Final Session & Farewell to Class 180

“You’re not going to recreate the wheel, your’re just not. You figure out how to make the wheel better - that’s innovation!” Instructor Rich Ott gives class 180 “food for thought” as we wrap-up our final session in post audio and prepare for graduation ready to face the new challenges and competitiveness that awaits. With that being said, we are hungrier than ever and equipped to hit the ground running!

From basic to post audio, we now speak a language only recognizable by those in the audio engineering guild. There is a tremendous amount of work to be done to even be considered or mentioned in the same breathe as the greats that have paved the way but we are honored to be amongst such elitist that share the same love for music and sound.

Speaking of greats, we were honored to learn from the one and only John Blanche… We were able to visit the multi-Grammy winning mastering engineer for The Eagles “Greatest Hits” album… The man behind timeless records like “Hotel California” and artists such as Aretha Franklin, Eric Clapton, The BG’s, Andy Gibb and more! He was the assistant to the only engineer to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (2012), the legendary Tom Dowd.

What’s next for class 180? Well, we all have an unprecedented demo reel consisting of a 30 second movie trailer that we constructed from the ground up; tracking and mixing credentials for Spanish rock band “Jon D Anthony Band,”; the 15 piece 60s soul-funk vocals of the Sh-Booms; heavy metal and multi-talented Nick Beaty; and a original commercial radio spot.

“It has been an amazing ride - even though frustrating - you just got to keep looking up and believe in yourself,” says student Maria Luzuriaga. We are all excited and ready to put our skills to work. Being around such great instructors and staff members has been nothing short of inspiring. While some may see it as the end of our journey here at F.I.R.S.T College, it is ultimately the start of our careers as audio engineers. There is a bittersweet aura in the classroom, but the excitement of beginning our next chapter is through the roof!

    

“Creativity Meets Career” Interview with Alan Forbes, Director of Operations

“Find something in life you love doing so much that you would do for free but you do it so well you get paid for it.” - Byron V. Garrett

That’s a glimpse of what comes to mind when describing Alan Forbes, the Senior Project Manager of the digital media company E.M.G (Expression Media Group), the Director of Admissions and Co-Founder of F.I.R.S.T College. Lets take a look inside the past, present, and future of the institute of excellence and the ever-entrepreneurial mind that is Alan Forbes.    

 How did you get started in the music industry?

Music has always been a part of my life. When I was four years old my parents picked up a piano at an auction, brought it home and I began playing by ear at that young age. They were so wowed by my talent they decided I should take lessons. So I actually started in the industry playing piano and competing. When I entered into high school I joined the marching band and I also toured every summer singing with the Sarasota Boys Choir.  Once I got past that aspect, I developed into the entertainment side of the industry and that s what led to me meeting Donney.

On meeting partner and Co-founder of F.I.R.S.T. College, Donney Smith…

I was talking to my friend about cutting a demo and he suggested the company that managed boy band Nu Ground in which Donney was the producer. Still in Sarasota, I contacted them and set up a time to meet. They wouldn’t even let me just cut a demo, I actually had to audition. I sang a couple of songs for them and they were impressed and that led to me meeting Donney, who was my first producer and cutting a 3-track demo. Jumping forward 10 years… Donney was always a natural born educator. He loves teaching people that love to learn. I was a musician but I never knew anything about production, recording or studios. Me being the intuitive person that I am, he showed me how to sequence music and introduced me to the production side. I actually got signed to the same management company and we worked with some of the same artist. We had completely different styles, which was great because we always brought a lot to the records we produced.

Being in the music industry, how did you crossover into the education field?

I’ve always s been an entrepreneur and self-employed. Whenever I find something I have a passion for I lock in on it and try to “blow it up!” I started a commercial studio called Pro Point Entertainment. I was a full time music producer and distributor. As we grew, I needed more people to come in and work at the studio. I couldn’t find anyone qualified to come in and meet the standard so I thought, “see a need/fill a need.” I wrote a small curriculum that I could teach the people I was hiring to run the A room and B room while I was away working on other projects. By word of mouth people started coming in wanting to learn how to use gear and software. Being that we were located on the side of a discount music store, a Nuendo and Steinberg representative came into the music store and heard that I was teaching people how to use their software. The rep thought that was awesome! He came over and offered me all the free software I wanted as long as I taught buyers how to use the industry software and that’s how I became a teacher. Things started growing from there; we started getting people that wanted to go to school and we were able to offer them solid credentials. I was only 24 years old when we looked into getting licensed by the state of Florida. It was really an intimidating experience standing amongst the Board of Education but we got approved first time.

          

 What is Expression Media Group and how does it relate to helping students at F.I.R.S.T?

With the college and with being industry professionals we always have companies and individuals asking us to do projects for them from studio rentals, records, marketing and advertising. We don’t want to turn down any incoming business. Having so many talented students, Expression Media Group gives us the opportunity to service those clients and involve our students, which gives them experience working on some industry projects.

What are some of the design changes for F.I.R.S.T College?

Heading towards our 10-year anniversary, we want to re-launch and re-brand F.I.R.S.T School to F.I.R.S.T College to reflect our new accreditation status, great students as well the expansion of our college and programs. We want to take everything we know from the past and create something everyone will be proud of! That entails new website, new logo, new colors and new identity. It’s really exciting to have something that is so important to students and graduates.  

What does the future hold for F.I.R.S.T?

Our philosophy has always been to offer excellence in education with affordable tuition. The reason I got into it is because I wanted to offer the alternative for people who truly have a passion in these industries to be able to get the education they need to get out there and not be crippled in debt. I also see us adding new programs such as web and graphic design. We have so many students from many different areas that we are looking forward to building a F.I.R.S.T College campus. We want to build something from the ground up and create the most realistic experience for them catering to exactly what they need. Its exhilarating to see the college grow from a 700 sq. ft. facility that graduated 15 students that now graduates up to 250 qualified students.  The best part of what we do is to be able to give back to the next generation. We love what we do and our students keep us motivated. Moving forward, we do not want to be the biggest college out there, we simply want to have the highest quality education.

“Creativity Meets Career” an Interview with Donney Smith

We’ve all heard the saying “hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.” But what happens when hard work and talent combine, determination joins drive, passion meets productivity, goals unite with greatness and creativity meets career? The answer is success! In a one on one interview with Donney Smith, founder and owner of F.I.R.S.T College (Florida Institute of Recording, Sound and Technology) we discuss the importance of affordable education, the unique team and staff, the history and the future of F.I.R.S.T.  

How did you get started in the music industry?

I got started in the music industry my senior year in high school when I visited a friend and he was sequencing a Mary J Blige song. I thought it was the coolest thing ever! So, the next day I traded in my saxophone (which my mother was not happy about) and I went out and bought a keyboard. I began learning and fiddling around with the keyboard and started making really horrible music. Maybe a year or two later I met a gentlemen with similar interests and he wanted me to mix some tracks for him. He was a singer as well and we ultimately formed a group. I started really getting serious about it and decided to attend a technical school in 1997. While attending, I caught my first break in the music industry, which was an offer to produce a local boy band “Nu Ground” that were supposed to rival the Backstreet Boys. I ended up producing their entire album (one of the members was Andrew Seeley who has worked on High School Musical, One Tree Hill, The Closer and countless Disney projects), we went on a national tour together and they went on to sell over 100,000 units.

On meeting his partner Alan Forbes and becoming a teacher…

In that time frame, I had a gentlemen come to me that wanted to record. He was an artist, producer, rapper and singer-his name was Alan. While working and producing for Alan I convinced him to attend the same technical school I did. A week before I graduated, the schools’ director offered me a job teaching MIDI, which is basic sequencing. I wasn’t really big in education at the time but I decided to take it because every opportunity can lead to something bigger. I took the part time teaching gig that started out as 8-10 hours a week and I wounded up teaching there from 1998-2004. I expanded my teaching skills from a MIDI instructor to teaching everything they had to offer at the school. I began giving private lessons and workshops on the side and Alan started his own recording studio called Pro Point Studios. One day in my apartment he had this crazy idea that with his location and my teaching ability he says, “Why don’t we see if we can start up a school?” I was skeptical of it at first but Alan is very adamant when it comes to business so I said, “alright, I’m down, let’s do it!” We did the application process, we were approved and we opened the school in 2004. We started at Alan’s Pro Point Studios on the side of Discount Music Center, which was probably only 800 square ft. and we converted it into the Florida Institute of Recording, Sound and Technology.     

F.I.R.S.T started as audio and has transitioned into video, can you tell us about the growth period, expansion and why “personal education is important?

As we started enrolling students and we didn’t enroll that many the first year or so, but we realized that we had something that people are really interested in. We wanted to be different; we wanted to offer education that was affordable but still relative to the industry. I felt like there was something missing that we could provide that was different than what other schools were providing. We wanted to come in more affordable and offer a more personal one-on-one education.  That’s how we took it from the first year to where we are now. Honestly, when I went to a traditional college I wasn’t really good at it because I was timid in big class environments. When I went to a college with small classes I excelled because the classes were small. I realized there was probably a lot of people out there just like me that could excel in programs with one-on-one education. In a classroom of 6 - 8 students, you’re forced to pay attention in class, you’re comfortable asking questions and those collective group of individuals are going to become one by the time they finish the program. We started as audio because of our mutual backgrounds and ventured into video because we felt the two industries crossed paths. When we were introduced to the video production side we thought wow, this might be of interest to our students and we put together the video program.

What is the success rate of graduates?

The success of our graduates has been great. We have graduated well over 500 students and we’re very happy about our placement rate. Many of our students are self employed and motivated to be their own bosses. I think that’s special and I can appreciate that because I don’t feel like we have enough people out there trying to create businesses. We’ve had graduates that work in audio/visual, churches, live sound, touring, radio and producing music for major artists. We have a wide variety of success stories from our graduates. There is no one particular field. Some of the things they are doing are things I never could imagine so it’s cool to see what each student is doing after graduation.   

What can you tell us about the faculty here at F.I.R.S.T?

I feel like we have a really good group of teachers. All of our teachers that are employed here are still currently working in the industry, which I feel is very important. We are excited about them still being relevant in the industry and being able to pass their knowledge back into the classroom. Teachers are working in live sound, recording studios and audio/visual. On the film side it’s the same way. Some are doing video editing, working at film studios, working as P.A.s, and for Disney. One of our film instructors is an actor and he is able to bring his talents of acting and scriptwriting into the classroom.

What are some of the details of the 2 programs?

Our programs are really intense 8-month programs very relevant to the industry and career driven. It is a top priority at F.I.R.S.T that each student attains the skills to go out and gain entry-level employment. In both Film/Video and Recording Arts programs, students complete many industry related projects and develop a portfolio of those projects. Everybody can’t start at the top and we all must crawl before we walk. Even when I graduated, I was offered a part-time job and that led to me owning a school.

You’re still active in the music industry and own a recording school, how do you balance the two?

I never thought I would be in the education business but I love it and it’s a passion of mine now. I did have a back up plan. My wanting to be a big time producer and singer didn’t go as planned but it wasn’t an absolute failure. I still do music and work with many different people and now I do it as a passion because I love it. It’s even more fun for me now because I don’t rely on it as a source of income. I can get in the studio and relax and not have to worry about the other things. What I also do now is find artists that I can help and mentor.

Can you elaborate on becoming accredited and offering financial aid to students?

In 2012 we added financial aid where students can now receive federal aid and have alternative options for attending school. We offer unsubsidized and subsidized direct loans and we also do in-house payment plans. We also became accredited. The accreditation is a standard of excellence stating that we meet and/or exceed all the expectations as far as excellence in classrooms, administrative staffs and the way we handle admittance and financial aid.  

What’s in the future for F.I.R.S.T.?

We are expanding our facility and plan on taking the college to maximum capacity. Every year since we have opened we have managed to grow and that speaks volumes about our staff as well as our programs. If we didn’t have good programs and staff there is no way we could continue to grow. In the year 2013 we are rebranding the name F.I.R.S.T College, rebuilding and launching new website, new colors and logo. Growth and expansion are always in our plans. We want to add more programs in the future. Possibly just programs for live sound and web/graphic design. We are just beginning and we’re nowhere near done.  Alan and myself, we eat, sleep and breathe F.I.R.S.T College. No matter how big we get we will continue to make college affordable for students and continue to make F.I.R.S.T College an institution of excellence.

     

Lights, Camera, Post Audio

From recording live bands on the Mackie 32 to creating our own 30-second movie trailer on the Control 24, instructor Rich Ott and class #180 makes their exciting transition into Post Audio! As a group we select a movie trailer, remove all audio, and recreate every sound from scratch.   

When we watch a movie at home or in theatres, we may think everything is captured right there on the set - but this could not be further from the truth. Everything from the actors/actresses voice, the loud explosions, gunshots, and car crashes - to something as unnoticeable as a bird chirping in the background - is recreated during Post Production. 

Post Production refers to the syncing of audio to video. What most of us do not know is that after a movie is filmed, the actors and actresses come into the sound studio to rerecord the script. This is referred to as ADR (Automatic Dialogue Replacement). Without ADR, what we watch would lack quality and overall impact. In actuality, only 15% of what is shot on set is kept and 85% is done in post audio.

Foley is the term used to describe the reproduction of sound effects. The sound a Transformer makes or the roar of King Kong running through the jungle was all created from nothing but imagination. Sound designers have the exciting task of creating these sounds that heighten our senses.

For example, the sound of the dinosaurs stomping in “Jurassic Park” is really a crew of sound designers dropping tree trunks into the ground and recording it. So next time we are in the theaters and the credits roll, we should all thank the production team, sound designers, staff and cast for forever enhancing our experience! 

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written by James Glenn

Conquering the Mackie Console!

For the remainder of our time at F.I.R.S.T College, class #180 will head off to the Post Production Studio to further our knowledge of audio engineering - but before we go into our next exciting adventure, we must pass our final exams. It has been a wonderful experience as we can all see tremendous growth in our classmates and ourselves. The final examination consists of 100 multiple choice questions followed by a 10- part hands-on portion. Everything we have learned from “day one” was put the test.

It is remarkable to witness how much information is retained over a short period of time. No one knows this better than recording arts student, Marcos Vargas, who comes in everyday at 9 am to conquer the Mackie 32 x 8 console: “It’s all about understanding sound and signal flow,” he says. Playing an instrument or having background in music theory is not a necessity but it is definitely a plus. Not only does it help you to better understand the pre-amplifiers that are built into the console, it gives you the upper hand when dealing with bands that come in to record.

Having a solid grasp of routing, inputs, and outputs is a must for any engineer. Most in-studio signal and sound problems stem from improper I/O setup and/or routing. Your initial look at patch bays may be a little scary. Always refer back to your signal flow chart and remember every send has a return and every out has an in.  It ‘s not as difficult as it seems. Our first class instructor John LaRosa explains, “It’s a whole lot of simple.” He was right. Paying attention and repetition sets the foundation of becoming a successful audio engineer!    

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written by James Glenn

edited by Michelle Valentine