The Power of a Musical Experience

            Have you ever been to a concert of any kind and found yourself so swept away by the music that you loose yourself entire in the sound? An experience so powerful that it can bring you to tears. It leaves the mind exasperated and the body numb to reality. All that remains true is the sound that envelops you. I’ve been to many shows, performances, and concerts; having found these intense moments in quite a few of them. One of the most recent and most powerful would be when I engineered the recording of the Cardinal Chorale’s performance this past semester.

            It was my first time engineering a recording of a choir, let alone the Cardinal Chorale, so I was not aware how powerful their voices can become. Upon testing the levels, they practiced a song that they would be performing that evening. They struck a chord that made the walls of the chapel vibrate with emotion. Perhaps it was simply the perfect environment for the song that brought it to life, or was it the performers? I didn’t have much time to meditate on this as I shuffled around the chapel adjusting microphone placements and heights. All I could do was eagerly await that song for the performance. As I took recordings of their practices, I found myself so bewildered by this activity involving music and its sheer power from the large number of singers. I had heard choirs in church while growing up over the years, but never one so pristine and practiced as the UIW Chorale.

            The concert began after I took my seat near the front, finally ready to record. The chapel had filled up with strangers and familiar faces, all eager to hear what was to come. I recorded song after song, constantly checking levels and adjusting gains, all while wearing a clunky pair of headphones. Finally that special song started, a beautiful piece that combined the Kyrie with Amazing Grace. I had to take off my headphones when those chords bolted from the choir and suddenly I was not sitting surrounded by my recording equipment, but by an audience so swept up in song that many were weeping. Even I couldn’t help but tear up at the passionate crescendos and swells of the choir. The aesthetics of their sound were close to what I would imagine heaven to sound like, the air vibrating so beautifully with the sound of all these souls praising their creator.

            It was one of the most beautiful sounds I’ve heard; the piece still haunts my ears. It left me in awe of what the human voice can do when united with so many others. The piano accompaniment was also phenomenal, as it blended so well with the choir of voices. The material culture of piano and voice can harmonize and balance so wonderfully for the chorale. It may have been my first time hearing them, but it will certainly not be the last. The power of music is awe-inspiring, and I will forever cherish that moment in time.