Technology Gives ‘The Glory of Christmas’ a New Sound : Music: The score can be re-edited in the cathedral’s 24-track studio to accommodate future production changes.

In “The Glory of Christmas,” plenty of high-tech flash is visible on--and above--the stage. Flying angels, smoke machines, glittering stars and hundreds of theater lights are used to tell the story of Christ’s birth to more than 150,000 people who flock to the Crystal Cathedral each year to witness the spectacle.

Behind the scenes, though, the high-tech approach didn’t apply to the annual pageant’s orchestral score, at least for the first eight years. As the show evolved, new music was recorded with various groups and spliced onto the old soundtrack, while written copies of the score gradually disappeared.

But now, the latest in computer and digital audio technology has provided a new score for the ninth edition of the annual pageant.

Johnnie Carl, an Orange resident who arranges music on Crystal Cathedral founder the Rev. Robert H. Schuller’s “Hour of Power” program, went to work in August on the revised “Glory of Christmas” score, working at home on a computer that prints out musical notation and can play the finished arrangements back on a synthesizer.

Carl transcribed each of the show’s solo vocal numbers into two or three keys, to accommodate different singers, and sometimes scored the songs in differing tempos. He then took the finished scores to London for digital recording by a 70-piece orchestra using members of the London Symphony and studio musicians.

Choral parts were added in Hollywood. Vocal soloists perform live, as do an organist and an octet of fanfare trumpeters.

Now, with the music recorded on digital tape in a variety of formats, it can be re-edited in the cathedral’s 24-track studio--now outfitted with digital equipment--to accommodate future changes in the production.

Several versions of the score were prepared for this year’s production to accommodate different casts. And the score itself is stored on computer discs, where it can be easily edited and reprinted.

“I’ve always been into the technology,” Carl said in an interview at the cathedral. “The possibilities are just mind-boggling.” While preparing the new orchestration for “The Glory of Christmas,” he rarely left his home, sending pieces of the revised score to the cathedral by fax.

And by being able to play back his score on the synthesizer before going into the recording studio, he wastes no time revising with expensive hired musicians on the clock. “I can walk into a studio and not have one wrong note,” Carl said. “Some of my sessions got done early, which never happens” with human musicians.

Carl performed a similar overhaul earlier this year for the Crystal Cathedral’s other holiday production, “The Glory of Easter.” Now a free-lancer with a number of clients, including pianist Roger Williams, he once worked full time for the cathedral before a drop in contributions to Schuller’s ministry led to cutbacks.

“The Glory of Christmas,” which organizers say draws between 150,000 and 250,000 people each year, has become a fixture on the local holiday scene. Even some previews drew full houses this week, the first time that has happened, Carl said.

The show is well known for its spectacular theatrics, including the flying angels--eight buzz the crowd at one point--complex lighting effects, a menagerie of live animals including sheep, donkeys, horses and camels, and almost 200 volunteers cast in the crowd scenes. There are 107 performances scheduled for this year’s pageant, which opened Friday.

“The Glory of Christmas” will run at 4:30, 6:30 and 8:30 daily except Monday through Dec. 30 (no shows Dec. 24 or 25). Tickets: $14-$25. Information: (714) 544-5679.