A six-credit hour class spent the summer recording two local bands' full-length albums within the David Letterman Communication and Media Building's second floor recording studios.
Telecommunications professor Stan Sollars designed the immersive learning class that would give TCOM students the experience of recording a band in a state-of-the-art studio. This summer, Sollars recruited electro-rock band Rocketbot and "hard-charging," alternative-rock group Apsara to spend three weeks in the studio, recording a full-length album of original material.
"We teach them to use recording technology to tell stories," Sollars said.
A strong believer in the storytelling capabilities of music, Sollars used examples to teach participants in the program how a story is told within a song. Sollars wanted his students "to take the drums and the vocals and the strings and the horns to communicate feelings and ideas as one voice."
"In the recording world, we then relay that voice," he said.
Both Rocketbot and Apsara were chosen for the program, based on prior work they had done with Sollars. Neither had recorded a full-length album before, though. While both bands were thankful for the recording opportunity, bumps in the road were somewhat exposed in the program's second year of existence.
"I thought it was a really great and noble idea, but I think in execution there's a lot of kinks that need to be worked out," said Scott Archer, lead guitarist for Rocketbot. "I learned a lot in the way of patience."
In an attempt to make the recording process faithful to that of a professional studio experience, Sollars put time constraints on the recording, which proved to be an obstacle for Rocketbot's seven-piece lineup.
"Time constraints were another problem, but I think if we were a four-piece band it wouldn't have been a problem," Archer said. "I guess we should have established how many instruments we were going to be recording and how we would probably need more time to get everything perfect."
Sollars said Rocketbot's thick layers of instrumentation proved to be a lot for the students to handle at times.
"Rocketbot has a very highly produced sound. Some of the songs required 55 to 65 tracks to record. It really tested the audio students to keep up with that," he said.
Rocketbot's layering sometimes created confusion, so the band members would often have to fix certain tracks themselves. Archer said that this added stress could have been avoided if an expert would have been in the studio with the students monitoring their work.
Nick Rapley of Apsara said his band's recording experience went quite smoothly.
"For the most part, we learned how to go about doing professional style recording," he said. "There's something to be gained by everyone in this process."
Rapley recognized that this class was originally supposed to turn into a Ball State record label, called Frog Baby Records. The label was supposed to serve as a foundation for Muncie's music scene to grow and develop.
"It was always in an infant stage," Rapley said. "There were plans to do more like physical distribution. The intent was to actually have a label."
He said he wishes there were more all-ages venues around Muncie, especially in the Village.
"The university has its eyes closed to the understanding that [a local music scene] benefits everyone," he said. "As of right now, they aren't seeing the benefit of any of that and it's really frustrating."
Rapley said he believes a university-sponsored record label would not even have to pay its bands. Instead, promotion through on campus organizations like WCRD and the Ball State Bookstore would serve as a better reward.
"Bands should be viewed almost as the equivalent to sports teams, especially ones that are assigned to the Summer Immersion Program," Rapley said. "There's a lot of good music around here, and I think the university could play a crucial role in making it be heard."
Despite their objections to bits and pieces of the program, both bands are thankful for the opportunity they were given.
"We've already gained an album out of the experience that we're very proud of," Archer said. "Hopefully, people hear it and enjoy it which will be great for the program. It's really a give and take sort of thing, which is why I think it's such a positive program. Even if our experiences were somewhat frustrating, we're very grateful."
Senior telecommunications major Adam Mann, who helped with the recording, said the program was beneficial.
"If people want to do that [music] for a living, then I urge them to take part in the program," he said.
Both bands expect to release their finished albums later this year or towards the start of next year.
"As a band, you'll definitely get a solid recording out of it," Rapley said.
For more information on the bands, visit myspace.com/meetapsara for Apsara and facebook.com/rocketbot for Rocketbot.
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