New Day, New Piece, New People.

21247973_1470892032956322_466226901_o

21246102_1470891996289659_1513802618_o

21267541_1470892056289653_389153408_o

After a bit of break between recording sessions and a lot of organising we have finally made a weekly time which works. It had become increasingly difficult to find an appropriate time as new musicians are starting to feature on the EP. Mark's friend Dean, a guitarist, is one of the featured performers who will be appearing solo on an untitled track composed by himself and Mark. We also got the chance to record Kaitlin Trojko. Kaitlin, a pianist, also does the WSU Bachelor's of music degree. We utilized her skills for the piano tracks on 'Drain'.

Dean isn't a music student at WSU or familiar with the professional recording process and equipment. This influenced our process more significantly than I initially thought it would. Mark and I found ourselves having to explain things that we had forgotten weren't common knowledge for all musicians. Dean was very keen to learn and be very involved in the process and ended up choosing the mics he wanted to use himself. He chose the Shure MS57 which was an appropriate decision for his amplified Les Paul. Mark and I decided in would be a good idea to double track the piece with anotherShure MS57 arranged in the 'XY' position in front of the amp.

I originally wanted to record the electric guitar clean and then add effects later in the mixing process allowing for later changes. However, Dean was very adamant he had found the sound he wanted for the guitar and that it wasn't being lost through the recording process. The effects and mix he chose were great and reflective his very distinctive style as a musician.

Overall, the process required a higher level of management skills as more people, egos and personalities were involved. Dean seemed to be a bit confused as to why I was there, what my role was and the amount of work that occurred after recording but he despite this he settled in very well and we will all be back in the studio the same time next week.

Kaitlin was obviously very familiar with the recording process. The recording of these tracks ran very smoothly.Kaitlin was aware of the microphones that we typically used for piano within the university and the process of setting up, recording along with the workings of studio communication. Kaitlin was also well prepared, as she had practiced from the score preceding the recording session. We only ended up having a few retakes of sections. We were all pleased with the progress we made this week, and learnt a considerable amount about how different pieces, siuations and people.

Kieara.