I've had a rough week.
I signed up for something called the RPM Challenge. This is a call to record that is heard all around the world. I heard of it through my mother when she heard a segment about it on NPR. Basically, the challenge is to record an album in the month of February. I thought it would be a great oppourtunity to use the suitcase studio and gear up for having a band in the coming months. I have four click tracks done. I was having loads of trouble all week. The output of the MOTU was not working at sample rates below 192 kHz. I couldn't heard the metronome, so i couldn't record. I was called in to be a substitute teacher on friday, but I said i couldn't do it in order to fix the sound card. The reason i did this was friday night was the Cabey's performance at the sons.
This was an amazing experience that was soured by the technology at the end. I spent all day talking to various technical support people. I was unable to contact the people at MOTU (phone was busy all day, e-mail was responded to after I left to record). I thought that it was recording fine and it was just the output. So i got there, set up everything and monitored the mix from before the DAW. Turns out it was recording as if it were a skipping CD. Tragic, because it sounds amazing in between the skips.
The best part of the experience, however, had nothing to do with the suitcase studio at all. During the first set, I saw the Cabey's were nervous because I was there. They're a brother/sister combo from the area. I got the impression that they never touched their mixing board and it's settings were really out of wack. I took notes about what I would like to change to it. When they took a break in between sets, I went and talked to Tom Cabey about it. He told me that he doesn't know anything about it and would appreciate some help. I went through the list of things I had noticed and explained to him what I was doing and why. He was very receptive, and seemed to understand everything I was saying. His sister, Kathy, appeared to be the kind of person who needs to loosen up with the help of laughs and Guiness. Turned out to be true. By the third set, I had made a bunch of fine tuning changes to their mixing board, and they had gotten all of the nervousness out. They played very well and had a great time doing it. The changes I made in the sound really helped the performer/audience dynamic. The feedback that I got from people after the second set (without telling them anything of what I had done) was great. "Oh, they started singing in the second set" "The fiddle player must have gotten more confident during the break" "So they are singing harmony!" etc...
My father and I talked a lot about the evening's events. We determined that the most important part of what I am doing is to form interpersonal relationships and skills. Before I even knew the technology had fucked everything up, we were talking about the secondary role technology has in the process. The most important thing is knowing what you're expecting out of the people being recorded. It is imperative to communicate this to them in a way that makes them comfortable and excited to play. Even more importantly, it is necessary to listen to the needs of the artists and respond in kind.
When i came home, I found the e-mail that was sent to me 10 minutes after I left. The suggestions in the e-mail resolved the issue. Today, at 2 PM, the Healey's are perfoming. This is a show we were unaware of until last week. A real blessing after what happened to the recording on Friday.
On a seperate note, I may be running a class for adults starting in March. One of my father's teachers, who works in a recording studio seperate from his teaching position, said I should teach adults the ins and outs of recording music and sound. The program could go through my dad's school. I am very excited to pursue this. I would really be able to stretch my wings and give knowledge to people. I will update this when I hear news about it.
