Making a Recording—Part 2
There are so many different things involved in a project of this size that I’m sure I’ll forget something. Making a recording was an amazing experience, and it really seemed like a whirlwind.
When I arrived at the Indianapolis airport, I was greeted by Mac and Beth Lynch, and Tim Fisher. Mac served in more of a producer role, as he had the inside knowledge of the studio, etc. Also, being the orchestrator, he assisted with the organization of the orchestrations as well as many other areas along with Beth. Tim, also a regular at this studio, had the responsibility of directing the orchestra—and he did so masterfully. Over a brief lunch at Applebee’s we discussed how things would work this week, the in’s and out’s of the studio, and how the orchestra worked. We then went directly to the studio to record for the next eight hours.
This was one of the most fascinating aspects of the project. Hearing a full orchestra live, recording my music, is really a difficult experience to describe. Suffice it to say, it was exhilarating.
The instrumentalists—who had never seen my music before—received the music, and they sight-read each piece, almost perfectly. After we would run-through a song, Tim would discuss with me how it went, and together we would make any last minute feasible adjustments necessary to interpret the song the way I had intended. Then we would record it. Mac, Beth and I, along with the engineers would listen carefully and critically to determine how each recording went. Here’s the neat thing: if a mistake was made (or, more accurately, if a mistake was caught), we didn’t need to record the whole song over again. With the technology in the studio, you can just “punch in” at most any location in the music. (Yes, I know. Gone are the days of striving for an “excellent” performance. Yes, a studio even makes me sound good!) So if a French Horn played a wrong note, or a flute forgot to come in, or even if a percussionist dropped his mallet or a chair squeaked, we would only need to back up a few measures in the music and begin recording again. (This is a very complex process that I am not nearly qualified to explain; I’m just attempting to share it in terms that make sense to me.)
We weren’t sure we’d get to finish all the songs. In fact, a song that we thought we might not be able to record the orchestra for was Amazing Grace. After listening to it for several months now, I really can’t imagine it without the orchestration, so I’m grateful we were able to include it. By God’s grace, we finished early that night.
The next day I would record the piano tracks. Was I ready? Had I prepared well enough? How responsive was the instrument I was playing? More about that later.
Here’s a fun picture I took while at the studio:
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James, you wrote of your recording experience so perfectly! I can still remember that same exhilarating feeling when I heard the Aire Born orchestra playing “my” music! It is indescribable! I am still amazed at how easily the orchestra played through the songs and recorded them usually on the second run-through.
I too was so thankful for Tim Fisher’s expertise and leadership. He, Mac and Beth are so talented yet humble.
Thank you for sharing your recording experience!