Articles and thoughts by Steve Green.
Un Altar, an iPhone Recording from Argentina
December 22nd, 2009I was reminded of this folk song while on our trip to Argentina, a song that I had sung when living there. “Un Altar” was recorded on a 16-track recording app using only the iPhone mic (the one you talk into on the phone). I placed the phone on my knee when playing the guitar part and held it up a few inches away from my mouth when singing. For percussion, I turned the guitar over, holding the phone under the guitar and tapped on the back. When I finished my passes, I went to Dick’s room and he played an accordion part while I held the phone a few feet away.
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31 Comments »
Steve,
You are incredible. I can’t even program a VCR and you can do this!
BEAUTIFUL! Can you translate the words for us?
Comment by Bill W — December 22, 2009 @ 8:12 pm
It’s a Latin love song and, as you can imagine has all the right references to an altar of love, the moon and even a pine tree!
Steve
Comment by steve — December 23, 2009 @ 1:01 am
Wow the sound quality is amazing, this would make a good promo for Apple!
Comment by David — December 23, 2009 @ 3:05 am
Incredible!
Comment by jonathan — December 23, 2009 @ 3:59 pm
Steve, thank you for recording this for us. It is beautiful and you are very talented to be able to do this.
Comment by Marilyn Weaver — December 23, 2009 @ 4:48 pm
What’s cool is that Blue Microphones makes a stereo condenser mic that sounds amazing. (I’ve only heard it, but don’t have one.) The iPhone app is very basic but should have an update soon to make some great improvements. Fun, but a bit labor intensive. But if you’re stuck in a hotel room and want to make a demo, it works!
Comment by steve — December 23, 2009 @ 11:40 pm
Steve,
My, my, is there no end to your talents. Seriously, this sounds great.
Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Daniel
Comment by Daniel Wade — December 24, 2009 @ 10:41 am
Really, it’s not that complicated. The amazing thing is the technology, not me! It’s pretty basic stuff. But thanks.
Comment by steve — December 24, 2009 @ 2:15 pm
Guardo un lindo recuerdo de esta cancion y cuando amablemente me invitaste a escucharla (recien grabada) cuando estabamos en Libertador, Entre Rios. Para mi, tu eres un amigo.
Comment by sebastian boleas — December 25, 2009 @ 8:27 pm
Gracias, Sebastian! Tengo buenos recuerdos de nuestra visita y la hospitalidad que nos ofrecieron. Feliz Año Nuevo!
Comment by steve — December 26, 2009 @ 2:18 pm
Steve:
Sounds great! So…I guess it’s safe to say your voice does not depend on a lot of engineering to make it sound as great as it does!
Comment by Brian — December 27, 2009 @ 5:54 am
Thanks, but actually I’ve found over the years that a good mic, preamp and a few bells and whistles do help!
Comment by steve — December 27, 2009 @ 6:25 pm
Beautiful! Thank you for sharing!
Comment by Kim — December 28, 2009 @ 8:03 am
To the un-trained ear, it sounds like a studio recording! Amazing! Makes me think twice about trading my Blackberry for a iPhone, just hate to switch to AT&T. Thanks for this treat, very cool! I’m sure it was great to go back to where you grew up. I’m an MK too, actually visiting my parents in Mexico right now for Christmas who are still serving the Lord here starting their second church running around 200 which is such a blessing!
Comment by Jason — December 28, 2009 @ 5:37 pm
I was sitting next to a guy on a flight and he asked about my iPhone, so I showed him some of the cools apps. He thought I was a salesman! I must have sounded pretty convincing. If you could just have one gizmo, it would have to be an iPhone!
Comment by steve — December 28, 2009 @ 6:28 pm
Steve, who did the background vocals? I love this…
Comment by Jeff Hooper — December 29, 2009 @ 10:37 pm
I did four passes, two on each part.
Comment by steve — December 29, 2009 @ 11:32 pm
I couldn’t understand everything,but it’s a nice song,I liked so much!Happy New Year to you and your family!
Kinga from Hungary
Comment by Kinga Moldovan — December 30, 2009 @ 8:54 am
Thanks, Kinga. Great to hear from you and Happy New Year to you and yours.
Comment by steve — December 30, 2009 @ 10:35 am
Lovely song. Reminds me of some music I had growing up on cassettes from the “Trio Mar del Plata”. (I wish I could figure out how to transfer them now to CD). Very nice melody.
Comment by Diane — December 30, 2009 @ 3:11 pm
Hi Diane, I remember that group. If you know someone who has a cassette player and a recordable CD player they can help you. But don’t wait too long. The cassettes deteriorate and you may loose what you have.
Comment by steve — December 30, 2009 @ 6:38 pm
hola … yo solo puedo decir lo que todos ya saben y que nadie puede negar.. STEVE GREEN eres grandioso!
tu voz es hermosa, muy bendecida por Dios y no es necesario oirte demasiadas veces para decir que eres un cantante sensacional!
muchas bendiciones de Dios para ti!
Dios te colme de bendiciones en este nuevo año steve! y aqui en Mexico estamos esperando el dia 24 de abril cuando nos honres con tu presencia!
shalom!
Comment by YARED — December 31, 2009 @ 1:35 pm
Yared, tengo que decir que me veo solo como un pequeño siervo de Dios, feliz porque El usa a los que no lo merecen. Tal soy yo! Estamos ansiosos, esperando nuestra visita a Mexico. Feliz Año Nuevo!
Comment by steve — December 31, 2009 @ 2:23 pm
Thanks for sharing, Mr. Green! It’s beautiful!
Comment by Lauren — December 31, 2009 @ 6:05 pm
Too beautiful for words.
Merci beaucoup, mon ami.
Natalie
Comment by Natalie Kleefisch — January 5, 2010 @ 8:26 pm
It is an honor for me to be the creator of the app used to record this amazing song. Did you mix it on the iPhone, or take the tracks into the computer for mixing?
Comment by Hamilton Feltman — January 8, 2010 @ 1:08 pm
Hi Hamilton. Wow, I never thought I’d hear from the creator of the app! Thanks for listening. Yes, I imported the files into my computer, but didn’t know I could do it through the wifi setting, so did it the hard way, track by track analogue. Oh well. Great app. Thanks.
Steve
Comment by steve — January 8, 2010 @ 2:56 pm
Muy bonito, Esteban!
Thanks for sharing this. I’ve moved to doing more missions in India and the Middle East in the past year, but if I ever get back to South America, I might adapt this one. Often, when a traditional local song can be properly contextualized, it can be used to open the door for sharing the gospel or for deeper Christian instruction because it provides an initial common frame of reference that points to the revelation of God and provides a means to teach where the lesson will be more easily remembered.
Comment by Jim Pemberton — January 9, 2010 @ 10:19 am
Wow lol. This has got to be one of the coolest blogs ever. Very interesting. You rock Steve!
Comment by Adam — January 16, 2010 @ 12:43 am
And it sounds amazing!
Comment by Adam — January 16, 2010 @ 12:43 am
Hi Steve:
It just goes to show that one does not need to spend thousands of dollars in a professional recording studio to produce high quality music. With some skilled talent and knowledge (& apparently an iPhone) you can produce music that inspires others. But more importantly… pleases God!
I’ve had a Sony Ericsson Walkman Phone (W580i) for a while now. It has a MusicDJ application which allows me to construct hip-hop beats and melodies but doesn’t allow me to combine vocals or any other live instrumentation. It’s fun creating some catchy little tunes while on the move (ie. public transit) but that’s about it.
Unfortunately, the sound recorder function on my phone leaves something to be desired because of the low quality microphone.
For example, I recorded your version of “Joy to the World” with live piano using my W580i but the phone pic couldn’t handle the dynamic frequencies. Especially the forte sections and the high notes near the end. If you heard it you’d know what I mean!
Anyways, thank you so much for sharing your technological endeavors with everyone. Maybe you could do it on a regular basis (ie. hymns and/or public domain music) and keep a musical journal?
Music is LIFE! But God’s love must be the theme of every song (John 14:6 & 1 Cor. 13:1). Whether the music is for worship (sacred) OR everyday life (secular) we must give all the glory and honor to God!
Sing-cerely,
Mark La Flamme (Eph. 2:8,9)
Comment by Mark La Flamme — January 21, 2010 @ 3:47 am