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14B - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, April 7, 2005
Musicians erfect their art in the studio

The Michiga
Random feels bad for Hootie

By Doug Wernert
Daily Weekend Editor
The lights are dimmed, the micro-
phones are set up and the engineer
has nodded and hit the record button.
For any musician, few feelings com-
pare to the thrill of listening to a a
recorded piece of their own work. To
achieve this thrill, artists take a trip
to the recording studio, where they
can record their musical masterpiec-
es and, thanks to today's technology,
produce high-quality work.
The opening stages
" The process of transferring an
artist's song onto a recording doesn't
take as long as most may think.
"Honestly, it is possible to do the
whole thing in a couple of weeks,"
said David Lau, the owner of Ann
Arbor-based Brookstone Studio, Inc.
which specializes in classical and
jazz music.
At Brookstone, the musician and
the musical engineers meet in a pre-
production meeting to discuss the
type of project, as well as other fac-
tors such as the project's budget and
the amount of control the musicians
have in the final edition of the work.
"Some bands want to overdub
every part, said Lau, describing a
process where the musicians play
their instruments over a piece of
already recorded music.
"It's a balancing act between time,

money and goals," he added.
Some bands bring along a pro-
ducer, who serves as an intermedi-
ary between the musicians and the
engineer. However Lau, who has had
over 25 years of experience with
sound engineering, has developed a
keen ear for how the music should
sound.
"The producer is the person who
says to the artist: 'That's perfect.
Now do it again,' " said Lau, quot-
ing a favorite saying from one of his
friends.
Interestingly, as technology has
changed, so has the methods used
to learn to record music. Lau said
that when he first learned his craft,
sound engineering was not taught
in schools; rather, he learned by
apprenticeship.
Laying it down
There are two main formats used
in recording music: digital and ana-
log. While some artists like the ana-
log format, which enables the artist
to create some unique distortion
sounds, digital allows for perfect
quality each and every time it is used
and it is easier to store. According to
Lau, digital is the way to go.
"It is, quite simply, a lot more
accurate. You can make it as accu-
rate as you want," he said.
When the time comes to record,
the musicians either head into the
studio or just perform live. When

By Doug Wernert
Daily Weekend Editor
Random: Hello?
The Michigan Daily: Hi,
Michelle.
R: Hi.
TMD: Hi, I'm calling from The
Michigan Daily, and you've been
selected to do this week's Random
Student Interview.
R: Oh, jeez.
TMD: Do you want to do it?
R: Uh, sure.
TMD: All right, are you sure?
R: Yeah, why not?
TMD: First question: How are
you, and how was your weekend?
R: Good, and it was good.
TMD: What did you do?
R: I went to South Haven.
TMD: Cool. What did you do
there?
R: I hang out with my 60-year-old
aunt.
TMD: Haha, that's cool. What-
ever works.
R: Yeah, haha.
TMD: All right, let's move on to
the real questions. What were the
cooler little kid books: The Beren-
stein Bears or Amelia Bedelia?
R: Berenstein Bears.
TMD: Did you read those when
you were a kid?
R: Yeah, I don't know about Ame-
lia whoever.
TMD: Oh, she was pretty cool,
too, but nothing when compared to
the bears. So my question is this:
What was up with the names Sister
and Brother Bear? Couldn't they
come up with something a little
more original?
R: I guess not. Wasn't the mom's
name Mama Bear, too, or some-
thing?
TMD: Yeah, and the papa was
Papa Bear.
R: Probably so kids wouldn't get
confused.
TMD: I guess so. If you were
naming Sister and Brother Bear now,
what names would you give them?
R: All I remember about them is
that one had a pink bow and ... I
don't know what I would name them.
No clue.
TMD: Fair enough. So baseball

started this week. Were you excited
about it?
R: Not really. My boyfriend
watches it all the time. I don't really
care.
TMD: What are the bases in a
physical relationship? Like first base
... second base ...
R: I guess first base is just kissing
and second base is French kissing.
TMD: OK, what's third base?
R: You know ... I remember this
from high school, and now I can't
remember.
TMD: Wait, did they teach this in
high school?
R: Hahaha, I don't think they
teach it in class, but it's common
knowledge and then when you come
here, they forget about it all.
TMD: Yeah, that's what happened
with me.
R: Yeah.
TMD: So what's third base?
R: Third base? I guess going all
the way ... no that's home run ... I
guess I don't remember.
TMD: I guess you weren't a very
good baserunner.
R: Not in high school, I guess.
TMD: Hahaha. Did you hear that
93.1 is now DOUG-FM?
R: No.
TMD: Well, it is, and I think it's
the greatest name for a radio station
ever. What do you think?
R: It works, I guess. It kind of
sounds stupid.
TMD: No, I think it's good
because there aren't a lot of things
named after Doug. Are there a lot
of famous things named after your
name?
R: Oh, there's a Beatles song?
TMD: What song is that?
R: "Michelle, My Love" song. I
don't know if that's the title.
TMD: Oh, OK ...
R: You know that song, don't
you?
TMD: No, how does it go?
R: It's French. It has like French
parts. I'm not going to sing it! It says
... you don't know that song? It's
like "Michelle, my bell" and then it
goes into French.
TMD: Oh, out, oui, I guess. What
band should make a comeback: Limp
Bizkit or Hootie and the Blowfish?

R: Well, I was guilty of seeing
Limp Bizkit back in high school, so
I guess I'd say them.
TMD: Nice. Very nice. What ever
happened to Fred Durst?
R: He said too many bad things
about people, I guess. Nobody likes
him anymore.
TMD: Did anybody used to like him?
R: In my high school, yeah. We
used to weightlift to them all the
time.
TMD: Did you see Hootie on
those Burger King commercials?
R: Yeah, that's terrible! I didn't
believe it was him at first.
TMD: Yeah, that's kind of a bad
move for his career.
R: That's horrible.
TMD: Here's a question: Why
does every college athlete look about
10 years older than I am?
R: They might be!
TMD: Hahaha.
R: Maybe they have different
genes than normal people?
TMD: Yeah, maybe. Did you do
school projects when you were in
grade school?
R: Yeah.
TMD: What was the dumbest
school project you ever did?
R: When I was in, like, fifth grade,
we had to make a model of atoms or
something, and we built stuff out of
wood and that was really stupid.
TMD: You made atoms out of
wood?
R: Yeah. They put like the thing
in the middle and the protons ... no,
the electrons on the outside, and we
made two and one was on the out-
side, and we put it in a plastic bag on
the outside. I don't remember.
TMD: Well, apparently you do.
That's pretty detailed. Did you
ever make the volcano in like third
grade?
R: No, but my friends did in like
fifth grade.
TMD: Yeah, we made them and
none of the volcanoes ever erupted.

R: I think ours actually worked. I
was pretty cool.
TMD: Yeah, that's happened t<
me before. Did you think Mr. Rog
ers was a little creepy?
R: He wasn't when I was little, bu
now he creeps me out.
TMD: Does he have any rea
friends?
R: Yeah, he's trying to get chil
dren to be his friend.
TMD: Yeah, and that's ... that's
not good sometimes. Do you think
there should be a modern-day Mr
Rogers who has like a popped-collar
shirt instead of a sweater?
R: Hahaha, I guess that woulk
work, but he'd probably be creepy,
too.
TMD: I guess so. Who did you
want to be when you were little: Cin-
derella or Sleeping Beauty?
R: Um, Cinderella because she
was awake the whole time.
TMD: Yeah, but Cinderella was
abused by her sister and she had to
mop the floor the whole time ...
R: Yeah, I'm used to working. I
could handle it.
TMD: In all those fairy tales,
there was always a prince that saves
them. Why not like a gardener sav-
ing them?
R: Haha, well a modern-day gar-
dener would work. Because they had
all the money? They had free time,
that's why.
TMD: Yeah, they had free time
to find women who got pricked on
spinning wheels and stuff like that.
Finally, if somebody made a movie
about you, who would play you and
who would play your parents?
R: Who would play me? Reese
Witherspoon. And my parents? Bar-
bra Streissand and - what was the
father's name? Dustin Hoffman.
They're just goofy.
TMD: All right. Well, thanks for
doing this.
R: All right.
TMD: Bye bye.

SHUBRA OHRI/Daily
Kara R. Sudheimer, an employee at Brookwood Studio, Inc. on Rosewood St., stands at the microphone.z

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the latter option is chosen, engineers
pack up their mixers (the electronic
consoles used to balance the sounds
of all the differrent instruments) and
head over to the venue. Microphones
are positioned in order to pick up
each instrument's unique sound,
even the low rumble of a bass.
During and after a recording, it's
the engineer's job to make sure the
sounds of all the instruments are at
the proper levels. Of course, errors do
occur, so sometimes, the artists will
head back to the studio to re-record
tracks. Drums or horns are recorded
in a separate room in order not to
interfere with the other instruments,

According to Lau, it's at this point
in the process when's it's important
to mix the live and studio tracks to
ensure that the listener can't tell the
difference between the two.
Marching On
The University marching band
knows what it's like to to have their
work recorded, as each year, they do
recordings, both live and in the stu-
dio. According to Music Prof. Jamie
Nix, who is also the director of the
marching band, the musicians record
every year in Crisler Arena, setting
up instruments both on the court and
in the bleachers.


-------------- ---- ---

rrrr
The Career


fI

I

Counselor
Dea Crer Conselor
Im openly gay here at school and
with most ofmy friends back home.
I'm putting together the Olrt draft
of my resume - should I out myself
on my resume? I'm super involved
in an LGBT group here on campus
and want to list my leadership and
involvement in this group, but i
danm know ihow shut ndo t
-Most y"Out" in A

Dear Mostly Out
The answer depends upon your
comfort level with being "out"
Ideally, you want to tailor your
msume to each job or internship to
which you are applying. Do some
research on the companies or
organizations to find out if they have
gay friendly policies, and if they are
located in a gay friendly state or city.
If you are unsure about the company,
you may list your LGBT involvement
in a more "general" and less descript
manner - perhaps listing it as a
"prominent diversity group" on
campus. Your resume is a tool to
get the interview, at which point you
can talk about your relevant skills.
Make suare you only include
information you are comfortable
talking about with potential

employers.Visit The Career Center
web site for links to LGBT-friendly
companies,
Dear Caeer Counselor,
My daughteris selecting a major and
I want to make sure that she
chooses wisely and is employable
after 4 years at Michigan. She's
leaning toward a liberal arts major.
What jobs are available to liberal
arts majors after graduation?
-Practical Parent, BSEE, 1974
Dear Practical,
While on the surface it seems logical
to think that academic major is the
best predictor of future
"employability." rest assured that
employment (and fulfilling career

choices) is not limited to a handful
of specific majors. Instead, students
preparing for the job market would
do better to choose a major that
they will enjoy, to begin career
exploration early and to supplement
their academic qualifications with
campus involvement and leadership,
community service, internships and
other personally and professionally
fulfilling experiences. Your daughter
is welcome to connect with The
Career Center for assistance in
developing a plan. Then, after 4 (or
5) years at Michigan, she will be well
equipped to enter the job market
or go on to graduate school
The CM Cter
3200 SAD734 44 "

"Once I begin editing, I listen to all
the raw material for many hours and
select bits and pieces that I want to
put together. (Lau and I) try to make
it as perfect as we can, and together,
we have made some almost impos-
sible things happen," Nix said.
"It wasn't that long ago when
cut and splice literally meant cut-
ting reel-to-reel tape and taping it
together. Now, it seems you can just
push a button, click and drag to do
what used to be exhausting work,"
he added.
Nix also said that the marching
band usually records their music at
the end of the semester. With intense,
four-hour recording sessions, some
of the musicians can end up losing
some of their initial excitement, but
the end result is well worth it.
"We end up with sometimes 40 or
50 takes for one two minute song,
depending on the level of difficulty. I
think they feel like it's worth it when
the CD comes out and the finished
product sounds great," Nix said.
WEEKEND
MAGAZINE.
Os, WE DID
IT AGAIN.


WEEKEND MAGAZINE.
HHH WE'RE HALFWAY THERE.
OHHH, LIVIN' ON A PRAYER.
TAKE OUR HAND AND WELL
MAKEITWE SWEAR.

I



!3


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