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.

Today was the second day of recording on the new worship project. The day started better than day 1, because I learned that getting lots of sleep is much better for recording music in studio. Per the direction of my producer Brian Thiessen, I slept in late and came in to the studio around 10:30am.

Another smart tip from Brian T was to drink lots of water and stay hydrated during recording process. So I made sure I had a couple of bottles there as the day went on. For energy during they day, he brought some apples, muffins and bananas. A quick bite of fruit was a great way to perk up the energy without sludging down the stomach. When I got tired later in the day, I took a bite of an apple to keep me going. Being in a recording studio, even bites of apples can get captured.

Apple bite sound- here is a audio sample of biting an apple. Lots of energy in those apples!

Today, we recorded 4 more songs for the project. Most of them were upbeat songs, all of them were written or co-written by myself. The songs were: In Your Presence, Let Everything, Run To You and Kingdom Rain. During the process, lots of creative decisions are made.   Brian T sits here thinking about one of those such decision.

The day ended well, as I went to have a good dinner at the Canadian restaurant Swiss Chalet, a fun chicken eatery.  I love the dipping sauce they have for chicken. If you ever get to Canada, try Swiss Chalet chicken meal.  Fairly affordable and tastes good.

Today I drove to Surrey, BC (near Langley) where I met producer Brian Thiessen to start with tracking vocals and guitar for the project. To be honest, I was pretty nervous on this first day and I woke up early because of that.  It turned out to be a good day, but I was exhausted earlier than in the day because I had gotten up so early. 

We worked on singing the vocals for a new song "All Of Me For All Of You" that was the first "hymn" I have written.  A new original song, it has some co-writing with Don Moen who helped with some of the lyrics.

After that we had a great treat when Andy Park arrived in the studio to track vocals for the song "Holy Holy".  Andy has been a friend and mentor for many years, and he graciously agreed to contribute guest vocals to this new song of mine, written as a script and melody to express the worship described in the book of the Revelation throne room scene of chapters 4 and 5.  Andy laid down some great vocals and really expressed worship in a wonderful way.

After lunch, we moved on to the vocals for the song "I Was Made To Worship" an upbeat song about our lives being living sacrifices and God's purpose in making us living praise to His name.

The day ended with tracking vocals for the pensive chorus "Only Jesus", the only song on the new album that I did not write.  I added my guitar to layer some soft acoustic sound into the song and we were done for the day.  By this time it was after 6pm and I was exhausted.  It was a fun, tiring and good first day of recording.

Over the months of March, April and May, producer Brian Thiessen and I have worked on song selection, writing, arrangements, reference tracking and musician selection for the recording project.  Most of the work was done remotely via phone and internet with myself in Arizona, and Brian in Langley, BC, Canada. 

Recording of drums was with Calum Rees, drummer originally from UK.  Calum has been involved in some wonderful worship projects, including Hungry, Dwell and many others.  Brian T recruited Calum to track drums for the project and we are very excited to have him contributing.

Working on lyrics for a co-write.