Audio Engineering / Music Production School in Texas

The Recording Conservatory of Austin:
The Recording Conservatory of Austin (TRCoA) in central Texas offers programs for audio engineering, music production and music business students. Each one of our mentor-ship style classes are taught completely one-on-one, giving the student undivided attention for each lesson. Beginning Audio Engineering is a prerequisite and sets the foundation for the Advanced Music Production and Electronic Music Composition programs.

Beginning Audio Engineering:
BAE is a comprehensive course that is designed to teach you everything you would need to know to function as an audio engineer. There are three main course subjects: Studio Equipment and Techniques, Beginning Music Theory, and ProTools. You will meet one-on-one with a different instructor three times each week to go over each one of these subjects.

Additionally you will do two assists a week for the first four weeks with other professional and student engineers in our state of the art facilities. At week five you will start your own projects. You will do three to five projects in the beginning class alone. Each one of these projects will cover seeking the artists you would like to work with, booking them on the studio calendar, recording, editing, overdubbing, mixing, and mastering. Unlike other schools where projects are completed in groups, you will own your projects from bringing in the artist to mastering the final mix.

By the time you get out of the beginning class you will know how to and will have done the entire recording process three to five times.

Courses within the Beginning Audio Engineering program may not be taken individually. Upon completition of this program, students are awarded a certificate of completion and an audio reel of projects completed.

Subjects:

SET-101 Studio Equipment and Techniques
This class introduces fundamentals of recording techniques and equipment used within a recording studio. Concepts such as defining what audio is, signal flow, patch bays, signal processors, microphones, consoles and other studio basics are taught.

PTL-101 Pro Tools
This class introduces the student to Digidesign's Pro Tools software, it's interface and menu structure. Topics covered are selection and navigation, basic editing techniques, bouncing down a track and creating a CD. All classroom discussion is reinforced with required lab work.

REC-101 Recording Projects
Starting with a simple singer-songwriter session and working towards a final project of a full band, the student owns every step of the process. For each project the student will: contact artist, schedule studio time, record, overdub, edit, mix and master the material.

MTH-101 Music Theory
This class introduces the fundamentals of music theory. Topics discussed are major and minor key scales, intervals, basic elements of rhythm, triads and seventh chords, diatonic chords in major and minor keys, and key recognition.

Advanced Music Production:
AMP is designed to take you directly on a career path. Working as an engineer or producer in the music industry is very reputation oriented. Often it is difficult for beginning engineers, even if they are accomplished, because if they aren't working then they aren't gaining a reputation and if the don't have a reputation then they aren't getting work. The advanced class is a direct answer to that problem.

During the class you will be seeking out what will be potential clients, bringing them into the studio, and doing single full production songs with them. Through this process you will be learning how to find and inter act with potential clients, how to build client relationships, and a refinement of the music production skills you started in the beginning class.

In tandem to your production projects you will be attending a weekly music business class that will cover everything from designing your own business card and website to understanding quickbooks and music law.

There are very few students that make it all the way through the advanced class that don't already have a client or two. So, if you continue the path we start you on during the advanced class, you will have a solid client base in the coming years.

Courses within the Advanced Music Production program may not be taken individually. Upon completition of this program, students are awarded a certificate of completion and an audio reel of projects completed.

Subjects:

PRO-201 Production Projects
6 to 8 full production single songs with artists of your choice. Through the networking skills you will be learning in the BUS-201 you will be interacting with hundreds of potential music clients. Once you bring the artist to the studio, we will be working closely together to record, edit, mix and master each project to a professional standard.

BUS-201 Music Business for the Audio Engineer/Producer
- You will make a production name, buy a domain, buy a dba, and get myspace and facebook accounts.
- Using Adobe products, you will design and order business cards, design a website, and tailor a myspace and facebook page.
- You will learn basic accounting concepts, start a quick books file, and learn how to put together a professional looking invoice.
- You will learn how to register music productions and how to track their sales.
- You will learn music royalties, publishing, BMI, ASCAP, and basic music production contracts and law.
- You will learn online distribution and creative marketing concepts.
- You will make detailed business models that will model everything from how much it will cost to how much you will have to make.

Electronic Music Composition:
EMC is a class that combines traditional songwriting techniques with the use of the most current songwriting software. You will learn how to compose, arrange, and write charts on today's most powerful and exciting songwriting software.

Projects range from completely notating and analyzing existing compositions to arranging instrumental parts and string arrangements for singer-songwriters to composing entire pieces from scratch all written and arranged in Reason and Pro Tools.

Course Outline:
- Rhythm
* Time signatures * Swing * Rhythmic figures * Midi, Grid mode in Pro Tools * Quantizing * Redrum, Boom

- Song Structure
* Jazz Standard: AABA, ABAC * Modern Pop/Rock: Verse/Chorus, Verse/PreChorus/Chorus, Bridge/Instrumental Interlude * Dynamics from section to section

- Chord Structures
* Use of tension and release in chords (the V7-I) * I-V-IV (Relative Major and Minor) * Jazz/Classical harmony (Polychords, Altered dominants, etc.)

- Melody
* Phrasing * Interaction between melody & harmony * Use of tension and release in melody (the leading tone)

- Lyrics
* Storytelling * Role of verse * Role of chorus

- Arranging
* Voice Leading * Pads * Counterpoint * Harmonization * Creating Stereo Image (thinking ahead for mix)

- Learn all modules and general functionality in Reason
- Learn advanced midi and chart writing in Pro Tools