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Showing posts from April 22, 2011

Magical Moment 448, "Singing for Ghosts"

I sang for a room full of people today in a small, dark room. They were people from my past - long, and not so long ago - and one I've never even met. I'm in my final and most challenging phase of recording my album of original songs with Modern Vintage Recordings. Vocal tracking has intimidated me since the beginning of this project. For most of the tracks, we recorded all the music and instruments, and when that was complete, I recorded my vocals inside an intimate booth with a microphone and headphones. When doing this, you may be surprised to learn that we rarely track an entire song from start to finish. Instead, we do the verse a few times, then the chorus, and so on. This way, we can re-do any particular section as many times as necessary to get it  perfect . And there is so much to get perfect when recording vocals; tone, pitch, breath, pronunciation, volume. It's quite exhausting. But on one track, we decided to record a simple piano and vocal, live in the studio

Magical Moment 447, "Dr. Pepper Pajama Pants"

Eddie has this pair of pajama pants. They're ridiculous. He's had them since college. They're bright blue and have the Dr. Pepper emblem all over them. But, like a broke-in pair of jeans or your favorite comfy sweatshirt, they are his favorite. Unfortunately, one day they ripped from the very bottom, all the way up above the knee. And not a straight tear either, zig-zagged the entire length. When Eddie saw what happened, he was crestfallen. He held them out to me with hopeful eyes and said, "Do you think you can sew it?" Now, I'm a compassionate person. I'm  not  however, a seamstress. I don't own a sewing machine and the thought of mending the pants by hand, stitch by stitch, made me cringe. I thought this would be a good opportunity to say goodbye to the threadbare, Dr. Pepper pajama pants. So I put them in the garbage and broke the news to Eddie, hoping we could begin the healing process. But Eddie couldn't let them go. The next thing I knew,

Magical Moment 446, "The First Snowfall of Spring"

It's time for that annual change in season. Time for that day when you look outside and you see a tiny flake flutter down from the sky and gently land on the undisturbed, green grass. And you get that twinge of excitement and anticipation. So you dress, weather-appropriate, and go outside to experience the falling flakes. You giggle when they land on your nose and eye-lashes and try to catch them in your hands. Eventually, the ground is full of the substance. Before you get in your car, you have to clean your windshield. You have to sweep it from your walk way. The streets must be cleared as well. Perhaps it can be a nuissance, but it's just so lovely that you stand back to admire it. What can you do, but surrender to the season change? Because before you know it, it will change again.