Home again

Filed in News on February 10, 2009



We just got home a few hours ago and I immediately fell asleep on the couch.  Now that I am feeling better, I wanted to give some quick thoughts about yesterday.

We got to the studio at 8:00 in the morning and finished at 11:00 that night.  Then we spent another hour on an interview for a video documentary that is being produced.  Yes, it was a long day, but it was a real highlight in my life.

Thanks to all those (hundreds of you) that watched at least part of the day online.  We estimate from our stats that the average person watched about 2.5 hours.  That amazes me because recording is like most other work with moments of great interest and the rest of the time being quite monotonous.  Obviously, many people enjoyed watching the process though.  Thanks for all the encouraging calls, texts, and emails we received through the day.

Thanks also to the great team in Nashville.  Jason Prisk took care of video and was assisted by Doug Center.  Steve Mauldin did his normal fabulous job as conductor, and the musicians were every bit as good as ever.  Bret Teegarden was a great engineer who kept things moving.  Special thanks to Pam Sixfin for her work as first chair violinist and session leader.  Pam instinctively "gets" my music and adjusts flawlessly to the things I like to do such as the heavy rubato.  The other solo instrumentalists I used (cello, oboe, and flute) were exceptional as well.

People have asked what I considered to be the high point of the day.  Going into the day, I was looking forward especially to "To God Be The Glory" and hearing the orchestration for that song for the first time was an overwhelming moment that I did not want to end.  Also, I especially felt a special moment when recording "Savior Like a Shepherd" with Pam on violin and Bill on oboe.

Because we were webcasting for the first time, there were a few technical glitches.  There were also a few things said that frankly, would not have been said if people had remembered that a camera was broadcasting every word to the public.  Late in the night, there was a period where some of us engaged in an argument about financial issues regarding the project.  There was nothing really inappropriate said, but conversations like that should not be public, and I apologize for that getting onto the air. 

After that happened, I suppose no one can claim that we did not give a realistic picture of how things work in the studio.  The reality is that I hired or indirectly hired every person working in the studio, and I have reasonable expectations regarding how they will handle that working relationship.  I was reacting to certain things that had nothing to do with any of the people I have mentioned in this post.  At the end of the night, we worked it out and moved on but not before airing a bit of dirty laundry.

One thing that became apparent during the day is that I am not nearly ready to record the piano part.  You may have noticed that I punted on two songs in the morning and did not even play them with the group except for the practice run.  Those songs were recorded using a click (metronome) rather than a vocal count based on my rubato, so I was not necessary.  It is a good thing because I was having trouble sticking with the click.

So, I have a month to get ready, and will record my part here in Atlanta during early March.  There is no rest for the weary...

 



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Suzette Green
2/11/2009 5:20:56 PM

Greg, I watched this online and was just amazed. I had no idea how big an undertaking that was. I cannot wait to get the CD.

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