Finding Harmony -- jcarolek

I know there is harmony in the world. I feel it; I hear it; and I try to capture it. When I sing with others I don't actually feel I am "making up" the harmony, but rather, finding it where is already exists.... waiting in quiet anticipation of a voice on which to be carried.

Tonight I had my very high-tech recording studio in full swing. Yes, that's right. I had recorded myself playing my guitar and singing some songs. I had made these recordings with the "sound recorder" that comes standard with these Windows systems. I used my external microphone, you know, the $9.99 deal, to capture the WONDER that IS my hack job guitar playing and my singing. Having successfully captured a number of these little ditties, I then had copied them to a CD.

It was armed with this CD that I set out to try my harmonization experimentation tonight. Sitting comfortably, cross-legged on the floor of my "front room," I carefully placed the CD into the little CD player, (not the player in the laptop), opened the original .wav file I had created for the first song, pressed the RECORD button on the "sound recorder" and the PLAY button on the CD player, and , as the strains of my prerecorded CD filled the air, I sang with myself, adding a harmony. All of this was, again, captured by my trusty little external microphone.

When I listened to my resulting product through the laptop speakers, I was not too impressed with the sound. But when I plugged the headphones into the sound card, I was very happy with the results. Yep, that was me, playing my guitar, and singing in two part harmony.

Now, understand, I was just going to "experiment" with this tonight. When I finished harmonizing my last song, I looked at the time and discovered it was after 11 PM...and I had started before 9 PM..... I had no idea where the time had gone. But of one thing I have become certain. No matter who I am jamming with, I lose track of time and can go into the wee hours without so much as a yawn. And I have to believe it is the music itself that performs this magic.

Still, I'm thinking that maybe those songs would sound even BETTER with three part harmony.... I wonder if I can squeeze another jam session into my schedule tomorrow night...

Yes, yes, I know, I am easily amused. But truthfully, to me, life is about harmony. And being able to listen and hear it, and being able to capture it, both in music and in everyday living, is something I believe I will always strive to do. And I am certain that harmony cannot exist without the ability to listen to those around me. Sometimes, when I am feeling not quite right with my world, I realize I have stopped listening.