A Reader Takes The Challenge

Since wrapping up January’s One Song One Month Challenge I have had a number of you readers email me and drop comments about how much you’ve enjoyed the challenge or were inspired to take on the challenge yourself this month. I am so encouraged to hear this! To me, the challenge has been a huge sucess if it has motivated others to be creative and productive.

Via stu_spivack Flickr

One of my readers, JR, was kind enough to share his final song from the challenge with me and brave enough to allow me to post it here! Here’s a guy who before last month had never as much as touched Pro Tools or used real recording gear. He did a phenomenal job of taking the advice and challenge head on. The result? Major growth in skill and ability (and a great song) in just 4 short weeks!

Below are his thoughts on how this whole experience has gone. Read it, listen to his song, and be inspired! Thanks JR for sharing!

When the One Month, One Song Challenge was introduced I had barely even assembled my new recording setup.  After years of recording my demos using a computer microphone and Sony Vegas movie editing software I was now equipped with gear that I had purchased upon the recommendation of one of Graham’s earlier blog posts.

I forged ahead rocking my new MBox 2 Mini and AT2035 condenser mic and after numerous humbling attempts of trying to record my main guitar part to a click track (a new endeavor to me) I finally had my guitar parts recorded.  I got some quality tracks laid down and auditioned numerous drum loops that came with my Pro Tools software until I had spliced together percussion for the entire song.

After laying down some virtual instruments, vocals, and a bass line, I was able to follow along with Graham’s video and add some delay, EQ, and compression to get a quick mix on what would be my first ever recording using a real set up.

Did I sacrifice more than a few hours of sleep trying to figure out what I was doing till 3 or 4 am some nights?  Sure.  But in those hours I spent messing around attempting to find my way around a completely new system and with the assistance of Graham’s video blogs, I was able to record a song in one month as a complete Pro Tools rookie. I know I’m only scratching the surface but for a first time recording I’m pretty please with how it turned out.

Crazy by JR Mondell

[audio:Crazy.mp3]