PennWest students and faculty now have the opportunity to produce, record, and mix original music with Gallagher Studio.
Gregory Davis, Associate Professor of Music at PennWest, is hosting an open studio in Gallagher Hall on Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. along with the help of PennWest California Commercial Music Technology (CMT) students.
Davis is open to working with anyone with musical ideas they don’t know how to express, people with music they want to record, and even entire bands looking to assemble recorded material.
“The sky is the limit with the types of projects we’re working on,” Davis said.
In the past, Davis has helped Justin Hackett, Chair of the Department of Psychology at PennWest, and avid drummer, produce two full-length albums with his bands.
From 2016 to today, Davis has done three complete albums using the studio located in Gallagher Hall.
“What we have here at the university is as close to a professional setup as you would find,” Davis said.
Davis had previously recorded at Gallagher Hall over semester breaks, so this is the first time he is offering his services during the semester.
“I wanted to broaden the audience and let people know, ‘Hey we’ve got this here, come work with me it would be a lot of fun,’” Davis said.
Now that PennWest encompasses three campuses, Davis wanted to make the larger student body aware that these resources are available on California’s campus.
Davis made it clear that students and faculty from California’s sister campuses, Clarion and Edinboro, are encouraged to utilize the equipment and expertise of the open studio if they would like to make the trip.
Davis also said this opportunity to do more recording makes him a better teacher, as he gets to practice this specific craft more.
Davis even uses these recordings as source materials for his classes so he can provide them with some sort of “real-world experiences” within the industry.
“If there were challenges that I encountered with my studio time, I give those as lessons to my students,” Davis said.
Students who have taken all of Davis’ recording courses (juniors or seniors) will occasionally assist him during the setup and tear-down of the open studio.
Third-year CMT student Spencer Gudeman said that having full access to the equipment in Gallagher Hall gives him a better understanding of how each piece of this equipment works.
“It gives students opportunities to record music with commercial grade music equipment that a normal college student would never have the opportunity to use otherwise,” Gudeman said.
According to Davis, there are no limitations to what they’re able to accomplish at Gallagher Hall, as they have the facilities, technology, gear, and people available “to make very high-quality recordings.”
According to Gudeman, each classroom has a wide variety of equipment that can help individuals fulfill their musical goals.
“Gallagher isn’t just for CMT majors. It’s open to anyone who has any sort of interest in making or producing music,” Gudeman said. “Come in with an open mind, ask questions, and don’t get discouraged.”
If interested, please email [email protected] with as much detail as possible about your personal production goals.
