Recording Connection grad Taylor Crommie does the Master’s Program

We can’t stress it enough–learning is a lifestyle, it’s what anyone who wants to get ahead in music is constantly doing. Talk to some of the most prolific music producers and engineers, people who’ve been at the top of their game for decades, and they’ll tell you constant learning, exploration and evolution has much to do with their success. Taylor Crommie, Recording Connection graduate and active participant in the master’s program seems to know just how much learning more about the craft will positively impact his career:

“I’ve had the luxury of having two mentors,” says Taylor, who apprenticed with Donny Baker of ES Audio for the bachelor’s program and now apprentices with Matt “Linny” Linesch at Ocean Way (now United Recording Studios). “If I could pick my favorite experience at ES, it would have to be learning the hardware! Donny Baker really took the time to explain why vintage equipment is such an essential tool for bringing life into your music. This opened my ears to what it means to be a great engineer.”

Taylor’s real-world, hands-on education enabled him to get paid work almost immediately after graduation. He hopped on to The Baron Sisters’ Positive Thinker Tour in 2012, as head technician and engineer for a whopping 23 shows over 21 days. Other opportunities were soon to follow, including doing live audio at SxSW 2013 for LA indie band Breakfast, doing sound effects and composing music for the smartphone game app Joe the Zombie, and a stretch at David Lynch’s Transcendental Radio, eventually securing a full-time gig as a mixer for JW Studios in North Hollywood, the job he still holds today.

Despite his success, Taylor still felt he wasn’t finished and decided he wanted to delve deeper into mixing. He contacted Recording Connection for a second time, this time to enter the master’s program. He was placed with Matt Linesch at United Recording Studios where he was working on an eclectic project. Taylor says, “Matt was finishing the first live record of Edward Sharpe [and the Magnetic Zeros], which I was able to witness … Apprenticing under Matt has opened my eyes and ears to all the different and interesting techniques of approaching my mix, stuff you can only fully understand one-on-one.”

Taylor is only about half way through the master’s program. Here’s what he has to say about it:

So far, I’ve been apprenticing under Matt for about 3 months, and my favorite experience thus far has got to be relating; technically speaking, that is. Being able to pick up the language of audio is just as important as working with it. When you start to understand how compression and equalizing works, you start to create possible concepts and ideas about effecting aspects of your music. When this happens, you’ll have questions, but without the language you have no question.

Taylor Crommie is building the language, concepts and experience he needs to become the professional he wants to be. Working hard, learning and applying himself to the projects at hand, he’s paving the way for himself and he’s making some great music in the meantime.

Check out Taylor’s music on Soundcloud.