When Juanita Ramsey-Jevne talks about The Sound Waves, her eyes light up, a smile turns the edges of her mouth upward and she has a tendency to start "air directing."

Ramsey-Jevne, musical director and producer of The Sound Waves, an after-school music group at Five Acre School, recently put the finishing touches on "Playing Well With Others," the group’s second CD.

"Triskadekaphobia: 13 Lucky Numbers," The Sound Waves’ first album, was released in 2004.

"Playing Well With Others" will become available to the public during a CD release party and concert Jan. 29. Copies also will be available at the school.

The 13-track album features songs played by 23 students, ages 8-13, in an orchestra of xylophones, marimbas, glockenspiels and recorders with vocals and percussion.

The Sound Waves are well-known in Clallam County for their upbeat, fun and "folky" marimba music, Ramsey-Jevne said, and have performed at the Juan de Fuca Festival, Dungeness River Festival, Streamfest, and multiple senior centers and retirement facilities.

"It’s a great way for people to learn more about the school," Ramsey-Jevne said about the upcoming concert.

"Come hear us play, buy a CD, and then come tour the school later."

The process of creating a CD wasn’t an easy one, according to Ramsey-Jevne and her students.

"Making a CD is the real deal and I had pretty high standards," she said.

"I told the kids, ‘If we are going to make a recording, we will do a performance worth recording.’"

The recording process took two days. Representatives of Synergy Sound, of Port Townsend, came to the school. The group rehearsed and recorded until after 8 p.m.

"Making the CD was really, really fun, but we had to play the right notes and it was hard," said 10-year-old Emily Taylor.

"We kept having to do it over again if anybody bumped a stand, played the wrong note, sneezed or even sighed too loudly."

One student played so fervently she got a blister during the recording of track No. 12, "Perpetual Motion," Ramsey-Jevne said.

"She played right through to the end and didn’t tell me until the next day. She gritted her teeth and wasn’t going to have us redo that song one more time."

"Perpetual Motion" was, the students agreed, the most difficult song on the entire album.

"The introduction is the hardest darn thing to play," Ramsey-Jevne said.

"It’s relentless and your muscles start to seize. We had to have two sets of children take turns."

The hardest part for her, Ramsey-Jevne said, was not being able to talk during the recording session. More than once, it was more than she could handle, according to Nessa Urban, 11.

"Sometimes funny things would slip out of Juanita’s mouth," Urban said.

"One day, one of the kids wasn’t getting the spit out of their recorder so she turned to him and said, ‘You suck!’ and everybody started laughing."

What she meant to say, Ramsey-Jevne said, was, "Will you please suck the spit out of your recorder?"

After-school group

releases 13-track album

Who: The Sound Waves

What: "Playing Well With Others" release party and concert

When: 6:45 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 29. Doors open at 6:15 p.m.

Where: Sequim Prairie Grange, 290 Macleay Road, Sequim

Admission: Free, donations accepted to help fund band equipment expenses

Contact: For more information, call 681-7255.

Additional information:

CDs will be available for $8

Ashley Miller can be reached at ashleyo@sequimgazette.com.