"In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins- not through strength but by perseverance." - H. Jackson Brown

         One sessions was this week and it went phenomenally. I was Technical Director and I loved every second of it. It's all about rhythm with a music show, instead of it being, "Hey, punch up lots of crap!" like a newscast. My week was spent with mostly rappers and folk bands. What an interesting combination, right? I am so pleased with how harmless and peaceful everyone at my job is. It makes things so much more pleasant. I really think I'll end up with a position there eventually. We've been rolling with the punches and doing whatever we have to do to get the mixdowns polished up for all of the upcoming album releases in the next couple months. We have, on an average, 4-6 projects come in daily and my poor boss has been working 17 hour days. That's what you have to do when you want something, though. And he realizes that he only has one chance to do this, so he's trying to do it the right way.

         The studio is happening, that's all I know.

"Time is what prevents everything from happening at once." -John Archibald Wheeler

         Time has definitely been a huge dilemma lately. Time management is on my side and I only have another month of this semester until everything chills out. Jonathon has been playing shows in Dallas lately with Deer,Daniel. I've been trying to get everything taken care of so that I'm not leaving any loose ends or missing anything important. This semester has been an interesting one, for sure.
         I think I'm going to continue interning at Devil's Rope Studios next semester as well as him sponsoring my show. I really found myself at a great place at the perfect time so I'm going to try to do whatever I can with this opportunity. One Sessions is next week and I can't find my excitement through my nerves but I think it will go down without a hitch. That is, if the technical director knows her stuff.

"The team with the best players wins." - Jack Welch

Schedule for this week:        
                                                 SLEEP
                                                   EAT
                                               SCHOOL
                                           RADIO SHOW
                                                 WORK
                                            INTERNSHIP
                                            HOMEWORK

                                      
                                                Repeat.

Things are moving more quickly now than ever before and I couldn't be more excited. I tracked my boss playing banjo for Deer, Daniel's first single. It was nice sitting in the driver's seat. Broderick, who makes beats at the studio, and Jonathon are both in Deer, Daniel so we've been working hands on with that band a lot. I'm having a great time being more creative and I can't wait to work on my music more during Christmas break.

More to come.

"If you surrender to the wind, you can ride it." -Toni Morrison

          This week at Devil's Rope Studios has been a defining moment in the history of accomplishments. We installed our customized console that looks pretty sick, if I do say so myself. We have 4 Equinox boards, 3 of which are 8 channel faders and the the last one is the main control with full touch screen.  Custom building a console/work desk for a happening studio is quite a task. We had to get the ends and support custom cut at a cabinet shop. Then we wood puttied them,  sanded them down and painted them black. Over the armrest of the entire board were running black leather over it, too. Basically, it's awesome. I am such a lucky girl to get to work with such and intelligent amazing people.
          I've  been learning more about Sonar. The program is becoming more farmiliar to me so now it isn't as scary. In a nut shell, we've been busy with 5 or 6 projects a day and working 15 hours isn't something that gives you time to do much else so I'm calling this quits. Business is good!

"Life is a gift, and it offers us the privilege, opportunity, and responsibility to give something back by becoming more." - Tony Robbins

              Innovation, exploration, experimentation and manipulation are all traits that a producer must possess.  I'm so thankful to be learning from a person who has been blessed with all of these things. We've spent the past couple nights laying down vocals, mixing and "melodyne-ing" the already laid tracks and I've been personally working with the singer on vocal lessons and breathing exercises. Last weekend we finished part of Ken Turner's  album and I actually got a chance at the driver's seat. Jonathon had me take charge on tracking one of Ken's songs and THAT is an awesome feeling. I did pretty well too, It's just learning the software through and through. We've also been working with Seven Miles South, a Texas country band who have been working on a full-length album as well. I'll be taking pictures for Ken this weekend and Seven Miles South in the next week or so. Things are rolling quickly and I couldn't be more happy about my current situation. 

              Last night Jonathon and I had a conversation about me sticking around and he said that if things keep going the way they have been, he wants to make me his studio manager. (HUGE DEAL) Things are moving on up and if studio manager thing doesn't happen then I'm sure I'll stick around as an intern anyway. No complaints! :)

"You can't polish a turd." - Randy Ray

        This weekend was spent hammering away at a full album for a local band named Wrecking Romance. Friday was entirely spent on tracking drums and bass. Once everything was laid for both parts, the band realized that one of the more complicated songs had been played wrong. That took another hour to get it right. Saturday was send laying vocals and guitar. This was definitely a smoother process but it definitely takes a lot longer to polish something when the entire band is on a different page. The band decided another time that it needed to change how a song was played so we had to re-track a second song again.
          When a band isn't polished or ready to record in a studio, it definitely makes things difficult in the whole "getting things done" department. Working at a recording studio has made me realize just how prepared you have to be to use your money and time wisely. If you pay for a certain amount of time in a studio and spend it trying to perfect what you should have already known, that's more money out of your pocket. So, I didn't know that this would be included in the package, but I've definitely been learning the financial/business side of owning a recording studio. It's a tough gig.

“If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.” - Isaac Newton

          The past few weeks I have maintained a healthy schedule. Devil's Rope Studios put on a super secret show for a local folk artist that performs by the name of Daniel Fordham. He had written tons of new material lately so he wanted only his closest fans to be present in his first showing. It went off without a hitch. I'm still networking and meeting people left and right. I've definitely improved on my self promotion skills in the sense of being able to sell my person or my show. We have been working with a local christian rapper named Ken and another local rapper named Dreamakid. We've also spent some time with Five Floors Above, Tracking The Monolith and Daniel Fordham in the studio. I'm very impressed with Jonathon's ability to flawlessly jump from genre to genre. He has a gift to make each thing he touches sound completely different and in all of the right ways. I'm learning so much. We've also had so many new pieces of equipment come in lately that we're in tech heaven. Things are definitely looking up for this studio and I couldn't be happier with the relationship that my boss and I have. He is patient, polite and we work very well together.
         So, it's safe to say that I'm having a really nice time getting to know this industry on a deeper level. Career, here I come.