Welcome to the Recording Connection parent's page.  If you are a parent, relative, or guardian of a person considering our music and audio mentor apprentice program, this page can help you to gain a necessary amount of comfort with our method of teaching the skills necessary to be an audio engineer or music producer as well as our mission.

For 25 years we have been providing cutting edge education in music recording and producing, live event sound and audio engineering in The U.S., Canada and the U.K.  The Recording Connection 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 Online Business Bureau, 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:





Celebrating our 25th year of Recording Connection's unique mentor/apprentice method of teaching the recording arts and engineering skills, we feel our offerings are more timely and relevant than ever.

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


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

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 RELATIONS (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.





Nick Awad is one of our hardworking placement coordinators who is charged with gettting you, our valued students the right teacher/mentor. Mr. Awad can be reached at 1 800 755 7597. At Film Connection our goal is to match your needs with the right studio, station, or production company and the right mentor.










Chris Ramirez is one of our hardworking placement coordinators who is charged with gettting you, our valued students the right teacher/mentor. Mr. Ramirez can be reached at 1 800 755 7597. At Film Connection our goal is to match your needs with the right studio, station, or production company and the right mentor.

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 OUR MENTORS

RECORDING 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, Gladys Knight, Patti La Belle, Mr. Big, Wilson Phillips, Tracie Spencer, Dangerous Toys, to name a few.

Donny Baker of Elephant Symphony, L.A. CA
Donny Baker is the chief audio engineer at Elephant Symphony in Glendale, California.  He not only has been mentoring students for the Recording Connection for years, he also put together a large part of our current curriculum  He's a true music business veteran, having worked on music productions for many a name artist.

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.

NOTABLE STUDENT ALUMNI

Preston Boebel Audio Recording Engineer and Music Producer Clear Lake Studios, Los Angeles.
Nine years ago, Preston signed up for the Recording Connection's audio engineering course.  Immediately upon graduation, his mentor, Brian Levi, hired Preston as an assistant audio engineer.  A year later, Preston was promoted to chief engineer, a position he continues to hold and enjoy as he has been able to work with Usher, White Snake, Dishwalla, Quiet Riot and many more.  Recently we asked Preston to sit down with us and share his take on The Recording Connection audio engineering school alternative.  CLICK THE PLAY BUTTON TO HEAR WHAT PRESTON HAS TO SAY-HE EXPLAINS THINGS VERY WELL

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.

Learn Audio Engineering From A Pro Audio Engineer

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Why Mentoring Works Well

WHICH SCHOOL IS RIGHT FOR YOUR KID?

With the troublesome state of our economy, the high cost of education, and the sheer multitude of schools to choose from, it can be a daunting task to know which choice is best.  This is especially true when it comes to media schools. 

We believe education is fundamentally about getting you a job. Now let's be clear here: we can't and don't promise anyone a job or a career. 

What we can and do deliver is a consistant track record of high career placement. Over 23 years, we've placed, on average, over 70% of Recording Connection's graduate in music industry careers. 

There are four main reasons for this:
   
1) We don't accept everyone who enrolls.  In fact, if our mentors don't think your kid has what it takes to make it, they won't accept him. 

2) We solve the old Catch 22 of can't get a job without experience and can't get experience without a job.  Because your kid will be learning music recording in a real recording studio, instead of a classroom, and sitting in on real recording sessions with paying clients, he simultaneously will be getting the kind of job experience necessary to get a job in the business.

3) We solve the "it's who you know" riddle too.  Since the student sits shotgun with their mentor in his recording studio, they will come face-to-face with dozens of music and audio industry 'players' that no classroom environment can provide.

4) We put your kid in the right place at the right time.  This means if your kid works hard, has passion and talent enough to be the kind of student his mentor would hire, then he will be exposed to a multitude of job opportunities.

Case in point: recently one of our students went to his initial mentor interview.  Our mentor was initially impressed with his drive and passion.  During the course of the interview, the prospective student revealed that his true desire was to build and design recording studios.  Co-incidentally, our mentor had a friend who built recording studios and was in need of an assistant.  So, before his first class, this Recording Connection student was already hired.

HERE ARE VIDEO TESTIMONIALS OF BOTH  MENTOR AND STUDENT DESCRIBING THEIR ENCOUNTER.

Doug Maxwell
Recording Connection Mentor
  PLAY VIDEO

Sebastian Hove
Recording Connection Student
  PLAY VIDEO

Now obviously this result is a bit unusual. However, our courses are designed to teach our students what they need to know to get a job in the music recording industry TODAY!  Technology in the music industry is ever changing, and because our mentors, (your kid's teachers) are actively working in the music industry--it's how they support themselves--you can be assured your kid will be learning the latest techniques on cutting edge equipment, and the most modern technology.

ALL THIS AND WE SAVE YOU MONEY TOO!
 
Tuition for The Recording Connection Course is $7750.  This amount covers everything.  There are no additional costs, unless you choose to finance, in which case there will be interest charges.  Check around, nowhere else comes close to giving you this kind of value for your money.

For those who want to finance the Recording Connection tuition fees, we offer several options.  Sallie Mae offers good interest rates, long term financing, low payments, and the option to borrow more than the tuition fees to cover living expenses, etc.  For more information on Sallie Mae Financing, click here.

For those who don't qualify for Sallie Mae, the Recording Connection offers many other, flexible credit options with more additional options opening up regularly.  For more information please give us a call at 800.755.7597 and we'll be happy to go over them with you.

We believe that an investment in the Recording Connection is an investment in your kid--the future Recording Connection student.  While nobody likes to be in debt, there are many occasions where financing your education make sense.  Not only can it help you get started earlier, but there are benefits of positive debt where not only are you investing in your future, but you're simultaneously building, or rebuilding your credit rating.

If we, and our mentors, believe you are qualified to be a student, we will do our best to find a financial aid package that you can qualify for while keeping within your budget.  We look forward to helping you achieve your dreams.