The Michigan Daily I michigandaily.com I Thursday, December 3,2009
weekend
essentials
Dec. 3 to Dec. 6
AT THE MIC
Instead of spend-
ing all that free time
browsing your favorite
websites, get some
fresh air and see one
of the men behind
these addicting web
projects. Frank War-
ren, known for creating
the blog phenomenon
PostSecret.com, will
be talking about his
journey of creating a
viral blog at 7:30 p.m.
on Friday night at the
Michigan Theater.
Tickets start at $15.
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CONCERT
If you took Fela Kuti and
put him in a blender
with glitchy electron-
ics and interstellar
synth loops, you'd get
something close to
NOMO. This mash-up
of a band is at the Blind
Pig Saturday night. Tak-
ing jazzy, horn-driven
avant-funk and retool-
ing it for the digital age,
NOMO's freewheeling
vibe should really spark
in a live setting. Secret
Twins open up. Tickets
are $10, with doors
opening at 9:30 p.m.
eside a deserted
road littered with
chunks of gravel is
an unexceptional
building that's pale
green, squat and narrow. But
inside is a world entirely differ-
ent from the structures boring
exterior. Expensive gadgetry
that seems ripped straight
from the pages of a science
fiction novel is scattered
throughout the place, and
microphones of all shapes,
brands and varieties are
arranged in the corners.
This is the hideout of
Big Sky Recording, and it's'
only one of many recording
studios in Ann Arbor, a city
with a burgeoning music scene
rife with acts both established
and up-and-coming.
While listeners are drawn
to music by intangibles -
memories evoked and emo-
tions stirred through chords
and melodies - the process of
recording music is much more
involved.
The definition of a good
recording will vary depending
on whom you ask. There is "m
no absolute. But many fac-
By Jasmine Zhu ||Daily Arts Writ
JAKE FROMM/Daly
tors remain consistent, even - visiting the studio, talking
between genres as disparate as about his equipment, and feel- oi
a cappella and gangsta rap. ing out his personality and in
workflow," Leahy says. v
THE RIGHT SPACE, The physical layout of a o'
THE RIGHT PLACE studio can greatly affect a in
recording's sound as well, is
First and foremost, Wood brightens, or
musicians must feel at "livens," a recording,
ease. which explains why
"You want the musi- many studios have
cians to feel comfortable," wood floors and are lined
Geoff Michael, chief engi- with wood panels along
neer and owner of Big Sky the walls. To maintain a
Recording, says. "The set up is balance some studios have
important. Set it up how musi- dampeners on the ceiling
cians feel best, not necessarily that absorb sound waves to w
(achieving) the best acoustics, "deaden" the recording. L
because comfort is key." The physical positioning
Drew Leahy, Music, The- of musicians in the studio is cc
atre, and Dance senior who also important in determining eN
took his band The Promenade how a recording will sound - e
to record at Ypsilanti's Pretty space and sound are inextri- e
Suite Recording, also feels that cably linked. Booths are used ci
being comfortable with the to isolate musicians from each ti
work style of the engineer is other so different instruments'
important to developing a good sounds don't "bleed" or "leak" in
atmosphere. into each other's recorded t
"It's important to be com- tracks. it
fortable in the studio, both Even' seemingly minute h
in the actual space and with details, like the placement of ei
the people you work with ... instruments in conjunction to S
just talking to Brandon microphones, can be crucial in ey
(Wiard), the studio owner developing a solid sound. w
"This will sound like a cop- sing something for me so I can
ut, but I think a'good record- hear the detail of their voice.
ig' is open-ended," Brandon 'Then I'll choose atmic that will
Viard, producer, engineer and accent certain characteristics
wner of Pretty Suite Record- of their voice, or maybe one
ig says. "Sometimes pristine that will help hide a flaw."
the (desired sound) but I Recording equipment is
tend to work on a lot of as used to enhance certain
projects where noise and sounds. The outboard, a large
experimentation are the rectangular contraption intim-
focus." idatingly covered in knobs a nd
Separating a good switches, subtly changes the
recording from a bad one sound by warming or cooling
is often as simple as a mat- the .tone by slightly raising or
ter of taste. lowering the pitch.
"It's all about what vou Different instruments and
ant your band to sound like," vocals are recorded on sepa-
.eahy says. rate tracks, which are
While Wiard's preferred later mixed together on a
ethod of recording involves computer.
xperimenting with differ-
nt sounds, some other studio THE COST FOR
ngineers in Ann Arbor con- STARVING MUSICIANS
entrate on masking imperfec-
Though Garage
"I'll listen to each Band might make it
istrument and choose seem otherwise, the
he equipment to record recording process doesn't
based off of what I come cheap. Local bands
ear," Eric Wojahn, chief like Mason Proper and
ngineer and owner of Tally Hall as well as well-
olid Sound, says. "For known international acts
xample, if I'm working like Regina Spektor and
ith a vocalist, I have tht See STUDIOS. Page 4B
FILM
GlobeMed, a student
organization dedicated
to improving the global
health of the less for-
tunate, is screening
the critically acclaimed
2008 documentary
"Pray the Devil Back to
Hell." The film tells the
story of how women
in Liberia banded
together to elect their
country's first female
president in 2005. See
it in room 1300 of the
Chem Building tonight
at 7:30 p.m. There will
also be pizza. Free.
ON STAGE
Get pumped for the
holiday season with
George Fredric Han-
del's most famous
choral piece, "Mes-
siah." The UMS Choral
Union and Ann Arbor
Symphony Orches-
tra will continue an
Ann Arbor tradition
and once again per-
form the celebrated
magnum opus for its
130th year Saturday
at 8 p.m. and Sunday
at 2 p.m. at Hill Audi-
torium. Tickets range
from $10 to $32.
-J re~tcn h ryid