RICHARD MARTENS

When I first found the Recording Connection, I had been doing some research on the internet in order to exercise all of my options.  Found Rec. connection on internet, research recording schools.  What really stuck out about the Recording Connection was the affordable price for such an excellent opportunity.

When I got accepted into the externship with my mentor, my mentor was absolutely great.  I went in several days a week, one day to go over the reading assigned by the Recording Connection.  The other days were designed for my externship duties.

I really learned twice as much as I thought I would.  My mentor made is a point to always go outside the boundaries of the reading material, allowing me to sit in on recording sessions and mixes.  This was a very new experience for me, and sitting in on sessions is how I learned what the professionals use, including the Pro Tools software, and the science of sound.  It is all very fascinating.

Next, I participated in an intern staff meeting for my mentor.  The studio manager was there and gave a very inspiring speech, saying that those students that are training, including me, need to get into that recording room and sit in on these sessions as much as possible, because this is the point of the program, and of having a mentor.  From that point on, I got the bug to get in these sessions from start to finish, and once I started to do this, more and more opportunities began to arise.

To this day, after graduating the program, I am still working with my mentor, doing long hours in the studio to continue fine-tuning my skills within the music industry.  I was first offered a job as an intern, which I gladly accepted. From there, I was promoted to the Assistant Engineer.  I basically worked my way from the bottom up, in order to really establish a position for myself, and this is exactly what I accomplished.

The Recording Connection provides people with the opportunity to get their foot in the door.  All students are not all alike, we are from all different walks of life, and the Recording Connection helps us all.

Richard Martens, Stegar, Illinois