Welcome to the official site of the contemporary Christian band Rushing Wind
Rushing WindTM CD journal
In April of 2002 Bryan DeMuth, Tom Culbertson, special guest drummer Mark Daniel and I put on a concert at Salem Community Fellowship. This was Rushing Wind's first real concert since we had disbanded in 1993, and we were overwhelmed with the response and encouragement we received from all of you.
From that time forward we began working on the 'Can You See Past a Lifetime' CD. We were almost a year into the process when the realization began to set in that it was going to take much longer than we expected. That's when I began posting these progress reports on a dedicated page of my www.nrpstudio.com recording studio web site.
Thinking some of you might be interested in the process behind recording our first CD, I decided to transfer these pages to this site in the form of a journal. Hope you enjoy them. Christopher
8-5-03:
Tom tracking acoustic guitar for 'Still Young'
Work on the CD is progressing at a steady pace. Most of our Saturday sessions are proving to be quite fruitful, though at times we'd like the work to come along more quickly. At this time we're in the midst of recording lead and backing vocals, and some of the songs are really beginning to take shape. It's rewarding to look (or more appropriately listen) back over more than a year's work and find that it's totally worth all the hard work and sacrifice.
I've been attempting to set aside time to blow out the cobwebs on the flute and sax in preparation for adding my parts, and bring them along as the vocal work continues.
One obstacle that lies in our path is the absence of a bass player. We've been ready to add the bass parts to the songs for some time now but it doesn't seem to be working out with the bassist we had lined up. His work schedule so far this year has been 7/12's. What little free time he gets is understandably spent with his family. We were really blessed when The Lord hooked us back up with former Rushing Wind TM alumni drummer Jeff Owens, and we're counting on the Lord to open this door for us also.
That's it for now. Please pray for us as we head down the home stretch on this project. Pray that our sessions will be fruitful and that God's Holy Spirit will speak to the hearts of men and women, that our humanity would be hidden and that through this work God alone will be lifted up and glorified. Thank you and God bless you... Christopher
9-16-03:
Our excitement and anticipation continues to build as the work progresses on 'Can You See Past a Lifetime'.
We'd like to express our appreciation to cellist Elaine M. Anderson (of the Silver and Strings Trio) for her contribution to 'Bitter Wind'.
The basic elements of this song are acoustic guitar, vocal and flute. String arrangements play an almost subliminal yet crucial supporting role in several parts of the song and are prominent in key areas. It became obvious early on that we needed a level of expression and realism on these parts that is difficult to achieve using a keyboard with sampled strings. We arranged the cello parts via MIDI using the keyboard, printed out the sheet music and recorded Elaine- first performing and then doubling her parts. Her performances added a degree of expression and depth that only a "real" cellist can add. We then combined the original 'virtual' MIDI tracks (the "third" cello player if you will) with her performances. In essence the finished track has three cellists performing together, and during the more intense crescendos, six and nine players.
It looks as if our prayers might well be answered regarding a bass player. Through a recording session with another client, I was blessed to make the acquaintance of a talented young bassist who has expressed interest in working with us. This Saturday will be our first session with him. Please pray for us.
10-17-03:
Our young bassist is indeed working out. Thank all of you for your prayers! Great job Matt! So far we have completed the bass parts on three of the songs and look foreword to resuming work with Matt next Saturday. Last week we began composing a "dreamlike sequence" intro for the title cut 'Can You See Past a Lifetime'. The addition of this intro has raised the bar on an already superb piece. The excitement continues to build for us.
Tom, Matt and Bryan in the control room, working out the electric bass parts for 'The Calling'
11-5-03:
The work continues... It's a real blessing to have a young person such as bassist Matt Vick on board with us for the 'Can You See Past a Lifetime' project. Matt brings with him a fresh breath of youthful enthusiasm, and at the same time a level talent and dedication tempered by a humble spirit. All these attributes are a great benefit to the work and to the Kingdom of God. It's hard to believe how many bass parts have been completed, which brings us that much closer to a release date for the CD. Thank you Matt, it's an honor and a pleasure to work with you.
Matt "Noodles" Vick on electric bass
Matt Vick recording the acoustic bass parts on 'Bitter Wind'
With the final mixdown fast approaching, the time has come to make some long anticipated upgrades in the studio. I've just added new dual 21.3" LCD digital displays, completed the set up of a brand new "Mirror Door" 1.25 GHZ dual processor Mac (the fastest OS-9 bootable machine currently available) and updated my Waves Gold plug-in bundle to the Platinum Bundle. This new Mac affords more speed, processor power and available RAM for handling these huge files (one of the songs has exceeded 70 tracks), the new displays greatly enhance visual access into the computer and the Platinum Bundle affords a higher level of fine plug-ins for the mixdown process.
Bryan DeMuth tracking additional string arrangements on 'El Elyon'
I'd like to take this opportunity to thank The Lord for blessing the work of our hands. Thank you Lord specifically for giving me friends and brothers like Tom and Bryan to work with. Thanks guys for your seemingly infinite patience and dedication throughout the duration of this recording project. Thanks also to Jeff, who brought with him so much of that unmistakable 'Rushing WindTM' sound, and a 'do whatever it takes to get it right' selfless attitude. Special thanks to Chrissy for supporting me every step of the way. She is the silent partner who makes this whole thing possible through her giving heart, unwavering support and continual sacrifice.
Prayer request: Our plan is to publish a dedicated Rushing WindTM web site coincident with the release of the new album 'Can You See Past a Lifetime'. The site is to include expanded song info, behind the scenes photos, concert photos past and present, upcoming concert information etc...
A quick search over the internet for 'Rushing Wind' (and just about every other name we could think of except 'Holy Mackerel') has revealed that our first-choice web names have already been taken. Quick Note: You may have noticed the TM after the Name Rushing Wind. This identifies it as a lawfully registered trade mark which has been in use by and solely owned by Rushing WindTM for many many years. If you have any ideas or suggestions for a name for the Rushing WindTM web site and/or features you'd like to see, or any photos you think may be of interest , please contact me through the studio.
11-15-03:
Hallelujah! All of the bass parts are now completed! Praise the Lord! Great job Matt!
Last Tuesday Tom and I got together and went over the entire project and created a master list of all the things remaining to be done. Guitar overdubs, final vocals on several songs, flute and sax on almost every song (I really have my work cut out for me!), not to mention final mixdown, deciding the order the songs will be in, finalizing the album cover etc. There's still a lot of work to be done, but the end is in sight!
Prayer request: It's now time to track my "keeper" sax and flute parts. Part of the difficulty here is that I must engineer for myself. This involves setting up and trying out different microphones, microphone placements, preamp and compressor combinations, operating the DAW and making adjustments to the equipment... back and forth between the studio and control room; all while playing an instrument and concentrating on getting my best performance for the album. Whew! Please pray for me as I undertake this most demanding task. I really want to do my very best for the album, for the Lord and for all of you. I pray for stamina and strength and most of all, for the divine breath of the Holy Spirit.
Thanks also to all of you, our brothers and sisters in the Lord, for your continued interest in and prayers for Rushing WindTM. God Bless you. Christopher
11-27-03 A blast from the past...
I just ran across this old photo of Rushing WindTM and thought you might get a kick out of. It was taken in October of 1985. This is the line up that defined the Rushing WindTM sound. The roster at that time was, starting in the back row from left to right , Kevin Kelly lead guitarist extraordinaire, Thomas Culbertson guitar & vocals, Bryan DeMuth keys & vocals, Mark Frankland bass; front row left Christopher Duncan sax flute & vocals and Jeff Owens drums.
01-03-04:
Hi all. I apologize that it's been over a month since my last update. Wishing you and yours a belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. In spite of a hectic schedule we've managed to continue working on the CD through the holidays. Today Tom added a second acoustic guitar part to 'Jump For Joy'. Bryan also added a piano arrangement to supplement the organ part in the same sax solo section. After some other work adding a few key percussion parts and making some tough choices (we opted to completely remove the acoustic guitar parts from the sax solo section) this song is really coming into it's own.
I've been able to get some work done on my sax and flute parts, but up to this point not as much as I'd hoped. There's still much to do. Oh well, it's taken almost two years to get this far; I guess it will take as long as it takes to finish.
01-24-04:
Wow, this month has really whizzed by! Today has been a great day. I set up the new Vintech X73i preamps and Crane Song TRAKKER compressors with Soundelux ifet7 and Lawson L47MP microphones and recorded the alto sax parts on 'Presence of The Lord'. Tom & Bryan engineered for me in the control room; which allowed me to concentrate fully on getting my best performance. Together we honed and refined my parts and picked the best tracks from the many takes we recorded. The piece really shines now and at least one song is ready for mixdown.
05-01-04:
Much has happened since my last update. In February I undertook the highly involved and intricate task of designing and building a three bay isolation rack (which doubles as the base for my mixing desk). This rack is intended to house noisy equipment such as computers and hard drives, the mixer power supplies and 4 ADAT recorders. It was both the best and worst timing for this project, especially when you factor in the next logical phase... You see, in order to install the completed rack, I had to tear into a major portion of the studio wiring. While I had everything torn out, I decided to pick up where I left off last year and finish the studio audio wiring. The fact is, this rack is one of the key pieces of the puzzle and I ended up completely reworking all of the equipment racks; integrating the new preamps and compressors, reorganizing all of the pieces of gear in a logical layout, and hardwiring everything into the patch bays. I even took the opportunity to address some longstanding power distribution issues and install a Furman IT Reference Symmetrical (balanced) power unit for all the audio equipment. All of this turned out to be quite involved and took most of three months to complete.
The improvements have proven to be well worth all of the extreme effort and hard work. Next week I expect to receive four 20" diameter tube traps being shipped from Acoustic Sciences Corporation in Eugene, Oregon. Again, another piece of the puzzle goes into place; the acoustic puzzle this time around. This means that some of the final tweaks on the control room acoustics (mainly the low frequencies) will be addressed before final mixdown. Keep an eye out for updated web site photos- coming soon!
Thankfully, work has resumed on 'Can You See Past a Lifetime'. It's full steam ahead for me, recording my final sax and flute parts and a few lead vocals.
06-22-04:
I've heard this said many times throughout my life, and the older I grow the more this simple fact becomes inescapably true. The older you get the more quickly time goes by. I look at the calendar and can't believe that June is here and almost gone already. It's been well over two years since we set out on this recording project. Life is truly but a vapor. Each day is a precious gift. Nothing is guaranteed. We've worked hard on this album. Even though there have been detours here and there, barriers to break through, challenges and obstacles to overcome, with the Lord's help we are achieving what we set out to do. All the glory belongs to the One who saved us, the Lord who shed his blood for us, who bore the full weight and consequence of our sin. The Lord is our inspiration; our purpose for setting out on this journey. And though it may sound clichéd, the journey is really what it's all about. It's my hope that you are as blessed by this work as we have been in producing it, and that it can become a positive part of your everyday life in the spirit.
07-16-04:
Kyle Stephenson recording an "EGGZ" shaker part on 'El Elyon'
We were truly blessed to have an extremely talented young man, Kyle Stephenson, recording percussion tracks in the studio this past Saturday. Although Kyle was on a tight schedule and was due back from shore leave in just a few days, he took a much appreciated time out to contribute his percussion abilities on two of the songs from the album- 'El Elyon' and 'The Calling'. Thanks so much Kyle (and Mike, his dad for sparing him for several hours).
10-30-04:
For some time now I've had a really hard time with my voice. The problem seems to be related to acid reflux. I have been taking "the purple pill" for acid reflux for over two years now and it stops the burning dead in it's tracks. However, what I'm finding out is although the medication "shuts off the acid pumps" (and the burning pain) it doesn't stop the reflux. A milder form of the acid is still present and, although the esophagus can tolerate it, the larynx and upper throat can't. So basically my voice box has been 'nuked' with acid for several years now. The answer is simple- use care not to eat or drink for several hours before going to bed (i.e. with an empty stomach). This strategy has allowed my voice to slowly heal and I'm getting my vocal power back.
On that note, Brian and I spent the day today going through the numerous vocal takes that I recorded on 'Bitter Wind' last Saturday. We created a final comp track from the best of the takes; punched in a few parts and viola! Bitter Wind is finally finished! Just one more song needs my vocal work and one song needs my keeper alto sax track and we are done! during this process we've been working on and refining the mixes. So once these two final sax and vocal parts are finished the CD master should come together rather quickly. With Godspeed we hope to release 'Can You See Past A Lifetime' before the holidays.
1-28-05:
Well, obviously the holidays have come and gone. Time goes by so quickly! All the tracking, editing and sweetening is complete. The time for final mixdown has finally arrived. We've tweaked, massaged, pushed and prodded the mixes and burned off a test CD. Over the next week we'll be auditioning it on a variety of systems to insure that the mixes will translate. The object is to strike a delicate balance between all the elements so that no matter if the listener plays it on a boom box, car stereo or audiophile stereo system, it will sound as we intended. The plan is for next Saturday's session to be devoted to comparing our notes, making any adjustments needed and burning off the final test CD. After the final test mix is reviewed and approved, we'll burn off a master and it's off to Disc Makers for mastering and duplication. Exciting times!
2-19-05:
Spent much of today's session "tweaking" the final mixes. We're almost there... It's a pleasure to finally reach the point where I'm listening to the music rather than the mix; when all the technical stuff disappears and the songs themselves emerge. Soon it will be time to change gears and prepare to play out again...
2-26-05:
During the course of the mixdown it became evident that the bass part in 'The Calling' would have to be re-recorded. As we have seen in the past, The Lord has a way of providing the right person at the right time. Bryan phoned up Mike Stephenson ( yes, that's Kyle Stephenson's dad ) and he graciously agreed to help out. Bryan and I have known Mike and his family for many years so it felt more like spending time with old friends than it did a recording session. Bryan, Mike and I have played together on various worship teams over the years and many times during "Hearts United In Praise" concerts. Mike, you did a splendid job on both of the songs and we really appreciate your talent and hard work, your humble attitude and your giving spirit!
Time trudges on... Now we have more mixes to finalize... But as they say "It ain't over till it's over". Please continue to pray for us. Thank you & God Bless. Christopher
4-23-05:
We are now in the process of approving the final mixdown. We've been through well over a dozen permutations of the final mix by now and all the little musical details are finding their place. All the band members were given a copy of last weeks test burn and so far the comments I'm hearing have been favorable. I think that with just a few more tweaks here and there we'll have the mix nailed down and it will be time to send it off for mastering.
Rushing Wind had our third practice as a full band this evening. All of the puzzle pieces are falling into order and the music is coming along nicely. Mike Stephenson is now occupying the bass player's chair and is doing very well (especially taking into account that he's hearing a lot of these songs for the first time). We're making steady progress and hope to be ready for a CD release concert in early July. By coincidence (if you believe in coincidence) I just happened to run into Pastor Freddie Rodriquez during a lunch break a few weeks ago. We talked briefly and he seemed genuinely excited about sponsoring our CD release concert at his Salem Community Fellowship church. Pastor Freddie played a pivotal role in getting us to come out and do the concert in 2002. His encouragement and the positive responses we received from that concert ultimately sewed the seeds of Rushing Wind coming back together. I feel that we owe a debt of gratitude to Pastor Freddie for that. We had a nice conversation and tentatively set a date for the first part of July.
It's a heartfelt blessing to me to be back playing again, especially with this particular group of men. And to make it even better, everyone else seems to feel the same way. These are my close friends, my brothers of many years. I can't think of anyone else I'd enjoy doing this with more. In one of our pre-practice prayers I specifically asked The Lord that along with helping us work toward excellence, that he would allow us to have fun and enjoy ourselves and the music- the whole "don't muzzle the ox while he's treading out the grain" thing. For me (and for the others judging from their responses) I believe God is answering this prayer.
We ask for your prayers now more than ever. Not only for the logistical challenges of putting this whole thing together; but that The Lord will strengthen and guide us, keep us on the right path, and set the way before us to move forward with what it is that he has for us. These are indeed exciting times, and with great opportunity comes an equal potential for great danger. Please pray that He will grant us discernment and hearts to seek after Him and follow after Him.
One final prayer request: We need access to a good sized rehearsal hall. We are now using the New Renaissance Productions studio space, which isn't really suited for band rehearsal plus it's interfering with ongoing recording sessions with my other clients. We're looking for something centrally located (somewhere in the general area between Damascus / Alliance), secure and in an area where sound won't be an issue with the neighbors. Thank you for your prayers and may God Bless you. Christopher
6-15-05:
The final mixdown has been approved and sent off to Disc Makers for mastering and duplication. Our practices are continuing and productive. Kyle was on leave and showed up to play with us at last Sunday's practice.
Our first concert is scheduled for July 10th at Salem Community Fellowship church, Pastor Freddie Rodriquez. We may delay the concert for a week or two (July 17th or 24th) to allow extra time for the CD's to arrive. Check back for more details in the next day or so. Please continue to pray for us. Thank you & God Bless. Christopher
7-3-05:
We received and approved our edited proofs of both the cover artwork and audio mastering from Disc Makers this past week. We anticipate our CDs and posters to arrive by July 15th. Our first concert is now confirmed for July 24th at Salem Community Fellowship church, Pastor Freddie Rodriquez. Many times now we've asked you to please continue praying for us. We consider you our partners in this exploit and when you to "hold our hands up" with your prayers we can see the battle is being won (Exodus 17:11,12). Thank you & God Bless. Christopher
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