Author: Emma Lodes
An oriental rug, sound proof foam, tightly bound chords and massive speakers line the walls and floor of Booth 105. Musician and sound engineer sit side-by-side, each facing their own keyboard as they arrange, splice and cut piano refrains. Another keyboard controls the new Pro Tools system RAW Records has recently added to their collection.
Watching a recording session is like watching a cinematographer and actors film a movie. Angus McDonald (sophomore) and Scott Williams (junior) listen to the clip playback, using digital cuts to snip out mistakes. And then the recording begins again. The final project is a medley of magical moments spun into a ripe, succinct and album-ready MP3; a product of musicians, sound engineer, producer, instruments, effects and finishing touches.
“Recording is a process,” Williams said. “It’s a totally different thing from playing live.”
Occidental College has its own student-run recording studio, as well as unofficial record label: RAW Records, or RAWR. Last year, the label’s founders, who had the dream of creating a student record label and space to record student music, passed the club’s reigns on to Asa Welch (first-year) and Williams. Currently, Williams holds the position of chief engineer while Welch works on the promotional and label elements of the organization. This year, the duo has expanded into a leadership team of seven, including sound engineers and administrative and media coordinators.
McDonald and Williams – two of the first to use the studio this year – have been recording the piano portion of “Turning Tables” by Adele, which features vocalist Jasmine Hulett (junior). Jasmine sang the piece acapella at Apollo Night last year, a performance that blew the audience away. With the reinforcement of Angus’ bold chords, the piece has a new depth and magnetism.
“Playing live is different because you have energy feeding in from the audience, but in the booth it’s just you so you have to put the energy and passion into the song,” Hulett said. “But it’s so rewarding when you complete a piece because you were able to bring that passion into something recorded that everyone can hear.”
Welch has big dreams for RAW Records.
“I want to make Raw Records into a fully running label with everything that a professional label has,” Welch said. “With release dates, singles albums, EPs and music videos to go along with singles.”
Spring 2013 was the club’s first full semester of student recording, and they produced one album. This year they plan on producing one or two albums, depending on the amount of material they receive. The leaders are anticipating a full schedule of recording, as the involvement fair generated a lot of excitement, interest and recording sign-ups.
RAW Records is also in the process of applying to be a “student service” for the elections in January, which means they would be able to pay their sound engineers and other workers.
They are currently training a handful of new engineers and have a number of events planned. Every Tuesday, they will host student showcases in front of the Cooler from 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Anyone can apply through the RAW Records website. They will also put on a showcase at the Greenbean on Oct. 3, and on Oct. 29 they are hosting a re-introductory mixer and studio showcase – an informal mixer for artists to meet each other.
Hulett is excited for the upcoming developments and innovations within the organization.
“This semester we’re going to try to do a full-on band song,” Hulett said. “RAW Records hasn’t done that before – like drums, guitar, bass, piano and voices.”
Although Hulett isn’t pursuing music as a career, she is excited to develop her skills through RAW Records as a serious hobby.
“For me its all about the enjoyment of making music,” Hulett said. “Listening to music is fulfilling, but making music, putting something together for other people to listen to, making something that you believe in and are happy with, I think is so lovely.”
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