photo caption: Horn players waiting for the downbeat in the Cycle 7 scoring class

To be a well-rounded engineer, you should know how to record everything from screaming guitars to brass instruments and everything in between. Cycle 7 Post Production classes give students experience in recording dialog, sound effects, environmental sounds and soundtracks for film. For their scoring class, students get experience setting up a Decca Tree and spot mics on a small brass ensemble. Later in the Cycle, students then mix together all these elements locked to picture, as you would on any Hollywood soundstage. These skills prepare students for work in Post once they graduate.

photo caption: Drummer Joe Morris (Esteban, Ray Riendeau, Sting) playing for the Cycle 10 Sink or Swim session

In Cycle 10, students get a chance to exercise their drum recording chops in the Conservatory’s D Room. In a recent session, mics from AEA, Avantone, Shure, Neumann, SE Electronics and Yamaha were used on drummer Joe Morris’ 4-piece kit as part of the Sink or Swim sessions. As part of their advanced studies, students are solely responsible for their session with the instructor taking on the producer’s role. The mono AEA R84 overhead pictured above, was sent first through a Summit Element 78 mic preamp, then through a Retro Sta-Level compressor on its way to Pro Tools, while the other mics were recorded through Element 78 and Focusrite preamps. Students started their session from scratch by importing a song into Pro Tools, first composed in Apple’s GarageBand software. After the import, students must format the session to work in the D-Room’s framework, successfully getting their mix out to the player, and then the player back into Pro Tools. Cycle 10 students are nearly ready for their internships and are put to the test repeatedly in the latter part of the program, exercising their practical, organizational and troubleshooting skills.

photo caption: Students making patches for their 9th Cycle band clinic

When it comes to audio, signal flow is king. Conservatory students are schooled from day one on the importance of getting their ins and outs correctly patched, and then they put the concepts into practice in their clinics and personal projects in the school’s 8 studios. Making correct patches can make or break a session and the students pictured above are making sure they have all their audio ducks in a row. In the 9th Cycle band clinic, students set up the studio to track a full drum kit, bass, guitar and keyboards. Later in the same cycle, they do the same but add vocals and various other overdubs. All this is in preparation for their Cycle 10 projects where they are in complete control, and the outcome of the session relies on their ability to make the right decisions. The Conservatory’s reality-based curriculum puts control in the hands of the students after they’ve been given a sound foundation in audio terminology, signal path, studio operations and working as a team.

photo caption: 8th cycle students setting up mics for their advanced drum clinic

When you get to the tail end of the on-campus portion of your Conservatory education, it’s all about getting ready for the real world of audio. The last three cycles expose students to what we call the “Sink or Swim” sessions. This means students become solely responsible for the final product, that is, getting audio properly recorded. The instructor takes on the role of the producer and the outcome of the session relies on the students working effectively as a team to get the job done.

Students aren’t just thrown into the deep end, from Cycle 1 at The CRAS you are given a solid base of knowledge and experience that carries you through to your advanced studies. The Cycle 8 Advanced Drum Clinic gives students experience in setting up mics on a drum kit, and recording and playback in surround. Students use the Grado Vectored Array to capture the drums in surround, and then play it back in the control room using the Quad bus on the SSL 4000G+ console. Any mic in the Conservatory’s extensive mic locker is fair game on these sessions. Students use mics from Blue, AKG, Shure, Sennheiser, Audio-Technica, Yamaha and Neumann to get the best drum tracks possible.