Friday, July 9, 2010

Day 3 in the Studio

Hey there, what a wonderfully long day! I say wonderful because we were able to go live! And you know how difficult of a time we've had with the equipment. Unfortunately my day began at 5:30 am when Sam got in. He had the computer technician come in at 12:00 midnight to check what was going wrong with the system and why we couldn't get audio. They worked until early morning until it was finally up and running (thanks Mike). I will never understand how Sam can function on only 3 hours of sleep, but he does. By 8:30 am he was up and running to drop off Felice at school and get to work. Dusty came and climbed in bed with me and began sketching on the iPad. It was a beautiful castle complete with the king, then he played his snowboard game. I am still amazed at how kids today are so computer savvy. I didn't even show him how to work the device and he just found his way around and is able to maneuver around just fine.

While he did that I worked on some lyrics for the song we would be working on today. I couldn't exactly remember the melody, so I just wrote little snippets of thoughts in the direction I wanted the song to go in. I figured I could fine tune things in the studio. I also wanted to see if the guys had any ideas as well. I picked up Rocky at around 12:15, then went to pick up Felice at school. I treated the kids (really myself) to McDonalds. I was supposed to be in the studio at 1:00 so I was in a rush. I knew Sam was going to be there to make sure everything was functioning properly, but he only had an hour lunch. I worry about him spreading himself too thin, and becoming exhausted. But as I said he loves a project, and he is so excited to see it all come together.

John's parents were in town from Southern California for a couple of days so John took the day off to hang out with them. Samuel & I figured we could work on the song started yesterday, or work on a whole new song. Samuel was still not able to use his hand completely because of his sprained wrist but, we figured we'd just play it by ear(no pun intended). We arrived and for some reason the visual streaming was working perfectly, but you couldn't hear the audio part of the streaming. Here we go again, more problems, Sam put in a call to Mike to give him tech support over the phone and he walked him through the process of logging onto the system. Sounded like Greek to me.

Luckily John called to say he was bringing his parents by so they could see the studio. Everyone else had met them but me, John has been such a big part of our family I felt like I already knew them when I finally got to meet them! John's Dad is on FB so I had seen pictures of them and I knew that if they had such a great son than they also must be great people too. Sam thought it would be good to interview them and see what they thought of their son's profession. Talk about nice people! John's parents were talkative, witty and downright delightful. They had no problem answering questions about John as a child, young man, and as an adult. It was a memorable interview and a real pleasure to meet them.

After John and his family left Samuel and I began working on one of the old songs my Mama used to sing. We decided on a couple of oldies but goodies. Then moved onto the song we started working on yesterday. I showed him the phrases I had written earlier and we settled on one for the chorus. He went through and formatted the song with the intro, verse, chorus...added bass guitar. I added some lyrics. Considering we didn't have a set schedule we were getting alot accomplished, but then I received a call from Sam at his work. He asked me what we were doing then proceeded to tell me what we were doing, how we were seated, our every move, he even asked Samuel to dance. I swung around to see if he was watching us, and he was WE WERE LIVE! Amazing right? Amazing and exciting, it all works beautifully, finally Sam's vision come to life. This was cut short by a call from Felice that I needed to come home because Rocky was crying and she was at her wits end. I said my goodbye's, Grandma duty, very important!

What a great day, I came home and had a wonderful nap with the baby. Now to work on my lyrics for tomorrow. So excited to see you then, I'll send out a notice when I will be in the studio along with the live stream address. <3 Lizzi

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Day 2 in the Studio

Day 2 was amazing! We worked on our song that we had begun yesterday. I thought I would have time last night to practice a bit but, when I left the studio I picked up Rocky and Dusty so Samuel and Senny could go to their movie nite with friends. Having two rambunctious boys doesn't leave time for much else. Getting to the studio is usually a challenge but yesterday worked out nice because Senia had the day off from work and she was able to watch the boys. But today it was back to our regular schedule. Felice had school from 10:00-11:30 so I dropped her off and picked her up, swung by and picked Rocky up around 11:45. Samuel left to the studio so he and John could finish formatting the music track for me. And I went in around 12:30 while Felice watched the boys. Then I had to leave for home about 3:45 because Felice started work at four and I needed to pick her and the boys up then drop her off at work - whew! Finally back at home the boys and I went out and watered the yard, picked our first batch of tomatoes yum. I have to say, "there's no place like home".

Our song today was a short, sweet, lullaby which will be just Samuel playing guitar accompanying me, and well of course John will be adding a lil' something, something to round out the song.

We had to delay recording the guitar because Samuel injured his left wrist on Monday when we went to go pick up my bicycle. My daughter Felice was trying the bike out, and she didn't know it had gears and a hand brake. So to stop her from crashing into a parked truck Samuel stood in front of her and stopped her by the handlebars. We didn't think much of it that day, but by Tuesday Samuel's wrist was pretty swollen so he iced it, if you notice in the footage from day 1 it looks like he has a bunny on his arm. I brought him some Motrin for the swelling and the pain (we knew it wasn't broken), he just had to let it rest a bit. So maybe tomorrow or Friday he'll be 100% ready to record the guitar for the lullaby song. At any rate I was able to complete the vocal, and the guys were inspired right into the next song. Upbeat, fun, a girl power song (that's what I call it) I love it when the guys get in touch with their sensitive side lol.

Unfortunately the hosting system is still having problems, so we were not able to live stream but, maybe tomorrow (Sam has his friend Mike who owns a media company coming in to fix the internet problem - we are keeping our fingers crossed!). We knew we were the test case for this new method of recording a project so we are just going along with the flow.

It's great being in the studio with the guys.... Maybe tomorrow if all works out we'll introduce Rudy our creative technician. He's the fly on the wall operating the cameras and filming. Well we'll talk more tomorrow and hopefully we'll have some video clips up for you.

As always <3 Lizzi



Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Lullaby 2day

Hi there, today went a little differently than I thought it would. First of all if you read yesterday's blog than you know there was an electrical problem that needed to be repaired. So Sam told me he would call me and let me know when he was ready for me. He called around 10:00 am to tell me come in at 1pm, I became so nervous. You see I'm a very structured type of person, which means I like a formatted plan and schedule. So to be on call was nerve-racking for me. Then at around 11:30 he said come at 1:30, I hadn't seen the studio conversion and quickly realized this is gonna be televised. Do I need extra makeup, hair up or down, what will I look the slimmest in, I know silly right. I did the best I could, called Senny to watch Dusty and I was out the door.

Well talk about amazing. Now I know technology is amazing when it works and a pain when it doesn't! We were somewhere in the middle, because all the video portion of the streaming worked but the audio did not. The studio looked amazing, real pro with the added lights, and cameras. I arrived around 1:30 ready to work. But as it turns out the equipment was not participating.

While they worked on the settings, Samuel, John, and I had a good time chatting. It's funny because sometimes you look around the room and everyones on some kind of mobile device. Had we known, I wonder what we would have thought of ourselves 15 or 20 years ago. I don't even think I would have believed it (very Star Trekky) but here we are. Sam decided we would go ahead with handheld mics. instead of headsets. We all thought sure why not, we're here, we can wing it.
We basically just sat like a talk show format, passed the mic around and discussed the project. Then John had an idea for a song, went to the keyboard, Samuel picked up his guitar, I grabbed a tablet and pen, and we were on our way to creating our first song. Seemed so natural. After laying down a track, we took a short break and when we came back in we wrapped up the format of the song. This way if I needed to add more words I could work on that at home. We were finished by around five. John and Rudy were off to see Toy Story 3, Samuel and Senia had a movie party to attend, I was watching Rocky, and Sam and Alim were going to work on the system. It was something new and different but, I had a great time!

Although we couldn't stream it live today all the magic was captured on hard drive and we will be posting it soon so you can view it! You will be able to see a special moment when I read the lyrics of the song to Samuel and he got all choked up when I told him Rocky was my inspiration.

These are the words: Hush Lil' Darlin'
Don't you cry
Sing you a song
It's a lullaby

Precious moments
We hold dear
Don't cry baby
Mama's near

Your in my <3
Your in my soul....

Talk to you tomorrow <3 Lizzi

Oops!

Hi there, I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. I think this fourth of July topped them all. It has been our tradition to take some time together as a family, rent a hotel, load up on the snacks, fill the tub with ice and soft drinks, swim, eat, and finally watch the fireworks from our balcony. This has been a great tradition for us. This year things were a bit different, my brother-in-law was celebrating his 50th b-day. Wow, what an accomplishment right? The kids were invited to a friends b-day in Sacramento, so I thought well I guess they have to do their own thing. So I kept my pouting to myself and thought well, I'm just gonna have to suck it up.

As it turns out I had more than a couple of nice surprises this weekend. First of all a friend that I hadn't seen for quite awhile gave me a call at Iguanas to see if she could come and visit. We met at my sister Sandra's house and had a nice visit reminiscing and looking at old photos. I went home and completed a baby quilt I was making for our neighbor who just had a baby boy.

Then on Sunday we went to my brother in law's party and who shows up but my son Samuel, his wife Yesenia, and our sweet grand baby Rocky. Oh My heart just melted with joy. But you know us Moms we're only happy when the whole brood is together, so than to complete the family my other son Jeremy shows up too. I thought they were in Sacramento at the other B-day so imagine my joy in seeing them all present. I know it's crazy but to us moms the sun practically rises and sets when we see our children. We had a wonderful time and as the evening wore on we sat around the fire pit sipping coffee, and watching the fireworks. I know, I know their illegal, but we had a stash of our own, and the kids loved seeing the beautiful colors! What would the fourth be without sparklers for the kids right?

Monday was another great day, my husband Sam made pancakes, bacon, and eggs, the kids came over, we sat out in the gazebo and had breakfast. Perfect weather inspired me to set the table outside, it was lovely. After breakfast the kids started looking at bikes on Craigs list. And what does my son find but a beautiful pink girls Schwin bicycle for me. Pretty much everyone has a bike in my family and I know they want us to go riding together. But the truth is I never rode a bike as a child and although Sam and I had cruisers my bike was too tall so I was afraid to ride it. This bike looked perfect! So Yesenia sent an email, and to our surprise they responded immediately. Some of you know that Craigs list can be really hit and miss. Well today it was a hit, my son Samuel took me over to try it out and it was indeed perfect. So today I became the proud owner of a shiny new bike! How exciting! Senia gave me a few lessons, Samuel adjusted my seat, then we were off for a bike ride, we traveled maybe a couple of miles it was exhilarating. I'm sure I'll feel it tomorrow but, it was great! We topped off the evening with a simple b.b.q of chicken marinated in olive oil, fresh squeezed lemon juice, fresh garlic, salt and pepper hmm delish (try it) and grilled to perfection. We served it with a fresh chunky salsa of chopped tomatoes, onions, cilantro, fresh jalapenos, garlic, salt, with just a squeeze of lime, it goes beautiful with the chicken, and my daughter Melissa made some spanish rice. Very simple, delicious, and it's healthy. It was a great end to a 3- day weekend. So you see those were my three wonderful surprises! I am blessed with an incredible family. And it's a privilege to celebrate this great Country of ours!

Now onto the Studio, well we were doing great, everything was on schedule but, today well today put a little snafoo into our recording schedule. Sam left right after breakfast to finish up a few things at the studio. I'm not quite sure why he needed to do some drilling. Well what does he do but, drill right through some electrical wires and he blew out the power. I am surprised and thankful he didn't get electrocuted but, the power was blown. He had to call in an electrician which can't happen until tomorrow so...that puts us slightly behind. But Lord willing tomorrow everything will be resolved and we can start filming and recording as scheduled. So here's to it all working out, I will let you know how and if it goes tomorrow.

Much <3 Lizzi

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Everything Is In Place

Well everything is in place, and I must say I love everyones excitement and enthusiasm for the project. As a result of modern technology (which is amazing) I have been able to let others know about the project from the comfort of my own home. My amazing family made it really convenient for me by purchasing me an ipad. What a convenient and useful tool! You see when we all rally around one another it really makes a difference.

Now i't's time to reorganize mine and my children"s schedule, my grandsons schedule... It's somewhat of a domino effect and It's hard for me to inconvenience others. That's the practical side of me. When you do something of value there usually has to be some sacrifice. As a Mom you always put the needs of others first, but now everyone is flexing their schedule for me. Wow, I feel special! So although we are very close, there is some maneuvering of lives that has to occur.

I like many of you will be taking some family time this weekend to celebrate this great Country of ours. I still get a lump in my throat every time I sing the Star Spangled Banner and I am humbled as I am reminded of how many have sacrificed their lives for our freedom. May God continue to bless America and those in it. I will be back on Monday with my blog and ready to get to work.

Have a wonderful, and delicious weekend!

<3 Lizzi


Friday, July 2, 2010

Down to the Wire

We are down to the wire. The guys have been working tirelessly to complete and fit the studio for filming. I hope they bring back some pics. Sam told me they literally had to take everything out to rewire and fit everything. The studio itself is a little on the dim, ambient side, it looks great (as seen in the photos) but filming requires light. So extra lights needed to be installed in addition to all the other equipment. I felt a little guilty because I went to see Eclipse with a big group while Sam worked till early morning in the studio. I knew he wouldn't really have appreciated the movie and since we had all seen the previous movies, it's one of those films that you can watch with your daughters, sisters, girlfriends, well even a couple of guys tagged along. We had a great time, ate way too much popcorn, soda, candy. I always do it, I'm a popcorn junkie. My daughter teased me after the movie because she saw me eat a whole large bag of popcorn by myself (I was slightly embarrassed) Oh well, I Love POPCORN! Funny how it seems so much more adventurous and wicked when you sneak away to the movies on a weekday, even more so if you go to a matinee. I usually don't stay out late so my wonderful daughter Yesenia offered to watch Dusty so us girls could go out. Imagine my horror when they text to say they were going to bed, what time would we be home? Yikes, I was telling my sister at the movies "why would Bella want to marry either of those guys since it seems like neither of them work" here I forgot that my poor kids had to get up early the next morning, shame on me : ( .

We made it home around 1:00 a.m. no sight of Sam. No sooner did I get settled in when my son Samuel calls me with an amazing song idea. My Mama always used to sing to my babies, I loved hearing her raspy voice singing Munequita Linda and Amorcito Corazon. These are songs I believe are from the 1940"s with beautiful orchestration and a smooth velvety vocal to carry the melody. Absolutely beautiful and timeless songs. One of the things I loved when the girls and I vacationed in Mexico was waking up on Saturday mornings to those old standards on the radio. It's as if we were listening to the record player, you can hear the vinyl turning as the needle gently rests on it, piping out the beautiful songs. I can imagine people gracefully dancing across the floor and when my son told me he wanted to record some of Gramsy's songs I was so touched it brought a lump to my throat. My Mama would love it!

Well it's getting late, I was hoping to get some photos of the studio's progress. Tonight they will do a test run, can't wait to see it all in motion. My husbands vision coming to fruition, the Iklectics new recording format, and my recording project, this is exciting!


Talk to you tomorrow <3 Lizzi

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Almost Ready

I can't even begin tell you how excited I am about the project. We are really getting close. Did I ever tell you why the site is called Lullabies to love Songs? If you were to place my music in a genre it has always been Christian. But when you place your music in a box you automatically eliminate those who don't consider themselves "Christians". But Christianity to me is not so much professing that you are, but living your life in such a way that people gravitate towards you because of your encouraging, and hopeful nature (in spite of the circumstance). It's easy to let life suck all your joy - I mean look at us, we are busy people, we encounter many things everyday, we are making decisions for ourselves, our families, our careers, our relationships and the list goes on...

My life (I hope) is a reflection of what I believe. I know that every tough circumstance has challenged me in a different way. And I always say if there is a lesson to be learned let me learn it the first time around so I don't experience it again! I'm gonna say there is one lesson I've repeated a zillion times, not just me but my whole family, and that is in helping people. I am a sucker and a pushover for a down and outer. And I can't tell you how many times our family has helped only to be crushed and burned! But still something will not let me lose hope in people. I know there will be that one that gets it, that takes hold of what is being offered and will be a better man/woman because of it. We're supposed to help one another right? That's what separates us from the animals, the ability to think, to reason, to place value on those we love. Anyways I want my life to meaningful and I know I can share a bit of who I am through music.

Lullabies are the sweet gentle songs we croon to our little ones, they soothe, and comfort. Love songs speak of those in love and those we love. Love is probably the most celebrated event, heck one day a year is set aside just for it. I mean where would we be without love? Lullabies to love Songs will be just that with a little something in between.

Love life and live it to the fullest, <3 Lizzi