This week is the Afri-Christmas Volume 2 event. I participated in Volume 1 last year and it was fun. I enjoyed seeing creative entries from people celebrating African culture and Christmas traditions. This year’s event seems even more unique and I love that many people from all backgrounds will participate and share their Christmas entries, be it English Christmas songs or Traditional Christmas songs.
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For my entry this year, I chose to sing "What Child Is This(Medly)" by Yolande Adams. I felt a personal connection to the lyrics pondering the deeper meaning of Jesus' birth. The lyrics ask "What child is this, who, laid to rest, on Mary's lap is sleeping?" As a Christian, I've reflected on how Jesus' birth and later ministry fundamentally changed the world with his message of love and redemption.
To create my cover, I extracted the instrumental and backing vocals from the original song through the Moises.ai app. This gave me the full musical foundation to sing over. I practiced significantly to get the wide range and dynamics, spending hours rehearsing tricky vocal runs to land them accurately.
This song was led my me last year during my church's carol program. Hittng those fast note were challenging to an extent.
After recording today, I used light audio enhancing effects while editing everything together. I boosted the clarity and richness for a more professional sheen but kept the effects subtle to not overwhelm my raw vocals. The enhancement carried the song’s momentum solidly.
The song "What Child Is This (Medly) have been covered by many artist, but Yolanda Adams' soaring gospel rendition remains one of my personal favorite interpretations. The lyrics combined with her dynamic, soulful delivery made me want to try my own cover to showcase my technical and creative skills for this year's Afri-Christmas event. Getting to sing such an iconic song and share it with my community during this year's Christmas just felt truly special.
[Verse 1]
What Child is this who came to earth
Through Mary was born of a virgin birth
Instrumental: Moises.ai
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