Mitchakes Music
Online
Online
Alex Mitchakes has been teaching private music lessons for the last eighteen years with experience in teaching blues, jazz, country, rock n’ roll, acoustic fingerpicking, funk, songwriting, and music theory. Being a Dallas local, he attended Richardson High School in Richardson, Texas.
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What do you love most about your job?
I love helping students grow into becoming the musicians they want to be! One of my favorite music teacher stories would be getting to help one of my younger students at the time, Grace gets ready to play in the Parish Episcopal School's talent show. She had never played in front of anyone before and was really nervous. We spent a few weeks working on an older White Stripes rock song to prepare for her audition. She got some of her school friends together to form a three-piece band named Milk Toast, and I helped them learn how to tighten up their live performance at my recording studio. I decided to do something very special for her on the day of the performance. I brought out a real-deal vintage 1966 Fender Deluxe Reverb that rivaled Jack White's use in the White Stripes. Her parents had bought band t-shirts emblazoned with Milk Toast and gave them out to most of the kids in her class so she could have her own fan base. When they finished, you would have thought Bono himself was in the building judging by the screams!
What inspired you to start your own business?
I was incredibly lucky to have several very important music teachers who helped shape my growth as a musician and made a profound, lasting impact on my life. They include Scott Taylor, the former head of the American Bandmasters Association and the Director of Symphonic Winds at Richardson High School, Lewis and Rob Case at Fiddle and Bow Music Company in Dallas, TX, and Candie Nelson, my clarinet teacher as a kid. These teachers made such an impact on me, I decided to do the same and inspire a generation of players to find themselves in music as well.
Why should our clients choose you?
I have been playing professionally since the age of 13 years old. I grew up in Dallas, TX playing Texas Blues with many of Stevie Ray Vaughan's childhood friends. I spend most of my waking hours playing guitar, teaching, or working on recording original music in the recording studio!
Can you provide your services online or remotely? If so, please add details.
In response to the current Coronavirus crisis, I will start beginner group lessons for students to take online. Individual one-on-one sessions will be booked through Zoom video chat. Please contact me regarding availability and pricing as we will be going around my regular teaching schedule. For beginners and players looking for a more generalized lesson plan, I will offer online group classes through Zoom as well. Group Classes will be offered at $30 a class for 35 mins lessons. Courses will have a max size of 8 students. Group classes are an excellent way for everyone to stay mentally active and productive while we rest and spend more time at home during this crisis! If you need a way to help stay positive while you're locked in quarantine, think about taking some guitar lessons from me!
In terms of quality of instruction, I have spent the pandemic upgrading my home studio's computer to the newest 2020 Mac Pro, Slate Raven Mti touchscreen mixer, Universal Audio for routing, and a universal audio ox box to send cranked tube amp signal through Zoom to demonstrate high quality sounding guitar tone on demand in your Zoom Lessons. All Lessons are filmed in RAW 4K and professionally lit. Music Charts are handwritten PDFs written on an iPad for quick and easy access and shareability, and at the end of each lesson video summaries are recorded and given to each student for their records.
What changes have you made to keep your customers safe from Covid-19?
I have moved all my music lessons to online instruction only as we navigate the Covid Pandemic. I do not wish to put a single student at risk for long-term health effects from a novel disease.
Lessons are conducted entirely thru Zoom meetings, with audio bused to 192 HD quality thru a Nuemman TLM103, a Mesa Boogie amplifier cranked with an attenuator to capture proper tube tone. All lessons are conducted in 4K Raw quality with a Sony A6500 being used as a webcam. All lessons are professionally lit from my home studio and can be recorded for further study upon request.
Private Music Lessons
I strongly believe that private, one-on-one instruction is the best way to learn how to play a new instrument. Not only is it a much more forgiving environment to learn in, but the content of each lesson can be tailored to your needs and preferences. There’s a clearer path of individual progress from week to week and more precise attention to achieving the goals you set for yourself as a musician.
As a professional recording session musician, I am proficient in every style of music, so one on one instruction will really give you an edge in being able to learn new material quickly, know when you’re out of tune, understand what key you’re in, play in precise time with ease, using the entire fretboard of your guitar, and understanding how your favorite artists write music and put pieces of songs together.
​Everyone learns differently, so accordingly, there is no strict lesson plan that will benefit all music students equally. I use a blend of classical music theory and classical approach to rhythm, with a traditional love of popular music and ear training delivered with a sense of kindness and understanding.
I do recommend dressing in layers during lessons because we keep the studio rather cold - all of the vintage electronics we run in the studio are hot. Casual wear is fine for your lesson. Short shorts, miniskirts, bare midriffs, and swimsuits are not acceptable. For Zoom lessons, please dress politely and accordingly.
Recording Packages for Students
Mitchakes Music is proud to offer personalized recording packages for students through Reddotte Studios.
These can include:
A two hour recording session with in house professional recording engineers and a producer
A two hour mix down of your performance
Access to professional studio musicians to perform on your song
Full run of the studio which includes a highly sought after vintage guitar amp collection; and concerning gear, a professional bass rig, a collection of synthesizers, a studio grade tuned drum kit, a extensive microphone collection, tube preamps, vintage compressors, an unparalleled vintage effects collection, and a large list of vintage guitars.
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Personalized recording packages are great for parents looking to capture special moments from their children and can act as a musical time capsule through the years of their child’s progress. They can also become great demo recordings for any level of musician looking to have a professional recording experience.
Digital Audio Workstation
Mitchakes Music now offers Digital Audio Workstation (D.A.W.) and Recording Classes through a partnership with Reddotte Studios. If you’ve ever wanted to learn how to make your own professional quality recordings with career audio engineers on site this is the class for you! Our D.A.W. courses focus on training in audio engineering, including live recording, mixing, and mastering recorded audio tracks, sound reinforcement, electronic music composition, and songwriting and arranging methods. Ultimately, these courses teach you to how to create better music. We emphasize musical originality, software mastery, and workflow speed with our D.A.W. program. Our courses will turn you into a mixing engineer!
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These courses are limited to six students per class.
Each class is set with multiple hours of one on one access with instructors, all of whom are professional recording engineers.
Our courses feature a heavy emphasis on Pro Tools, the industry standard in Digital Audio Workstations, as well as courses on audio fundamentals, music theory, songwriting, and arranging.
Sound design lessons in Pro Tools and Studio One teach you how to craft your own sounds, presets, and patches as both an artist and a producer.
We encourage students to work on original music projects throughout the program, and we have special private mentoring sessions dedicated to one on one feedback.
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For inquires please call Reddotte Studios prior to enrolling, to request a meeting with our staff so we can access your personal needs and goals, give you a tour of Reddotte Studios, and talk about how to move forward.
