The Advanced Recording Engineering and Music Production Program

1 - Week • 57 Hours

During the Advanced program, our control rooms are maxed out with music. Recording bands, mixing tracks… the training is 100% in-studio. And this session work builds upon the solid engineering foundation already in place for the 5-Week grad.With this advantage, some finer points of production get more attention throughout the creative process. Finding that perfect timbre by shifting the mic on an acoustic guitar, trying different harmony parts in the chorus, fixing a weak beat with some reprogramming, the Advanced sessions reach for a higher standard.

This experience also leads to quicker and smoother equipment operation, factors that can give a graduate increased confidence and career assertiveness. And the Advanced Program provides a deeper understanding in the role of the record producer and the responsibilities they have to the artist and project.

The Advanced Program dovetails with the end of the Maintenance Program. And though classes for our other programs are typically held only on weekdays, the heavy amounts of session work require that Advanced classes power-on through the weekend. All 57 hours of curriculum are in the studio, and students are scheduled in groups of 3 or 6, depending on the studio activity.

Studio Classes

Recording Sessions – These classes are a key component of the Advanced curriculum. Students are working with our most select bands, those with the best players and deepest talents for songwriting. The sessions run longer than in the 5-Week program, and one team sees a song project through from start to finish.

Since Advanced students already have a good handle on engineering concerns, the instruction style is different than in the 5-Week Program. Our staff engineers pull back from talking in technical terms, and instead they coach the sessions in Studios A and B more like a music-minded producer. This is a frequent scenario in the “real-world”, having to interpret the sonic desires of a non-technical creative partner. And during the Studio C recording sessions, teams get a chance to “fly solo”. Instructors play a very passive role, stepping in only if there’s a major problem.

Mixing Sessions – Having raised the bar during recording, the tracks are tighter and more polished for the next production step. The Advanced mixing continues the pursuit of high standards. In Studios A and B, our instructors help steer this by analyzing the tracks with the students at the start of a class, flagging problems that may still remain, charting ideas for different parts of the song, and then providing a producer’s perspective as the mixing proceeds. In contrast to this, students are responsible for all production decisions for their mix work in Studios C and D.

Compilation CD Project – Recording Workshop students will have a backlog of mixes from their 5-Week classes, and a batch of new mixes from Advanced. Taking this material to the Pro Tools Lab, they assemble, edit, tweak and ultimately burn a compilation CD. This will be a valued personal showcase of professional skills and also a very helpful job-seeking tool.

Sound-for-Picture Project