Kim Gentes

I was scheduled to head back to Phoenix today. Instead, we spent another day tracking more vocals for the project. Something that I learned this week was that recording in the studio isn't just a matter of singing correct notes at the right time. It involves communicating passion, authenticity and art in a song.

But when you sing for a whole day, there are times when you have more or less energy and passion. Today we tracked a couple of songs to capture some of that passion and vocals fresh, including singing live while I played along on guitar.

Once the day was done, I had some extra time to drive into Vancouver and find a Mongolian restaurant for a stir fry dinner. It was great. Things are wrapped up for me now and I am going to fly home to Phoenix tomorrow.

Just in case you think that flying to a cool location like Vancouver doesn't have its downside.  I will leave you with this photo of the fun pancake shapes that I missed at home that my kids were enjoying while I was singing away in the studio.  Seriously, if you get the chance to do something like this, my recommendation is to bring along family members to hang out with during the mornings, and evenings to enjoy the local stuff.  Plus, if you go to a place like Vancouver, they can find a ton of local cool things to do (like taking a ferry to Vancouver Island or such) while you are working hard in the studio.

Today was the last day of recording vocals for our new music project. I arrived at the studio at 9:30 in the morning and started the day off recording acoustic guitar for an unusual track that features light acoustic instrumentation, prayer and some ad lib singing. After that, Jessica Park arrived, who was there to sing co-lead vocals on the song "All of Me for All of You".  Jess did a wonderful job of singing with a real heart of worship along with her skilled vocal talents.

Then we got to work and did the vocals for the song based on Psalm 119, Whispers Like Thunder.  After that, we took a break for lunch (today, we tried a local lunch/pub that had a nice beef/brocolli wok stir-fry).  Once we got back from lunch, we recorded vocals for the song You're My Refuge.  

One of the interesting, and funny, things that I discovered in my days at the studio was a strange picture facing me each day as I stood up to the microphone.  The picture is a photo of a large bull placed above the window to the mixing desk where the producer watches and directs the recording.  I got the message on the first day- there is no bull here, you have to show up with the real thing.  Nothing could be more apt. Standing in front of the mic, you either have the ability to sing or you don't.  Between you and the person on the other side of the glass there is no false pretense.  What you could get away with singing live, hidden by instruments and live venue sounds and energy, you simply can't get away with when its just you, your voice and the microphone.  Sure the producer can later clean up and hide your voice by a mariad of tools and effects, but when the goal is just laying down an authentic, well crafted vocal line the people in the studio all know the truth about what happened.  So then, the bull photo says it all!

The last task of the day was to work on my lead parts for "All of Me for All of You".  On this task, producer Brian Thiessen (or "T" as his friends call him) took off the gloves and worked me over pretty well.  It was one of those great times of learning for me, where I was pushed to the edge to learn what was there.  T did a great job of teaching me that singing isn't just about hitting notes in a melody, but about creating art that expresses the spirit of the song within the authenticity of the moment.  I am an insatiable learner- that is my modus operandi for almost everything in life.  It turns out that recording vocals was a right in line with that, as I found it one of the most profound learning experiences I've had in music.

Well, the recording portion is done for me.  Now the next weeks will have the remaining instrument tracks recorded, mixing completed and the project finalized with mastering.  I'll let you know when some samples come available.