O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

I am not a vocal performer. I haven't been in choir since 6th grade, and my vocal training since then has only consisted of a few semesters of voice lessons with the excellent Wishart Bell while I was a student at Bethel.

I am moderately terrified to share the final product of my December Project with you. I wasn't able to complete the instrumentation to my desired outcome, I know that a few more vocal takes would have produced a better result, and I was basically stumbling around Adobe Audition in the dark (with a flashlight named Google) when it came to mixing and editing the final song.

I recorded the vocals for this song in my basement. Note the awesome wood paneling.

But action trumps inaction. Doing something is always better than talking about doing something. Sharing is better than keeping everything for yourself. So, here it is:

I hope you enjoy it. Shoot, I hope you make it all the way to the end without giving up on me.

This blog was created to get me to make things and share them with people. I guess it's working.

verse one

Because of some other projects I've been working on (secret until after Christmas), I won't be able to produce a full performance video of O Come, O Come, Emmanuel like I wanted to... but like I've said before, setbacks are all about finding wins, and my wins this time around is that I was able to put together a performance video for the first verse, and that I've technically completed what I originally set out to do: 

• to successfully record and share at least one Christmas-related song by Dec. 24
• to record a performance video for this song
• to use at least two audio tracks in the production process.

The audio version I released yesterday was made from four tracks - two piano, two voice - but I'm really uncomfortable with how the harmony sounded, so for the video version below I removed the second voice track and its associated video.

I still very much hope to produce a full audio version containing a more complete arrangement and more verses before Christmas, but it's going to be a tight squeeze to get that done. We'll see :)

Verse Selection

I have finalized the verses I plan to record as part of my December Project (a rendition of O Come, O Come, Emmanuel set to the traditional tune Veni Emmanuel). I especially like these verses not just for their poetic beauty, but also because they speak to many attributes of God that were exemplified in Jesus' coming to earth as a human.

The first verse speaks to the hope that Jesus brings as the physical answer to millennia of humanity longing to be reunited with the God it rejected, for the relationship to be restored on a deeply personal level. The second verse speaks to the joy we find in this restored relationship, with Jesus as the rising sun that eradicates darkness and pours life into a world ruled by death. The third verse speaks of Jesus as our protector and leader, showing us how to live and guiding us into God's love. The fourth verse again speaks of Jesus as our exemplar and ruler, the king of kings before whom all others reverently fall silent. He is the leader of his people, a just and kind ruler whose people can turn to him for wisdom and mercy in times of need.

The fifth verse is perhaps my favorite, depicting Jesus as the restorer of a fractured human race, not by homogenizing humanity but rather by eliminating our sad divisions - the differences we focus on that lead to hate, to war, to injustice. Jesus' life is filled with the removal of walls that were put in place to separate and divide people from each other. This could be its own blog post but to name a few instances I would point to his encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well, his willingness to socialize with despised tax collectors, and his public defense of the woman who had been caught in adultery (among many other examples). At this time of year, it may be cliché to point out that God came to earth as a baby, born among the animals in a smelly cave, the lowliest of births for the most exalted of men... but it all bears repeating.

God came here. The name Emmanuel even means God is with us. He lived and breathed and walked among us. He died to save us and he was resurrected from the grave in victory over death. Perhaps the wonder of Christmas resides as much in Jesus' death as in his birth, but above all this season is about celebrating one simple, mind-blowing fact: God loves us. I pray that you will feel his love this season and throughout your life.

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O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
and ransom captive Israel,
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!

O Come, thou Dayspring, come and cheer
our spirits by thine advent here;
disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
and death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!

O come, thou Key of David, come,
and open wide our heavenly home;
make safe the way that leads on high,
and close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!

O come, thou Root of Jesse's tree,
an ensign of thy people be;
before thee rulers silent fall;
all peoples on thy mercy call.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!

O come, desire of nations, bind
in one the hearts of all mankind;
bid thou our sad divisions cease,
and be thyself our King of Peace.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!

Christmas Song Selection

I have decided which song I will record for Christmas this year as part of my December Project, and it is:

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.

I selected this song for a few reasons, enumerated below.

1. It speaks to the theology of Christmas in a deep and meaningful way.
2. The tune I'm using, Veni Emmanuel, is a beautiful and old French melody, dating from the 1400s or prior.
3. The lyrical themes originated as early as the 800s, though the earliest recorded Latin text of the song is from 1710 (Germany).
4. There are many widely-accepted verses, so I can choose the ones that carry the most meaning for me and include them in my recording.
5. I was playing around on our piano today and came across a chord progression I liked - Gm6/4 moving to D major - and as I did a little more with it the melody of this song came out. It turned out to be in a key and range that was good for my voice so I felt my way through some chords for the rest of the song and settled on it as my choice.

One challenge I face with this selection is that I'm familiar with renditions of this song recorded by artists I regard very highly, including Peter Furler, Kevin Max, and David Crowder*Band - so it may be difficult not to borrow from their interpretations of the song. On the other hand, Christmas music is so widely recorded that people are used to hearing multiple artists record the same song.

I'm very much looking forward to recording O Come, O Come, Emmanuel and I look forward to sharing it with you!