Tonight I recorded the first song on my next CD. No title yet, but it will be simple and slow moving. The idea for this one is to record 45 minutes or so of VERY mellow tunes for quite time, nap time or bed time. A lullaby CD? Could be!
I'm hoping to keep it really simple and sweet so kids don't have to work to listen to it. Probably just acoustic guitar and vocal for most of it, although there are a few songs I've found that may need piano instead.
If you have any favorite lullabies that are a little off the beaten track, please let me know - I'll even give you a credit on the next record if you come up with one that I use (as long as you find it first... :-) ).
I hope to get some video footage of the process in the future - so keep an eye peeled.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Who's the French Girl on Paper Airplane?
Welcome to my First Post!
I'm writing tonight to tell you about Louise, the girl who speaks in French at the end of Paper Airplane on my latest CD, Dragonfly. Paper Airplane is a song about a boy who makes a paper airplane and throws it, hoping it will fly a hundred miles. It is "taken up by the breeze" and it flies out the window. The next thing we find out is that the plane has landed in a foreign country - France.
As I was writing the song, I felt that I needed to do something different with this one. I wanted to tell more of a story and make kids use their imagination a bit. So I found Louise. She lives in Seattle with her family. Her father is French and her mother is American. I asked if she would be willing to read some text that I wrote in French and she was game. After a bit of grammar correction to the French text I provided, we recorded Louise reading it at her house. The english translation is approximately this:
"Dear Johnny,
I am writing to you today because I believe I have found your paper airplane. My name is Louise and I live in Saint-Malo, a small town in France. This morning, when I woke up I looked out my window and saw a paper airplane in my yard. Since your name was written on the side, I sent it back to you!"
In order to transition in and out of the reading, I added some accordian music in the background and then to make it a little more cohesive, I also put some accordian at the beginning of the song - very quietly. I tried to make it as "French provincial" as I possibly could, which adds a musical context for the change in language. Then, to return to reality, I bring back the instruments on the chorus.
I'm writing tonight to tell you about Louise, the girl who speaks in French at the end of Paper Airplane on my latest CD, Dragonfly. Paper Airplane is a song about a boy who makes a paper airplane and throws it, hoping it will fly a hundred miles. It is "taken up by the breeze" and it flies out the window. The next thing we find out is that the plane has landed in a foreign country - France.
As I was writing the song, I felt that I needed to do something different with this one. I wanted to tell more of a story and make kids use their imagination a bit. So I found Louise. She lives in Seattle with her family. Her father is French and her mother is American. I asked if she would be willing to read some text that I wrote in French and she was game. After a bit of grammar correction to the French text I provided, we recorded Louise reading it at her house. The english translation is approximately this:
"Dear Johnny,
I am writing to you today because I believe I have found your paper airplane. My name is Louise and I live in Saint-Malo, a small town in France. This morning, when I woke up I looked out my window and saw a paper airplane in my yard. Since your name was written on the side, I sent it back to you!"
In order to transition in and out of the reading, I added some accordian music in the background and then to make it a little more cohesive, I also put some accordian at the beginning of the song - very quietly. I tried to make it as "French provincial" as I possibly could, which adds a musical context for the change in language. Then, to return to reality, I bring back the instruments on the chorus.
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