Raising birds
We had our first rehearsal for the Ideal Home Music Library, Vol. 2 last weekend. Jenny and I worked together in her living room. I stood next to her enormous piano and sang, while she played as much of the songs as she had under her fingers. I can't desciribe what it's like to have your music come to life from out of what seems like nowhere. I don't mean to sound naive, or overly romantic, but to hear these songs played on a real, organic piano, with wooden hammers and metal strings, by a human being in a little room was thrilling. Not that there weren't changes to make. I wasn't so elated that I couldn't see some of the weaknesses in my writing. We trimmed down some left hand chords to suit Jenny's little hands. We changed a 5/8 time signature to 6/8 because it was impossible to feel. Plus other little misspellings and things.
The road from conceiving an album to putting it out is so long, especially at my level, that when you finally begin to see everything take shape it's really something. But my favorite part by far is hearing the music played for the first time. Nothing beats that feeling. I don't say that because I wrote the music, mind you, but because...well...imagine you are raising birds. You watch the little creatures go from eggs to hatchlings to full grown adults, and then there comes a time for your little charges to fly out on thier own. How can you describe that feeling of elation when all of your labor culminates in the creatures effortlessly floating away from you off into the blue?That's what it's like, hearing the notes rise up out of the piano and drift out the window. You feel scared, proud, and relieved all at once. As for me, when I heard the music make its way up to the cracks and creases in the ceiling, all the questions and insecurities in my brain drifted away. Questions like: "Are people going to like this?", "Did I write that chord too low?", "Is this too high for me to sing?", "Will she be able to play that?", "Did I overwrite in this part?" and "Is piano accompaniment sufficient for the album?" promptly withdrew themselves from my mind.
Chad Crouch of Hush mentioned that when he heard the demos, he felt like some of the songs needed a different treatment than just voice and piano. But I'm confident that when he hears them performed on a natural piano, he'll change his...er...tune.
Enough. More later.
The road from conceiving an album to putting it out is so long, especially at my level, that when you finally begin to see everything take shape it's really something. But my favorite part by far is hearing the music played for the first time. Nothing beats that feeling. I don't say that because I wrote the music, mind you, but because...well...imagine you are raising birds. You watch the little creatures go from eggs to hatchlings to full grown adults, and then there comes a time for your little charges to fly out on thier own. How can you describe that feeling of elation when all of your labor culminates in the creatures effortlessly floating away from you off into the blue?That's what it's like, hearing the notes rise up out of the piano and drift out the window. You feel scared, proud, and relieved all at once. As for me, when I heard the music make its way up to the cracks and creases in the ceiling, all the questions and insecurities in my brain drifted away. Questions like: "Are people going to like this?", "Did I write that chord too low?", "Is this too high for me to sing?", "Will she be able to play that?", "Did I overwrite in this part?" and "Is piano accompaniment sufficient for the album?" promptly withdrew themselves from my mind.
Chad Crouch of Hush mentioned that when he heard the demos, he felt like some of the songs needed a different treatment than just voice and piano. But I'm confident that when he hears them performed on a natural piano, he'll change his...er...tune.
Enough. More later.