In the Can

I've alluded to this, vaguely and cryptically, over these last weeks. As of 4 hours ago, we now have the raw material for a commercial live recording of Volpone. And this has been possibly the most frustrating and confounding journey of my professional life thus far.

The recording project was launched and cancelled more times than I can count. The path to today was littered with obstacles, aborted attempts, misinformation and misunderstandings. But it also included generous colleagues, helpful advice, supportive coworkers and bosses, and a learning curve that was so fierce that it demanded to be conquered.

I intend to articulate that process here in the blog. It's critical that other small organizations have the chance to learn from our mistakes and our successes. Very little of this journey is private or confidential, and there are no real villains. Yet it was a bigger mess than almost anything I've witnessed. But it will have to wait for a day (week? month?) that is requiring less of me than this midseason whirlwind.

Patch

Yesterday was spent listening to the audio from the first three performances so we could have a short list of things to address during our post-performance patch session today. Fortunately, the list was manageable - largely full of scene change music that in live performance is compromised by unavoidable bumps and bangs. We also polished off a few scenes that needed to be sung from a more stable stage position (read: rather than being sung while running at breakneck speed through doors and up ladders).

Now, Soundmirror will mix and master a composite recording from the live performances and the patch session, and we'll resume the big discussion about record label. But first, we turn our attention to Chabrier's charming L'Etoile, which begins rehearsal tomorrow morning.

Hump Week!

7 down, 7 to go. Good thing, too. I came to work with my clothes on inside-out the other day.