Week 41 - Recording 10: You Will be Praised (Psalm 65)

I wrote this last year.  I have an idea to record an album of songs based on hymns written by King David.  This is the first one I've written.

Week 41 - Recording 9: Mombasa Moon

This one is a bit of a cheat, since I didn't record any of it this weekend.  The bulk of it was actually recorded years ago and then put on hold because my arrangement idea called for a drum set and I didn't have a drum set or the ability to record one.  Instead, earlier this year I recorded a frame drum struck with a rubber mallet to stand in for the bass drum, a clay drum from Yemen struck with a harder stick instead of a snare drum and a shaker made out of bottle caps to replace what would have been some sort of sizzle cymbal.

Week 41 - Recording 8: Here is Love

I've been working on a full arrangement of this one, but decided to go ahead and just record it with me and the guitar.  This is how it would sound if you came to our meeting on Sunday.  The full version will be pitched higher to allow some harmony parts, will include other instruments and maybe even a recorder solo.  Hopefully I can get it done this year, but until then, I'm putting this one out there.

Week 41 - Recording 7: Alas! And did my Savior Bleed?

My wife took our son to the park again on Saturday, giving me a couple of hours to spend recording.  I was able to get more done than I expected to, but was not quite finished with this one when they returned.  If you listen carefully, you might hear him in the background of one of the percussion tracks.  You may also hear a cat, since they live in the room I use for recording.

Week 41 - Recording 6: Just a Closer Walk with Thee

This has been one of my favorite songs since I was very young.  I was surprised to find it listed as "anonymous" in my hymnal, which means it's public domain and fair game for recording.  Some day I might try to redo this one with a full band arrangement and some styling on the melody, but for this recording, it's just me and the guitar and I'm sticking pretty close to the melody as written.  I played and sang this at the same time.  It took a few takes, though, mostly because of the fully diminished seventh chord in the sixth measure.  This is the first time I've recorded a fully diminished seventh chord.  I've only recently started to play them much since I've been learning some hymns and they're fairly commonly used in some older hymns and gospel songs.

Week 40 - Recording 5: Amazing Grace

So it's clear that I'm not on pace to get 50 recordings done this year. In fact, 3 a week wouldn't get me there at this point, and I'm certainly not getting 3 a week done. The problem is that there's no time during the day. It's too loud while the baby's asleep and he's too loud while he's awake. In the evenings, it seems like there's always plenty to do, with supper, feeding the animals and catching up on gardening that needs doing.

This Saturday, though, my wife took the baby to go to the park with a friend, which left me a couple of hours at home alone. I took the opportunity to lay down this recording of "Amazing Grace." There are some things I'd redo if I had the time, but I don't, so I'm putting it out there. Everything you hear was the first take for that part except the guitar intro which took ten tries to get right.