Monday's diary is a little something different. It comes from Robin 'Hannibal' Braun, a member of the Academy's studio team, who undertake to accommodate the needs of participants with varying expertises, skills and levels of experience in production. He is also the production, song writing and instrumental talent behind such bands as Quadrant, Non ++, Owusu & Hannibal and Boom Clap Bachelors.

You never really know what to expect when you arrive for a brand new Red Bull Music Academy experience, other than that it will change you. This year is no exception.

After doing a lecture in 2007, in Toronto, being a part of the A Class Of Its Own session in Cape Town 2007, and one of the four studio crew members in Barcelona in 2008, this time around i was a little more aware of what i could expect. But even though I was a little less bewildered, I always get blown away by the energy, amazing music and crazy talent at the Academy.

A prime example of this, started with Academy studio boss Erik's idea to run a workshop aiming to get a song made in the traditional sense: played with only real instruments rather than computers and sequencers. He asked me if I could try and get a team of the participants together and make it happen. Given my love for songwriting it was more a pleasure than an assignment.

On the participants' first day we heard some of the music that each of them had produced before attending the Academy. Each of them let us know if and what instrument they could play. During the evening some of those players were jamming in the basement session room, which is set up for the participants to jam, experiment and play live together. I jammed a little with them at one point too, and two of them, an Australian bass player named Ross McHenry, and a Brazilian guy, Gabriel Nascimbeni, seemed very competent song writers and composers.

The following day, I asked Ross and Gabriel, if we could try to get them together to write something, and produce a rough idea for an arrangement and structure for a song that they could demo with Manzilla, an excellent drummer from New Zealand.

Gabriel played the song to Manzilla in the Academy's main live recording studio, and the two of them tried different ideas out to find the right tempo, rhythm and song structure. After playing it through a couple of times, they recorded a demo, that they could give to Katy B, one of the young female voices of London's UK funky scene. Together with Ross and Gabriel they worked out a melody and put together lyrics for the song. The day after that, we started recording the different elements, also including Infestus, from Portugal, playing wurlitzer, and Viennese participant Jakob Schneidewind, playing the bowing a double bass hired in for the occasion.

On Saturday of this weekend just passed we spent some time in the studio's vocal booth recording Katy B's sweet, soulful vocals, and Gabriel's emotional Jobim-like voice.

Then, on sunday we had the impossibly rare pleasure of having Russ Elevado, famed US-based recording engineer, mix the song for us. The session was moved to a psychedelically-decorated studio called the Strongroom, where we also asked a host of questions from studio gear to mixing tips from the man behind Alicia Keys, Erykah Badu and Blackalicious.

And so, here we are on Monday with a finished track. A track whose influences have travelled from Sao Paulo to NY, over to London and Vienna, with a little help from Cologne (where the Academy lives), and a sprinkle of assistance from Copenhagen (home to yours truly) to Lisbon, deep down to Wellington NZ, and a perfect example of how musical worlds meet, collide and collaborate at the Red Bull Music Academy. Wow.

BONUS:
Robin Hannibal (Owusu & Hannibal, Ubiquity, Denmark) - Catalunya Calling
RBMA Radio Live Stream (London 2010) - Live from London - Vol 14 feat. Katy B (plus Modeselektor & Illum Sphere)
Pirate Popular Soundclash (Lisbon, Portugal) - feat. Infestus (& Mr Mute)