As I write this review, I am very torn between two polarizing views of this product. Let me explain. On the one hand, I really appreciated the content of this recording. Summarization of the Scripture story of Moses is interspersed with lively songs which fill in the details of his life. I found the content to be accurate and compelling. I felt that this content is needed -- families need these kinds of methods to fill their children's minds with Scripture. I was impressed with the depth of content available from Bible Story Songs on-line and I am sure that sheer amount of work that has gone in to the planning, composition and performance of these songs is tremendous.
On the other hand, as a trained musician, with over ten years of private voice lessons, a Bachelor of Arts in vocal performance and over ten years of teaching experience I was not impressed by the quality of the music on this cd. First of all, the recording quality is clearly amateur. The pianist is amazing, however the piano tone is lacking and the piano does not translate well to the recording. Secondly, the vocalists for several of the soloists are not just amateur, in some cases it was actually difficult for myself and my children to listen. Thirdly, while the choral parts were fairly well done, the children often sing with slightly closed soft palates -- giving a falsely mature sound sort've like putting a hand over the top of the sound and pushing down or squeezing the sound. And, I found I could often hear just an adult voice mixed in, however it wasn't consistently present, didn't blend or stand out and compliment -- and seemed very accidental.
What's my bottom line? While my children will enjoy this recording from time to time; I will not be putting these projects onto my priority list for actually spending our precious homeschool budget money.
Thank you for your sincere and thorough review of the Moses Vol.1 CD. I am one of the grandmothers who produces Bible StorySongs. Your assessment in many ways was right on. These kids had no musical/vocal training. They are the kids (mainly home schooled) who enjoyed singing these songs as we wrote them for Bible camps. This was our very first CD. We were all learning how to do this on Moses volume 1. That said, our reason for putting out these songs was for the actual content of the songs themselves. (Thank you for your high marks on that - the most important thing) Deficiencies in our presentation did not hold us back. If we waited until we were perfect, we would still be waiting. Our heart is to get the story out there....that it could be told...that it could be remembered...that these stories could be a part of the kids' lives. The last thing we are aiming for is perfection. We hope that some will say, "You know what, I'll play the piano and you play the guitar (sheet music available) and lets try to sing these songs as a family!" If we can achieve that goal, then all of our work and effort is 100% worth it!
Our seventh cd, "The Acts of the Apostles" will be released in a few weeks. We have come a long way from Moses Vol. 1, many of the same kids, now much older are singing their hearts out. They don't know anything about their soft palettes, but their beings are filled with scripture!
Thanks for your heartfelt comments.
Catherine Walker
The bottom line is; We try not to insist on parent-led learning or gravitate toward child-led learning. We try instead to focus on God-led learning and ask for His input and perspective on every aspect of our home school. That way, when others fuss about what Dan and I are doing and make me second guess our decisions -- I can go back to our decision process and find God's fingerprints, reminding me that this is His way.
