Haliburton’s young musicians were engrossed around a large computer screen as their sound took on new life through an audio mixer May 22.
The Haliburton County Youth Hub has been hosting a free music mixing and recording course every Wednesday in May.
Participants were taught how to create audio samples and new songs by mixing them on specialized computer software.
Guitarist Evan Bull said he has enjoyed the workshops and joined them to help further his musical career.
“I thought it would give me an edge against other people because the way music’s going, computers are becoming so much more relevant,” Bull said. “It’s just being able to make music out of anything.”
Workshop instructor Nicholas Russell said the youth hub is facilitating various workshops like this at the request of its young patrons.
Russell said the technical skills are great.
“It’s a very valuable skill set to have if you want to be able to share your music with people,” he said. “Everybody’s really motivated and very enthralled and we’re just learning as we go and exploring the product.”
“In terms of whether the finished product will be a top-20 hit? Maybe, maybe not. We don’t know but we do know we’ll learn some stuff in the meantime,” he added.
The course has also shown students how to record samples using Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) and build a song from the ground-up with the software.
Braeden Sharp, a drummer with the local band The Bones of Jim Jones, said the course has helped them towards releasing their first album.
They are planning to put something out this summer with the skills they’ve learned.
“It’s been great. Actually, learned a lot,” Sharp said. “We’re definitely going to use it, definitely get recording.”
Bull said as a solo artist, the mixing and sampling will be vital for him to try and create his own music.
“I’m a one-man band with the help of computers,” Bull said. “This opens people’s eyes to the world of music behind the scenes.”
