The A Cappella Project

Catharsis is defined as a purifying or figurative cleansing; a therapeutic release that refreshes the

spirit.  It can also be described as finally doing something that you have always wanted to do,

thus releasing the pent-up energy of putting it off ad infinitum....

This web page is the catharsis because it contains the raw product--and the final answers as to WHY--

 of the years of practice that I indulged in more for "Zen" than for riches; let me tell the story....

In 1969, in my first year of engineering school, I began singing in a rather unusual way:  I began

by singing along with one of the best tenor-baritones that ever lived:  Andy Williams.  I sang to

keep my sanity with all the Calculus, Differential Equations, etc.--and it worked (I think!).

After college, I kept "practicing," realizing that no matter how long I did it, I would never reach

the level of excellence that he has.  Further, it never occurred to me that a voice that sounded like

his would look strange coming out of a 6'5", 275 pound African-American man!

After thirty-five years of "Zen" singing, I realized that there must have been a reason for learning how

to sing.  About a year ago, the reason became obvious to me.

In all that time, the most rewarding feeling that I got when I was singing was songs of praise sung to God.

When I was a child, I had pneumonia five times in six years; the result was damaged lungs and a set

of damaged bronchial tubes.  This made me especially susceptible to weather changes, and gave me

an extremely sensitive voice.  Not only not a true singer's voice, but difficult to speak at times.

It occurred to me as I went through the years that I seemed to be able to sing in spite of the problems I

have had with my respiratory system; I now believed that it was a blessing so that I could sing these

songs of praise to God.  The voice was a literal gift to me; the songs are a literal gift to Him.

At the risk of being redundant, it is a miracle that I can sing one note; it is medical nonsense.  However,

I believe He has given the ability to me for His purpose.

Now this is not to say that my voice is great; it certainly is not.  But it is good enough to sing with--and

the rest of the story then became clear.

Lynne and I have a ministry called PARRC Research; if you are on this page, you probably know that

by now.  We both realized that--in the proper circumstance, and with God's blessing--songs sung to Him

by me being made available to others could bless their lives--and provide a modest revenue stream for

the ministry.

The next problem was that not a SINGLE record (literally) existed of that singing--good, bad, or indifferent! 

Herein lies the origin of a concept for a future CD called A Cappella.

With today's electronic climate--and not having one whit of egotism about my ability, I realized one day that

my DVD Player had a karaoke setting, with a little echo.  With an inexpensive microphone and a

commensurately inexpensive cassette deck, I tried out the capacity of the machine. 

Surprisingly, it returned decent results.

Therefore, I realized that now was the time.  Not suffering from any illusions of stardom, I sang into the

machine until about fifteen songs were recorded.  Finally, I had my record of the work that I had put into my

former "Zen" hobby.

Several people heard the recordings, and suggested that I was suffering from a lack of vision:  certainly the

recordings were good enough to indicate that I should be doing something with my voice.  I harbor no

ambitions to stardom--but the hue and cry of those who heard them was loud enough that I figured I should

get other opinions.

Technology met technology, and the karaoke machine met the Internet-hence this web page.

Since I wanted an unbiased, worst-case appraisal of my voice, I believe that the karaoke recordings--suffering

from the lack of high-end audio engineering--should provide one thing to any interested listener:  if it sounds

pretty good under these circumstances, it should sound GREAT under the type of controlled environment

of a modern recording studio.

This is further compounded by the fact that most of the recordings here are like the name of the future CD--

a cappella.

No help whatsoever:  just you and the microphone.

Again, I harbor no illusions of stardom--but if I can utilize my voice in some way that will increase the monetary

stability of our ministry, then I will do it.

Lastly, as the recordings found here will demonstrate, I am interested in contemporary Christian music--and

other songs which speak to the wealth of human emotion and experience of our lives as well.

The songs found here are of both varieties, a capella as mentioned; I am anxious as we go through the

decision-making process about the possibility of an A Cappella CD to hear what you think.

Your opinions of the music will figure greatly in what we do; if you will, take a moment to listen to the samples

found here, and when you do please feel free to contact me at arkangel@parrc.org--I would be glad to hear

what you think--good or bad; even constructive criticism!

Thanks for taking a moment to read this odyssey, and perhaps to listen to the music!

A SAMPLING OF THE SONGS FROM "A CAPPELLA:"

HOLY, HOLY, HOLY (MEDLEY)

AMAZING GRACE

WINTER WAS WARM

O JESUS LORD  (Sung to The Tune Of "Danny Boy")

THE LORD'S PRAYER

MEDLEY: FOR HE IS LORD//TURN YOUR EYES UPON JESUS/SPIRIT OF THE LIVING GOD

DO YOU HEAR WHAT I HEAR?

O HOLY NIGHT

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All songs the exclusive property of PARRC Research, Inc., 2004-2010, All Rights And Trademarks Reserved

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