Month: December 2007

Today’s Christmas music isn’t a home recording … it’s just ridiculous. I got this tape sometime in high school, at a white elephant gift exchange. Just checked Amazon to see if it’s available anymore — seems it’s out of print, but two sellers are both offering the album on CD for about $60. Is this thing some sort of cow collector’s item?
The “album” in question is It’s a Cow Christmas. Two sample tracks follow:

• First sample is the first two tracks. Posting this one mostly for the spoof of Handel, even if it is a bit short. Also, I’m planning on posting a minidisc recording of the real Hallelujah chorus next. Hallemoojah Chorus & Angus We Have Heard on High.
• As for the other track I’m posting …. well, if you had a specific type of illness (a fever, perhaps) and this illness had only one cure, and if you had this illness around the holidays, your physician would likely prescribe this song, as it does indeed contain “more cowbell” than most songs. By my estimate, the following mp3 is approximately 99% cowbell. Carol of the Cowbells.

Continuing with this “amateur minidisc recordings of Christmas music” series, here are a couple more from the archives (that is, Christmas two years ago). The Round Rock Caregivers (who I gather are now called “Faith In Action Caregivers – Round Rock“) hold a benefit choral concert every year at Christmas time, where the choirs from the sponsoring churches each perform a few songs. These two were sung by our church‘s choir (of which Natalie is a member).

• In the Bleak Midwinter – (words by Christina Rosetti, music by Gustav Holst)
• Masters in this Hall – (English words by William Morris, traditional French tune)

Again, the recording quality isn’t the best, but it’s better than no recording at all.

So, here we are at T minus 8 days to Christmas and almost T plus 3 months since last posting maybe it’s time to break radio silence again — literally, this time! At my parents’ church every year at Christmas, as his gift to the congregation one of the priests plays Silent Night on the harmonica. Two years ago, I brought my minidisc recorder and cheap, homemade stereo mic to church and recorded it. Then I didn’t transfer it to a PC until after the new year, so I didn’t post it (who wants to listen to Christmas music after Christmas?). So here it is, finally.

Silent Night – Harmonica: Fr. Henry Petter; Vocals: St. Elizabeth Ann Seton congregation

The quality is what you’d expect from the equipment and the “microphone placement” (on my lap in the pew), but I think it’s still listenable. Might be slightly better with headphones. I cleaned it up a little in Audacity: added fade in and out, and a high-pass filter to lessen some of the pretty serious thumps in the first half (doors closing, possibly?).

Expect more bootleg Christmas music postings in the next few days …