Report : Worship the King Recording at CMT
FEBRUARY 15 , 17 – 18 , 2023 — The New York Staff Band was excited to be back at the Centennial Memorial Temple in NYC to record its next album to be released shortly . Although the original plan was to record a solo album with two of the New York Philharmonic principals – Chris Martin and Joe Alessi , trumpet and trombone respectively , this project had to be tabled due to scheduling conflicts . The band easily pivoted however , and under the leadership of bandmaster Derek Lance , planned to release an album of newly composed and commissioned music .
The recording of newer music has been a standard practice of most staff bands over the years , allowing other bands in the SA to get a feel for new or soon to be available music for their repertoire . Works from Marcus Venables , Dorothy Gates , Andrew Wainwright , Philip Harper , Paul Sharman and Emilee Bennet will feature on this new recording .
Once again , the band was pleased to work with Phil Bulla of Platinum Productions along with the “ ears ” of bandmaster Harold Burgmayer who listened in to make sure each detail and nuance was captured . After some work setting up mics , running miles of cables and loading in the band equipment up a lot of stairs to the Temple platform , everything was just about ready to go .
The first day of recording took place during the band ’ s regular rehearsal time on the Wednesday afternoon and found the band laying down most of the devotional tracks . Even though there are far fewer notes in these pieces , they are by far the most difficult to record as the control and stamina needed to produce a good quality sound , at all times , is always a challenge for each player , no matter the skill level or instrument !
Friday evening saw the band gather back at the CMT in preparation for a marathon night of playing and recording but something each member was eager to do . There is always a great sense of camaraderie in these sessions as each player wants the other to get the best “ take ” they can , and often encouraging one another . The night wrapped up quite late with a solid amount of the remaining tracks laid down . Several of the band members stayed in NYC overnight as the red button would be pushed early
6 NYSB BULLETIN FALL 2023 WWW . NYSB . ORG