STUDENT SPOTLIGHT – FEB09

These Students Will Be Working in the Music and Audio Business by September 2009.  WILL YOU?

Jason Szklarek

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS MUSIC PRODUCING STUDENT

My name is Jason and I’m currently a student at Recording Connection. When I had come to this program I didn’t know what to except. Sure, I had viewed the site to see what it was about, but still skeptical about the program.  Then I had entered MY REAL RECORDING STUDIO in Chicago and after the 1st month I already had 7 contacts. I’m thinking to myself these are all talented individuals who want to work with me.

Then my 2ND month hit, and I met a guy named Voyce. Now this Kat was right up my alley and really was feeling beats that I had made. We kept talking back and forth and now we are working on a CD that should be finished by no later than the end of March. If you were to have a conversation with me, I would say that I have dreamed about this for years and its finally happening. I’m not saying that you’re going to become a superstar right away, and become rich, but Recording Connection Audio Institute provides all the right tools for your success. So do what I did and join up and yeah don’t forget to check out are single “Just Hangin” by  In Depth Productions, Voyce, Law, Ryan on guitar.Thank you so much Recording Connection Audio Institute for this!  Your program is the best. You got me in the door of a real recording studio. I am making contacts, meeting people, producing and learning audio engineering and music producing thanks to your program.

Aaron Warren

PORTLAND OREGON RECORDING CONNECTION STUDENT

We went over the first assignment together.  After that I watched as my mentor mixed a recent recording a local group had done. For the next two hours I got a one on one question and answer session about mixing audio and some basic effects, while he was mixing the track.  After he reached a stopping point we went over, briefly, the next weeks lesson and that was that:) I stumbled onto the Recording Connection site a while back and was surprised that it was the only one of it’s kind.  After moving up north I decided it was time to enroll and get started…and POOF, here I am. Upon completing my courses I’m looking forward to finding someone willing to sit me behind a mixing board, or plop me in a recording studio and record something for them…and get paid to do it too. This is a great program.

Jacob Sandborg

DICKERSON, TX RECORDING STUDENT

This is for the week of January nineteen through the twenty third.  My mentor and I Laid down the Bass track for my mix.  We also worked on editing the guitar mix a little bit more.  We also went over lesson eighteen about mic placement,  he showed me some tricks and gave me some real helpful tips on mic placement.  I have obtained and have been learning pro tools and have got the patch bay down.  Thank you all for assigning me my mentor. I really appreciate it, this man has changed my life completely.  He is the greatest mentor I have ever had.  He really cares about his students and he never gives up on them, I highly recommend him for any other students that are looking to get into the audio engineering field.  I am learning one on one in a real studio and I love it. Thank you guy’s and GOD bless.

Maurice Estrello
RICHLAND HILLS, TX MUSIC RECORDING STUDENT

This week I sat in on a session recording a bass for a band and I also watched while he did some mixdowns to the recorded tracks. He had to set up a sound system for a club so he showed me what he chose and why he chose it. I also got to tinker around on logic for a little while. Learning in a real studio one on one and then being an extern is really the best way to learn. I love this program.

The Jonas Brothers had scheduled for a recording in SSL Friday.   So we had SSL all cleaned,  and prepared mics.

Ryan Bunjas

CHICAGO RECORDING STUDENT

I joined the studio in Chicago, Illinois.  I chose the Recording Connection over all the other schools I’ve looked at because this is real.  This is as real as you can get.  You’re in the business. You meet managers, producers, engineers, musicians, everybody. Really, this is the best move I think I’ve made.  I’m exchaning numbers with people daily.  I’m experiencing so much: live shows. sitting in on sessions.  It doesn’t even feel like school, it’s like I’ve broken in the business.

I’ve actually taken classes before in audio engineering and production and you’re just with a bunch of kids who don’t know a single thing about what they’re doing.    I just felt like I was wasting time. Here, I’ve progressed so much. I’ve only been here a couple of months.   My knowledge has skyrocketed. We work with real clients, it’s as real as you can get. This is everything I ever imagined I could do with music.

This week I worked in the studio with a real live record producer who dumped about 18 tracks from his multiple keyboards. We had connect them to a slave drive, and we connected that through the midi ports, so when we hit record it would all start at the same time. But we recorded the tracks through the DI on the preamps. Thursday, Hogee sampled a track by stevie wonder, we figured out the bpm and sliced out the loop he wanted, and repeated it for 4min. And he layed down some vocals he made up to go over the track. This is a great way to learn because you get to work with industry pros as you learn recording in a real studio.

Philip Chaikin

NEW YORK, NY RECORDING CONNECTION STUDENT

I came into the Studio on Monday 1/22 to assist with the recording of the Greta Gertler Band for Breakthru Radio.com’s website. I setup the live room andcontrolled ProTools while Steve did a live mix of the session. I am getting a real world education in a real studio thanks to the Recording Connection.

Ronald Barnes
ATLANTA, GA  AUDIO ENGINEERING STUDENT

This week we went over the chapter concerning the digital audio basics and discussed the different types of commonly used formats for digital audio. I also got to sit in on the mix down process for two different songs and really obtained a general idea on how to go about mixing process of a song.

Jeremy Scott

OMAHA, NEBRASKA RECORDING CONNECTION STUDENT

This week it was lesson XII, Synchronization Console Automation. Of course, the understanding of automation is a necessity if you want to make your job easier as an audio engineer. We first went over SMPTE time code (which is what my mentor uses): My mentor explained bits, sync data, time code frames, LTC and VITC time code, jam sync, synchronization using SMPTE time code (he showed me his master, or synchronizer, and explained all of its duties), SMPTE offset times, loops, and distribution of SMPTE signals. My mentor explained SMPTE, he showed me how everything is connected, and he explained to me his whole synchronized system, with emphasis on his master device. Secondly, we covered MIDI-basd synchronization; Tim doesn’t have any MIDI devices, he used to have a MIDI-based system, but he believes SMPTE is a more reliable way. We went through MIDI real-time messages, MIDI time code, MIDI time code messages (quarter-frame, full, and MIDI cueing messages), and then he quickly explained how it’s possible to convert SMPTE time code into MIDI time code and vice versa. My mentor finished explaining synchronization by talking about master/slave relationship, modular digital multitrack machines, and DAWs.  For the next part of class we went over console automation. He really stressed how much console automation can aid a mix. My mentor first explained the functions of automation, switching and dynamics. Next, he went over each system of console automation (vca, dca, moving fader, midi-based) and explained the difference between each; by the way, he has a moving fader system. My mentor then opened up a song and show me automation in action. He soloed the vocals and explained, while applying, the three operating modes of console automation. As usual he graded my assignment. This was a good lesson to acquaint me with the use of digital application of audio.