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Issue #39
by L. Swift and Jeff McQ
Education doesn’t happen in a vacuum with the Recording Connection—it’s par for the course. Learning is a life experience that integrates into both personal and professional realms. Never has there been a better example of this than Taylor Crommie, a Recording Connection apprentice in Los Angeles who graduated in 2012 and recently returned to enroll in the Recording Connection master’s program—even though he’s had plenty of consistent work in the meantime!
“I’ve had the luxury of having two mentors,” says Taylor, who started his first apprenticeship with Donny Baker of ES Audio, and now apprentices with Matt Linesch of Ocean Way Recording. “If I could pick my favorite experience at ES Audio, it would have to be learning the hardware! Donny really took the time to explain why vintage equipment is such an essential tool for bringing life into your music. This really opened my ears to what it means to be a great engineer.”
Because Taylor’s hands-on education had made him an instant asset, opportunity found him almost immediately upon graduation from the bachelor’s program. He hopped on to The Baron Sisters’ Positive Thinker Tour, helping with live audio for 23 shows over 21 days. Other opportunities soon followed, including live audio at SXSW for bands Breakfast and Caldwell (featuring actor Adrian Grenier), composing music and sound effects for smartphone game app Joe the Zombie, and a stint at David Lynch’s Transcendental Radio—eventually landing a full-time gig as a mixer for JW Studios in North Hollywood (a job he still holds today).
But even with these successes under his belt, Taylor felt he wasn’t finished learning. He renewed contact with the Recording Connection to enter the master’s program, and was placed with Matt Linesch of Ocean Way Recording.
“Matt…was finishing the first live record of Edward Sharpe [and the Magnetic Zeros], which I was able to witness,” says Taylor. “Apprenticing under Matt has opened my eyes & ears to different and interesting techniques of approaching my mix, stuff you can only fully understand one-on-one.”
Taylor continues: “So far, I’ve been apprenticing under Matt for about 3 months, and my favorite experience thus far has got to be relating; technically speaking, that is. Being able to pick up the language of audio is just as important as working with it. When you start to understand how compression and equalizing works, you start to create possible concepts and ideas about effecting aspects of your music. When this happens, you’ll have questions, but without the language you have no question.”
To other Recording Connection apprentices, Taylor offers the following advice:
As young Producer / Engineer you gotta stay moving. My advice to fellow students who are enrolled in Recording Connection would be…
“I went to the culinary institute of America in Hyde Park but learned just as much during my externship at the Four Seasons Hotel in Newport Beach.
“As an executive chef I used to throw away resumes from kids dumb enough to blow 65k to attend The Art Institute and Le Cordon Bleu because they had no experience and prima donna attitudes. Cooking in the trenches of a real cutting edge kitchen is the only way to go.
“Students’ lack of experience, in fact zero experience after graduation and accumulated debt are what’s wrong with the culinary school system of today. Le Cordon Bleu charges 65k for 2 years of playing house! Conventional culinary school’s training is for suckers. Culinary schools are for profit and proud of it!”
— Martin Gilligan CEC, MCFE, American Culinary Federation’s ‘Chef of the Year 2005’ Los Angeles, CA
Sam Freed has been hard at work with his apprenticeship at Atomic Productions in San Francisco, California, making great strides and taking opportunities to advance his career! Sam recently checked in with RRF to let us know how things are going…
RRF: What made you want to get into film and into cinematography? Do you have a cinematographer or filmmaker whose work you emulate?
Sam Freed: I was about 13 years old when I realized I wanted to get behind a camera and make movies. I was with my brother and a couple friends and we started out making Jackass videos. We would do stupid stunts and pranks on people, and I seemed to be the one behind the camera most of the time. When I turned 14 I started making skate videos for my brother and his friends. We would spend every day over summer break skating Santa Rosa and making videos. That’s when I knew I really wanted to get into cinematography. When watching movies, I tend to really notice the camera movements and angles. That’s what convinced me that I want to do cinematography as a career. I really like Quentin Tarantino’s films mainly because of the camera movements.
RRF: What learning experiences stand out for you while apprenticing with your mentor?
Sam: Danny Angotti from Atomic Productions is a great guy. He’s really fun to be around and he really knows what he’s talking about when it comes to the camera. What stood out to me during my experience with Atomic is how involved I was with the team. They always had me doing something different on shoots, whether it was monitoring audio, working with the camera, doing the slate, setting up the lights, even painting and building props for the next shoot. The only way to get better in this industry is actually going out and doing it. This type of profession you can’t learn in a book, so the hands-on experience really taught me a lot and helped me improve my own skills.
RRF: Do you feel more confident about your abilities to do the work and navigate the industry now than you did before the program?
Sam: I have way more confidence in myself to complete projects with the new knowledge I obtained. I now pay attention to finer details when it comes to each stage of production, and I believe in myself, knowing I will produce a great project for my future clients.
RRF: What film projects are you working on now?
Sam: Currently I’m working on three projects. One is the mini documentary style video for the program…I decided to do the mini documentary on my girlfriend’s father’s guitar string business which he runs and owns. He makes all the different guitar strings and sends them out across the globe. Another project I’m working on is with a good friend of mine, Dave Pawlowski. We got hired to shoot some hip-hop cyphers in Petaluma, California—we are currently in the editing stage with those videos. And the third project I’m working on is for my roommates and other friends. They all DJ, and I got some leftover footage of all of them from past shows and events and I’m going to throw it all together for them for one last video.
RRF: What misconceptions do you think many people have about the way the film industry works?
Sam: People who just watch the movies and videos have no idea what it takes to produce that video or film. Sure, the video is only 10 minutes long or the film is only an hour, but it took a crew of 5 people and days of production for that video and a crew of 30 people (probably more) with months of production for that film. A lot of people think making movies is easy and fun. Of course it’s fun, but it can be very stressful. Everything and every detail counts…There is a lot behind the curtains that many people are unaware of.
RRF: How would you say your mentor has contributed to your success?
Sam: Danny has really opened my eyes to the filmmaking industry. Everything he has taught me, I put in effect while I’m working on a project, such as choosing the right lens of the effect or emotion I’m going for, when to make a cut when editing, and how to frame someone in a shot. Danny really showed me how the industry works and how to make a great video. I will forever be grateful for him.
RRF: What is your ultimate goal/dream in film?
Sam: My ultimate goal in film is to become a cinematographer for a feature film. I’m really into camera and the movements and getting those impressive shots so hopefully one day, I can do that for a major film.
RRF: Anything else you’d like to share with us?
Sam: I would like to thank the Recording Radio Film Connection for giving me this once in a lifetime opportunity with helping me get my foot in the industry and pointing me in the right direction. Without their connections and guidance, I wouldn’t be where I’m at today. I would also like to thank Danny Angotti and the Atomic Productions team for allowing me to join them for a few months and teaching me everything about making videos. I would not have the knowledge or experience I now have without them.
There’s still time to enter our INSTAGRAM CONTEST this month! Tag RRF in your candid Instagram photos taken in your mentor’s studio using the hashtags below, and you can win!
We’ve upped the prize value this month! Please read the contest rules carefully:
All disciplines included: Recording, Radio, and Film!
Share inspiring and unique, fun, exciting candid photos on Instagram of you, your mentor, the studio, or people you’re working with.
To submit, post your photos to Instagram including the following TWO TAGS:
#recordingconnection, #filmconnection OR #radioconnection
(whichever is appropriate); AND
# [name of the city where you apprentice]!
Tag us in as many photos as you’d like! Each properly tagged photo counts as a contest entry. BOTH City and Program Hashtags MUST be present in order for the photo to be considered.
Winner will receive a $100 Amazon gift card!
Brian and Jimi were happy to help celebrate yet another fantastic AES Convention as co-sponsors of the AfterGlow on the Rooftop atop the famous The Standard Hotel in Hollywood. It was great meeting up with all our friends and co-sponsors from Vintage King, AVID, Gearslutz, the Focal Press and Barefoot Speakers. We can’t wait to do it again!
Brian and Jimi hope all who attended had just as great a time as they did. We can’t wait to do it again!
Brian and Jimi are constantly working to foster relationships with many of the biggest studios in the world. Why? So our students don’t have to! We get our students inside the best studios so they’re meeting the right people while they’re learning the ropes and fostering connections all their own. Brian and Jimi see it as their personal mission to get students in the best possible position on day one to empower them to start building the careers they want to have.
Brian and legendary multi-platinum producer, engineer and mixer Ross Hogarth recently sat down and talked about Recording Connection’s unique real-world approach and hands-on training. Hogarth has worked with literally hundreds of artists throughout the spectrum, from Mötley Crüe to Ziggy Marley to Miley Cyrus and The Jonas Brothers. More to come in the near future.
We’re excited to have all three of these phenomenal recording studios as part of the team! We can’t wait to see the amazing things that happen once we get our students in their doors!
Aaron Thornton is a music industry veteran who worked for several record labels (both major and indie) before deciding to launch his own recording studio, Inner Recess in New Orleans. After forging a partnership with music producer and long-time friend Prospek, Inner Recess has grown to become a full-scale multimedia facility, offering state-of-the-art recording, film/video post-production, rehearsal rooms and even a unique art gallery and event space.
The Recording Connection believes Aaron’s broad perspective in the music industry makes him a great resource for apprentices with a wide range of interests, and his experience will no doubt help our students gain a well-rounded hands-on education. That’s why we’re thrilled to partner with Aaron and Inner Recess, and look forward to seeing what opportunities our New Orleans students will find there! Welcome, Aaron!
View Inner Recess’ Facebook page here!
Student Kevin Wong, apprentice at Studio 713 in Houston, TX, has set a personal goal–to submit 3 remixes to 3 different remix contests in the span of 30 days! This means that within 30 days, he will have produced, mixed and mastered 3 unique tracks. Getting ONE track done within 30 days is considered a huge accomplishment, let alone 3.
10/13 – Beatport Remix Contest
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