Music Labs San Francisco

The 2006 Red Bull Music Labs (RBML) tour came full circle this weekend, concluding in the “City by the Bay” where the traveling music production workshop launched in 2004. From November 29 through December 3, ten aspiring musicians spent five days living and breathing music at the “Big House” in the Mission district in San Francisco. In the huge two-story apartment complete with a lounge, full kitchen, pool table, two recording studios and a 1,400 square foot lab, participants were given the tools and knowledge necessary to succeed in the music industry today.

Home to RBML founder and co-instructor DJ Lorin Ashton (aka Bassnectar), San Francisco’s free thinking atmosphere and love for the arts served as the perfect foundation for the labs. Ashton and co-instructor Craig Russo challenged eager students to master REASON music software in just five short days, providing them with the skills needed for studio production, sound synthesis, song building, remixing, live performance and hybrid DJing.

“I have some music production experience, but I relish the chance to learn more - especially software production techniques, and I think the creative atmosphere of the Red Bull Music Labs might inspire me to kick it up a notch,” said participant Erik Mekkelson. “I’ve done a few things that I’m pretty happy with, but nothing close to what I think I have in me, and creating music with the most cutting-edge technology available has become one of my highest priorities.”

Beyond the technical skills needed to create music, the labs also educated participants on the business aspects of the music industry. Saturday afternoon the students were engaged by guest lecturer Paul Anthony, founder of Rumblefish, a Portland-based music identity company. Anthony informed students of the rules and regulations of copyright, composition and publishing, enabling them to protect themselves and their music.

This lecture was especially relevant to student Kyle Hailey. “Composing my own pieces is attractive to me, but I feel a huge desire to highlight what I see in music and seamlessly weave it together into a new and different story.”

The participants were also given the opportunity to hear Chris Smith speak. Smith, producer of Om Records, a San Francisco based record label specializing in electronic dance music, discussed the evolution of the music industry and the influences it has on musicians today.

With twenty-six hours left to finish their tracks before unveiling them to family and friends, few had begun recording their tracks. Feeling the pressure, participants were looking at a long night ahead with little time for breaks. Depending on Red Bull for energy and concentration, and each other for creative feedback and inspiration, the students worked into the early hours of the morning.

The tracks were completed by the late afternoon on December 3rd, and the ten went home to refresh before the public debut. Returning to the studio that night, the participants found their workstations transformed into a hip after-hours lounge. That night the students got the high of their life, hearing their tracks blasted from the speakers of a crowded room.