Turbulent Transition but Finally Home - Posted on 2018-07-13 by Matthew Cloutier

Hey there, Recording Connection. Let's just say its been an experience.

Since last posting, despite my own terrible upkeeping of this blog, my previous mentor at Sky Feather Studios became unable to continue being my teacher, simply due to time constraints and the rapid growth of his studio business. We left on great terms, it was simply a logistical error, and I learned quite a lot from Alex. 

I went into a a kind of long re-placement proces, having no available mentors in the area for about a month. I was eventually placed with an instructor that had recently moved to the area from Texas, and after our initial meeting I assumed we would continue working together, but we ended up having somewhat of an alarming falling out. Regardless, I was placed on wait for a new mentor for yet another half-full month.

After all this, I finally found my newest (and hopefully last) learning environment at Mirror Sound in Shoreline. The studio equipment is a  hardware geeks dream, and leaps and bounds ahead of what I was working with at my previous studio (with all respect to Alex; minimalism doesnt mean lack of quality). With five isolation booths, an amazing control room, and a plethora or different mics, I'm more than stoked to be working with Ken and Matt. Our first live recording day was a four part rock group that came through to record two tracks with a desert-drive style. We recorded vocals, acoustic guitar, bass, drums, and electric guitar. They were all fantastic musicians, and I followed close and took notes of the micing techniques Ken was demonstrating, and got to be given certain hands-on micing practice. 

All in all I'm very encouraged by my new position after the less-than-smooth transition. Grateful to be surrounded by quality music, gear, and creative minds at Mirror Sound.