By WESLIE STRATTON
Moapa Valley Progress
Mack Lyon Middle School band and orchestra groups traveled to Disneyland last weekend to record with professional musicians for an animation soundtrack.
“They’ll take us into a studio and all of the students put on headphones,” MLMS orchestra teacher Walter White said prior to the trip. “Directed by an internationally renowned clinician that leads them through sightreading (a Disney number), usually an animation.”
White said that after students sightread the selected music, they are given a brief rehearsal prior to recording and laying down a soundtrack. This recording is later combined with animation.
“The group turns out to supply the music to all the motion and dialog for the animation,” he said.
MLMS band teacher Justine Crawford said that students are prepared for this experience from the time they are in sixth grade.
“We have to prepare them,” she said. “They have to sightread, they go in and get a piece of music they have not practiced. They work with a conductor for about 15 minutes.”
Crawford said that in past years the students have recorded popular animations soundtracks. This year students performed and recorded clips from the Disney Logo Theme, When You Wish Upon A Star, The Lion King and more.
“The kids get to be performing artists. They get to see the finished product,” she said. “Timing is everything. From start to finish it takes about two hours.”
White said that throughout the session the clinician tells students about the business of recording music professionally.
“It’s a fun experience,” he said. “It’s inspiring too because the students get to realize what some of the possibilities are with their instruments.”
Crawford said that students gain an understanding of the career choices available to them.
“It’s a real life perspective,” she said. “You could still play an instrument and make money and have a day job.”
She said that students learn to understand that if they stick with their musical talents and continue to develop them that recording is an available option.
Aside from the workshop the students got to enjoy a vacation with friends.
“There’s a lot more for them to do beyond the workshop because they got a two-day park hopper pass and went between Disneyland and the California Adventure park,” White said. “They were in the park essentially all day on Friday. Then Friday afternoon they began their workshop experience.”
White reported that the group experienced a rainy Disney experience on Friday. “A little rain doesn’t stop a determined group,” White said. Plus the rain benefitted in producing shorter lines to more popular rides. he said.
Friday night the students had a pool party and stayed overnight in a hotel prior to spending all of Saturday in the parks as well.
“Most of us went to see the big light show that they do at the very end,” White said, adding that the kids loaded onto a bus for the drive home following the light show on Saturday night. They travelled all night long and arrived home at around 5:30 am on Sunday morning.
Crawford said that the trip is three years in the making for most students.
“It rewards kids who have been with the program for three years,” she said. “Commitment is a big deal, especially for a school that offers so many electives. Without the kids we wouldn’t have the program so it’s also a thank you.”
