Recording "Streams of Mercy"

Streams of Mercy DEMO! CLICK!

Mark Lajoie here! I thought you might be interested in how this recent demo got recorded last week.

I had done my own self-recording at times in the past. For instance, "Forever", "Tell the Whole World" and "We All Did It". We even released some of those on our interim album, "Still Flowing". This was probably NOT a good decision on my part; these were little more than my own GarageBand demos. Actually, many of our studio-recordings produced by Josh were based on demos I created, a much more sound process of creation.

BUT recently I have not had access to GarageBand or a producer. I now live in a very small place with several family members & limited income. My ability to create was, it seemed curtailed. However, the URGE to create has been persistently pressing me. I go to Mass every day now, and during Communion every day, this old song of mine, kept crowding into  my consciousness, insisting that it be expressed & shared. 

The song, is a very simple one: 3 chords, 4 basic notes. I received it at the age of 15 while on my knees before the Tabernacle. It brought me to where THE Victory was won for us by the King: to the Cross as He shares with us in the Bread of Life. This is precisely what is under attack right now and what people need to know. What was so relevant for a poor teen back then was perfect for those I want to reach now. I HAD to get this OUT of me!

Well, where there's a Will, there's a Way. I had done a very rough demo for "May I Receive You" using the Audacity app. That's basically for doing podcasts, and I had used it to do some pre-production recording for our LW podcast. After investigating, I figured out how I could get this app to serve as a studio app. I drove up to my son's house where it was quiet, while he was at work, and I spent the day there. I  plugged in my Ovation 12-string to my little Acoustic-brand amplifier, turning up the volume with a light effect. I then set my mic to omnidirectional so it could pick up both the live guitar (which sounds pretty awesome all by itself!) AND the amplified sound. I scrabbled to get a scratch track, laid down two different lines of acoustic, a lead vocal and a harmony. I added a simple bass line on the acoustic, and then was able to put it down a whole octave; sounds like a stand-up bass. This song needed bells, but they HAD to sound something like altar bells, so I recorded the chimes from my cell phone alarm!

I then was able to add some effects, pan tracks to either side and play with the mix. I created a demo. Mike kindly invited me to send this to him so he could add keyboards. He downloaded the mp3 to his GarageBand, added a sterling piano track and strings track, mixed it and sent it to me. What he did?? It was if he was reading my mind! He put in eXACTly what I imagined should be there. I then added the end echo track, and? voila! what I think is a wonderful demo!

I got it OUT of me!! I hope you sense the Power of where these words & images of Scripture take you.

Thinking of doing a proper job on "May I Receive You" next: stay tuned!!