Trex - Firsts

This is the first recording of me attempting to sing. I was about 23 months old.

Second song, twice as awesome.

This was my first time playing my grandparents' organ. I was afraid of it!

This was on my second birthday. The "fun" part is comparing it to my sister's version a couple years later.

Not much going on in my head here.

Toeing the line between encouragement and mockery.

This is much improved over my previous version. It's amazing how quickly kids learn at that age! (Or maybe my mind was just working better that day).

Nine months later, I was inching closer to perfection.

Nice try.

Not really a song, but it fits nicely with "ABC (1)".

I was entering a bossy phase, which seemed to start around the time of Jessica's arrival and lasted a couple years.

Well, at least I outgrew it!

More religious songs.

This is slightly more coherent than the version we recorded earlier that day.

Slightly.

Perfection.

So much for perfection.

The reverb really adds polish to this performance.

Charming little tantrum in this one.

Mom carried this one.

Are you getting tired of listening to these yet? Think of how I feel transcribing them!

Aren't you glad you get to hear two versions of this?

I don't know if "good" is the word I'd use.

This song was popular that night!

I like my ultra-efficient version. Too bad it had to get extended.

Rum pum pum pum.

The final song of the evening.

This is the first recording of my singing along to an instrument (my mom's parents' organ).

More organ goodness. I got scared at the end.

Mercifully short.

Not much of interest here.

I guess I was getting freaked out again.

Just what we need: a sixth version of this song!

This one's actually the most creative.

I got lucky with the melody in the beginning. Then my usual "talent" kicked in.

Who knew "Jingle Bells" could be so scary?

More creepy carolling.

A lovely duet with my dad.

Lessons with Dad.

Just be glad this is 58 seconds rather than 58 minutes!

Here we go again.

I'm pretty sure Mom stepped in on organ near the end. Listening to us play must've been painful! At the end I decided to hide under the organ (or bed).

Here's a solo by Dad, a nice dose of melody in a sea of cacophony.

One more solo from Dad.

By now I was either tired of hearing the organ, or tired of being "shown up" by my parents. Either way, I'd had enough.

I get the feeling our practicing of religious songs was leading up to this "recital" in front of Dad's parents. I was probably very nervous.

"Jingle Bells (6)" wasn't enough; of course we had to have a religious song!

Hmm.

Or should I say, "hymn"?

First recording with a xylophone. Love the energy at the end. Not so sure about the technique.

First improv on the xylophone. I sure was excited!

Not sure about the lyrics, but I love the punky 'tude!

And now we're back with the religious stuff.

Introducing the cornet.

This was my first time playing Dad's cornet.

Do you think it's ok if I don't credit anyone else for the lyrics or music?

Dad took pictures while I demonstrated my awesomeness on the cornet.

Missed one.

Chalk it up to sibling rivalry.

It's all in the motions.

Can never get enough of these hymns!

Nice masculine song. Good thing I had no idea what any of these songs' lyrics meant!

Somehow I think Mom was more into this song than I was.

Made this one up myself.

This is the first hint of self-consciousness.

My guess is that for Christmas we got a book about bugs. I then tried to interpret different bugs using the xylophone. I treated the bug pictures as if they were sheet music.

More bug-inspired improvisation.

Never mind the fingers; what a nimble mind!

Dad's ideas were too much for my brain.

The final bug jam. Dad teaches me about lyrics.

We'd been living in Hamburg for about a year. Somehow I managed to pick up both the language and a slight German accent. I lost both soon after returning to the States.

I don't know whether we learned this song from a class or a tape. No clue about the author.

My parents encouraged me to make stuff up because they got tired of telling me which "real" songs to sing.

Bit of a double-edged sword.

Scatter was one of our cats. By "flat" I think I meant "dead".

How are your ear drums?

The lyrics shift from talking about Dad to something about sickness and death. I have no idea what inspired that, unless I was talking about Scatter again, or someone else's dad.

I don't understand it, but I'm sure it wasn't nice.

Jessica was now the same age that I was when my parents started recording me.

In other words: let the competition begin!

This is Jess's attempt at the song

We're getting a bit hyper.

What was that saying about filming kids and pets?

Sounds like we were getting quite a workout!

Thump thump thump!

Nice solo, mom!

Finally putting this one to rest.

Too much of "mi" in this version.

Finally, a new song to butcher!

A tiny taste of one of our German conversations, to show that we were indeed multilingual... For a few months, at least.

I'd been itching to sing this one for a few days, and now I finally got my chance.

This is Jessica's version. Which one do you like better?

Encore!

I guess Mom didn't want me to sing "Scatter's Flat" anymore so I tried this one. Skitter was our other cat.

I think I was bored with song. Are you?

Finally some honest feedback!

This is the big finale. You can let your ear drums rest now.