This is the audiobook. I’ve been working on for several months now I never really stopped to think what five hours and 34 minutes. Looks like gosh it’s a lot. I feel like I’ve been in a marathon. Not much different from having a baby! No really! Thank you to all my TREmentors – it’s taking a few years to get to this point, now all I have to do is get audible to approve(once the book ismastered!)

Is it me or my gear? Countless recordings and live performances have used SM57 / SM58 $100 If you can't get a respectable capture into one of those mics. It's not the mic. Headphones -- unless someone is paying you 'I can retire now' money. You probably just need some basic cans. $200 Monitors -- Don't fall for the YT vids. Learn the monitors you can afford. I have heard killer mixes that were done on 6x9 speakers a guy ripped out of a car. He was a real musician / engineer. He had passion. 'All input devices (preamps - Audio interface) are the same'. Kinda. These days the cheap stuff is so good that if you don't push it most can't tell the difference. The thing is if you want character you want to push the pre so the expensive stuff wins. BUT .. you can go clean and then distort in the box. So... is it you? or your gear? Guitar finger squeaks ... I'm sure there is a plugin for that but TomoFugitaMusic can fix that for you. You won't like the discipline and neither did John Mayer. So what is my point? The best advice I have ever gotten, and it always seems to come from many respectable professionals. Stop spending money until you have something that you know for a fact will make a difference OR you are building a collection OR money is simply not an issue in your scenario. The thing you buy, even though considered better, might make you sound worse. Why? because you put a better mic in your less than adequate room because the new guitar amp is super responsive and your technique is inadequate because -- and this could be an expensive good thing -- oh, I thought I was ok but I have work to do. The ENTIRE WORLD is awaiting your new music that is raw, real, and creates an emotional experience for them.

Hi, I’m not happy with my acoustic guitar recording. I’ve recorded successfully in the past but that was strumming the guitar. I’ve attempted recording finger picking style on my Taylor Grand Pacific about 50 million times using an sm57 and on separate takes my AKG P170. The latter is too brittle and the 57 is not at all smooth and the tone sounds like clock chimes. On both occasions I have the mic pointing at the 12th fret going through an Apollo twin with no plug ins active. Joseph Berg suggested that another mic might be the answer and recommended the Shure SM81 condenser mic. Does anyone out there record finger style acoustic guitar, if so, what is your setup, do you use a compressor or other effects on the way in? This is royally doing my head in. tia Geoff

I'd love to give a special shout-out to our newest membership mentor, Gemi Moon. Gemi recently passed certification in The Reverse Engineer (very difficult) and was asked to be a mentor for this community. Gemi is very talented in her own right, but she also has a lot of love and compassion for other musicians. If you book calls with her, you'll quickly find that she's not only helping you get better but also giving you a bit of joy and confidence in your day. She has that kind of energy! We love Gemi and are excited for her journey as a mentor. I hope everyone can give her a warm welcome here in this community :)

Damian is travelling today so we have to cancel.