Recording Studio Adventures

Throughout the school year, the Beginner Rock Band practices its craft. In the pursuit of musical perfection, we strive to become better. Endless practice slowly shape notes into beautiful harmonies. We hope to share our art with the world, and the Brentwood Regatta was our chance. We performed at Regatta to much success. Post-Regatta, on Monday, May 2, we went to the Woodshop Recording Studio, north of Victoria. Mr. Scott McGill, the orchestrater of our outing, was pleased with our Regatta performances and expected us to perform likewise at the recording studio. We were ready. We were introduced to Zak Cohen, a professional recording artist with notable awards including, “Best Production of a Song” in the 2014 Vancouver Island Music Awards. As it was everyone's first time being recorded, we were astonished by his facility, the complexity of the equipment, and Zak’s great knowledge from 20 years as a recording artist. A short demo by Zak allowed us to fully utilize his equipment. A short instrument setup later and we recorded. We opened with “Use Somebody”, by Kings of Leon. Luke A’ Whittall ‘18 gave life to the anthemic ballad, with his high vocal range. It was perfect. We recorded the next song, “Fell in Love with a Girl” by The White Stripes, but it took two takes to perfect. The last song proved more of a challenge. “TNT” by ACDC, was a difficult song to reproduce, wrought with a tricky rhythm and complicated chorus. But with the slow grind of trial and error, we were able to record all three songs successfully.  After four hours and a great deal of effort, we walked out of Zac’s studio, the products of our labour in hand. Not just did we record three songs, learn about the music industry, and meet Zak, but we were also reminded that practice makes perfect.  Luis M, Privett ‘18 and Christiaan D, Rogers ‘18