We are currently working on a brand new project with our students called Dynamo Sessions!

Check out the Dynamo Sessions FAQ below!

What:

For these sessions we ask bands to cover a song they love that inspired them to play music or inspired their writing style, (hopefully one most people would know) and arrange/perform the song however they want; acoustic, full band, semi-full band, etc. This could be a song that they just love to play, or it could even be a song that inspired them to become musicians, or whatever else they'd like to cover! They are welcome to arrange their cover of the song similar to the original style or they are can put their own creative spin on the piece. If they prefer to do an acoustic or scaled down version of their own original music, that is fine as well. Whatever works for them works for us!

We record live audio, film the session, snap behind the scenes photos and after 3 takes we all choose which one will be best to keep. Following the session the Dynamo Studios team and students will take the content to create a "live" music video; mistakes, imperfections and all (that way we get a truly unique and live feel/vibe for the video). 

This is a wonderful opportunity for all involved! 1) Students get the opportunity to work with professionals in a very unique and once-in-a-lifetime setting. 2) The artists get the chance to perform something that their audience typically doesn't get to see and thus the band/artist has a unique piece of media to then use to market themselves and further engage their audience. Everybody wins and most importantly, we are all helping make a difference in students' lives!

How long:

Touring bands/artists are busy. We totally understand that, which is why we try to make these sessions as convenient as possible for you and your team! In total, we complete the entire session in only THREE TAKES. Yep, that's right. We just do three takes, and then we are done! This is not an all day affair. Plus it keeps our students in a more "real life, gotta get it done, and gotta get it right" situation.

The equipment will already be set up when the band arrives, so you won't need to worry about extra time for setup or tear down. The duration of these sessions varies, but we always build them around a time frame that works best for you. We can keep your session as short as 20-30 minutes.

Where:

We can set up on site at your venue, a recording studio, or at pretty much any other location that’s convenient for you. Additionally, we will provide transportation for you and the band/artist to and from the production site if needed! 

What does the band/artist get:

After its all done, we provide the band/artist with all collateral media content to post and release to their fans! Film, photos, blogs, student testimonials, etc. It’s all yours!

Switchfoot - hey jude

This was our first attempt at one of these, and gave us the idea of doing a cover song the band loves, as well as working within some limitations. Switchfoot continually told us how much fun they were having "getting to be The Beatles" and running through the song with our students. This is a highlight reel from the day, with voice over from two of our high school students.

Drakeford - I'm Yours

We tried something a little more straight forward for this shoot with local duo Drakeford. Just a one-shot from a single camera on a gimbal. For audio we pulled out two Neumann U87 mics, ran them through a Universal Audio Apollo interface and then we let the natural acoustics and reverb of the abandoned space saturate the recording. Nice and easy.

Spinster - The love cats

Spinster perform a cover of The Love Cats by The Cure in a rather unique setting, a large bathroom. The wonderful ladies of Spinster wanted to incorporate their feline friends in this video and shoot it in a space that would catch peoples’ attention. Our students produced this video with a Universal Audio Apollo interface, a Royer 121 ribbon mic, a Neuman U87 condenser mic, and two different Sony A7sII cameras.

Johnny Balik - Take My Hand

For this video, we shot and recorded everything at the Dead Bird Studio in downtown Chattanooga. We recorded everything through a Universal Audio Apollo interface, an Sm7B mic, and a SM81 mic, and then filmed everything with a single Canon Cinema camera. This final video was three takes compiled together to look like a multi-cam shoot.

El Bandito - Can't help falling in love

To match the energy and liveliness of this band we went with a 4 camera setup, 3 lights and a more detailed recording rig. We wanted to be sure to capture all of the finer details as well as each of the six band members. We filmed this in an old church basement during renovations and packed the guys in with a bunch of cool old junk in the background. All audio was captured using two Universal Audio Apollo 8p interfaces and a number of different mics.

Dynamo Sessions Mobile Production Equipment:

We want to make this a fun and enjoyable experience for the students and artists that we work with, but we also want them to sound incredible, so we bring a plethora of gear and our mobile production rig to support these sessions! If artists or bands need instruments, we have quite a few available. Be sure to let us know what you need ahead of time so that we can make the proper arrangements for your session. Generally, we don’t bring ALL of our gear (because who really wants to carry that much stuff?), but we do always bring more than enough equipment to support whatever the session calls for!

Recording Equipment:

• Apollo 8p Quad Interface x 2 (All sessions are tracked through Universal Audio Apollos)

• The full Universal Audio UAD Plug-Ins library (All sessions are mixed and mastered using UAD Plug-Ins exclusively)

• Shure SM7b Dynamic Mic with Cloud-Lifter Pre x 2

• Neumann U87 Condenser Mic x 2

• Royer 121 Ribbon Mic x 2

• Audio-Technica AT4040 x2

• Shure SM57 x 5

• Mogami Gold XLR Cables

Guitars and Basses:

• Gibson Les Paul Standard (Burst Bucker Pro II pickups)

• Gibson SG Standard (57 Classic neck pickup - and P90 neck pickup)

• Fender Custom Shop Jazzmaster (hardtail bridge and Joe Barden pickups) (American Made)

• Fender Custom Telecaster (Lollar Humbuckers and a Bigsby tremolo) (Mexi Made)

• Fender Stratocaster Standard (Standard Pickups) (Mexi Made)

• Fender Standard Jazz Bass (Custom Shop '60s Jazz Pickups) (American Made)

• Ibanez Custom Made J Craft FR 16-20 Prestige (Custom wound Emg’s) (Japan Made)

Pedals:

Drives and Tone:

• 1981 Inventions DRV OD

• Bondi Effects Sick As OD

• Walrus Audio 385 OD

• Selah Effects Scarlett Love V3 OD

• Jackson Audio Prism preamp pedal

• Ibanez TS9 dx OD

• Walrus Audio Deep Six compressor

• JHS Double Barrel V4

• JHS Super Bolt V2

• JHS Pulp ‘N’ Peel V4

• Barber Electronics Tone Press

Misc Effects:

• Electro-Harmonix Pog 2 octave generator

• Digitech Whammy 5

• Electro-Harmonix Pulsar Variable Tremelo

• Boss Past Shifter PH-3

Cymbals:

• Heartbeat Anthem 15” Hi-Hats

• Heartbeat Percussion Anthem 18” Crash

• Heartbeat Percussion Anthem 20” Crash

• Heartbeat Percussion Anthem 22” Ride

Don’t see it on the list?

Let us know and we will do what we can to secure it before the session!