MAY 2011 SUCCESS STORIES

Learn from an expert.

“This week with my mentor, we focused on studio design and reference monitors. My mentor had a lot to say about the speaker part, mainly because he’s been an audiophile most of his life. He designed the amazing mid-field monitors in his studio so my mentor had a lot to teach me this week. We covered studio design, using my mentors own design as a good example of a mastering studio. The importance of angled walls, bass traps, and reflections were all thoroughly covered. It is really great to learn from somebody who is still so passionate about what they do.”
— Todd Brunkow, Portland, Oregon

Get trained in a real life recording studio.

“Today was my first official day with my mentor. Talking with her today, I can tell she has a lot of experience in the recording industry and she really knows what she is talking about. Today, I learned about how sound travels, as well as the different kinds of sounds. I also learned how placing mics at different points of a room, or around an instrument, can affect the outcome of the sound. I also learned how something absorbs sound, as well as reflects sound. I never knew a couch is the best absorber of sound and this is actually why some studios have them placed in front of a console. My mentor then gave me a hands-on example of the three basic wave forms used to create synthesizer sounds. I thought it was a great session and I really enjoyed listening and taking in all of the knowledge from my mentor. To me, it was very exciting working in a real music studio and I look forward to my next lessons with my mentor in the Recording Connection.”
— Ray Spears, Bronx, New York

Work around your work schedule with the flexible hours offered by the Recording Connection.

“Everything is going very well in the Recording Connection program. I really like my mentor, as he is an excellent teacher, as well as an extremely knowledgeable engineer, both creatively and technically. I also truly appreciate the flexibility that the Recording Connection program, and my mentor, has offered me, as it has allowed me to simultaneously pursue other creative projects of great importance.”
— Ivan Goodman, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey

Business network with the engineer experts with the assistance of your mentor.

“My sessions with my mentor this week went very well. We talked about the different miking placements and uses for XY, omtf, and spaced pair. We also went over the times when I will need to use close or distant miking, ambient miking, and accent miking. My mentor also gave me some examples of how he came across a very cool ambient guitar sound by accidently leaving a mic on in a certain position. Later that day, my mentor and I went to a mastering session. It was very interesting and cool to see how an album is mastered. The mastering engineer turned out to be a very accomplished engineer, who was a very cool and laid back guy. He mastered five songs in about three hours during the recording session and it was a great experience.”
— Daren Washburn, Northwood, New Hampshire

Receive in-depth Pro Tool training in a real life recording studio.

“This session with my mentor was exactly what I wanted to start seeing, which was getting into Pro Tools. My mentor and I went over the long list of plug-ins, and what I use them for. I then learned some keyboard shortcuts, which I thought was very helpful. My lesson training went very smooth and I learned a lot. The following day, my mentor asked me to come in to the studio in order to become more familiar with Pro Tools, as well as setting up recording sessions. First, he told me to act as if he was the musician and for me to try and setup the recording session on my own. The instrument I set up to record was a slide guitar, so I set up an amp in the iso-booth. After I patched it into some pre’s, and the compressor, I recorded about two hours for a project my mentor is working on. For the last part of this lesson, my mentor gave me a track to mix. So, my mentor zero’ed the faders and I had to find a solid mix. I found this fun, and very different than mixing live sound. Another great session with my mentor.”
— Jason Zinn, Littleton, Colorado

May 20, 2011 Success Stories

Open your eyes to all the opportunities the music industry has to offer with the guidance of the Recording Connection program.

“This week was awesome with my mentor! I just had to get that out. My mentor and I took a week off from the book the Recording Connection assigned me, and actually got in the studio. My mentor had me lay down some guitar and vocal tracks as scratch for a song I had written. I thought it was so much fun to be on the other side of the glass for awhile. After a few stabs at it, I got down what I thought was a pretty decent scratch track. Then my mentor and I sat down and talked about MIDI. After my mentor gave me the basic rundown of how the whole MIDI system worked, he had me lay down a kick drum track using the keyboard. That blew my mind because I have never done anything remotely close to that before. It was awesome! Now I have a whole new appreciation for MIDI and I think I need a keyboard in the near future. After I laid down a drum track, my mentor started showing me how to edit MIDI. I had no idea it was so easy. A whole new world has opened up to me today.”
— Jeremie Killinger, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Learn by doing.

“Now that my mentor and I are in week 5 of the program, we have started to cover the console and I found out that everything I thought I knew of them before was true! It’s just a big mouse. I’ve been around different types of consoles in the past, but never actually got an opportunity to work with one before. So, when my mentor let me take the driver seat this week at the studio, and actually get hands on with the console, I was very eager to get going. I am learning basically how the console works, and how it “folds” the tracks over on each other to save space. Also, I’m now able to understand the signal flow of the studio, and figure out the patch bay that my mentors’ studio uses. Also, I have been furthering my knowledge on microphones, learning which ones to use in what situations, but at the same time, understanding that it’s all about my own personal touch. Working with my mentor is very helpful. It’s only been 5 weeks since I first joined the Recording Connection and I’ve learned more than I thought I would know at this time. My mentor has a good way of explaining things to where it’s easily understandable, and this is all I could ever ask for. Moreover, I really feel like his main concern is if I am actually learning.”
— Aaron Castro, Victoria, Texas

Work on your own personal songs with your mentor, gaining different artistic input to develop your own music career as a recording artist.

“There are a lot of cool tricks and methods I learned this week with my mentor, and even also came up with through the sessions this week with my mentor. First when class started with my mentor, he instructed me to hook up a mic through a pre amp, through a compressor, than to Pro Tools, all through the patch bay. The key to unlimited creativity is to know your ins and outs. In other words, signal flow. I also played a track for my mentor that I did on my own and he insisted on adding some live drums to the track, which I think is going be incredible to hear!”
— Divan Henson, Baltimore, Maryland

Learn the many different skills needed to work in any recording studio.

“This past week with my mentor was great. I got a lot of work done in my mentors’ studio, my mentor, as well as getting to test some microphones out. I got to participate in a lot of hands on things, such as starting to learn the functions of the actual equipment that is in my mentors’ recording studio. I am picking up the pace and the Recording Connection program continues, getting into the swing of the activities and jobs that take place at my mentors’ studio. My mentor and I get along very well and he is a great mentor. This coming week with my mentor I will be sitting in on a rock recording session. I’M VERY EXCITED!!”
— Oliver Robins, Plantation, Florida

As you progress in the Recording Connection, what your skills develop and sharpen.

“Coming towards the end of my externship with the Recording Connection I can say I definitely learned a lot. The assignments were very important for me, since they were geared more towards my future goals and understanding of Pro Tools. I went from feeling a little intimidated by Pro Tools, to feeling quite comfortable. A lot of my studio time was spent watching and working with my mentor, editing and mixing his tracks. This gave me a huge advantage when working at home on my own, with my own music. The lessons and the terminology have truly helped me set a very important foundation for what I’m about to embark on. For example; When you are to be an engineer in the future, my training always mentioned terms such as Low Pass Filters, High Pass Filters, Compression, Delay and Reverb. Now, I won’t look at this like I’m totally lost. As I mentioned in one of the journals, while more than half way into the lesson plans I was attending film audio post seminars, and all of a sudden I felt more in tuned with what the professionals were discussing. Whereas just a year prior, when I had not joined the Recording Connection, I felt I wasn’t grasping what these professionals were saying as much as I would have liked to.”
— Aron Toplitsky, Torrance, California

May 13, 2011 Student Success Stories

Work your way from the bottom up to become a successful part of the recording industry.

“Today was my very first session with my mentor, as this was my very first week in the Recording Connection program. First, my mentor and I talked about the different types of Engineer roles. It’s best to be well rounded in the studio, but everyone has their niche specialty, whether it is live sound engineering, mastering, hip-hop engineering, vocals, or live mixing. Next, we talked about the history of the recording engineer, and how the role came up from being a more “behind-the-scenes” silent partner, to the producer with no direct contact with the artist, to eventually becoming a producer role in its own right. This was a really interesting topic to me because I never would have guessed that the engineer role could be, or has been, just a button pusher and console mixer. These days, any direction an engineer gives to an artist, or any mix adjustments or added effect to a track, creates a whole new dynamic in a song, enhancing the original idea or performance and putting an engineer’s unique touch on in. This fact makes me feel like the engineer is as important as a producer, if not more important. After the review, as well as some introductions to the rest of the team at my mentors’ studio, my mentor and I got to sit in my first studio session ever! This was a great introduction to the “hands-on” aspect of the Recording Connection program, and gave me a lot to look forward to when I get to run my very own sessions.”
— Torey Bryant, Alexandria, Virginia

Work with our famous engineers to learn the music industry.

“This week with in my mentors’ studio I got to meet with my mentor and sit in while he mastered an album for a band. You could just tell how much the band had respect for my mentor, as well as how well known he is around the music scene in the Midwest, which was so cool to see, really reminding me how lucky I am to learn from him. I am slowly gaining a better ear as I can pick up the little sounds and improvements my mentor does to each track when he adjusts various aspects of the sound. I have been working on finishing up a different school I am in, and getting done with finals. They are almost over and I am looking forward to wrapping up school for the semester so I can spend more time in the studio with my mentor and forwarding myself within the Recording Connection program!”
— Andrew Drury, DeWitt, Michigan

Learn how to run live concerts with the guidance of your mentor.

“A few days ago I went into my mentors’ studio to go over the reading assigned by the Recording Connection, and just kind of talk about what we would be doing the next couple weeks. My mentor has more school choir and band concerts that we will be recording live, and we have to change the entire setup of the studio in order to prepare for a band that’s about to come in to the studio. Today I went to Erie High School with my mentor to record a choir concert. I assisted my mentor the entire time, setting up the mic stands, mics, DAT machine, and the stand for the machine. I watched what my mentor was doing the entire time, while the kids were singing. All this time, I was in charge of turning the levels down when the audience clapped, or when they had instruments playing in the back of the vocalists. This was really fun and I’m learning quite a bit by observing my mentor at these live concerts.”
— Michael Martinez, Frederick, Colorado

Work hands-on with your mentor to fine-tune your recording skills.

“Today, I went into the studio and went over my reading with my mentor. The reading that the Recording Connection assigned me was about reverb and delay. My mentor took me over to his computer and opened a new session, showing me what reverb and delays are, and how they work. After this, he then showed me how they work, and even let me open my own session and do my own mix! It was really cool that he let me do my own mix, and when I was done with my mix, my mentor came over and listened to it. His comments and feedback made me feel really good, as he thought my mix was good. I can’t wait to do more mixes and show my mentor what I can come up with.”
— Jackson Herrera, Los Angeles, California

Become a valuable member of your mentors’ recording company.

“so far in the Recording Connection program I have been learning so much, such as signal flow, routing signals, mixing, recording, using the console, running sessions with clients, mic placements and techniques, Pro Tools, plug-ins. It is going really well with my mentor and I am learning a lot. However, not only this, but I am being included in the sessions as a valuable member. I love being in the studio and always look forward to going to class.”
— Luis Escobar, Moreno Valley, California

Prepare yourself for the future.

“Yesterday I was in my mentors’ studio from 8 AM. to 3 PM, and I ran all of the recording sessions! I was able to do everything fine, with my mentor jumping in for some editing at times, but I was the one who did the recording. My mentor even went out and got breakfast for everyone during the middle of a take, so he was confident I could handle the recording sessions all by myself. And guess what, no problems occurred. I really feel that I am getting a great understanding of the whole process, from the signal flow through a whole studio, the Pro Tools, and how to interact with clients. I notice all the little things my mentor does, with the clients, his computer, and the small side jobs. I really think I was made for this profession and hope to be working in a studio in no time at all!”
— Benjamin Brown, Austin, Texas

May 6, 2011 Student Success Stories

Learn the history of the Recording Industry, and the equipment that is involved.

“I had an awesome session with my mentor today. We are now on week 8 and reviewing “Pro Tools Plug Ins”. I listen to some of my mentor’s mixes, which he had used a lot of the plug-ins we spoke about, and it was very exciting. I also learned about “Chris Lord Alge, Tony Maserati and, Eddie Kramer”, who are the three gentleman that created their own plug-ins, which are used in Pro-Tools. I did my research on these three men and they are masters at what they do, very interesting! I am very excited to have gone this far in the Recording Connection. I can honestly say I am learning very quickly and my mentor is very patient with me and I really appreciate it. I am looking forward to all the sessions coming up!”
— Eva Greene, Winterhaven, California

Use the Recording Connection curriculum to further your knowledge of the music industry.

“I am doing really well at the studio with my mentor! I get along with everyone there amazingly. The more I do my weekly reading assigned through the Recording Connection, the more I look forward to getting into my mentors’ studio. Having some knowledge in amplifiers from past experience at the music shop I worked at, it is the one thing in the studio where I feel familiar with. It was very interesting to dig deeper into them and really get to understand how they work by applying the reading assignments to what I am doing at the studio with my mentor. Today, mu mentor and I spent most of our time on the console, getting more in depth with all of its uses. It is all coming together now, with both the Recording Connection reading, then applying it to my hands on studio time. I can’t wait for next week’s session with my mentor!”
— Erik Edson, Denver, Colorado

Get valuable advice from your mentor.

“This was my first session with my mentor over at his recording studio. We went over the reading the Recording Connection assigned me, as well as all questions I had in much detail so that I understood each topic at hand. He also introduced how the recording course will progress, and what he expects from me as an extern. My mentor said the main thing about a studio is customer service, and how you present your studio to the paying artist. He wants me to introduce myself to everyone I meet, saying that you never know who is sitting in the studio. My first official week with the program, and with my mentor, went great and I learned a lot already. My mentor really knows his stuff.”
— Kimberly Knutsen, Wappingers Falls, New York

Become part of your mentors’ recording studio team.

“This week with my mentor was great as always. We were on Lesson 9 reading from the Recording Connection, talking about file management. We discussed the file architecture of how Pro Tools is set up. It is very difficult, but entirely essential to know. Afterwards, my mentor had a client come in, who has happened to have been in the studio several times before when I was there. It’s been really neat to be able to see this clients’ album go through the finishing processes. He is very close to being finished with it, and I’ve been there for several recording sessions of it. It’s like I feel like I’m included in the process and it’s a very cool feeling.”
— Brandon Grable, Washington, Pennsylvania

Fine tune your musical skill set with the help of your mentor.

“For my first official session with my mentor, we reviewed reading material assigned by the Recording Connection for that week, going into in-depth explanations of the roles of an artist, producer, and engineer, as well as retouching on some of the basic principles of sound, waveforms, frequencies and the human ear. Next, I received a crash course on the basics of Pro Tools. My mentor recited a series of extremely useful quick keys that will speed up my workflow. Then, my mentor demonstrated what the appropriate average mixing volume sounds like, and even let me get my hands on the mixing console! We also imported an audio CD into Pro Tools and manipulated the regions of the waveform. I got more out of this single lesson than I was expecting to, and I am very excited for my next one. I’m enjoying working with my mentor very much. He’s extremely knowledgeable, friendly, and down-to-earth in terms of explaining and demonstrating things in a really understandable and helpful way. Thanks the Recording Connection!”
— Joseph Mancuso, Littleton, Colorado