overwhelmed by the stinkies

Post 54 of 90.

It turns out my Alexander work has helped me regain some flexibility. It's nothing close to how flexible I used to be, but improving. During the table work part of my session this evening, my AT teacher was able to move my legs up way past where they usually are able to flex, and I didn't experience any pain or discomfort. It occurs to me that the pain and tightness I normally experience behind my knees during a stretch is actually due to some other factor than simply having lost flexibility. It may actually be connected more to the flexibility of my calf muscles than it is to my hamstrings, but I'm not totally sure. I've always worked on stretching my calf muscles, so...I don't really know. I'll look into it.

I quit guitar practice early. A family member had apparently been working with caustic chemicals in the basement, and even though I was in a more-or-less sealed room and I couldn't really smell the fumes, they still seemed to have worked their magic and I now have a light head and a thumping sinus headache.

I've been listening to a mix of a recent ProTools recording, and there's something going on still with the bass guitar that is pushing the recording way too far in the 250 to 500 hz range of frequencies, i.e. the "mud" frequencies. It probably goes all the way back to bass amp emulation I chose in the Ampeg modeling plug-in and the sound I dialed in with the mid-range knob that I liked so much and which seemed so thoroughly bitchen at the time.

So now I can't seem to find a level with the bass that "sits" right in the mix. It's either booming out and muddying the whole track or it disappears.

I've generally noticed that I tend to mix with way too much bass. One of my long-time fellow recording enthusiasts seems to do the same thing with his mixes. I need to get used to mixing with a flat eq and not try to compensate that area to make it sound like a stereo with the "loudness" bass boost on. I need to leave some headroom there.

On some systems, this bass/low mid issue doesn't show up at all except as the mix being slightly too "thick," but through iTunes with Bose noise cancellers (and the damn low-mid bump featured in those headphones) it's total mud unless I pull out about 6-8 db in the 250 to 500 hz range with the graphic eq.

I'll remix again some other time when I have some spare time. Guitar practice for Chicago is first on the menu right now.

Taking the trash bin out to the curb tonight was an exercise in ice skating.

I have yet to get comfortable with my part in the "fairy fingers" section of Blockhead. I pick the same "three pattern" in Grossderschau with no problem, but for some reason that work isn't helping me here.