The Conservatory rings in the new year by issuing Apple MacBook Pro laptops for the first time since starting the laptop program two years prior. Shown here are students in the 1/8/2010 start date receiving their new MacBook Pros at the computer orientation class. Prior to 2010 CRAS issued MacBook computers which have been an amazing performer for students and faculty. The change to the MacBook Pro was in part necessary because Apple discontinued the use of the Firewire interface on the latest iteration of the MacBook model. Firewire is a protocol commonly used in professional audio for connecting computers with a wide range of audio interfaces. Firewire also allows the computer to be used in target disk mode, which lets the computer act as a battery powered hard drive for troubleshooting and file transfers. Like the MacBook before it, the MacBook Pro will serve CRAS students well both at school and into their career. Check out more photos of the first class using the MacBook Pros here.

Tannoy utilized CRAS’s live sound room to show off their sound reinforcement products on November 5th, 2009. This included a demonstration of the amazing Qflex series of speaker which through digital control can steer an acoustic beam to specific points in a room. View some pics from the event here.

This month two Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences (CRAS) instructors headed in different directions to share their knowledge as guest instructors at special training events.

Sound Reinforcement department head Keith Morris headed east to St. Louis to join 6 time TEC award winning live sound engineer Robert Scovill for The Complete Front of House Engineer seminar and workshop.  Keith led attendees through the fundamentals of the industry standard Smaart audio analysis software.

Digital Dept. head Robert Brock headed west to sunny California to deliver a day long immersive training on Apple’s Logic Pro 9.  The event was held in Bob Clearmountain’s private Berkeley Street Studio located within Apogee Electronic’s headquarters in Santa Monica.  Attendees included nearly all of Apogee’s employee’s as well as invited friends of Apogee.

CRAS offers certifications on both Smaart and Logic Pro as part of enrollment in its Master Recording Program II curriculum.