Rapid Approach pictures

Jeremy Young and I conceived the idea for what would become Rapid Approach in the spring of 2004. I had been hoping for a high-quality record of my current work, and Jeremy had always wanted to put out a commercial disc from start to finish, so we both had strong motivation. And Jeremy had the equipment and technical know-how to get it done. We saw no reason we couldn't do the whole project ourselves! Of course, it's one thing to talk about and another to do. For me to record, I needed a block of time before for preparation and Jeremy needed one after for editing and post-production. In the next year or so, while refining our ideas of what the album should be and, finally, what music it should contain, both of us got engaged to wonderful women who occupied the better part of our minds! Plans were put on hold until we realized that we had a great opportunity staring us in the face. After setting wedding dates, we set a recording date: early January 2006, after the Christmas break, which would give me time to prepare the program. We set three consecutive recording days of six hours each. We thought, humorously in hindsight, that we would finish the editing and production in the next couple of months, freeing us up for our summer weddings.

Editing turned out to be a big job! What does that say about my playing? And besides that, there was the task of putting that sound into a package that wouldn't make a potential buyer exclaim, "this looks like two guys printed this out of their basement!" We used Jeremy's attic, which we called the Bacchus Loft, but the danger remained. To that end, we used Disc Makers to handle pressing and reproduction. The design, however, was left to us. I took a self-imposed week-long crash course in InDesign, working alongside Jeremy as he finished covering up my sonic blemishes. You haven't lived until you've heard yourself play the same passage out of tune five different ways, listening to each of the five versions 10 times to pick out the lesser of five evils.

These pictures start back in 2004, with some shots Jeremy took to get a brainstorm going. Versions of two of these were used in the final booklet. Next there are the shots from the recording sessions themselves, naturally taken between takes. Those digital cameras are getting quieter, but they're not silent yet! Finally some shots from our shoot in summer 2007 to get the front and back covers as well as the disc picture.