John Lennon Educational Tour Bus Inspires SCAD Students

Written by Taylor Lempke. Graphics by Taylor Lempke.

On April 19th and 20th, SCAD students stepped aboard the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus parked at the Savannah Film Studios Backlot. SCAD alumni Caleb Green and Panashe Mugadza (B.F.A., sound design, 2023), along with engineer Bryce Quig-Hartman, led the tours, sharing the potential of the mobile studio’s technology.

“The bus opens their eyes to the music industry and shows them that so much is available,” Panashe Mugadza said.

Groups of five to six students explored the bus in 30-minute to hour-long tours. The bus features three state-of-the-art studios: a songwriting room equipped with a Dolby Atmos immersive playback system, a production room that includes Roland drums (featuring over 100 sound presets) and a Central Machine Rack (CMR), and an isolation room for vocals and acoustic recordings. The isolation room included three bunks for the engineers and various closets to store microphones, headphones, pedals, and cables.

Sliding transparent doors separated each room. For students with stage fright, the doors have a foggy effect that allows for more privacy.

“The Atmos room was my favorite,” Lizzie Maxey, sophomore sound design major, said. “Getting to break down the songs was amazing.”

The gear on the bus included two Mac Studios, Taylor and PRS guitars, Yamaha keyboards, SSL and Avid mic preamps, Audio-Technica microphones, Blackmagic Design cameras, and Canon lenses. The CMR supported a wide range of software like Pro Tools Ultimate, Apple Logic Pro, and Reason Studios Reason+.

Now on their fourth tour, Green and Mugadza have been on the bus for a month and have another month to go. They make two stops per week. Days run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., packed with preparation, collaboration, and wrapping up.

“Creativity is constant in the sessions. It’s so quick, students enter a flow state,” Green said.

Founded by Yoko Ono and Brian Rothschild in 1998, the bus supports artists, where students can create original songs, music videos, and short films. The current bus, built in 2008, is regularly upgraded with new software and gear by the Chief Technology Officer.

Students participating in a full-day session create a song and a music video. The team publishes the finished work to the Lennon Bus YouTube channel. Genres vary from session to session, but students lean towards neo-soul and hip-hop. They spend one and a half to two hours creating instrumentals. For soul, they often start with keys, and for hip-hop, they start with drums. Then, in the songwriting lounge space with the glowing Lennon Bus logo centerpiece, they craft their lyrics.

“They’re best friends by the end of the day,” Panashe said.

The three engineers on the bus assume different roles: audio, video, and final edits. They rotate their roles throughout the tours, and their production flows together.

SCAD Sound Design Professor Jamie Baker and Assistant to the Dean of Film and Acting Rachel Spurlock promoted the event through email and Discord club channels, encouraging students in the Audio Engineering Society and Professional Audio Student Organization to sign up.

While the bus travels to the following location, the engineers finish editing tracks, experiment with the features, and prepare for upcoming tours and sessions.

Though challenges sometimes arise, such as students wanting to perfect a song beyond the day’s time limit, the team emphasizes progress over perfection.

“It’s not meant to be a hit,” Green said. “But we want to make sure the song is heard.”