Today's post will consist of thoughts that occur to me as I mixdown tracks from Scottish Songs of Drinking & Rebellion. I spent yesterday finishing up most of the songs. It's sounding pretty durn awesome if I do say so myself. This is still my least favorite part of recording, the mixing and mastering. There just seem to be SO many options when you mix music. Which works best? Always a tough decision. Plus, I'm not as good looking at the details. I'm a big picture kind of guy.

• I just finished “Loch Lomond”. Now “Loch Tay Boat Song”.
• Adult gummy vitamins. Genius!
• I was announced as Music Guest of Honor at Chi-Fi in Chicago next year. Get your tickets now.
• Oh! It looks like the Celtic Music Fan reviewed my last album, Not Every Day Is St. Patrick's Day. I'll give it a read in a wee bit.
• Mixing down “MacPhearson's Farewell”. I love the sound of this song. And what a great story.

Of course, the extra frustrating thing about mixing is that once you hear that “perfect mix” on your stereo, you have to listen to it somewhere else, like in a car, to see if it is as good a mix as you thought. Can you hear all of the instruments? Is the bass too loud?

Again, lots of fine tuning.

• Did you get a chance to listen to the DragonCon edition of the Pub Songs Podcast? I posted it last week. I think it was pretty fun!
• I love podcasts that support my music. Check out Rad-Nerd-Rok.
• I think I was mentioned in the latest podcast by Success Freaks. I met another of the hosts at DragonCon this year. Good podcast. Give it a listen and let me know what they have to say.
• Here's a radio show that features my music. It's called WALT Radio.
• It's not me, but my old bandmate, Andrew McKee, ran the Filk Track Podcast at DragonCon. He has a bunch of interviews over there like this one.
• Mixing “Mari Mac”.
• Pretty jewelry.

I don't really stretch my vocals usually, especially during live shows. But now and then… I'm working on “Mingulay Boat Song”. Something about this song (at least the way I do it) requires a little stretching. I had to add in some extra vocals that are little bit more like the ones I used on Going For Brogue, another fine recording of this song.

• The letter “B” sucks. But it sucks less than the letter “P”. Those letters often yield nasty popping sounds. I think I fixed it.
• Did I mention I have new business cards for the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. They have arrived. If you need some to help promote the show and invite bands to the podcast, email me.

Okay. I guess that's all the time I have today. Time to pickup Kenzie from daycare.