Thinking. Growing. Learning. Changing.

Monday 31 December 2007

Music for the Soul


The final day of 2007. This morning I had to get up at what seemed like a horrific hour (8:30am) and head over to the 'KBC sound studio' as I now know it, to do some recording. This was a first. Usually anything I have recorded has been an 'all-in-one' production, just hitting record and doing it in one take. However, today I was recording the first song from my album - the song I wrote for our previous youth minister's leaving service. I'm ashamed to say the song was only half-written when I performed it due to work pressure and time constraints so I vowed to someday rewrite and record it properly. At least I can say I managed by the end of the year.




Recording it 'properly' was a new experience but one I thoroughly enjoyed. The difficulty in composing the song was that it was just me and the piano - I had to invent and practise all the other parts separately and just mix them in my head. It was a beautiful journey to hear each part be recorded and come together just as I had imagined. I was working with a brilliant team - three of my best mates and Deacs, who has become a complete legend in my books. We just got down to business and started putting it together. The girls were fabulously patient as I did all the piano, all the synth etc. and just waited until their parts were due. The vocals were the part I was most nervous about. Somehow when singing I feel like I'm giving away part of myself and so if it doesn't sound good I can be quite unhappy. I managed to get away with only three or four takes and although I'll never really be happy with the way my voice sounds, the edited production will sound great thanks to the wonders of modern technology.





So, one song down, six to go! My new year's resolution (one of them anyway) is to finish the album by the end of next year but more preferably by the end of summer. Now that I have a better idea of what's involved in the recording I can be more prepared. I'm so grateful to the people who are willing to come on this journey with me and be part of a new chapter in my life. With that in mind I'm looking forward to the next year despite the onslaught of work I am facing. I'm sure I'll find my therapy in making the music that I enjoy with the friends that I've been blessed with. Here's to another year.









2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Amie,

When do we get to hear your stuff then?

Ed.

Living To Serve said...

Could be a while tbh! As I say im hoping by the end of summer but it depends on getting everybody rehearsed and together for each recording so could be a while! Watch this space though - might post the first one here.