Bedroom producing has become all the rage these days. The rapid advancement of music production technology allows musicians access to less expensive programs and tools, sparking a Renaissance of sorts.
Artists like Hundred Waters and III Bones got their start in Gainesville by rounding up their limited resources and writing ambitious songs that put them under a national spotlight.
Jordan Burchel, a UF graduate and current law firm employee, hopes to join their ranks with his latest album “Mood Swing.” An indie/folk hybrid, “Mood Swing” was entirely produced by Burchel in his bedroom over the last three years.
“I’ve spent a long time learning how to engineer records on my own, and while I’m far from a professional, I was able to get an OK sound for this project,” Burchel said.
Burchel utilized his MacBook, an electric and acoustic guitar, an amp, a drum set, a keyboard, a Rode NT1-A Condenser microphone, an Electro-Voice RE20 and an apogee duet two-channel interface to produce “Mood Swing.”
“I started writing and recording my own songs when I was 13,” Burchel said.
The young musician cites Kanye West, Wilco, The Velvet Underground and Johnny Cash as his biggest musical inspirations.
Burchel’s use of plug-ins through the program Logic Studio to achieve a fully enriched sound bears testament to the critical role technology now plays in music production.
“Contemporary technology enabled the creation of the album, most notably the laptop computer and the abundance of quality analog-modeled plug-ins out there,” Burchel said.
He also highlights the way artists can produce without direction in the bedroom, something that can’t be replicated in a studio that charges by the hour.
Without the wealth of music production tools at his disposal, Burchel may not have been able to create “Mood Swing” at all.
Less expensive technology available on a laptop seems like a no-brainer for college students who are hungry for musical expression. The advent of websites like bandcamp.com also helps musicians promote their work to a larger audience and gain exposure.
“Once consumer-grade computers grew powerful enough to run DAW software and plug-ins, we started getting lonely people making music in their bedrooms like me,” Burchel said.
“Mood Swing” is currently available for purchase at jordanburchel.bandcamp.com/album/mood-swing for $3.
[A version of this story ran on page 9 on 7/10/2014 under the headline "UF grad debuts bedroom-born album"]
