While at the NAB show this week, CRAS staffers dropped in on Adam Parrish at PRG‘s huge Las Vegas facility. After graduating from the CRAS seven years ago, Adam started as an intern in the audio department and is now the operations manager for the entire facility. Adam oversees 80 employees (10 are CRAS grads) who prep and maintain the equipment used in major productions ranging from large corporate events to major music concert tours. SEE MORE PHOTOS

Volition Senior Audio Designer and 2007 CRAS grad Ariel Gross has published some thoughts on AltDevBlogADay, explaining why audio designers are also ‘emotion designers’ and what this means, to both the audio department and the wider development team. READ MORE

Ethan Nichols (pictured at console) has been at the Sound Kitchen in Nashville on his CRAS internship. He jumped right into production working with country artist Clint Black in the studio’s Big Boy room featuring an API Legacy Plus console. The Conservatory has the same console in their C studios at both locations where students learn recording and mixing techniques for music and post. The CRAS also features SSL G+ and Neotek Elite consoles in four other studios.

Five CRAS graduates returned to the school last week to participate on a panel dealing with the reality of working in the audio industry. The discussion was moderated by Director of Career Management, Greg Stefus who led the panelists through a series of topics and fielded questions from the audience. Panelists included:

Teddy Salas – Operations Manager/Engineer from Roundabout Entertainment
Maggie O’Brien – Operations Manager for Blue Microphone
Rodney Gates – Audio Director for Sony Online Entertainment
Jon Cline – Tech at The Desk Doctor
Callie Thurman – Audio Editor for Wildfire Post

Bruce Springsteen’s Wrecking Ball album is currently:
#1       Billboard 200
#1       Rock Albums
#1       The Official U.K. Albums Chart
#1       German Albums
#3       Canadian Albums
#4       Digital Albums
#1       Tastemaker Albums
Four members of the team that produced the record include assistant engineers and CRAS grads Nik Karpen, Brad Towsend, Dan Silber and Andrew Schubert. Congrats to one and all for a job well done.

The picture above is what Ryan Scott Staples sees and works on every day at Oceanway Studios in LA. Ryan graduated from the CRAS in August of 2010 and never looked back. Within six months of ending his internship, he landed a gig as the assistant for all-star engineer Jack Joseph Puig. Ryan has worked with The Cars, Jane’s Addiction, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Black Country Communion, Faith Hill and Willie Nelson among others. In Scott’s own words:

“My feelings on the whole experience thus far?: I would do it again in a heartbeat. Our life here is not easy, but it is an adventure and it is by choice, so we are happy. I truly love Los Angeles as a place to be and live and work and learn. The relationships gained along the way are worth their weight in gold – from fellow interns to producers and artists. I was initially unsure of going to the Conservatory, but saw it as a stepping stone to help me decide what to do next. There have been many times since when I questioned my decision to attend CRAS, and wondered if I should have just come out here on my own. However, once I was able to position myself into places where my chances were better at having opportunities to apply what I had learned, I quickly appreciated the value of the education I had received. I also quickly recognized how much more practical my training was compared to my coworkers who had attended other institutions.”

Jakob Beetem discovered his love for post-production sound engineering in 2009 while attending the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences in Arizona. After graduating, Jakob pursued work as a sound engineer for film and television and eventually started DubLsyde Productions LLC. specializing in production sound mixing and post-production sound services. READ MORE

Amber Funk is an award-winning sound editor who graduated from the CRAS in 2003. Amber explains her success in her own words:

“I have always had a love of music and film. My passion motivated me to develop many different musical abilities, including singing, dancing, and playing instruments. Eventually, my desire to have a career in music led me to the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences in Phoenix, Arizona. There, I was introduced to the world of post-production and the art of music and film came together. I quickly realized that music editing was the career path for me and decided to pursue an internship in California at MICDI Productions, Inc. During my internship, MICDI saw my talent/potential and offered me a full-tine job. Over the last 7 years I have evolved into an award-winning music editor.”

Download Amber’s resume here.

CRAS Grad and FOH engineer is featured in the January NAMM issue of Mix Magazine. Since he graduated in 1997, Eddie has been mixing for an all-star list of talent including Evanescence, Zakk Wylde, Stone Temple Pilots, Papa Roach and more. You can read more about Eddie’s career and gear, here and here.

Producer and engineer Darrell Thorp has lived what so many other budding engineers have only dreamed. After graduating from the CRAS in 1997, he worked his way up the ranks in renowned recording studios in Los Angeles, such as Conway and Ocean Way Studios, Thorp found himself working with chart-topping artists such as Radiohead, Switchfoot, Beck, Outkast, Gnarls Barkley, and Goo Goo Dolls. In an exclusive interview with Universal Audio’s,  Marsha Vdovin sat down with the three-time GRAMMY® winner to retrace his passion for music from childhood to his time in the trenches in LA’s recording scene, and how UA hardware and UAD Powered Plug-Ins are instrumental in his high profile engineering projects. READ MORE