more to the point, don’t bother saying it at all.

Seriously, what good does it do to tell your producer “I could do your job, but I don’t want to.”?!?

The reason for not wanting the job, incidentally, is (and this time I quote):

… because I recognized the role for what it is: a glorified point man. And the role of point man can be frustrating, because, at the end of the day, you have no control, you have no power.

Which, frankly, I resent the hell out of. The poster went on to explain that I can make suggestions, and it’s up to my team to play nice and try and help me achieve my artistic vision for the song. That softened the blow somewhat, and again is more or less factually accurate, but I can’t help but think it could have been put across better. The whole thing read like a thinly veiled threat, that this individual would strike if I didn’t play nice, or something like that.

Besides, the statement isn’t even entirely correct. As I understand it, I DO have some control and power, if you want to call it that. Unlike previous rounds, I don’t have to actually accept tracks for the final mix from anyone, if I don’t think they pass muster. That’s not to imply that I think this individual’s tracks will be bad… nothing could be further from the truth. I’ve heard some of this person’s work in the past, and I honestly, I expect some very cool stuff from him. But, if push comes to shove, what ends up in the song is my call.

I don’t know about anyone else, but I consider that some level of control over the whole thing.

Besides, it’s not a lack of control that’s frustrating, it’s dealing with so many different personality types and communication styles without ever even being in the same room with the person. That’s not easy. Could be that I’ve misinterpreted the posts, maybe I didn’t. At this point, I don’t know and don’t really care, to be honest. I don’t think it’s a big deal at this point, but I really hope the trend doesn’t continue.

So I didn’t respond to this stuff, at least not immediately. Thankfully, another teammate piped up with some much needed comic relief, and indicated that the poster might have some anger issues. It was funny, and prompted a response from the poster indicating that things have been frantic for him lately, and he’s run pretty ragged right now.

I hope that’s the only reason. It’s starting to seem to me that this person has somewhere between extremely little and zero respect for me as a producer. That’s cool, I don’t mind… as long as it doesn’t interfere with the work.

I guess there are people that will think it’s shitty of me to post about this here without talking to the person about it first. But I don’t care. I think this is better, really. It leaves names out of it, makes it non-confrontational, and still gets my point across to the person in question. What he decides to do about or with my opinion on this matter is entirely his call.

Besides, you can’t have CAPE without a little drama, can you?

Cheers,

Dave The Producer

[Azraphael.]

Track 11: Dwoz Ex Machina by The Performer

Another week gone, and still no change.

We’re still averaging 3+ days between activity in the Team dwoz forum.

We still don’t have a new song demo, or any audible examples of the sort of thing dwoz, as producer, has in mind for the song.

I’m feeling more than a little rudderless. I’m reminded of those studies you read about every once in a while where 16% of people plan for retirement based on some kind of luck, like winning the lottery or a large inheritance. You know, something to swoop in at the last moment and save the day.

Deus ex machina, I think they call it.

Here’s hoping dwoz gets out of the machine soon.

Cheers,

Dave The Performer

[Azraphael.]

Track 12: Intervention by The Narrator

Whoa, what the hell was all that about?

Sorry you all had to witness that. I’ve given both The Producer and The Performer a stern talking to, and they have promised to reduce the assholery in the future. I’ll note that neither of them promised to eliminate it, though. Interesting.

After a flurry of PMs, everything appears to be worked out with no ill will or bad blood between anyone involved. Just for the record, don’t take anything in this Chronicle too seriously, folks. It is the rantings and ravings of a lone, unsupervised and unedited individual, whose opinions do not reflect those of The Womb’s administrators, The Womb’s members, The Womb’s advertisers, The Womb’s administrators and members’ pets, or the Queen of Sheba.

After all, it’s all in my head. And it’s crowded in here enough as it is.

Right then. The furniture is intact, the walls are undamaged, and apart from a slight stain on the couch cushion (I’m still looking for the culprit) everything appears to be in order.

I’m off. We now return you to your rarely scheduled programming.

Cheers,

Dave The Narrator

[Azraphael.]

Track 13: The Ringers by The Producer

It was a long night last night, but I finally finished the guide track demo. Again.

This song’s been pretty well batted around by now, and we’ve finally gotten something we can work with. The tempo and structure both changed again for this demo, but so far everyone seems to be digging it.

So now we can start tracking! And there was much rejoicing! I think this is the point at which things get a little easier, because all I need to do is let my team do their thing. Everyone’s on the same page with the song, we’ve got a clear structure, and we’ve got great performers. So, there’s not a whole lot for me to do for the next few days, I guess, until the tracks start rolling in.

That’s okay, I can use a bit of break, to be honest.

This past weekend was a terrifying one for me, as I completely lost hearing in my right ear for about 19 hours due to an infection. Several doctors, lots of frustration, sore knuckles (and an undamaged door… didn’t even get that brief satisfaction), a violent and professional ear cleaning, plenty of drizzled prescription ear drops and a few days later my hearing is almost back to normal.

My ear hurts like hell, though. And I’m still missing a bunch of high end definition on that side. It will pass, though, in the next day or so.

Good time for a bit of rest.

This next thing I was going to keep as a surprise, but I just can’t keep it secret any longer. Even though it’s against the rules, we’ve brought in a couple of ancillary players:



I tell ya, that couch sounds AWESOME with quad micing. Substantial, but soft at the same time. It kind of lulls you into a state of relaxation.

The plant, though, is a pain in the ass. Like most guitarists, he’s claiming he can’t hear himself play (because the couch is too loud). I tell him it’s because he doesn’t have ears. He doesn’t seem to hear me. We’ll see what he comes up with.

Cheers,

Dave The Producer

[Azraphael.]

Track 14: Not Dead, But Close by The Narrator

Have you ever lost track of something for so long that when you finally get a chance to return to it you have no idea where to begin?

That’s kind of what happened to this journal for the last couple weeks. Things got nuts in my life in every possible way, and I just never seemed to have the time to write. Okay, that’s not entirely true… I had the time, but when I’d sit down to do it, I’d be thinking CAPE and a quick check on how things are going invariably led me to spending all my writing time working on a song.

And making music is, of course, more fun than writing about it. So my attention wandered to the music itself every time I sat down to write this.

So now I’m not giving myself the option. I’m typing this on my daily train commute. No instruments or other gear in sight, and I can still catch the groove of this whole thing by doing reviews of tracks and test mixes on my iPod.

Apart from that, I’ve just got to plead busy and sick. The ear infection The Producer mentioned ended up either inviting friends over or successfully won some small wars of expansion, because I ended up with throat, chest and sinus infections too. Add a mild case of strep throat, followed by a seriously violent and unexpected allergic reaction to the medication I was prescribed, and you get a miserable couple of weeks.

And that’s without having to go into the whole Saving Turtles From A Burning Orphanage story… which is just as well, I’m tired of telling it.

It sucked, but at least I’m not dead yet. In fact, I’m all better now. Well… I’d give myself a C+. Passing grade, perhaps, but I’m not honour roll material.

Anyway, I’ll let the voices catch you up on what’s been going on CAPE-wise in the last couple weeks. I apologize for the delay, and I hope you all didn’t spend too much time just sitting there hitting the refresh button, waiting, pleading… even begging for there to be another track in this story.

I mean that… I really hope no one did that. Because that would be very, very sad.

Cheers,

Dave The Narrator

[Azraphael.]

Track 15: Rock Solid Rhythm Section by The Producer

Well, I guess it’s up to me to start the ball rolling after our unexpected intermission. Makes sense, I guess, since I’ve been the busiest one of the three of us, by far.

Last time I wrote, Team Azraphael had our tracking demo together, and people were getting down to the business of recording this song. As The Producer, I’ve got to confess that this was a time of trepidation. I had a pretty clear idea of this song in my head, and I was now entrusting that to players that I don’t really know or haven’t heard at all. That was tough, because I just didn’t know what to expect.

Drummerboy’s tracks came in first – two takes of the entire song, actually. Both takes were in the same file… so the song just started again on the drums a handful of bars after the end of the first run through. Nice to have, but it sucked to download. Those were some big files. Took me a couple of hours to get everything, and by that time I was too tired to move. Off to bed I went, planning to return to it the next day.

The next morning, I got up, did my morning thing, and wandered downstairs to check my email and stuff. I was off work due to illness, but trying to keep up from home. As I sat down in the studio, I realized that I had drum tracks to listen to, so I brought up the session while I casually skimmed my email on my BlackBerry. Imported the tracks, got it all lined up and set to go, and hit play to listen to the first take.

I didn’t hear the second take until hours later, when I remembered it was there.

There just wasn’t any need to. It’s like Drummerboy read my mind, translated my thoughts into Drummerian, and provided exactly what I was hoping for but lacked the vocabulary to ask for. A very solid foundation for the song, indeed.

Bass was due to be next, but due to some scheduling restrictions and the fact that we had a scratch bass to track to, the rhythm guitar tracks actually came in first. I can’t believe these two guys weren’t in the same room. Subtle accents in the guitar lines play off one another, and the whole thing sits beautifully with the final drum takes. In this area, I think I was able to communicate my ideas a bit better initially, due to being a guitarist. But, in the end, it’s the players that matter… guitarists are a dime a dozen these days, but real players are much harder to come by.

And I got TWO on my team. AND we’ve got Plant and Couch. So, to the other producers I say this: nyah nyah!

Now that that’s out of my system, let’s go back to the song. Solid drums, killer rhythm guitars… and then came the bass. Or, as kingkai likes to put it, then came da boom!

4 bass tracks came in – DI and cab for a Precision Bass, and the same for a fretless. One had all the punch, and the other had all the buttery smoothness you could ask for. But which to use? I’ll have to consult with The Mixer on that one.

Anyway, once those bass tracks were lined up, the song started really pounding. This is exactly what I was hoping for… completely unapologetic rock n’ roll. These guys groove like a band in a room, which for reasons that will become apparent when you hear the final tune, is extremely important for this song.

Nobby remarked in the team forum that a song can be made or broken by the rhythm section, and that’s more true than usual with this tune, I think. Without the driving backbeat, the whole thing would fall apart. But the foundation we have to work from is, frankly, outstanding.

These guys kick ass.

Cheers,

Dave The Producer

[Azraphael.]

Track 16: Countdown by The Performer

12 days, counting today. As I type this, that’s how long is left before the final submission deadline for the CAPE 6 songs.

Unfortunately, we still haven’t gotten started. Dwoz has let us know a few things that have destroyed any and all last vestige of his free time as of late (including a not-well-publicized-around-here birthday), so it’s understandable that a voluntary just-for-kicks internet collaboration hasn’t gotten to his A list of prioirities.

Still a bit of a bummer, though.

But dwoz has also thrown down the gauntlet, so to speak. I’m truly amazed at this turn of events… after his explanation of why we are where we are as a team, dwoz stated his confidence that we can still get it done. His claim, a bold one, is that he knows that each and every one of us on the team is capable of nailing our tracks in very short order. I believe the way he put it was that he knows the parts will be nailed.

That’s good to hear, as a performer. It’s nice to be recognized in that way, and also have someone backing you up like that. But it puts some pressure on, too.

It’s weird. I’ve never met dwoz in person. We haven’t done CAPE together before, and our conversations have been largely in passing. But, for some strange reason, I want to live up his expectations. I’m just worried that I won’t have an opportunity to do so.

I posted in the team forum that I still want to do this, but I just don’t have time to work this song from scratch on my own. I’d love to, but I have to accept my own time limitations at the moment. All I’m looking for is a chart and something to play to… I’ll get my tracks in.

We’re not out of the running yet on Team Dwoz… but I think the point of no return is approaching.

So far, every CAPE team I’ve been on has completed the tune on time. This is actually the first time that I’ve been worried that it might not happen… but then I remember Team Milk Carton in CAPE V...

It wasn’t even an assigned team, just people all in the chatwomb at the same time when someone mentioned their other team had dissolved. A completely ad hoc team put together at close to the zero hour, and we got it done.

Team Milk Carton pulled it off in 2 weeks, if I recall correctly. Slightly more time than we have left…. but at least we have a song to start with.

It can be done. Anyone want to start laying odds?

Cheers,

Dave The Performer

[Azraphael.]

Track 17: Early Thoughts by The Mixer

This mix is either going to be really easy or really difficult, but I’m not in for an average kind of session on this one.

The tracks that have come in so far are, in a word, excellent. I’m being put in the coveted position as a mixer where my role is to only bring out the best, not fix the worst. It’s amazing the difference great performances make, as we all know, and I’ve got some great performances here.

But that also makes this harder, in a way. I mean, it’s kind of up to me not to fuck this up. With tracks like the ones I’ve been given, if this sounds like ass at the end of the day, the responsibility will rest on one person: me.

So, with that in mind, I figured it might be a good idea to provide the team with a couple test bed mixes from the final drums, bass and rhythm guitars. The dual purpose here is that I can get some preliminary feedback on what I’m doing in the mix, and the guys have the final tracks to track their solos and vocals to.

Well, I don’t know if anyone is tracking to it, but I did get some feedback on the mix. So far, so good. Some much needed criticisms here and there, but the reaction was very positive overall.

From a technical standpoint, most of the tracks submitted have been in good shape. The organ tracks have a lot of static-type noise in them that padboy’s diligently trying to dispose of. The bass cab tracks have too much buzz in them, so they might not get used either. Still not sure though… there’s a couple sections of the song where it might come in handy.

I’ve got a lot of options with this mix. I just hope I choose the right ones.

Cheers,

Dave The Mixer

[Azraphael.]

Track 18: Kicking & Screaming by The Performer

Believe it or don’t, things are starting to happen in the Team Dwoz camp!

Using the existing songwriting demo, paulcezanne went ahead and tracked 3 different drum lines. Thing is, at this late point in the game, I think that kind of complicated things a little bit. The confusion didn’t last long, though, as vanblah accurately pointed out that at this stage, too much choice can sink us.

Since our producer is so swamped with other stuff that we haven’t heard from him in a little while (well, I haven’t, at least), it seemed logical to find out which one paulcezanne liked of his tracks. Keep in mind, folks, that this is 3 different grooves we’re talking about. This is not a simple “which performance is best” selection, but rather a definitive choice on what the drums will be doing stylistically for this song.

Somehow we ended up with a shuffle beat… for a song in straight time on the demo.

I mean, why make things any easier on ourselves? We’re already under the gun, and if we’re going to make it to the finish line, I guess we might as well make it as complicated as we can.

It’s more fun that way.

Anyway, the new drums sit in an interesting manner with scratch tracks from the original demo. Strat+AC30 posted up a rough guide mix, and the result is definitely a different feeling song. I haven’t really had a chance to absorb it yet, but I think we’re on to something here.

Saturday’s lined up as my tracking day for this, by the looks of things. Looks like most of the team is still on board to get this done, so I think we still stand a solid chance. Team spirit among those still posting seems unusually high, given the circumstances, and I take that as a good sign.

We have about a week left. It’s not going to be easy.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go write some guitar parts. Looks like I’ve got some work to do after all.

Cheers,

Dave The Performer

[Azraphael.]

Track 19: Don’t Mix And Blog by The Mixer

This is, as you know, the first time I have mixed for CAPE, and one thing I learned really quickly is that you don’t have time to blog about it.

As was expected, the team went past the formal tracking deadline, but that was by design and agreed upon in the first days, while setting internal timelines. Unfortunately, we also went past our internal deadline, which left me less time with this mix than I would have liked.

A familiar story for CAPE mixers, I’m told.

But, the gods were smiling at me. The whole thing just grooved together so effortlessly, that I found myself working more quickly than usual. Well, not more quickly… but more often. I mean this song was an absolute joy to mix.

I don’t really know what the overall average is, but we found our final mix with version 3.1. Version 3.0 was cool, but nobby wanted a syllable of his vocals brought out a little more.

Fuckin’ singers….

Yes, that’s a joke. Don’t shoot me.

This sidetrack reminds me… Nobby is a champion of vocalists, and future Nobby mixers be warned: he won’t make it easy, but he’ll make it great. Nobby submitted a total of 21 FINAL vocal tracks for this song. It’s like the Nobby Tabernacle Choir. It’s bloody awe-inspiring, really. And now that I’ve heard them, the song simply and absolutely has to have those vocal tracks in it.

But it’s a bit of a bitch to mix when you have more vocal tracks than everything else combined. Again, great performances saved me a ton of potential aggravation here, but still…. 21 tracks?!?!

As I was saying, the whole thing just glued itself together. I had a few infuriating line-up issues with tracks from 2 players, but it took very little time to sort those out. Good tip folks, if you aren’t already doing it: Get EVERYONE on the team to print the SAME 1 or 2 bar click at the top of their tracks. Makes alignment issues a minor inconvenience for your mixer, rather than a giant pain in the ass.

Anyway, once everything was there and setup, I just got to work. My wife thinks I’m certifiable, because I seemed to enjoy listening to the same 4 minute-ish song over and over and over again. But what can I tell you? This was fun to mix. Nothing bizarre was required, and all the tracks grooved so well that I found myself finding a nice use for almost all of them, if only a piece here and there.

The result was a very cool, raw, driving, old school punk tune.

Problem is, it’s not supposed to be a punk tune, as I was informed. Absolutely correct, and I’m glad it was pointed out to me. That’s the problem with Producing AND Mixing. You lose that critical verification that a Producer provides when it’s your own work being scrutinized. That’s why collaboration and communication are so key to this event.

Back to basics I went, and came pretty close to ripping this mix to the ground. I kept the drums and bass sounds and mix that I had, but approached everything else a little differently. A bit more groove, a bit less angry.

Which reminds me, I love Hammonds. Especially when so well played.

Version 2 of the mix went up for general consumption and was very well received. Mix 3 introduced a bit more polish on the foundations of Mix 2, and we were ready to go.

Then Nobby pointed out his vocal thingy, so I figured it was an easy thing to do and not worth arguing, and Mix 3.1 was born.

The team seems to love it. The Producer is absolutely apeshit over it, and I’m pretty proud of it myself. I’m pretty sure we’ve captured The Producer's vision for the tune.

Mix 3.1 was submitted, and it was submitted on time.

It left me no room to blog about it in my schedule, but that’s okay. I really think this is a mix that stands on it’s own.

So, my work here is finished (what little there was of it on the Chronicles side of things), and it’s been fun. Will I mix again for CAPE? Absolutely. Gods willing I’ll get performers as good as those on Team Azraphael.

Cheers,

Dave The Mixer

[Azraphael.]

Track 20: Can We Change The Name To Band Azraphael? by The Producer

I’ve been involved with 7 CAPE teams over the years, including the two that I’m now on.

This one has been, collectively, the best. By a pretty wide margin, really. All my other teams in the past had some sort of drama… dropouts, arguments, etc. Sure, they all finished on time, but none of them had the same lineup at the end as what the team announcement said at the beginning.

This team is different. I might be going off the deep end here, but I think the reason our song is so good is because these guys really made it feel like a band in a studio working on a killer rock n’ roll song. There was no real bullshit, no attitude…. just great players treating the song as king.

It was gold.

Anyway, we left things in the hands of our CAPE-rookie Mixer, and he came through. A bit of a false start, but everyone loves what came across the finish line.

Especially me. And the egomaniacal part of me thinks it’s immensely cool that this song is getting tagged with Team Azraphael. My name. That’s something to be extremely proud of, I think.

But that’s also misplaced pride, because this was truly a collaborative effort. The emphasis there should be on the word Team, not on my name. I just steered the ship a little bit… these guys did all the heavy lifting and really brought this song to life. And for that, I am in their debt.

I pitched the tune to the powers that be as Social Distortion meets Black Crowes, and you know what? That’s kinda what we got… but better. It’s not trying to be anything other than a rock n’ roll song. It doesn’t matter who it sounds like, only what it sounds like.

And I love what it sounds like.

I’m not sure if I’ll Produce for CAPE again. I’ve had a great time doing it, but it’s been a lot of work. In this case, it was worth it. I guess it will depend on the song… I don’t think I’ll sign up to Produce or Point under the old format, that’s for sure. But, the ability to pick the song first is attractive, especially since there are so many great songwriters around these parts.

Yeah, in this setup I’d do it again. Assuming the right song is there, of course.

But, my job is now done. I was tasked with taking a song as a producer, and putting together something for Arthur, King of the Mooks. I think it can be safely said that we achieved that goal.

In the end though, this was really about something more. Much more than any other CaPE, this team felt like a band. It was very, very cool. I learned quite a bit this time around… more than I have in any previous CaPE. I did some things well, and some not. That’s the way it goes, I guess.

See you in CAPE 7.

Cheers,

Dave The Producer