I listened to The Modern Game master last night and played with the bass and treble levels, perhaps a bit foolish because it can lead to an 'is THIS better?' conundrum that seemingly goes on forever, but, ultimately if you can't really tell if one is better or not, then either is fine. I prefer never to adjust my music in mastering, or at least only very minimally and mainly the final volume. A well produced and composed track naturally sounds good from the outset.
I spent a good hour or more tweaking and re-listening to the music, comparing it with others, but in the end, I reverted back to how it was originally, with a touch more warmness on the initial Beginnings (and also Endings) track. The book proof arrived at 12pm or so and looked amazing. I'd already decided on a few changes; the timing of one track had changed to at least that needed changing, plus a few text and punctuation changes and a minor correction to the colophon. I had also decided to widen and fade the spine slightly differently. The proof needed a few tweaks, but not many. The text on the back needed emboldening, as this was rather thin, and one image needed a little colour tweak. I also stuck in a CD paper to simulate a finished book. This fitted well but it made that page look rather empty, so my last creative change was to add some colour to that page too.
Overall, the book looks amazing, and even if the music was as bad as The Pentateuch of the Cosmogony (which it in no way is) the book would be an artwork to treasure.
One or two more listens perhaps, but when the book proof arrives, assuming it looks acceptable, I will order the CDs and we will be ready. I'm now keen to work on The Burning Circus and get that finished as soon as possible, ideally before the end of September. Time is short. Life is short.
