Here's a quick email update from Bez (aka Mikhael)...
"so the plan is to track bass guitar to get a nice foundation for all the overdub instruments i'll be scheduling out other musicians as soon as i get a bass tracking date from steve. M"
Steve is the venerable bass player you see on the worship team pretty much every Sunday. He just got married, so we were Steveless for a while. But now he's back. Steve, can we get any honeymoon pics?
Friday, February 27, 2009
Acoustic Week Bliss
This week we made some good progress tracking acoustic guitar. Gabe and I worked on a few songs, but there's some work to do in this area. I have a few pictures below of the acoustic sessions.
Here's the Gabinator gettin' gritty with the gitfiddle.
Here's a picture of me (Damian) "walking in the light."
And one more picture...this one's a bit odd. When I was recording I was so tired that I lost the ear bud for the ear monitors. Guess where it was? Well...in my ear, of course (if I only had a nickle). We thought this was pretty funny, so Bez took a snapshot for posterity. Sorry about this...the faint of heart may want to look away.
Here's the Gabinator gettin' gritty with the gitfiddle.
Here's a picture of me (Damian) "walking in the light."
And one more picture...this one's a bit odd. When I was recording I was so tired that I lost the ear bud for the ear monitors. Guess where it was? Well...in my ear, of course (if I only had a nickle). We thought this was pretty funny, so Bez took a snapshot for posterity. Sorry about this...the faint of heart may want to look away.Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Bez Shaved and...
Well, Bez shaved. I would've begged him not too, but he told me after the fact. Don't fear - I'm still saying true to my end of bargain, though. Last night we were in the studio and I saw it first hand - clean shaven Bez. Why, Bez, why? We were tracking acoustic guitar last night for Alpha Omega and Beautiful Jesus. We started working on Adonia Ro-i, but both of us were tired and we called it quits for the night. Unfortunately, I drank a bunch of coffee and couldn't go to sleep once I got home (sorry Carmen). So this week, Bez is tracking acoustic guitar and I think he's going to try and get the bass recorded as well.In other news - I made some calls today to the mastering company as well as the company that will actually make the CDs. Based on what we're looking at so far, hopefully we'll receive the CDs the 2nd or 3rd week of May. We're planning for the music to be available online as well through sites like iTunes and CD Baby. This may affect the day we were planning on doing the Corner Cafe radio show, but I'm waiting to hear back on that. Ideally, we would do the show after the CDs are available.
We'll have more pictures to post soon - we took some freaky ones last night that I can't wait to share. :)
Monday, February 23, 2009
An Ode to Harry-ness
Dear reader...the purpose of this post is to inform you of a recent "decision." Bez (aka Mikhael) informed me this last Sunday at church that we are growing beards until the project is complete. So I'm in; Bez is in...any other takers?Also, I (Damian) am going into the studio tonight to record some guitar tracks. Bez painstakingly completed the drum edits last week, and now it's time to layer on the instruments.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Kickin' Da Beat!
Boom, chick! Boom, chick! That's what I'm talking about. Bez tracked drums Mon., Tues., and Wed.. this week. We had three different drummers contribute - Jason Levy, Bob Abott, and John Fitch. I have to hand it to these guys...they worked hard to complete the drum tracking for 11 songs over the course of 3 days. Bez had to stay late and clean up all the sweat and blood. That's what I call sacrifice.
Here's a little 411 on the drama that played out during drum tracking. It took at least 4 hours on Monday night to set up, tune, and mic the drum kit. Bob splatted the snare (goovy speak for broken). The toms wouldn't in stay in tune. Then more sadness. Bez was missing 12 patch cables. Called Gitfiddle Center - no dice. The Guitfiddle Center owner saved the day by selling from his personal stashes. Spiritual warfare in technicolor!
We’ll, this is a little gift from Bez (aka Mikhael) – it’s the world through his eyes. It’s the Bez-eye-view! Thanks Bez, I feel so much closer to you now. [sniff sniff]
Bez is pictured below with a hearty thumbs up, as he’s holding the chutzpa (holy guts). These are the patch cables I was talking about. See the pure joy in his face? That’s non-verbals for “The Lord Provides!”
Then there’s Boballoo, the drummer who loves Jesus (not that the other drummers don’t). I don’t think anyone calls him that – just me. But I like it, so I’m going with it (sorry Bob). See the intensity in his face as he wrestles with the snare drum. It’s like the ultimate fighting championship (I don’t recommend this). This epic battle is biblical in proportion - it’s like Jacob wrestling with Almighty God. In the end, Boballoo got the better of his nemesis, and he went on to lay down some sweet drum tracks. Hey Boballoo, how’s the hip?
We gotta-a-lotta love hear people. Below we have the same kit, but different drummers. In the following picture, Jason is receiving wookie-love from the Gabinator. Don’t ask me, but I’m hearing non-verbals from Jason along the lines of, “Dude, um…this is a little close, huh?”
John is pictured on the below doing the full on red-eye. I’ve always thought to myself that people look possessed when they have red-eye. This time I’m just going to assume John is possessed – but by the Holy Spirit. If you get a magnifying glass you’ll see it – it’s cool and spooky all at the same time. Holy Spirit come!
Here's a little 411 on the drama that played out during drum tracking. It took at least 4 hours on Monday night to set up, tune, and mic the drum kit. Bob splatted the snare (goovy speak for broken). The toms wouldn't in stay in tune. Then more sadness. Bez was missing 12 patch cables. Called Gitfiddle Center - no dice. The Guitfiddle Center owner saved the day by selling from his personal stashes. Spiritual warfare in technicolor!
We’ll, this is a little gift from Bez (aka Mikhael) – it’s the world through his eyes. It’s the Bez-eye-view! Thanks Bez, I feel so much closer to you now. [sniff sniff]
Bez is pictured below with a hearty thumbs up, as he’s holding the chutzpa (holy guts). These are the patch cables I was talking about. See the pure joy in his face? That’s non-verbals for “The Lord Provides!”
Then there’s Boballoo, the drummer who loves Jesus (not that the other drummers don’t). I don’t think anyone calls him that – just me. But I like it, so I’m going with it (sorry Bob). See the intensity in his face as he wrestles with the snare drum. It’s like the ultimate fighting championship (I don’t recommend this). This epic battle is biblical in proportion - it’s like Jacob wrestling with Almighty God. In the end, Boballoo got the better of his nemesis, and he went on to lay down some sweet drum tracks. Hey Boballoo, how’s the hip?
We gotta-a-lotta love hear people. Below we have the same kit, but different drummers. In the following picture, Jason is receiving wookie-love from the Gabinator. Don’t ask me, but I’m hearing non-verbals from Jason along the lines of, “Dude, um…this is a little close, huh?”
John is pictured on the below doing the full on red-eye. I’ve always thought to myself that people look possessed when they have red-eye. This time I’m just going to assume John is possessed – but by the Holy Spirit. If you get a magnifying glass you’ll see it – it’s cool and spooky all at the same time. Holy Spirit come!
Sunday, February 15, 2009
The Camera of Bez!
Hey everyone...a quick heads up. Bez (aka Mikhael), got a li'l camera (pictured right), so we'll be seeing some more pictures of the artists in the studio in the near future. I can't speak for everyone, but I'm waiting on baited breath!
Friday, February 13, 2009
Quick Recording Status
Here's a quick status on recording from Bez (pictured left). Bez says, "I'll be tracking drums this tuesday and wednesday for all the songs on the album. After that, I'll edit the drums, after that we'll have the musicians come in and layer overdubs."In this picture, Bez is whackin' on the 'puter and picking food out of his teeth with his tongue all at the same time. Now that's talent!
Below is a picture of the Great Brandini...he's singing some background vocals in the isolation booth. Hey Brandini...don't be isolatin'!
Scheduling Musicians
This week Bez is scheduling drummers to start recording the instrumentation. Mastering is scheduled to begin the first or second week of April. I'm really psyched to see these songs develop as we add in the instrumentation. We'll try to get some studio pics in subsequent posts.
A Little History
Back in the fall of 2008 Gene Binder (the senior pastor of Cornerstone) gave a sermon on "The Least of These," and there followed an outpouring from the congregation in the form of ideas and projects to help the people described in Matthew 25.
"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' - verse 40
One of those projects was envisioned by the worship team, and became "The Least of These" worship project. The idea was to make a CD with original worship music (written and performed by Cornerstone artists) and sell as many as we could to support ministries for the poor in Israel as well as the sex trafficing of children in Asia. During the 2008 Christmas Eve services, Gene asked for a love offering to support the worship project and we received more than enough to cover the production costs of the CD. It reminds me of one of Israel's first worship projects where they were instructed to build the tabernacle and the people responded with overwhelming support. Have a read of Exodus 35:4-29...there's some pretty cool parallels here.
After we received the funding from the church Mikhael Binder (the producer) assembled the artists, and the writers started contributing songs in the form of "scratch tracks." Scratch tracks are basically simple recordings with a minimal set of instrumentation and vocals to capture the jist of the song. This started in Jan. '09. Within a month we had 17 scratch tracks recorded at the Epicenter Studios in Longmont, Colorado. From here forward I'll call Mikhael "Bez", because he's like Bezalel described in the book of Exodus.
"Then Moses said to the Israelites, 'See, the LORD has chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood and to engage in all kinds of artistic craftsmanship."
By early Feb. '09, Bez had assembled a list of 11 songs that would become the track listing for the first CD. Here's the list as it stands today.
1. You Are
2. Faith
3. The Lord's Prayer
4. Beautiful Jesus
5. Jesus Come Back
6. Holy Father
7. Wide World
8. Let Joy Arise
9. Pslam 23
10. Alpha Omega
11. Our God
"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' - verse 40
One of those projects was envisioned by the worship team, and became "The Least of These" worship project. The idea was to make a CD with original worship music (written and performed by Cornerstone artists) and sell as many as we could to support ministries for the poor in Israel as well as the sex trafficing of children in Asia. During the 2008 Christmas Eve services, Gene asked for a love offering to support the worship project and we received more than enough to cover the production costs of the CD. It reminds me of one of Israel's first worship projects where they were instructed to build the tabernacle and the people responded with overwhelming support. Have a read of Exodus 35:4-29...there's some pretty cool parallels here.
After we received the funding from the church Mikhael Binder (the producer) assembled the artists, and the writers started contributing songs in the form of "scratch tracks." Scratch tracks are basically simple recordings with a minimal set of instrumentation and vocals to capture the jist of the song. This started in Jan. '09. Within a month we had 17 scratch tracks recorded at the Epicenter Studios in Longmont, Colorado. From here forward I'll call Mikhael "Bez", because he's like Bezalel described in the book of Exodus.
"Then Moses said to the Israelites, 'See, the LORD has chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood and to engage in all kinds of artistic craftsmanship."
By early Feb. '09, Bez had assembled a list of 11 songs that would become the track listing for the first CD. Here's the list as it stands today.
1. You Are
2. Faith
3. The Lord's Prayer
4. Beautiful Jesus
5. Jesus Come Back
6. Holy Father
7. Wide World
8. Let Joy Arise
9. Pslam 23
10. Alpha Omega
11. Our God
Purpose
The purpose of this blog is to keep everyone up to date on the status of "The Least of These" worship project of Cornerstone Church in Boulder, Colorado. We'll try to keep this relatively frequent with weekly updates. :)
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