MORE SUCCESS STORIES (CONT)

Record Your Own Tracks in the Studio

“When I got in the studio, my mentor had me mic up the piano and do my very first mix. Another student with the Recording Connection was there and played. He was very good and I got to record his set. After I recorded the set, I did my first EQ on the piano and recorded it to a disk. I learned a good amount about EQ’ing from my mentor, and at the end of my session, I was very proud of my EQ and satisfied for my very first time.”
— Jesse Rothman, Lebanon, New Jersey

Learn From Your Mentor What it Takes To Be Successful in the Music Industry

“At the beginning of the day, I set up a booth for an 18 year old female singer who is very talented and killer her tracks. The raw mixes from her producer sounded amazing and he hadn’t even done anything to them yet. By observing the producer, I learned about playlists, as well as his techniques in editing. I helped my mentor set up a session for this artist, then I recorded the entire practice. I also made sure to set up the drum set before anybody arrived, which made the studio notice me setting up everything. The band was hardcore and the guys were awesome. I was very tired and hungry after setting everything up. This experience taught me a lot about running a session. One must be able to perform under conditions, such as being tired, hungry, and working with high-traffic studios. It paid off.”
Jesse Rothman, Lebanon, New Jersey

Use Your Skills to Enhance Your Own Personal Music Projects.

“Today was my externship day and I arrived early to the studio, where we talked more about Pro Tools. One of the engineers said that he has only been working with Pro Tools for five years, as where I thought he would have said ten considering his grasp over the software. This really inspired me greatly because he knows everything about everything. I was glad I showed up early that night and I stuck around with my new friend, an assistant engineer at the studio, and we waited for another engineer and artist to show up to do a vocal track. Tonight got me inspired to work on so many songs that I had just lost sight of. Now I see at least 10 projects that I have started and can now plan on developing now that I have joined the Recording Connection. So much to do, I have my work cut out for me. I love it.”
Jesse Rothman, Lebanon, New Jersey

Familiarize Yourself with the Recording Industry Vocabulary.

“Lesson 5 went really well for me with my mentor. Things are really starting to come to me a lot easier, as I am now really catching on to the reading material a lot quicker. I guess you could call it like a second nature. I understand all the terms and numbers really well now, which means I can now start moving onto working with the studio equipment to learn what it is, where it goes, as well as what it is used for.”
— Maxx Limbourne, Redlands, California

There is no better way to learn Signal Processing.

“The last three weeks have been very intense with Signal Processing. It’s the heart of the recording business. It’s everything I have wanted to learn and more.”
— Stefanie Barnes, Witchita, Kansas

Don’t Go it Alone

“I got to the studio little before 2:00, and as always, my mentor was there to welcome me with a big smile hah. We got right into lesson 4, discussing what I learned and read, and then went over my answers at the end of lesson 4. After that he gave me a little quiz on microphones, as well as their patterns. Every session with my mentor I learn something new. I love it.”
— Michael Summers, Middletown, Delaware

Have Someone in your Corner as Guidance

“I arrived at the studio at 1:30 and my mentor was working with an artist named Mowgli. He is a rapper out of West Chester, PA. I got to sit down with my mentor and watch him in action. The whole time my mentor was working with Mowgli, he continued to show me what to do, even letting me try something’s myself. Then around 3:30 – 4 o’clock, we went into another room and went over lesson 3… I love working with my mentor, he makes everything so much easier for me to learn. GREAT GUY!”
— Michael Summers, Middletown, Delaware

Always Ask Questions

“Lesson 2 – Digital Audio Basics. My mentor and I started off by going over the answers to the questions at the end of the lesson, going into it in-depth by explaining each one and how they tie in with digital audio. I then brought up the topic of music being stored on the computer & MP3 files. This minor discussion really helped me out a lot with understanding how digital compression formats work. That was the whole lesson, and again I walked out having learned something new. It was a lot of fun. Looking forward to attending for the 3rd lesson.”
— Nick Aufiero, Brick, New Jersey

Even with a background in music there’s still plenty to learn

“My mentor and I have been progressing well together. We are cruising through each lesson. It helps that I already have experience with live sound and I understand things like signal path and mic basics and placement. So, my mentor focused on the theory and specifics from an engineering standpoint. His examples and demonstrations are invaluable learning methods for me, while at the same time, my computer background helps me in understanding how to navigate around in Pro Tools.”
— Tony Agapinan, Garden Grove, California

Learn from an Expert

“My mentor and I reviewed the quiz from the first lesson. We went over the answers to make sure I had responded correctly, and when something wasn’t clear to me, my mentor would explain it in further detail. Even after reviewing the quiz, my mentor flipped through the chapter to elaborate on any information he thought would be especially important or useful.”
— Laurie Spector, Bethesda, Maryland

Evan Michaels, Greenwood Village, Colorado

“My mentor and I went through the homework and he told me all the differences between TDM and RTAS plug-ins. He showed me a lot of instrument plug-ins and effects, and applied them to a song to show how they can be applied. We also did the microphone test, and I did pretty well on it. My mentor and I are getting along great and I ever had a pretty good talk about music before the session even began.”

Glenn Banks, Chicago, Illinois

“At this point I have no complaints at all. I’m so glad to finally be going down the right path to my goal. I don’t think I could have chosen a better educational system than the Recording Connection to achieve that. Getting right down to art of recording is why I’m here and not in some boring class room with my head stuffed in a book.”

Alan Smith, Auburn Hills, Michigan

“In lesson 1 I learned about the different career opportunities that are available in the audio industry. There are a few jobs that I learned about that I didn’t know existed… I am now certain that there are many avenues in this business if you work hard and keep learning.”

Charles Thomas, Coatesville, Pennsylvania

“Lesson one was on sound and hearing, which was cool… Some things I knew, but once [my mentor] explained the theory of what something really meant and why it does it, I had it down. We listened to various recordings of his to get the real idea of what the vocabulary really meant… I can’t wait until lesson 3 as he’s going to show me all of his microphones!!”

Christopher Gunlock, Minneapolis, Minnesota

“When [my mentor and I] started our lesson, we talked about mics for a bit first. Then we went over the quiz at the end of the lesson. This lesson demystified the console for me quite a bit… It’s not nearly as confusing now.”

Amanda Cunningham, Hollywood, Florida

“When I came in for my session [my mentor] was in a listening session with another producer/engineer. I was really excited to have been able to watch how things work in the real-life setting… This was really an amazing opportunity to be able to sit in a room with an artist, watch them work together, and witness what takes place in the real world.”

Michael Summers, Middletown, Delaware

“I got to the studio around 1:25, like being there a little earlier than I’m supposed to be there. [My mentor] welcomed me right in as always. We walked into his office and talked a little, catching up on things… I appreciate my time [with my mentor], the man is amazing at what he does and I consider it an honor to be working with him… Another great time with my mentor.”

Michael Summers, Middletown, Delaware

“I got to the studio and my mentor had an event going on. Walking through the front doors made me feel like I was walking into a V.I.P party and it was awesome… When I got inside the main room where the music was being played, they had about 7 bands playing and it was great! [My mentor] was in two of the bands and you can tell my mentor loves what he does, as he looked so happy on stage performing. After he was done [my mentor] took me in his office and we talked about how the show was, I loved it… I can tell this is going to be a great experience and I will learn so much working with my mentor.”

Natasha Klatt, San Antonio, Texas

“On my first day of my session, I went over the first lesson with my mentor, outlining what I had read… He allowed me to be hands on and he showed me how sound travels through the studio… He was very good at creating analogies and painting pictures so that I could understand what he was talking about. Even though it was only my first day, I had a blast!!!!!!! I was totally into it and wanted to learn everything. [My mentor] is really down to earth and seems to be very real.”

Rob Fisher, Sacramento, California

“For my first session, [my mentor and I] went over a lot of Pro Tools applications, and I was able to ask a lot of questions that I had. I am very pleased, as [my mentor] is very hands on and informative!”

Gary Foster, Jericho, Vermont

“While building up on lessons, there is an ongoing music scene [my mentor] is involved with in dealing with community, which is GREAT. I got the opportunity to assist [my mentor] with Microphone placement with a concert that is put on for the parents and family from the Fairfield Elementary school … and made sure sufficient sound was produced to the best of our ability so that the audience was able to enjoy the performance.”

Peter Barth, Exton, Pennsylvania

“My mentor gave me an introduction to the console today! I have a lot of experience with smaller mixers so it was really cool to see what the big boy was all about. The only thing I was confused bout was the term “bus”. [My mentor] really cleared things up for me by taking me over to the console and showing me how you can assign channels to a bus.”

Aimee Harris, Sharpsburg, Georgia

“Brian gave me a number of thoughtful tips on how the industry operates, and what to be mindful of as I enter into this business. He said it’s important that I find my niche (what I gravitate towards), and find out what people need (what specific skill sets and services artists are looking for). He also said to consider “out of the box” opportunities.”

Dana Kilcrease, Fishkill, New York

“Aside from the lessons, we have had some really amazing labs. Last week we had the guys from Winksound.com come in to film us (the students) in our class environment…It was an amazing opportunity to not only see the filming side of the industry, but also an amazing chance to have a video filmed of us working that will be seen by 10,000+ viewers. It was also a great opportunity to see how I could manage in that kind of situation. It turned out well though… even ended up trading contact information with the producer who told me he liked the way I had worked throughout the night.”

Dana Kilcrease, Fishkill, New York

“Lessons 12-14 focused on signal processing and [my mentors] brought me through the lessons using plugins, outboard gear, as well as signal processing on the console. They made sure I had a full understanding of what we were talking about and had me set up multiple different scenarios using the gear.”