Moore was a 21 -year-old college student and musician when he applied to our program in September of 2006.
"For the last year I have been studying audio engineering in greater depth. I’ve worked very hard for the last two summers in order to raise the money for the small studio I have put together. Most of what I have learned in audio is a result of the extensive amount of time I have invested in trying to create the best possible recordings I can from my home studio."
BIO
September 21, 2006
An Autobiography
Although I could write an autobiography from a number of different perspectives, there would always be one constant, one twisted thread running throughout the narrative: music. It has impacted every aspect of my life. I guess I could say that music has been the light which when shone on those random and seemingly meaningless events in my life has turned them into a beautiful concentric pattern.
I was born in Aspen, Colorado on May 16, 1985, the first child born into an extended and rather eccentric family. I lived and went to school in the Roaring Fork Valley for the first eighteen years of my life. I spent some of my most formative years at the Aspen Community School. ACS was carefully placed at the top of a mesa in the rural town of Woody Creek, a half hour’s drive from downtown Aspen. George Stranahan, an extraordinary man, whom I adore, founded this elementary school in the early sixties as an alternative to the stifling public school system.
One of my defining memories as a child was playing the guitar at the Stranahan house. George walked in, picked up his Martin and stated jamming with me (if you can call it that). He said, “You know Moore, “I’m a jerk and you’re a jerk, but we make some fine music together.” I was in paradise.
The Community School was based on the principle that children learn their most important life skills through play. The school placed its emphasis on students strengths as opposed to their weaknesses. The school building was built almost entirely of wooden logs and had a scout tower at the top of it that swayed when the wind blew hard enough. I’m sure that our community school broke all the building codes in the book.
Like any progressive school worth its salt, ACS placed music and the arts at the center of its curriculum.I doubt there could have been another school more perfect for me. I started playing guitar when I was in 6th grade. I loved to sing and picked up guitar to accompany my voice. I knew my voice was terrible then, but still I enjoyed singing. I have always loved performing due to the drama program at ACS.It taught me to love the spotlight. Around this time I was very angry and began writing songs as a way to release my emotions. I had no intention of showing my songs to anyone back then. I didn’t care if they were any good, it was just a way for me to let go of the grief and anger I couldn’t escape.
My best friends and I formed our first band in 7th grade. We’d have practice at my house as much as my mother would tolerate it. We loved covering Nirvana songs. When a song was too difficult for us to play, we would just change the rhythm. We played for dances once in awhile at schools. I can say with confidence that we were the worst band I have ever heard. For whatever reason, the student body still loved it every time we played.
Entering the Colorado Rocky Mountain School (CRMS) as a high school freshman rocked my self-confidence cataclysmically.I entered having never taken a test, much less an exam, and had major gaps in basic school subjects. The CRMS music program saved me. Other than sports, it was the one area in which I excelled.George Weber, the music teacher, was known to give A’s rarely, but I got A’s. I loved my friends, I loved my teachers, but music saved my sanity.
My friends and I began to take our music very seriously right around the time we began our first year at CRMS.We practiced constantly paying more attention to technique. We also had music class together which incorporated music theory and the discipline that that entailed.The music program at CRMS was unique for the reason that it was not only theory. Much of the time it was jam sessions with everything from a full drum kit, to guitars, to pianos.
Eventually George formed the advanced music group consisting of our garage band plus a few other music students. Our school band became known as the most talented in the valley. We studied and played everything from classic jazz to fully distorted rock. We won the high School “Battle of the Bands” for four years straight with a fraction of the resources available to the Aspen High School. In 2000 my friends and I had a clash. They expressed to me that they weren’t interested in the kind of music I wanted to play any more. I wanted to play blues and light rock while the rest of the band was more interested in punk and metal. It hurt my feelings a lot, but I understood it.
This was a difficult time for me because my best friend, Al Bauer, who was more talented than I, replaced me in the band as the front man. The situation was very depressing for me, but as a result I began to focus on my own acoustic sound and returned to writing music on my own.
In the summer of 2001 I decided music was what I wanted to do with my life. I made this decision after completing an apprenticeship with Steve Skinner at Flying Dog Studios. Steve’s studio was small, but very professional. For the first few days he explained how equipment worked and how to use it. He taught me just the very basics of Pro Tools and about the importance of adjusting preamp signals properly. He let me do some recording of my own in the studio which only served to keep me up at night thinking about how I could make my recordings better. It was a great intro to audio engineering and I’m very grateful for the opportunity he gave me.
In the fall of ‘03 I became a student at The Evergreen State College where I am today. Evergreen has been a wonderful opportunity for me. It has given me the time, the space, and the tools to pursue the things I love, my main focus being music. I have studied much more then music at Evergreen, but have found that I apply music to all aspects of my studies in order to simplify them for my self.For the last year I have been studying audio engineering in greater depth.
I’ve worked very hard for the last two summers in order to raise the money for the small studio I have put together. Most of what I have learned in audio is a result of the extensive amount of time I have invested in trying to create the best possible recordings I can from my home studio.
Time went by, and my friends and I, with a few additions, began playing together again. It was the most fun I had ever had. We would start playing music at four in the afternoon, and wouldn’t stop till four the next morning. Everyone had something special they brought to the group. I wasn’t as musically advanced as some of my friends at that point, but it didn’t matter. It was just about having fun. It was great for me because during the time playing alone I had begun to put more focus on songwriting and had neglected the importance of timing, and musical articulation. Playing with my friends again put me back on track with these things, and as a result my songwriting took a tremendous leap.
My exploration of both audio and music has helped me discover a beauty in the world and in myself that I was never before aware of. In the span of my lifetime, music has taught me to understand that there is a language beyond words. Something that is just understood. What I am referring to goes well beyond music.
Audio recording provides an opportunity for me to document and communicate some of what that is.
5/14/2007
I just wanted to give you an update and let you know that things couldn't be going better at Foundry studios. Pierre has shown more devotion to my development and learning then I could ask for.
He has brought up the idea of having me become a member of the studio by paying a small contribution to the monthly rent. This will allow me to have access to the studio for my own personal use, and even enable me to book a paying artist once in awhile.
As always, thanks for your support. Hit me back when you get a chance.
Sincerely, Moore
May 25, 2007
I’ve started writing in my journal again. Things are going very well at this point. Pierre gave me a pro tools session to mix of a very loud rock group that we recorded last week. I am struggling with It a little as there’s not a whole lot of low end in the bass due to the nature of this style of music. It’s a new challenge for me, as most of what I’ve worked on thus far has been singer/songwriter type stuff. Pierre recently showed me a technique he uses for gating a kick drum, which I’m excited about. It’s going to take some time before I can apply it to my mixes as well as he does.
June 27, 2007
Today we put a new floor in the control room of the studio, which really improved both the sound and over all atmosphere of the room. It was really surprising to me how much it changed the sound for the better. Listening environment is something I have always over looked to some degree. Pierre mentioned today that sometimes people blame bad monitoring on their monitors themselves, when often it’s there listening environment that is causing the problems they are hearing.
July 28, 2007
Pierre seemed a bit frustrated with me today as I routed a few lines wrong. Some of it has to do with the fact that I just need more experience in the studio. There is also the side to it that inputs 6 and 9 running from the live room to the control room are extremely easy to confuse as they look so similar.
August 15, 2007
I picked up a demo project of my own that I’m going to record down at the studio. It’s very basic singer/songwriter stuff. It’s a paying gig so I’m a little nervous. I do feel like I am in a good place to start doing simple projects like this one on my own. It feels good to know I will finally be putting what I have been learning to use.
December 8, 2007
I fell off board with the journaling a bit. Part of that was due to the fact that things have been slow around the studio, which has given me some time to work on recording some of my own music. It’s been an interesting and sometimes comical. I have to guess on where all my levels are at from outside the control room. I have to hit record, then run in to the live room where my mics and guitar are set up. When you are recording your own music this way a click track is essential especially when doing overdubs.
January4, 2008
Pierre mentioned today that I need to start preparing for my final test. Tests scare me, which is why I chose to approach my learning through an apprenticeship. I just don’t test well. On the other hand I do feel good about where I am at, and feel I know everything I should know at this stage of my career plus some. I just hate tests.
March 6, 2008
I finished my written test with Pierre, which I think I did very well on and have just started my own project with a reggae band. Yesterday was the first time I had ever worked with a band of that size on my own. There was a lot of anxiety for me in the beginning but I relaxed as the session went on. I struggle with headphone mixes when working with bands that size. Over all the first day of tracking went great! Everyone in the band was talented which always helps the recording process to go more smoothly.
April 5, 2008
I’m having a difficult time understanding what the hell bit rate is a representation of. It’s difficult to get a straight answer on this one from anyone.Obviously the higher the bit rate the more definition you are going to have in your sound because there is more information captured. Okay, great I understand that. But what is it doing?
April 8, 2008
I figured what bit rate is referring to. It’s somewhat complicated.Bit rate refers to the length of a digital word. A 16 bit word is obviously shorter then a 24 bit word resulting less accurate representation of amplitude. The longer the digital word, the more values available to your DAW in how it measures the amplitude of given sample. In short using a higher bit rate will provide more potential for wider dynamic range in your mix. Getting a clear explanation of this is very difficult. This was one of those things that I had to figure out on my own as I was unclear on it the first time Pierre and I went over it months ago.
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