For this project, we were asked to bring in a musician to record in Freestyle’s recording studio. This experience would allow us to lean about how to use the recording studio and get a feel for what being a recording engineer is like
About Kai Perrino
Kai Perrino is currently a senior at Los Altos High School. He is a very talented singer, and has many years of experience. I met through the Los Altos High School Marching Band, where he plays saxophone. I am very grateful that such a talented singer came in to help me with this project.
▶ Creep
⏸ Creep
Artist statement + Reflection
For this project, Griffin and Hannah brought in an LAHS singer, Kai, to the recording studio. He was excited to perform despite being sick, and was able to perform a stunning solo piece, Creep by Radiohead. This song was chosen partly because it was a lower register, and therefore easier for Kai to sing while sick, but also because it has an incredible part in the middle with a higher sound, showcasing Kai’s volume and range.
Mr. Flo started off by reminding us of how to adjust the various audio tracks in the headphones that Kai would wear so that we could show him how to adjust them. Then, he walked us through the various tracks and interfaces that would be open during the actual recording. We learned how to create a new take, start and stop recording, adjust playback volume, and adjust the volume of the recorded voice. Then Kai started recording his first take. While he sang, we thought about notes to give him and monitored the volume of his voice to ensure it wasn’t getting too loud. Even though the complexity of Pro Tools and the volume software was pretty high, they were already set up for us so recording was made simpler.
This was a very enjoyable process, we both enjoyed hearing the incredible voice of Kai, and Kai loved to sing. Personally, we both dislike editing and recording audio, but doing it with friends made it way more interesting. The other interesting part was using the recording studio. The studio is really complicated, but this felt like a fun entry level way to begin using it!
Overall, I had a lot of fun doing this project, and I also learned a lot. It was cool to be the one operating the recording equipment, as opposed to being the one recorded like with the music recording project from last year. It was really cool to get to use the equipment, and I especially enjoyed the sliders that we used to control the playback volume of the backing track. It was also great to get to listen to such a talented singer