Paul Hugo from Marshank Sales Co. shows off the EAW NTL720 line array speaker system in the CRAS live sound room.

Wednesday March 25th, CRAS hosted Marshank Sales Co. as they provided product demonstrations of high-end sound reinforcement equipment to CRAS students and outside clients. The Conservatory’s large live sound room provided the perfect place to show off the state of the art gear from EAW, Martin Audio, Mackie and more. Check out more photos from this event here.

l to r: Matt Kornick, Chris Houston, Jonathan Skeen, Martin Valencia, Josh Mellott, Mike Bangs, John Deskin, Scot Osborne, Vince Luchetta; on top: Brandon Rinas

The CRAS grads pictured above are all employed by Sound Image in San Diego and have worked with some of the top names in music. Congrats to all who have turned their dreams and internships into audio careers.

Josh Valentine – 2003 Graduate
Aerosmith – Technician
Lenny Kravitz – PA Technician
Brian Wilson – Monitor Technician
Dropping Daylight – Monitor and FOH Engineer
Def Leppard – PA technician

Andrew Cawley – 2003 Graduate
Jimmy Buffett – Monitor Technician/PA Technician
Gwen Stefani – PA Technician
No Doubt – PA Technician/ Monitor Technician
Jacks Mannequin – Monitor Technician
Santana – PA Technician

Mike Bangs – 2004 Graduate
Aerosmith – Monitor Technician/ Crew Chief
Katy Perry – FOH and Monitor Engineer/ Production Manager
Kenna – FOH Engineer/ Production Manager
Boz Scaggs – Monitor Engineer
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – Monitor Technician
Babyface – Monitor Engineer
Billy Bob Thornton – Monitor Engineer


Matt Kornick – 2004 Graduate
Jimmy Buffett – PA Technician
Jason Mraz – PA System Technician/Crew Chief
Santana – PA Technician

Chris Houston – 2009 Graduate
Sound Image Shop Technician

Martin Valencia – 2009 Graduate
Sound Image Shop Technician

Scott Taylor – 2009 Graduate
Sound Image Shop Technician

Jonathan Skeen – 2008 Graduate
Sound Image Inventory Manager

Brandon Rinas – 2005 Graduate
String Cheese – Monitor Technician
Rascal Flatts – Monitor Technician
Sound Image Contracting Division Design Engineer

Scot Osborne – 2005 Graduate
Crickett Amphitheatre – PA Delay Technician

Josh Mellott – 2007 Graduate
Bob Dylan – Monitor Technician
Crosby, Stills, and Nash – Monitor Technician

John Deskin – 2007 Graduate
Santana – Monitor Technician/PA Technician
Van Morrison – Monitor Technician
Jimmy Buffett – PA Technician
Jason Mraz – Monitor Technician
Salvador Santana – Monitor Engineer

Vince Luchetta – 2008 Graduate
Jimmy Buffett – Monitor Technician/PA Technician
Boz Scaggs – Monitor Technician
L.L. Cool J. – Monitor Technician
John Legend – Monitor Technician/ PA Technician

CRAS live sound instructor Keith Morris guided students through Roland’s compact yet extremley powerful V-Mixing system during a clinic held August 8th, 2009.  Students were given hands on time with the M-400 mixer as it drove sound through CRAS’s L-Acoustics Kudo line array PA system.  In addition students could acquaint themselves with the brand new M-48 personal monitor mixers just released by Roland. Keith demonstrated how musicians can have instant control over their stage mixes, or how the system can allow the front of house mixer to step in and remotely control an artists mix via a laptop.  To top things off, Keith even showed how the Roland system can accomodate multi-track recording with a laptop running the Sonar digital audio workstation.  All of this is made possible through the use of Roland’s digital audio snake system that uses standard Ethernet networking cable to connect the front of house mix position to the stage.  Photos of the event can be found here.

Check out this video from Presonus featuring Sammy Hagar’s FOH engineer explaining how he records the band live. The Conservatory uses Presonus gear in many of its studios and classrooms. As part of the live sound curriculum, CRAS students learn to fly a line array, set up a stage for live sound reinforcement and recording, use industry-standard tools for properly ‘shooting a room’, and assist a live sound crew in real-world audio setups.

Before the talent arrives for a concert, corporate event, Broadway show or political convention, there has to be a stage, scenery, lighting, audio, video and it all has to work just right. That’s what PRG does. CRAS grad Adam Parrish is PRG’s Production Manager and he recently came back to the CRAS to bring a bevy of gear for students to play with during their classes and afterwards. Live sound equipment from Digico, Midas, XTA, Lab Gruppen and L-Acoustics was on hand during demos and band clinics providing the students a range of experience only found at the Conservatory or on an actual live pro gig.

photo caption: Cycle 3 students learning how to hang and manage the Conservatory’s L’Acoustics KUDO line array

The Conservatory’s Live Sound program gives students an opportunity to work with some of the best gear in the business. L’Acoustics’ KUDO hangs in our 6,000 sq. ft. live sound classroom and is a new generation of line source array offering far more flexibility and possibilities than any other line array to date. KUDO provides the performance equivalent of eight different loudspeakers and is used throughout the world in concert venues, at corporate events and in houses of worship.

Joe Morris (drums), Tony Kinchion (guitar) and Felix Sainz (bass) playing at a Live Sound band clinic

Back in March we blogged about an upcoming Easter show that 50 CRAS students and Live Sound Instructor Keith Morris were putting together for the Radiance Church. Well it was a smashing success and here is a movie showing the setup and all the gear involved. Some of the people in the pictures are CRAS grads now working with PRG in Las Vegas. We call them the Magnificent 11. The rest are students and staff from the Conservatory putting up two semi’s full of audio and lighting gear into Cardinal’s Stadium.

photo caption: Instructors Cory Patterson and Keith Morris with one of the L-Acoustics Kudo cabinets and SB-218 sub

L-Acoustics is a French company that revolutionized tour sound with their Line Array products. Their systems are ubiquitous in tour sound and install rigs including the Alladin Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, and the Hollywood Bowl. Recently, the Conservatory took delivery of a full system that will be flown in our 6,000 sq. ft. Live Sound Classroom. The array consists of 12 Kudo Quad-Amplified active 3-way enclosures; 4 SB-218 self-powered (1000 Watts) P series companion subwoofers and 12 LA48a Class TD amplifiers offering 2x 2300 W into 4 ohms. Students will be taught how to properly hang and configure this system, adding to their experience with the Conservatory’s current JBL VERTEC Line Array system currently featured in the room.

On Easter weekend, a crew of 50 Conservatory of Recording Arts students will accomplish what the Arizona Cardinals have been unable to do all year in their new stadium: Win Big. The all-CRAS audio crew, led by Live Sound instructor Keith Morris will win by getting first-class on the job training as they help set up and operate a huge audio system in the 64,000-seat venue. The event, hosted by Radiant Church, boasts an action packed, multi-media experience featuring the Disney Channel’s Jump5 and an inspiring Easter Holiday message.

The event will use an impressive array of sound reinforcement gear provided by PRG/Electrotec in Las Vegas including 28 L-Acoustic V-Dosc Line Array loud speakers, 6 dV-Dosc down hangs, 9 KUDO side hangs, in-ear monitors from Shure and floor wedges from Electrotec. Front of House will be mixed by Morris on a Yamaha PM1D Digital Mixing System with monitors provided through a DigiCo D1. The entire system is powered by 40 amps from Lab Gruppen with loudspeaker management from XTA controlled by their AudioCore software.