Since graduating Recording Connection in 2013, Ryan Venable has not only worked with major talents like Snoop Dogg, Justin Bieber, DJ Khaled, Fetty Wap, Travis Scott, and Young Thug, but also racked-up four RCAA Platinum credits along the way! We recently touched base with the engineer and producer to learn more about how he made his dream career a reality.
How did you originally get interested in audio?
I would say, I’ve just always been [innately] inclined to the art of music. When I was younger, I was always able to assess music [in a way that was beyond my years]. Growing up, nobody in my family was into music; none of them played instruments, none of them had anything to do with the studios.
I understand you were enrolled in university for a while and left to join Recording Connection. What inspired you to take that leap?
I didn’t really want to go back to university. I was looking for the most cost-efficient way [to achieve my goals in music]. I wasn’t trying to go to someplace that was going to put me in a big hole. Recording Connection seemed like they had everything that I wanted to learn… You guys just seemed like the route to go.
So you had your mentor interview with Ricky Rich of Studio 713. What did you think about 713?
I was impressed with the studio. It had a big Studio A room. Before that, I had only been in a couple closet studios. I had never really been in a real studio before. So you walk in, and there’s a big lobby. The first thing they show you is Studio A: a big control room, ISO booth, live room, all types of equipment, big board. To me, at that time, that board looked unbelievably huge. After that you see big SSL boards and Neves and stuff like that, but the C24 is still an amazing board for doing in-the-box stuff. And then he showed me the rest of the spot. There’s a Studio B, which is awesome because he really allows the students to spend time in there whenever there’s not a session going on. It’s a whole setup and you can go in there and tinker around with Pro Tools. You can pull up your beat making machine or whatever you have.
When you started the program you were pretty new to audio, correct?
For the most part, but I [understood the basics]. I knew there was a recording booth, I knew there was an audio engineer, I knew you could record somebody, and that somehow it would turn out a polished product. I didn’t really understand the in-depth parts of it. I did know what an equalizer was, but I didn’t know the mechanics of a compressor. I didn’t know the mechanics of a reverb. So, yea, I would say I was very green. I just truly believed in my ear, in knowing how to take something and make it great, because I knew what great music should sound like. I knew I would be able to [master the technical side of things].
I just truly believed in my ear, in knowing how to take something and make it great.
I understand that you were also working with an artist you had gone to highschool with?
[Yeah, but I actually met him officially while I was looking for freelance work]. I didn’t really go in there expecting much, [but] when I first met him and heard his music, I was very impressed and liked who he was as a person. I was like, ‘Look, you need recording. I need to record. If you want to work, you’re more than welcome to work as much as you want to work.’ So that kind of just sparked a relationship with this artist. I worked with him for about three years straight, and that was pretty much on a nightly basis, because we lived a couple streets away. And that was just grinding from 6:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. or whatever it was until I had to go back to my day job. Just having that relationship with him and that experience of always recording somebody, always trying to make their stuff sound better, really gave me a lot of experience with Pro Tools. Being efficient at Pro Tools is one of the number one things that you have to be to be a good engineer nowadays.
Speaking of your “day job,” this was around the time that you got laid off, right?
Yeah, I took that as the universe telling me to kind of just go for it, pushing me towards music. I was just like, ‘I’m not going to look for another corporate job, I’m not going to look for another part-time waiter job, I’m not going to do that. I’m going to completely commit to music.’ And my first instinct was to contact my connections at Studio 713.
So you reached out to your old mentor Ricky Rich. What did you say?
‘I’m looking for an opportunity. Is there anything I can do?’ He said, ‘You can come in next week and show us some of your stuff, and we can talk and sit down and see what we can do.’
You played a number of your mixes for Ricky and John [a former engineer at 713] and they hired you?
[They said], ‘We like you, we know you can accomplish the music side, and we know you’ve been here, so you know what’s expected and how to go about things here. We would like to have you, but there’s also three engineers ahead of you, and you are going to be the fourth engineer in line. So you more than likely are going to have to get a lot of your own clients.’ I was like, ‘That’s fine. I just need a foot in the door and whatever I need to do, I’ll do.’
I understand that attitude ended up serving you well…
When I first got hired, it was the week before the 4th of July. I don’t remember the exact details, but the other engineers must have gone on vacation or something. I had my own 4th of July plans set with a couple friends to go to the river. But once Ricky told me, ‘There are going to be sessions. Do you want to do them?’ I was like, ‘Okay, I might need to reevaluate what I want to do this weekend.’ That was a moment where I realized, ‘If I’m going to be an engineer, there’s going to be some sacrifices.’ So I went ahead and committed to those sessions. They ended up being my first in the studio and they went smoothly. I definitely remember being very nervous, just because it’s such new territory and you’re having to do these things for clients you haven’t met…Those types of beginning butterflies were definitely there.
After seeing your commitment did Ricky bring you on full time?
Yeah! Ricky called me and the third engineer in line, and was like, ‘So are you guys ready to step up?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah. I honestly was about to go turn in an application for a part-time job.’ He was like, ‘You won’t be needing that now.’
That was awesome, but it was also like, ‘Oh damn, this is actually happening.’ That was just an incredible opportunity. I went from fourth engineer in line and having hardly any sessions, one once or twice a week, to working full time.
What led up to you working with Justin Bieber?
How does the saying go? ’Luck happens whenever preparation meets opportunity?’ I was at 713 for a good two years, working with music every day. I was working with some decent people here and there. I had sessions booked from 6:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. and it was a Friday. I was chilling at my house around 3:00 p.m. and Ricky Rich called me. He was like, ‘What are you doing?’ I said, ‘I’m honestly just laying in bed waiting until 6:00 for work.’ And he’s like, ‘All right, well how fast can you be to the studio?’ I was like, ‘Well, I haven’t showered, I haven’t really eaten lunch.’ And he’s like, ‘Well, Justin Bieber wants to work.’ He said that, and I was like, ‘Oh damn, all right. Well, I think I can skip lunch for Justin Bieber.’ So obviously, I sprang out of bed, put some clothes on, and headed to the studio.
The ability to work with an artist on that magnitude and still be comfortable definitely helped the session along. He was an amazing person. Literally to this day still one of the most amazing sessions I’ve had. He was a very respectful and down to earth person. He ended up inviting pretty much the whole studio to his concert. Ricky and his kids as well. So it was an amazing opportunity and an amazing time. It was just a picture perfect session with a big artist.
And you recently worked with Travis Scott for a track on the Black Panther album?
I actually went to Travis’ house to record that day, which was pretty cool to see just how he has his home setup. I definitely knew this song was going to be awesome. I didn’t know it was going to be a Black Panther song. I thought it was just going to be a normal song on one of his albums or something. So it was even cooler once I figured out that it’s on the Black Panther album, which is another platinum album and whatnot. So that was a really cool experience.
How do you think current Recording Connection students can make the most of the program while they’re going through it?
Being able to just be here and be aware of what’s going on and what’s needed is awesome. Also just sit in on sessions. You will never know what’s going to happen in a session. It might be an awesome session where everything goes smooth and you see a real good artist working, and those sessions are incredible. And then you may sit in on a session where the artist is not as good, and you’re having to see the producer or engineer compensate for that and try to make them sound better and try to lead them and make them feel confident. And a lot of times your job as an engineer has nothing to do with music. You have to be able to understand what the artist needs, how to keep them confident, how to keep them comfortable.
What do you see as the biggest advantage to this program?
It’s an opportunity to just sit behind an engineer and learn as much as you can. You can read a book all you want, but seeing an engineer working and seeing how they adapt and troubleshoot and why they do this or that is the best way to learn.