Mixing time

Hello and welcome back to the latest d'blog. From d'both of us!

That's right. You're getting 2 Michaels for the price of 1 d'blog giving you all the latest on progress with the TESS album. 

So take it away Michael. 

​And Michael.

So the end is in sight. For this part of the Tess project anyway. The album. Hard to believe we are saying that, nearly two years on from the first discussions we had about a possible recording of the entire show with our producer Sunim Koria (for the record, he initially turned us down).

In case you missed the news, we now have a first mix of the whole show. That’s right. All two hours of it. All singers, band members, additional instrumental sounds, foley (yes, we had to look it up) and sound effects are now in place and have gone through the first process of “A bit more that”/ “Less of that”/ “Oo, bring that bit out!”

We can actually hear the show.

THE BILLIE JEAN STORY

The only thing is, fussy so ’n’ sos that we are, this could take us a little while to finish off. Don’t groan. To give you some idea of the time it can take, you remember Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean? Well, they did 91 mixes of the song. That’s right. 91. Only for them to go with mix number 2 as the one we hear today. Click the pic of Michael Jackson to read the full story from the producer himself, Bruce Swedien.
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Now Bruce is something of an idol to our very own producing wizard Sunim, so let’s see if we make it to 91. Stay tuned!

​ALBUM DESIGN

Meanwhile, the album design and booklet are also nearing completion. Here’s a little sneaky peek of what we’ll be serving up:

A lot of people have been asking us over the past year, “Why have you done an album?” Mainly our long-suffering partners, we hasten to add, but the truth is that the cost of putting on a show far exceeds that of recording one. Plus, crucially, we are not theatre producers. And if we’re not in a position to produce the show ourselves, the question arises of how to promote it in order to attract someone who could?

Of the many options, a ‘concept album’ recording looked the strongest choice. It worked for Jesus Christ Superstar, Chess, even The War of the Worlds. There’s also the fortunate corollary that anyone staging Tess will have an invaluable resource when it comes to getting to know the show, making rehearsals a breeze before the opening night of its world premiere. We hope. 

THE STRATEGY

​The thing is, there’s no blueprint for putting on a new musical. One thing that helps is having a strategy. Ours has been about promotion, building contacts and support, and preparing a top-quality album as a calling card.

And this is where you can play a vital part. In time, we’ll be sharing excerpts from the album on the Tess website and introducing our baby to the world. If you like what you hear, please tell all your friends and acquaintances – especially any called Cameron.

With luck, we may be sharing mix number 2 very soon. Then again, it could be mix number 91. Bear with us – this may take a little more time…

Thank you for reading and following the progress of TESS. Please feel free to leave a comment. We'd love to hear from you.
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​Next time on d'Blog... As work finishes on the first ever album recording of TESS, we bring you news from the studio for the final time.