Mickey Houlihan, Adjunct Faculty in the Naropa Music Department and David Darling
won the 2010 Grammy Award for Best New Age Album

Mickey Houlihan and David Darling

BOULDER, Colo. (February 4, 2010)—Naropa University’s Music Department is proud to announce that Prayer for Compassion, produced by Mickey Houlihan (adjunct faculty in the Music Department) and David Darling won the 2010 Grammy Award for Best New Age Album.

“My long-time producer and colleague, Mickey Houlihan, and I have patiently worked with this music for ten years,” says Darling. “Each title (from Prayer for Compassion ) represents a journey into a way of being that, for us, holds the world together. We have used the studio as an impressionist painter might use a palette. Mickey and his wonderful friends at Wind Over The Earth and Immersive Studios have used technologies and techniques both old and new to help each composition find its way into being.”

Mickey Houlihan teaches a course at Naropa University entitled, “Recording Studio I: Introduction to Music Technology”. In this class students develop an understanding of the basic principles of acoustics and electronics as they pertain to sound transmission and recording. Of particular concern is the hands-on use of microphones, signal and dynamic processors and multitrack recording equipment both as creative and archival tools. They also gain practical experience through group and individual recording projects that explore the technical differences between analog and digital recording and their respective techniques.

Houlihan, who brings considerable experience from his many years in the private sector, emphasizes a need for teamwork in the studio. At times, students are divided into teams—the producers, the recording engineers and the talent—thus gaining multiple perspectives on the process.

“Some students are great mixers, some are great at editing dialogue, but in the end, they should all be comfortable with the equipment Naropa has, says Houilhan, recording studio instructor. The content is not [as] important to me as their confidence in initiating, operating and completing a recording, knowing how to set up their own microphone, adding background vocals, etc.”

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