Columbia Records... Shady Records... Sony Music...
Painful Productions?
Never heard of it? Well it might just be the next big name in record production. With the talent of student musicians combined with students of sound editing and computer programming, the tracks being 'bounced' out of the Painful Productions sound studio at Calais High School are no longer the muffled recordings created on a home computers. These recordings are edited, revised, re-recorded, and finalized, incorporating the steps of writing into the 21st century.
Recordings coming out of the studio are used as projects in English classes where a song putting the material covered in class to the tune of "Sweet Home Alabama" is often more effective than a typical poster. Sound editing students are using the studio to study Pro Tools and other software programs used in radio stations and recording studios around the world.
Other students are taking their passion for music and singing to create demo discs, to which fellow classmates may listen and enjoy. CHS Junior Steven Oliver, better known around Calais as 'Balliver', has recently completed his first demo, entitled Top 10, in which he uses clever sound editing and instrumentals 
to complement his singing. In addition to Balliver, several other students are featured in his music, while many are behind the scenes assuring that the 'flow' (rhythym) and 'hook' (refrain) are as appealing to the ears as possible. Nathan Gardner, Balliver's producer, is a sound editing student and believes that the experience he has from working with Painful Productions will help him get accepted into college and accelerate his career.
Due to recent problems with recording studios in other parts of Maine, CHS technology education teacher Randy McCormick, along with CHS computer administrator John Bragdon, have implemented new policies for the studio. All recordings must be screened by one of the two prior to being released from the studio to assure that the material is appropriate and to evaluate the techniques applied to the music. A curriculum is now being developed by McCormick, Bragdon, and several students to teach younger students how to use the studio so the sounds of Painful Productions never fade away.
Pictures: Clockwise from top to bottom: 1. Students begin demolishing a storage room off the technology education wood shop to build Painful Productions studio. 2. Demolishion continues with x's marked on the blocks to be smashed and a line drawn around the area where a window is now located. All plans for the studio were created by technology education students and work on the studio was done by students. Border Electric donated time to wire the room. 3. An outside view of the studio upon just before completion.
