Today, I had my first production private lesson after reading week with Tom Ionescu. I love taking production lessons because it allows me to practice techniques I have learned in previous classes more closely. Some techniques we are practicing are triggering drum samples, organizing sessions more detailed, and reviewing functions of several plugins such as EQ and compression.

I mentioned to Tom I wanted to start building up my toolbox of plugins and samples. He suggested that I download a plugin call XO by XLN audio. He showed it to me in real time, and explained that it serves as a hard-drive scanner to locate all of your plugins. This could be a handy tool because it could save you time spent searching for the right snare or kick sound. 

He also looked at my percussion part that I created for the third tune of my D.S. project. He said the percussion part was well crafted, but suggested separating each element into different tracks. This would help the mixing engineer be able to create specific gestures for each element, such as panning the cowbell further back in the soundstage, or adjusting the level so that it doesn’t overpower the other elements in the mix.

I was excited for this coming Sunday, as we were playing a few Mountain Springs classics. These included “House of the Lord” by Phil Wickham, “I Speak Jesus”, “Firm Foundation”. We also added a new song called “Holy Forever”. I made sure I was ready by charting out the forms as I usually do. I also needed to prep the other set of songs that I was going to play for the Hub service on Sunday evening.