{"id":126171,"date":"2023-12-20T18:24:32","date_gmt":"2023-12-20T23:24:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=126171"},"modified":"2023-12-20T18:24:32","modified_gmt":"2023-12-20T23:24:32","slug":"student-records-holiday-song-in-community-music-school-recording-studio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=126171","title":{"rendered":"Student Records Holiday Song in Community Music School Recording Studio"},"content":{"rendered":"

(December 20, 2023, Allentown, PA) Lily Kubala, an adult guitar student of\u00a0Joe Wagner<\/a>, wrote and recorded a Christmas song in the recording studio here at Community Music School.\u00a0 The original lyrics and arrangement for \u201cThe First Gift of Christmas\u201d are based on the traditional tune of \u201cThe Twelve Days of Christmas\u201d.\u00a0 Lily began learning to play guitar and writing the song as a \u201ccovid project\u201d back in 2021 and, with guidance from Joe Wagner at CMS, was able to release the song as a holiday gift for her family and friends.<\/p>\n

Lily shared, \u201cI\u2019ve heard a Christian version of \u2018The Twelve Days of Christmas,\u2019 but I felt there was room for improvement in the lyrics.\u201d\u00a0 She penned her own Christian version of the classic using the titles of Christmas carols to create a \u201cmusical manger scene\u201d.\u00a0 \u201cI wanted to remind us of the real meaning of Christmas, but make it something that all faiths can relate to\u2026\u00a0 love, joy, and humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLily started in-person guitar lessons with me at CMS last spring (2023),\u201d said Joe Wagner. \u201cCMS welcomes learners of all ages and abilities, but there is something special about working with our adult students who have returned to music after many years.\u201d\u00a0 In addition to teaching guitar and leading the CMS House Band, Joe is the resident audio engineer and recording teacher here at CMS.\u00a0 He is an experienced composer and recording engineer for TV and film soundtrack projects.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Joe explained the songwriting process: \u201cLily brought in a song she was working on, and we worked on the arrangement and did a few drafts of the lyrics during her guitar lessons.\u00a0 Then we tried different keys, tempos, and chords until we found the right mix.\u00a0 When we recorded in the studio at CMS, my idea was to keep the recording and processing simple to get a sound not tied to any specific era of music.\u201d<\/p>\n

The final recording features Lily on vocals with a Neumann microphone and Joe on a C.F. Martin acoustic guitar with a Shure condenser microphone, run into a Neve Preamp.\u00a0 Joe explained, \u201cThis combination of mics, guitar, and preamp has been used on countless albums for decades, so I think it gives the track a timeless sound.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lily described the recording studio at CMS as \u201ca wonderful community resource\u201d and the songwriting and recording process with Joe as \u201ca joy\u201d.\u00a0 \u201cIt is amazing that such a state-of-the-art resource is available here in Allentown for such a reasonable fee.\u00a0 Where else in the valley do you have access to the digital version of the Abbey Road studio?\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cJoe was able to use his expertise to take this little old lady\u2019s song and make it come to life!\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2021, Community Music School received a generous grant from The Presser Foundation to help fund the construction of and technology for this state-of-the-art audio and video recording studio.\u00a0 \u201cWorking with the latest state-of-the-art equipment to record music is incredibly rewarding, but even more important, this studio gives a voice to those whose music might not otherwise be heard, and that is something I\u2019m very proud to be a part of,\u201d said Joe. The audio and video recording studio at CMS features three unique recording spaces and a nine-iMac education lab with the latest technology, equipment, and software found in professional recording studios.\u00a0 Students, age 12+, can gain hands-on experience with industry-standard recording technology, including Logic Pro, Final Cut, Sibelius, Waves, Allen and Heath, Neve, and Neumann, through a variety of recording classes.<\/p>\n

When she isn\u2019t practicing guitar and writing music, Lily works as a hospice chaplain.\u00a0 She is a lifelong musician, having earned her B.A. in music and religion from Millikin University.\u00a0 In addition to learning guitar and composing, she is currently pursuing a Master of Divinity degree at Liberty University.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe First Gift of Christmas\u201d by The LJs was released through CDBaby and is available on all streaming platforms, including:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Apple Music<\/a><\/p>\n

Amazon Music<\/a><\/p>\n

Spotify<\/a><\/p>\n

YouTube<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

About CMS<\/strong>:\u00a0Community Music School (CMS) \u2013 Lehigh Valley & Berks is a non-profit charitable organization that provides the inspiration and opportunity for anyone in our diverse community to achieve excellence in music education and appreciate the transformative power of music.\u00a0 CMS employs 25 professional teachers who provide private lessons and group classes to over\u00a0300 students of all ages, from toddlers to seniors, in piano, strings, brass, woodwinds, percussion, voice, and recording technology; both in-person and online.\u00a0CMS offers introductory group classes, such as\u00a0Kindermusik, Kids Choir, Modern Band, Intro to Piano, and Intro to Recording\u00a0that provide music fundamentals, while\u00a0Jazz\u00a0Band\u00a0and House Band ensembles\u00a0offer collaborative free performance opportunities for intermediate and advanced students.<\/p>\n

Thanks to support from our philanthropic community, for over 40 years, CMS has provided\u00a0students in the\u00a0Lehigh Valley with the life-long benefits of a quality music education and free performance opportunities.\u00a0 CMS is proud to fund over $90,000 annually in financial aid, merit scholarships, and outreach.\u00a0 Over 50% of students under age 18 receive financial assistance funded by generous donors.<\/p>\n

Located in the former Lehigh Valley Social Club at historic 1544 Hamilton Street in Allentown, CMS offers\u00a012 lesson rooms of varying sizes, a unique parent lounge, early childhood room, music library, administrative offices, state-of-the-art recording studio, and a 150-seat recital hall.\u00a0 Learn more at\u00a0http:\/\/cmslv.org\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Information provided to TVL by:
\nLisa Hopstock Kulp, Assistant Director
\nCommunity Music School Lehigh Valley & Berks<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(December 20, 2023, Allentown, PA) Lily Kubala, an adult guitar student of\u00a0Joe Wagner, wrote and recorded a Christmas song in the recording studio here at Community Music School.\u00a0 The original … Continue reading Student Records Holiday Song in Community Music School Recording Studio<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":126172,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[69,482],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-126171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-the-valley","category-press-release-2"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Lily-Kubala.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126171"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=126171"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126171\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/126172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=126171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=126171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=126171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}