12/30/04 Shanghai at around 5 degrees Celsius
This journal arrives a bit late due to the fact that I have been trying to find some time to actually sit down and put my thoughts and feelings down in writing. The past two weeks have been stressful, physically demanding and emotionally draining though I know somewhere within lies a joy and enlightenment that will in time reveal itself.
As you may have guessed, the two main things which I have been occupied with these past two weeks have been the production of the new album and the launch of the Davidtao.com website. On that note, I would like to first thank all my friends, fans and visitors worldwide for your support and for visiting our site. Your response has been overwhelming and your feedback has been both informative and extremely precious to us. The response has far exceeded what we had initially expected and inspires us to upgrade and expand our content and interface. Again, I encourage all of you to visit the site frequently as we are constantly adding new exclusive content and responding to your requests and suggestions. Also, in planning is my first chat room appearance, which will allow us to interact online. Over the next few weeks you will also be able to view, listen and download exclusive content regarding the new album. There will be interviews, photos and video clips documenting the production and recording process.
Something I have wanted to do since the launch of the website is to express my gratitude and respect to the people who created the website. I may have spearheaded the initiation of the site but all the accolade and credit deserves to go to the production teams who planned and designed everything. I would like to thank the marketing and development team which includes Joanna and Mitch who spent countless hours drafting and researching how to make a site that would be not only represent David Tao but also be interesting and different than other sites. My sincere gratitude and admiration also go to Jim, Michael, Mei and their team of web designers and programmers for their brilliance, passion and dedication. They are responsible for the designs, concepts, and which allowed the site to break away from the traditional and emerge as something more organic and human. This entire team spent weeks and months continuously changing and polishing their creations till they were everybody was completely satisfied. I would also like to thank 黃中平 for once again taking time out of his busy schedule to shoot all the exclusive photos we have on the site. Without his talent and passion, all you would see is a tired, 熊貓眼圈的我!
The past two weeks have been extremely hectic and stressful as I was in the final stages of production. That usually is the most compacted and demanding part of my music production, I feel, though I am sure some will disagree. For some reason, I always run out of time or the time that was initially allocated ends up not being enough, as everything always takes longer than estimated. The last two weeks were the most grueling as I simultaneously sang and mixed the majority of the songs. Considering the time I spent on songwriting and arranging ( approximately half a year ), two weeks is very minimal for both singing and mixing of an album. For some reason, however, this is how it always ends up being. Perhaps it is this urgency that forces me to not think too much about things making me rely more on my instincts and feelings. My time was divided between two studios with mixing in one and singing and editing in another. My day started usually at around 11am and ended around 4am. What made things difficult was that sleeping late often made my voice quite tired and groggy. Often, I would go about the day not using my voice relying on hand gestures to communicate with Andrew ( my Production Manager ) and other colleagues so as to avoid talking. It was quite comical and frustrating at times, as they would constantly misunderstand what I was trying to say which would drive me crazy which would then force me to talk.
Adding to that workload and stress were also 'interruptions' in the schedule such as shooting a music video, meetings and other non-album related jobs. Of course, these were all very crucial and necessary items though during the most hectic critical period of production they were extremely frustrating and disrupting. You have to switch from one mindset to another and then back the very next day.
The good news, however, is that the album is finally finished! As we speak, the album is now entering its final design and manufacturing process and in a matter of weeks the brand new 4th album will be in your hands. Of course, there is still much work to do though having completed the album is a big weight off my shoulders.
The making of this album has again been an emotional roller coaster ride for many of the people and myself. I will be sharing mine and they will be sharing their experiences regarding the production and development of this album with all of you over the next few weeks.
On a more serious note, I ask that all of our members and those of you visiting our site to please say a prayer for those hurt by the recent tragic tsunami disaster caused by the earthquake in the Indian Ocean. This may be a time of celebration as the New Year rolls in but for many in Asia it is a time of grief, sadness and tragedy. Please say a prayer for those victims and if possible donate some of your time, money and awareness to help those in need during this time.
Sincerely,
DT
2004年12月30日，約莫攝氏5度的上海
這篇日記來得有點遲，因為我一直試著找出時間，讓自己可以真的坐下來沈澱思緒，進行寫作。過去這兩週的沈重壓力，讓我耗費不少體力與情感，但我知道其中存在著一份喜樂與啟示，時間一到，它便會應運而生。
如你所猜想的，過去這兩週，我的時間一直被新專輯製作與davidtao.com官網開站這兩件事所佔據。關於這些事情，我首先要感謝我的所有朋友、歌迷與來自世界各地的訪客，感謝你們的支持與來訪。你們的響應就是一切，這些對我們來說都是十分有益而寶貴的回應。這些響應遠超過我們最早的預期，促使我們必須提升、擴充我們的內容與操作介面。再一次，我想鼓勵所有人經常到網站瀏覽，因為我們會經常更新獨家的內容，並回覆你們的需求與建議。同時，按照計畫中的，當我第一次在聊天室出現的時候，我們就可以有線上的互動。接下來的幾個禮拜，你們將可以看到、聽到、甚至下載新專輯的獨家內容。包括訪問、照片、以及記錄整個錄音製作過程的影像短片。
在網站開站之後，有一件事是我一直想做的，那就是對創造這個網站的工作人員表達感謝與敬意。我也許帶頭發想了這個網站，但是所有的讚譽與功勞應該歸屬於企劃設計這個網站的工作團隊。我要感謝行銷與發展團隊，包括Joanna與Mitch，他們花了許多時間擬定、研究如何讓這個網站不只是呈現出「陶David Tao」而已，還可以有許多有趣、不同於其他網站的內容。我也對Jim、Michael、Mei及其網頁程式設計團隊的傑出才能、熱情與付出致上我的誠摯感佩。他們要負責創意設計與概念，讓整個網站可以有別於傳統網頁，展現出更為有機、人性的特質。這整個團隊花了好幾個月的時間，不斷改變、調整他們的創意，直到所有人都覺得滿意為止。我也要感謝黃中平大哥在百忙之中，再次抽空為我們拍攝了網站的獨家照片。沒有他的才華與熱情，你們看到的就會是一個疲憊、熊貓眼圈的我！
過去這兩週是新專輯製作的最後階段，我處於一種極度繁忙又很有壓力的狀態，而這個階段的工作對我來說是必須是最嚴謹，且最累人的，雖然我想有些人可能不這樣想。不曉得為什麼，我的時間好像總是不夠，不然就是一開始設定了一個期限，最後卻得延期，好像一切都比原先的預估還要花上更多時間。過去這兩週是最累人的，我一邊配唱、一邊同時進行專輯裡多數作品的混音。如果說不算我寫歌以及編曲的時間(接近半年)，要同時完成一張專輯的配唱與混音，只用兩個禮拜的時間真的是很少。不知何故，事情的結尾總會變成這樣，也許「火燒屁股」才能夠逼我不要想太多，然後能夠多靠著直覺及靈感來完成工作。我的時間被兩個錄音室切割開來，我在其中一間配唱，再到另一間剪接。每天從早上十一點開始工作，直到凌晨四點左右才會告一段落。然而，「晚睡」卻成了一個大問題，它讓我的聲音變得疲勞且狀況不穩。所以通常我一整天都不大說話，只靠著手勢來跟我的製作統籌Andrew，還有其他同事溝通。有的時候這會顯得很滑稽而多餘，因為他們常常會誤會我手勢的意思，讓我抓狂，逼使我得開口說。
除了這些龐大的工作量以及壓力，還有許多被我視為專輯錄製過程中的「打擾」的事情排在工作行程中，例如拍攝音樂錄影帶、會議，還有一些非關專輯的工作。當然，這些事情在錄音時對我來說是既惱人且打斷情緒的，但都是不可缺少的重要環節。所以你得要「換個腦袋」，然後在隔天又回到同樣的工作上。
然而，好消息是，專輯終於完成了！現在專輯進入最後的設計、包裝等生產過程，然後在幾個星期之後，就會成為你手上第四張的全新陶?專輯。當然，之後還有許多工作，但對我來說完成錄音及製作便可以讓我有如釋重負的感覺。
這張專輯的「生產過程」對於包括我在內的很多人，跟之前一樣，像在坐雲霄飛車一樣驚險。在接下來的幾週裡，我會跟大家說我的部分，而他們則會分享他們在製作、發行這張專輯中點點滴滴的感覺。
還有個一定要提的事情，我希望所有的會員，以及每一個前來瀏覽這個網站的人，都能夠為這次在印度洋大地震引起的海嘯，造成嚴重的悲劇誠心祈福。雖然現在正是歡度新年的日子，但對於亞洲一些地區，卻是苦難、悲傷的，希望大家能為他們祈禱，如果經濟上許可的話能夠捐款，並適時的幫助那些需要幫助的人。
誠心祝福，
陶喆 |
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