Get to know our fall audio apprentices! They’ve really dug their teeth into music production and audio engineering, getting experience in a real studio. These students have spent the last four months building their portfolio, getting experience with state-of-the-art gear, and learning the skills needed to record bands, use mics, mix, master, and produce dope projects.
Click a name to jump to a particular student’s Q&A:
MAX MILLET
WHY DID YOU SIGN UP FOR THE AUDIO APPRENTICESHIP?
I signed up for this class to improve the quality of my own music.
WHO ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE ARTISTS OR ENGINEERS?
My favorite rappers are Tokyos Revenge, comathazine, and Josh A.
WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE ACTIVITY FROM THIS CLASS?
My favorite activity from this class was recording live bands.
BJORN ZINN
WHY DID YOU SIGN UP FOR THE AUDIO APPRENTICESHIP?
I wanted to get better at mixing and mastering and audio engineering in general.
WHAT IS SOMETHING YOU LEARNED IN THIS CLASS THAT YOU’LL USE IN THE FUTURE?
All the mixing and mastering stuff.
WHO ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE ARTISTS OR ENIGINEERS?
Mike Dean, Kanye West, Travis Scott. Impossible Travis Scott.
WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE ACTIVITY FROM THIS CLASS?
Recording bands.
WHAT WAS A CHALLENGE YOU ENCOUNTERED AS AN APPRENTICE?
Troubleshooting while recording bands.
T LONDON CHRISTENSEN
WHY DID YOU SIGN UP FOR THE AUDIO APPRENTICESHIP?
I needed to know how to make my own and others’ music to sound real nice.
WHAT IS SOMETHING YOU LEARNED IN THIS CLASS THAT YOU’LL USE IN THE FUTURE?
Wonderful recording techniques and mixing skills, like EQ, lufs, compression, all the good stuff.
WHO ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE ARTISTS OR ENGINEERS?
I love Jdilla, 9th wonder, Madlib, and other producers of that nature. I love East Coast hip-hop.
WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE ACTIVITY FROM THIS CLASS?
I like organizing the cable wall.
WHAT WAS A CHALLENGE YOU ENCOUNTERED AS AN APPRENTICE?
Trying not to fall asleep because I didn’t sleep the night before.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU PASS ALONG TO THE NEXT GEN OF AUDIO APPRENTICES?
Your stuff is not gonna sound how you want it for the longest time, that does not mean you are incapable of improving or eventually being where you want to be. You can not give up!
MERAKI PADGEN
WHY DID YOU SIGN UP FOR THE AUDIO APPRENTICESHIP?
For personal practice and to help friends who wanted to record. I honestly just like to know things, and I needed to go to a broader source of information for the experience and the knowledge on gear.
WHO ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE ARTISTS OR ENGINEERS?
I love the storytelling and experimental mixes of every album by the band O’death. I love the independence and vulnerability of Phil Elvrums, Mount Eerie, and The Microphones, The clunky percussion and characterization of Tom Waits, The bleak intricacies of Bauhaus, the straightforwardness of old folk music, and the atmosphere and noise elements of early IDM. There’s too many to name.
SAM ESCOBAR
WHO ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE ARTISTS OR ENGINEERS?
XXXTENTACION, Juice Wrld, Aaron May, and Kanye West are some artists that have had a significant personal influence on me.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU PASS ALONG TO THE NEXT GEN OF AUDIO APPRENTICES?
This is a great place to start if you really want to pursue music, and keep in mind to pay attention to your mentor—he is a lot more knowledgeable than you may realize.
MIGUEL HERNÁNDEZ
WHY DID YOU SIGN UP FOR THE AUDIO APPRENTICESHIP?
I started coming into Open Studio on Fridays, and would want to record. Sometimes, I would be a little disappointed in the mix, so I wanted to learn it so I could get to a point where I could do it myself.
WHAT IS SOMETHING YOU’VE LEARNED IN THIS CLASS THAT YOU’LL USE IN YOUR FUTURE ART OR LIFE?
How to mic up a drumset and how to preamp.
WHAT WAS A CHALLENGE OR DIFFICULT MOMENT DURING THIS APPRENTICESHIP? HOW DID YOU HANDLE IT?
We were recording a band and 2 of our microphones weren’t giving us any signal – we had to basically make do without a kick mic and without overhead stereo mics. It was a rough mix – it was just a mess. It took some time but it worked out.
CAMILA LOPEZ
WHAT WAS A CHALLENGE OR DIFFICULT MOMENT DURING THIS APPRENTICESHIP? HOW DID YOU HANDLE IT?
At the beginning, I found it really hard to understand what I was trying to achieve. I didn’t understand how to manipulate the sounds to make it sound good or what effects did what. I feel like over time as I saw other apprentices use sounds and everything just start being put to use, I finally understood the basics of it. I’m still learning to do it and hopefully achieve my own style of mixing.
WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE PART OF THE APPRENTICESHIP?
I love recording bands. I’m very interested in all the “techy” stuff with mics as well as meeting new people. I also just love seeing people do what they’re passionate about, which I see a lot in this class.
WHO ARE SOME OF YOUR FAV ARTISTS OR ENGINEERS? FAV MIXES?
My favorite artist is a Korean musician named So!Yoon!. Her song Gave You All My Love has really inspired me to pursue music engineering because of all the aspects heard in it. It’s mixed very well and she experimented with sound effects as well as combining unnatural sounds with some acoustics. I love all the stuff she’s come out with and really look up to her as a musician and artist.