For this project, I stepped into the role of recording engineer to professionally record and mix a rendition of Life is Simple in the Moonlight by The Strokes. Using Freestyle Academy’s Recording Studio and Pro Tools, I was responsible for planning, tracking, and post-production. From session setup and mic placement to mixing techniques like EQ, compression, and reverb sends—I handled all aspects of the production process.
Meet Our Musicians
The leftmost stud with the guitar is our man Varun, a true wizard on the strings. Fun fact, he also was the bassist for this song. He came into the studio right on time, blasted out amazing takes back to back to back and stayed humble the whole time. After styling on us so hard, our singer (rightmost) and drummer (middle) showed up and played and sang their hearts out. Shout out to Kasey and Connor for showing up and making this all possible.
Our Song
Behind the scenes
Pro Tools Mix Session
This is what the interface that we used to mix and record our tracks looked like
Album art
Artist Statement
For this project, I worked as the recording engineer to capture a cover of Life is Simple in the Moonlight by The Strokes. Rather than stepping in as a musician, my role was entirely behind the board—handling every technical aspect of the session from pre-production through mixing and mastering. I collaborated closely with local student musicians, planning the Pro Tools session layout, selecting and placing microphones based on instrumentation, and coordinating recording logistics such as tempo, time signature, and backing track integration.
This experience challenged me to think like both a technician and a producer. On the day of the session, I ran the board, used the Livemix system, monitored mic levels, and recorded multiple takes using playlisting. In post, I worked with the musicians to choose the best takes, then applied EQ, compression, de-essing, and reverb to enhance clarity and depth.
Mixing this track taught me how subtle changes can shape the entire feel of a song—tightening vocals with a compressor, cleaning up mud with a high-pass filter, or widening the mix with panning and delay. The final result is a clean, dynamic recording that still feels raw and true to the band’s original sound. This project gave me hands-on experience in the world of audio engineering and showed me how much thought, coordination, and precision goes into creating a professional recording. It also deepened my respect for the behind-the-scenes work that makes music come to life.