My fortune from Saturday night.

Welcome to my first post of 2012 (gasp). Since the last update, it’s been all recording (interspersed with furious bouts of new writing and re-writing) for me. I’ve been dealing with around 15 tracks, all vying for the 11 spots on the album. When I set out to make this album, I really didn’t know what the overall vibe would be. I just aimed to capture the most inspired moments, and write from the heart. Now that the album is starting to take shape, I can say that it primarily explores the tender side of music, with some unexpected twists throughout. My aim is to complete the recording (or most of it) by the end of February (which seems to be approaching by the time I finish this sentence), and move into the mixing stage in March. I hope to get the CDs into the hands of my Kickstarter backers in the spring, with the general release and tour starting in the summer.

Want to hear some of the music? Join me this Saturday, Feb. 25, at 1:00PM Eastern time for a Google+ Hangout video chat. I’ll be in my studio, doing Q&A and playing some tracks from the album.  Google+ hangouts are limited to 9 participants, so if it fills up, I’ll do a few sessions to get everybody in. Find my Google+ profile at http://bit.ly/TomBrislinGooglePlus .

Did you miss my Kickstarter campaign, but want to help be a part of my album release? Contact me for info. Until next time, here are some more shots from the studio, taken from the video footage of the sessions.

Playing Electric Piano (Yamaha CP70)

My good friend Shueh-li Ong plays Theremin on a track

Singing into my new favorite microphone, the MikTek CV4, at my bud Clint Lagerberg's new fantastic studio.

It’s been non-stop recording, writing, and more recording for the past few months. Since it’s been a while since my last update, I’ve decided to go live on my USTREAM channel to play some of my new songs for you, and do a little Q&A in the live chat. As I tend to do these things spontaneously, the first one will be tonight (as of this writing), Thursday, Dec. 15, at 9:30PM Eastern Time. Knowing that some of you might not see this update until that time is passed, I’ll be broadcasting again on Sunday afternoon at 2PM Eastern. Find my broadcast at http://bit.ly/theWoodshed and I hope to see you there.

Mission Control, with Shuttlepod One riding shotgun

It is indeed a standing desk.

I’m recording keyboards, doing some mixing, and grabbing vocals, percussion, and more from the adjacent isolation booth (the “Cone of Truth”):

Hello from the Cone of Truth

At the heart of my album is the piano. The hunt was on for something special, and through an amazing stroke of fortune, the good folks at Seale Keyworks have allowed me to bring my mobile recording rig (“Shuttlepod One”) to play and record on a Boesendorfer grand piano. It’s quite an instrument, and besides, it’s got 92 keys. Four extra bass strings. Naturally, this means that the piano is four better than other pianos. Just ask any scientician.

Too many keys to fit in the photo.

While photos are nice, I know that you’re probably more interested in hearing the results. Since my time in these spaces is limited, I’m recording as much of the “raw” material as I can, which will be mixed at a later time. I’m bending that rule a little bit, in the case of “Your Favorite Day”, a song that I’ll be releasing here in the days to come. Until then, I’m back to the studios…

It’s not over yet! My campaign is still running through the weekend, so please visit the project and have a look around.  This is the last chance to pre-order the album with lots of bonus material, house concerts, a custom cover song of your choice (or have me write a song especially for you), lessons, an autographed keyboard, and much more!

The campaign ends Monday, July 25, at just before 2pm Eastern Time.