Santa Cruz, CA (March 15, 2023)—Learning from the pros in any profession is beneficial, but in the recording industry, it’s a time-honored tradition that has made recording education events like renowned producer and engineer Alan Parsons’ ASSR Recording Master Classes so popular. The most recent edition, held in Santa Barbara, CA in early March at the engineer’s ParSonics Studio, saw the engineer behind countless classic rock albums not only share his knowledge but also record the winning entry of an international song contest—and mix it in Dolby Atmos.
A school project by 19-year-old Full Sail Music Production student Steffie Antony Tjandra won the contest and became the focus of the weekend Master Class. “I normally just write music,” said Steffie afterward. “This is the first time I’ve written the melody and the lyrics as well.”
Inspired by the rom-com What If, her moody R&B ballad “I Don’t Want To Fall” was produced for the event. Parsons called it “a great song” and went on to praise TJandra’s studio etiquette after she flew to the master class from Orlando, courtesy of Full Sail.
“She was always decisive about what worked and what didn’t,” said Parsons, “and was very sensitive and complimentary to the vocal performed by the amazing Brandi Rose. The result would not have been the same without her presence at the Master Class.”
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ASSR’s long-established classes provide attendees with insight into how records are made, with a Neve 5088 console and a live tracking session aiding Parsons’ production, with Pro Tools programming skills tackled by his studio sidekick, Noah Bruskin. The session, mixed in Dolby Atmos, also featured ambisonic recording using a Rode NT-SF1 mic and an underwater hydrophone mic from Cetacean Research Technology.
The song search was open to Master Class alumni spanning the event’s 10-year history, plus students enrolled in ASSR’s online recording course and students taking the ASSR video curriculum at Full Sail. In all, 84 submissions were made, from students to music professionals.
