Q: I am looking for good production, and wanted to know your opinion of Chants: Ritual Music by Reclaiming and Canticles of Light by Charlie Murphy and Jami Sieber. If these don't have good production, could you recommend something?
A: Both of these albums were recorded in professional studios. The mixing is good and the sound quality too. The performances are somewhat uneven, as is normal for such early Pagan music albums, but that will not bother most listeners. In the case of Canticles of Light, there are some absolutely fabulous moments. "Time to Love" in particular I think is one of my favorite songs and arrangements of all time. It is primarily a live recording with some overdubbing, so what you lose in polish and perfection you gain in energy.
Chants is a live recording in a really good studio, with the group going for ritual energy rather than perfection in their performance. It is a mixed chorus with some hand drumming, and they were well-rehearsed. If you want to learn lots of good, well-known chants, this is for you. I'd recommend the CD over the cassette, because it has much fuller sound due to the remastering we did.
Other chant albums I can recommend with excellent production values: Second Chants, Ancient Mother, Goddess Chant, A Circle is Cast, Let It Begin Now, Flight of the Hawk, Lunacy (both cassettes).
Q: My circle is looking for a recording of the chant that goes, "We are a circle, within a circle, with no beginning and never ending...." Do you know of any recordings of this song? We also could use a written version of the song.
A: That chant was written by Rick Hamouris, and is on two separate recordings. The most complete version is on the tape "Welcome to Annwyn" by Rick and Deborah Hamouris and friends, and the other is Reclaiming's "Chants: Ritual Music" tape and CD. The former has all the verses recorded, while the latter only has the chorus. It is definitely one of the most well-known Pagan chants around, and the sheet music is printed quite nicely in both Kate Mark's Circle of Song and Julie Forest Middleton's Songs for Earthlings.
Q: What recordings would appeal to children besides what's in your "Children and Families" section?
A: It really depends on the age and musical taste of the child, of course, but there are two albums I'd particularly recommend. For Winter Solstice, MotherTongue's album "This Winter's Night" is a mix of story and song that is wonderful to listen to as a family. If your child enjoys humorous songs, especially if you have cats, check out "Bedlam Cats" by Cynthia McQuillen. That is a delightful album. Both of these are on cassette as well as CD, too.
Q: What music would you suggest for a wedding? We want Pagan background music during the ceremony.
A: You'd probably want instrumental music, then. I would recommend Jennifer Pratt-Walter's excellent CD of Celtic harp music, "Ancient Realms." Ruth Barrett and Cyntia Smith also have a beautiful album called "Dulcimer Harvest," all dulcimer duets. Either one of these would set a positive tone for a wedding or handfasting ceremony.