The Making of Double Negative                                                             The Title Double Negative came from an email that Thomas Scott sent out to Paul Sears, Billy Swann and Dave Newhouse. For dramatic effect, Thomas used a double negative in the sentence structure. So as not to look ignorant, Thomas amended the sentence with this (please forgive the "Double Negative").As it happens Dave replied to the email with this, Double Negative... that would make a great CD title. Other names were considered during the preliminary stages of the CD but Double Negative won the day. .      That brings us to this little known factoid: .      Billy came up with the name "Manna/Mirage".      Dave came up with the name "<185>".      Paul came up with the name "Bandwidth".      Thomas came up with the name "Double Negative" .      Seems like Billy ought to be ripe with a title soon, that is if there is a simple pattern in play here!      Double Negative started out very much like Bandwidth with the recording of several tunes drum and keyboard tracks at Carl Merson's Studio in Maryland. This changed rather abruptly when Carl sold his home and moved the studio equipment into storage. Thomas had purchased a computer for a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) for mixing Double Negative, but the system was far from complete and wasn't yet capable as a stand-alone recording studio. Recording was up in the air until Paul purchased a home in Baltimore with a perfect space for recording. Paul worked out an arrangement with Carl to set up his equipment in Paul's new home. Now all systems were go to resume the recording of Double Negative. The plan was to capture the rhythm tracks to digital tape recorder at Paul's in Baltimore then transfer to DAW. Thereafter the DAW would serve to capture all overdubs either at The Mountain in Madison Virginia or at Charm City in Baltimore. This was the hybrid-recording plan for Double Negative. Most likely, this would be the last time The Muffins would use digital tape recorders as plans for future recording were to be 100% DAW 96KHz 24bit recording. Everyone agreed early on in the creative process that The Muffins would collectively produce Double Negative, drawing on all their creative energy to create a collaborative work. More input, more collaboration and most importantly, there was going to be an improvisational tune included in the mix of written tunes. The creative process of Double Negative inspired a new way of working for The Muffins. Several of the new tunes came to the recording studio as rough sketches... rhythm tracks only and all creative input played an important roll as the song developed, and subsequently recorded. As these changes took place... this process grew and influenced the way the songs developed and, of course, greatly influenced the creative endeavor, now known as Double Negative. The Band set a dead line for handing over the completed project in order to meet Cuneiform's production schedule for a September 2004 release. The schedule was tight but definitely do-able. As producers, each band member endeavored in part to create the overall scope of sound for Double Negative. Band members created the model sound for their own instrument in relation to the composition.      Paul and Carl Merson were responsible for setting microphones on the trap set. There were three recording sessions for drums. The first drum session (winter 2002) was problematic and many of the snare and kick drum tracks were replaced with samples from the second recording session. The second recording session (summer 03) was very productive and accounts for the majority of the tracks on Double Negative. The third session was the Ra Sessions (Jan.2004). The mic set up for each session was fairly straightforward and produced a strong and workable drum sound. The most notable aspect of the drum sound was a ring in the snare that was almost annoying, but nevertheless an important aspect of what turned out to be a "cracking whip" snare sound (actually, a gate set fairly tight eliminated the most annoying aspect of the ring). All other percussion (timpani, tubular bells, gong and small percussive what have you) were recorded/sampled and added as overdubs.   Billy added a new amp (BAM) to his line up and was ready to model his sound for the new compositions. The new system was great and Billy's production choices were right on. Direct tap captured all of his lines. In fact, as far as the overall bass sound, very little change was needed during the mixing of Double Negative, a real testament to Billy's preproduction work.      Most of the sax lines were recorded by condenser microphone at a digital sampling rate of 44.1 kHz. The third harmonic distortion of the condenser coupled with the almost square wave nature of frequencies above 10K combined when moderately compressed to produce the edgy sax sound. The flutes and clarinets recorded in a live room with an open mic. The distance between mic and clarinet/flute increased or decreased to accomplish most of the desired woody natural air effect. The trombone and strings recorded by condenser microphone in a dark sounding room. The superb performances given by Doug Elliot added greatly to the timber of the sectional work. Doug's improvisational work along with Marshal Allen, Knoel Scott and Amy Taylor add diversity and richness to “Double Negative”. The string players Amy Taylor (violin), Kristen Snyder (viola), Laura Dent and Okorie Johnson (cello) graciously submitted to one at a time over dubbing. They would rather have played as a section, but due to time constraints and spur of the moment composition, Thomas deemed it wise to capture each string player individually. The strings served a greater role in “Double Negative” than in “Bandwidth”, Thomas wrote lines for the string players in several tunes, mainly as a melodic component of the composition rather than an accompaniment, and Dave wrote for a stand-alone string quartet, a “Muffin First” on both accounts. The creative efforts of composer and performer galvanized a new sound model that is sure to return in future Muffin recordings.        All keyboards were recorded by direct line and DirectX post processed except the organ solo in "Angel from Lebanon". This solo was processed by analogue fuzz and wa-wa in real time during the recording of the solo. Because many of the tunes were still in the compositional stage during recording, all compositions remained open to all compositional input. This fostered maximum creativity and meant one Muffin might show up at a recording session with a newly written line to another Muffin's tune. The result was a rich tapestry of ideas that went into every composition.      Whereas Bandwidth was The Muffins entry into Digital Recording, Double Negative was The Muffin's real exploration of 44.1 kHz 16 bit Digital Recording. The limits of 44.1 kHz 16 bit were explored to discover what character would be achieved from this snap shot in digital history. It was obvious that 96kHz 24 bit would be The Muffins format for the CD after Double Negative but for the time being Double Negative was going to dig its heels in and find what charm 44.1kHz 16bit recording coupled with DirectX effects had to offer. The task of mixing Double Negative rested on Thomas Scott's shoulders. However, mixing the CD was not a solo effort; mixes were sent out throughout the entire recording process. The rest of the band constantly gave Thomas feedback. This set up a system where Billy, Dave and Paul became creative directors, kept Thomas on track, and focused on what the producer's vision was. Besides giving Thomas more "critical ears”, it allowed Thomas to get lost in the minutia of each track of the CD. This process also expedited the mixing and was instrumental in finishing Double Negative by the appointed dead line. The mixing started before the recording was finished due to the nature of DAW automated mixing. The rhythm section sound was well developed and presentably mixed long before the over dubs were complete. This way of maintaining an ongoing mix allowed the end resulting mix to grow along with the overdubs. Buy the time the last overdubs were complete there was very little change needed. Once finished, the Master files were sent to SAE for final mastering and compilation.      As the musical aspect of Double Negative progressed so did the concept and cover art. Early on in the conceptual phase of the cover art, Paul Whitehead submitted two covers. The artwork did not fit the concept so the search continued. Thomas Scott contracted James Brigham to submit an entire conceptual package that was promising but there still was not a consensus that Brigham's concept had hit the bull's-eye. Billy lobbied hard to contact Chester Hawkins (from Bandwidth), Paul did so and Chester jumped in the ring with a flurry of ideas that were on target and very much within the concept of Double Negative. Several months of fine-tuning went into the creation of the artwork and finally just days before the Deadline the artwork was complete.