Introduction
During the end of my first semester of senior year, we were assigned to record an artist of our choice and then edit the session. My partner, Anna, and I decided to choose an artist within our community, Sara Francisco. We learned how to operate the equipment in the recording studio and guided our musician on how to use the equipment. We then edited the recordings in Pro Tools and designed a song cover using Illustrator.
Sara is a sophomore at Mountain View High School who finds a passion in singing and playing the guitar. She first learned to play the guitar and then later began to sing. Sara’s motivation comes from her heart. When something is weighing her down or if something makes her excited, she will write it down and, “sometimes it will sounds like lyrics”. Her songs focus on God and she finds inspiration through other christian artists she listens to. She says, “as a Christian, God is the most loving and important thing in my life and I want to praise him for what he’s given me!”
Sara performs in the youth group at her church at the end of every month. She wishes that her music touches peoples hearts and encourages them to become closer to god, or at least resonate with her songs if their not Christian.
Final Product!
▶ Phoenix
⏸ Phoenix
Collaborative Artist Statement
This project was really enjoyable and we loved getting to learn how to record an audio track. Having the opportunity to record someone with such a talent made the experience even better. We learned how to set up the recording studio before the artist arrived, how to record vocals and instruments through pro tools, and how to communicate with the artist through the microphones and headphones within the studio. After only two takes, our artist was satisfied with the recording and we had a track to work with. We used the file we recorded on and began to edit the song. We changed the audio levels of the vocals and guitar until we were satisfied with the balance, and then chose to add slight reverb to both the vocals and guitar. Finally we were pleased with the music we produced and went on to create an album cover. We used pro tools to create our album cover and designed it with the idea of “Phoenix,” being the name of the song. This experience was special to us and we are grateful that we got the opportunity to meet such an amazing artist within our community. Learning the skills we did in this project will help up in future assignment and even throughout life! Special thanks to Mr. Florendo for spending the time to help us grow these skills and guide us through the recording session.
Personal Reflection
This project was one of my favorite assignment yet during my Freestyle experience. I really enjoyed being able to produce music and I loved learning about the process. The experience was very hands on and it kept me engaged. I now feel more comfortable with using the recording studio and additionally the pro tools platform. I am excited to use these new skills in the future and am grateful to have had the opportunity to work with the amazing artist, Sara Francisco!