Studio Day: Choral Sing!

Yesterday, I had eight performers at my secret basement lair, Studio Oranwood, to record vocal tracks for Sing for the East. (From left: Mistress Dorigen of the Grey Gate, Drake, Mistress Judith Fitzhenry the Uncertain, Master Arden of Icomb, Mistress Linette de Gallardon, Lord Jayme Hume of Berwyk, Lord Martyn de Halliwell, Cedar-San Barefoot, and Mistress Sabine de Kerbriant.)

It was glorious fun doing recording work on four of the songs for the new album, including my own “We Are the East”. There was also a welcome opportunity for 6 out of the 10 composers on the project to have in-person time to discuss key questions about the logistics of the project end game. I had gotten an opportunity to discuss some of these issues with Siobhan and Aneleda, who were at Crown Tourney the day before but couldn’t be here to record, so we were able to make decisions with input from nearly all the creators.

Additionally, I had the privilege of recording vocals with my favorite young fan, Courtney Rose, who got to listen to her mom’s (Duchess Caoilfhionn’s) incredible voice on the “We Are the East” track and add her own voice to the final chorus of the song. (“WOW! This is the real deal!” Her awe and delight were everything I had hoped it would be when I invited Caoilfhionn to bring her to record.)

So, an update on the project. The album is progressing nicely, and from what I’ve gotten to hear, it is going to sound beautiful. We should be ready to announce a release date, and begin taking pre-orders, VERY soon. We are planning to offer three pre-mastered tracks from the album for download if you pre-order, including a special exclusive bonus track in a form that will not be on the final album. At this point, most of the songs are in post-production, with only a little more recording going on in the next couple of weeks.

I’m deeply gratified to see that all of the people who dragged themselves to my house yesterday seemed to take as much joy in this process as I have. You will forgive me, I hope, if I quote one of my newer lyrics, which keeps coming to mind through this process:

Thus I arrive in happy contemplation:
For want of aid, our prize we might not earn.
Yet, if we toil combinèd in creation,
Each that gift giveth, gaineth in return.

Think’st thou art poor, alone in the dust?
O fie! Doth our world in plenty abound.
Should’st thou more oft lend helpers thy trust,
The more we gain wealth of sight, taste, and sound.

Such a riddle fine, for when thou seekest mine,
’Tis mine own fortune that increases!
Ask when thou hast need! Life is fulsome, indeed,
And this abundance never ceases.