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Issue #122 – Student Successes

Weekly Newsletter

by L. Swift and Jeff McQ

 
Student Successes
 
‘What is a Grind Opp?,’ you ask? It is a job opportunity. A help wanted ad.
    

Recording Connection student Nicole Thorp is launching her career one step at a time

  
Nicole Thorp and mentor Pierre A. Ferguson at the console

Nicole Thorp and mentor Pierre A. Ferguson at the console

Many audio engineers and music producers started off on the music performance side of things and eventually found themselves behind the studio console. But for Recording Connection student Nicole Thorp, she figured out early on that audio engineering was all she wanted to do.   “Since I was in middle school, starting at like 13 or 14, I wouldn’t just listen to music,” she says. “I’d be dissecting everything that I was hearing. I’d listen to a song time and time again and just trying to figure out what I was hearing, the instrumentation, the melody, just really analyzing and dissecting things…I’ve always had an interest in technology, I’ve always been a very technical person. But I’d listen to some of my favorite records like Thriller and Purple Rain and Mariah Carey’s Emotions album, and I would always just listen over and over again trying to figure out what I was hearing…I was like, ‘I really enjoy doing this. Why can’t I just make a career out of it?’”   Once her mind was made up, Nicole lost no time in picking a school to attend.   “It was about my sophomore year in high school,” she says. “I looked at a variety of different educational routes for sound engineering. I looked at four-year universities and technical programs. Then I came across the Recording Connection. I found it when I was 15, just researching audio engineering programs, and I found it and it was always on the top of my list…It got me that hands-on experience, so I felt like it was the best route for me, personally, to take since I am kind of a visual learner, and I’m best when people show me instead of just reading about things.”   Even though she knew what she wanted, Nicole says she had no real experience in the studio before coming into the program. But when she began her apprenticeship at Foundry Studio in Tacoma, Washington, her mentor, Pierre A. Ferguson, took her lack of experience in stride.   “Pierre, he’s really patient, and he’s really understanding,” she says. “If I don’t understand something right away, he’ll explain it in further detail. He’s just a really cool person to be around…I honestly don’t think I could’ve asked for a better mentor.”   Nicole Thorp and mentor Pierre A. Ferguson For being a novice, Nicole says her mentor is wasting no time in helping her get the hands-on experience she needs. “We’re working on a Harrison 10 Series 10B recording console,” she says. “He’s actually had me pull up mixes and mix on the console, which is great…I’ve never recorded before, so to really get to use the console and to put into action things that I’ve been learning about has been really, really exciting for me. And I also came and assisted on a number of sessions, setting up for bands, or vocalists, or guitar, and that’s been really exciting, too.”   As she approaches the end of her apprenticeship, Nicole is now taking advantage of the Recording Connection’s “Stay Connected” program to begin branding herself and preparing for her future career. While she’s got long-term goals, Nicole is remarkably level-headed and methodical in her approach, taking things a step at a time.   “I know the program is coming to an end, but I think it’s really just the beginning for me,” she says, “because I really feel like after this I could really go on and actually start conducting sessions on my own…At some point, I want to start my own studio, but I understand you have to take each step as it comes. I see myself working as an engineer and then working up to that point where I can actually open my own studio, start my own production company.”   At the same time, Nicole believes in keeping her options open. “I think it’s important, as a career, to never put yourself in a box,” she says. “Never just limit yourself to one thing. And that’s the one thing about audio that I really love is it’s everywhere, it’s so versatile. I’d love to get into recording TV, movies, radio, live sound. I really want to explore all of those things at some point and learn new skills along the way.”   Perhaps most remarkable about Nicole’s story is how quickly the hands-on training has progressed her toward her career. “The thing that I love about the Recording Connection is I came into this program with very little knowledge,” she says. “[What] I had known previously before the program, I had just read in books…and watched YouTube tutorials. But what this program has really done for me is dive into the fundamentals of engineering and got me to a point where I can actually use the concepts and the materials that I’ve learned about.”   Her advice to other Recording Connection students? “Commit,” she says. “Do the work. If you don’t put in the work, there’s no point…You got to have drive and a lot of focus and dedication to what you’re doing. And I really believe that with those qualities, anyone who’s wanting to do this can succeed.”   
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