Producer extraordinaire, Phil Cross, oversaw the vocal recording process, much to his dismay. His ear is phenomenal, so much so that mere mortals such as ourselves occasionally take a while to catch up.
Phil wasn't the only celebrity in the studio. Mike Wiebe, who penned the new song "Into the Water" for us, stopped by to make sure we didn't mutilate his composition. Mike is also the music pastor at Nampa First Nazarene where Doran goes to church. Mike, too, carries a burden for Doran.
Dan loves being in the studio. He still confuses the left ear of his headphones with the microphone from time to time. We occasionally clothe him in a straitjacket.
The reason being, Dan tries to escape the rigors of recording. We also padlock the doors. You can't tell, but he's actually laying down his vocals in a padded cell. This is a very stressful process, folks.
It occasionally gets to me, but I try not to let it show. I've fortunately been able to master my poker face so my true feelings don't escape to the surface. The last thing you want to do is appear unconfident, stressed, or otherwise put out.
Phil takes time to turn down my voice in the mix. He must really like me.
I took some time out to explain to Phil the intricacies of the productions world. You know, with him getting started and all I want to do what I can to mentor him. If you'll listen to my producing work on some GBS recordings, it's pretty impressive. Really. Phil took it well. He seemed overcome with emotion. He was all bent over, face in his hands, shoulders twitching. I just patted him on the shoulder. He's a good guy. A lot to learn.
After that little pep talk, Doran seemed to be a little tentative about laying down his part. He finally fought through his feelings of inadequacy enough to sing the solo.All in all, it was a good recording.
