RECORDING WORKSHOP II

School: Recording Workshop – Chillicothe, OH

Dates: Feb 21^st – March 25^th, 2022 (5 Weeks)

Note: Because the Recording Workshop articles are a multi-post review, I suggest you start with the very first article in this series entitled “Recording Workshop”, then read on from there….. Enjoy!

Now that we have somewhat settled into our new homestead, we headed out to our debut lecture. During orientation we were given a hand-out folder, a small Student Handbook and The Recording Engineer’s Handbook. We were also provided with a thumb drive on which to store all of our computer work during the next 5 weeks (Lab work, mixes, etc).

RecW / Student Manual & Workbooks — **Student Guide & Workbooks**

This is the first time the “Class of Early Spring 2022” pupils are intermingling within the same space. As I expected, most of the students were fresh out of high school, some a bit older. In comparison, I was the ol’ skool guy around the same age as the senior teaching staff. It’s all good, we’ve all come here for the same reason: to better understand our trade, to take our craft to another level, and to become better sound engineers…. Get To Work!

RecW / TV Monitor — **Lecture Hall TV Monitor**

The lab room I mentioned earlier is part of a much larger lecture area. There is a retractable projector screen in the center behind the presiding educator, and two large-screen TV monitors on either side for easy viewing. The student seating is reminiscent of Jr high school. The small combo school desks are a tight sit and hard on your butt over time. Some students began to use the softer lab chairs as the days progressed. I personally would empty out my backpack on a daily basis and use it for a seat cushion. With 4 hours of lectures per day, you might as well make yourself as comfortable as possible.

After a few niceties, the staff jumped right in with the lesson at hand. During the 3-hours of lecture, we were introduced to most of the main instructors. My first impression was that these guys are oozing with audio/visual knowledge and love to share it. It’s quickly evident that they are extremely passionate about unveiling their decades of experience to their hungry-to-learn students. Any one of the RecW senior educators are more than qualified to work anywhere within the audio engineering industry for much more money, but choose to teach here simply for the love of it.… God Bless ‘em.

Within that first day of lecture, I must have written down 5-6 pages of notes. This was indicative as to what was to come during our stay here. The info coming at you is fast and furious. By the end of the first week your brain kicks into information overload. The RecW is not playing around. As soon as you attempt to process a particular subject, new aspects or material are quickly introduced. One of our instructors whom graduated from the audio engineering program at Capital University stated that our 5-week curriculum is the equivalent to what they had learned over a one year period…. Whoa.

We actually had one student drop out after the first week because of the workload. For the entire 5 weeks, there are a total of 4 hours of lectures daily on top of the 4-5 hours of studio/lab work per day. This does not include the work/study that is expected to be done on your own time. You will most certainly get your money’s worth from the Recording Workshop, but you better come prepared to put in the work. The experience and education can be challenging at times but definitely is rewarding.

Hey, chill out… It’s still fun to work with music and learn all this cool stuff!!!

Week 1

The first thing they did was break us up into mini groups of four (Team 1, Team 2, and Team 3). All students are required to assemble together for the lectures but are split-up by team to attend all other “hands-on” classes. I was assigned to Team 2 which included my son, my daughter, and this really talented young guy named Owen. I frequently joked with Owen that he got stuck with the “family” but he was always adamant that he enjoyed being part of our squad.

This first week’s lessons consisted of all the basics and beyond including (just to name a few): dynamic range, frequency response, patching, use of EQs, compressors, and time-based effects, history and terms to describe elements of sounds, tools, etc. Usually what is taught in lecture is then put into practice in either the lab, analog, or digital recording studios.

RecW / Week 1 Schedule — **RecW / Week 1 Student Schedule**

Signal Flow… Signal Flow… Signal Flow…
One entity that will be jammed down your throat from day one is… Signal Flow.

Learning your signal flow chart is the key to understanding where everything is & belongs within your mixing console and why. This will allow you to accurately maneuver patch-ins of your outboard gear/plug-ins and monitors/headphones to easily obtain a desired result. Proper use of the auxiliary (aux) channels also becomes very clear. Once signal flow is fully understood, it will become simpler to navigate any sound board you may come across in your future endeavors.

Through lectures, lab and the recording studios we started working with Pro Tools immediately. On the last day of this first week, we began to train on how to navigate the Midas M32 live mixing console. This board is now the industry standard at most venues and events (large & small) across the world. Definitely relevant to anyone interested in beginning a career in the realm of live sound…. BTW, the M32 is really FN cool!

Midas M32 Mixing Console — **Midas M32 Digital Mixing Console**

Friday night had arrived…. We passed an end of the week quiz and were ready for a break.

Immediately after receiving our test results, we took the 10 minute drive to Roosters in Chillicothe for a much deserved beer and some dinner. We really liked this chain restaurant but they closed down at 11pm. Bummer, we were thirsty! The next day we drove to Bob Evans for breakfast in Waverly. I used to luv this restaurant brand for their good-ol’ fresh farm cookin’, but the quality of the place has now crashed & burned. Cold grub, cold coffee and a 1 hour wait time for food?… Last time.

**Majestic Theatre / Chillicothe, Ohio**

One of our instructors gave us tickets to check out Murphy live at the Majestic Theatre in Chillicothe on Sat night. We were aware that we would be working this venue as part of our schooling soon and thought it would be cool to hang with some of our teachers. Besides, what else were we gonna do in the middle of nowhere, Ohio? It turned out that Murph Rocked the House and we spent the rest of the night socializing with a couple of our instructors at Crosskeys Tavern until closing time. Luckily my son does not drink at 20 years of age and drove us back safely at 2am…. Good times!

**Crosskeys Tavern / Chillicothe, Ohio**

Week 2

Assignment: Each team was instructed to put together a band and practice a song to be recorded by another team at the end of the week. All student project rehearsals are done on your time, separate from the school schedule. Some have experience playing an instrument, some do not. Either way is all good, learning to work together to create is the main focal point of this exercise. We decided to write an original tune and got together about an hour per day to get this accomplished. Team 3 chose to do a Metal version of the song WAP by Cardi B…. Hysterical!

**Team 2 Student Project**
**L-R: Justin, Erika, Owen, & TK (*in pic above*)**

Microphones…. Microphones…. Microphones….

We spent 3 full lectures focusing strictly on mics with instructor Jeff Ling: History, construction, types, polar patterns, phantom power, brands, models, uses, positions, phasing, experimentation, terms, proximity, angles, pros & cons, etc. We received hand-outs that pictured 46 different microphones. It was hinted that we could be tested on the make, model, type and polar pattern(s) of each (Example: Shure SM58 / Dynamic / Cardioid). Do to this fact, I decided to make flash cards for review. This study method did prove effective. Just before finals at the end of week 5, we were informed that we were to be only tested on a particular dozen.

We continued to dive deeper into Avid Pro Tools including: shortcuts, bouncing, file types, bit depth, sample rate, organizing files, comping, punching, etc. There are 1,540 pages in the latest Pro Tools manual. As you may surmise, I am merely scratching the surface on the DAW schooling in which we received. Apple’s Logic Pro X was also introduced towards the end of the week.

Live sound was another point of focus: pink noise vs white noise, crossovers, amplifiers, different types speaker enclosures, polarity issues, feedback, time/phase alignment, impedances, ohm loads, wiring, connectors, split snakes, etc. As far as studio speakers are concerned, we discussed the differences between near-field, mid-field and far-field monitors as different points of audio reference.

**Hana Japanese Steakhouse / Chillicothe, Ohio**

Once again Friday rolled around as we finished the school-day off with another set of pop-quiz results. As the evening fell upon us, we drove up to Chillicothe to dine at Hana Japanese Steakhouse for some Hibachi action. With utensils, sake and food a-flyin’, we enjoyed some tasty grilled cuisine along with friendly service to facilitate another much welcomed break with beer in hand…. Gochisou sama deshita.

Scioto Trail State Forest & Park — **Scioto Trail / State Forest & Park**

We woke up late Saturday morning to a beautiful day. The sun was shining with temperatures ranging in the mid-60s. After a frigidly cold couple of weeks, it was a refreshing change for the better. We jumped in the car and drove about 5 minutes south on Route 23 to Scioto Trail State Park for a hike. It was good to get some exercise through the nature trails after a couple weeks of being in full-blown study mode.

After exploring for a few hours, we hit the road towards Waverly to find a place to eat. We stumbled across the Beast & Bottle serving some of the best barbeque I’ve ever eaten in my life. Yeah, in my life. We ordered the 1LB Sampler which included pulled pork, sliced chicken, and brisket. Our side dishes included mac & cheese, green beans, pork belly and my fav, the onion rings. Dee-licious! I’m sure rural, middle Ohio is not known for much, but damn can they cook up some awesome BBQ!… Yuuummm.