The Making of a Record with Two Cent Offering Part 1

By Patrick Jenkins/Two Cent Offering

Chris at OmniSound Studios Chris sings and records guitar at OmniSound Studios in Nashville, TN

Months ago I shared a little about preparations for a new Two Cent Offering record – back then we were all set to start the recording process in Peoria in the studio that Chris put together in his home (also our rehearsal space). Oh, how things changed!
The reality of what really happened is a complete blessing and much more than any of us imagined.

Step 1: Demos
We took our time in the Peoria studio to record demos – working out individual parts, vocal harmonies, and developing the general ideas of what we were going for with each song. We were also playing live quite a bit during this period so we could test run the new versions in front of an audience.

Step 2: Nashville
Over the past year we've joined forces with a great guy and a fantastic ministry in the form of Scott Kramer and Hands of Love ministry. Scott is a consummate professional and a great musician and record producer – not to mention a dedicated family man and follower of Jesus. He also believes very strongly in the potential of Two Cent Offering!

Here is where the crazy part of the story starts: Scott is supported in his ministry by many financial supporters who experience the impact of his ministry and contribute money on a regular basis to keep things going. After receiving a letter from Scott on our behalf, several generous donors decided to help fund our recording sessions in Nashville, Tn. Amazing.

So at this point we find ourselves booked for 3 full days of recording at OmniSound Studios with the venerable Tommy Cooper serving as our engineer and Scott serving as our producer, helping to keep everything on track and making sure all the songs are sounding there best. For those interested, engineers make sure everything is sounding good coming through the microphones (in this case classic Neumann mics) and into the sound board (in this case a legendary API Legacy Flying fader console). I mention the gear and Tommy because that's the big reason to go to Nashville – the gear and the ears and the studio! Tommy's experience + skilled hands and ears + great gear = great sounds – the kind of sounds that take good songs and good performances by the band and make them into fantastic recordings.

We enter the studio on a Tuesday morning knowing how big of a privilege it is and how much work is ahead of us. And that's what we do – we get to work and stay at work for the next 3 long days. We did take after take of the songs – challenging ourselves to stay focused, fix mistakes, making changes where need be and listening and incorporating suggestions from Tommy and Scott – a great experience that is just as likely to leave you with a feeling of inadequacy as it is to leave you with a feeling of a job well done. In the battle between the two I'm happy to say the latter won out!

We wrapped up and headed back to Peoria – with a new experience under our belts and a the beginnings of Wayward "in the can" as they say

In the next installment I'll write about what happened after we returned from our sessions in Nashville including the recording process back in Peoria and the finishing touches on the record.

Patrick
Two Cent Offering