A Message from Barry

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Barry tells the story of the creation of MY DREAM DUETS (conclusion): The last step in making a record is mixing (balancing all the elements into one audio source) and mastering (transferring the final mix to one audio device from which all copies will be produced). To this day, I do not know how the genius engineer, Bill Schnee, mixed this album. It has to be one of the most complicated jobs he’s ever had. The vocal tracks of the artists still sounded pretty awful when he got his hands on them, but somehow, when he would play me the finished mix of each song, he had made these old, tinny, scratchy-sounding vocal tracks sound as if these legends had recorded the duet yesterday! Every few days he’d call and say, “Ready for the next one?” And sure enough, the cut sounded perfect. An amazing talent, Bill Schnee. Mastering the record is the last step in making a record. The mastering engineer makes sure the sound of each song is technically perfect and makes sure that each song is at the right level, so that one song isn’t louder than the one before or after it. It’s a time-consuming job and he listens to music in a totally different way than you or I do. I received the final master a few weeks ago and sure enough, there it was. “My Dream Duets,” just as I had dreamed it would sound. Hillary Clinton once said, “It takes a Village.” Well, this album took a State!! It’s the most complicated, challenging album I’ve ever made. It’s taken more people to help create it than any album I’ve ever made. For me, singing with these legends was an honor and a dream come true. I sincerely hope you all like it. Love, Barry

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This Page Created May 25, 1997 (Last Updated October 28, 2014)

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