The 40 week Recording Arts Program is an introductory level program over 2 semesters that provides students with the basics and overview of real careers in the recording arts and music industries. Emphasis is placed on hands-on experience, whenever possible, and students are able to apply learned skills in practice in a number of settings, such as the recording studio and in live situations. The program covers a wide variety of subjects that are delivered by industry professionals and guest instructors that will provide a wide scope of expertise.
Students will leave the program with an industry credit on a project recorded by a New Brunswick artist.
Most of our classes take place in the recording studio, due to the limited number of students per course.
Field trips outside of the facility to learn in real-life events are also common.
We have two Recording Arts classrooms, one of which is set up with individual workstations for each student. The workstations are comprised of an Acer ASE380 with 20" flat panel monitor and Pro Tools M-Box 2 Factory.
Students will manipulate already existing sound files, which are provided by the instructors to learn the software and will then apply their skills to sound files they record themselves in our recording studio.
Students are required to have their own external hard drives for these projects.
Type of course: Full Time
Length of course: 40 weeks
Roles of a producer and engineer in film and audio recording
Studio protocol
Audio engineering is a part of audio science dealing with the recording and reproduction of sound through mechanical and electronic means. The field of audio engineering draws on many disciplines, including electrical engineering, acoustics, psychoacoustics, and music. Unlike acoustical engineering, audio engineering generally does not deal with noise control or acoustical design. However it should be noted than an audio engineer is often more affiliated with technician work rather than as engineering, due to the lack of mathematics and science involved in mastering this field. Audio engineering is different from Acoustical Engineering, which heavily relies on the underlying physics and mathematics of sound waves and their propagation.
An audio engineer is someone with experience and training in the production and manipulation of sound through mechanical or digital means (Analog and Digital). As a professional title, this person is sometimes designated as a sound engineer instead. A person with one of these titles is commonly listed in the credits of many commercial music recordings (also in other productions that include sound, such as movies).
Audio engineers are generally familiar with the design, installation, and/or operation of sound recording, sound reinforcement, or sound broadcasting equipment. In the recording studio environment, the audio engineer is a person recording, editing, manipulating, mixing and/or mastering sound by technical means in order to realize an artist's or record producer's creative vision. While usually being associated with music production, an audio engineer may be involved in dealing with sound for a wide range of applications, including post-production for video and film, live sound reinforcement, advertising, multimedia, broadcasting.
Audio engineers operate mixing consoles, microphones, signal processors, tape machines, digital audio workstations, sequencing software and speaker systems. Commonly an audio engineer is responsible for the technical aspects of a sound recording or other audio production and works together with a record producer or director, although the engineer's role may also be integrated with that of the producer.
In typical sound reinforcement applications, audio engineers often assume the role of producer, making artistic decisions along with technical ones.
Working with budgets, artists, clients
Budgeting is a major factor in any environment, in a studio setting as well. Staying "on budget" is as important as creating the end result. This portion of the course looks at how to deal with artists, clients (which could be a label, a manager or a corporation) and how to keep everybody happy, while lot loosing focus.
Microphone basics
Microphone techniques
Drum miking techniques
Nothing has more effect on the sound of your recordings than microphone technique. For example, which mic you choose -- and where you place it -- affect the recorded tone quality. That is, mic technique affects how much bass, midrange, and treble you hear in the monitored sound of a musical instrument. Mic choice and placement also affect how distant the instrument sounds in the recording, and how much background noise you pick up.
Some artists and engineers have spent years to find the miking technique that gives them the sound they want.
This portion of the course gives you a overview of microphone basics and techniques and you will be able to apply these techniques in practice and experiment.
Recording techniques
In the simplest case, the word digital refers to the representation of a quantity in numerical form and analog refers to a continuous physical quantity. To digitize means to convert an analog physical quantity into a numerical value. For example, if we represent the intensity of a sound by numbers proportionally related to the intensity, the analog value of the intensity has been represented digitally. The accuracy of the digital conversion depends upon the number of discrete numerical values that can be assigned and the rate at which these numerical measurements are made. For example, 4 numerical levels will represent changes in the amplitude of sound less accurately than 256 numerical levels and a rate of 8 conversion/sec will be less accurate than a rate of 10,000 conversions/sec.
The process for digitally coding sound by computer was first developed in 1957 by Max Mathews of Bell Telephone Laboratories in Murray Hill (Mathews, 1963). Other advances in digital electronics and microchips led to the development of the first digital Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) audio recorder in 1967 at the NHK Technical Research Institute (Nakajima, 1983). This machine was a 12- bit companded scheme (using a compression/expansion of sound to improve dynamic range) with a 30 kHz sampling rate. Data were recorded on a one- track, two-head helical scan VTR (Video Tape Recorder). The first commercial PCM/digital recording session was performed by DENON in 1972 (Takeaki, 1989).
During digital recording of the analog signal, analog to digital (A/D) conversion takes place from continuous time-amplitude coordinates to discrete time-amplitude coordinates. The difference between the instantaneous analog signal and de digital representation is digital error. We will separately consider the consequences of discrete time and discrete amplitude coordinates on the representation of the analog signal.
This course deals with the difference of analog and digital recording. A solid understanding of analog recording is required to fully understand, how the digital process works.
Producing techniques
The production of sound effects, the use of tape and disc replay as program sources, fades and mixes, echo and distortion, and the use and control of sound distortions for creative purposes are examined. In addition, the course covers in full the processes involved in checking quality, controlling volume, and editing of sound. In conclusion, suggestions are offered for pulling all the technical details into focus and creating a cohesive program which conveys its ideas in a well-paced, imaginative manner.
Album production from A-Z.
For producers and artists. From choosing songs, arranging and production techniques to making your budget stretch.
This is a crash course in album production from start to finish and tests the learned knowledge of the students. All individually learned knowledge in regard to album production is challenged.
Mixing and mastering
Mixing is the most important step in the production of a song, track or album. Musicians, songwriters and producers can put all the time, creativity and energy in creating a track, but if the mixing is not done right it will never sound good when played on the air, on a home stereo or in a car. Even a mastering engineer can not fix a mix that has not been mixed right.
The mixing process, Setting up a mixing room studio, Selecting the right mixers, software for mixing, Monitoring basics for mixing, Selecting the right monitors/speakers and amps for mixing, Advanced monitoring for mixing, Mixing Basics, Basic Mixing Rules, Effects introduction, Effects overview Selecting and finding the right effects and plugins, Compression, Equalizers, Space, acoustics and reverb, What should a good mix sound like ?
Mastering is a very delicate process. If you do it right the song will sound good or even great. But if you get it wrong all the work of writing the song, recording the song and mixing will result in a dull sound song. Mastering is both a technical process and one where you really need to listen and know what you are doing.
Audio editing and music mastering are explained in great detail including discussions of gear, software, techniques, plugins, tips and tricks and more.
Introduction to mastering, Mastering setups, Monitoring, Sound properties, Acoustics, Levels and decibels, The human ear and limitations, Music Styles and Mastering, Formats, Noise, Digital and Analog, Remastering, Editing, Maximizing and Compression.
Sound effects, design and application
There are more sound effects than Kellogg's has corn flakes. Using effects can be very tricky, knowing what is right for which moment is an art in itself. This course covers the most common effects, how to use them to your advantage, how to design effects and the application of effects in practical examples.
Audio for Advertising
Music for commercials, jingle writing, Sound design, voice over, mixing, clients relations and running a session. What to serve for lunch and how to suck up to producers and writers.
Commercial Audio 101 for corporate audio production. Everything from sound design on a BMW commercial to voice over recording for "The Bay", track direction, formats for delivery and deadlines.
Scoring
Interweaving advanced music skills, technical proficiency, and dramatic interpretation, scoring film enables you to meet the challenges of this exciting and demanding application of your musical sensibilities. Film and TV music composition for live action and animation. Tricks of the trade and guidelines for working in this medium.
You will work with our film and animation students to score some of their works.
Songwriting basics
Have you ever wondered how come some songs give you goose bumps when you listen to them? While other songs make you want to jump out of your seat and hit something? Some songs you just don't pay any attention to. They're background music. Others you cant stand at all, they just annoy you!! Here is the answer: music plays with your EMOTIONS!!! Listen to music in the movies. It keeps you on the edge of your seat, makes you mad, helps you laugh, and even makes you cry! That is the beautiful thing about music. It's as close as you can come to communicating your own emotions, whatever they may be. Unfortunately, there is no easy secret formula to writing a song like this, because it depends on your individual taste in music, which is as varied as peoples' opinions. This course deals with the mechanics, musical forms, approaches to different styles, as well as lyric writing.
Musical formats, aesthetics, acoustical issues
Recording studio design has changed dramatically since I first entered the audio industry back in 1971. In those Jurassic days project studios were called "semi-pro" studios, because they did not possess the electronic and acoustical performance of the professional 16 track studios. In the intervening 27 years, the hardware gap has been narrowed, if not erased, by new electronic digital technology. On the other hand, the acoustical gap has widened. This is due to the fact that the professional studio designers have made extensive use of advanced computerized acoustical measurement tools, computer modeling and simulation, room acoustics and psychoacoustics research and innovative acoustical products. Until recently, project studios have concentrated primarily on the electronic "gear" and essentially ignored or worked around acoustical issues. As the project studio format becomes more and more popular and finds more and more acceptance on the charts and in post-production, acoustical issues become the most sonically glaring omission.
This course looks at the evolvement of acoustical issues, along with aesthetics and how they relate to musical formats and the end product.
Music theory basics
Every musician and recording engineer/producer needs to know the basics of music theory. In this course, you will learn about note reading, intervals, scales, and much more. Music theory is the complex written form used to communicate the language of music. Music theory is based upon the measured pitches and keys found on the piano. The violin family of instruments, without frets or keys, is unlimited in the ability to create various tones. Yet all of our western written music is based upon the ebony & ivory of the piano, organ and harpsichord.
Basic audio circuitry components
Basic components are not always as simple as they may appear at first look. This course is intended for the beginner to electronics, who will need to know a number of things before starting on even the simplest of projects. The basic electrical units and definitions are discussed: passive, active, DC, AC, frequency, voltage, current, resistance, capacitance, inductance, impedance, decibels.
Understanding how sound works
Those ripples in the air are vibrations called sound waves. The frequency of the waves determines the pitch of the sound. Long, slow waves are a low pitch (like a fog horn). Short, fast waves are a high pitch (like a whistle). Frequency is measured in hertz, or waves per second. The slowest, lowest sound a human can hear is approximately 20 hertz (Hz). The fastest, highest sound a human can hear is approximately 20,000 Hz (or 20 kHz). Dog whistles are more than 20 kHz; that's why we can't hear them. The strength or loudness of a sound is called the amplitude and is determined by the height of the sound waves. Tall waves are loud; short waves are quiet. Tall, fast waves are a rattle. Short, long waves are a hum. These items and more will be discussed in detail.
Studio equipment maintenance
Knowing how to operate a system is only half the battle. Knowing how everything works and why it does is just as important. This course focuses on the maintenance of studio gear and how to prevent and fix problems.
Audio editing software
The nuts and bolts of Pro Tools. Students will have extensive time with Pro Tools to become proficient in this application that has become the industry standard. Each student has their own workstation and will utilize a variety of provided and freshly recorded sound files.
Analog audio skills
Digital audio skills
Multi track editing
Digital audio transfer protocols
Analog sound versus digital sound compares the two ways in which sound waves are recorded and stored. A sound wave can be thought of as a signal which over time can vary continuously in amplitude. This signal can be recorded either digitally or in an analog format. An analog recording is one where the original sound signal is modulated onto another physical signal carried on some media or substrate such as the groove of a gramophone disc or the iron filings of a magnetic tape. A physical quantity in the medium (e.g., the intensity of the magnetic field) is directly related, or analogous, to the physical properties of the sound (e.g, the amplitude, phase, etc.).
A digital recording is produced by first converting the physical properties of the original sound into digital information (stored as bits) which can then be decoded for reproduction. The conversion process can be susceptible to noise and imperfection. However, the nature of the physical medium is immaterial in recovery of the encoded information as long as the individual bits can be recovered.
Multi track editing is examined in regards to both formats, as well as how digital audio transfer protocols work.
Location audio and live sound
The difference between studio recording and live sound are examined in theory and tested in practical applications.
Performance riders and performance contracts
Examples of star riders are examined and discussed. What is really needed and why.
The Hierarchy of Industry People - and their roles
The roles and duties of agents, managers, tour managers, production managers, promoters etc. are discussed in detail.
The artist management contract
No two contracts are the same and there is no such thing as the perfect contract. Examples of bad contracts provide insight as to what to look out for, before signing on the dotted line.
Event management - How to produce a 2 day rock festival from scratch
Everybody thinks they can put on a festival. Learn how to plan "the big event" from scratch and apply those skills to the shows you want to put on.
How to be more efficient in the planning and execution of events and tours an how to book your own tour
There is a lot more to planning an event or tour than you might think. This course deals with everything you need to know to produce an event or tour properly.
Cost sheets/budgeting and why/how they can keep you from going bankrupt or losing your shirt
Most events and tours that loose money do so, because proper cost sheets were never filled out. Being prepared and knowing how to calculate all of your costs before you proceed is essential in being successful.
Promo packages
This course examines the purpose of the promo package, which creates a better understanding what should be in yours. Examples of good and bad packages are given.
What you need to know about recording contracts
Never sign a contract of any kind, but especially a recording contract without having a solid knowledge what all the mumbo jumbo means. Actual contracts are disected to gain a better understanding.
Stagehands 101
This course deals with the following topics:
What Is A Stagehand?
Choosing Your Passion - Deckhand, Lighting, Audio or Rigging
Safety On The Job
Tools Of The Trade
Procedures and Tricks of The Trade
Know Your Knots
Backstage Protocol
Professionalism At The Gig
Learning The Language - Gobo's, Too-fers and Pickles
Learning A Stage Plot
Navigating the Stage - Up is Not Always Up
Cable Wrapping/Tying
Spotlight Operation
Headset Protocol- When To Keep
Learning The Production Food Chain- Who's Who?
