 |
I’ve never had much formal musical education. I was forced out of the school orchestra for being too rock n’ roll. The music director didn’t agree that rehearsal was the best time to learn “Crazy Train” on viola. When I was 14, I got my first guitar and started my first band called The Tree People which lasted 30 minutes before we decided to go to the pool instead.
In high school, I started a band with my two best friends and wrote all-original music. Our recording setup was simple: a single $20 microphone and a 4-track Yamaha cassette recorder setup in the middle of my parents’ basement. Just hit record, flip the tape 22.5 minutes later and repeat. The music was rarely well-played, but it was the best time of my life and I have a shelf full of cassettes to prove it.
After those years, music was no longer a collaborative effort for me. I moved away from my hometown of Riverside, Ohio and lost touch with my musician friends. I never stopped writing though. My catalog has grown to over 100 songs, with some more developed than others. The music is personal and never written for public consumption, with one notable exception.
My introduction to modern digital recording techniques came when I co-wrote and recorded my former bass player and best friend’s wedding song in 2009. It was my first experience recording with DAW software. It’s amazing how easy and powerful digital technology is compared to that Yamaha 4-track recorder that now collects dust on a shelf. There’s so much fun stuff to play with!
Recently, I had the opportunity to help some friends from Adult Supervision Required record a demo. It was my most challenging and sophisticated project yet.
