I like to save recordings for as late in the year as I can – an ensemble matures as the year goes on, so why record earlier than you have to?
The exception is Christmas music. I’ve been slowly assembling a Christmas album for the last five years with my choir; this year we’ll track two more songs and have enough to finally mix and put out the album. Waiting until May to track them would mean having to review and relearn the pieces in April; in that case it’s better to have a newer group record than wait and have to give up rehearsal time re-prepping.
So we go into the studio tonight for the first time this year. While it’s early in the year to attempt a recording, I’m optimistic that they can achieve their potential and finish tracking a record.
If we’re lucky, it will also pay dividends when we go back in the spring – they’ll already know what the studio feels like, so there won’t be such a learning curve for the group.