Music education
recording studio
more...
Veteran
of music scene shares his skill
At
the Music Centre in Exton, Glenn Ferracone records, teaches and books
acts
by R. Jonathan Tuleya, Staff writer
Published here with permission from The
Daily Local News
The world of music, with all its genres and styles, can be divided into two simple categories, according to Glenn Ferracone. "Basically, I think there are two different kinds of music; good and bad," Ferracone said. "I've always thought that way."
For more than 12 years, Ferracone has been the owner of The Music Centre, where he has helped local musicians learn and record.
The 46-year-old drummer has been in the music business since he was 12. During his career he has worked with artists like Joe Cocker, Chubby Checker, Robert Goulet and blues and funk musician Johnny DeFrancesco.
The Music Centre, located in the Marsh Creek Corporate Center in Exton, began as an expansion of the recording work Ferracone had been doing from a studio in the basement of his home.
Today it includes 20 music teachers, 400 students and studio large enough to accommodate a 20-piece band. Ferracone also is responsible for booking various acts for area music festivals and concerts.
"I love it around here," Ferracone said. "Musically the Philadelphia area, and Chester County especially, is just chock-full of real good talent and real good opportunities to play creative music and get paid for it."
The Music Centre's two recording studios are the centerpieces of the business. Ferracone has made what he described as a "sizable investment" in each and contends he can produce an album locally that is comparable in sound quality to almost any studio in the country.
But that has not stopped anyone with a computer, a microphone and CD burner from making albums in their bedrooms and basements.
"In the studio business, everybody who owns a computer is my competition," Ferracone said.
Yet, he warned that simply installing studio software on a PC does not account for years of experience.
"If you want to edit all day and put a rap beat in there or something, I'm not the guy to call," Ferracone said. "If you want to record real musicians playing real music, and that includes just about any style, that's what I do."
The primary business at The Music Centre remains the music school.
Students attending classes receive a "traditional" musical training taught by his hand-picked staff that emphasizes learning the fundamentals, said Ferracone, who counts artists like Jimi Hendrix, The Who and Miles Davis among his influences.
"But I also like to keep an open mind and let them be individuals as well," he said.
Students range in age and ability. Ferracone encourages students to bring in CDs of music they enjoy, and will often teach them to play their favorite songs.
It's a way to get the students, particularly younger ones, excited about playing music, he said, and it has exposed him to many types of music he may not have heard otherwise.
"I used to not like teaching that much," Ferracone said, "but now I love it. I find I really learn more than the students do every lesson."