October 2010

Devereux Cleo Wallace

Monday's class was a great exercise in trying something new.  We brought the entire class up to the music room, which has a full set of musical instruments, where Dylan and Chad played guitar and base while Craig DeLeone backed them up on the drums.  Here is the track that they created:

Dylan, Chad, and Craig DeLeone - Raw Autumn

Yonnas Abraham, mc for arguably Denver's most accomplished hip-hop group, The Pirate Signal, was our guest speaker today! It was an honor to have him be a part of  our class. The discussion followed a show and tell session by the students, and Yonnas was very impressed by what the students had accomplished up  to this point in the program. The topic for the day was to be lyricism but after hearing the student's accomplishments, he moved the discussion from this to a more general survey of what it means to be an artist today. Yonnas was direct, insightful, encouraging, and passionate, and the students responded with enthusiasm. The discussion focused on the topics of marketing, artistry, success, and inspiration.

Yonnas then performed a rap, acapela, from his new album. It was a special moment in our program because it brought an element of realism, inspired by extensive performing experience, that only an artist such as Yonnas can. We encourage our students to express themselves in any way they choose, and often they do choose to record lyrics over the music they produce, but when Yonnas performed without a beat, it focused everyone of us in the room on to what he was saying. Nothing could have been more powerful or pertinent in expressing the value of what one might say.

While the students were transitioning from the classroom, they played their music for Yonnas for his feedback.  It was a great day!

Devereux Cleo Wallace

Monday of this week saw the introduction of the new format for the Student Music section of our site, and, since we have an album-cover creation station (that's right), it will be updated frequently from here on out.  As far as class organization goes, we are going to tighten up the opening discussion on Mondays to make room for recording time.  This was the first week of doing this, and it was way better than before, where students weren't always able to get their tracks down in time.

Jared - Tryin'

Justin and Jordan - Keep It Movin'

On Tuesday, we were very pleased to welcome Ryan Conway from Conway Sound to share his expertise as a producer and mixing/mastering engineer.  He opened with a demonstration of how the music mastering process can enhance a song by showing one of the student's songs before and after he refined it.  Ryan also covered some music production tricks, and he closed by answering questions about the music business and what it takes to make it as a professional musician.  I liked his approach, because he has character, and he also has a matter of fact way of approaching things; almost a philosophical orientation of 'what does it mean' to 'make it', for example.  Youth On Record would like to extend a huge thank you to Ryan for coming down to join the students for an afternoon.

Dylan - I Will Stay True to You

Next week, we look forward to welcoming Yonas Abraham from The Pirate Signal, who will talk about his experiences as a working musician.

Devereux Cleo Wallace

Since albums need album covers, we are introducing a station in the classroom where students can find images from the Creative Commons image database on Flickr.  We will be able to work with each student's artistic vision to produce something in Photoshop, and then they will have their own space on this website to host their music.  Check out one of the latest student recordings:

Dylan - Pictures In The Sky

We have some exciting guests coming in the next few weeks to help us convey the realities of professional production and performance.  Next week, we are excited to welcome Ryan Conway, owner of Conway Sound, who will teach the students some of the aspects of recording in a pro studio as well as how to network yourself as an artist.

Inspirational Video:

Devereux Cleo Wallace

We always look forward to Mondays and what we can expect with this group. The students have an opportunity to perform this coming weekend for the Larimer Arts Fest in the Five Points neighborhood. The event is going to feature youth between the ages 13 to 25 preforming on the Meadowlark Lounge stage from noon to five. This is our first chance to showcase what we have been doing in the classroom for the past seven months!

In order to help the students prepare, they are filling out worksheets, which contain information regarding what they are hoping to see for the upcoming show, which tracks they are wanting to perform or have played, what modifications they think that they will have to make before Saturday, and what, if anything, they need from us. It turned out to be a good focal point by which to steady the gaze towards that day.

We had one students record with Aaron, while the others worked on their personal projects. The inspirational video was of a couple of beat boxers, Nathan Flutebox Lee, who plays the flute while beat boxing, and Beardyman, a legend in the field- another example of what can be done in the world of music.

There was a lot of good discussion with the students today, and much of good music, but what I really took from class was the realization that these are kids who are going through a lot. We usually get a pretty good idea of how they are feeling by their demeanor and appearance as they enter the classroom, and often times they share a mood amongst themselves, as is the nature of living in such proximity. One of the students said to me, "Bro, I just am not feeling it today. I don't feel the juice." And it struck me that I am able to produce music at various times, and do so especially when I am inspired. They have to do it at 1:45 Monday and Tuesday afternoons. If they want to chill after a little effort, they have our blessing. They have the a lot on their plate.