Recording
Session
September 2005
On Thursday 1st September,
the Cycle 2 students were busy laying down
their tracks for the end of term School
Concert. Their teacher, Emily Walters, had
adapted a story about the formation of the
universe and the children had spent the
past weeks developing the movement, costumes
and props for the performance. For the narration
and music, she invited a friend along to
share his expertise.
Mark Belcastro, Melbourne Musician and Producer,
generously gave his time and knowledge,
to come to Gisborne to record the students
narrating their script. The children had
been rehearsing for the last two weeks,
practising their lines, voice projection
and expression, to make sure they were well
prepared for the recording session.
Mark arrived in the morning raring to go
and quickly engaged the children by taking
them through the process and explaining
how the equipment works. The children asked
many questions as they were intrigued about
this magical process, that was to record
the narration for the performance about
The Big Bang Theory. Mark invited the children
to experiment with the microphone and headphones,
to give them an understanding of the appropriate
volume, speed and expression that would
be needed. The children’s eyes lit
up at the sound of their giggling and testing
comments that were playing back through
the headphones. Mark then went onto explain
the importance of silence in the space,
the use of certain equipment to capture
clear sound and how the day would run.
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The
children were extremely excited as they set
off to another room to read, while they waited
for their turn. The recording quickly got
under way and Mark was impressed with how
well the children had prepared themselves,
by learning their lines, projecting their
voice and their confidence to have a go. Mark
joked with and encouraged the children to
help them relax and very soon they were listening
to their recorded lines– many hearing
their voice recorded for the first time. The
expression on their face as their voice was
played back was priceless.
The recording took all day! The children were
incredibly patient and sustained their enthusiasm
right through to the last lines. Then as a
group they listened as Mark recorded the music
that had been previously selected. Once the
music had been recorded, it was time to have
their first listen to their narration and
music all together. They bounced with excitement
and anticipation into another space. While
Mark connected the equipment to the stereo,
the children watched on eagerly awaiting the
sound of their voices. |
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