He has a Heart for Music

I'm really beginning to love Sundays. I suppose I've always loved Sundays, but lately I have been getting to spend the afternoon to myself while Alex (my husband) has been recording some clients. So I get to sit here, relax, listen to the sound of the rain and the same guitar riffs over and over again. And you know what? It doesn't get old. For one, I know he is doing something that he loves, and that brings me so much joy. Secondly, I get some me time, and these days I don't get a lot of that.

Alex has been trying to start up a recording studio for a few years now. Over the last couple of months things kind of just came together for him. He has been learning and studying this stuff on his own (at least more seriously) for the past three years. Before that he ran the sound booth at the church we were going to, and he has always had a really good ear for making everything sound good and well "mixed".

Alex and Jordan

What I really wanted to share about is his heart for the whole thing. For those that don't know my husband (or at least not as well as I do), he is such a genuine guy and truly has such good motives in whatever he does. Never trying to manipulate people or do anything out of selfishness. Of course he is human, and has his selfish desires at times, but he is quick to see his errors and correct his attitude or behavior. And, he has the same attitude towards his studio. He never wants to take advantage of anyone or force them to work with him if they have a better option, or just one that suits them better. For me, the most amazing thing has been to see the values that him and his studio partner, Jordan, have set in place for their studio. All they really want is to get albums that sound exactly like the clients want them to, and if they aren't happy with the results, they will keep tweaking things until it is perfect. This seems pretty basic, but from the little I have seen being exposed to the music scene, that isn't something everyone is offering (even though they may say it is).

To anyone who is interested to know what I am talking about I will explain a little more, but if you don't care you can just skip this paragraph:
To put it simply, everyone likes certain genres of music or styles of music. Even if you don't know it you might even like one style of recording better than another. I know that some people say they like everything, but they probably still have an ear for certain things. Some things can sound similar but still be in different genres. For example there are many different types of pop music, like country pop, indie pop, pop rock, christian pop. They are all vastly different but they have the same types of instrument sounds that make them distinct from other styles of music. Anyways, when you do recordings you have to be completely unbiased, and if you aren't it can affect the way the album or song turns out. If an engineer isn't listening to what the artist wants their song to sound like, they can just do a bunch of editing to make it sound like something they would listen to. It is sad, and I have heard of some record labels manipulating bands into recording with them because they offer them equipment, gigs, and money. Sometimes the end result can be devastating for the band, and if they don't want to do what the record label says they have to completely abandon their band name and all the songs that they have worked so hard to write and start from scratch (because they sign all their rights over to the record label.
It is hard enough to start a band, get a following, without people trying to manipulate you.

I'm not writing this to promote my husbands business, he can do that on his own, way better than I can. It is just cool watching them try to do something different, like actually having morals and values be the backbone of their business. I know there are other studios out their like this and those make me happy too. I'm not a huge part of the music scene, other than enjoying listening to it, so it has been cool to see what bands go through to pursue something they enjoy so much. Usually they still end up having to work, just like the rest of us. But, sometimes they make it big, and thats a really cool thing to witness. :)

By the way, the band they are currently recording is Foxtrot, you can check out their facebook page. My husbands studio page is Audio Lab and their band The Beardsmen has some samples of the recordings they've done together. Feel free to check them all out.