Setting the tone

How do I carefully wrap up the first song when it not only should be entertaining and tasteful, but also an introduction to the larger body of work? These decisions can take on a million different directions, but I think I've settled on a sound that works pretty well. It's driven but not too dancey. Going into this, I didn't know how natural it would feel to turn songs like this into a track like "that." Turns out, not very.

All the lyrics are intact, and mostly in the same order, with a few variations. The end result is something that, to my ear, sounds very linear, almost band-driven, as opposed to a loop-based track. As I reserve the right of revision, it's never final 'till its final. So, Perth final draft to come soon. Happy Halloween.

The beginning

Justin Vernon and company from the band Bon Iver have decided to release the "stems", or raw studio tracks for each song off of their self titled album.  If you've heard it, I bet you liked it.  It's inspired, has wonderful production, and his arrangements are at once hugely lush and also minimalist.  Many people are choosing to remix one or more of their favorite tracks for submission to an online contest which can be found here.  I would encourage anyone to give this a shot if they've ever wanted to, as these stems are free to download (once you join as a member), and the tools needed are easily had on the cheap.  I have decided to remix the songs, but not for contest purposes.

My goal is to remix the entire album and document the process through this blog.  What I hope to get out of this process (remixing and blogging about it) is as follows:

• the opportunity to work with top talent and source material
• a better understanding of music production, mixing and mastering
• the overall project management side of album creation
• a chronicled point of reference for future projects
• a cohesive end product that does justice to the artist and allows the music to be viewed from another unique angle

Of course, I hope to collect any opinions as I work through different ideas, etc.  I'll be sharing bits and pieces as things progress.  Some may be interesting, others unintelligible.  Please check back for updates if you're so inclined.

Thank you,
AOC