Recording at GCU's fabulous worship arts studio
As disappointing as it was to cancel our in-person concerts in 2020, Salonnières has pivoted in order to keep creating music that is meaningful, connective, and personal to our audiences. One of the unexpected silver linings has been the time to work with Eric, the fantastic recording engineer at Grand Canyon University's Worship Arts Center in Phoenix. We've been steadily recording our album of sacred American songs...but we also wanted to try something new for the holidays: video. Eric was game to give it a go, so we decided to tackle two of our audience’s favorite Christmas carols: Mesa, AZ composer Sharon Overall’s “The First Noel” and Salonnières’ own +violin version of “O Holy Night.”
Jamie stuffed her car with (mostly) pre-lit Christmas trees, we scoured our closets for everything black and metallic, and we hauled it all across the GCU campus in a little red wagon. Kudos to all the polite GCU students who smiled, waved, and wished us an early Merry Christmas.
Using the studio’s one uninterrupted colored wall, we set up a mini stage with Jamie’s trees, ambience lights from Eric’s equipment closet, and a few pieces of furniture pillaged from the lobby. (Shhh! Don’t tell!) After setting up iPads and iPhones and seeing the shot through each one...we then rearranged all the trees, cloth, lights, and furniture again. And again. Until all the exit signs, windows, and doors were narrowly nicked out of the shot. Eric pulled out that glorious Lawson mic for Jamie to sing into, Karali used super speed skills to write some reminder lyrics for Jamie on a big dry-erase board, and Jennie got her music projected on a TV screen rolled stage left (notice her eyes drifting that way?).
Don’t worry: we had two insulated bags full of snacks and sweets to keep our energy up. They were heavy enough that we took turns carrying them across campus.
The room was a mad jungle of stands and wires, but we love the glow and sparkliness it created around the piano and against that rust colored wall! Most of all, we really appreciate Eric’s vision of turning his totally pro audio studio into an awesome video space for the day. His expertise helped us create something we could never have done otherwise.
This holiday season, Salonnières wants to make an impact. Instead of collecting donations to support our music at in-person concerts, we instead dedicate these two gorgeous holiday videos to Arizona Brainfood. We're moms with 9 school-aged children between the 3 of us, and we care deeply about all of the kids and their families in our Phoenix area neighborhoods. AzBrainfood works with 125 schools in the valley to provide backpacks full of child-friendly food for 3,000 children over the weekends during the school year. Just $5 feeds a child for a weekend, or $20 for a whole month. Every donation, big or small, is worthwhile.
We hope you enjoy these Christmas videos as a gift from us, donate to this amazing non-profit, and share with your friends. Have a wonderful, safe holiday season!
Jamie stuffed her car with (mostly) pre-lit Christmas trees, we scoured our closets for everything black and metallic, and we hauled it all across the GCU campus in a little red wagon. Kudos to all the polite GCU students who smiled, waved, and wished us an early Merry Christmas.
Using the studio’s one uninterrupted colored wall, we set up a mini stage with Jamie’s trees, ambience lights from Eric’s equipment closet, and a few pieces of furniture pillaged from the lobby. (Shhh! Don’t tell!) After setting up iPads and iPhones and seeing the shot through each one...we then rearranged all the trees, cloth, lights, and furniture again. And again. Until all the exit signs, windows, and doors were narrowly nicked out of the shot. Eric pulled out that glorious Lawson mic for Jamie to sing into, Karali used super speed skills to write some reminder lyrics for Jamie on a big dry-erase board, and Jennie got her music projected on a TV screen rolled stage left (notice her eyes drifting that way?).
Don’t worry: we had two insulated bags full of snacks and sweets to keep our energy up. They were heavy enough that we took turns carrying them across campus.
The room was a mad jungle of stands and wires, but we love the glow and sparkliness it created around the piano and against that rust colored wall! Most of all, we really appreciate Eric’s vision of turning his totally pro audio studio into an awesome video space for the day. His expertise helped us create something we could never have done otherwise.
This holiday season, Salonnières wants to make an impact. Instead of collecting donations to support our music at in-person concerts, we instead dedicate these two gorgeous holiday videos to Arizona Brainfood. We're moms with 9 school-aged children between the 3 of us, and we care deeply about all of the kids and their families in our Phoenix area neighborhoods. AzBrainfood works with 125 schools in the valley to provide backpacks full of child-friendly food for 3,000 children over the weekends during the school year. Just $5 feeds a child for a weekend, or $20 for a whole month. Every donation, big or small, is worthwhile.
We hope you enjoy these Christmas videos as a gift from us, donate to this amazing non-profit, and share with your friends. Have a wonderful, safe holiday season!
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