Recording a CD

Off We Go!  Ready for a big day!

Doug, the Fabulous Recording Man!

 Mom and I love music.  We love to make music together.  We have been making music together my whole life!  We've played for weddings, funerals, church services, nursing homes, recitals and lots of "just for fun" times.  Yesterday we had the opportunity to create a keepsake that we will treasure forever!  We made a CD recording of 15 of our favorite pieces.  Mom played piano and I played violin.  Want to hear what our day was like?  Okay!
    At 9:00 on Saturday morning, we went to Doug and Janet's lovely home.  They had recently turned half of their basement into a recording studio and the other half into a quilting room.  We walked in to the recording room and   

Jennifer and Mom

 tuned my violin to the keyboard.  We played through a few songs and got used to the microphone and keyboard.  Then we began the recordings.  Doug would tell us when we could begin.  We would play a piece and then decide if we were satisfied or if we

We had a great experience!

wanted a second chance.  We kept our first recording for two of the fifteen songs.  All the others needed some tweaking.  Sometimes we played the whole piece again.  One time the tweaking was me simply playing two or three measures along with the recording that we had already done.  Then Doug replaced those  

Recording is hard work!

Hooray for a Midi System!

 measures with the new ones that I played better.  Sometimes tweaking a song meant Mom bringing her music in to the computer room where Doug was and finding a particular chord on the computer where she played a wrong note and then having Doug use his Midi System to actually change the note.  It was magic!!!  She could say, "That note right there should be an F sharp, not an F" and Doug would push a few buttons and fix it.  It was amazing!

We could fix notes like magic!

We took a short break around 11:30 and then felt refreshed enough to finish up.  All in all, it took about four hours. The next steps are for Doug to go through the songs and do his magic.  He seems to truly enjoy all the editing and refining and artistry.  He was so great to work with.  He was super patient and positive.  We had a wonderful experience.  I just know that we will treasure this CD for years and years to come.  My nieces and nephews will treasure hearing their Grandma Iverson and Auntie Jen play.  Mom and I will not always get to play together.  Arthritis has already had an impact on Mom's playing.  We decided to do the recording now because we have both been practicing more than usual to prepare for a wedding we provided music for last weekend.  I have been practicing so much that I feel like I am close to where I was in college as far as tone quality, intonation, and lack of scratchiness.  Technically, I would have far to go to reach my college proficiency.  But, truly, that doesn't matter.  What matters is the joy that Mom and I have when we play together.  It is as if we can feel what the other person is going to do for dynamics and ritardandos and phrasing.  We cut - off together at the end of pieces.  We just feel the music together.  And, we enjoy it.  We enjoy playing for people too.  If our music can bring joy or peace to people or help them feel closer to God, then we feel honored to have shared it.  To God be the glory.  By the way, this CD is not going to be perfect.  We made lots of mistakes.  We couldn't fix everything.  We decided that our CD is "authentic" because it shows our human-ness.  Both Mom and I are perfectionists, so it was hard at times to let a piece be "good enough" instead of perfect.  As Grandma used to say about situations like this, "It keeps us humble."  That is so true!  We have loved the experience of making a CD and will forever be grateful to Doug and Janet for helping to make this dream of ours come true.  If YOU get the opportunity to hear our CD, then thanks for listening!