Recording Children's Songs

[ItIsALion]

I wonder if anyone on Mumsnet has ever recorded an album of Children's Music to be played back to their own child? I think it would be quite simple, but I wonder whether this would have a developmental benefit?

Not quite what you had in mind, but we recorded our DS learning organ from about the age of five, and later keyboard when he made up and multi-tracked music; twenty years ago the keyboard (GEM WS2) was one of the first digital instruments with floppy disk recorder built in, which could then be taken off to cassette recorder.

Were you thinking of very young children? I know there are baby music 'rhythm and rhyme' sessions in some places, for three or four month old upwards. (Though the dreaded cut backs are probably threatening such activities.)

I DO NOT like the kind of music sometimes aimed at toddlers, that has zapped up funky backings. Years ago, our local adviser on pre-school education recorded a series of cassettes in nurseries, with just guitar backing and herself and the children singing, and sold them locally. At a few months old our DS pointed to the tape machine and said "ooick, ooick" (for 'music').

Anything that gets children Listening, Concentrating, Joining in vocally or on percussion, has GOT to have a developmental benefit.

Hi. I made a CD of Folksongs and Lullabies for my children, and they listen to it at bedtime most nights. It starts off with a few story-based songs and then goes into quieter, dreamier lullabies and it helps my children go to sleep easily. They are all songs that I originally sang when my children were babies and are drawn from my work as an early years teacher and music educator. In my opinion, music has benefitted my children (now 5 and 7) in so many ways, too long to list here! If you would like to listen to it, you can find it on iTunes or on Etsy. Here is a link .. itunes.apple.com/gb/album/bluebird/id882753237

This was done in a studio with an engineer as each time I record things in a more lo-fi way, I am not very happy with the results. You can find local studios that will sell you a reasonably priced deal for recording songs and making a CD of them. It helps if you have really practised what you are going to do, so that you don't waste any time (time being money in this instance!). But I am sure many people could figure out how to use Apple Mac's Garage Band program or a free shareware program called Audacity which you can use to record your audio (guitar and vocals are best). All you need is a microphone and with a bit of patience, you could produce something really special. Hope that helps.

Thanks

I recorded a number of songs for my son when he was little. I suppose (selfishly) one of my main intentions was to foster in him my own love of music. I recorded the songs in my bedroom on a MacBook using a software application called Logic Pro. I wanted to record the songs exactly as my Mum and Dad used to sing them to me - in a plain and simple, untrained and non-theatrical voice. My family are all musicians but none of us are trained singers. I also wanted to make the songs interesting musically so I added vocal harmonies here and there and spent a long time crafting every song in detail. My son is now older - he has become quite a good musician and to my delight, unlike many of his male peers, he loves singing. I don't know if these songs would be of interest to anyone else but I recently rediscovered them and submitted them to iTunes. Here is a link:-
itunes.apple.com/gb/artist/summersongs/id903567677