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Background

Recording Connection mentor Gregory Hainer is an interesting case. Usually our Recording mentors work primarily in the music industry but Gregory has made a successful career for himself in music as well as film, television, and video game entertainment as a music composer, voice over specialist, Sound FX designer and mixer on numerous projects including: Plants vs. Zombies 2, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Guild Wars 2, Prince of Egypt, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, We Were Soldiers, Dishonored, Black Hawk Down, and many more.

Gregory does most of his work from Scorpio Sound, his boutique studio located in the Hollywood Hills. His unique skills-set, talent, and setup enables him to do work larger audio studios can’t. “From a client’s perspective, I own the studio, so there is no middle management overhead to worry about because the owner/operator is also the creative head. This means I have the freedom to choose to spend a little more time with my clients in order to get things perfect versus having to be out of a studio by a specific time.” Specialty might as well be Gregory’s middle name. “I get quite a few calls for the most unusual or difficult to design stuff that many in-house teams can’t quite seem to pull off convincingly, such as creating sounds for creatures, magic spells, sci-fi effects, light sabers and the like. But I will also get the occasional call to do the less-fun direct stuff like cleaning up poorly recorded production audio from a film, or digging out inaudible archival dialogue from excessive background noise.”

On top of working in the film, TV, and video game industries Gregory also takes on Recording Connection externs and teaches them about both the industry and the craft of audio engineering.

Articles

RC grad Andrew Holscher reports back on his Eddie Kramer Experience
Recording Connection mentor Gregory Hainer on Vibe and Flow

Background

Recording Connection mentor Josh “Igloo” Monroy is proof-positive that getting in and showing your commitment to the craft, day-in and day-out, can launch your career to unprecedented heights. With more than a decade in the music industry, Monroy has worked with everyone from Justin Bieber to Quincy Jones, to The Notorious B.I.G.

Monroy is looking for the same kind of commitment from his externs. Whether it’s during the Recording Connection for Audio Engineering & Music Production program or using Ableton to lay down hip hop or electronic music tracks, Monroy is looking for inspiration, originality, and dedication.

“I do two-hour drills with my externs where they have two hours to make a track, and there has to be a full-on song, or music bed for a song anyway,” Monroy said. “That means intro, verse, chorus, the whole nine yards, Not just an 8-bar loop that’s looped over and over again for three minutes. I don’t want to hear that.”

The seasoned engineer/composer/producer is also known for his longtime work with iconic artist Ludacris. The ability to work with a wide range of acts – and create something extraordinary – is what makes someone a sought-after studio engineer.

“They walk in the room and there’s no expectation, and then they leave six to eight hours later, and there’s this whole freaking song made, and it’s special,” Monroy said. “It’s about them and it’s encompassing their influences and what they love. It’s not just this generic track…That’s what I show my externs, is how to get inside someone’s head in a short period of time [and] use your time wisely so that the artist walks away satisfied.”

Articles

RC mentor Josh Monroy Talks How He Got Hired by Ludacris and Doing JoJo’s “Mad Love”

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

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

Background

Scarlet War is a rapper, music producer, song writer, and actor. Along with being the president of NxtUp Media, Scarlet War teamed up with business partner Jay Sangz to form Sky9 Productions and the two have been hard at work crafting sounds for some of the industries hottest talent. Scarlet War has been featured in numerous magazines & publications and his current record “Twerkin It” is being played across the country on such stations as 103.3 FM WGIV Charlotte, 99.5 FM Milwaukee, 91.3 FM KPVU Houston, K-100 Radio Atlanta, 94.3 FM & 102.5 FM KDUC High Desert, CA and also has his a video “Bet Big Win Big” being featured in Shiekh Shoe Stores Nation Wide.

Background

Producer/engineer Bill Davidow owns and runs Virlouise Recording in Anaheim, CA. His client list includes names like Israel Houghton, Darren Vegas, Johnny Come Lately, I Am Ghost, Guy Fieri to name a few.
And he’s been mentoring our students for nearly a decade.

The reason? He says he wants to give back and help the next generation of audio professionals but there’s also an ulterior motive at play. Nearly all of the Virlouise’s engineers and studio assistants came through the program. Bills says, “I’m going to hire the guys that I train from the Recording Connection. I’ll just use one of my externs if I’m going to hire someone because I trained them.”

Why? The curriculum is practical, the training is practical, and RC grads are already accustomed to being in a professional environment. Turns out, getting a real world understanding of the craft pays off (duh). Bill recalls trying to hire people coming out of other programs:

“I had a kid come in from Full Sail. He did the four-year plan at Full Sail. He does the L.A. Recording Academy, another $18,000 or whatever. [He] pops into my studio. I point in the corner and say, ‘what’s that stuff in the corner?’ He doesn’t understand what a UPS is.”

Ask Bill about the students who succeed and he’ll tell you, they’re proactive and are really into the program. They “took the initiative and learned the stuff.” Two successes are Recording Connection Nick Becker who’s currently finishing the Master’s program and is gearing up for a job at a solid production house. Coby Thompson, a recent grad, has a paid gig mixing a rock band.

So is learning the gear and technology all it’s about? Not really. It’s about getting a well-rounded skillset that serves you well in the studio and the world. “Sometimes people have a lot of skill on the audio engineering and producing side but don’t have good people skills and don’t know how to make connections. Sometimes they have the opposite.”

No matter where you’re at today, the best externs remain confident and aim high. Speaking of the inner strength it takes to build a career in music, Bill quotes his friend Harriet Schock, the Grammy nominated singer: “‘If you’re trying to hit the ceiling, you probably won’t, but if you shoot for the moon you’ll hit the ceiling.’ And hitting the ceiling in the music industry is making a living out of music. So people have to be confident and believe in themselves.”

Background

Early on in his career, Michael teamed with Pat Leonard, where he used his degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin (Madison) and his lifelong study of music to design more than sixty recording.html studios, including Johnny Yuma recording.html. During this time Michael engineered several Madonna LPs, including “Like A Prayer” (Triple Platinum) and “Who’s That Girl” (Platinum). He also had the opportunity to work with such superstar talent as Pink Floyd, Bryan Ferry, Kenny Loggins, Julian Lennon, Meredith Brooks, Peter Cetera, and Jody Watley, among others.

Michael’s shift to producer was a natural outgrowth of his overall goal. “My aim is to support the artist’s musical vision, draw the best performances out and help them focus creatively,” says Michael. Pursuing this goal has led to successful creative teaming with such innovative artists as The New Radicals (MCA), Suicidal Tendencies (Epic), 3T (MJJ/550Music), Goo Goo Dolls (Warner Bros.) Brownstone (MJJ/550 Music), Spectacle (Supreme/Island), Morman Brown (Warner Bros.) Redd Kross (Atlantic), Infectious Grooves (550 Music), Tura Satana (Formerly Manhole – Modern Music), Low Pop Suicide (World Domination), and The Young Dubliners (Scotti Bros.). Michael also produced a Gold Album for Portugal’s recording.html artist Blind Zero (EMI/Valentim De Carvalho).

Lately Michael’s passion for developing promising new artists has taken him from St. Louis, where he produced indie band The Urge (since signed to Immortal/Epic), to San Diego, where he produced Steve Poltz (co-writer of “You Were Meant For Me” recorded by Jewel and since signed to Mercury), and back to his own Titan Recording Studio in Sherman Oaks, CA, where Michael has completed a project for new vocal artist, Anastacia (signed to Epic/Sony as the newest protege of Tommy Matola). Anastacia recently reached Multi-Platinum status in Europe. Most recently, Michael discovered, recorded and produced Kelly Clarkson before she went on to become the winner of the first “American Idol”. In the quest to make great records, identifying and developing new talent will continue to be at the head of Michael’s personal “Top 10”.

Articles

Michael Vail Blum on Working with Artists and What He Looks for in Apprentices

Background

After working in some of the biggest studios in Los Angeles, under some of the biggest names in music, Doug Boulware partnered with visionary Jason Ries to bring you The Abstract LA. Doug’s start in music began as a child vocalist in music theater. His influences range from the big band and jazz present in the household to Motown and oldies his mother insisted on! Doug’s obsession for music took a more contemporary turn in his formidable years in the early electronic music scene in LA. Doug has been an underground house music DJ since the 90’s which led to him to his true passion, music production and songwriting. The Abstract LA represents the culmination of a lifelong dream based of a lifelong love of music!

Articles

Recording Connection Mentor Doug Boulware Opens his Own Studio
Recording Connection mentor Doug Boulware: What it Means to Hustle

Background

It has been a lifelong dream of mine to build a studio that attracted and ignited great musicians. A place that offered a Sound & Vibe that couldn’t be found anywhere else and would become responsible for exceptional music and memories.

I started DJ’ing in 1995, shortly after moving to Detroit metro from Orange County, CA. A young skateboard and snowboard punk-rocker that fell in love with hip-hop in a graffiti filled basement in Novi, MI and in the streets of Detroit, Chicago, New York and Philly.

I started making beats in the late 90’s on Pro Tools with my partner in crime, Bill. Before we understood sampling, we used to download one note of an instrument at a time from Limewire, pitch-shift it up and down and write melodies. Considering my love affair with vinyl was already deep in the sheets, getting into sampling records opened me to music I had never explored before. Until today, vinyl is my main gateway to musical education, inspiration and sensation. For the next 7+ years I made beats, collaborated with artists I admired and even managed to put out a single project, THE GREEN ALBUM.

After a few year hiatus, I was introduced to a friend with whom I started producing music with live musicians. Since then, I am more interested in working with the human element and brilliance of great musicians than anything else.

Now, after virtually a lifetime of living and loving music, I am proud to bring all my knowledge, skills, experiences, resources and relationships together in the name of a dream.

So, I cashed out my life savings and went all in. Sound & Vibe Recording Studio is the dream. The music, people and memories being made here already have been a direct reflection of the dream and I’m overwhelmed by the people and opportunities that present themselves virtually every day.

Background

Although there are many differences between four-year universities and The Recording Connection – such as cost, length of a program, and availability, it’s the one-on-one relationship between you and your mentor that could be the most important distinction.

Sitting in a traditional school setting, students all tend to learn the same thing, usually by listening to the teacher or professor lecture from the head of the class. With Recording Connection, you’re training with a professional music producer and/or audio engineer, a mentor  who shapes the education around you.

For David Hughes, of Shine On Studio in San Francisco, developing the strengths of his externs and helping them develop in accordance with their interests and talents is what matters most.

Helping audiophiles grow into audio engineers, music producers, beatmakers, and artists isn’t something that can be done with a cookie cutter approach. Furthermore, the music business has something for everyone—many just need to find out what that something really is.

“The students I mentor at the studio are all extremely talented and gifted in many different ways,” Hughes says. “I’m seeing them mature and develop to a point where I help them focus on their strengths. I’m trying to push them in those directions, ‘That’s what you should be doing; that’s your strength.’ It’s never going to be cut and dry what you should do. It’s good to try a few different things to see where your strengths rise up.”

“Some students are good at composing. Some are good at mixing. Others are actually just good at networking. So, not everybody is cut out to sit behind the board and push buttons. A few of the students are really good at socializing and making a personal connection to people. They know how to go out and get people energized and excited about music and concerts. So I try to encourage them to focus on being out at shows and to network as they go to events.”

Understanding your strengths is what makes Hughes and other Recording Connection mentors such an important resource when working towards a career in the music industry. The technical aspects, such as learning digital audio workstations or how to properly set mics, will come in time. It’s your innate talents that can’t be taught—but we can teach you how to use them.

Opportunities in San Francisco

No matter how talented you are, success in the music business is driven as much by who you know as it is with what you know. Hughes keeps in touch regularly with his music connections and past student externs, many who have opened their own studios and launched successful music careers. He can trace much of that success back to the networking events he holds every month.

“We try to promote an audio engineer meeting once a month…That’s a big thing, to have something available for the students that are trying to come up in the industry. You can’t really succeed in this industry on your own. You do need to rely a little bit on other engineers to help you develop in the industry.

“In some situations, they might be your competitors,” Hughes continues, “But I don’t really think of them that way because everybody has their strengths and weaknesses in audio production. I have made it possible for some of the students to come and join us at these meetings and network with other engineers or music professionals in the area. This is a big door that has opened for them and I think that they are definitely taking advantage of the opportunity.”

Opportunity. That’s how Recording Connection Audio Engineering and Music Production program differs greatly from traditional schools. By working in professional, real-world studios, you could be working with an up-and-coming local band one week, international stars the next. How you take advantage of those opportunities can help determine how far you go in the music business.

Are you ready to Amplify Your Life? Apply today.

Background

Recording Connection programs are designed to put you in the middle of the action so you can soak up as much experience and information as possible. With Conrad Osipowicz, you’ll be paired with a mentor that has been in the industry for years, both in the recording studio and out.

As an audio engineer, he’s worked with The Dave Matthews Band, Dropkick Murphys, Regina Spektor, and the Pixies. He also has experience working with live audio for a large Boston radio station and helping companies test new products for music production.

“I guess I’ve always been more on the technical side of the music industry,” Osipowicz says. “I was always interested in computers and technology. I produce, too. It’s not that I exclusively engineer. I’ll produce with full bands and indie rock bands and up and coming artists here in the DC area, but I was definitely more inclined on the technical side of operations.”

Starting from the Ground Up

Although many of our externs have some experience before coming to the Recording Connection Audio Engineering & Music Production Program, it certainly isn’t a requirement. Our mentors utilize our industry-oriented curriculum to help students build a solid foundation around what the industry is looking for now, not 10 years ago. Osipowicz knows a little something about building from the ground up.

“It started as an empty room, and I slowly added equipment and software…A vocal booth from eBay, at one point the whisper room booth, a piece at a time. Just kind of recording a couple of sessions for two or three weeks and then buying a new mic on eBay. And then recording another week or two and buying a new plug-in online. Just kind of piecing together whatever I could.

The studio is honestly one of the top studios in the area…I’ve got at this point some of the best mics, best preamps, best vintage compressors. Some really unique items that you might not find at any other studio on the East Coast.”

Hands-on Experience

The most important thing is getting your hands dirty. Even with just a laptop and the right digital audio workstation, externs can start putting what they learn into practice. That’s why Osipoicz feels learning in a professional studio—not a classroom—gives people the best chance to really learn the craft.

“I am a firm believer that practicing and learning in the studio in a hands-on manner will always yield a more informed and experienced studio engineer than someone who simply learns via lectures, YouTube tutorials, discussion forums, etc…. For that reason, I often encourage my students during their lessons to record a friend’s band, or an individual singer-songwriter who might play acoustic guitar and sing, or play piano and sing.

That way, the artist can act as a guinea pig for the students, but also walk away with a professional well-mixed recording. The student gets to practice on a real recording artist in a real recording studio. Everybody wins.”

That’s what Recording Connection has to offer: Working with an industry insider on the best gear, building a portfolio, and learning how to build a studio the right way. If you’re looking to Amplify Your Life, apply to The Recording Connection today.