Here comes our CD

This week was a very busy and exciting one ! – at long last it was the recording of our cd.  The idea is that English Alive makes the Amharic version and  a school choir in the UK the English version of the same songs, putting them together to make a complete set and then selling them both here and in the UK – hopefully in time for Christmas !

                   After initial auditions, the eight chosen pupils practised for weeks on end, with the accompaniment of a recorder to keep everyone in tune and with the beat. Some of the pupils had never been to Addis Ababa ( even though it is a mere two hour drive away ) and most hadn’t been there for at least three years, so there was great trepidation when we all jumped into the school bus to zoom off.

                     The children were absolutely fascinated with Addis, marvelling at the buses, the tall buildings and being absolutely spellbound as they passed a cinema complete with flashing lights to advertise forthcoming films !

                     The studio itself was rather impressive, with what seemed to be all the latest equipment – looking more or less similar to those that you see on TV ! The children however were not at all overwhelmed by it all and simply started singing along to the keyboard ( a huge improvement on a recorder ! ) We had been warned that it may take two days to complete the recording if we needed a lot of retakes, but instead, pupils more or less made a perfect recording first time, resulting in a “ wrap “ ( we got into the technical “with it “ words when we were there being trendy ! ) after a mere 3 hours !

            We are now awaiting the UK choir to finish their piece and for the amalgamation to occur – it will be so exciting to hear the finished result !