10 stages in the Production of a CD

Stage 1: The Idea
An idea for a CD is generated, either by one of the team or by feedback on an evaluation form from an earlier project

Stage 2: The Script
Trevor and Karina plan a draft script together. Karina writes the words for the songs and Trevor sets these to music using Sibelius

Stage 3: Script Reading
Copies of the script are printed out and given to a specialist teacher, a musician, a speech and language therapist and a teaching assistant for proofing and comments. Checks are made on vocabulary and concepts, timing and sentence length

Stage 4: Song Testing
Trevor tries out the songs with groups of children in assembly to test pitch, tempo and memorability

Stage 5: Demo Recording
Trevor and Karina go into the studio to record a trial version of the first track (day 1 in the Collective Worship series)

Stage 6: Beta Testing
The trial track is then taken into 4 classes of children of different abilities across Reception, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 for testing. The track is given to the teacher without any instructions and the session is video-recorded for analysis of the pace and clarity

Stage 7: Master Recording
With modifications to the script and songs, Trevor and Karina are back in the studio to record the final versions in 24-track digital

Stage 8: Duplication and Circulation
A 2-track master is made on the PC using Wavelab and the first batch of CDs are duplicated and circulated with evaluation forms to 10 different classes in a special school

Stage 9: The Manual
With comments from the script readers and the trial teachers’ evaluation forms, Trevor writes the first version of the manual

Stage 10: Production and Distribution
Karina organises the final CD production and publicity