Recording Studio Opens For Student Use

70

Author: Jake Steele

RAWRecords (RAWR), a new Occidental record label, opened the College’s first professional-style recording studio last Monday for student use. RAWR provides a means for non-music majors to record, produce and collaborate on making their music.

The recording studio is located in a small room in the Keck Language Studio, but has to share this space with foreign language students who use the room to submit podcasts.

“I wanted this to be a music collective where ideas and equipment could be shared by artists,” founding member of RAWR Ryan Bartecki (junior) said.

ASOC gave RAWR $1,500 last spring to buy equipment and software for the studio, including music-editing programs, microphones, hard drives and instruments.

The leadership team then began searching for a space. Advisor for the club and Cognitive Science and Music Professor Bruno Louchouarn obtained the room where RAWR now resides. However, the room is not exactly what the club had hoped for.

“It is like a big closet,” Louchouarn said. He stated that two people can barely fit in the room.

One of RAWR’s main goals is to find its own space independent of other departments and organizations. Keck has priority on the space which requires RAWR to work around its schedule.

RAWR plans on asking for more funds every semester for new equipment and programs. One hope is to be able to buy equipment that would allow for live DJ-ing as well.

“In the future, we hope to release RAWRecords albums, composed entirely of student created and produced works, to be distributed around campus,” Bartecki said. According to President Redd Barua-Norton (junior), the album would be available as a free download and would cost a minimal amount as a CD. The organization will also create a blog so that members can showcase their newest tracks.

RAWR hopes to promote its members by sending their material to radio stations and local labels, as well as pushing for collaboration with local bands and DJs.

Upon learning about the new studio, many students were excited about the prospect of having a dedicated studio.

“As a struggling artist, RAWRecords provides me the equipment that I can find nowhere else because it is so expensive,” Jack Moreau (junior) said. “I can use professional equipment instead of bootleg versions of Ableton with terrible midi keyboards I find.”

RAWRecords is open Monday through Friday from 5 to 11 p.m. and on Sunday from 5 p.m. to midnight.

To use the studio contact Barua-Norton at baruanorton@oxy.edu or Louchouarn at blouchou@oxy.edu.

This article has been archived, for more requests please contact us via the support system.

Loading

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here