Screenshot of Sara Runyan's Pro Tools session 

He's a Mad Man was actually my final project for Studio Two! The assignment was to record and mix a song using the skills and techniques we had learned throughout the semester. We had specific requirements we had to meet, such as recording a song that utilized a full band and including at least one electronic instrument. 

We were originally planning on recording members of Griffin's band playing their respective instruments, but busy schedules didn't allow for that, so Griffin ended up playing the majority of the instruments. He's just that talented. He wasn't able to play every instrument, though, so I was very thankful to have the insanely talented Connor Lee play the drums and Andrew Thackeray, also known as Heather Grey, who is a VERY talented musician, play the organ. Speaking of the organ, another major challenge I ran into was that Griffin's song originally didn't have an electronic instrument. Still, since that was a requirement for the project, I had to find a way to include one. Griffin and I threw around some ideas, but we both concluded that an electric organ would serve the song the best. I had never recorded an electronic instrument before, so it took a lot of Googling, asking friends for help, and trial and error to successfully record. In the end, everything went pretty smoothly, and I was working with talented people who made this project fun and easy. 

I really enjoyed mixing this project. I've never had the opportunity to mix a song that I really liked and felt excited about, so I used this opportunity to push myself and try new things. I experimented with lots of delay and reverb on the vocals as well as different compression techniques on the drums. Overall I had a lot of fun working on this project, but hearing it all come together during the mixing process was the most exciting for me. I'm proud of this song and look forward to doing more projects like this in the future.