On the fifth day of Christmas my life gave to me: a 5 hour recording session
Every year my mother puts on a little dramatic reading about Mary. Included in said reading is some music...naturally. A solo, a duet, and a trio (the trio was written by her friend Grace). She wrote this program with my aunt years and years ago. Grace, who wrote the trio, recorded all the music so that they would have it. But, as the years have gone by the cassette that they used was getting older and older. When my mom learned that she could have it put on a CD she went to have it done. But, it turns out that she was just a bit late and the tape was too warped to be used.
So, she gathered her favorite singers and decided she wanted a new recording. So, we all went up to Sheila's house to do the recordings. We started with the trio and then laid down all the other piano parts to work with. Now, for those of you who have never done recording, its incredibly different than singing live. We do each voice on a separate track...usually in a different room. It really makes a huge difference. First off, you don't get to hide your voice amongst other voices. Its incredibly exposing. Second, you don't get the help of having other people to sing next too. You get so many cues when you sing next to someone; how loud to sing, vowels, shape, cut offs, start offs. Its incredible. But, when you're isolated it makes everything different. So, you just have to be methodical. So, we did each voice twice (at least) so we would always have a good section to take from. I also had to sit down and re-record a couple of the piano parts that went slightly awry.
Fast forward 5 hours and we finally left the studio. We're still not done however, as I have to go in and mix all the tracks into something useable. Its so much work. But, you absolutely have to take a break from things so you can have fresh ears going back in. If you don't you'll settle for things with out even really knowing it. And even when we go back in and start mixing, I'm sure I'm gonna have to lend my voice to things to smooth out some sections. Basically, its quite the experience...but SIL
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