The John Lennon Education Tour Bus

Next Destination: Diablo Valley College

Pleasant Hill, CA

 

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John Lennon Bus stops by in city

Tara Johnson - Seacoastonline


Studio on wheels gives educational opportunity


Seamus Harte, producer/engineer, left, and Tyler Winick audio technician produce a music video aboard the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus during a stop in Portsmouth at Daddy’s Junky Music on Woodbury Avenue.

“Imagine” endless studio recording capabilities on wheels.

The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus makes that a possibility for students all over the country each day. The Lennon Bus made a visit to Daddy’s Junky Music in Portsmouth on Thursday. The state of the art nonprofit mobile recording and multimedia studio offered free public tours of the facility for two hours.

The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus, founded in 1998, is a mobile audio and high-definition video recording and production facility. The bus travels around the country and Canada providing free hands-on programs to hundreds of high schools, colleges, Boys and Girls Clubs, music festivals, concerts and community organizations. In addition, it frequently stops at retailers, festivals, tours and at major industry conferences.

The bus currently on tour was replaced and updated two years ago to feature the latest music recording technology including Apple audio and video solutions programming. The John Lennon Educational Tour bus is made possible by an agreement with Yoko Ono, who is quoted by the Bus’ Web site, “This is precisely the kind of project John Lennon would have loved.”

The Lennon Bus invites students to come on board to play music, write songs, utilize the engineer recording equipment and produce video projects using the latest equipment.

Artists including Fergie, the Black Eyed Peas, Most Def, the Pussycat Dolls, Pat Monahan, Natasha Bedingfield, Ono and John Legend and many other celebrity artists have recorded at the “studio on wheels,” helping support the tour’s mission to provide quality music and arts education to students.

The interior of the bus is divided into three studio areas. The front is a cutting-edge audio and video production room. The rear studio offers pro-level recording and an acoustic booth recording area. A chromate green screen booth area is used for music video production.

The entire bus is powered by Apple computers and Sony high-definition products run by three on-board engineers. The studios have traditional instruments, including drums and guitars, and a Mackie public address system that enables performances to be held on the side of the bus.

Tyler Winick, an audio and music engineer on the bus, has been a member of the John Lennon Educational team for three years. Winick, a graduate of Expression College for Digital Arts in Emeryville, Calif., where he earned his bachelor of applied science degree in sound arts, joined the bus team shortly after graduation. “Working with the students is the most fun,” Winick said.

Seamus Harte, another audio and music engineer, has been aboard the bus for 18 months. Harte said he is able to “digitally scrapbook” his own experiences ranging from meeting celebrities to helping aspiring children. On working with celebrities such as will.i.am and Natasha Bedingfield, he said, “It’s awesome to meet someone you admire.”

Harte recalls memorable moments such as touring with Bedingfield, working with alt-rock band Anberlin, and visiting the Warped Tour. “Fergie recorded the track ‘Glamorous’ on our old bus,” he said.

He also said although it is an unforgettable experience to work with various artists recording on the bus, he enjoys providing young kids an opportunity to record their own material using the same equipment as A-list celebrities and artists. “They go through the same process here,” he said.

“This is precisely the kind of project John Lennon would have loved.”

- Yoko Ono Lennon

The Headlines

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  • Live with Bootsy at NAMM

    Friday night at NAMM the Lennon Bus hosted an event to commemorate the launch of the 2012 tour, capped off with a funktastic performance by Bootsy Collins and Verdine White. The Bus produced a live webstream of the event using our new TriCaster 850 Extreme and TodoCast satellite connection; if you missed it live you can still catch it on the DVR here: lennonbus.org/live. Stay tuned for future live events, happening regularly!

  • JLETB’s 15th Year Anniversary

    The JLETB kicked-off its 15th year of bringing music education to students nationwide, with a special birthday party at the 2012 NAMM Show. The Bus unveiled a new arsenal of equipment for the 2012 year, including Avid® Pro Tools®|HDX, and live streaming capabilities made possible by NewTek and TodoCast that will allow the whole party to be seen live via www.lennonbus.org. Learn more here.

Video aboard the Bus

The increasing accessibility of digital technology has led to an amazing expansion of opportunity in the art of digital storytelling. The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus has been at the forefront of this new media explosion, having produced daily video projects with students since January of 2001. The Lennon Bus puts state-of-the-art digital video equipment into the hands of workshop participants and teaches the entire digital workflow from storyboarding to web publication and DVD burning. Students leave the experience having shot, chopped, scored, and (most importantly) finished an entire digital video production. Using the latest cameras and professional hardware/software solutions including Avid Media Composer and Pro Tools, participants are exposed to the exciting world of digital videography and learn hot techniques of the trade. The accessibility of professional-quality technology is making it possible for millions of new voices to be heard and the John Lennon Bus is putting these tools into the hands of tomorrow's great digital producers. Subscribe to our Youtube channel so you never miss any of the amazing videos produced on the Lennon Bus.