Tracking Sessions - Posted on 2017-05-08 by Apryl Allen

So much has happened with my involvement with Track Star Studios lately it is difficult to choose where to start! To avoid boring you with details, I'll stick to the highlights. 

We recently had Nova Page in the studio. Nova is a major player in the production and music ministry at The Rock, a mega-church in San Diego. I was blessed with being able to connect with her and we were able to share some of our passion for ministry through music. She has an electric personality and passion for life that is contagious. What a blessing! She is a successful pop/country/Christian singer/songwriter and has even performed at the Christian Music Awards. She is a long-time friend of my mentor, Josquin, and she was in-studio to lay down a new track. While the engineers were doing their thing (I had yet to really cut my teeth in Pro Tools, so I was just there to watch and listen), Nova and I continued our chat and she asked me about my history with music and whatnot. The outcome of that interaction was nothing less that incredible. I will be meeting with her and one of the head engineers from The Rock on Thursday; if it's in the cards perhaps I'll be able to do some shadowing or volunteering at the church. 

After meeting Nova, our next recording session was a live drummer. We set up mics, got preamps set, and tracked all day. Calvin was amazing and laid down drums for 10 complete tracks. Incredible! This drum session was the first time I actually was in control of the recording session, everything from creating the new session in Pro Tools, to running Calvin's headphone mix, the talkback mic, and completing the recording. In no way am I claiming to have been able to do this on my own. My teacher Jesse was there with me every step of the way, directing, correcting and encouraging. By the end of the day, we had all logged over eight hours of studio time, and I must admit, I was beat. 

On a slightly less exciting note, Jesse and I are marching through the curriculum and quickly approaching my midterm exam. Several things are a review for me, having worked in the live sound industry for a few years now, but there is always a gem or two to pluck from the text that I will continue to carry with me in my journey towards becoming a successful FOH engineer. 

That's it for now! Thanks for reading!