The CRAS Open House is a full schedule of events and demonstrations that include:

• Hands-on demonstrations, presentations and guided tours of classrooms and recording studios
• Live recording sessions and demos showcasing the techniques and technologies students learn at CRAS
• Access to CRAS technology labs and recording studios
• An opportunity to meet with instructors, admissions reps and student financial services – to answer your questions

Reserve your place now for this special event

The Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences took a select group of students to U.S. Airways Arena in downtown Phoenix to observe the setup for Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers’ MOJO tour concert date on September 26th, 2010. CRAS was the guest of Petty’s front of house sound engineer and 6 time TEC award winner Robert Scovill. Robert has a long history with CRAS as a curriculum developer and member of the CRAS board of directors. Students also got to meet front of house technician Jim Brentlinger and monitor technician Mike Bangs who both work for Sound Image and are graduates of the Conservatory. Amazingly soundcheck was just about to begin when the call came in that Tom Petty was ill and that the show was cancelled! While Petty fans were surely dissapointed, CRAS students still saw an amazing setup for a show that no one ever saw. See pictures of the event here or read more about the audio setup of Tom Petty & the Heartbreaker’s MOJO tour at Pro Sound Web.

Mix Nashville is the audio magazine’s yearly event that brings together the best gear, engineering, production and songwriting talent at SoundCheck Nashville. Every year, a large group of interns are invited to participate in the event working audio, video, traffic, registration and a host of other jobs that go into making a successful event.

Interns were trained on the Digico SD8 console used to run audio in the panel room. This year’s panelists included a group of Grammy winning/nominated engineers including Justin Niebank (Kenny Chesney, Rascal Flatts, Taylor Swift), Chuck Ainlay (Mark Knopfler, Eric Clapton, George Strait), Richard Dodd (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Neil Young) and more.

Intern John Hash summed up his experience in an email: “Just wanted to quickly thank you for giving me and my fellow CRASmates the opportunity to work the Mix Nashville event the past two days.  I had a good time, learned some very interesting information, and also met quite a few interesting people in the span of those two days. I would welcome the opportunity to do similar things in the future.”

Mike Sokol of Fits & Starts Productions brought his No-Shock-Zone clinic to the Conservatory’s live sound room on June 3rd, 2010. Sokol, an electrical and sound expert, used various metering devices as well as his own custom built tools to demonstrate why people get shocked on stage or in studios and how to avoid it. He also shared why hum and buzz plague so many sound systems with tips to easily identify and fix those problems.

The 2010 NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) trade show took place in Las Vegas in April. CRAS instructors Kevin Becka and Robert Brock attended to keep CRAS’s finger on the pulse of sound in the broadcast world. While much of the NAB show is oriented toward the visual side of broadcast, it’s important to remember that video without sound is called “surveilence” That’s why companies like AVID (Pro Tools), SSL, Studer, DPA and many more are found at the show demonstrating the latest in audio for video technology. Many CRAS graduates find their way into the broadcast market working with sound for television shows ranging from sitcoms to sports oriented programming. Check out photos from the show here.

Chris Estes of Endless Analog

Chris Estes of Endless Analog spent a few days visiting CRAS at the end of March 2010. While on cacmpus Estes provided hands-on demonstrations and discussions about his companies innovative product CLASP. CLASP is a sytem that bridges digital audio workstations and analog multi-track recorders to take advantage of the best of what both technologies have to offer. Working with Conservatory technician Jeff Harris, Estes used CLASP to merge Studio A’s Studer A827 analog recorder and the Pro Tools 8 HD system to work as a singular system. See photos from the visit here.

The Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences hosted its spring open house on Satruday March 27th 2010. The event featured an opportunity for anyone to learn more about the Conservatory and a career in pro audio. Attendees were able to interface with instructors, current students, as well as product representatives from major manufactutrers who were showing the latest in audio technology. A live band played and a catered lunch was served during the after party and gear giveaway. Prospective students were also able to meet with housing and financial aid representatives. For more information about the Conservatory, please visit www.audiorecordingschool.com. See photos from the open house here.

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.

On March 20th, 2010 CRAS instructors Dave LaBounty  and Jeff Thomas hosted a guitar setup clinic. While both LaBounty and Thomas are experienced audio engineers and educators, they also love to share their knowledge and love for the six string. LaBounty is a trained luthier, a graduate from the Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery and has utilized these skills touring as a bass guitar technician for the late jazz bassist Wayman Tisdale. Thomas is the ultimate closet guitar hero and can usually be heard practicing through one of the amplifiers he’s built from scratch. Because over half of students enrolled at CRAS happen to also play guitar it was no surprise there was a great turnout to the event where attendees learned to setup an electric guitar and install pickups. Click here for more photos from the event.