Benjie Messer

I did some songs for Spiritrax six months ago that only just got online now. Listening back now, they didn’t sound so great and I had to remix them, which is good- it means I’ve gotten better in the last six months. Anyway, they should sound acceptable now.

We ran out of friends to sing guide vocals for our Spiritrax songs, so we advertised for singers on Craigslist and were lucky to get a call from Mandi Leigh. Mandi just got back from a tour of the Carribbean and Central America, and is going on an American college tour soon to promote her debut album, so we were lucky to catch her while she had some down time. She sang over three of my arrangements and sounds just wonderful.

Oh Holy Night
This is an orchestral track, slow and dramatic, intended for a solo performance. I wrote this imagining my teacher Pam Wood singing it- she’s an astonishing soprano- but Mandi’s pop alto worked great.

My Country ‘Tis of Thee
Another classical track, but with a smaller orchestra. Trying to be sweet and not bombastic.

Go Tell It On the Mountain
A funky groove. I like the organ parts on this one.

It occurred to me that my last post of Spiritrax songs would be hard to appreciate unless you know the songs, because they didn’t have guide vocals recorded yet. So from now on I won’t link to ST songs until they have vocals recorded.

Here are all the songs I’ve done for Spiritrax that do have vocals. We’re going back in time here, so they probably get gradually worse as you go down the list.

The Four Questions
From the Hebrew Passover service. Klezmer style. ‘Cause it’s for Jews to use.

Joy, Joy, Joy
Christian kids song, music box style.

Jesus Loves Me
Another Christian kids song, in a Carribbean style, with pan pipes, steel drums, etc.

I Had a Little Dreidel
A hopeless attempt to get Jewish kids excited about playing dreidel, the most boring form of gambling ever.

The First Noel
The traditional Christmas carol. Strings with lite rhythm section (muzak alert!)

A is for Allah
Islamic alphabet song. Cat Stevens did a version of this after he converted. Yes, that’s me singing.

Hava Nagila
I did this tune all the time at Jewish weddings with the K2 band, and I always wanted the band to speed up until all the dancers fell down. And they never would. So this one gets pretty fast. Well, it’ll be fun for the kids.

Michael Row the Boat Ashore
We had just gotten an awesome new guitar sampler, RealGuitar, and all we could do that day was play guitar. So this one is “campfire style”.

This Little Light of Mine
This was my first arrangement at One Light. We used to play this tune all the time with the Inner Orchestra horns- there’s a live version of it here. And I had never finished a big band chart in college, so I had to get it out of my system before I could write anything else.

These are links to the most recent songs I’ve arranged for Spiritrax. You have to choose a key on the preview player before it’ll start playing. You’ll hear an audio watermark along with the song, which just prevents people from stealing it. My boss usually gives me the basic idea for these arrangements, then I do the arrangement and play in the parts, and then he’ll check the final mix and occasionally add another instrument. So they’re not all mine, but they’re mostly mine, and I’m proud of them.

Oh Holy Night (orchestral)

A Mighty Fortress Is Our God (hip-hop)

How Great Thou Art (soulful)

Much more to come!