Knoch students excited about, appreciate recording studio
JEFFERSON TWP — A small space at Knoch Middle School is a big hit with students.
Two small rooms off the school's library have been transformed into a recording studio, complete with a mixing board, video camera, soundproofing, microphones, headphones, acoustic panels, green screen, various musical instruments and more.
Brent Russell, who teaches music and media arts at the middle and high schools, secured grants from the Knoch Knights Legacies Foundation and Lowe's at Pittsburgh Mills Mall to get the $5,500 needed to install the studio.
He said singers, musicians and students who want to learn audio and visual recording or sequencing use the new studio, which replaces the small space Russell had in his classroom for some of those purposes.
“A lot of kids want to do live stuff and we never had the location to do it without disturbing our neighbors,” Russell said.
He used the knowledge of professionals at Tonic Studios in McKeesport to outfit the room, which contains numerous instruments donated by Russell and others.
The project was completed about a month ago, he said.
While many students play an instrument or sing as another student records, the most popular use of the studio is recording segments for the Knoch News.
“The kids want to get in there and use the equipment,” Russell said.
Jake Santora, an eighth-grader at the middle school, is hoping to shoot and edit footage for newscasts that will be emailed to faculty and staff.
“It's going to be a whole new area for us to explore and shoot video in,” Jake said.
He hopes his experience in the recording studio will help him achieve his dreams.
“I would love to become an actor and director when I grow up and go to Hollywood and do film,” Jake said.
He also appreciates Russell's efforts in making the studio a reality at the middle school.
“He's always been such an awesome teacher,” Jake said. “I can't thank him enough for giving us this opportunity to have a wider experience of doing video for our school.”
Aaron Butler, a Knoch High School freshman, said he comes to the middle school recording studio to work the soundboard while others play an instrument, sing or record a video.
A pianist who has written a handful of songs, Aaron prefers recording for other musicians in the studio.
He has been teaming with his classmate, guitarist Connor Mitchell, since the studio's completion.
“If I mess up, he makes me do it again, or if I feel I can do better, I'll do it over,” Connor said of the pair's collaboration in the studio.
Connor also hopes the studio will boost his chances of achieving his post-high school goals.
“In the future, I would like to go into the music production and music recording industry,” he said. “If you think of something you want to record, you can just come here and do it.”
Connor said many teachers do not encourage creativity, but the opposite is the case in Russell's classes.
“He's always been like, 'Go for it and do it,'” Connor said.
Russell said district maintenance personnel Jeff Andring, Michael Duncan and others built the studio.
“They were phenomenal,” Russell said. “I couldn't have done it without them.”
He said many more uses are planned for the studio as technology advances.
“The sky's the limit,” he said.
