Make 2008 Your Year to Get Pro Tools Certified!

Want it quick? Choose the intensive 11-day Music Operator package starting January 13 at our downtown training location.

Still need to keep the day job? Not a problem. Our weeknight Post Production Operator package runs from January 14 to February 8 at Studio West of San Diego.

Want a side order of mixing with that? Select our Advanced Music package and round out your Pro Tools skills with “The Art of Mixing”.

Just getting started? Combine “Audio Recording Techniques” and “Pro Tools 101” for a great foundation and a great discount.

Get on TRAC with your New Years’ Musical Resolution!

Free Training Seminars at TRAC

The Recording Arts Center will be conducts FREE training seminars each month!

The seminars take place at TRAC's North County home, Studio West, where we will take you through two state-of-the-art studios and demo real-time recording with Pro Tools. You'll be able to chat with our instructors, get an overview of our training courses and packages, and network with other music enthusiasts like yourself!

Next seminar: Saturday, February 16, 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Space is limited - call 866 915 5835 to reserve your spot!

See you at the studio,

Amy

Get a Sneak Peek at the Most Flexible Pro Tools Ever!

The Recording Arts Center, San Diego's only Digidesign Authorized Pro School, is proud to partner with Professional Sound and Music of San Diego to host the Digidesign Stretch Your Sound Tour!

On Tuesday, November 27th at 7:00 p.m. L.A. product specialists Sean Halley and Brian Carter will be at Studio West, the north county home of The Recording Arts Center, to give a special demonstration of Pro Tools 7.4.

From the Digi site:

"Digidesign® Pro Tools 7.4 software is now available, featuring all-new music creation tools and support for more systems and creative options — it’s the most flexible Pro Tools software ever!

Pro Tools 7.4 software features the time-manipulating power of Elastic Time, enhanced Pro Tools HD® integration with Avid® systems, Windows Vista support for Pro Tools LE® and Pro Tools M-Powered™, and much more.

Forget cutting up audio…Elastic Time lets you quantize and change the tempo and timing of loops, music, dialog and other sound files with some of the best-sounding algorithms in the industry.

Virtual instruments by the Digidesign A.I.R. group offer the ultimate in sound quality, feature innovation, and ease of use to cover practically every musical need."

Want to come check it out? You might walk away with a $200 gift certificate (good toward studio time or the training course of your choice)! Visit www.digidesign.com/stretchyoursound to register.

- Amy

TRAC in the San Diego Union Tribune

A recently published article in the San Diego Union-Tribune provides some excellent background info on the Center and its North County home, Studio West. Click here to read the article: Expanding Studio West Escapes Fire

San Diego County Fires and Classes this week

First of all, I hope this blog finds you in high spirits, and safe with your friends and family.

At this point, the Pro Tools 210M class that was scheduled to happen this week is postponed. We will update the students that were signed up with more information as soon as we can get back into the studio and make sure everything is OK. There is a chance we will continue classes later in this week but we do not know yet at this time.

TRAC and Studio West would like to wish everyone the best during this situation.

Caleb

Michael Ault pulls off the Pro Tools Expert "Double Whammy"!

On Friday afternoon, the 21st of September at 5:45pm in the afternoon, Michael Ault passed the daunting Pro Tools 310P Expert Exam, his second successful expert exam in taken in just two weeks after having passed the Expert Music Expert Exam the Friday before. In all seriousness, Mike has completed something that very few people have even attempted. The Expert Exams compiled by the folks up at Digidesign are intended to be real-world stress tests to determine that you really know your stuff.

Michael was really well prepared for this set of exams. He came into the 310 classes having a very solid knowledge of his keyboard shortcuts and modifier keys. This is a major advantage as one third of the Expert Exam is comprised of a 90-question segment based on solely on quick-keys and control surface shortcuts.

Michael is interested in recording film scores. It was evident from watching him work in the Post class that he has a strong aptitude for the concepts of sync and working with audio to picture. He departed from the classrooms of
TRAC on Friday afternoon directly for the City of Angels. In L.A., he hopes to land a gig as an intern with Danetracks or NRG. We wish him the best of luck confidently knowing that he'll be a huge asset to any studio that takes him on.

Good luck Michael and job well done!

Mark Kirchner - Pro Tools Expert Instructor|Post

www.tracsd.com
myspace.com/therecordingartscenter

The TRAC Team

Just a little info on our TRAC Team of bloggers...click on a name to see the "list of creds" mentioned earlier, if you like, or just post a question or comment!







Mark Kirchner
Post-Production Engineer, Producer, Pro Tools Expert (Post)
Instructor: Pro Tools 101, Pro Tools 110, Pro Tools 201, Pro Tools 210P, Pro Tools 310P

Caleb Keiter
Engineer, Pro Tools Expert (Music)
Instructor: Pro Tools 101, Pro Tools 110, Pro Tools 201, Pro Tools 210M, Pro Tools 310M

Bryan Stratman
Producer, Engineer, Musician, Pro Tools Operator (Music), Studio Owner (Capricorn Studios)
Instructor: Pro Tools 101, Pro Tools 110, Pro Tools 201, Pro Tools 210M, Reason

Paul Tye
Engineer, Producer, Composer
Instructor: Audio Recording Techniques, Signal Processing with Waves, Mixing

Patricio Pickslay
Composer, Songwriter, Arranger, Producer, Engineer
Instructor: Songwriting and Composition

Additional posts from Studio West owner, Peter Dyson and well, me, are bound to pop up....

www.tracsd.com
myspace.com/therecordingartscenter

Congrats to the first TRAC Pro Tools Music Expert!

A huge high-five and congratulations goes out to Michael Ault, the first TRAC student to complete and pass the intense series of 310M Pro Tools Music Expert classes and exams! Michael came to TRAC already certified as a Pro Tools Operator in both Music and Post-Production all the way from Chicago, IL.
This week Michael is tackling the 310P Pro Tools Post-Production Expert classes and exams so we want to wish him the best of luck!

Way to go, Michael!

www.tracsd.com
myspace.com/therecordingartscenter

Welcome to TRACtalk!

I know you've heard this one before..."Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach." A witty (and often too true) jab at the teachers, professors and self-proclaimed "experts" we all come across in our efforts to learn something.

Who are these experts? And at what point did they stop "doing" and focus solely on "teaching"?

When we started The Recording Arts Center we thought a lot about what makes a good teacher and an even better learning experience. The two recurring themes we found were:

1. Our teachers have to be working professionals - not just people with a list of credits, but those who are using their skills everyday and experiencing the dynamics of the recording industry.

2. Our students have to be teachers - they have to share their experiences with other students, with the person at the front of the room, and with others outside of the classroom.

We are very proud to say that we have made the first theme a reality - we've got a great group of people who are not only doing what they love but loving what they do, and it shows in their dedication, enthusiasm and creative approaches to training.

We have also been very fortunate to find and work with so many amazing "student/teachers": people who come to a course not just to learn something but to share their experiences, to network and collaborate, and to enhance the learning experience for everyone involved.

I hope this blog will help to support that enthusiasm and provide another forum for the expert in everyone! The TRAC Team of instructors will be posting regularly - to offer Pro Tools tips, discuss industry trends, review new software releases, and generally rant about stuff they love.

Join in! To all of you who CAN, and DO...here's your chance to teach.

www.tracsd.com
myspace.com/therecordingartscenter