Our favorite little bits of 2009...

January -- A member of our staff celebrated a milestone birthday and we all gathered at the party, which turned out to be a private concert by Glen Phillips (Toad the Wet Sprocket, Works Progress Administration)
February -- Pro Tools grads booked time in Studio West's edit suites, Studio C and Studio A, flexing their newly formed engineering muscles
March -- TRAC and Studio West kicked off the first meeting of the San Diego Pro Tools User Group and we spent the evening finding out "What's New and Great in Pro Tools 8"
April -- We closed the downtown room and refocused on our North County space, upgrading all the systems and giving the room a little more "vibe"
May -- Two more Pro Tools grads accepted internship positions at Studio West
June -- TRAC graduated it's first father/son Certified Music Operator team
July -- Another member of our staff proposed to his lovely girlfriend...and she accepted!
August -- We gathered two more outstanding engineers into the training fold and watched the stellar reviews come pouring in
September -- Audio Recording Techniques got an overhaul and an upgrade and eager students poured into Studio A to track live
October -- We logged our 150th Pro Tools class
November -- The new D-Control console was installed in Studio B, ICON Mixer classes started rolling, and everyone coveted the comfy new control room chairs
December -- We finalized plans for an all-HD training space and set the date to break ground.

Hope you have many of your own favorite moments of 2009 to recount...we'd love to hear about them!

Happy holidays from your friends at TRAC

The Top 10 Reasons to Train at TRAC

10. Learn all about recording audio in a working commercial studio.

9. Network with audio engineers, producers, artists and professional DJs.

8. All enrolled students get a discount at the Digidesign online store: 40% off Pro Tools LE and 50% off selected plug-ins. This discount is effective as soon as you register, and has no expiration date.

7. TRAC students are eligible for student discounts on McDSP plug-ins and bundles.

6. Pro Tools 110 includes a free Digidesign plug-in, and there are 5 to choose from.

5. Edit Suites at Studio West are available to students to use for practice or to work on their independent projects.

4. Signal Processing with Waves includes 5 free plug-ins: Renaisance EQ, Renaissance Compressor, C1 Parametric Compander, Renaissance Reverb and Super Tap.

3. TRAC students enjoy deep discounts on studio time at Studio West.

2. When an internship position needs to be filled at Studio West, TRAC students are considered first.

...and the number one reason to train at TRAC:

1. Didn't get it the first time around? Come on back and take the class again...for FREE.

Pictures of the Reconstruction

Studio B is complete and fabulous, sporting a shiny new D-Control...

...and Studio C is next! Then we break ground on our second, HD-dedicated training room. Nothing so constant as change! More pics coming soon....

Now enrolling! Pro Tools 205: D-Command

This 1-day course covers techniques for mixing, routing and monitoring through a D-Command control surface.

Here's what you will learn:

- Control surface basics: configuring the control surface, track display control and dedicatedcontrols for Pro Tools functions
- Track basics: track elements and controls, Digidesign PRE and the control surface
- Displays/scribble scripst, encoders, pans, sends and inserts: pan contraols, assigning inserts, sends and I/Os, send control
- Controlling plug-ins: viewing and editing plug-ins, plug-in mapping
- Automation: enabling automation modes with the control surface, writing autiomation with the control surface
- Advanced operation and editing: creating and adjusting selections with the control surface, edit functions, soft keys
- Groups and VCAs: grouping tracks, VCA control, VCA Master Track attributes
- Custom faders: Custom Fader Groups mode, Mix/Edit Groups mode, Masters (Tracks) mode
- Advanced automation techniques: Preview and Capture modes
- Monitor controls: inputs and outputs, cue section, monitor control switches and indicators, talkback section

Coming soon...ICON certification!

From the Digidesign website:

The Digidesign® ICON integrated console environment has become the most in-demand mixing platform at major post-production and music recording facilities around the world, and if you’re looking to move your ICON skills way ahead of the pack, now’s the perfect time to become a Certified ICON Mixer.

Digidesign is introducing a new educational program that offers in-depth, hands-on ICON D-Control™ training by Digidesign-certified ICON instructors (that's us! :). Pro Tools® 310I: Advanced ICON Mixing Techniques provides proper comprehensive training, allowing you to gain invaluable insight and knowledge of ICON, the D-Control worksurface, and its integration with Pro Tools. It will also quickly elevate your ICON skills to a level that typically takes much longer when self taught. Plus, you’ll acquire all of the expertise necessary to unleash the creative power of ICON as you shape and sharpen your skills for prime time in the industry.

Stay current with industry trends and technologies by signing up for ICON training today.

Check the schedule at tracsd.com for course dates!

New Pro Tools Bundles Announced

Check out this announcement from Macworld...

Avid releases Pro Tools Essesntial bundles

a closer look at Audio Recording Techniques

We've recently revamped our Audio Recording Techniques class, making it more hands-on and detailed than ever!

This past weekend, TRAC students learned all about the fundamentals of recording audio...they talked about sound waves, microphones, amplifiers, Pro Tools and more. If it can be found in a recording studio, these folks learned about it! They were also invited to bring in their own gear for demos or troubleshooting.

After Labor Day, the group will meet again and this time they will spend their days in the state-of-the-art studios of Studio West! They'll track a local singer/songwriter in Studio C and then step into Studio A to record drums, guitars and vocals for an up-and-coming local band.

The ultimate pledge of love....

It's so rewarding to watch a student move through each level of Pro Tools training, learning new skills, honing their craft. But when, after countless hours of study and finger-cramping shortcut practice, one of those students makes a bid for Expert Cerification, well...it's downright exciting.

The Expert Exam at TRAC is a day-long, one-on-one intensive and practical demonstration of Pro Tools skills. In many ways, it is a rite of passage. But those who manage to pass it are deemed worthy of Expert Certification and wear their status proudly.

Some more so than others.






Congratulations, Mr. C. Your dedication paid off and your devotion is unquestionable.

June McDSP discount for TRAC students

Get yer gear here!

McDSP has just announced a June special, which will give TRAC students 20% off Emerald Pack HD and Native, Classic Pack HD and Native, and upgrades to those bundles. Enroll with us anytime between now and June 30 to take advantage of this discount!

New Pro Tools Forum

Check out Caleb's Pro Tools forum at http://sdptug.proboards.com!

The next SDPTUG meeting...

The latest from the San Diego Pro Tools User Group board:

Dear Pro Tools Friends,

Have you ever had one of those months where sleep is not an option because your to do list occupies all 24 hours of every day? In my dictionary, that is called April. Rest assured though, that the SDPTUG is alive and well, and growing!

We are working out the final details for our next meeting. We are shooting for sometime near the end of May or beginning of June. The location and topic details will follow soon.

Thanks for standing by!

- Caleb

TRAC grads get a summer gig....

Two TRAC graduates have accepted a summer gig with the San Diego County Fair putting their Pro Tools skills to use! Operating a mobile recording studio, the grads will make it possible for fairgoers to go into a sound booth, record vocals over a song of their choice and leave with a CD. Both candidates were selected based on their skills with Pro Tools and with people...(sniff!)...we're so proud....

TRAC congratulates Pullman Standard on winning the Your Song for San Diego contest

San Diego – XETV San Diego 6 – Home of the CW announced the winner of the Your Song For San Diego contest on Monday, March 15 on their morning news show. Local band Pullman Standard penned the winning song, “Our Town.” The song was chosen from nearly 150 entries, and it will be the musical cornerstone of San Diego 6 TV’s new image campaign for the station. Pullman Standard received a prize package for their winning song, including $2500 worth of studio time at Studio West, interviews and airplay of the song on 91X Loudspeaker and KPRI’s Homegrown Hour with Astra Kelly, acknowledgement in San Diego CityBeat, appearances on San Diego 6 in the Morning and San Diego Living and starring roles in a music video shot for the song. The music video, which will feature the band and San Diego 6 on-air personalities will debut sometime this month on air and on the station’s website at: www.SanDiego6.com.

“We are thrilled with this song,” says Judy Albrecht, Creative Services Director for San Diego 6. “It perfectly captures the feel and vibe of our beautiful city, and it’s really hooky. Everybody loves it and can’t stop singing it.” The contest, Albrecht’s brainchild, was open to San Diego based bands and solo artists who wanted to write an original song about San Diego. It was launched late last fall and yielded almost 150 song entries. Judges from San Diego 6, Studio West, 91X and KPRI selected “Our Town” as the winner based on criteria like memorability, universal appeal, lyric content, and quality of the artists. “We listened to a lot of entries that were good,” says producer Marti Amado, who helped the band produce the final studio version of the song at Studio West, “but ‘Our Town’ had something special. The lyrics were fun, the music felt good and we all agreed that Pullman Standard was a really talented band.”

Pullman Standard is Timothy Daniels on guitars and vocals, Dale Peters on drums and Austin Smith on bass and vocals. “This has been an amazing experience for us,” says Peters. “It has been a really great couple of weeks. We’re so excited about the exposure we’ve gotten and people we’ve met through the contest,” he adds. Peters and Daniels played in another band
together (Getty City) before joining forces with Smith and forming Pullman Standard. Six months young, the band intends to use the momentum from winning the contest and the media appearances to perform and record more. “It’s given us a boost for sure,” says Peters. Much of the bands’ writing has been in a heavier rock genre, but they felt that the contest called for a song with a lighter touch. “It was a good challenge to write something for a specific purpose about a specific subject,” adds Peters. “We thought that happy, feel good music fit San Diego’s endless summer vibe!”

The final studio version of “Our Town” was recorded and mixed by Kellogg Boynton IV at Studio West and co-produced by independent producer Marti Amado and Pullman Standard. The “Our Town” music video shoots were directed by San Diego 6 TV’s Issac Cadriel, Chief Photojournalist, and were shot on location at Studio West during the music session, and around San Diego at local hot spots and hangouts. The San Diego 6 camera crew included Chris Pheil, Senior Promo Producer, Darris Cooper, Jib operator and Sean Dailey, Jib camera specialist. Pheil and Stephanie Yang will handle video post-production for the station’s image campaign and for the music video. “This has been a great project all around,” says Albrecht. “Our crew got to stretch out creatively on the music video, we’ll end up with a fabulous song driving our campaign and we feel really good about being able to help launch a really talented local band.”

Additional session added...

If you're ready to go for your Pro Tools Operator certificate in Music Production and were thinking that April would be the perfect month to do it and then you stopped by our site and exclaimed, "(GASP!) The class is full!", do not fear.

We have added a second session, from April 20 - 22, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. each day. The class will meet at Studio West and will be taught by the inimitable Mr. Caleb Keiter.

Hope to see you there!

(Quick! Three seats have been taken already!)

Success!

On Tuesday, March 24, TRAC and Studio West hosted the very first meeting of the San Diego Pro Tools User Group! There was a great turnout - a very diverse group of industry professionals, retailers, educators, new users and old pros. Caleb did a detailed demo of Pro Tools 8 with a focus on Elastic Audio and Elastic Pitch, Mark introduced the group to engineering luminary Eric Thorngren, and we even got to give a way some cool swag from McDSP and the grand prize...a copy of Pro Tools 8! You don't want to miss the next meeting - go to www.sdptug.org to sign up!

SDPTUG meeting

The first meeting of the San Diego Pro Tools User Group is officially on the calendar! Come join Instructioneer Extraordinaire Caleb Keiter for an evening of news, tips and general Pro Tools geekiness!

When: Tuesday, March 24 @ 6:30pm
Where: Studio West "Studio A" - 11021 Via Frontera Suite A, San Diego, CA, 92127
What: What's New & Great in Pro Tools 8