The primary goal of the “How A Song Is Born” studio was to encourage creative confidence and fearless expression while learning essential skills needed to compose, arrange and record original songs in a fast-paced, fun, supportive and extremely-challenging studio environment. Working in both a large group (all of us) and in three smaller groups of three, everyone was encouraged to reach deeply and explore their own aesthetics, strengths, presumptions and self-perceived weaknesses; to experiment and evaluate, construct and deconstruct; to learn to give value to their own ideas and the ideas of others; and to work together to create a whole that was greater than the sum of its parts.
Trying many things for the first time, the students would ultimately tell their own story with sounds, rhythm, words and music of their own creation. Read the rest of this entry »
“Running Out of Time” by Garret Ekpunobi, Sam Law, and Sara Radin
Produced by Garrey Ekpunobi
Vocals by Sam Law
Piano by Garrey Ekpunobi, Sara Radin
Lyrics by Sam Law, Sara Radin
We started the “How a Song is Born” studio writing ideas on the whiteboard. Our first priority was the genre. Since we were all into different kinds of music, we settled on an R&B song. Next was the story. R&B songs are typically about love, empowerment, apologizing for a mistake, or moving on. We decided to mix a couple of these points and created the theme “I messed up, but I’m moving on.” Read the rest of this entry »
“Acoustic Alchemy Mix” by Neddy Beckwith, Ginny Hollingsworth, and Jake LiBassi
Produced by Neddy Beckwith, Ginny Hollingsworth, Jacob LiBassi
Vocals by Jacob LiBassi, Ginny Hollingsworth
Guitar by Neddy Beckwith
We started off this process of producing a song with close to no idea of what we were actually planning on creating. The first week was dedicated to playing on the keyboard and making techno beats in Garage Band, and it soon became clear that each member of our group imagined the final product as something completely different. It was this difference in opinion that made constructive progress nearly impossible. Read the rest of this entry »
“Take Me Through” by Najwa Aswad, Rachel Dolgov, and Isabelle English
Produced by Najwa Aswad, Rachel Dolgov, Isabelle English
Vocals by Najwa Aswad, Rachel Dolgov, Isabelle English
Saxophone by Rachel Dolgov
Lyrics by Isabelle English
I remember being very thrilled about this song-writing studio when I first found out it was in the NuVu agenda. I have always had a love for music, and I think I also speak for the girls I worked with, Rachel Dolgov and Izzy English, when I make that statement. I had always had a love for composing and really wanted to use a song I composed over the summer as a basis for the piece we’d eventually compose. Luckily, Izzy and Rachel were very keen to this idea, and as soon as we had an office in the studio we began mapping out the keyboard part on Garage Band, the main production software we used in the studio. We were equipped with a keyboard and microphone for recording as well. Read the rest of this entry »
