Conservatory students in the 7th cycle (weeks 19-21) of the program spend 3 days a week focusing on audio post production, the process of enhancing videos and movies with sound. On this particular day (July 7, 2010) students are involved in a brass ensemble scoring session in Studio C at CRAS’s Gilbert location. In the control room the class works together to insure the picture being played back from a Doremi V1, Pro Tools and an analog 24 track recorder are all synchronized. In the studio students work to place Royer, Neumann, Groove Tube, and Blue mics in exactly the right position and setup headphone cues so the musicians can hear the result of their work. The music recorded on this day will later be combined with sound effects and dialog to form a complete soundtrack to a scene from the movie. See more photos from this session here.

After graduating from the Conservatory just 3 months ago, Clint Clarkson (4.0 GPA) has found his place in the Nashville audio community. His story is inspiring and shows that with perserverance, positive attitude and parking yourself where success can find you, you can live your dream. Read the story in Clint’s own words below:

“I was interning at Sound Stage Studios and working at Radioshack when I got my big break. In a matter of a week, I went from interning, to playing on a record which will be released nationwide and also being offered the job as chief engineer of a recording facility. I was interning one night at Sound Stage when a producer who I had become friends with asked me to play dobro resonator guitar on an album he had been working on for 2 months with recording artist and vocal teacher, Brett Manning. He has been the vocal coach for Paramore, Taylor Swift and Keith Urban. I confidently took this opportunity. I drove home real fast and got my dobro guitar and headed back to the studio.

When I got back they handed me the Nashville number charts for the song and said, “Clint, we want you to have the lead solo in the song.” I had about 10 minutes to look over the charts while Brett Manning was singing his vocals. When he finished, it was my turn to record. I nailed it on the first take on the song and the producer, Malcom Springer and Brett Manning loved it. The Song is called “Anger.” They called me the next day and asked me to play on another song and since then I have had the most random people call asking me to play on albums and demos. The Album just finished being mastered and they are getting ready for printing now.

A couple days later, I was working at Radioshack when a man came in looking for DB 25 connectors and a soldering iron. I asked him if he was working in a studio and he said that he actually owned a studio. We hit it off really good and we decided to meet for lunch the next day because he had an open position for a chief engineer. We met up the next day at the studio and after hanging out and soldering the patchbay with those DB 25 connectors, he offered me the job. I graciously accepted it. I have been working at The Music Sanctuary for 2 months now and I am living the dream. I have been so very blessed and just wanted to thank all my teachers and administrators who have made this possible. Everything I learned from CRAS has crossed over to the real world. I have been so busy working long hours and recording lots of music in Music City. Who would have thought that taking a part time job at Radioshack would have led to a full time job doing what I love. It took a lot of sacrifice and hard work but the formula works.  Thanks again.”

Mike Sokol of Fits & Starts Productions brought his No-Shock-Zone clinic to the Conservatory’s live sound room on June 3rd, 2010. Sokol, an electrical and sound expert, used various metering devices as well as his own custom built tools to demonstrate why people get shocked on stage or in studios and how to avoid it. He also shared why hum and buzz plague so many sound systems with tips to easily identify and fix those problems.

Conservatory administrator Kirt Hamm showing off the APSA award for best wild card practice.

On May 21st, 2010 the Arizona Private School Association (APSA) honored the Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences with a best practice award for its 1 to 1 laptop program.  In 2007, CRAS introduced a computer program that placed an Apple laptop in the hands of every student, dramatically enhancing the opportunity for learning, communication and most importantly, the potential for employment. The 1:1 Laptop Initiative represents one of the biggest evolutionary steps in the school’s history and has re-shaped the Conservatory’s learning environment. To compliment this program, the Conservatory simultaneously launched CRAS Connect, an online learning management system (LMS) designed to support and extend the in-classroom experience, and develop a greater sense of community between students and faculty. While the laptop initiative and CRAS Connect could each be viewed independently as examples of best practices for higher education, it’s the symbiosis between them that demonstrates the sweeping change CRAS has made to the academic landscape for students, instructors and administration.

We recently chatted with 2008 grad Crystal Olson about how she got started in her successful career as  manager of Groovemaster, one of the top studios in Chicago.

When you first got to Chicago, was Groovemaster your first choice for an internship?
My first choice was to intern at CRC (Chicago Recording Company) and I also applied at Gravity Studios, Studio Chicago and a few theaters downtown.  After not getting those gigs, (CRAS Internship coordinator) Jayson mentioned Groovemaster Recording.  I  saw they had an 80 channel SSL 4080 G+ and a pretty impressive client list so I knew this was a reputable studio.  I liked the fact that Groovemaster was a smaller company with a crew consisting of Johnny K the Owner/Producer, one assistant engineer and a couple interns.  I definitely felt like I could contribute and felt like I had a second family there from the day I stepped foot in the studio.  Looking back, I am grateful I wasn’t hired at the other places I interviewed because I wouldn’t be where I am today.

How did your internship evolve from where you started to the manager’s position?
I interviewed for the internship position, was hired and started in mid May of 2008.  I finished my 280 hours in 5 weeks and kept right on working-we were moving locations so there was a lot of packing, moving and work to do at the new building.  We were moving from a 5,000 sq ft loft on the north side of Chicago to a 40,000 sq ft warehouse/music complex on the south side.  My internship was typical and involved everything from food runs and cleaning to setting up mics and recalling gear.

At the end of July we did the “big move”, decommissioning and packing up the SSL in just 2 days with only 5 of us!  We moved the entire studio over to the new building and when Johnny came back from recording (he had been gone the last year and a half recording all around the country) we were fully moved in.  After my hours were up I started working 2 side jobs (at a restaurant and retail shop) so I could make money and pay rent. I would come into the studio before I went to work and I would come back after I got out of work at night.  On my days off I stayed at the studio from the time the first engineer got there, till the time everyone left at night.  Johnny saw my dedication and realized that with a 40,000 sq. ft. building that had tenants, construction and multiple studios to run, he needed a studio manager.  He offered me the job and honestly at first it was hard to take because I wanted to be an engineer, not a  manager.  After thinking about it I realized just because my title would be “studio manager” didn’t mean I couldn’t also be an engineer.

Tell us about the studio and life in Chicago
Our building houses 3 separate recording companies; Groovemaster, Hinge and Black Sheep Music, Inc.  Groovemaster has 3 of the studios in the building.  Our “Blue Room” is a prepro/production suite/overdub room with a 12 ch Melbourne sidecar, our Studio B or “Red Room” has a 48 channel vintage Neve 8128 with Flying Faders and our brand new “White Room” has another 20 channel Melbourne sidecar.  We monitor off of either Genelec 1038A’s, Adam A7’s or KRK V6’s for near field and Genelec 1031A’s for far field. We are in the process of building Studio A which would house the SSL from the old studio with Dynaudio C4’s.  We have almost 100 guitars and the same amount of amps, a few Studer A820’s which we still use on sessions, a couple Leslies, a couple Hammond B3 organs, a multitude of outboard pres including Neve 33114’s, Neve 1095’s, a lunchbox of API’s, and some Neoteks.

Chicago is a great place to be, it is a big city in the heart of the Midwest. The audio industry in Chicago is very tight-knit.  All of the studio managers, owners, engineers, techs and musicians meet constantly to discuss the industry, where it is going next and how we are going to contribute to it.

What types of music and bands are you working with?
We work with a lot of Rock, Alternative Rock and Metal music.  Our clients include Disturbed, 3 Doors Down, Staind, Plain White T’s, Finger Eleven, Shinedown, Sevendust, Trapt, Kill Hannah, Halestorm, Seether, Drowning Pool, SOiL, Black Tide, Adelitas’s Way, Airbourne, Cyndi Lauper and more.  Right now we have a few independent bands in at the studio, as well as local bands renting out our production/overdub studios.

Tell us about the other workspaces at your location
The other two studios in our building are Hinge Studio and Black Sheep Music.  Hinge is owned by Grammy award winning mixer Craig Bauer and is a 3000 sq. ft. mixing/tracking studio.  Craig has mixed for artists such as Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco and jazz artist Steve Cole.  Hinge Studios typically records and mixes gospel, jazz, R&B and rap and is equipped with a Digidesign Icon.  Black Sheep, Inc. is owned by Producer/Engineer Josh Shapera who has hosted sessions for Plain White T’s, The Academy Is…, Kill Hannah, Skybox, This Is Me Smiling and a Wilco side project called The Autumn Defense.  Our relationship with these studios is almost like a co-op.  We often exchange equipment and gear as each studio needs and anytime our studios are booked we ask Hinge or Black Sheep if they can take our clients for us, as well as vice versa if they have overflow.  We really work in conjunction with the other tenants in our building, rather than being in competition.

How did your education at the Conservatory prepare you for your career in audio?
I feel that CRAS really helped me prepare for the real world in the recording industry.  The gear at the school is exactly what you will find at commercial recording studios, and the tips and advice they give you are spot on.  The classes we took on studio etiquette and how you should approach your internship were very helpful. While Pro Tools is the leading software in the industry and is found in almost every studio, some still use tape so it is great that CRAS teaches not only recording to tape but how to clean and align tape machines.

How was the on-campus experience?
Being a student at CRAS taught me to take initiative to learn as much as I could, running your own sessions gives you the confidence and knowledge to do it on your own.  This translates well into the studio environment where interns need to take the initiative to stay late, learn everything they can about the gear and have the confidence and knowledge to step in where they are needed.  CRAS gave me the opportunity to come in during the evenings and work on things where I needed help.  Project Staff are there 24/7 to run through concepts and tutor you with any extra help you may need and the faculty were always willing to stay after class to answer any questions that I had. CRAS has been with me every step of the way from supporting me while finding an internship, checking in on how things are going to now helping me find responsible, hardworking interns for our studio.  It has definitely been a positive experience and I am glad I chose to attend the Conservatory.

CRAS instructor Robert Brock (top row - right) with the rest of the ADE advisory board members in front of Apple's headquarters.

In 2009 CRAS instructor Robert Brock was accepted into Apple’s ADE (Apple Distinguished Educator) program which recognizes educators who integrate technology into the curricula and their learning environments in meaningful ways. Brock’s ADE application centered around the Conservatory’s integration of its 1:1 laptop program, where every enrolled student receives a MacBook computer. Brock has since been named as a member of the ADE advisory board and this week he attended his first board meeting at Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino California. As a board member he will help to shape the direction of the ADE program, its online community and contribute to the planning of the summer institutes which gather ADE’s from across the country for a week of technology centered professional development.

April 29th 2010, CRAS hosted a guest panel discussion with studio managers Candace Stewart (East/West, LA); Paula Salvatore (Capitol, LA); Crystal Olsen (GrooveMaster, Chicago and CRAS graduate). The three shared their experience in running a recording studio and gave invaluable insight into what to expect and how to prepare for the internship that is required after attending classes at the Conservatory. See more photos of the event here.

The 2010 NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) trade show took place in Las Vegas in April. CRAS instructors Kevin Becka and Robert Brock attended to keep CRAS’s finger on the pulse of sound in the broadcast world. While much of the NAB show is oriented toward the visual side of broadcast, it’s important to remember that video without sound is called “surveilence” That’s why companies like AVID (Pro Tools), SSL, Studer, DPA and many more are found at the show demonstrating the latest in audio for video technology. Many CRAS graduates find their way into the broadcast market working with sound for television shows ranging from sitcoms to sports oriented programming. Check out photos from the show here.

Chris Estes of Endless Analog

Chris Estes of Endless Analog spent a few days visiting CRAS at the end of March 2010. While on cacmpus Estes provided hands-on demonstrations and discussions about his companies innovative product CLASP. CLASP is a sytem that bridges digital audio workstations and analog multi-track recorders to take advantage of the best of what both technologies have to offer. Working with Conservatory technician Jeff Harris, Estes used CLASP to merge Studio A’s Studer A827 analog recorder and the Pro Tools 8 HD system to work as a singular system. See photos from the visit here.