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 their creations till they were everybody was completely satisfied. I would also like to thank üSÖÐƽ 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, ÐÜ؈ÑÛȦµÄÎÒ! 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.
