Recording in Session: How Chatham Students Produced a Record
William Thomas ’26 adjusts a microphone stand as the folk band Bealtaine waits to record a song. (Courtesy of Dan Eichenbaum)
Some of Chatham University’s music technology students can add a professional production credit to their resumes this year after their class recorded and produced seven songs by a local band.
Dan Eichenbaum is the adjunct professor who teaches the class, which started last year. He knew he wanted to do a recording with a band that had at least three members. Dylan Rooke, a member of the folk band Bealtaine, is a friend of his.
“The whole point was to be able to use as many mics as possible and to get a larger group in the room, so for this last project, we could really tackle more sound at once and see how to balance that,” Eichenbaum said.
So, on a spring day last year, Bealtaine piled into the Founders’ Room to record. Eichenbaum said the project was equal parts a lab and a real recording session.
“The students did most of everything. I kind of supervised to make sure everything was doing what it needed to,” he said.
For students like Dahlia Saenz ’25, who majors in music technology, that meant lots of problem-solving.
“We faced a lot of challenges because we were recording in the Founders’ Room,” said Saenz. But overall, she said, it was an exciting experience.
“It was hard, because we had to use very specific mics, but then we were picking up a lot of things,” Saenz continued. “We were picking up a lot of room noise. The birds outside were a challenge. I think one day, construction was happening outside, which was challenging because we were getting drills and things like that in the recording.”
Altogether the recording sessions, which were spread out over multiple class periods, complemented what was learned during class lectures by giving the students a chance to test their skills in an environment where they’re troubleshooting on the fly.
“Anytime you have a recording session, it’s always a bit of a fishing expedition,” Eichenbaum said. “You can plan for anything, and hope it goes your way, but at some point, the raw recording comes out, and you have to work with that.”
“If we were just doing lecture-type things, speaking for myself, I would not have learned as much,” Saenz said.
Based on the latest crop of student-engineers working with student-musicians, Eichenbaum sees potential for more up-and-coming musicians at Chatham to get a chance to work with the music technology students.
“We’ve got some real talent around here,” said Eichenbaum. “Not just recordings that are being made, but also the student performers.”
And Bealtaine, who ended up naming their record “The Founders’ Room,” is set to return in April for another session with Chatham’s music technology students, who’ll get a professional production credit, just like Saenz and her classmates.
Learn more about Chatham’s music technology program, which shows students everything from sound recording and editing to web design, setting students up for a wide range of careers in the record industry.
You can also explore Chatham’s Bachelor of Music degree at the program’s Academic Visit Day on March 19, 2024.