Week 1:

The first thing I learned is that the Pros (users of Pro Tools, that is) don't use auto-tune anymore; instead they use something called Melodyne.

This application is similar in function to auto-tune, but expanded in capability and sensitivity. When using the application, it allows for sound to be recorded and then translated into visible and modular musical score for the producer to make changes to. Keeping in mind musical keys and timing, one can use Melodyne to change both the pitch and timing of a sung musical note once it is translated to musical score.

That's not all either. When I was at George's studio two weeks ago, I observed him using the application and he was even able to change how much vibrato (that shaky sound a singer can put into a sung note) a note had. When he was done working with the artist, the piece he sang sounded pretty different. George had moved the singer's recorded notes around and changed the amount of vibrato on each to make the sound more smooth and less out-of-key.

I was even able to help with this process: the song he was recording was in the key of A Major and I noticed there there was a note he had missed that probably should have been changed to fit the key of A, so I told him which fixed a problem he had been hearing, but was, at the moment, unable to fix. I felt like I was catching on.

I am glad to be working at Luna. I haven't made any music for about four or five months because I have been out of ideas, but being at Luna with George has given me plenty of new ideas with which to work once I start on my own music again. Not to mention, it reminds me that I still have much to learn.

For now, though, I will continue to shadow him as much as possible and continue to observe the processes he is using to make exceptional-sounding work in as much detail as possible!