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Issue #236 – Student Successes
by Liya Swift
Recording Connection grad Connor Donald
So I have a home studio. I just started with some basic speakers and GarageBand. I’ve always been the kind of person that, if I can sit down with it and I have enough time, I can learn everything. I can teach myself. ”
So did you ever have the feeling the program was a bit too basic for you?
“When I started, Tyler took me through the lesson about electricity. How it works, where sound comes from and everything… At first, I was like, ‘I don’t know if I can get on board with this, I don’t need this.’ But after I started and really thought about it, I was like, ‘I can actually use this to my benefit’…because [if] you don’t know the basics, when you get more advanced, you’re going to be totally lost…
Then once I got further into the course, watching Tyler and Don, how they did things in the studio, I learned that you really do have to be able to multitask. You can’t be so focused on one thing, because then you’ll miss everything else. When you sit back and listen to a mix, you have to listen to it as a whole, but you also have to be able to dive in and be like, ‘Okay, I need to work on this, this, this,’ So watching them being able to do 12 things at once, that was really mind-blowing.”
Where do you want to go with your career?
“My goal is just to grow in music and with everything that I do in music, because of the education that I have had, be able to just sound good and be the musician and band and worship team to where, when somebody comes in, they know they’re going to hear something good, and they know that we’re going to give 100% no matter what, [from] all the way from the back [to] all the way to the stage…every little thing is going to be correct, everything is going to sound good, [and] it’s going to mix well together.
And so my goal is just to be able to grow in that. When somebody needs something done with audio or video or anything, when they hear my name, they’ll know it’s going to be good and it’s going to be right.”
What can you tell us about your job at PSAV?
“So at PSAV I got hired on as an audio/visual technician…As of right now it’s pretty general. I put things in places, setup sets, setup speakers, projectors and monitors, stuff like that. I’ve had the opportunity, luckily, to be in a place where I can grow, and I’ve been able to excel pretty fast in the company. I’ve been able to work on a lot more audio, because I did tell them that I was more audio specific. And so I’ve been able to work on big shows, including one for ZZ Top, and [other] bands have been brought in and stuff like that…They utilize me for anything, whether they need to set up speakers or run the speakers or make sure they’re sounding good, they use me for that aspect of it.”
What’s your advice to other Recording Connection students on how they can make the most of the experience?
“My advice is that you’re not going to learn everything overnight. Experience is key. The longer that you work on something, the longer that you’re working with people who are good at what they do, the more information you’re going to get. Another big thing is, be humble and be able to receive information. Even if you think you know everything, always be open to someone else’s opinion, always be open to learn something new…Just have fun with it, and don’t get discouraged if something doesn’t pan out right, or if somebody gets another job before you do…because if you apply yourself 100% then you will be good at what you do, then you will succeed.”
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