Friday, November 27, 2009

An MP3 Christmas Gift from Hiram!

[ EDIT: The free MP3 download offered below has expired. However, stay tuned to this blog for more free Christmas music in the coming week, including this song on iTickets.com on Dec 22, 2009! ]

O_Little_Child-Hiram_Ring.mp3 (one week only!)

This Christmas I want to give you a song that is still very close to my heart - newly re-mixed and mastered for 2009. It's a song that I wrote in 2006 as the holiday was approaching. I had just read GK Chesterton's 'Christmas Poem' and was thinking about his last stanza:

"To an open house in the evening
Home shall all men come,
To an older place than Eden
And a taller town than Rome.
To the end of the way of the wandering star,
To the things that cannot be and that are,
To the place where God was homeless
And all men are at home."

Beautiful words from a gifted writer whose thoughts continue to capture us. I began to think about how God left His home to become homeless on the earth, to become a little baby, and began to wonder whether He knew what was happening when He was born, or whether He simply had to rest in the arms of his mother, to be and do what all little babies are and do. The wonder of God growing older from infancy, preparing for the sacrifice of the cross... through which there is full redemption and forgiveness of sins... I picked up my guitar and this song wrote itself that evening.

"O Little Child, o tiny babe, are these your hands that came to save?
Held in your mother's warm embrace, remember me this Christmas day.

O Little Child, your tiny feet will bear the cross toward calvary.
Now tightly wrapped on mother's knee, on Christmas day I think of thee.

That God would come to us on earth, He who Himself did give us birth,
That the Most High would choose to be a simple child like you and me.

O Little Child, you must be fed - you who will give us living bread.
The final Word is said, it's yours to say - do you remember Christmas day?

That God would come to us on earth, He who Himself did give us birth,
that the Most High would choose to be a simple child like you and me.

Now let us sing with one accord jubilant praises to our Lord!
Join with the angels' heavenly choir, proclaim this wondrous clarion hour!
That God would leave his heaven above to live with us a life of love,
that the Most High would choose to be a simple child like you and me.

Glory to God in the Highest, Peace on Earth, Goodwill to men!

O Little Child, your eyes still sleep, your tiny form a mystery.
Come with the world on bended knee - on Christmas day I think of thee."


(if you would like a PDF chart of the words/music, please let me know - ringrecords AT gmail DOT com)

Musicians:
Hiram Ring - guitar, vocals
Alisha Ring - violin, background vocals
Matthew Monticchio - piano
David Green - bass
John Haughery - drums
Yolanda Mott - cello

Thursday, November 26, 2009

New Recordings!

The recordings I did for 'Of Whales' are now finalized and mastered by my friend Mark Peteritas! Check out the Of Whales Myspace site to listen to the recordings! Feedback is ALWAYS welcome. =)

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Recording Sacred Songs Pt 1

This past week I spent some time with my friend Matthew Monticchio. He came over and we worked on recording, mixing and trying new sounds for the collections of sacred songs we're working on. It was extremely productive on many levels. Here's some video of the process.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTO3E_eNC4U

Monday, November 09, 2009

Mixing Sacred Songs

Another thing I've been doing over the last few weeks that I've been home (besides running my sisters around and generally 'being dad' while my parents have been out of town) has been working on recording and mixing with my friend Matthew Monticchio. We're working on what has now become 2 albums of hymns and new songs done in a folky/indie/poppy way.
The album features a host of other musicians, like the Christmas albums of 2007 and 2008 that you can still find on iTunes. My friends Joy Ike and Brooke Annibale both sing (we recorded them when they came through on tour last month with Garrett Heath and myself) on a tune, and below you can watch as I eat lunch and mix the track that Joy sings on.