Have you ever wondered what goes on at Pinnacle College? Is it all about hitting the books and sitting through lectures? Of course not! Recently we have been putting together some music videos to showcase what goes on during a recording workshop. Most recently Vie Jester took part in a workshop at the Los Angeles (Alhambra) Campus of Pinnacle College. This and our other music videos, give you the listener (and watcher) an insider’s perspective to hear and see what a recording workshop is all about: producing some great music! The artists we bring in range in a variety of musical styles and instrumentation. With each new artist, students are exposed to completely different approaches and a need to learn a new set of ears. The artists we use come in for their own benefit, which is to receive a great recording/production. They are not compensated financially. However, the job of our students (under instructor guidance) is to make sure they get what they came for. They expect the best possible result… just like in the real world of music production. As a student of Pinnacle College you will get to be involved in multiple recording workshops during the course of your program. These workshops will span over multiple days and several classes. Because of the recording workshops, you can put all of the theory you learn to practical purpose. The recording workshops provide you the benefit of hands on application of what you have learned. Students run the recording workshops with the guidance of our professional instructional staff. You will be tasked to conduct a “real world” session. This will include advanced microphone routing and placement, advanced studio signal flow and tracking (recording) as well as file archiving, play listing, editing/comping, mixing, mastering and working with the professional artists. As a result, students get to hone their skills as a producer and engineer. As a student at Pinnacle College, you will get to utilize the high-end professional audio gear found in our multiple studios at either campus. This is not what you would expect to find in a home studio set-up. Pinnacle College has been around since the 1970’s and has some of the most sought after gear in our industry. With that being said, as a student, you will have the chance to experiment with different audio configurations and microphone set-ups, to dial in that desired professional studio sound. Since the artists that we bring in for these workshops are in no way related to Pinnacle College, we have no control over their musical material, attitudes, or performance. You can expect the recording workshops to mimic in every way the professional world of audio production. The benefit you gain is not just the hands-on experience of working with professional gear and signal routing, but developing your own professional approach towards satisfying the client’s needs, requests and responding to their inputs. Your job is to ensure the sessions run smoothly for the client. Our industry is still a serviced based industry, and a happy client is a much better performer than a non-happy client. These workshops will cover things that you will never gain in a classroom or book. It’s all about being in the “hot seat” and making it run smoothly. Some of the benefits of running a “real world” session are the unseen issues that will arise in any studio or session. We as engineers and producers need to be prepared for anything that might go wrong in the studio and I guarantee, at times, things will go wrong. I have never been in a session where everything runs without a hiccup or glitch. It is just inherent in our business. At Pinnacle College we believe in teaching the science and mechanics behind the gear so we can correct, fix, bypass, etc. Our job is to keep the session moving and productive. This is why these workshop sessions are crucial to our curriculum. It is up to you as the student to develop approaches to the inevitable that will arise at some point, and deal with them, in a professional manner. It was my mentor and founder of Pinnacle College (AKA: Sound Master) Brian Ingoldsby, that drove it home to me, “What are you going to do? Go home?” This was Brian’s teaching to me. What he meant was that as a producer/engineer we are responsible for everything that happens in the studio electronically and acoustically. You can’t pass the buck when you are in the studio. If you are not in control, nobody is. This is why our recording workshops are so important to your future in this industry – we teach you how to handle the inevitable, find a solution and get the result the client is expecting.
Posted on: Tue, 11 Nov 2014 21:56:34 +0000