I’m a terrible blogger.
Alas, when my life gets anywhere close to busy, I don’t seem to make the time to update this as much as I should. I don’t want to discontinue this outlet, either, because I do enjoy writing. My apologies to those that have read my blog, few of you that may actually be. I’ve just been... busy.
With what, you ask? What have I been doing over the past seven months?
Well, the short answer is: continuing my preparation for eventually going into full-time ministry. The longer answer? Voice lessons every week, helping my church’s choir (for the second year in a row) produce our annual summer worship project, and most importantly... working on my ever-elusive first demo song.
Why Do I Need A Demo?
The general idea behind posting demo materials on this site is simple. I want to showcase my style and abilities to those that may not be aware of them, namely, future employers. Western culture is becoming more connected than ever, and technology is allowing a wider range of people do do amazing things (for relatively low costs). Since ministry work may call me away to a place where few (if any) know who I am, it’s important for me to be able to show what I can do, how I do it, and why.
Why Did I Choose This Song?
I wanted to select a song that aligns with the purpose and passion of my life and ministry: whatever the word or deed, all the glory and focus will make its way back to God. Songwriting, however, is not my strongest trait (at least for right now). Since I’m not writing my own songs at the moment, I decided in April to select Chris Tomlin’s “Once And For All.”
While some may think of me as a “Tomlin fanboy,” the decision to record this song came after a great deal of consideration. It’s obviously a “good song” (I think that, at least), but more importantly, it is a great declaration of who God is, what He has done through his Son, and why He deserves our attention and praise. Further, I’ve been struck by how quickly this song “catches on” with worshippers. (This has been my experience, both at Passion 2013, and in my own experiences leading the song in worship.) It certainly speaks to the giftedness of the men who wrote the song, but it also speaks to the Truth behind the song. In short, I couldn’t think of a better song to feature on this site.
The Process
The process began in April, after gathering together the necessary backing elements. This was a struggle by itself, since I did not have the time or resources to properly record multiple guitars, drums, and keyboards. In an attempt to expedite this process, I made the decision to use MIDI computer instruments. Now, MIDI (or virtual) instruments can be hit-or-miss, in terms of their sound. Virtual sounds have improved greatly over the past five years, and it is becoming easier and easier to compose and edit MIDI files. Still, it took some effort and patience (and, ultimately, money) to avoid sounding like I recorded the demo with a cheap Casio keyboard.
Once I gathered all of the virtual instruments together (over two-thirds of the final product are MIDI virtual instruments), I needed to record vocals. I began recording my vocals with my vocal coach, Carmen Rairigh. She’s a talent in her own right (check out her site, CarmenRae.com), and she was also kind enough to record some backing vocals. I also approached my good friend and bandmate, Allyson Kehoe. There are few people in this world I would rather lead worship with, and this project would not be what it is without her. Finally, I approached my church’s student pastor, Dan Lyle, to throw in his vocals to add a doubling effect.
It took about seven months to get the recording together, after some trial-and-error, and some patience for people’s schedules to clear up (after all, between the four of us, we have very little “professional” experience… and this was all done for free, without seeking any financial returns). I also decided to move from a basic three-part harmony, to a two-part main vocal line with three-part backing vocals, about midway through the process. This added a few months to the process, but I feel it was worth it in the end.
Once all the recording and editing was done, it was time to mix and master the song. I did not want to pay to get this done (it’s VERY expensive!), so I sought to learn how to do this myself. Since I have zero experience in this area, it was quite the undertaking. While I do believe the final product is good for what this project called for, I will admit that it is far from what a polished studio project would sound like (aided by professional studio engineers).
Licensing
About halfway through the project, the issue of copyright and licensing was brought to my attention. This is an uneasy subject for me, and I may talk more about this in a future post. The bottom line is, though, that there are laws that govern intellectual property in this country, and as a Christian, we are all called to follow the laws placed over us. No matter if one has reservations about them, or may view them as “unnecessary” due to the nature of the project, the requirements of copyright law do not defy anything in Scripture (for the most part). Translation: I had to pay up.
I will say that the rates were fairly reasonable, and the people at Captiol CMG Publishing (formerly EMI CMG Publishing) and Music Services, Inc. were quite easy and pleasant to deal with. I did hit a few snags with Sony/ATV Publising, since they didn’t operate like the other two licensing companies (it would also help if people would reply to emails in a timely and professional manner… just saying). Still, after some patience, I was able to acquire 100% of the legal permission to stream the song on this site.
The Final Product
Over seven months of work culminated in my first demo song, which can be heard by clicking here. I could not have done it without my amazing friends (Allyson, Carmen, and Dan… THANK YOU!). I don’t know when my next demo will be posted (it will probably be a video), but it will hopefully come together in a fraction of the time that this project took. Finally, it’s good to be done with it, and I hope you enjoy it.
