Music department gets donation from Helping Hands Foundation

Helping Hands Foundation member Joey Pruett presents choir director Judy Hargrave and band director Craig Wadley with a new audio recording device donated by the organization. Pictured along with the RHS choir are, from left: Helping Hands Foundation member Kay Huggins, RHS superintendent Rob Louder, high school principal Wade Williams, Judy Hargrave, Joey Pruett and Craig Wadley. [Click to enlarge]

A generous gift from the Rector High School Helping Hands Foundation will provide new opportunities for students involved in the Rector High School music department.

The high school choir and band will be able to utilize some of the latest technology available in recording the hard-to-capture audio from performances, practices and special events after receiving a high quality recording device last week from the Foundation.

Presented by Foundation board member and community technical expert Joey Pruett, the device, a 24-track Tascan Digital Porta-Studio, will serve as a recording studio on-the-go for the active choir and band groups.

The device is no mere tape machine, using state-of-the-art hardware to record audio from up to 24 different sources into one smoothly flowing song or track.

The recorder, which is a little bigger than most DVD or Bluray players, will not only do the job for the recordings, but also can be utilized to make CDs of live performances. The recorder has an 80 gigabyte hard drive built in, allowing for room to spare when recording a performance by the choir or band.

The device features a full range of equalizer settings, helping the department find the exact sound, which sometimes can be lost when recording a live performance.

"This machine has a lot of capabilities and should be able to help the choir and band with a lot of their projects," Pruett said.

In years past, the choir has made use of cassette recordings, which, no matter how well they're maintained, begin to degrade through use over time.

"It's just awful trying to use cassettes to record anything or for accompaniment," said choir director Judy Hargrave. "This recorder is something which will help us tremendously."

One possible use for the equipment will be in producing copies of special performances for sale within the community. This could help serve as a much-needed fundraiser for the music department in the near future.

"Really, the application of something like this is wide open," said band director Craig Wadley. "You can even record practices in order to point something out to the students. It will absolutely come in handy."

The recorder is the latest in a long line of assistance offered by the RHS Helping Hands Foundation in its effort to meet the needs of the Rector School District and its students and ensure local youth have access to the same opportunities as those in larger areas.