You Raise Me Up - a new appreciation for remote music production

You Raise Me Up (composed by Josh Groban), performed by Robin on piano and her marvelously talented son-in-law on vocals. Fiona is pictured with me at the piano  just because she's cute. 

            I was today’s church service musician, which meant a six-week crash course in audio technology. Live music on Zoom is disastrous, so remote services require pre-recorded music. I thought it would be simple. Nope.
            Live performance errors disappear into the whole, reverberant experience. Recorded errors live on, forever reminders of imperfection. Therefore, lots of do-overs. (Pro-tip: remove dogs from room before recording). Okay – I got through the piano solos. Then there were the piano/vocal dual-track pieces, two on my own (yikes!) and one with my son-in-law’s heart-stirring vocals recorded in his Michigan basement. Wow.
            I called on tech-savvy family members, tried Audacity (problematic on Mac), dove into GarageBand. I downloaded the manual for our Yamaha Clavinova, having never used its fancy electronic features. My favorite “cheat” speeds up your recordings to sound like you’ve played tough pieces really fast.
            It’s been a while since I’ve had to study and learn new technologies. I should do it more. Aggravating as it is en route, I am uplifted (raised up!) by the final destination: new proficiency and a stirring product. Thanks, Robert!
            (But, omg, How the heck do they produce those 100-person remote-recorded performances?)
 
My 60th year in 60,000 words
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