Day 4

By Friday I was really conserving my energy and not doing much other than singing in the evenings.  My throat was a little sore and my sinuses throbbing now and then.  Mack asks us constantly to use the head voice and put the sound in our molars.   Our first number tonight was "My God My Portion and My Love"  Its a little like "Come Thou Fount" and  just as moving.   "Down to the River to Pray" is one of my favorites of this CD.    I was really feeling the emotions of the need for repentance and  being born again .   Than on to "His Voice as the Sound"  which has amazing words! ...His lips as a fountain of righteousness flow that waters the garden of grace....It is a subdued melody and exquisitely beautiful.  We had the traditional "Cowboy Cookies"  that a sister organized to be made and served to everyone.  Food, books, sudoku, Ipods are always around during recording sessions.  I have to say though that to me there did not seem like very much down time; just 10 or 15 minutes here and there.

Day 3

 

This night the men got to come later after the women recorded "Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Calling"  The interesting thing about this piece (and many others) is that Mack wants all the women to sound like sopranos in an alto range.  Just when we thought we could belt out our low notes, he wants us to lighten up for a more unified soprano sound.  go figure...its a little disheartening but I do what he says!   "My Song in the Night" was next up.  Its really a beautiful song.  "Oh Jesus, my savior, my song in the night.  Come to us with thy tender love my soul's delight.  Unto Thee in affliction I call.  My shadow by day and my song in the night...". Then on to "I Want Jesus to Walk with me" which is mostly a solo by Alex Boye.  At the end of it Alex sings a really high note.  After recording this part for the first time, most of us heard an enthusiastic  "Wow"  come from down the stairs in the recording room.  We all laughed.   When this piece was done, Alex grinned widely and gave a leap of joy.  He's got a great ,friendly personality.

Recording Day 2

This recording has been pretty demanding vocally.  I especially feel worn out when  the pieces are loud and high for my range.  Wednesday night the men had an earlier call time so the women got to come later around 7:45.  The men were recording "We'll Shout and give him glory" BUT some volunteer altos were asked to help out with the VERY high tenor sections.  So.. I volunteered.  Mack  emphasized that he knew the tenors sang those notes very well but just for recording purposes (which require singing those high notes over and over and over) he wanted about 30 altos.  It of course is not as straining for us.  I think we sang many "b's" above middle "c"   That's one of the best notes for my voice.   It is a rousing piece and we finished it around 8pm.  The ladies then came in and we proceeded with "Death Shall not destroy my Comfort", another M.W. arrangement thats been around for a while.  It starts with womens voices in a minor mode, and strains of  "oh halleluja, how I love my savior.."   Mack has such an amazing ear for pitch.  We've all noticed that his ears are tilted forward.   He is constantly asking  us to raise the pitch when it must be but a mere  fraction off that I'm sure is not even noticeable to most people!  The last piece for the evening was "Rock-a-my soul in the bosom of Abraham"  Mack told us how he saw this done on TV or something and that he loved it so much he hunted down the composer and got the music for it. its accapella and features short solos by Alex Boye.  Its a spiritual that builds and builds with excitement.  I like it a lot.  We finished a little late at around 10:20.

A Recording Log

 

This week the motab is recording a new CD called "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing"  It is American Folk Songs and Spirituals, conducted by M.W.  I thought I would give a day by day entry of the process.  Last night we began at 6:45  in the tabernacle.  I drove a van full of people up to SLC leaving at 5:35pm.  We sat according to a new seating chart.  We were asked to bring blankets to lay on the benches of the tabernacle to muffle the sound a bit.  Half the choir forgot to bring them but we seemed to have enough.  We were introduced to the recording engineers and staff, some of whom are not Mormons.   We began with some sound checks for the orchestra and then the choir. By about 7:45 we were beginning to record.  We started with "Saints Bound for Glory".  We did a few full run throughs and then took is apart and recorded sections at a time.  I brought my ipod along and listened to talks when we had a few minutes of waiting.  At around 9pm we proceeded with  "Come Thou Fount".  Some new people had never even sung this with us and here they were expected to record it right off.  That's how it goes in this organization.  Its made up of people who CAN do that!  We spent quite a while on perfecting the different verses and then finished around 10:15.  I drove everyone home, dropped off the church owned van at a guy's house and arrived home at 11:20.  This will be the schedule for every night this week and all day Saturday.

Puerto Rico!

Here are some pictures of our trip.  It was a truly wonderful time.  Bryce did not let up on the work at all!  He took us to visit and challenge members and bring them to church!  We worked until 9pm the last night we were there.  He has been a most excellent missionary and we are very pleased with his service!  This old fort called "El Morro", was built in the 1500's.  This is the apartment we stayed in at a members house.  All houses have tile floors. A street in old San Juan the view in a restaurant we went to

The Passing of a close friend

Pres. Hinckley was the Tab choir's advisor for over 30 years even as  the prophet.  Our leaders met with him often.  He watched the broadcast whenever he was in town. He attended our  Christmas party every year without fail!(since I've been in anyway)  The choir was invited to a private viewing last Thursday night.  Some of the Hinckley family were there to speak to us.  One son said that the choir had become especially dear to the Pres. these last few years.  We sang three hymns; We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet, Abide With Me, and God Be With You.  It was a solemn and deeply moving experience.  I felt Pres. Hinckley's  pleasure and a firm decree that he would never leave us!  I believe that just because someone dies doesn't mean they stop caring about their life's work, especially the Lord's work.  We are so blessed to live among  men like him and also to have seen so many other great ones that have gone before.  What a blessing and sign of God's love to hear their words  and see their lives as they witness of the restored gospel  of Christ. I am reminded that where much is given, much is required and that we are really left without excuse.

Six weeks to go!

Bryce only has six weeks left of his mission.  He got called back to Puerto Rico from the ABC  islands.  He is training a new elder.  He emails us every week faithfully.  Barry and I have our flights to pick him up on March 6th.  We'll stay there for six days.  He doesn't like to talk about coming home! He gets mad if we mention it!  He has had a fabulous experience and has seen many people come into the church.