by Bob Cox, produced by Jeff Foster
I recently wrapped up a fun and interesting CD project — the debut CD by Bob Cox entitled Dreaming My Way Back To You. I’m very pleased and proud to have produced, engineered, mixed and mastered the music, as well as creating the packaging artwork, and releasing the CD on StringDancer Records. A sampler of the CD can be played below… just scroll down a bit.
Bob is a Bloomfield, Indiana-based old-school Country singer-songwriter, who came to me with a handful of solid original tunes he wanted to sculpt into a great-sounding CD. Bob had no particular deadline for completing the project, but he was on a strict budget, so the prospect of building the tracks with a bevy of competent local studio musicians, and all the expenses that would entail, was problematic.
So I suggested an alternative path to greatness for Bob’s project: utilizing an amazing bundle of software by PG Music called Band In A Box. I first worked with BIAB way back in the 90s, when it was an all-MIDI songwriter’s sandbox for generating full band accompaniment tracks in a matter of minutes.
Over the years, PG Music greatly expanded and updated the range of the style-set, and as the computers musicians had at their disposal became more powerful, made the breathtaking move into offering real instrument tracks recorded by top session players in pristine recording environments. Thousands of styles, licks and variations are all meticulously cataloged so that a user can simply set the tempo, choose the style, and type in the chord progression for the tune at hand. Then you hit the Generate button, and within seconds BIAB dishes up a complete song arrangement. Killer soloist breaks can be summoned, stops, shifts, modulations and tempo changes can be programmed at will. And if you don’t happen to like a piece of the puzzle you received, just tap the Generate button again, and you get a top-to-bottom reshuffling of the musical deck.
‘Dreaming My Way Back To You’ by Bob Cox
The musicians who contributed their chops to Bob’s CD include some of the top session players in Nashville, TN. We’re talking Brent Mason on acoustic, electric and baritone guitars; Tony King and Jason Roller on acoustic guitars; Paul Franklin, Eddy Dunlap and Steve Hinson on steel guitars; Andy Leftwich on fiddle and mandolin; Scott Vestal on banjo; Rob Ickes on dobro; Tom Keenlyside on tenor sax; Shawn Soucy on drums, and Down Towlin, Dave Roe and Dave Francis on bass.
After BIAB had generated an arrangement we liked, I exported the raw audio files into Logic Pro X and synced them to the timeline. All Bob had to do was step up to the mic, listen to the arrangement, and lay down his vocal track. At that point I could tweak things as I would any other audio project, utilizing automation, effects, panning, mixing and mastering techniques to produce the finished tune, CD-ready.
Here’s a 6.5 minute sampler of Dreaming My Way Back To You by Bob Cox:
Every lick on Bob’s new CD was recorded by some of Nashville’s finest players, yet not one of them stepped foot in my studio. Not one of them heard the tunes their playing would grace. And none of them may ever know the difference their work with PG Music would make in the life of an Indiana singer-songwriter with stories to tell.
We began recording on April 11, 2017, doing one weekly three-hour session, and officially put the project to bed seven months later, on November 15. My friend Bob graciously wrote a letter of recommendation for StringDancer Studios, for which I offer my sincere thanks:
working on a Bob Cox tune.
Photo by Joyce Cox.
Below is a video introducing Band In A Box. The program is offered in several different packages, all containing the primary software program, and various extension packs of styles. I have what they call the EverythingPAK… every style they offer, and a bundle of files so large it has to be shipped on its own hard-drive!
If you’re interested in producing outstanding music on a budget, contact me and let’s discuss your vision!
