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Alice Peacock, Chicago singer/songwriter, was gracious enough to spend an afternoon with Rec Arts students in the studio talking about her personal creative process of writing and recording.

Last week, among some 1000+ Chicago film enthusiasts, I sat and watched [heard] the first-ever Flashpoint Academy produced film The Collector in Grant Park on a gargantuan screen with a killer sound system. The film, directed by FP Academic Dean Paula Froehle, was not only accepted as a short to be screened at the Chicago Outdoor Film Festival, but is living and breathing proof our PRODUCTION-IN-ACTION component has real-world impact. Though the festival could not accommodate our multi-channel surround mix, the stereo playback system at the venue was first-rate and, of course, it was terrific to see it projected as a 35mm print.

One of my students asked me to do an interview about why I settled on sound design and teaching as my career path.  I thought it might be helpful for incoming Flashpoint students if I re-printed the transcription.

The interview was conducted by Dan Newman, one of the inaugural Rec Arts students, now awaiting his second year at Flashpoint.

April 2008

John Murray: I suppose it all started with a love for sound, and a thirst to capture it, harness it, manipulate it, and to tell a story with it.

My first recording device was a cheap portable Panasonic cassette recorder / player. I carried it with me everywhere. I was about nine years old. Once I discovered that I could start and stop recordings with the “PAUSE” button, and in effect, string together snippets of audio, there was no stopping me. Although I didn’t recognize it as such at the time, it was a way that I could “edit.” Much like a film editor tells a story by “editing” together discontinuous moving image sequences, I was editing little pieces of unrelated audio that once compiled together told a story that was formerly only present in my imagination.

That primitive methodology evolved through middle school until I became dissatisfied with the lack of precision. After all, the PAUSE button was mechanical, housed inside a really cheap device. I wanted the ability to make “cuts” that were absolutely, and precisely, in time with the music I was using. So around the time I started high school, I began meticulously taking apart cassette casings, carefully pulling the tape off the reels, cutting it with scissors at exact moments, rearranging the pieces and using scotch tape to mend the seams back together.

By the time I got to college and was allowed to use “professional grade” open reel tape recorders, splicing blocks, grease pencils, razor blades, and real bona fide splicing tape, I was completely hooked.

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Monday, May 12
Jeff Kliment
Newest Rec Arts faculty, coming onboard June 1. Former faculty at San Francisco Art Institute, former lead sound designer and project manager at LucasArts, and former music recording / Foley / ADR engineer at Russian Hill Recording.

Tuesday, May 13
Jun Mhoon
CEO of I Am Music Online, Jun is a digital aggregator / content supplier for iTunes, Amazon, Real Network, Napster, eMusic, Google, etc.

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Jimmy Tomasello (Guitar Program Manager from The Old Town School of Folk Music) performs for Studio Recording III at Flashpoint.

(above) Jimmy Tomasello on acoustic and vocals  

Rob Fetters, Chris Arduser, and Bob Nyswonger, also known as the Psychodots, came into town this week for four days as part of our spring PRODUCTION-IN-ACTION. Part I took place Monday and Tuesday in the Flashpoint music recording studios as the band re-recorded Not a Pretty Face with Bernie Mack (below) engineering. During the afternoon session, RA students took the controls, punching through vocal parts for verses and choruses.

Part II takes place today and tomorrow on a soundstage where FP Film students will be involved in the shooting of a video for the song with Peter Hawley directing and Amy Rising producing.

Game and Animation students, who helped with our set-up on Monday, are also creating a game to go along with the video.

All in all, it’s another terrific immersive-learning experience for FP students.

Bernie, 
Just a quick note to let you know once again what a truly great experience we had yesterday.  We were so happy with the whole process and the sound of the CD.  I really can’t wait to hear what it will sound like once you and the students do some work to the tracks.  Everyone was so professional and friendly and made us feel like we were in great hands.  I think all of us felt that if the opportunity came around, we’d be thrilled to come back for another session.  Again, thank you so much.
Gail Katz
 

(Above)  Band Group Photo

(Above) Gail Katz on Vocals