NHTunes Flute & Piano Instructor Rebecca Tarling

Rebecca Tarling has been teaching flute and piano at NHTunes Music Studio since 2017. She began playing the flute when she was 10 years old, and began formal flute lessons at age 14. At 16 she also began taking piano lessons. She is currently studying Music Education at Plymouth State University and will be graduating in May 2019.

Rebecca’s performance experience includes college wind symphonies at Plymouth State University and SNHU, Orchestra at SNHU, flute choirs, New England Intercollegiate Band, Portsmouth Symphony Orchestra, Manchester Community Music School Performance Competiton, and her Irish Band. She won first place at the MCMS Performance Competition in 2016 and 2017. She has also been chosen to play at the New England Intercollegiate Band in 2017 and 2019.

Rebecca loves her chosen career of teaching music, and what she enjoys most about teaching is “seeing my students grow as musicians and start to show what interests them through their musical experience.”

“I help my students achieve their musical goals by incorporating their interests within their lessons. If a student enjoys a certain genre of music, I’ll do my best to find music in that genre and teach them all about that type of music while also incorporating basic musical skills. ”

We’re very fortunate to have Rebecca on our team of instructors, and are glad that she chose NHTunes to begin her teaching career! If you are interested in scheduling a lesson with Rebecca, you can do so below.

This question comes up all the time: “If I want to record, mix and/or produce music, should I learn an instrument?” The resounding answer is YES! There are so many invaluable benefits of musicianship that will help you to craft great sounding mixes. I’ll go on a limb and say that I don’t understand how someone, without this background, can create well balanced mixes (I am sure there are some examples, but I bet most mixing engineers are also musicians themselves).

Here are three important benefits of learning an instrument that will help those to record and produce better mixes:

Learning an instrument will help you immensely with your recording and mixing skills.

1) Ear Training
Training your ear to ‘hear’ music is a natural process that occurs as you become proficient at an instrument. It doesn’t happen overnight, but in time, and with steady practice and progress, it will. Your ability to discern different frequencies intensifies. You’re better able to isolate different elements of a mix. You’ll change from hearing music as coming from one big ‘pipe’, to all of the individual instruments.
I’ve listened to music that I hadn’t heard since before I started playing and I couldn’t believe it was the same song! I could literally hear everything! This ability to hear all elements of a mix will help you to place your instruments in a manner that will better support a well-balanced mix – both frequency and dynamic balance.

2) Music Theory
As an engineer and producer, understanding music theory is invaluable. Starting with the basics, to provide any type of useful input when asked, you’ll need to understand song structure, keys, and progressions. Understanding keys and time signatures is also necessary to use many modern processing tools. For example, in order to use auto tune, you need to set the plug-in to the correct song key so it knows which notes to correct to (not doing so results in a very poor auto-tune job). In order to use the sync function on a digital delay, you need to understand the difference between music notes – whole, half, quarter, etc. Knowing music theory basics, and ‘speaking the language of music’ leads to both a smoother session, and better end results.

3) Respect
As the engineer, inevitably the band will ask for your input. Being a seasoned musician, I’m ready to give it – be it “it sounds great as is”, or “maybe try this”. If you expertly demonstrate to them a possible change, it builds an immediate level of respect. It’s not about “showing off”, it’s about competently demonstrating something that may make their song a better one. You’re working with them, and instantly become a valuable team member. And with that, the client now feels that “he knows what he’s doing” feeling, and hopefully rightly so. This respect only comes from being a competent musician.

So, if you’re looking to better your recording, mixing, and/or production skills, and don’t yet play an instrument, strongly consider learning to do so! Although it takes time, effort, and dedication, learning piano, guitar, or another instrument is without-a-doubt the BEST way to bring your recording, mixing, and production skills to the next level. Start your piano or guitar lessons today!

Samantha Tramack teaches voice, piano, ukulele, and clarinet at NHTunes Music Studio, and has been doing so for just over a year.  She began singing in 2nd grade music, and began playing the clarinet in the 4th grade, beginning her formal music lessons in the 5th grade.  She began teaching private music and voice lessons about three years ago.

NHTunes instructor Samantha Tramack

Samantha is currently enrolled at Plymouth State University as a Senior studying Music Education. She will be doing her student teaching in the fall of 2019.  Samantha’s performance experience includes singing in barbershop groups and performing all over the world. She is currently the assistant music director of the “Harmony, Incorporated” barbershop chorus and won the International Championship in her quartet, Taken 4 Granite, in 2016. Additionally, she has also done multiple solo recitals including her senior recital at Plymouth State University.

“I love watching people grow as musicians and as people, and I love helping people accomplish personal goals with music. I can best help students sing with their healthiest voice, learn technical musical skills, read music, and perform to the best of their ability.”

With her educational background, strong teaching skills, and her ability to connect well with students of all ages, we are thrilled to have Samantha as a valuable member of our instructor team!

If you are interested in scheduling a lesson with Samantha, you can do so below.

Ethan Brown, a Manchester public school music teacher by day,  has been teaching in the evenings at NHTunes for over three years.  Ethan began taking formal music lessons when he was in the 5th grade, and went on to receive both his Bachelors of Music Education and Bachelors of the Arts Jazz Guitar Performance from the University of New Hampshire. As an active musician, Ethan received the following scholarships: a UNH Music Department Scholarship, the Jack Fallon Memorial Scholarship, and the Smyth Trust Fund Scholarship. Ethan has a wealth of performing experience; in college he performed with the A24 Jazz Coalition. the UNH Jazz Ensemble. the UNH Concert Choir, and the UNH Guitar Ensemble!

With his school teaching experience. Ethan Brown is perfect for connecting with younger students.

Ethan enjoys his role of being a music teacher at NHTunes, and with that the ability to assist students by “helping deepen their musical perception, increase musical imagination, and increase technical skill.” With his music experience and education, Ethan not only teaches guitar, but has developed competency to also teach voice, piano, saxophone, and drums/percussion. Combine that with his school teaching experience, and Ethan is the ideal instructor for young beginner students looking to explore different instruments and musical genres.

“I enjoy making supportive relationships, helping people achieve success and perceive music on a deeper level.”

Ethan is an important member of our staff of instructors here at NHTunes, and we are very fortunate to have him as part of the team.

If you are interested in scheduling a voice, piano, or ukulele lesson with Ethan, you can do so below.

Marie Hasty has been teaching voice, piano, and ukulele for over 15 years. She began teaching at NHTunes eight years ago (2011), and was one of our very first instructors.

NHTunes voice, piano, and ukulele instructor Marie Hasty

She began piano lessons in kindergarten and continued through high school. She began studying voice as a teen and realized that music was what she wanted to pursue in college. She went on to receive her Bachelor of Arts in vocal performance from Pensacola Christian College. In addition to teaching private voice, piano, and ukulele lessons, Marie has also taught children’s choirs and preschool music classes.

Marie sings and plays weekly in her church worship band. She occasionally sings for weddings and other events, and will sometimes participate in our monthly recitals.

“I love when something clicks for a student and they suddenly get a concept that they’ve struggled with before… music is a language, so the more fluent you are, the better it is all around.”

“I incorporate music theory into every lesson. That knowledge transfers to any instrument, so whatever a student may pursue in the future will tie back to it.”

We are very fortunate to have Marie as an important member of our staff of instructors here at NHTunes.

If you are interested in scheduling a voice, piano, or ukulele lesson with Marie, you can do so below.

NHTunes began in July of 2010 in a sublet suite in the Waumbec Mill in Manchester NH by then IT project manager Bob Desmarais. Although an IT manager by profession, Bob’s real passion was music.  Bob’s vision was to open a full service music studio that offered music and voice lessons, as well as recording services. He continued part time with his new business, working days at his IT job and nights at the studio through the remainder of 2010, and most of 2011. By the fall of ’11, he had acquired three additional music instructors (two of which are still with us!), and NHTunes had grown to almost 40 music and voice students. Forecasting steady growth, Bob decided to go full time with the business. He left his IT job of nearly 25 years in November 2011.

Circa 2011, our original 900 sq ft space in Manchester’s Waumbec mill. On the right are two of the three lesson/recording rooms.

With more time to work on promotion, by late 2012 the studio had grown its student base to over 60, and with only three lesson rooms (which also doubled as recording rooms) and six instructors, it was obvious that NHTunes was quickly outgrowing its original 900 sqft space. In early 2013, a tenant down the hall left, providing an opportunity to acquire more space. Shortly thereafter, the studio signed an agreement for build out of a new 1800+ sqft space – double the original studio size – complete with with six lesson rooms, and a dedicated recording studio. The new space was officially opened in the spring of 2013.

The new space – our comfortable waiting area seats 12

By the end of 2015, the studio had eight music and voice instructors, and over 90 music students! This steady growth is mainly attributed to word-of-mouth advertising combined with a strong web presence, and an extremely streamlined online lesson sign-up process.

As of early 2019, NHTunes now employs a dozen voice and music instructors, and and our student base is quickly approaching 150! The recording studio continues to keep busy recording soloists, bands, and voice overs for radio and commercial spots. We’ve recently renewed our current space lease for five more years, and at this rate of growth, scheduling open lesson rooms may be challenging before our lease expires!

Five of our six lesson rooms

All of us at NHTunes would like to extend a sincere thank you to all of our customers for allowing us to realize the dream of doing something we love, while providing a service that we find extremely fulfilling.

Thank You! We hope to be serving you for many years to come.

Our current recording studio (2019)