Sphere Music just published an interview with me, where we discuss my big upcoming release, my songwriting process, profanity, and toddler wipes. I should really put more effort into staying on message. Read it here.
Once upon a time in 1994, I released the first Color Theory album, Sketches in Grey. Despite its hideous production quality, two hits (relatively speaking) emerged: “Never Realized” and “Snowing.” To be fair, I recorded the album in my one-bedroom apartment on a 486 DX computer running Windows 3.1. My audio interface was a Roland RAP-10 sound card, with internal reverb and chorus effects, capable of playing back 4 tracks simultaneously. My “monitors” were Boston Acoustics bookshelf speakers, and mixing took place over a single weekend through a Mackie 1202 into a rented DAT machine.
Todd Sanders recording bass for Sketches in Grey
Back then, I didn’t know what mastering was, but I knew I needed it. I somehow got hooked up with a jazz drummer/engineer who rented out four hours in a pro facility to master my album, from midnight to 4 a.m. when rates were lowest. I remember him attempting to turn down a vibraphone solo by cutting the midrange out of an entire song (“Something Here”), and boosting every track at 12 KHz to give my vocal the same “air” as Sting.
By 1999, I was mastering other peoples’ music full-time. The original pressing of the album sold out, so I added bonus tracks and remastered it myself. While the result is truer to the source material, I was scared to get my hands dirty, and I had a blind spot when it came to hearing problems in my own mixes.
Fast forward to 2011: I spent the entire summer remastering my back catalog, and I dare say the song sounds better than ever! If I haven’t “mastered” it by now, I never will.
Here is the original master of “Snowing,” followed by the 1999 remaster, ending with the new 2011 remaster. Better?
If you like what you hear, the full song is available for free download for one week only.
Here’s a little snippet I created a few months ago and then promptly forgot about. It’s not really a song idea as much as an experiment with Stutter Edit, a “live performance effect” created by BT. I have no intention of using the plug-in as intended, but it manages some nifty tricks.
What is this, Dire Straits? No, it’s Color Theory! This clever reworking of Hypothetically by Unreal_dm provides a rare opportunity to hear my voice up against guitars.
Recent politics aside, we’ve all posted something online that we regretted about a millisecond later. Whether it’s an email blasted out in anger, a status update ranting about your boss, or publicly revealing something best left private, lives are ruined with a slip of the finger.
Stephen Pearlman made some interesting comparisons:
This song is amazing. You’ve paired the electronic restraint of Radiohead with the evocative chord progressions of Peter Gabriel era Genesis, all the while keeping the Color Theory motif. And your vocal is beautiful! The lyric is bittersweet and haunting. I love it!
What have you posted online that you regret? C’mon, it’ll be our little secret…
A Slip of the Finger
©2011 Brian Hazard (ASCAP)
I am an outcast
And it suits me fine
God knows my actions
Really crossed the line
Each time you touch a part of me
I fear that you’ll break it
Cause I’ve done something I regret
And I’ll never shake it
A slip of the finger
A mark that will linger forever
Hero or villain
A legacy hinges on
A slip of the finger
The fleeting impulse
Of a maniac
A flash of panic
I can’t take it back
Kings abdicate and nations fall
For smaller offences
Thought I could justify it all
Until I came to my senses
Nothing to live for
Careless in defeat
Why bother looking
When I cross the street?
I’d promise anything to go back
To when my past wasn’t checkered
But every key we press is part
Of our permanent record
One lapse of judgement
Ablaze in the snarling heat of the moment
That’s when I lost you darling.
