Redemption - The Soundtrack

The Redemption experience as a whole has been such a wonderful challenge. The soundtrack has been no different. I am currently in the studio mixing the soundtrack which should be out in just a few weeks. LA is so interesting with its flakes and divas, I have been blessed to find some sincere and genuine people here. I must admit however, we I ran into some rather extrodinary egos as I was recording the soundtrack. In an effort to give new vocalists a voice and to expand our group of singers I posted an ad on Craig's list to find new singers. The result was uncanny.

I'm sure there were more vocalists out there looking for their chance to shine than the ones who responded. Maybe these other vocalist didn't respond because they are looking for big time money or because I am a "no name" producer and writer. Whatever the case, I know there are better singers out there. Most of the people who responded were singers that were just OK, not bad, but just OK. I auditioned about 30 singers and only chose to work with two.

The two I chose really had something special that made them stand out. Chris Youngblood was phenomanol. He had such a soulful voice and such presence. I loved his music I heard on Myspace/youngblood05. I called him in and we instantly vibed. I will definitely be working with this soulful singer again.

The other person I chose was Vanessa Bryant who really had a sweet spirit. As a writer I am always looking to expand my universe and I specifically wanted to do an acoustic song on this project and was well pleased with the energy she gave on the song "How will I live"

I met other singers through friends but they were simply interested in money and not truly interested in the art. It's not that I mind paying, I do pay. It's just that when it's only a business it loses some of it's honesty particularly when you're unsigned.

I even had one singer agree to perform during the production and on the soundtrack who simply decided not to show up call or otherwise notify me. Her name was even on the original fliers. How sad? What's even sadder is that she sings at one of the largest churches here in Los Angeles. Is there no integrity left?

So you wanna know what goes into creating an album? You need music, you need musicians (even if you are one), you need a songwriter, you need a studio and you need artists spoken or singers. After you have all of these things, you need the two most important: Talent and Creativity.

Once you have a barn full of songs recorded you then have to edit and mix. You have to chose which take goes the best and sounds the best with the track. Then you have to slice and dice from different tracks until you have a "comp" track that goes from beginning to end for each instrument or vocal part. After the painstaking process of recording editing and preparing the files for final mix and mastering, you now have to decide which songs make it on the project and which go in the vault. This is a very difficult process!! Some songs you like, but they are just not good enough. Others make it because you have too many slow songs and not enough fast ones. Then you sit through hours of mixing and tweaking every little thing possible until you can't stand to hear the song anymore!!

You must also have your artwork designed for the album artwork, write credits and notes. If your smart, you will also create a webpage to promote the new project.

Ultimately, you try to put together a project that people will feel and be moved by. So those of you who buy the project, I hope you love it and feel the lyrics. As a writer, above all I want to say something powerful and as usual it will be centered around love. By the way, I am working off of 2 hours sleep so I hope all of this makes sense...

Enjoy.