This is the time; this is the record of the time.

On most of the records I produce or engineer, I put up a poster board or dry erase board in the studio that tracks progress. When a given task (in columns) is completed on a given song (in rows) you color in (or put an X in) the box for that task. It’s really helpful on longer projects that have lots of overdubs. Often the first 30 minutes of a recording session can be spent figuring out what’s left to do and where to begin the day’s work. Having a board can save lots of time and gives you an instant visual overview of where you are in a project. And musicians find it rewarding to fill in the boxes. I stole this idea from Brian Eno 13 years ago, but I’m sure lots of engineers and producers have been using it for decades.

In an effort to gain some objectivity on the bewildering process of putting together my own record, I’ve decided to treat my own record as I would one of my clients’ records in as many ways as I am able. That would mean the first step is to put together a board so I can track the status of the project.

Five boards cover between 50 and 55 songs. If I can abandon about eight tracks, this is enough: