Recording Connection Audio Institute

Dusty Groove · Post by **Dusty Groove** » Sat Apr 02, 2011 10:30 pm

So I have been pursuing my home recording for the last few years and have hit a point where I want to take my recording/ learning more seriously. I stumbled upon this school earlier this morning and from what Ive read it looks very intriguing as an option to learn more about the field as well as networking opportunities.

Have any of you gone through this program or know of anyone that has?
Any thoughts/ testimonials are appreciated.

Thanks

Bill

http://www.recordingconnection.com/

-3db · Post by **-3db** » Sun Apr 03, 2011 9:09 am

You are placed in a studio as an intern and follow a printed guide that leads you through chapters in "Modern Recording Techniques". Your time in the studio is determined by whenever you are available and the studio is open.

You learn set up, signal routing, DAW, etc. But in the end, you really are way ahead of anyone just going it alone. You also get to meet artists, producers, etc.

You receive a certificate after completion.

It gives you the opportunity to be in a real studio learn about what goes on and get some real time hands on experience.

The program is good and a lot cheaper as opposed to something like full sail.

Anthony Caruso · Post by **Anthony Caruso** » Sun Apr 03, 2011 9:48 am

Funny, this is the second time this month this program has come up; my aunt's friend's son (cousin's brother's former roommate haha) was looking into it and they asked what I thought, so I looked into it a bit.

Short answer is it smells a little funky, but -3db seemed to have a good experience, I would like to hear more specifics of where they got to work, with whom, if it helped a lot etc.

But here are my issues with it:

1) Googling immediately reveals many claims with the Better Business Bureau, in fact they have an "F" ranking. Recording Connection themselves have actually put up websites trying to debunk the scam image they have. Bad sign right there...

2) Further investigation into their "Bachelor" and "Master" degrees reveal that the groups that are "accrediting" the "school" are not recognized by the Department of Education, nor is the "school" recognized by the DoE as accredited. So those degrees are just degrees in name (we can start a new thread arguing the value of an accredited recording degree

!). Any school where you can take a Bachelor and Master SIMULTANEOUSLY seems sketchy.

3) I think ALL recording schools are hands on, ie you have to record music, mix it, schedule studio time, etc. Part of the point of school is learning with peers, being in an environment where you can make mistakes and experiment. If you are paying $7000 to be hanging out during real sessions, your "mentor" is probably not gonna let you put the snare though every reverb available, "just to see what it sounds like". You're kind of stuck with whatever sessions your mentor gets booked.

-3db, did you get time to be there and experiment? How much were you at the mercy of the studio schedule?

4) And relying on the mentor to be giving you the tests and stuff seems weird, just knowing what most engineer's schedules are like. If they are really working career-engineers, I can't imagine they have time to give you tests. If they do have time to give you tests, then they aren't working enough!

Before you give them any of your money, I would ask: have you called up local studios? Have you seen if you can just get an internship at a local studio with the amount of knowledge you have? A quick Google showed a couple of studios in your town (Bayside, Binary, Allsound) that would be good enough to learn in. Shit, find out exactly which studios they use for the program and just call them up and see if they need an intern.

I'm not an anti-school person, it worked for me, but this seems like an internship you pay $7000 for, and there is a lot of negative word out there about it. I have never come across anyone who went through this, but I work regularly with people who went to Full Sail, Expressions, etc.

Again, I would be curious to hear specific details from anyone who took this program or is a mentor! What I write comes from experience as a professional audio engineer and amateur internet sleuth.

lapsteel · Post by **lapsteel** » Sun Apr 03, 2011 8:45 pm

More seriously? You can take recording more seriously without paying for it. I don't like recording institutes. I get it to an extent, but you are probably better off spending that money towards buying gear for your own studio.

I say a better way is to read lots of recording books and tapeop. Also contact local studios about internships. If you know anybody going into a studio tag along and sit in the control room. Also bring local bands to record at your place. You'll learn more by just taking control and doing.

-3db · Post by **-3db** » Mon Apr 04, 2011 5:14 pm

One thing RC gives you that a school doesn't is the ability to put together a real resume with working studio experience. You actually become aware of and talk to artists and pro session people in the industry who pay to record. I think that elevates you to a level higher than having to say you got an A in such and such class one semester.

cgarges · Post by **cgarges** » Mon Apr 04, 2011 9:50 pm

-3db wrote:One thing RC gives you that a school doesn't is the ability to put together a real resume with working studio experience. You actually become aware of and talk to artists and pro session people in the industry who pay to record. I think that elevates you to a level higher than having to say you got an A in such and such class one semester.

That doesn't really mean anything, unless the people you're dealing with are the people likely to hire you. I'm always cautious of anyone who's got a piece of paper saying that they've got studio experience unless it's from one of a very, very small handful of extremely reputable places. Full Sail is not one of them. The Recording Connection is not one of them.

The RC deal is basically the same as any normal internship, with the exception that the studio actually gets paid for havign the student there. I knwo this because those clowns at RC have contacted me on three different occasions, asking me to participate in their program. The last time they did was hysterical to me, because the time before I told them what I thought of their program and that I wasn't interested. They couldn't even keep straight who they'd pissed-off. Then, a few days later, I get a voicemail from their student. asking me for directions to the studio or something, when it was clear that he meant to be calling a different place. Unbelievable. They couldn't even give him the correct phone number for the place they were setting him up with.

I'm just waiting for the day when someone sues a "school" like this for fraud.

If you're really interested in something like this, check out The Recording Workshop in Chillicothe, Ohio. It's a really well-done facility with a nice staff and an interesting, relatively affordable program. They've been doing it a really long time and I've met several extremely together graduates of that program. That's one of the few audio education institutions I can say that about.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

johnalston · Post by **johnalston** » Wed Sep 28, 2011 12:32 pm

Agreed, RC is well-known but I would recommend CRAS instead (Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences -- http://www.audiorecordingschool.com).

A buddy of mine went with Full Sail but it didn't help him much (especially in this tough economy). But I've heard great things about CRAS.

Nick Sevilla · Post by **Nick Sevilla** » Wed Sep 28, 2011 5:42 pm

Hi Dusty Groove,

I would recommend you get some books on recording, there are MANY out there now, which simply did not exist when I started out.

All I can say about most recording schools, is in my experience they do not turn out excellent engineers. I had several interns from all the major recording schools, and none of them really knew what is going on, and had big attitudes about how they "knew" better than me about x or y concept.

It is up to you to become an excellent engineer. Do try to find a studio somewhere you can intern, without having to pay the exorbitant fees. Become an AES (Audio Engineer Society) student member, that is probably the best resource for good knowledge for audio, since its these guys who invented all this stuff to begin with.

Cheers

joelpatterson · Post by **joelpatterson** » Sat Oct 01, 2011 11:31 am

Time again to drag out one of my favorite well-worn cliches:

If you wanted to become President of the United States... would your first instinct be to find a school that offered a degree in "becoming President of the United States"?

timh · Post by **timh** » Sun Nov 06, 2011 7:49 pm

this is certainly helpful info. im 20 and im having a little meltdown about my future in audio engineering. ive been on the interweb for hours looking up schools/scams, and reading articles and opinions on becoming an audio engineer. the verdict: dont do it/just as likely as becoming a rock star/you will crash and burn and still have a pile of debt. but i dont know what to do. i dont live in a big city, so there's no chance of interning. im poor. but i rather be dead than to spend my life in a cubicle NOT making records. whats the next step?

fossiltooth · Post by **fossiltooth** » Mon Nov 07, 2011 6:58 am

Funny, I have an article about this in the November issue of TMimaS. It should be out later this evening. Don't worry, Tim, you're not alone! I'd say that becoming a full-time engineer today is a lot like becoming a full-time musician. It's possible, but takes an uncommon amount of drive.

You're probably smart to be skeptical about taking on large amounts of debt to go to a short-term, non-accredited recording school. They tend to graduate more students than there are unpaid internships. I have a few friends who attended the better ones and went on to do great stuff, but in my experience, they're the exceptions. They probably would have ended up making cool records if they'd gone to school for just about anything!

Professional audio engineering is getting a helluva lot of attention these days, but there are a ton of other ways to be involved in making music throughout your life. The field is fairly saturated, it's definitely not for everybody, and there are other sides of the music industry that have greater potential for growth in the coming years.

If you decide to stick with it, I wish you luck! I'd just recommend investigating your alternatives too. Even if you're fantastic in the studio, it could take you years to turn that into healthy, sustainable income.

Gregg Juke · Post by **Gregg Juke** » Mon Nov 07, 2011 7:15 am

Maybe consider taking the money you would spend on school and buying gear. Get some books, and learn on your own. Hire a pro to come into your home studio to give you some set-up, recording, and mixing tips. Find a studio somewhere near you, and offer to intern for free. You probably don't need to pay a middle-man program to get you into an un-paid situation; just ask around yourself...

NOTHING wrong with going to the right school, and it could speed things up for you on the learning curve, but it sounds like you're bound-and-determined to do the music/recording thing no matter what. So do it, but save some money and keep your day-job too.

If you are looking for a way to move forward, but also make a "safe" decision, that is it.

Learn to record by recording.

GJ

farview · Post by **farview** » Mon Nov 07, 2011 9:47 am

You could get more traction out of spending half the money paying a studio to be an intern and buying the book, reading it and asking questions.

Recording Connection sent me an intern in the mid 90's. Basically, they made me a teacher, this guy's only teacher, for the entire program. Unfortunately, the studio was a new business and it was a one man show at the time. I really wasn't able to do what I thought was an adequate job teaching him.

I feel bad about it, but the situation was not what RC described to me when they asked me to take on the intern, it also wasn't exactly what the student thought was going to happen either.

I would steer clear, there are much better ways to spend your money.

Buy the book and ask for clarification in online forums like this. IF you want hands on time with equipment you don't have, book some studio time and have at it. You will still come out ahead.

fossiltooth · Post by **fossiltooth** » Tue Nov 08, 2011 4:56 am

Here's that article I mentioned: Top 10 Reasons Not To Become A Recording Engineer

Hope you enjoy it. I think it's a fun read and shouldn't be too disheartening if you're really driven. It's not meant to discourage, just to help provide reasonable expectations.

standup · Post by **standup** » Tue Nov 08, 2011 6:17 am

Thanks for the "Top 10" article, Justin, great stuff.

After 20 years of just messing around with audio, I'm starting to take on a few clients. Between word of mouth and a Craigslist ad I'm booking a night a week or so at $20/hr to record people in my house (treated control room, minimally-treated other areas). Looks like it might cover my groceries, but not make a living.

But i don't bill myself as an experienced pro, I bill myself as a 'guy who records audio'.

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