Recording Vocals

May 12, 2010

Since the music tracks were completed on April 22^nd, the kids had done some practicing on their vocals with the tracks in order to be ready to record their vocals on Wednesday, May 12^th. I say “some practicing” because no one practiced as much as I thought they should have. And actually, we didn't get the tracks for Faith's solo until the 5^th or so, leaving only about a week for her to memorize all 4 verses.

As Bobby was leaving with Landis and Hope to hit the studio hard on that Wednesday morning, I pulled him aside and reminded him that they're children and that he might not want to have his expectations too high. I told him I'd be at home praying for them to do well and for him to have patience with them. As he drove away he was braced for a tough job ahead of him, figuring he'd be pulling his hair out in frustration later on that day.

The plan was to work hard all day until 4:30 and then go to church. Whatever didn't get done would be finished the following day. Neither Bobby nor I figured the whole thing could be completed in 1 short day, but our kids surprised us.

Grace and Faith and I headed out, ready for church that afternoon, but drove to Rick Sandidge's house/studio, the Mark Five Company. Faith did something that I was really afraid we'd suffer for later...she fell asleep on the ride over.

We arrived just a few minutes before the others were finished with their last song. The only thing left to do was record Faith...sleeping Faith. A situation as delicate as this must be handled with extreme caution. Fortunately, I thought of bringing cookies to be used for ...shall we say, “motivation?”

Faith started out sitting on my lap in front of the microphone, cuddling, with her thumb in her mouth. I knew better than to say things like, “Ok, it's time to sing now.” No, I just talked about the microphone in front of me and wondering what song I should sing into it. I talked to Faith about lots of things, but not about her singing. And of course I mentioned that I had some cookies. Finally, when she asked about having a cookie, I assured her she could have one after she sang the second verse of “Jesus Loves Me,” into that microphone. She was reluctant but she opened her mouth as she heard the music. Do you know what that little squirt did? She spoke the words of that second verse – no melody – just spoke, with barely heard monotone words. So you know what I did? I praised her and celebrated what she did and then reminded her that the cookie came after “singing.” Not long after that she sang that verse through beautifully and really got happy when she finished her first cookie. Yes, I said “first.”

Confidence abounded, cookies crumbs were scattered throughout the room and Faith gave a dozen high fives after each song or verse was successfully recorded, most of which were sung while sitting on Mom's lap. Her solo, “My Day,” was literally recorded one section at a time as I mouthed the words and she read my lips. Some of the song was even recorded line by line because of her lack of familiarity with the piece.

Now Landis and Hope: that's another story. When Rick asked what song they were starting out with that morning, Landis volunteered to sing one of his songs first. He told me later he was so nervous, he was shivering. But after he got that first song done, his confidence increased and he was ready to do more. They had four songs done by lunch. Bobby was amazed when he told me on the phone, “they're nailin' it!” When Bobby came out to get Grace out of the van when we arrived later that afternoon, Landis went ahead and sang some overdubs without his daddy there to coach him. When Bobby returned to the room a little while later, he told Landis he needed to come and sing his harmony part on the last song. Was he surprised when Landis told him he had already done it. Landis loved the studio and thrived in that environment.

Grace had her part in this project too. After her dinner and a bath is when Grace is happiest and she usually giggles very easily at that time.

(Don't let the above photo confuse you. This pic was taken one year ago when Bobby recorded his last project.)

So as she lay on our bed in her pj's with her hair still wet, she giggled at Bobby and I as he held his iPhone over her head, and the two of us made faces and danced. At one point I thought of bumping butts but when I did so and Bobby caught on and returned the move, he threw me into the nearby wall! So when you hear Grace giggling on the CD, you can now picture Bobby and I acting stupid, him bumping me into the wall and me having to stifle my cries of "ouch!" so as not to mess up the recording.

The kids' CD is completed and is available at www.bobbybowen.com for $10 plus $3 shipping.