Recording Artist

When Gerrit and I ran into a roadblock on our current project (more on that another time), we visited a ward member, Matt, in hopes of some guidance. We got a little advice, then Matt talked to us about his own projects as an amateur composer and recording engineer, which recently led to a fun experience for Afton.

Matt spent several months converting one of his basement bedrooms into a recording studio. He describes it as a room within a room. There is an extra layer of sheet rock, then layers of acoustic foam. There is extra glass over the window and thick curtains. There are even two doors — one opens out and the other in. Matt says someone could be mowing his lawn and you wouldn’t know it in that room.

We chatted about some of his composition projects, and my brief time as a music major, sound recording emphasis, at BYU. I mentioned that I hoped Afton would keep up with her piano playing so we could have a musician in the family, and Matt volunteered to record her playing if she had some songs she was working on.

I wasn’t sure if he was just being nice, or if he really wanted to do that, but he got in touch a few weeks later and asked when we’d be ready. Afton had been practicing a couple of songs for Festival (wherein a pianist performs for some judges to get feedback and a skill rating), so we took those into the studio.

Matt was very patient with Afton’s occasional mistakes and slightly less than metronome-perfect timing. After a little post-processing, he sent us the following tracks, which we now share for your enjoyment.

Let’s Go on Vacation

Green Frog Hop

(Hear some of Matt’s more serious work on his new YouTube channel).