The project is a complete 12-hour studio experience at The Tracking Room, one of Nashville’s premier recording studios, and is designed to simulate an actual master recording session.
Producer-director of The Ultimate Recording Project, Vinnie Ciesielski, instructed students in studio protocol, assisted by recording engineers and area musicians.
Ciesielski presented the ensemble with a composition they had not previously rehearsed, with the intention to record it while sight-reading.
Alan Wyatt, ensemble director and assistant professor of music at Lee, asserted the caliber of musicianship required for professional studio recording; “In studio recording, professional musicians are expected to play whatever is handed them correctly on the very first try.”
Curtis Nichols, a senior saxophone performance major at Lee, participated in the project. “This experience was a wonderfully unique opportunity to learn about what it takes to be a studio musician. To be successful in that career, you have to apply what you learn from individual experiences as opposed to what you study in a book,” said Nichols.
The students also recorded several compositions which they had been rehearsing, including some small jazz combo works by Paula Archer-Wyatt.
The ensemble plans to use selected tracks from the day’s recording for the formation of their next CD release later this year.
