Starting Point: Capturing “Liveness” Without Being on Stage

This week, I began reflecting on the starting point of this project: if I don’t want to stand in the spotlight, can I still create a “live EP”? Or more precisely, what does “live” mean to me?

For a long time, I’ve found performing on stage uncomfortable. Being in front of an audience makes me feel anxious and disconnected from the music. Instead, I feel more present when I’m behind the scenes—listening, observing, recording, and later shaping the raw material through editing and mixing to bring out the most authentic moments.

That’s why, in this project, I don’t intend to take on the role of performer. I want to approach it as a producer, creating an environment where improvisation can happen naturally and then capturing and shaping that energy. In industry terms, this is also a way of positioning myself within the creative process: less as a visible artist, more as a facilitator and curator of sound.

At the moment, I have two ideal collaborators in mind:

1. A former professor from Shenzhen University, a jazz bassist whose playing combines structure with expressiveness. Working with him might lead to a more polished and carefully shaped live session.

2. A close friend of mine, a rock guitarist whose style is raw, instinctive, and emotionally charged. His approach is freer and more unpredictable, which could create something less controlled but more direct.

Since we are in different locations, collaboration would have to happen remotely. The plan is to begin with conversations about material, sound, and direction, and then to receive live recordings from them that I can develop further through mixing and editing. The goal is not to over-polish the outcome but to preserve a sense of immediacy—something that still feels “live” even when captured across distance.

I also recognise there may be challenges: remote collaboration can mean less spontaneity, technical differences in recording quality, and possible delays in communication. Part of my role as producer will be to manage these issues, making sure the final work still feels coherent and connected.

In the coming days, I plan to reach out to both collaborators, share a brief project outline, and see who is available and interested. This first step will help me decide the direction of the sessions and clarify the balance between planning and improvisation.

Making Contact: Two Conversations, Two Different Paths

This week, I reached out to both musicians I had in mind: my former university teacher Sober and my long-time friend Shanns. Both responded, and their reactions helped me think more clearly about the kind of project I actually want to build.

I started by contacting Sober, my professor and a highly accomplished jazz bassist. Recently he has been very active, releasing new music, touring with two different bands, and running a video series featuring interviews with jazz musicians across China. I told him about my current studies in the UK and explained that this unit focuses on music industry practices. He was supportive and open to collaborating, even suggesting I could work with some of his recent material as a way to explore international release strategies.

The difficulty is that all of his new tracks are already finished—mixed and mastered by professional engineers. My role in such a collaboration would mainly involve distribution and presentation, which would still give me valuable industry experience but very little creative input. It would feel more like managing a release campaign than producing a “live EP” centred on liveness and collaboration.

My conversation with Shanns, on the other hand, was very different. He is one of the most instinctive guitarists I know, but he admitted he has been feeling discouraged by the music scene in China and is even considering stepping away from music to start a business. That was difficult to hear. Still, he agreed to let me work with some of his older unfinished demos and even said he might re-record certain parts if needed.

This shifts the project in a new direction. With Shanns, I would have real creative involvement—editing, arranging, mixing, and shaping songs from the inside. His material is not polished but fragmented and open, which resonates strongly with my idea of liveness. Working with raw and in-progress recordings means I can engage directly with the music as it evolves, rather than treating it as a finished product. It also makes the project feel more personal and emotionally grounded.

At this point, I am seriously considering focusing the project around our remote collaboration. Taking on the role of producer and editor of unfinished material seems far more aligned with my goals for this unit.

Next steps:

1. Ask Shanns to send over the rough drafts he is willing to share.

2. Begin sketching out possible structural ideas and atmospheres.

3. Test which tracks or sections might benefit from re-recording.

This collaboration is not only about finishing songs. It is also about finding energy in something that nearly disappeared and helping it speak again in a new context.

Defining the Tracklist in Line

This week, Shanns and I discussed the tracklist and overall production plan with the Music Industry Practices unit brief in mind. Since the assignment requires a live EP of 4–6 tracks, we decided to work on six tracks in total—five songs with his vocals and guitar, plus one instrumental piece. The basic song structures are complete, but the production is still at a demo stage. The drums and bass parts are currently MIDI-programmed, which leaves room for refinement or re-recording to achieve a more ‘live’ texture.

We also explored physical release formats as required by the brief. Shanns expressed his nostalgia for the cassette era, which he associates with a purer, less commercialised musical culture. Inspired by this, I suggested producing a limited-edition cassette version of the EP alongside the digital release. This would not only emphasise the raw, old-school character of the project but also serve as a meaningful keepsake for him, particularly if he decides to step away from music in the future.

Next Steps:

1. Wait for Shanns to return to his hometown and retrieve the original project files from his old computer.

2. Review the project files once received and discuss the detailed production plan for each track.

Starting with I Don’t Need

This week, Shanns sent me a live recording of one of his songs, I Don’t Need. This was one of his early works, written when he was younger and recovering from a breakup. At the time, he thought he had become clear-headed and wanted to express a kind of disdain for love. From the lyrics alone you can already tell it has a very rock attitude.

The guitar tone in the live version was unpolished, almost abrasive, but it carried an urgency that felt very direct. To be honest, I found myself replaying it a couple of times, because even though the pitch was unstable and the vocal rough, there was something very real in it. The crowd noise and uneven recording quality made it hard to focus on the details, yet in a strange way those imperfections also gave it an energy that can’t be repeated.

What stood out most to me was the contrast between the lyrics’ defiance and the fragile quality of the performance itself. The repeated phrase “I don’t need” didn’t sound like a polished slogan—it felt more like an insistence that was still being worked out, almost like he was convincing himself while singing. That mix of strength and vulnerability is what makes the song interesting for me, and it’s something I really want to keep in the studio version.

After talking it through, we agreed this track would be the best starting point for our collaboration. It already has the raw intensity and emotional honesty that define his style, so rebuilding it feels like a natural first step.

Of course, the live recording itself was too rough to use in the EP. So over the next few days, Shanns will re-record the guitar parts and put together a basic arrangement in Logic. Once he sends me the project files, I’ll take over—refining the structure, adding layers where they’re needed, and shaping the mix. My aim is to hold onto the urgency of the live version while making it clear enough to stand as the opening track of the EP.

Next steps:

1. Receive the re-recorded guitar parts and Logic demo from Shanns.

2. Review the arrangement and discuss possible directions for instrumentation.

3. Begin experimenting with mixing approaches to balance raw energy with clarity.

This week felt like the real beginning of production. I Don’t Need is going to set the tone for everything that follows: personal, direct, and alive.

Mixing I Don’t Need

This week Shanns sent me the Logic project file for I Don’t Need. When I listened back I felt the song was already complete in terms of structure. It did not really need extra arrangement. The instruments worked well together, so I decided to move straight into mixing. My usual approach is to start with the drums and bass to build the rhythmic and energetic foundation, and then move on to guitars and vocals.

Drums

I split the kick drum into three tracks, each serving a different role: one for the attack, one for the mid-low punch, and one for the sub-bass. For the attack track, I used compression and transient shaping to make it tighter and more focused. The mid-low track went through an optical compressor (similar to an LA-2A) to keep it powerful but stable. The sub track was kept clean with just light compression, focusing on depth without adding unwanted harmonics. Together, the three tracks gave the kick both impact and clarity.

For the snare, I adjusted the top and bottom mic signals separately and added a slight boost around 220Hz so it cuts through even on small speakers. The overheads and room mics provided space and depth; I blended natural room sound with plugin-based ambience to balance realism and control. Toms and cymbals were kept simple, without extra layering.

Bass

For the bass, I used a combination of the clean DI and an amp-processed track. The DI brought clarity, while the amp track added grit and texture. Again, I leaned on optical compression to keep the dynamics smooth. A bit of EQ carving helped the bass sit alongside the kick without clashing in the low end.

Guitars

The guitars were performed by Shanns. Since they were recorded in mono, I duplicated the rhythm guitar track to create a stereo spread, panning one left and the other right. The left channel was kept relatively clean, while the right channel had chorus and delay added for width and richness. Both were treated with stereo reverb to place them in space. On compression, I used a shorter attack to emphasise the pick transients, which made the groove more defined. The threshold was set carefully so only peaks were compressed, without flattening the entire performance. For noise reduction, because Shanns had cut out the silent parts in editing, there was no clean section to analyse for noise. Instead, I relied on a Noise Gate to tidy up without sacrificing too much high-frequency detail.

Overall Balance

As part of my workflow, I checked the mix across different playback systems, especially phone speakers, to ensure the mids and transients had enough punch. In terms of space, I placed the lead vocal up front, while the guitars and any supporting textures sat slightly further back, separated with reverb and room ambience.

Vocals

At this stage, I have not processed the vocals much. To be honest, Shanns’s singing is not technically refined, but it carries a raw, rock-like attitude. I am debating whether detailed pitch correction is necessary. My instinct is to preserve its natural quality rather than stacking layers to “manufacture” thickness. If more presence is needed, I may experiment with subtle parallel compression or saturation, but the priority is to keep the delivery direct and sincere, consistent with the lyrics’ attitude. For now, I’ve decided to leave the vocals unprocessed and discuss with Shanns whether re-recording is an option. If precise tuning becomes necessary, I may need to bring in a collaborator, since that is not my strongest skill. Vocal treatment, therefore, remains an open decision for later.

Mixing I Don’t Need

Today I continued working on the mix for I Don’t Need. Listening again, I still felt there were many areas that needed adjustment. First of all, the bass sound was never quite right, so I wanted to swap it for something more fitting. Then I decided to focus on balancing all the tracks before adding any plugins. My aim was to get a clear impression of the whole song in its “bare” state with just faders and panning, and only afterwards start shaping the sound with effects.

Drums

I started again with the drums, fixing the overall groove and energy. Following my usual habit, I set them up in audience perspective. The toms were arranged from high to low across the stereo field, but kept within the overheads’ frame to avoid unrealistic width. I adjusted each part until the toms and overheads matched in spread.

Next, I opened the leakage, letting the bleed come through. This made the kit sound more natural, more like a live recording. Too clean feels fake, so I soloed each mic to find a balance where the leakage was noticeable but not excessive. For the overheads, I switched to stereo pan so I could directly control the width.

Finally, I added Room, which immediately brought depth and realism, making the kit sound like one instrument in a space rather than separate tracks. Then I adjusted individual balances: pulled the kick slightly back, fine-tuned the snare-to-overhead ratio so it had live energy without harshness, and lowered the toms just below the kick—present but not dominant.

Bass

After a full listen-through, I began testing bass tones. I finally settled on a rock-style electric bass, playing style set to pick, last played set to pick down, and pickup set to bridge. With so many parameters available, I decided to layer two tracks: one track focusing on speed and attack, another track providing low-end weight, without needing fast response.

Together they should sound fuller. But when I first summed them, the low end didn’t actually get stronger. I suspected a phase issue. I froze and exported both tracks as audio, checked the waveforms’ polarity, and found a mismatch. After aligning them, the problem was solved.

With the phase corrected, the two tracks blended well—thicker, fuller, and with a subtle stereo effect that added space. I then applied moderate compression to the attack-focused track, keeping the bite, while the low-end track was left smoother to hold the depth. Finally, I pulled the overall level back so the bass could breathe alongside the drums.

Drum and Bass Relationship

I returned to listening to drums and bass together. Using the kick’s “push curve” as a reference, I adjusted the bass’s transient timing and positioning until the two locked together. Now they jump in sync, holding down the groove without clashing in the lows.

Rhythm Guitar

Building on the double-tracked setup from last time, I refined the rhythm guitars. I added a little stereo reverb to each side, so they sounded like they were in the same space but placed at different depths. Compression with a shortened attack captured the pick’s contact with the strings, making the groove sharper. The threshold only caught the peaks, avoiding flattening the entire part.

I experimented with spring reverb, tremolo, and modulation, but when the mix started to feel crowded, I pulled them back. I preferred leaving just the essential spatial effects—clearer layers, less clutter.

Progress Log

Drums: stereo image balanced, leakage and Room proportion set.

Bass: dual-track setup complete, phase corrected, dynamic roles defined.

Drums + Bass: groove relationship locked.

Rhythm guitar: L/R established, effects simplified for clarity.

Next, I need to work on the lead guitar—its tone colour and depth placement—and decide on the approach for vocals, whether to keep them natural, polish them, or re-record. Final polishing and bus processing will wait until the arrangements are fully settled.

Mixing I Don’t Need

Today I focused on the lead guitar. The track Shanns gave me was just a clean DI signal, no amp, no effects, completely dry. I first removed the overdrive plugin that had been sitting on it. I did not want to rely on that kind of preset distortion. I preferred to shape the core tone through the amp sim and push the front-end gain, so it feels closer to an amp recorded in real life instead of something stacked digitally.

My habit is to start subtractive: clean out what I do not need, then build up. I threw on a gate first to chop out the noise and silent segments, otherwise once saturation is added the hiss will blow up. Then I split the track, since the front part functions more like rhythm guitar and the later part is clearly lead. They needed to be treated separately. Rhythm got panned out wide as background texture, while the lead stayed in the center with more weight.

For the lead itself, I duplicated the DI and built two complementary layers. One track was pushed toward high-end presence, the other filled in mid and low saturation. I listened at lower levels to avoid the trap of “louder sounds better.” Together they worked, but the tone still felt thin, especially in the lower mids. I thought about just boosting EQ, but it did not feel fundamental enough. I swapped through different amp settings, because gain staging at the amp level changes the harmonic structure in a way EQ does not. Amp adjustments felt more like changing the colour of the instrument than simply shifting a band on a curve.

Certain notes were spiking with harsh resonances, really poking out. Pulling overall gain down helped but killed the tone if I went too far. I added a resonance suppressor, dynamic so it only dipped the peaks when they jumped out. That smoothed the guitar in a way static EQ could not.

I added a touch of short reverb just for the guitar itself, not the whole mix space. It was more like a timbral polish so it did not feel bone dry. The song level reverb will come later. Then I went into the amp sim’s mic section. I tried U87 and C414 emulations first but they were too glassy, with too much high-end detail. In the end I stuck with a Beta57 emulation, which has always been my go-to. It gives strong presence and pushes forward. I also played with mic position. Closer to the cone center gave more brightness and the harmonics felt right, so I left it there. I pulled the reverb down slightly to keep the foreground tight.

I pushed the level forward just enough so it stood apart from the rhythm layers, but not so much that it clashed with bass, drums, or vocals in the center. Each plugin tweak I did with level-matched A/B, so I was not being fooled by volume jumps. Now the lead tone feels locked in, with both grit and body sitting against the rhythm guitars nicely.

For vocals I still have not committed. I want Shanns to re-record. The old take is raw and powerful, but it was done in a car without a pop filter, and the sibilance is everywhere. In my view problems that can be fixed at recording stage should not be left to mixing. But Shanns feels conflicted. He says his voice has changed, he does not have that same angry youthful edge anymore. For now I will leave vocals aside and move on to the next track. This one’s vocal treatment will have to be decided later.

Rearranging Lu Zhishen

This week Shanns finally returned to his hometown in Northeast China. He sent me two old project files. For the other tracks he said he had new ideas after listening back, and that he would update them before sending again.

I listened to the two he shared. One of them felt similar to I Don’t Need, with the same kind of rock energy. The other was something quite different. It was called “Lu Zhishen,” named after a character from the Chinese classic Water Margin. Lu Zhishen is one of the most famous figures in the novel: a monk with a rough, unrestrained personality, known for drinking heavily, fighting boldly, and living with little concern for rules or conventions. Yet behind his wild surface there is also compassion and a sense of justice, which makes him a tragic and complex figure.

The song carried a distinctly Chinese atmosphere, but when I listened, I felt something was missing. Shanns explained that the original project had included a guzheng track, but because of plugin expiration and software updates, that part was lost. He told me I could take it as it is now and make bigger changes if needed.

My first impression was that the song carried a kind of desolate mood, which matched the lyrics well. It had a detached, world-weary tone, reflecting the state of mind Shanns was in when he wrote it. That quality gave it authenticity, but if we were to prepare it for release and hope to draw in more listeners, I felt the storytelling might need to be reshaped.

What remained in the project was Shanns’s guitar, a simple MIDI bass line, and drums. The arrangement was very flat, and even when it reached the chorus, the emotion did not lift. The low end felt thin, and with the guzheng missing, by bar 80 the whole texture sounded empty. I decided to start working from that section. I added a MIDI keyboard part. Since I had been studying jazz, most of the sounds in my library were jazz-oriented, so I tried blending some of those. Surprisingly, the combination was harmonious. But jazz voicings are often too dense and heavy with midrange, and here the keyboard’s role needed to be more supportive, mainly to fill in the missing low frequencies rather than dominate. So after writing the MIDI, I deleted many of the notes, keeping only a few motifs that gave movement without overcrowding the mix.

I then rewrote parts of Shanns’s original bass line to match the new keyboard, and also reshaped the drum track. Many of the original beats were too plain, so I added fills and transitions in key spots to give the arrangement more flow.

After these changes the song immediately felt fuller. I sent the version back to Shanns. He was surprised and really excited, saying he had not expected the track could be reworked in this way. That reaction gave me more confidence to keep exploring bold changes when something in the material feels unfinished.

Rearranging Lu Zhishen

The song begins with Shanns’s lead guitar, which immediately sets a personal and distinctive tone. When the verse comes in, I added some keyboard to fill the background. I kept it very simple at this stage, just enough to support the atmosphere without changing its original sense of coldness and space.

By the second verse, I felt that repeating the same keyboard approach would become too monotonous, and the emotion still was not building. I wanted to push the tension before the chorus, so I decided to add a pad. After trying a few different sounds, I settled on one based on an organ tone. The moment it came in, the whole mood shifted. What had been sparse and desolate suddenly took on a sense of grandeur, almost solemn, as if the song was expanding outward.

Once the pad was in place, I worked on the details, adjusting its level and range so that it blended with the guitar, bass, and drums without overwhelming them. I shaped it to sit like a background that gradually unfolded, giving the transition more depth and making the build-up toward the chorus feel more intentional.

I sent this version to Shanns for his feedback. He was surprised and said it felt “suddenly more advanced.” To be honest, I also liked his original version a lot—the simplicity and bleakness carried a detached beauty, almost like resignation. But with my re-arrangement, the emotional direction became completely different. It was no longer just about coldness; it now had a sense of scale, something more expansive in its storytelling.

For me, that transformation itself is the most interesting part. It shows how a single song can take on a completely new character depending on the arrangement, and that is exactly the kind of discovery that excites me during the production process. Next, I will continue working on the mixing stage for Lu Zhishen.

Mixing Lu Zhishen

I started once again with the drums, setting the foundation of groove and energy. Since the project was still using MIDI instruments, I could switch kits directly in Logic. After trying several options I settled on the Maple Punch kit. The kick had the right balance, tight and powerful but not overly aggressive. By adjusting the head tension I could shift its pitch and sustain. I kept it slightly loose so it carried the heavy tone typical of rock rather than the higher pitched kick often found in jazz. This gave the low end more weight and a natural sense of space.

For the snare I compared different shell types and found the brass version gave a deeper body with an impact and air that fit the song’s atmosphere. After damping the resonance was shorter and cleaner, which helped it sit against the kick without too much contrast. For cymbals I chose brighter tones so they cut through and balanced the darker body of the drums. I also raised the pitch of the toms slightly and shortened their sustain so transitions felt tighter. With the kit balanced I added some room ambience to create a natural space, almost as if it were being played in a live room.

Next I moved to the bass. In Shanns’s original file there was already a fuzz bass track. The distortion focused in the upper mids and created a rough texture. I kept this as a layer and prepared another cleaner bass track to handle the low end foundation. I first balanced the volume against the kick and planned for multiband compression or EQ later to shape the mid lows. At this point the kick and bass were already locking together, although I could hear the low mids piling up more than I wanted. I will refine that in the next pass.

The guitars were more problematic. They carried noticeable noise from recording. I used a spectral denoiser and first located a short silent section so the plugin could learn the noise profile. Ideally a longer clean sample would be better but I worked with what was available. After processing the noise floor came down significantly. I reduced the strength of the effect so the high frequency details and texture of the guitar remained intact. Since the guitar had been tracked in separate sections and some were even exported in stereo I split them into three parts and treated each with different EQ and compression to match their tone and dynamics more closely.

The keyboard part did not change much. I kept the organ style pad I had added earlier for the chorus but now pushed it further with a touch of distortion so it blended more naturally into the atmosphere. I then adjusted its level and stereo placement so it lifted the emotion in the build up without covering the guitars or vocals.

At this stage the core of the mix with drums, bass, guitars and pad feels stable. The next step will be shaping the overall balance and refining the energy between sections.

Mixing Lu Zhishen

Last time I had already set the rough balance across the track. Coming back to it, I started fine-tuning each part again. The lead guitar in the opening felt like it could come forward more, so I raised its gain. Since it was recorded on the same track as a later section, changing the level affected everything. To fix that, I exported just the small section as a new audio file and brought it back into the same channel. I bypassed all the plugins during export, so when I dropped it back in, it ran through the same processing chain as before. Pushing it louder naturally raised the noise floor as well, but after checking in solo I found the noise was not distracting, so I left it. This section plays a different role than the later main lead, so I wanted it more present, while the responding part sits further back in space. I split them onto separate tracks and gave each a different spatial treatment. For processing I used the Waves channel strip, which has filters, compression, EQ, gating and even some saturation built in. It feels like working on a traditional console where everything is in one strip. Since there are no precise graphs or readouts, I judged changes mostly by ear, which kept me focused on the sound rather than the visuals.

Then I returned to the drums. I wanted the kick to have more weight. My usual starting move is to set the release as short as possible, ratio high, and then use the threshold to decide how much compression actually happens. That quickly defines the range of change. After compression, the kick sounded more focused and compact, compared to the looser untreated version. Because these are MIDI drums, the dynamics are already unnaturally consistent, so compression here is more about shaping tone than controlling performance variation.

On the kick out track I added the same strip and boosted the lows around 60Hz for body, plus a little presence around 8kHz to sharpen the beater click. For snare, I raised the weight around 220Hz and added some brightness in the highs to make hits more impactful. The bottom snare mic carried a lot of spring buzz, so I used a high ratio with a slightly longer release to tighten it, then blended in a bit of distortion to fill out the body. Along the way I caught a recurring harsh resonance and notched it out with EQ, which immediately smoothed the sound.

For hi-hat I chose a bright timbre so it would contrast against the darker body of the drums. There was a trace of hissy, sibilant character in the transients. A de-esser did not help much, so I ended up shaping it with EQ and adding slight distortion to give the texture more character while keeping it natural. The toms originally felt loose, so I added compression to focus them and lengthened the release for more sustain. Each tom had different dynamics, so I copied settings between them and adjusted individually until their energy felt balanced.

Next came the bass. The fuzz bass track had a lot of mid-high grit, almost spiky in texture, but its attack lagged slightly behind the groove. I tried compression to emphasize the attack and speed it up. It helped, but the sluggish feel was still there. I made a note to bounce it later and nudge it forward by about 20ms, which should align it better with the drums. The clean DI track provided the low foundation, and together with the fuzz track the bass felt solid and layered.

On guitar, I refined the sound further. I had already done noise reduction earlier, so now it was more about space and tone. I gave the main guitar some spring reverb and a light chorus to separate it from the bass. EQ cut some lows, lifted the highs, and compression came before the amp sim to even out playing before tone shaping. Background response guitars were sent into very large reverbs, pushing them deep into the space so they worked more as atmosphere than as competing voices.

With drums, bass, and guitars framed, I began building the overall space. I sent snare into a plate reverb so it stood out, and sent the pads and guitars into room-style reverbs to tie them together in one environment. That unified the atmosphere and set the distance relationships.

At this point the skeleton of the mix feels locked. My process is always to secure balance first, then solve tonal issues at the source if possible, by swapping sounds or adjusting MIDI, rather than stacking plugins. Now the interaction between guitar, bass, and drums is clear. The last major task is to bring the vocals in and blend them into the same room. For now I am leaving them aside, since I still hope Shanns will re-record them, and I am trying to persuade him.

Refocusing and Release Strategy

It is already the end of June, and I have only just finished mixing the second track. I cannot help feeling a bit anxious about the pace. Today I spoke with Shanns about our progress. After going through the plan, we decided to drop one of the six tracks, the instrumental piece. Shanns has been occupied with other work recently and does not have the same amount of time to devote to music as before. The instrumental was originally an unfinished sketch he wanted to bring back to life, but with the time pressure we are facing, it makes more sense to focus on the songs that are more suitable for promotion.

For me, it feels like a necessary but also realistic decision. I would have liked to see how the instrumental could turn out, but the priority now is to finish the tracks that will carry the project forward. This week I will move on to the other track Shanns sent me earlier. Shanns will focus on completing the revisions for the remaining two songs, and he plans to send them to me next week.

At the same time, we started to think about the release and promotion strategy. Considering the current pace, we set the goal of releasing the EP in September. The digital version will go up on Bandcamp, and I also plan to create a proper artist page for Shanns there, which can work as both distribution and promotion. For the physical version, we still want to make a small run of cassettes. Of course, physical formats today are no longer essential for actual playback, but rather for fans as keepsakes. This gives them symbolic value, which might help in building a sense of identity around the release.

Shanns still has some fans from his earlier days in Chengdu. Back then he was very active in the live house scene, and many people followed him around. Honestly, I am not sure whether they loved his music or his looks, but either way it shows that he has had a personal connection with an audience before. The real question for me now is how this can translate in the UK, where he has no existing fanbase. We discussed starting with some exposure on overseas social media before the EP release. I also thought about designing a cartoon-style logo for him. Something simple, visual, and memorable could help people associate his music with a clear image.

Mixing xeyrxosh

I really like Shanns’s track xeyrxosh. It feels completely different from Lu Zhishen and carries a sense of wandering and an exotic atmosphere. When I listen, I can feel both the confusion and longing of being far from home, as well as the freedom and unease of moving through distant places. I want to find sounds that can bring out this mood.

As before, I deleted all the original plugins and started from zero. The guitars had been processed with many effects and amp sims, but I did not want to be locked into those references. I wanted to ask myself from scratch: what should the guitar and bass really sound like, instead of following the path the old processing suggested.

The drums I also rebuilt completely. The harmonic movement feels close to folk, but the sound and arrangement lean more towards rock, which gives it a “folk rock” character. It reminded me of 17 Hippies’ Adieu—that track is fully acoustic with nylon guitars and no drums, and the rhythm leans into the offbeat, almost like ska or reggae. That gave me the idea that the drums in xeyrxosh should feel lighter and pitched slightly higher than in Lu Zhishen.

I set up a loop and auditioned different drum kits. The maple punch kick had a vintage tone that fit well, and a bright snare with a metal shell gave more high-end overtones and felt lively. For cymbals, I placed a bright ride in the chorus but chose a darker crash to avoid the overall sound becoming too sharp. Size also mattered—smaller cymbals gave more brightness, larger ones more weight—so I planned to refine this after hearing them in the full arrangement.

The kick I tuned looser so it sustained a bit longer, keeping it from sounding too tight. The snare relied on its metallic resonance to stay bright and light. I deleted the previous fade-out automation, since it felt unnatural, and planned to redo it later. Even though the raw drum sound was still dry and unshaped (no space processing yet), the rhythm already showed the right character. In the chorus, the kick pattern felt too pushy, so I planned to relax it, giving the song a looser groove.

While adjusting the drums, I kept weighing between looseness and pitch. Too loose sounded dragged, too tight sounded like hard rock. I settled on a middle point, planning to fine-tune later with dynamics processing.

After the drums I worked on the bass. Again I layered two tracks: a clean, solid low-end foundation and a lightly overdriven one to fill the midrange. The style did not call for fuzz or heavy distortion—just something clean and full. I even thought about string types: flatwound gives a muted, vintage tone, while roundwound is brighter. Even though this was a virtual instrument, I still approached the choice the way I would if I were working with real instruments, drawing from my background in performance.

The guitars also needed reworking. I tested amp sims like the Vox AC30 and Marshall, since different levels of drive gave very different moods. My plan was to keep the left side darker and the right side brighter to create stereo contrast. If both were rhythm parts, I would just pan them, but one had more melodic character, so I kept it centered, then duplicated it to build a “fake stereo” effect using phase and harmonics. I tried chorus, but the modulation was too obvious, so I went back to spring reverb and subtle drive to deepen the space.

I realised that the hardest part of this track was not the technical work but the aesthetic choices. With so many possible sounds, it was easy to get stuck second-guessing. I did spend a lot of time just choosing tones, but it felt necessary. The direction of the style has to be clear before I can filter down to the one sound that really fits.

At this point the drums are framed, the bass has a clear plan, and the guitars still need more trials with amps and effects. My next step will be to lock in the sound palette, then move into deeper mixing. That way I can avoid wasting time circling back and forth over the same ground.

Mixing xeyrxosh

I kept working on the mix today. As usual, I started with the drums, since everything else needs to fit around the rhythmic foundation for the picture to be clear. I played the drums and bass together first. Because I had just raised my monitoring level, I reminded myself to watch out for the Fletcher–Munson effect: when the volume goes up, low frequencies are perceived as louder more quickly, while highs rise more slowly. That means I should not rewrite the balance I had at a lower level. The drum–bass relationship feels stable now, so later processing needs to preserve that relative balance.

Looking at the details, I zoomed in on the waveforms. The arpeggiated guitar part has quite uneven dynamics, and the two rhythm guitars are a bit better but still need smoothing. I decided to do some “pre-shaping” of dynamics: placing compression before the amp or cab simulation, so the playing is controlled first, and the tone shaped later. For noise reduction I used a gate instead of spectral denoising, setting the threshold just below the musical signal and shaping the open/close behavior with attack and release. In this chain the gate comes first, compression second. While setting compression, I ran a test: switching attack from 0.25ms to 50ms to hear how much pick transient is preserved. With a longer attack, the pick noise and high-frequency snap stand out more and the presence increases; with a shorter attack, the overall tone is tighter and closer. Based on the tonal difference between left and right rhythm guitars, I gave them slightly different attack settings so they balance better across the stereo field. Threshold and ratio decisions I make mostly by ear: if it feels too tight, I lower the ratio and fine-tune threshold; if too loose, I go the opposite way. At this point it’s almost muscle memory—react to the sound first, then check the numbers afterward.

For the rhythm guitars I followed the same spatial approach. First a spring reverb to add depth, then a chorus to widen the mono tracks into stereo and push them further back. I have to account for how different playback feels: headphones place the sound right up close, speakers reveal more depth. So I only aim for settings that work on both ends rather than chasing perfection in one. For the arpeggiated guitar, I used a short room reverb to push it slightly back—it felt too close—while still keeping it in the melodic foreground. When setting reverb, I turn the mix to 100% first to learn the character, then dial it back to taste. Distance in the plugin controls how far back the reverb itself feels.

While checking the drums I noticed one kick suddenly hit way too loud. It turned out there was a hidden kick track still active; muting it fixed the issue. I also lowered some MIDI velocities on the main kick to keep the groove from spiking unnaturally. In general, I avoid long soloing—mixing is about relationships, so most choices I confirm in context by A/B testing against the full track.

To give the arpeggiated guitar more life, I added two layers of “seasoning.” First, a phase-based modulation that creates subtle movement and tonal differences left to right. I set one LFO rate fast and the other slow, listening carefully to how they interacted with the tempo and picking pattern, then blended them into a pleasing ratio. I didn’t collapse phase to 0°; I kept some offset, and with high/low-cut I restricted the effect to the midrange so it wouldn’t blur the lows or exaggerate sibilance. After finding a good balance I pushed the mix high to hear exactly what it was adding, then backed it down to the sweet spot. Second, I layered a very short delay to act like a “shadow.” I stretched delay time above 120ms first to clearly hear two sources, then pulled it back into the 50–60ms range where the hits merge into one but gain elastic depth and subtle thickness. Going shorter, around 30ms, started to sound more like chorus, which I didn’t want to be too obvious. So I left it in the 50–60ms pocket with minimal feedback, just a single bounce. Back in the full mix, the guitar gained space and fullness without stealing focus.

Afterward I placed the processed guitars back into the whole session and listened through. The effect was clear—the space and layering improved. For now I’ll stop here. Once all the sound design and mixing steps are complete, I’ll revisit the global reverb to glue everything into one shared space, since right now the blend is still not quite there. Today’s main progress was upgrading the guitars; next session I’ll keep pushing the rest forward.

Mixing xeyrxosh

Today I officially added the plugins and started mixing xeyrxosh. I first looped the drums and bass a few times. The balance between them felt stable, so I decided not to add compression yet. Instead, I left a few EQ slots on the drum tracks and planned to revisit dynamics later when listening in the full mix.

The toms sounded slightly “heavy”, almost like an over-compressed weight. Rather than compressing them further, I located the resonant points on each tom and gave them a gentle boost to open them up. Next, I focused on dividing the low-end between drums and bass, especially around 63 Hz and 125 Hz, deciding which instrument should dominate in each area. For this track I rolled off some of the bass in the extreme sub range and placed its main body around 100 Hz and above, which reduced its size while making the groove more defined. If I need the kick to feel tighter later, I’ll either push its attack slightly with a transient shaper or relax the bass sustain, always calibrating with their “tight vs loose” contrast in mind.

On the snare, I went straight for a plate reverb as part of its tone. I pushed the pre-delay forward just enough so the dry hit comes through first, with the tail glued right behind it, until I reached that sense of a “wall right in front of me”.

Then I moved on to the guitars. The arpeggiated guitar showed strong dynamic fluctuations, while the two rhythm guitars were slightly better but still uneven. I placed a gate at the start of the chain, setting the threshold just below the musical signal and adjusting attack and release for a natural open/close, then added compression afterwards. To experiment, I switched the attack time from very short to very long, listening closely to how much of the pick transient was preserved. With a longer attack, the pick clarity came forward; with a shorter one, the whole line tightened up immediately. Since the left and right rhythm guitars already had natural tonal differences, I assigned different attack times to balance their presence across the stereo field. Ratio and threshold were judged entirely by ear: if it felt too tight, I lowered the ratio and adjusted the threshold back; if it felt too loose, I did the opposite.

For the distorted rhythm guitars, I applied a high cut around 8–10 kHz, sometimes lower, to leave room for the snare crack and vocal air. I also flipped through different EQ phase modes: the high end barely changed, but the low end was more sensitive. On the drum and bass lows, I only did minimal phase checks where necessary, making sure nothing was obviously canceling out, then left it as is.

After this round, the low-end division between drums and bass became clearer, the toms felt less muffled, and the arpeggiated guitar breathed more naturally. I didn’t lock the spatial system all at once; instead, I let each instrument stand solidly in its own “corner of the room” first. Later I’ll bring everything into a unified space logic, giving the arpeggio and rhythm parts different early reflections so they don’t collapse onto the same layer.

At this stage, the instrumental part of the mix is basically done. What remains is to bring the vocals in.

Yesterday Shanns sent me the last two tracks. After his rearrangement, both of them feel very complete, with each frequency range well balanced and every part interacting smoothly. I decided to start with Grey Night. The original version was one of his earlier works, but compared to I Don’t Need it feels more restrained. Here he faces loneliness and pain more directly, learning how to stare into himself in the dark. I wanted to begin with the sound choices, aiming to stay close to the mood he had at that time.

I started with the drums. The original set wasn’t ideal, especially the snare. Its tone was too retro, almost like the papery city pop snares with that rolled-edge feel, which didn’t really carry the kind of weight this track needs. I replaced it with a brass-shell snare, which brought out richer high-frequency overtones and more brightness. For the kick I went with a rock-oriented feel: at least a 22-inch diameter with a 16-inch depth to give the resonance and low-end reach. I tuned it down by about two tenths of a semitone so it felt tighter and less diffuse. For hi-hats I picked a brighter one; I didn’t worry too much about the alloy or forging, just trusted my ears inside the project and chose whichever kept the groove lifted. For the toms I looped a few fills and compared options, then settled on a maple-shell set that blended best with the rest of the kit.

Next came the low-end relationship between drums and bass. My focus was around 63 Hz and 125 Hz, deciding who gets what space. In this track I let the bass pull back from the extreme sub range and sit mainly above 100 Hz, which shrinks its size a little but makes the groove more articulate. If I later need the kick to hit even tighter, I’ll push the attack slightly with a transient shaper or ease the bass sustain. I always check the balance through that push-and-pull contrast.

The bass tone Shanns picked this time was already very good. With the new drums it sat naturally, so I didn’t feel the need to change anything.

On guitars, the tuning was a bit off — the two tracks didn’t quite line up, maybe the strings slipped slightly in the later takes. I ran everything through Melodyne, only doing center quantization, no heavy correction, keeping the natural fluctuations intact. The rhythm guitars had two layers: one darker, one brighter. I used amp simulation to separate them through speaker size. The 10-inch cab gave a thinner, brighter feel, while the 12-inch was fuller and steadier. I put the bright track through the 10-inch, nudged the mic closer to the edge, and used a condenser to capture more air and overtones. The darker track stayed on the 12-inch, with the mic closer to the center and a dynamic mic to bring out a more focused midrange. Even in mono, the two layers wouldn’t collapse into each other.

The lead guitar had already been bounced in place in the original session, so it came with heavy compression baked in. I didn’t add more; instead I just used EQ to clean up extra low-mids and sibilant edges. To avoid fighting with vocals in the top end, I high-cut the distorted rhythm guitars somewhere between 8k and 10k, sometimes lower depending on where the snare attack and vocal air wanted to sit.

In the middle sections Shanns felt some of the drum transitions were too abrupt. He asked me to add a few fills. He liked the way I handled drum transitions in Luzhishen, so I went into Superior Drummer’s library, tried out several fills, and kept the ones that felt most natural. There was one empty space where I didn’t add anything — I tried leaving it completely blank for half a bar, and it surprisingly worked really well, so I left it that way, just adding a light pickup hit on the following beat to make the landing smoother.

At this stage the instrumental mix feels basically complete.

Mixing Falling Curtain

Today I started mixing the final track Falling Curtain. As usual I began with the drums.

I added a sidechain layer to the kick: a sustained low sine wave gated by the kick so the sine only opens on each hit. With a higher threshold the gate window shortens and the sine becomes a tighter pulse. With a lower threshold the window lengthens and the tail feels more like resonance being pulled out. I switched to a gate with a visual curve to redo the routing and threshold, and every spike on the graph showed the kick being triggered.

This step was more about clarifying my goal. I wanted a bigger and deeper kick, so I did not keep the “sine plus sidechain” in the session. Instead I chose a larger kick, tuned it down, and relied on the drum itself to carry the length and weight. I adjusted the rest of the kit in the same direction. The snare needed to be bright and open, with a clear wire rattle, a slightly higher strike point, and a deeper shell for more vertical depth. Dropping the pitch gave it longer sustain, like loosening the head and letting the energy ring out. I swapped the hi-hat, left the ride and crash with their darker tone, and kept the toms in the fills to feel out their length and color.

For the low end balance between kick and bass I followed the logic used in the project: boosting at 35Hz, leaving 65 to 70Hz and below to the kick, and giving 125 to 130Hz to the bass. This way they do not clash and the foundation feels more solid.

The original bass track was too heavily compressed, stiff, and its frequency spread did not sit well with the drums. I replaced it with a sound that felt more natural, letting the notes open up with a smoother decay curve. The MIDI length was fine and even with mute at zero the sustain still felt short. I noted that and will fix it later with subtle modulation or spatial effects.

There are three guitars. Shanns’ original tones already worked well, so I kept the plugins and only did fine adjustments. I ran Melodyne for pitch centering. Noise was handled with a gate at the front, threshold just under the musical notes, and I shaped the attack and release to keep it natural. For the amps I chose models with a familiar layout, even down to matching the look and knob placement, and nudged the mic position toward more detail. On the two rhythm tracks I added a touch of tremolo: one at a fixed rate and the other synced to tempo. Their movements are different so the stereo field breathes with a gentle push and pull.

For the solo guitar I pulled the gain back so I could use light overdrive at the edge of breakup. Soft picking stays clear while harder playing tips into mild to medium distortion. The contrast makes the phrases more expressive.

The percussion includes a conga with delay, which is distinctive, and there is also a piano and pad layer. The piano side feels percussive and the pad provides a bed, so I treated them separately.

After that it was down to the usual EQ, compression, and a few finer touches. Because Shanns’ arrangement was already highly developed and many of the sound choices were strong, this mix moved more smoothly.

I will send this version back to him in the next couple of days, and then we will lock in the final plan for the vocals.

Logo Finalisation and Platform Setup

Shanns and I both agreed on the final logo. It captured the simplicity and character we had been imagining, so in the end the only change we asked the designer to make was to add his name underneath. With that adjustment the design felt complete.

Today I also set up his main online platforms: Bandcamp, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. The new logo is now in place as the profile image on all of them, giving the pages a consistent and professional look. I find that having a clear and unified visual identity across platforms is important. It not only strengthens the overall presentation but also makes it easier for listeners to recognise and remember the artist.

Discussion with Shanns

Today I caught up with Shanns about the mixes I have been working on. He listened through the current versions and gave me some feedback. On Grey Night he felt the guitar solo was a bit too compressed. I agreed and told him I would fix it over the next couple of days. He also said he will try to re-record the vocal soon and aims to send me the new takes in the next few days.

After that we moved on to his artist image. I suggested making a simple logo for him, something that can work across different platforms and feel consistent. We came up with the idea of a cartoon-style figure drawn in clean, minimal lines. He wanted it to have sunglasses, and I thought the head and legs could just be very simple strokes. The idea is to keep it playful but recognisable, so it could work not only for releases but also for social media banners or even merchandise later on.

We also talked about promotion. I asked him to send me some old live photos and videos, which I can use to set up his Bandcamp page and create accounts on a few international social platforms. This way we can start building an online presence even before the final masters are ready. For me, this is about connecting the sound with the image and making sure the project is not just about the mix, but also about how the music will be presented and discovered. By working on both sides together, we are laying the groundwork so that once the tracks are finished, everything else is ready to go.

Today I tried using AI to design a logo for Shanns, while discussing the drafts with him in real time. We kept refining the prompts and giving feedback, but the results were never quite what we imagined. Our vision is fairly clear by now: a line-drawn cartoon character that is simple yet distinctive, with features that reflect Shanns’ own image. From our earlier talks we already had some specifics in mind: the character should wear sunglasses, have a minimal line body, and even a line-drawn guitar. The problem was that although AI could generate close attempts, the details were always slightly off. Each round of revision fixed one issue but introduced another, and after four or five hours in the afternoon both of us felt our patience running out. We eventually agreed that to really achieve our idea, we would need to work with a designer who could interpret and adapt to our feedback in a more flexible way.

I saved a few of the AI drafts that were closest to what we wanted, planning to share them as references. In the evening I contacted my high school classmate Shaw, who studied cartoon design at university, and asked if she could help. I explained our concept, the intended uses of the logo, and showed her the AI sketches. She said she understood immediately and promised to send me something by tomorrow.

To my surprise, she actually sent me three proposals later that night. She explained that these were initial ideas that came to her right away, and that she could refine whichever one we chose. When I opened the files, one of them instantly stood out to me — it felt exactly right, almost like the version I had pictured in my head from the start. Of course, I still need to share the options with Shanns and let him make the final call. It was a long day that tested my patience, but the outcome felt rewarding. What had seemed stuck in endless revisions with AI finally found a clear and workable direction.

Vocal Layering Experiment

Today Shanns sent me his re-recorded vocals for I Don’t Need and Lu Zhishen. He admitted himself that the takes were not great. His voice is not the same as before and he said he just cannot shout like he used to. He suggested that maybe only certain parts could be used, if I could patch them into the old recordings.

When I listened, I also felt they really did not work as replacements. For the other three songs I will not push him to re-record. But with these two tracks, just taking fragments and dropping them in would create clear tonal shifts, since the new recordings sound different from the older ones because of the long gap between sessions, which changed his tone. That gave me an idea: instead of replacing, I could layer the new vocals on top of the old ones in certain passages. The contrast between the same person’s voice at two different times actually felt meaningful, and it also added richness to the texture.

Once I tried it, the result was surprisingly good. What started out as a problem ended up as something interesting. Shanns also said he liked this layered effect. He had mentioned before that Lu Zhishen felt a bit empty, and even suggested I try a higher octave vocal to fill it out. Back then I solved it with extra instruments, but now with this new layer of his own voice, it actually fulfils his earlier idea of adding more vocal depth.

Vocal Editing Plan

Today I spoke with Shanns about how we are going to handle the vocals. At this point it is clear that we will not be re-recording them, and the mixes for the five songs are basically finished apart from the vocals. I feel we need another collaborator to work specifically on vocal editing, since this is not really my strength.

Shanns suggested keeping things in line with how he used to do it when he was producing on his own. Back then he never did detailed vocal editing. He would just put some plugins and reverb on the track, then let the instruments cover up the flaws. But when I mixed the songs, I removed all his old plugins, and it made me notice that the vocals really do need some fixing, especially the sibilance and tuning. On I Don’t Need I had already tried using Melodyne, but I tend to be too picky. I always want every note to sit perfectly on the grid. Later, when I listened back in context, I realised the pitch correction sounded obvious and unnatural, and it also took away one of his personal traits: the way his pitch often slides slightly down. After talking it through we agreed that the vocals should be cleaned up, but his own character needs to be preserved.

I then reached out to my friend Haoping, a senior from my time at York. I actually learned much of my mixing approach from him. I asked if he could help edit Shanns’ vocals. He said he could do a basic cleanup and deal with the obvious issues, but going very detailed would take a huge amount of time. Since he is leaving for McGill University in Canada in August to start his PhD and is busy preparing, his time is limited. That is fine with me. As long as the big problems are handled, the rest will work well enough in the mix.

We also talked about mastering. I told him I would like him to do the final masters too. He said it depends on his schedule later, but if he has the time he will take it on.

Mixing Grey Night (Guitar Compression Rework)

Today I started working on the issue Shanns mentioned about the guitar solo in Grey Night sounding over-compressed. When I listened back, I wondered whether it was an overall compression problem or something specific to one track. Since he pointed out the solo section, I began checking track by track around bar 42 where it comes in.

I started with the drums. I soloed the kick, removed the distortion plugin, and looked at the compression. The gain reduction meter showed only about 3dB, with a modest ratio, but it still felt tight. I swapped the FET compressor for an optical type, something with a smoother curve like an LA-2A. That loosened it a little, though not dramatically. So I added a transient shaper, pulled down the attack slightly, and extended the sustain. That relative shift softened the punch and made the kick feel less clamped. From there I adjusted the snare and bass dynamics. The snare springs already sounded loose, and taking it further would make it lose character, so I only worked on the balance through level and overall relationship. On the bass I eased back the overdrive and saturation, which helped reduce the overall tension.

Back to the guitars, the compression felt heaviest in the solo. The recording waveform already had compression baked in, so there was only so much I could change afterwards. I used EQ to cut some presence around 3–4kHz so the pick attack would be less sharp. Then in the amp simulation I shifted the mic placement, moving from a dynamic closer to the center to a ribbon mic, which reduced high-frequency bite and brought out the mid-lows. This gave the guitar a rounder, more three-dimensional feel.

Finally, I added a room reverb just for the solo section, pushing it back in space so it would not sit so upfront. I automated the send so only the solo carried reverb, while the rest stayed dry. After these adjustments, the solo section felt much more relaxed than before.

Mixing is always like this: solving one problem tends to reveal another. Every playback brings new details to notice, but at some point you have to stop chasing and make choices.

Cassette Research

Over the past few days I looked into whether there are still new cassette releases on the market and what their main features are. It turns out that some independent labels and artists are still putting out cassette versions, and in recent years even Modern Sky in China has released cassettes for some of their artists. These are usually small limited runs, with attention paid to design — cases, stickers, and sleeves often have an independent style, and sometimes extra merchandise is included. This reminded me of what Martin mentioned in our Music Industry Practice session about kik. The price is usually a little over 100 RMB, similar to the CDs released by Chinese artists in recent years, but cassettes function more as merchandise or collectibles rather than a primary playback format. Many of them even come with digital download codes, so the cassette itself is more of a symbolic object that satisfies a retro experience.

Thinking about this brought me back to the cassette plan I discussed with Shanns earlier. His music already carries a kind of “retro” and “handmade” quality, which would fit well with the cassette format. A cassette can provide a very tangible physical presence and can also serve as a collectible for fans. Now that the logo is finished, it also makes sense to connect it with the cassette design, and even expand into small pieces of merchandise. I think the most suitable approach is to keep digital release as the main focus through Bandcamp and streaming platforms, but at the same time produce a small batch of limited cassettes. This would add uniqueness to the project and also create some promotional buzz.

Next I will discuss this idea further with Shanns.

Cassette Plan with Shanns

Today Shanns and I talked through the cassette idea. We decided to make 10 copies first and put them on Bandcamp. The digital version will be free to stream, while the cassette can be purchased. Honestly, it feels more like a game to us. For someone like Shanns, who is basically unknown even in China, trying to actually sell something to an international market is pretty tough. But we still decided to go through with the process, just to make the idea real.

In November he will be back in Chengdu, appearing as a guest at one of his old band’s live house shows. I joked that he should bring a few cassettes along — who knows, maybe one of his old die-hard female fans might turn up. I also brought up the merch idea: using the new logo to make guitar picks, keychains, and stickers, bundled with the cassette. Kind of like a small kik, something that would appeal to the hardcore fans, if they’re still around.

Yesterday Shanns finally found his lost hard drive and sent me a bunch of old photos — some of him playing, some on stage, some just hanging out. They’re very mixed, not really professional or clear, which makes me a bit stuck on how to use them. But we’ll need to figure it out for the cassette inlay and packaging. In the next few days I’ll contact a cassette factory to check the details of the page layouts, and then think about how to work his photos into the design.

Vocal Fix on Falling Curtain

Today Haoping sent me the edited vocal tracks. I listened through all five songs on headphones and felt there were no big issues, so I forwarded them to Shanns. After listening, he said the vocals on Falling Curtain sounded a bit muffled. I tried again on speakers and noticed the same thing. In the afternoon I had an online session with Haoping to sort it out together.

We started with EQ. Boosting the highs directly would brighten the voice, but Haoping pointed out that the reverb and low-mids were also affecting clarity. So we cut around 300–500Hz and gave a slight boost in the 2–3kHz range. The sibilance had already been reduced earlier, so we didn’t want to push the highs too hard again and make it sound unnatural. Then we adjusted the reverb: reduced the amount of the room reverb and added a shorter one, tweaking the wet/dry balance to place the vocal more naturally. After that the clarity was noticeably better.

We also checked the low end against the bass. At one point the vocal note was clashing with the bass frequency, creating masking. We carved out a bit of space in the bass, which brought the vocal forward. Finally we added just a touch of saturation and a small volume lift, careful not to bring back the sibilance. The result was a clearer, stronger presence.

This process reminded me again how much playback setup changes the perception. On headphones everything seemed fine, but through speakers it sounded darker. Haoping explained this could be due to speaker placement or room reflections. Mixing can never be perfectly adjusted for every environment. The best we can do is make sure it’s balanced on a trusted monitoring system, check mono compatibility and a few different playback types, and accept that as the final reference.

Now all five songs are fully mixed. Haoping told me that since his preparations for moving to Canada are basically done, he can help us finish the mastering in the next couple of days.

Contacting Tape Maker

Today I got in touch with an independent tape maker, recommended by a former university classmate. I explained my request: to make a personal cassette with 5 songs, including a lyric booklet, with the design done by myself.

The maker introduced several options. The most basic one is pure recording, mainly for self-use. The second option adds a single-sided folded cover. The third is the deluxe version, including recording, a double-sided folded cover, front and back labels on the tape, and an outer case, similar to what you find on the market. He suggested we go with the deluxe option. The price ranges from 155 to 235 RMB, depending on specific choices such as the number of folds for the cover or whether to change the shell color. By default, the shell is transparent, randomly arranged from stock, which is cheaper but not always consistent in quality. Switching to black or white shells, the type of solid industrial cases once used by record companies, adds 35 RMB. The cover is by default a single fold, but upgrading to a double fold adds 15 RMB. A double-sided fold-out can provide up to eight panels, enough for lyrics, credits, and tracklist.

During the conversation, he also mentioned some extra details. Since our audio is under 30 minutes and far shorter than the full 60 minutes capacity, there would be a lot of blank tape left. He suggested choosing “precision trimming,” which cuts off the extra blank section so the cassette stops automatically after the music ends. This option costs an additional 25 RMB.

He also explained the production and shipping cycle. Deluxe editions are processed in two batches each month, around the 15th and 30th. Once the files are received, production usually takes 5 to 15 working days, followed by a final quality check. The process is relatively slow, but this ensures stable quality.

Overall, this gave me a clearer sense of how the process works and what to expect. Next, I will discuss with Shanns and confirm the final choices for the cover and lyric booklet design.

Master Delivery and Release Plan

Today Haoping delivered the final masters. Both Shanns and I felt there were no issues, so the audio side is now complete. I asked Shanns whether we should release the digital version track by track or all at once. Considering our current level of recognition, releasing songs one by one would not really generate more exposure, and it might actually spread the promotion too thin. Since we also plan to coordinate the cassette and merchandise for a full presentation, we decided it makes more sense to release the complete EP at once. This way, on Bandcamp and streaming platforms it will appear as a unified work, and in promotion we can emphasise it as a “complete project” rather than a handful of scattered songs.

After that, Shanns and I discussed the cassette production. I still prefer to make it a bit more refined. Since we are only producing a small number, the cost is manageable. According to the tape maker, choosing the deluxe version gives more flexibility, and the lyric insert can hold more content, which we need for the Chinese-English bilingual version. Also, most of these tapes will likely end up as personal keepsakes or gifts for friends, so it makes sense to produce them nicely. And if fans actually do buy them, we want to give them the best we can. In the end, we decided on precision trimming, a double-fold lyric booklet and a black shell, essentially going for all the extra paid options to make it as complete as possible.

Next I need to compile the lyric booklet and design the cover before sending everything to the manufacturer. I also asked Shanns to dig up more photos so I have more options to work with in the design. On top of that, I asked him to send me some of his past live performance videos, which I can start using to warm up the EP promotion by posting on the social media accounts I created for him.

Today I started going through the photos that Shanns sent me. The problem is they cover so many different years, and the styles are all over the place, so at first I didn’t know where to begin. In the end I just sorted them roughly by timeline and picked a few from each stage, planning to narrow them down later.

While doing this I realised something else — we still hadn’t decided on the track order for the EP. I messaged Shanns right away and we came up with three possible options.

The first one is more “narrative.” It starts with xeyrxosh and ends with Falling Curtain, with Lu Zhishen, I Don’t Need, and Grey Night in between. It feels like a journey from departure to farewell.

The second one flips it around. We put Falling Curtain at the beginning, then Grey Night, followed by I Don’t Need and Lu Zhishen, and close with xeyrxosh. That way it starts in the low point and slowly climbs upward, ending with something that feels like moving forward again.

The third is more about emotional flow. It opens with I Don’t Need to grab attention, then relaxes into Lu Zhishen, suddenly turns inward with Grey Night, picks the pace back up with xeyrxosh, and finishes with Falling Curtain. This order doesn’t tell a straight story, but the shifts in energy make it engaging to listen through.

We haven’t decided which one to go with yet, but at least now we have three clear directions. Next step is to listen through each sequence a few times and see which one really works best.

Lyrics and Playlist

Today I worked on the Chinese–English lyric translations, and xeyrxosh really drove me crazy. I must have gone through it so many times. Either the English just didn’t carry the same feeling, or it ended up sounding way too wordy. Some Chinese words need a whole phrase in English to explain, but once you explain them they lose that simplicity and subtle edge. I kept going back and forth between meaning and flow, until at some point I honestly couldn’t even tell which version felt right anymore.

The other songs were a lot easier. Still a few tricky bits, but usually two or three tries got them to a good place. Once I had everything, I sent the drafts to Shanns — since they’re his lyrics, he knows what matters most. We also talked about whether Falling Curtain should be changed to Curtain Falls. The latter sounds more final, like “it’s over,” and also carries that image of something drifting down, which is close to the Chinese metaphor. My version, Falling Curtain, was more about the process, like watching things slide away into an ending. In the end I just left it to Shanns, and he chose Falling Curtain. He said when he wrote the song, he was really thinking about memories quietly slipping into the past.

After finishing all the lyrics, I felt like I understood the songs more deeply. Based on Shanns’s writing timeline, we settled on this playlist: I Don’t Need, Grey Night, Lu Zhishen, xeyrxosh, Falling Curtain. The order also reflects his journey. Shanns said it’s better to start strong, so opening with I Don’t Need and Grey Night made sense — they’ve got that raw, rock energy and the feeling of youthful struggle and loss. Lu Zhishen then acts as a turning point, with some weariness but also a step toward boldness. xeyrxosh follows with the wandering, foreign-land feeling, and Falling Curtain closes with release and acceptance. Once we lined them up like this, it suddenly felt like a whole life in five songs. That’s when we started thinking about what to call the EP.

Today I roughly sorted through Shanns’s photos. First I made folders. The first round was just picking out the ones that could be considered for the EP. Then in the second round I created five folders, one for each song, and dragged the first-round selections into the right places. I thought some of them could also be used in the lyric booklet.

For the EP name, I came up with a few ideas. Following the song order, this feels like a record of Shanns’s creative path across several years, also like traces of his growth. He went through anger, sorrow, compromise and confusion, and finally reached an ending that is also a new beginning. After a lot of thought, I narrowed it down to three options. Steps to Dawn is straightforward and clear in meaning. Towards Dawn feels more fluid. Before Dawn carries some uncertainty and feels a bit more rock. I sent these three to Shanns and asked him to think of a Chinese title based on these English ideas first and then decide the final English name.

He said the title should be simple and easy to remember, not complicated. He decided the Chinese name would be 黎明前夕 (the eve of dawn) or 黎明之前 (before dawn). In Chinese, 前夕 feels more poetic, like a critical moment right before dawn, while 之前 covers the whole stretch leading up to dawn. Since this EP is not only about one single edge but also the entire night before dawn, 之前 actually fits better. Even though it is more colloquial, it also matches the rock spirit.

If we went strictly by the Chinese meaning, Before Dawn would be the closest English title. But considering Shanns’s point that it should be simple and easy to remember, I think he was right. So we tried to find something even simpler, and in the end we decided on Towards Light as the English title.

Finally I urged Shanns again to find more of his old videos for me, since I need to start preparing the pre-release content for the EP.

Video and Photo Update

Today Shanns finally sent me his videos, including some live performances and some of him playing guitar. I plan to spend some time editing them today and try uploading one to YouTube tomorrow as a test.

He also sent me a full set of photos from a mountain trip he took two years ago. I really love them. In the folder he gave me before, there were only a few from this series. Since everything was too scattered and hard to organise, I had asked him to check if he could find the whole set. He finally dug them out from his cloud drive. Now I’ve decided to give up on the random photos I sorted earlier, because they were too messy and didn’t follow any clear thread, which made them hard to use. This mountain series, on the other hand, can work perfectly as the theme for the tape cover, the lyric booklet and the inner artwork.

Today I also contacted a few merch makers to order some items. In the end I chose two types of picks (triangle and heart-shaped), two types of stickers (PVC glitter film and PET synthetic paper), and keychains with Shanns’s logo. I wanted to keep a few different options, partly to compare how the finished products look, and also so we’ll have more flexibility when it comes to release.

YouTube Release Note

Today I published Shanns’s first promotional video on YouTube. I edited the video myself, combining his newly recorded guitar solo of Falling Curtain with his live performance footage from two years ago. The first version only used the live video with its original sound, but I felt the effect was not good — the environment was too noisy and his vocals were not clear enough. So in the final edit, I mixed in the performance video, letting the two alternate, and used the recorded solo audio to replace the unclear part. This way, it keeps the live atmosphere while presenting the music clearly. At the end I also added Shanns’s large logo.

Shanns reminded me that both the title and the description should include some keywords and trending terms to make the video easier to find.

For the description, I wrote:

Before the light arrives, here is the first glimpse of Shanns.

A journey of sound begins, leading to his debut international EP Towards Light (黎明之前).

Subscribe and stay tuned.

I wanted to keep a “teaser” feeling — hinting at what’s coming, but not revealing too much, with a sense that the journey is just beginning. It also connects directly to the EP title. For hashtags I added #Shanns #IndieMusic #GuitarSolo #LivePerformance #ExperimentalMusic #NewMusic to cover key search terms.

The title I chose was Falling Curtain – Shanns | Emotional Live Guitar Solo Performance. My thinking was to put the song name at the front, so viewers immediately know what the video is about. Adding words like “Emotional” and “Live Guitar Solo” highlights both the expressive quality and the instrumental focus, making it easier for the video to be picked up by YouTube’s algorithm and linked to similar videos. I didn’t add the EP title Towards Light here, because right now the priority is introducing Shanns himself. Later videos can bring the EP name into the titles once the campaign shifts toward the release.

This video marks the starting point of the promotion — first attracting viewers with a personal and emotional performance, then gradually moving toward the full EP release.

Tape Design and Production

Today I contacted the tape maker and confirmed the details of our order. I asked him to send me the layout templates so I could design everything directly within the right format.

Shanns and I then finalised the cover design. Since tapes are different from CDs, with more fold-out panels, we discussed what should go on each section. Shanns even pulled out some old tapes he had collected from Chinese rock musician Dou Wei, and we used those as reference for the layout. In the end, we decided to place Shanns’s small logo on the side spine of the outer case as well as on both sides of the cassette itself. Because the photo we chose has a dark background, I converted the logo into a clean white outline, which fits perfectly.

For the lyrics, we decided to print everything on a large double-sided four-fold sheet. Since we need to consider both domestic and international audiences, all text will be bilingual. One side will hold the Chinese and English lyrics for four songs, and the other side will feature the lyrics for Falling Curtain along with bilingual credits. The overall design idea is to use edited dark-toned photos for the outer case and tape stickers, while the lyric booklet will feature cloud photos in blue and white tones. The contrast creates both atmosphere and depth.

After finishing the design, I submitted it to the tape maker. For the printed materials I requested exclusive press runs, and for the cassette itself I chose the rush production option, so the order would be processed more quickly.

During our conversation, I found out that producing CDs costs much less than tapes. So I asked Shanns whether we should also release a CD version. Since most of the design is already done, adapting it to CD format would not be difficult, and CDs can be produced quickly. Shanns thought it was a good idea. He suggested we could create a collector’s set that includes the CD, the tape, and the merchandise, sold at a bundled price. Individual tapes or CDs could still be bought at the normal price, but the set would be more attractive. This way we can offer something special for collectors and also have another promotional angle.

YouTube and Facebook Update

Today I checked the traffic on YouTube and saw that only three people had watched the video. The number did make me a bit discouraged, but I still want to go through the whole process, even if the results are limited. At least I should finish what I can do. Later I also posted the same video on the Facebook page I created for Shanns, hoping it might get a bit more exposure there.

Shanns also has a private Instagram account where he had posted a few clips of himself playing guitar before, and those had already gathered some views. I asked him if he would be willing to use that account for the EP promotion, but he hesitated. He said that account feels more like a personal diary and he doesn’t really want to mix it with music promotion. Since we already have a dedicated Facebook and YouTube, he suggested we focus on those first. For Instagram, he thinks it might be better to open a new account specifically for promotion later, so the content stays clean and won’t disturb the vibe of his private page.

CD Production Enquiry

Today I contacted the CD maker introduced by the tape producer to get a sense of the pricing. He gave me several tiers: 50 copies at 16 RMB each, 100 copies at 13 RMB, and 200 copies at 12 RMB.

I asked about smaller runs under 50, and he sent me prices for 10, 20, and 30 copies: 10 copies at 35 RMB each, 20 copies at 30 RMB each, and 30 copies at 20 RMB each. All of these already include the lyric booklet.

Overall the cost is much lower than tapes. The strange part is that 20 and 30 copies are the same price per unit, which probably just pushes people to go for 30. I discussed with Shanns whether we should do 10 or 30. He said 10 would be enough, otherwise they would just pile up at home. Even though the per-unit price is higher in such a small run, the total is only 350 RMB. By comparison, one deluxe cassette costs nearly 300 RMB on its own. The tape maker also told me they can only dub one tape per day, which made me realise how different the processes are.

Tapes have to be dubbed in real time. If the master is 40 minutes, it takes 40 minutes to record it, one to one. That makes it very slow. On top of that, small-batch cassette production involves manual steps like casing and labeling, which slows things further. Plus, blank tapes themselves are getting harder to source, so the unit cost naturally rises. CDs, on the other hand, are much faster and cheaper to produce. The burning can be done in batches, and the cases and booklets use standard printing processes, so the cost drops a lot. No wonder cassettes are so much more expensive now.

In the afternoon I finished designing the CD cover, disc, and booklet, and sent everything to the maker. He said they can ship within a week, which is much faster than the tapes.

Merchandise Arrival Update

Today Shanns told me that all three types of merchandise—picks, keychains, and stickers—have arrived. He even sent me some photos. Overall they look pretty good, but there’s a small issue with the keychains. They were supposed to be made of two parts, with a smaller piece that says “Shanns,” but something seems to have gone wrong in production. I’ll contact the maker to check what happened.

For now, all of the physical items will be shipped to Shanns first, since they were ordered in China and can only be sent via domestic courier. Once he has everything and confirms there are no issues, he’ll pack them together and send them over to me in the UK. This way it’s simpler and avoids the hassle of multiple shipments.

Bandcamp Release — Towards Light

Today Shanns and I decided to officially release Towards Light on Bandcamp, together with the pre-order for the physical editions. For the digital release we chose to put the whole EP out at once, instead of rolling out one track at a time. Given our current level of recognition, releasing track by track would not bring much extra exposure and might actually dilute the promotional effort. More importantly, this EP makes the most sense as a complete work, reflecting Shanns’s creative path over the past years, so a full release feels more appropriate. For the physical editions we set them up as pre-orders. Shanns has already received the tapes and merch, while the CDs are still in transit. Once everything arrives at his place, he will send the whole package together to the UK.

When uploading I arranged the track order exactly as we had planned: I Don’t Need, Grey Night, Lu Zhishen, xeyrxosh, Falling Curtain. I set Falling Curtain as the featured track — partly because the YouTube and Facebook videos we had already shared were both connected to this song, and partly because the guitar solo in it is so striking that it makes sense to highlight it. I set the digital price at 0, with “let fans pay if they want.” At this stage the priority is to get more people to hear Shanns, not to earn money, so I didn’t enforce a price or require email addresses. For the album description I used our text “Five songs, five states of mind…”, and for the release message I wrote “Five songs, one journey. Towards Light is here. Step inside and listen. — Shanns.” The tags I added were rock, indie rock, alternative rock, Chinese rock, folk rock, guitar, emotional, mostly to maximise chances of being found through search and recommendations.

For the physical editions we decided on four merch items, all with October 7th as the shipping date, to allow time for shipping from China to the UK. Each pre-order comes with bonus gifts to make it more attractive.

1. CD Set (Pre-order Gift Edition) — priced at £10. Includes a jewel case and a bilingual lyric booklet (Chinese & English), plus two guitar picks (heart and triangle), one keychain, and one random logo sticker (PVC glitter or PET synthetic paper).

2. Cassette Set (Pre-order Gift Edition) — priced at £20. Includes a cassette with a bilingual fold-out lyric insert (Chinese & English), plus the same gifts. The actual production cost was much higher, especially since we chose many customised options that made the tapes expensive to produce. But considering the usual market price of cassettes, and since profit is not the aim here, the idea is simply to give more people a chance to discover Shanns.

3. CD + Cassette Set (Pre-order Gift Edition) — priced at £26. Includes both the CD and cassette, with the same gifts. We decided not to raise the shipping for this set, even if it ends up costing us more, so that choosing the bundle feels easier.

4. Merch Set — priced at £6. Includes two guitar picks, one keychain, and two stickers (both PVC glitter and PET synthetic paper). In the other sets the sticker is random, but here both versions are included for those who want the complete set. I based the pricing on Bandcamp merch, where a single pick often goes for around £3, so £6 feels fair for this bundle.

For shipping I followed Bandcamp’s system with three zones: UK, Europe, and the rest of the world, and added incremental charges for each additional item. For the bundle set I kept shipping as friendly as possible, as a way of encouraging single-order purchases. For product photos, since we don’t yet have the CDs in hand I used mock-ups for that item, but for everything else I uploaded real photos.

Our idea is simple: on the digital side, open the door with free streaming and pay-what-you-want, to let more people discover Shanns. On the physical side, use “pre-order plus gifts” to build up the first wave of support. The next step is to keep releasing videos, direct traffic to the album page, and once all the stock arrives from China, ship everything together according to the pre-order schedule.

Cassette Arrival — A Special Moment

Today Shanns received the cassettes and listened to them, and he was full of excitement. He said that holding the tapes suddenly brought back a long-lost feeling, because it had been so long since he last experienced music in this format. The texture of the cassette and even the sound of the mechanism turning gave him a sense of travelling back in time. What made it even more special was that this time it was his own work, his own voice and playing coming through the cassette player. For him, preserving his music on such an old medium feels truly unique. Compared with the clarity and convenience of streaming, the cassette as a tangible physical format seems to carry a warmth that comes with the weight of time. I also feel that from the very first idea to each step of putting everything together, reaching this point is something I never quite imagined would happen, and it feels deeply meaningful.

Second Video Release

Even though the reality is that there is hardly any traffic on overseas streaming platforms, since we have already started this project I still want to see the process through. So today I posted Shanns’s second video on YouTube and Facebook. It is a short clip from one of his live performances, and the song he played that time was Falling Curtain. Since I plan to make this track the main focus of the release, I hope to give it some extra exposure.

Release Imminent

The only thing still missing from the physical editions is the CD. I checked the status today and it has indeed shipped, but it is still on the way. After discussing with Shanns, we agreed that we cannot wait any longer. Tomorrow we must officially release the EP on Bandcamp. We decided to put the full digital version online at once, free to stream and download, while opening pre-orders for the physical editions. This way listeners can already experience the music, and at the same time we can begin gathering support through the pre-orders. Even though we do not yet have all the physical items in hand, we feel there is no need to hold back. What matters most is to put the project out there and let Towards Light finally step into the open.