November 15, 2008

• CD Recording (after)

  Yesterday we finished the recording of the Psalm CD.

  We started on Thursday morning. I was in the church at 8AM. I played through the music and pre-set the stops for the different pieces. At that time it was difficult to imagine that it would all be recorded a few hours later. It is so definite - you can't go back after it has been recorded.

  I had 80% prepared, but I was not sure that I would play with conviction. Then there was the 20% that I had selected at last minute, and then there were the pieces that did not give any inspiration whatsoever. Anyway, it was too late now...

  Harpert VanderWel took most of his equipement along from Ontario. When he arrived he started unloading and after that he set up. A very dry church, was his first reaction to the sound. After setting up we went for lunch and then we started to record the preludes.

  The preludes would be recorded in the afternoons and the singing at night. The evenings to record just the singing would be long enough already. And we didn't want to waste peoples time by listening to the prelude. In this setup we could also focus much better on the singing. Harpert will glue the prelude and singing together in his studio later.

  My first choice was Psalm 6. It was a trio, but yet very safe choice. It took some effort to get into the right mood. I started wondering about the notes, their individual length, wondering where my feet and fingers were, and I was busy with many things, except making music. Harpert was patient and gave me some time and finally I got into it again.

  After that the others followed. Some took one take, others more than one. For Psalm 68 I wanted to add stops exactly at the starting of the barlines, but that was such a challenge that I asked my wife to come over and assist. And for Psalm 72 I had prepared an idea for an imrpovisation, but I couldn't get a nice ending... it just happened after three takes that Harpert rejected . Then there was the prelude idea that I had written just a few days ago, but technically I could not play it. So I decided to practice that on Thursday night after the recording and retry that on Friday.

  The choir did well on Thursday. It was a small group and I could not use the organ much, because it was too powerfull. In our church Harpert could not play much with the location of choir and mics, because the sound was soo direct everywhere. It took some time to get the choir and organ balanced and then we went. Some things we had to do again. It is hard to sing on a CD with a group of 20 people that are not professionally trained, in a building that is unforgiving. But we managed and did our 4-part harmony Psalms, and unison and groups... it was fun!

  The Friday morning was spent with listening to the recordings and deciding which takes should be kept and which ones should be discarded. That was not so difficult, but by listening to the recordings, the memories of sweat and failed attempts came back... In the afternoon we retook some of the preludes and got ready for the evening.

  Friday evening was a big surprise. We were prepared for the same group as the hymn CD: maybe 60 people. What a surprise when the we could fill the middle section of the church to the rafters! Several hundred people showed up. The singing was like a rock! The start was bang-on, and after there was a good observance of the silence for the recording. Only a few retakes were necessary. After two hours it was all over and done! What a blessing!

  That was not all... now the studio editing needs to be done by Harpert VanderWel. I will have to provide the final tracklist (after he provides me with the track times). One of my concerns is the small choir versus the large and big congregational singing: how is that going to be balanced...? Hopefully it will just be part of the variety of the CD tracks...

  If everything goes according to plan, the CDs would be available in February. I plan to organize a Psalm singing evening in our church when we will officially make the CD available. We will sing some Psalms of the CD, listen to the preludes live, and hear the choir sing some of the 4-part harmony... Deo Volente!

   

  • 3:49 pm
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