"The Elephant Diet" Day # 113 Christmas in June

When I was buying my dresses for the photo shoot, the sales clerk asked me what it's like to record Christmas music when it's not Christmas.  She wondered if it's difficult.  "Not at all", I said.  "In fact", I continued, "it's actually quite delightful.  Somehow you feel the music in a whole different way.  There are no emotions attached that can sometimes be a distraction at Christmas.  The holidays can be electric with so many triggers and lots of stress, so to sing the music now in the middle of the year is very refreshing.  I can see and hear the music for what it is."

Today I squeezed in a rehearsal of the songs I'll be recording next week.  I practiced as I drove to church and before my meeting tonight.  

Yes - I will be recording final vocals next week!  When I got back from Nashville recently, my husband told me he really felt like I shouldn't do the vocals here in my own studio (which is what we were leaning toward doing).  I have the chance to work with a Grammy award winning producer and he didn't think I should pass that up both for the musical experience and the relationship side of working with someone like Phil Naish.

Relationships mean so much in Nashville.  For instance, I get the chance to work with Phil simply because I've worked with another producer and built a relationship with his label over the years.  Because of that relationship, the opportunity to work with someone on Phil's level has come to my door.  Tom didn't think I should pass it up.  So we have now rearranged my schedule and I will spend 3 days in TN next week at Phil's studio recording 8 songs.  I am spending my spare time rehearsing all of these songs as much as I can to prepare.

Yes - it's fun to work on Christmas in June!

"The Elephant Diet" Day # 112 Rainbow colors

Today I'm working on more vocals for the songs Portraits of White and Sing a Song of Joy.

I thought perhaps you might enjoy seeing a picture of what it looks like on the computer screen.  I'm now up to 106 total takes. Some of those are just short phrases in the song.  I couldn't fit them all into one photo, but at least you get the idea!  Very colorful.

Using an iMac, Brauner mic and the software Digital Performer.

"The Elephant Diet" Day # 111 Stacks of Vocals

I spent the morning in my studio correcting some things my producer suggested I change after hearing the vocals I did for him the other day.  When the band recorded one of my songs, they played it with a different rhythm than I originally had in my demo.  Because of that, I changed the way I sang it, but my producer wanted me to keep singing the song the way I did before.  I sent the corrected version back to him this morning.  Waiting to hear if he likes this better.

I also re-did some vocals on another song because there were a few spots that weren't quite right.  It's the Enya style song and if one or two of my s's or t's aren't together, it shows up pretty quick.  I don't know exactly how Enya does her 'stacked' vocals, but from what I read, they just keep working with a song until they get what they want and they might not know until after they've tried a few things which works best.  Apparently one of her songs has 90 vocal tracks.

I started with 32 tracks and decided since I have the studio, equipment and time (though that's so limited these days) I could experiment with as many takes as I want.  So I doubled it and sang the whole song 64 times.  You really have to tune into yourself when you do this.  If you vary your tone too much or use vibrato from one take to the next, it gets real sticky and you can't keep singing more and more takes without trouble.

The first time I heard a recording of Enya, I stopped what I was doing and went searching for who this amazing artist was.  I am so excited to have finally written a song in this genre.  I'm learning a lot as I work on this particular song.  I can't wait to hear what TN does with it!

"The Elephant Diet" Day # 110 Alterations

I sent a file of vocals to my producer early this morning for his approval or rejection.  I'm thankful to work with someone who can make up his mind pretty quick!  Hopefully I'll hear back soon.

I also dropped off one of my dresses to be altered by a friend who sews.  I'm hoping she can add sleeves to the sleeveless dress I bought for the photo shoot in 3 1/2 weeks.  It's very beautiful and I can't wait to wear it, but a dress without sleeves for Christmas didn't make sense.  Plus, I feel really uncomfortable without sleeves on.  Guess I need to keep up my workouts at the gym.  But until then, we are adding sleeves....as long as she can find material to match the dress.  I know, that's risky.  Trusting that we can make it work.

I had lunch with my Mother and then took her to the doctor.  The Home has decided to raise her level of care from 3 to 4.  We hope this will help prevent her from falling so much and will give her more quality of life.  She continually wishes she could die and go to heaven.  It's part of every conversation I have with her now.  If she would die, that would be a really big alteration to my life.  For now, I'm glad it's just a dress we are adjusting.

"The Elephant Diet" Day # 109 Home from Nashville

WORD Entertainment Group
The site of the conference

We had a great time at the "Get Busy" Conference in Nashville, TN arranged by my producer, Eric Copeland.

There were over 20 artists there, plus about a dozen who attended 'on-line'.  Eric told us that he is currently working on producing 20 projects right now.  I thought I was busy!   One of those 20 is my Christmas CD.

Artists from all over the U.S. gathered to learn more about booking and social media.   We ended the day by having dinner together at "The Row".  

Today I worked on vocals for another one of the songs.  It's supposed to be a holiday today, but Tom is busy in the shop and I have tons to do too, so we will have to take another day as a holiday sometime soon.

"The Elephant Diet" Day 108 Shopping

Yesterday I spent 3 hours with an image consultant here in Nashville who helps you identify the styles you like, what you wear well, what you don't like about your body, and how to prepare for a photo shoot. Ruffles, sparkles, flare, twirls...that's me. Glad to leave the jeans out of this one!

This isn't my first time to work with an image consultant so it felt a little bit easier than my first time. I never feel so self-conscious than when I am going to meet an image consultant for the first time. But she was easygoing and very pleasant to work with. I knew I was in good company when she changed from her high heels to sandals when we went shopping so her feet would be comfortable. It's so nice to have someone hand you stuff to try on and go get other sizes or outfits. I could just stand in the dressing room and wait for more clothes to model! Felt like a princess.

In a very short period of time, we had 3 outfits picked out for my upcoming photo shoot in June. We talked some about the show and what I should maybe consider wearing for that. She encouraged me to wear something different for the show than for the publicity shots. Interesting tidbits to learn about how industry folks think about these things.

We are going for a more elegant look for this project because of the nature of the music. Of course, I have always preferred elegance over casual, though I've learned to be casual. Can't really wear long gowns on motorcycle rides. At least it isn't practical!

Today we head to the Creative Soul Records conference at WORD. I'll get to see my producer and connect with other artists out there doing what I do. That in itself is always helpful.

Better go get dressed for the day!

"The Elephant Diet" Day # 107 Catching Up

I am still here.

Still planning.

Still breathing.

Still eating an elephant.....but trying to catch up.

I have added two more adventures to my life which now take up more of the little amount of time left that I had to spare.  One of them I chose to say yes to, the other I needed to say yes to by nature of my job.

Monday nights I am leading a group of women at my church on a journey of trying to become more healthy in every aspect of our lives.  I have felt compelled for a long time to lead this, but resisted it because of my busy life. Tonight is our third meeting and it's already proving productive!  Maybe I'll write more about that later.  

Another added element to my schedule is a Thursday night music rehearsal for a new service style we started in May at my church.

Last week I attended a National Worship Leader Conference in Lancaster, PA for a couple of days and it was inspiring, but again, took up a big chunk of my time.  As I sat and listened to amazing music with incredible sound and lighting systems, I was reminded of the grandness (is that a word?) of what I am endeavoring to do with a show.  I am seriously pondering the scope of this venture.  I was especially blessed by a musician who simply sat at a keyboard and led us in worship that made me cry.  It certainly doesn't take all the pizzaz to move someone!  I enjoyed another group with lots of bells and whistles.  Both were inspiring.

In the meantime, last Thursday afternoon we recorded two more of my songs with a band in Nashville (I was there via headphones and texting).  Friday and Saturday I spent most of the day rehearsing songs for a previously scheduled vocal recording session in TN coming up this Thursday.

This week, I am heading to TN Wednesday afternoon for a "Get Busy" conference hosted by WORD and Creative Soul Records - the record label doing my Christmas CD.  I have to laugh at the irony of the title of this conference.  I really don't need anything more in my life, but I do believe what they are offering could be of great help to me on this journey.  Part of it will be focusing on using social media and that's something that I struggle with.  Plus, it's a good way to connect with other artists like myself and start building a relationship with WORD Entertainment Group.

The vocal session is now on hold as we are contemplating the possibility of using my very own studio to record vocals.  It all came about because I sent my producer a sample of what I was working on for the song we were to record this week.  He was so impressed by the work I had done here, that we are now talking about doing them all here.  That would be amazing if it works out.  Though I was really looking forward to working at Phil Naish's studio, I love the idea of having all the time I want to experiment with every single word and note and deliver it exactly as I want it to be without time limitation such as I would have if I do them in Nashville.

Thursday afternoon I'm scheduled to meet with an image consultant to shop for a wardrobe for the photo shoot coming up in June.

So as you can see (or read) I am still working away at the elephant, but I have had to be picky about how I spend my time.  Blogging about what I'm doing had to take a back seat for a week or so.

I hope to start back up with it this week.  Thanks to those who have asked about it.   That tells me that folks are truly reading and interested and that is really special!

My sister is in town right now helping to see that my Mother gets some special care after her recent falls.  She is still not recovering as we would hope and complains of lots of pain.  It is a relief to have someone else caring for her for a few days.  No one cares for family quite like family.  I'm so thankful for siblings that share this road with me.