Mixing Risen! The Musical at the London College of Music with Joffy Girling and Andrew Bourbon

After four years of working on Risen!- The Musical we are getting very close to completing the double CD. On Thursday and Friday of last week I had the privilege of being at Vestry Hall, Ealing, the recording studio of the London College of Music, watching Joffy Girling our Musical Director, and his ex -Lecturer Andrew Bourbon start mixing the 100 minute album which is Risen! – The Musical.
The recording studio was fantastic with state of the art equipment. Andrew had been Joffy’s Lecturer in Sound Engineering and Production at Birmingham City University before moving to the London College of Music to take up a new lecturing post. Andrew has a PHD and I could understand why because he was absolutely amazing in his knowledge and application. He and Joffy spoke to each other in a totally different language than I had ever heard before – buses, plates, rooms, images, lack of depth in the midrange from the FG-N. A parallel pass through the 1176 hitting the 1073s etc.etc I just watched and listened, absorbed while they started with drums, then bass, then guitar, then strings, then vocals making everything that already sounded great from Joffy’s recordings sound absolutely awesome. There are 37 tracks and in the two days, seven were mixed so there is still much to do.
I have to say I was so very pleased when Andrew said very complimentary things about the Risen! songs – he intends speaking to his friend who is Head of Musical Theatre at London College of Music. Our hope is that students and post grads might make up the cast for the proposed autumn stage production of Risen! at the New Theatre Royal, Portsmouth
In the meantime my dear friend Nikki of 2 fishproductions has been working hard on the CD’s artwork. We are trying to meet a deadline as another dear friend, who I have mentioned before, Dr Graham Giles has been given the great honour of being invited to the USA President’s Annual National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday February 5th http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Prayer_Breakfast On this most important occasion, which is in fact a series of meetings luncheons and dinners held since 1953, Graham will be personally giving “Risen!- The Musical promo CDs to 12 of the most powerful Christian women in America. They will be promo CDs featuring extracts from the full musical as the whole double CD will not be fully mixed and mastered in time for Graham’s departure on February 2nd – but still, what an amazing opportunity!
The featured song today “Bathe me in Your light” is taken from our first CD “ I Look Up To The Heavens.” The song also features in “Risen! – The Musical.” The disciple James sings it on the mountain in Galilee just before Jesus delivers His “Great Commission.” As Matthew writes in Chapter 28 of his Gospel, Jesus says “ Go make disciples of all nations…..and surely I am with you always, even to the very end of the age.”