Do you want to be the next Taylor Swift, John Summit, Drake, or even Alessia Cara? Well, the perfect place to start if you don’t have time for a music theory class is the Mixing Club. Whether you are a true beginner and have no knowledge of music, or if you already have a few albums under your belt and just need help mastering the craft, the Mixing Club can assist you in any way.
Most Colby students will never enter the studio. While the Gordon Center opened in late 2023, the studio was not finished until early 2024, and even after, students were not allowed to use the space without proper training. Now that has changed. Located on the basement level of Gordon, the state-of-the-art studio is accessible for any Colby student to use (given supervision from a member of the Mixing Club).
The studio is run by students who previously took a JanPlan course and were tested on all aspects of the studio. They are paid and trained to run sessions for anybody in the Colby community; all that is needed is signing up, made accessible by handy QR codes scattered on posters around campus. This will lead you to a form where you are able to pick a dedicated time slot, usually two to four hours, with a certain student manager. Each manager has their own schedule and specialties, whether a preference for rap and hip hop beats or a knack for folk and the blues. Regardless of their expertise, they are all able to assist students in learning the fundamentals of music production and performance.
Training is one of the real draws to the club. The engineers learned Pro Tools, Ableton, and Logic, and are working on procuring FL Studio. If a student works on a different platform, the managers are able to ask the music department and obtain approval within a week or so. Managers are always willing to teach and mentor students who are interested, and can help explain uncertainties.
The studio is more than just a place to make music, though. “It’s really a hub for student artists to both work together and also learn from each other,” Rafi Aronson `27 said, “And I think that’s very special to have that with institutional support.” There is ample space in the recording room to bring in any instrument, and with the help from managers, it is easily recorded and transcribed.
The Mixing Club is in addition to studio time. Every Monday at 4:30 p.m., students gather in the film screening room bordering the studio to produce a song. Alex Fulton, an instructor of audio engineering and music production, hosts the session.
Fulton picks a track that the audience likes from Spotify or another music-streaming platform, and the group dissects the song together. Aronson, a member of the club and an engineer, says they are taught to ask: “What are the secrets here? What can we learn from that in our own mixes?” One week may be about reverb while the next highlights chord changes.
As the club and studio continue to grow, so does the appetite for music on Colby’s campus. Regardless of current knowledge, I encourage Colby students to sign up for a studio time and try it out. There is no judgment. The studio is a place for growth and discovery.
~ William Maasbach `29
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