Learn Advanced Audio Engineering & Music Production

Background

An established audio engineer/producer based in New Orleans, Recording Connection mentor Misha Kachkachishvili is an industry veteran whose client list includes names like Solange Knowles, Eric Clapton, Willie Nelson, Janelle Monae, Taj Mahal, T-Bone Burnett and many others. A few years ago, he purchased a historic church left decimated by Hurricane Katrina, chose to keep the church’s historic pipe organ donated by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, and converted the space into what is now Esplanade Studios, the largest recording studio in Louisiana (and one of the most prestigious).

Articles

A Day in the Life of Our Student
Recording Connection mentor Misha Kachkachishvili on working with artists and finding opportunity

Background

In 1996, Scotty became Production Manager for the powerhouse production team, The Characters. It was during this time that Scott worked on numerous Platinum and Gold albums, including releases by SWV, Johnny Gill, Tyrese, B2K, Brian McKnight, Petey Pablo, and Faith Evans. Scotty has been lending his expertise in Studio and Production Management at Engine Room Audio since 2006.

Background

Mentor in Engine Room, New York, NY

A multi Grammy award winning engineer, Mark Christensen has been in the music industry for decades. First as a signed artist that opened for Radiohead, then as an audio engineer, music producer, and mastering wizard. In addition to opening his own recording studio in New York – The Engine Room – and making gold records, Christensen also acts as a mentor for the Recording Connection.

It didn’t take long to realize our relationship was a match made in heaven. As one of Christensen’s first students, Nacor Zuluaga went to work for Christensen at The Engine Room and helped record five gold records for acts such as Trey Songz, Club Dogo, and Fedez. He has been at The Engine Room for nearly eight years and acts as a mentor for dozens of Recording Connection students.

Christensen has the industry experience we look for in our mentors, but the ability to pass that knowledge onto others is what we believe makes The Recording Connection Audio Engineering and Music Production Program so successful.

“I like teaching, and the idea of having students who were in the studio environment and working with us here seemed like a good idea,” Christensen said. “I tried it with a few students, and I was really happy with the results. I felt like they learned an awful lot being in a real studio environment.

“It’s a much more kind of concrete, hands-on sort of experience than trying to learn audio engineering from a textbook. So it’s become actually kind of a big part of what we do here. I teach every day, I have a couple of students that I teach. And so we have a number of students here all the time.”

Is Music YOUR Life?

“One of the things I look for is to make sure that they sort of have this in their blood, so to speak,” Christensen said.

Christensen has been making, recording, engineering, and producing music for nearly 30 years, working with the biggest names in the biz: Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, The Killers, and OK Go to name a few. He knows what it’s like to be on both sides of the studio glass and he knows what he’s looking for in a potential student.

“The ability to kind of behave in a mature way,” Christensen said. “I look for people that can behave in the session as though they are already part of the production team. We’re looking for people that can behave like assistants. They have to be professional enough to not act like fans if their favorite artist walks through the front door, they can’t be asking for autographs, they can’t be asking for pictures.”

Take Advantage of Your Opportunities

Whether it’s working the Ting Tings, Sia, or A$AP Rocky, Christensen has mastered nearly every single genre of music, dozens of which have gone on to gold or platinum status. He knows talent when he sees it and works to give his externs the opportunities they need to start building a brand. But you have to take advantage of those opportunities when they present themselves.

“You know that story of how Jimmy Iovine was an intern and ended up mixing part of John Lennon’s album,” Christensen said. “Those stories are actually real; that stuff actually happens. The best thing you can do for yourself is just to make sure that you’re very prepared and have your technical skills together so that when those moments arise, you can really show that you can shine.”

We feel the mentors at The Recording Connection can offer almost nobody else can: The Opportunities to make connections with those already in the business. And we feel the best way to do that is put you in a one-on-one situation with an industry inside like Mark Christensen.

Articles

Recording Connection mentor Mark Christensen
Engine Room Audio completes work on 50 Cent, Trey Songz albums!
From Newcastle, Australia to New York, New York, Darren Fewins Gets Going!
Mark Christensen of Engine Room Audio NYC talks Student Success rates with Brian Kraft

Background

Asaf Fulks is a record artist, songwriter, music producer, sound engineer, videographer, graphic designer, educator, author, inventor and founder of OC Recording in 2005. He discovered his passion for music production during his college years. While studying Computer Science and Economics at Denison University in Ohio, he also spent time recording and producing in his dorm room. After graduating in 2004, he moved to his family in Hollywood and eventually relocated to Orange County to work for a book publisher. His boss recognized his passion for music and encouraged him to set up a studio in his unused office space. With minimal gear and few contacts Asaf set up shop and The OC Recording Company opened its doors in 2005. [^]

Articles

Recording Connection Grads find work at The OC Recording Company Inc!

Background

Built in 1990, WrightWay Studios has been a staple of the Mid – Atlantic music scene and a destination for national recording artists since it’s inception. The Studio has an impressive client list including artists ranging from Rihanna, Dru Hill, Bibi Bourelly, Dawn (Danity Kane) and Ryan Leslie to Slipknot, U.N.K.L.E and Bosnian Rainbows (Mars Volta), Misery Index, Evan Taubenfeld (Avril Lavigne), Steel Pulse and Celebration, to the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Hezekiah Walker and many more. WrightWay prides itself in its ability to deliver the highest quality projects for artists in any genre. WrightWay has worked with artists from every Major Label including Warner Brothers, EMI, Sony, BMG and Universal and most of their subsidiary labels in addition to most of the region’s budding talent.

WrightWay’s Engineers are far more than just engineers. Each is also a musician, trained as a producer who fully understands what it takes to make a great record. Each Producer/Engineer is committed to delivering the highest quality product for every client. Wright Way’s Producers/Engineers have worked with: Rihanna, Mos Def, Blaqstarr/M.I.A., Lake Trout, Slipknot, Mambo Sauce, Lonnie Liston Smith, Dying Fetus, Fertile Ground, SR71, Jimmie’s Chicken Shack

Background

Devon has worked as an engineer or Pro Tools engineer on numerous grammy winning albums. Most notable was his Pro Tools Engineering work for Lauryn Hill’s The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill which won four GRAMMYs (including album of the year) in 1999.

Articles

Busy in Baton Rouge: Recording Connection student Jordan Robertson launches his music production career

Background

Tony Ricci is a veteran music producer with over 20 years experience and 6 Grammy Considerations since 2005. Tony is a graduate of Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.

Tony was the staff Sound Designer at the TONY Award winning Trinity Repertory Company in Providence RI for two years, dealing with all aspects of Theatre production sound and also composing original music for the world premier of the play Reckless. He has worked with all styles of music including rock, metal, pop, country, jazz, world, urban, classical and folk. In addition to his studio work, Tony is an audio instructor at New England Institute Of Technology.

Tony’s production style is based on capturing what makes each artist unique and recognizable, and creating showpiece mixes. He is currently looking for artists who have strong songs, true passion for their music and a desire to take their career to the next level.

Background

Most of the time, building a career requires moving, evolving, and learning over time. One’s “career” is the byproduct of work that’s done in the present, the things you do while you’re in the pocket, perfecting your craft.

Sharrief Thomas knows about this intimately. This writer/producer/engineer and artist in his own right was exposed to the Recording Connection program when he was recording at Quad Studios in New York City. Seeing our program at work led Sharrief to become a mentor himself. Today he helps our students hone their chops, gain skills, and plan for their futures while gleaning a first-hand understanding of how the music industry works from a creative and business perspective at Water Music Publishing, an independent music publishing and media company run by Sharrief and business partner Big Bug, whose known for his work with Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Sean Combs, and as one of the original members of the 90s R&B group, Today.

While recording at Quad, Sharrief and another Recording Connection mentor, Sax DMA, decided to give a number of RC externs the opportunity to earn engineering credits on his forthcoming album. “We had to turn down kids that wanted to join,” Sharrief says. And a number of notable artists came in to help on vocals including Sky Heavens, backup singer for Eminem, and Big Bub himself. “It was just the students getting to be in a live situation with real, live artists.”

Today, as a Recording Connection mentor himself, Sharrief externs students at Water Music Publishing in Bloomfield, NJ, just outside of New York City.

Articles

RC mentor Sharrief Thomas Talks Truth on Having the Winning Mindset

Background

Chris Steinmetz has over 30 years of experience in the record industry and has worked on gold, platinum, and grammy nominated albums. Steinmetz began his career working as an assistant engineer for Warner Bros. Records in L.A., and began freelancing his work as well before moving back to his native Chicago.

Background

Led by producer-songwriter Josquin des Pres, the Track Star Studios team is comprised of some of the best studio musicians and vocalists in the industry. Over the years, Josquin has earned the respect of his peers in various areas of the music industry. His credits include multiple songwriting collaborations with Bernie Taupin (of Elton John fame), as well as hundreds of song placements in film, TV and publishing. His production credits surpass 150 albums and CDs for various major and indie labels.

Articles

RC mentor Josquin Des Pres Hires from Within
Recording Connection mentor/music industry veteran Josquin des Pres chats about his musical journey and why he loves to hire his apprentices
Josquin Des Pres: Recording Connection Prepares You for the Real World

Articles

Student Justin Smith is Fine with Trial by Fire
Alysse LeFevre Follows her bliss into The Lair Recording Studio

Background

A Detroit Native, IV Duncan III is a RIAA Multi-Platinum Certified Recording, Mixing, and Mastering Engineer. He is also an accomplished Music Producer. He graduated top of his class from the Recording Institute, nationally renowned for its engineering curriculum. IV is the owner of Mix Factory One Studios and Music Brokers Entertainment Group. His experience in the music industry is sought after by major labels and corporate America as well as local/independent artists.  He is an active participant in the community and is a partner in the Light Up Detroit campaign designed to shine a positive light and promote growth for that city. Music is IV’s passion. His goal is to continuously empower the art that drives him.

Background

Since a teenager, Dave has played various instruments in different bands. His history with audio engineering goes back to junior high when he started learning and helping run sound for various school functions and productions. In later years Dave worked at a studio where he fine-tuned his craft of session playing, recording, producing and mixing.

For the past decade Dave has been working with artists and bands helping them discover and create there sound. He has worked on hundreds of songs, and as a result has seen artists and bands he’s worked with, land deals with major and indie labels.

In 2013 Dave joined a collective of multimedia content creators based out of Kona, Hawaii, headed up by film director and entrepreneur David L. Cunningham. Since then, Dave has expanded into composing, sound design and mixing for film, TV and games. Out of this new direction, Dave started Twenty20Sound as a post sound and music production company.

Background

Tiki Recording Studios was established in 1967 when the name was drawn out of a hat. CEO Gradie O’Neal has been a legendary engineer in the Bay Area and well respected. Many name groups have come through the doors and have recorded here. Jeannine O’Neal joined the company in the 80’s and has been an experienced music producer for the company. Both have recorded gold albums.

Two complete professional recording studios. Studio A-large recording room for bands with isolated drummers booth and singers booth. 91/2′ concert grand piano, excellent selection of microphones. Studio B- Production & Mixing facility. If you are a singer/songwriter/musician and need music behind you, let Jeannine create the arrangement of your dreams.

LP & cassette transfers to CD, Add your voice to Karaoke tracks for your family and friends, Career & internet music marketing consultation available. Call for prices and hours Many creative people have come through the doors of Tiki Studios-O’Neal Productions.

A bit of history, Tiki Studios was created by Gradie O’Neal and several partners back in 1967. We have survived many recessions, economy downturns, booms, you name it we’ve seen it and still survived by the grace of God. Tiki originally was on the corner of 17th and Julian St. in San Jose, Ca. and was in that location until 1985 where we moved into a much larger facility. The name Tiki came from Gradie and his partners at that time were trying to come up with a name for the new studio.

Everyone threw names in a hat and out popped Tiki. So for all these years, we have held on to the name and now added O’Neal Productions to the mix. The new facility offered two studios instead of one. One studio Studio A is the large room for bands to record. Studio B is the smaller music production and mixing room. Tiki in their beginning careers has recorded people such as Santana, Bill Withers, Lydia Pence of Cold Blood, Grupo Vennus, Los Aquario. We have also done many Gospel recording artists such as Lillie Knauls, Danni Bell and more. Many others (too many to name them all) have recorded throughout the years.

Both studios record many styles from Rock to world music heard throughout the world. Jeannine produces a wide variety of styles from African, South American, Vietnamese, Tibetan, Persian, India, Mexican you name it we’ve done it. That’s the beauty of music, it’s all the language we understand. More to come.

Background

F. Reid Shippen is a New Jersey-born, Nashville-based, highly motivated, completely caffeinated multiple Grammy® award-winning producer/engineer/mixer.

Background

Tim is one of alternative rock’s most recognized and respected names. Originally from England, then L.A., and now based in Austin, Texas Tim is a “household name” among famous musicians and record executives. His platinum credits speak for themselves: as a record producer, engineer and mixer Tim’s credits include David Bowie, Tin Machine, The Cure, Pearl Jam, Duran Duran, Tears for Fears and U2.

Background

Columbus Smith III, better known by his stage name Rahki (sometimes Rahk or Rahki Beats), is an American record producer and songwriter from Los Angeles, California. He is known for his work with mentor DJ Khalil and acts such as Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Currensy, Evidence, Schoolboy Q, 50 Cent, Domo Genesis, Lecrae, Aloe Blacc, and more.

Background

Warren Huart is a well-known songwriter, audio engineer, music producer and mixer who has produced, mixed and/or engineered on recordings for The Fray, Korn, Better than Ezra, James Blunt, Matisyahu, and Howie Day to name a few. Warren also has extensive Film and TV credits including Inglorious Basterds, Transformers 2, MTV’s The Hills, Lost, Scrubs, and Grey’s Anatomy. Warren also co-owns a recording studio in Los Angeles, CA.