On September 29th, IARecords, the Institute of Audio Research’s indie record label, released the student compilation album, Fluid. This is the first compilation of songs released by IARecords which highlights the achievements of our students in electronic music production. The songs are the product of student collaboration in the last two quarters of their MIDI Applications and advanced ProTools computer classes.

Some of the students came into the school with no previous musical experience, and most did not have any previous technical experience until beginning the IAR curriculum. The results of their achievements are reflected in this CD. All of the music demonstrates, for each student, personal levels of achievement significantly beyond where they were when they started. Not only were they able to accomplish full and competent productions, they also developed their musicianship by creating their first full-length compositions and learning about song structure and orchestration.

IAR teacher Flavio Gaete, who is originally from Caracas, Venezuela and holds degrees from Boston University (M.M., Viola Performance) and Berklee College of Music (B.M., Music Synthesis), described how he came up with the idea for Fluid. “Throughout many of my advanced ProTools courses (where I focus on MIDI as well as mixing techniques), I’ve had the pleasure of guiding the students in their journey to becoming independent producers. They comprise a vast mix of backgrounds; some come from foreign lands, some are into jazz, others are into alternative rock or hip-hop and house music, some have previous musical experience, and others have none. But most, if not all, of them were utterly inspired to work on their own music. They started with a couple of phrases or ideas or even whole verses. At the end of their last course, they managed to finish complete songs, which included not just the songwriting, but also the production, mixing, and mastering. The result of their efforts is reflected in our first compilation CD of music made almost entirely on a desktop computer. I present to you, Fluid!“

Congratulations to Flavio Gaete and the IAR students/featured artists on Fluid: DJ Ivan C, Heidi Harris, Shaman Isaac, Billy Joe Jones, Yong Kim, and Henry Miranda. For more information, please visit IARecords.