Audio Engineering Training in the Recording Studio

For decades Recording Connection has been giving students an alternative way to learn about and prepare for a career in audio engineering, music production, and other aspects of the music industry. We felt the traditional way of learning about the industry didn’t truly capture the essence of what it meant to be a contributing member of the profession and part of the business of making music.

In reality, how could it? How can you replicate what happens during a three-hour session with a client from inside of a classroom? How can you train for working with established artists in the middle of a tour when you’re nowhere near the action and don’t know anyone who is?

How are you supposed to learn what it takes to attract, secure, and keep those musicians, bands, and professionals coming into the studio when no one in your environment has known the real day-to-day realities of striving and thriving in the industry?

How can I Learn Audio Engineering?

When it comes to how you can learn audio engineering or music production, we feel the best way to learn is by doing. There will always be a place for required reading, homework, testing, and the like–you can expect the same at Recording Connection. But the bulk of your education should be spent in a professional recording studio. You don’t need a degree to become an audio engineer.

In many cases, you’ll be learning many of the same lessons that you would in a university or trade school setting. But instead of sitting in front of a teacher with several other students, you’ll be sitting next to a mentor where you’ll receive one-on-one attention.

Instead of sitting at a desk, you’ll be sitting at a soundboard with professional audio engineering and music production recording equipment that’s used to make today’s music. We believe learning within the environment where the actual work takes place is just a more holistic and commonsense way to learn.

Is it Hard to be an Audio Engineer?

It’s not hard to be an audio engineer if you put in the time it takes to refine your knowledge, and skills, and build your portfolio. We feel it’s near impossible to produce a hit record, or any high-quality music for that matter when you only have access to the gear a few hours a week. And why should you have to wait your turn if you don’t have to? When you receive audio engineering training inside a real-world studio, you’ll see how today’s music gets made firsthand.

A college lab won’t train you how to work with a client who’s less than open to suggestions or is demanding perfection on the first take. Or how to coax the best out of an artist who’s maybe unsure of their own direction. Or how to troubleshoot connectivity issues, set up the studio in-between clients, give off the right energy, and take advantage of the downtime to be able to surprise that client with a very good rough mix before they’re out of the studio. Learning from real music industry pros in the studio can help you learn how to become a successful audio engineer.

How Long Does it Take to Become an Audio Engineer?

How long it takes to become an audio engineer depends on the path you decide to take. Learning from a professional audio engineer can help expedite the time it takes for you to become a pro. In a matter of 6-9 months, you can have the skills and knowledge you need to become an audio engineer. There’s a time and place for everything, Recording Connection just doesn’t believe a classroom is necessary when it comes to audio production, electronic music production, audio engineering, and a lot of other creative professions. You learn mixing and mastering by getting your hands dirty and developing your ears, not by reading about it in a book.

Most audio recording professionals will tell you their true education began once they left school and hit the real world. The first lesson was they didn’t have to spend 2-4 years of their life and all of that money at a university or trade school. Learning directly from the professionals (our mentors) will give you a better understanding of how music is made in less time for less money.

Where can I get Audio Engineering Training?

When it comes to finding sound engineers’ work and other music production jobs, what you do is much more important than what a piece of paper says you know. It doesn’t matter if you’ve spent four years at a prestigious university, a very expensive private school, or nine months in an audio engineering program, if you know the job, you know the job.

“I want people with actual experience,” says Grammy-award-winning producer and mentor Ryan Hewitt (Lady Gaga, blink-182, Little Big Town, The Lumineers) “Not fanciful degrees which basically tells me you have zero understanding of how the industry works.”

Learn from and Get Hired by Our Mentors

Hewitt is an example of the person you need to impress when looking for work. He just also happens to be one of our mentors. As a student extern with Recording Connection, you get the experience you need while receiving valuable one-on-one instruction. You work with the very same people who are in a position to hire you.

It may be the most valuable part of our digital recording, music production, and sound engineering programs. Every day is a chance to prove your worth to a potential employer in the very studio they work in. Even if they aren’t hiring, chances are they know someone who is. More than 25,000 students who have completed Recording Connection programs have found work in the industry.

And isn’t that the point? We feel we offer the best possible path for you to work in the business, whether it’s in the studio, traveling as a live sound engineer, or even running your own studio or record label. You can try making the connections you need at a four-year university or learn how to run digital audio workstations with a few online courses, but only Recording Connection gets your foot in the door with real, working professionals. It’s time to Amplify Your Life.