Welcome to the Recording Connection parent's page.  If you are a parent, relative, or guardian of a person considering us, this page can help you to gain a necessary amount of comfort with our school and our mission.

For 23 years we have been providing cutting edge education in music recording and audio engineering in The U.S., Canada and the U.K.  Our school is also fully accredited through The National Private School Accreditation Alliance (NPSAA) and has been recognized by SLM Financial / Sallie Mae (the world's leading lender for loans for college) as an institution of higher learning worthy of their full support and partnership. We also are proud to be fully recognized by the Better Business Internet Bureau and ICOP as a valid school with an outstanding record.

Here are the links to all of the organizations mentioned above:


That said we understand that making a smart decision about where to send your son or daughter, grandson or grand daughter, cousin, niece, nephew, friend, or dependent to school is never an easy one. And money is not the only concern. Choosing the right school can be an arduous task. With so many options and many scams out there in our world today, careful consideration of all your options is always the best way to proceed when choosing a school.  It is our intention to give you the facts about us so as you and your family can feel at ease with the decision that you are about to make. To that end, we'd first like you to meet our corporate staff and partners. Each one of these individuals is dedicated to providing each one of our students with the assistance they need to successfully complete our course, then graduate, and then get connected into the music business.

If your loved one has already signed up for our program, they have most likely already talked to one of Admissions Counselors. For your convenience we have provided their pictures below so as you and your family can put a face to the name and voice that are assisting them:

ASSISTANT ADMISSIONS COUNSELOR

MISSION: To answer all your questions about duration, course curriculum, our one on one method of higher learning, classroom size, location, our stay connected program, and finance options. Our Admissions staff is available M-F from 9-6 PST at 1 800 295 4433


Angela Sanders is the proud mother of a daughter and a grandmother too. She has been with the ECC/Recording Connection Audio School family for over a year and prides herself on counseling youth to a better tommorrow. She can be reached at 800 295 4433 ext. 228


Matthew Brennan is the owner of Graveyard Recordings, a professional DJ and Club Promoter and a graduate of The Five Towns College School with a degree in Audio Recording and The Music Business. As a degree holding graduate of a traditional school, Mr. Brennan is standing by to offer you and your family first hand knowledge of why The Recording Connection might be a better choice than what the music industry calls " those other diploma mill traditional schools"

Lauren Silva is excited to be a member of the Recording Connection staff and is here to assist our students with their Admissions needs.

Shawn Thompson has been with Recording Connection for over two years and can answer just about any question a parent or guadiarn might have about our program. With extensive knowledge of our eduational construct, Shawn is happy to help you and your family collect the information you need to make a smart decision.


STUDENT SERVICES

MISSION: Once your son, daughter, or dependent becomes a student, we assign to them a Student Services Counselor whose job it is to make sure all of our students are setting goals and accomplishing them, attending class, and planning for possible employment and marketability in the music business. We will keep in constant touch with your son or daughter and/or relative or dependent to make sure that our teachers/mentors are doing their job which is to train our students one on one in their real life recording studios. Your Student Services Counsleor will also work to provide other job possibilites during the program's duration and for one year after it is complete.


STUDENT /  TEACHER REALTIONS (Placement)

MISSION: To listen to your son or daughters needs, acess his or her skill level, desires, and goals and place your loved one with the right teacher / mentor.

John Stauffer, our Placement Coordinator, is a 20 year veteran of the music industry, an audio engineer, music producer and artist that has to date, recorded two professional records, and played as a professional session player on many more. Once acepted into our program, but before you have paid a dime, Mr,. Stauffer will be dealing directly with your son, daughter or dependent. John looks forward to providing your loved one with expert knowledge on how to break into the business, and how to get the most from his/her educational experience with The Recording Connection.


HEAD OF ADMISSIONS / CEO

James (Jimi)  Petulla is the proud father of two sons and two dogs. A successful film writer, producer and former radio broadcaster, Petulla came up with his take on the mentor/apprentice method of education while working as an instructor for the world famous and now defunct Columbia School of Broadcasting. He believed that the people who worked there were great but that overall it was not effective and, in fact, worse. They trained students and then dumped them into the job market with a piece of paper that was worth nothing because the students had no real world experience. Petulla visualized an opportunity and asked himself how he could help capable students get paying jobs in the entertainment business. The next day while visiting an audio engineer friend in his San Jose, California studio, Petulla asked him if he had ever hired a student from one of these schools. Laughing, his friend said, “No, because they don't know the job. My own assistant had no experience, but I trained him so now I know he knows his stuff."

Two weeks later Petulla started the Entertainment Connection which is now a successful accredited academic institution certified by the National Private Schools Accreditation Alliance. As of 2007 the company has trained thousands upon thousands of students who are now working in their dream careers in the entertainment business.


DEAN OF STUDENTS / COO

Brian Kraft got his start at 18 years of age working for Yvonne Troxclair At Warner Bros. Records in Burbank, California where he learned the music business from the legendary executive John Beug (Producer: The Eagles, Eric Clapton, President Rhino Records). Kraft then left Warner Bros. and worked as a co-producer on music videos and commercials for Julian Temple's Nitrate Films and Limelight Films, Inc. It was there that he met the late great music video director D.J. Webster (Amy Grant, Chevrolet, The Beach Boys). Webster took Kraft under his wing and mentored him in the art of directing and the business of producing. After Webster's passing, Kraft went on to direct music videos and live concerts for Jane's Addiction, Cypress Hill, and Ozomatli.

Recently Kraft directed the feature film The Brandon Corey Story and is currently directing a documentary film featuring author Naomi Wolf, Thom Hartmann, Doug Casey and more. Five years ago Kraft turned his attention to mentoring and to date has mentored 73 students, and counting, into paid employment in the film, television, music recording and radio professions. Kraft is on the board of advisors for Entertainment Connection Inc. and lives in Los Angeles, California.


FINANCIAL AID DEPT.

Bianca Major is the Lead Financial Coordinator and is here to help you and your family with an SLM / Sallie Mae loan, Internal Financing and more.


PARTNERS:

The Recording Connection is an industry sponsored program recognized and a member of the National Broadcasters Association (NAB), The American Federation of Radio and Television Artists (AFTRA) and the Society for Professional Audio Recording Services (SPARS).


SOME OF THE PROFESSIONALS THAT RECOGNIZE RECORDING CONNECTION as the leader in the mentor/apprentice method of higher education:

Ryan Green of Crush Recording, Phoenix, Arizona
Ryan Greene is best known for working with such bands as NOFX, Lagwagon, No Use For A Name, Authority Zero, Good Riddance, Sick Of It All, Big Wig, Stretch Armstrong, Fenix TX, Bracket, Pulley, Propaghandi, Ignite, Nerf Herder, Me First And The Gimmie Gimmes, Ten Foot Pole, Mad Caddies, Megadeth, Tonic, Lita Ford, Cheap Trick, Glades Knight, Patty La Belle, Mr. Big, Wilson Phillips, Tracy Spencer, Dangerous Toys, to name a few.
Donny Baker of Elephant Symphony, L.A. CA

Billy Flores Live Sound Engineer for Eminem, Motley Crue, The Eagles
With a grueling tour schedule that took the Black Eye Peas across the U.S., Europe, Australia and back to the U.S., Flores has been with the band for more than a year, and for over a quarter-century he mixed monitors for the likes of Sting, Four Play, B.B. King and Eminem.

Brian Levi of Clear Lake Audio in L.A. CA
Brian Levi, owner/chief engineer of Clear Lake Audio in Los Angeles talks about one of our students: "Preston Boebel has been 'firsting' sessions for me since his completion of the Music Connection course last month. Now we have officially hired him on as a First Engineer. Being a Los Angeles-based major studio, we have a steady flow of national acts in our room. The great people skills Preston demonstrated during his apprenticeship were well-matched by his engineering talent. Thanks for sending him our way!"

Brian Pastoria of Harmonie Park Studios in Detroit, Michigan
Nestled among the tree-lined side streets of downtown Detroit’s cozy Harmonie Park is the aptly-named Harmonie Park Studios. Open since 1996 and run by Mark Pastoria and Brian Pastoria.  Harmonie Park has recorded some of the music industries top acts such as Aretha Franklin, Eminem, D12, P Diddy, Will.I.AM, The Black Crowes, Tori Amos, The Four Tops, Grand Funk Railroad, Mötley Crüe, Missy Elliott, Ben Folds Five, Dave Mason, Everclear, George Clinton, Elliott Smith, Karen Clark and her daughter, rising gospel star, Kierra “KiKi” Sheard.