Bringing a NEW MUSICAL to Life!
One of the challenges producing a new musical is helping others to see the vision of the completed work. As the composer, I am happy to sit at a piano to sing and play through all 25 songs in Old Testament Records, but I can guarantee the vocals on the “Amen, Amen, Amen!” finale won’t be as crisp as those I sang in Eve’s “Because He Loves Us” opener!
In an effort to help directors, producers and performance entity leaders “see” the show, we are recording each of the songs and releasing them to this website. Key to this, however, is recording choral numbers, as the chorus appears in almost 1/3 of this musical’s songs.
Choral Performers – Key to Showcasing the Songs
I invited a group of 12 vocalists to prepare and record the group numbers in Old Testament Records. Some of the vocalists have performed in all 6 productions of my musicals. Others were new to the area (one soprano was not even born when I staged my first show!)
We rehearsed at my home during the month of April. We always managed to take a break around sunset. We break for sunsets here, with good reason!
Late winter sunset at the Sieber home, bay of Green Bay. Photo by Steve Gilchrist.
Recording Session: Putting It All Together
Late in April, we assembled at our local technical college. My intern, João Paulo Siqueira Borges Nascimento, is an exchange student attending Northeast Wisconsin Technical College (NWTC) and the recording of the chorals for Old Testament Records was one of the last projects with his class of audio technician students.
NWTC audio technician class, L-R: Chris Kuborn (instructor), Tony Schiebel, Jan Koch, Brenda Huisman, Joao Nascimento, Devon LaPlant, Shay Haas, Jeremy Raduenz, seated: DJ Niesz
Photo by Wanda Sieber.
We had an ambitious recording schedule: All 7 songs in 2 hours. Prior to recording, we used about 45 minutes in set up (that’s a super time, considering we had 12 performers, one conductor, 8 audio techs and 1 instructor)! Thanks to everyone’s excellent work, we completed ALL the songs and will be mixing/releasing each in May/June. A big “thank you” goes to Chris Kuborn, the Digital Media Technology Instructor at NWTC: Our session had the requisite number of IT challenges and Chris found fast work-arounds for each.
Our singers included Sieber musical veterans James Marker, Bob Olsen, Bill Sieber, Greg Krehbiel, Arlene Marker, Tasha Fischer and Susan Torbenson. New to our group were vocalists Steve & Christy Gilchrist, Lori Blean, Karen Gebhardt and Mikaela Torbenson. Thanks to each of them for their hours of practice, their good humor during hot rehearsals/recording and for lending their talents to help this music come alive!
Old Testament Record choral group: Bob Olsen, Bill Sieber, Greg Krehbiel, Christy Gilchrist, Arlene Marker, Karen Gebhardt, Lori Blean, Tasha Fischer, Mikaele Torbenson, Susan Torbenson, James Marker. Missing? Our photographer, Steve Gilchrist.
A Fond Farewell
Key to our success in the recording lab was the preparation done by João. All the soundtracks were converted from Reaper files into the NWTC software and each was ready to go when we walked in. João has completed his internship and returns to his home in Brazil later this month. Thank you and best wishes, João!
João Paulo Nascimento, audio technician, is recording and mixing the releases for the musical Old Testament Records.
Upcoming Releases
What’s next on the timeline? TWO DUETS are just about ready for release: “Sister”, a duet between Ruth and her mother-in-law, Naomi (vocals are by my real-life daughter-in-law, Angelina Sieber and me); and “My Son”, the smokin’ hot duet between Sarah and Hagar, two women who were married to the same man at the same time – difficult times, no doubt about it! I got to debut this song live last year with one of my favorite sopranos, Tasha Fischer, and I was delighted when she consented to reprise her role for this recording.
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