Today stretched me out of my comfort zone, as producer Will Ackerman and engineer Corin Nelsen challenged and guided me. Two pieces I knew I wanted to record both required more composing in a search of music that would be unique. The first was Chopin’s Prelude in E Minor. This piece expresses the shedding of tears during life’s moments of sadness. It is set between original opening and closing phrases inspired by a passage in the book of Job to represent hope. The second was the hymn Amazing Grace, which is interwoven with an original melody called World of Wonders after Psalm 98:1. It took several hours to discover the final outcome. We finished the day recording the angelic vocal colors of Noah Wilding to accompany World of Wonders as well as Bread of Angels.

With two days of recording completed at Imaginary Road Studio in Vermont, I thought I would share a little more about the process for those who are interested. Each of these first two days began with the piano tuner making fine adjustments to the voicing and sounds of certain notes so the 7 foot Steinway B would be at its best for each session. About 1.5 to 2.5 hours is spent doing multiple recordings of each song. Sometimes this involves particular sections of a song to try to capture the very best work emotionally. The final recorded version combines the best sections from all of the takes. These can include small “mistakes” that are magical even though they were not intended. Final versions are not about creating a “perfect” performance, but more about revealing the imperfect human element while capturing the emotion that each melody wants to speak to the listener’s heart.

It turned out to be a Psalm 16:11 day today . . . “You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” Four songs were recorded with Grammy winning producer Will Ackerman and Grammy winning engineer Corin Nelsen, beginning with Vive La Joye, which expresses this Psalm. Also recorded were For A Lifetime Blessings Flow, which combines a unique arrangement of The Doxology with an original melody from Psalm 30:5, Be Still My Soul, which combines Brahms’s Lullaby with this 1899 hymn, and J.S. Bach’s Prelude in C which testifies without words to his belief that “the aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul.”