A student at LiVEJAM music school’s studio using the state-of-the-art recording facilities — now available to the general public. KEN TAKAGI
LiVEJAM, the music school for teenagers, recently launched a recording service so that anyone who has ever wanted to record themselves singing, or produce a demo tape for their band, can now do so.
LiVEJAM is offering musicians a chance to record themselves and their band live in a professional quality rehearsal studio. Musicians can also take advantage of the option to record each instrument separately, known as multi-track recording, then later mix and edit the recording. This is quite an intense experience — six microphones are used to record the drums alone!
LiVEJAM also offers many other fun ways to get involved in recording activities. Musicians and singers can take instrumental or karaoke versions of their favourite songs and record themselves singing using music composition software (such as ProTools or GarageBand). After that, background vocals and other instruments can be added to enhance the recording.
After the recording is finished, the editing and mixing begins. Editing options are unlimited, but typically a compressor is used to smooth out the dynamics of the voice and to blend it in with the instrumental background. Also, effects such as auto-tune can be added to the voice to make it sound like some of the current pop stars. When the mixing and mastering of the song is completed, musicians can produce a CD, or even record a video and produce a music video.
This service is available to the general public, and is not restricted to LiVEJAM students only. Interested parties may also like to find out about the school’s music composition/digital music course and learn more about recording. See http://www.livejam.co.jp/english for more details. — KEN TAKAGI
