I received a call early into the Fall 2009 semester by Chris Haseleu, chair of MTSU's recording industry department, asking if I would be interested in playing B3 on a track for a group of graduate students he was involved with. From my previous experiences working for Chris as a producer, engineer, musician, and session leader, I was excited to be asked back for more.

He emailed me an mp3 demo and a Nashville number chart to illustrate the arrangement and style that songwriter Dean Hall was looking for.

The song was recorded in MTSU's Studio B on September 17, 2009.

While loading out after finishing my session with the first group of grad students, I was stopped by another group in Studio A who had heard my playing from across the hall. They asked if I would be interested in playing on their project as well. By the time I got involved with their project, preliminary tracking was finished and I overdubbed my part in about half an hour.

They chose to cover "I Won't Back Down", Tom Petty's first single from his multi-platinum debut solo album Full Moon Fever. Recorded in MTSU's Studio A on September 24, 2009.

I produced and engineered this track as an assignment for an introductory recording course at Middle Tennessee State University in the Spring of 2009. This particular class, RIM 4400, develops understanding of techniques and technology in modern multitrack recording and mixing.

The entire production was tracked, overdubbed, edited, and mixed in MTSU’s studios D and E, which were designed to accommodate beginning recording courses. The control rooms are each equipped with a digital Sony DMXR100 console and Macintosh-based Pro Tools|HD2 workstation.

The class was split into partners of two, who were responsible for booking studio time and finding talent, in addition to producing and engineering the project. After working together for the duration of the semester, my partner and I made separate mixes of our project to hand in as our own.

I utilized advanced editing skills learned from previous classes to pocket the rhythm instruments to correct for timing and to comp and tune the vocals for the best possible performance.

My final mix was the only one to be selected by my professor to represent his class at Listening Night, which is held at the end of each semester.