By Konnor Newton, Student Journalist
Late into the night in NESCom’s studio D, a veteran audio engineer meticulously adjusts the levels on a three second clip of drum track. The clip loops over and over, the minute tweaks to the sound seem to have no impact on the repetitive noise being pumped from the speakers; atleast to the untrained ear. Meanwhile the guy manning the soundboard is honing in on a precise auditory feel. That guy is Garett Lubow, a senior live sound student at NESCom. He’s completing some of the final tracking elements on They Called Me Legion’s full length album. Lubow says the pressure is on to make sure the every song on the album sounds just right.
“This is it for me, this is gonna be the project I get to work on in this studio and it’s pretty much gonna be my resume.”
They Called Me Legion is a punk/rock group with a very raw, garage band type of sound. Which has proven to be a bit of a challenge to mix according to Lubow. He’s looking to maintain the grittiness the band produces during a live show, complete with vocal imperfections and ill timed instruments juxtaposed with creating a polished, studio quality album. Along with working toward his goals as producer Lubow, works to keep a line of communication open with the band. A necessary element of producing that comes with its share of difficulties.
“It puts the pressure on for sure, these guys are all about getting the album out right now. They’re fine with it sounding as dirty as possible, and I want that too, to an extent. But I’m also like; ‘look guys, my name is gonna be on this…’ which in the audio world, above all; is all you got.” Says Lubow.
He credits his audio engineering skills to the hands on experience and insight from professionals in the field he’s received here at NESCom as well as Landmark College in Putney Vermont. He says NESCom provides students with just the right amount of freedom and guidance, to where they’re in the driver’s seat and are able to make mistakes and deviate in whatever way they see fit, but if they get too turned around there’s always someone available to get them back on track. Lubow explains, “This isn’t a field where there’s one right way of doing things and you can sit in a room and be told exactly what that way it. You’ve gotta just get in there and do it.”
The album is due out by the end of the month. For more information on the release check out: https://www.facebook.com/TheyCalledMeLegion/?fref=ts. Also, if you are interested in the audio engineering program at the New England School of Communications, visit: http://nescom.husson.edu/audio-engineering-program
