Timothy the musical is making progres, albeit more slowly than I’d like. As if to confirm this is the season for music production, God prompted a friend to donate a pair of professional studio reference monitors. It’s been a real joy using them to replicate what I learned from the young man who remixed Resurrection Power, to apply what he taught me to the remaining songs in the musical.

One of the most important practices when mixing a new song is frequent breaks to recalibrate your ears by listening to a well-mixed reference track. If all an audio engineer listens to is the track he’s mixing, ear fatigue can set in which leads to poor mixing decisions. It’s not unlike making a regular habit of reading the Bible and holding to it as the standard for living. Without such standard, our approach to living, like mixing music, becomes situationally relative and that leads to compromise.

Relearning the art of mixing in the DAW age (Digital Audio Workstation) with my hearing issues addressed, I’m having great fun with my shortest song – 95 seconds of pure fire and brimstone insanity. It’s a nod to the Spitfire Trio first introduced in the post In Memory of Betsy (link). I’ve met believers like them before, always pushing others to reevaluate their salvation and draw nearer to God above and escape the fiery flames below. Ever on the lookout for the devil to give him a good thrashing, I could always count on them for a unique perspective in faith. Written in 1976, Fire Insurance was inspired by my mom who came up with the chorus. The original recording is from 2001. The new recording replaces the synthesized drums, banjo, and fiddle with the real McCoy. Links below to the original and new Mp3 files are for your comparison and entertainment. Hearing the difference convinces me it’s worth the effort to remix them all. No doubt I’ll tweak it some more as I continue to learn and get feedback.

ORIGINAL Fire Insurance

NEW Fire Insurance (demo)

A few weeks ago, my daughter and son in law visited and we sat down for a table-reading of the opening act of Timothy. It showed me the need for a narrator to set the scene for the audio-only version of the musical. Also the need for a well crafted soundscape and sound effects to convey the environment, character movement, and transitions. If as I’d hoped the audio-only version is completed this year, it will require a miracle or two. Nothing is beyond God’s reach of course but perhaps the goal of this year is more my timing than His.

Naturally rewriting for a narrator will take some time. Timothy was written as a stage production where a narrator was unnecessary. Karen and I made a draft recording of Act 4 to test the concept and it works well with a ‘crackling fire’ sound track and other sound effects to convey the comforts of home, such as a door closing, footsteps, etc. Like everything else with this musical, God leads me to what I need when I need it – like discovering a number of royalty free sound libraries, or Fiverr for hiring session musicians for instruments I don’t play. I’ve been at this for 50 years so I guess there’s no hurry.

Remember folks “He who has the Son has life, he who does NOT have the Son is going to hell on a flaming fire truck!” (1 John 5:12 SFT version).

Whoops! Sorry! That was the Spitfire Trio (SFT) version. How ’bout these instead:

He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. (1 John 5:12 NAS95)

So, whoever has the Son, has life; whoever rejects the Son, rejects life. (1 John 5:12 MSG)

The next post will explore a theme that became clear to me in my last reading of Timothy. It’s about more than a Grandfather and Grandson spending time together and talking about the Lord.

Until next time, Shalom! Jack