It’s been a long time in the works, but Álvaro Martínez’ Álabanza Suprema has been completed and is available. Alvaro’s CD Baby account has been approved so his music can soon be found through all the streaming sites that will distribute his music, as well as his disc can be purchased through their channels. Job well done Alvaro and may your music bless many others as you glorify Him who is supreme.

Ha pasado mucho tiempo en el proyecto, pero Álabanza Suprema de Álvaro Martínez está terminada y está disponible.La cuenta de CD Baby de Álvaro ha sido aprobada por lo que su música pronto se podrá encontrar a través de todos los sitios de streaming que distribuirán su música, así como su disco se puede comprar a través de sus canales.Trabajo bien hecho Álvaro y que tu música bendiga a muchos otros mientras glorificas a Aquel que es supremo.

It’s been a very long year-plus of isolation and missing the faces of those around us. I was standing in a check out line this past week and the person behind me commented how nice it was to actually see all of someone’s face. It’s been almost impossible to communicate even a courteous smile or recognition wearing a mask. There were certainly benefits for doing so, but it’s nice to be getting back to “normal”. In this short conversation we commented that the physical, social and spiritual toll COVID-19 has had on virtually everyone was quite high.

Even in the studio we’re enjoying being able to more readily open the doors to a wider variety of work. My mask is still handy for those with extenuating health concerns or persons not comfortable without the use of one, but we’re moving forward. Let’s smile. We have a lot of time to make up for!

With the conclusion of the Phantom of the Opera presentation its time to focus on planned upgrades in the studio. The process has begun.

Most changes seem to involve removing the old to make way for the new so that’s the first step. With the Tascam analog console gone, we’re looking at some cables dating back around 30 years. These will take time to pull out and disconnect from the patchbays. The studio hub used to be the console and the associated patchbays, but with the advent of digital consoles and DAW-based recording much of that type of interconnect is no longer needed. So I’ll be paring it down to the basics and utilizing the Behringer X-32 Rack console as the “patchbay” and interface to the DAW. The outboard mic preamps will still be used extensively, but their route to the new recording platform will be through the Behringer. In the interim the studio is running in a hybrid mode with the old system still doing the recording, but routing the headphone system feeds through the new console. Even after the new system is fully functional, the plan is to retain the old system so prior projects can be restored and not made obsolete. There’s over 20 years of those in digital format so it’s important to have the ability to go back. But in the meantime, there’s still a lot to do.