Akon, Sara Bareilles, Marty Bandier...Oh My!

Hello all! I have two exciting things to talk about. The first being the guest speakers we had last night in our Thursday night class, Soyars Leadership Lecture Series. We had a fantastic panel which included recording artists Akon and Sara Bareilles, Martin Bandier, and Rob Light. They were not able to attend our class because they were in Los Angeles with students from our program who are studying abroad in the L.A. semester, so it was done via video conference. Akon and Sara talked a lot about how they got into the music business and how they picked the team of people who worked behind them. It was interesting to finally be able to hear about the perspective of the artist, because usually we focus on the business behind the music. I was able to learn a lot and apply this information to the artist that I'm currently managing. Rob Light talked about working his way to the top and how much being a Syracuse Alum truly benefited him in the industry. It reassured me that Syracuse has such a strong alumni force within the industry and that I will be able to use those connections in the future. Martin Bandier, of course, was a fantastic speaker. It's always great to be able to have interaction with the creator of the program that I am helping to build. Basically, this was the most fantastic panel of the semester and I was able to learn a lot. Also, I forgot to mention that last Thursday we had Dave Holmes, the manager of Coldplay. He was very informative and he knew a lot about the artist management business. He also created his own management company! He said that he would be happy to give any one of us internships in the future. What a great opportunity that would be!

Today I worked in the recording studio for a project we have to do for our studio recording class. Our assignment was to form groups and then record two projects in the studio and mix and master the tracks. Today we recorded a guitar and bass player, drums, two rappers, and a vocal. The song we chose to do was a version of the song "The Seed 2.0" by The Roots. First, when we go in the studio we have to figure out which microphones we need to use for each different instrument and then we have to set it up. It's great to be able to apply the information I learned in the classroom to real life situations. After we then go into the control room and set up the Pro Tools system and then record. We ran into a little technical issue today because there was a power surge which turned all of the speakers off. Eventually we figured out the problem and were able to finish our session. We had the studio from 1pm-5pm. On Sunday, we have to go back to the studio because since we have our tracks recorded all we need to do is mix and master them. I didn't really know how to use Pro Tools or anything before taking this class, but doing this project is really helping me get acclimated to working in the studio and all the technology that is involved.

I have a lot of exams coming in the next few weeks because Thanksgiving break is quickly approaching (7 school days!) and teachers like to get in all of the exams before the holiday. Once I make it through that, the semester is almost over! I'll keep you updated as always.

Forever Orange,

Jenna