need for a turkish recording

The Turkish-speaking Millet communities in Bulgaria have faced much discrimination over many decades, and live in poverty and unemployment. Despite the hardships, and no doubt in part due to them, thousands of Millet in Bulgaria have come to Christ in recent years. The Jesus film has had a major part in the harvest, along with a recently published New Testament that also included hundreds of song lyrics.

To continue the spiritual harvesting, the Christian leaders in Bulgaria recognized the need for a worship recording that would have the double aim of strengthening Turkish believers as well as providing a tool of outreach proclaiming the greatness of Jesus to the nonbelievers.

sessions

Two musicians went a few days early to rehearse the singers and confirm the songs for the recording. One of the musicians had worked in Turkey for 20 years and checked each song for biblical accuracy. Two seasoned recording engineers from HSI then arrived to do a digital audio recording using a computer laptop-based digital recording system. The key instrumentalists were not available for several days, and recording substitute players required endless retakes and patience. Toward the end of the recording week, the veteran musicians arrived and quickly got the instrumental tracks finished. A brilliant darbuka (drum) player provided sizzling local rhythmic flourishes. A Turkish ud (lute) player also added authentic touches. The singers knew the songs well and quickly recorded the vocal tracks.

The Christian leaders plan to distribute the recording across Bulgaria to the Gypsy/Millet families in urban areas. They requested a "street sound" rhythm, so the engineers blended drum machine loops to the indigenous melodies and instruments. Mysteriously the laptop locked up almost daily. Sensing spiritual attack as the week continued, a time of prayer led to the computer working flawlessly to the end.

delightful surprise

An unexpected delight was meeting a Bulgarian worship leader newly arrived back after years of music studies in the United States. After hearing about the Turkish worship-recording project, he shared his desire to start a recording studio. He eagerly offered to serve the team, provided equipment, recorded guitar parts, and translated for the engineers.

finishing

Back home in their studios the engineers face the final phase of the recording project, the painstaking task of adding the final instrumental tracks, then editing, mixing and mastering all the data.