Los Angeles Recording Workshop

At a Glance
Name: Los Angeles Recording Workshop Contact: Admissions Office Major Course of Study: Recording Engineer Types of Degrees/Certification Offered: Communications Technologies Certificate Accreditation: Accrediting Council for Continuing Education & Training (ACCET); Bureau for Private Post-Secondary & Vocational Education (BPPVE) Main Technology Platforms: Sony Oxford, SSL SL4000 G-plus, Neve VR consoles, Digidesign Pro Tools, Studer and Otari tape decks Tuition: $15,395 (1,200-hour Recording Engineer certificate) Financial Assistance Available: Yes. Program Participation Agreement with the U.S. Department of Education for eligible students to receive Pell Grants and other federal aid (e.g., Direct Loans); in-house scholarships available. Numerous annual scholarships from NARAS.

Los Angeles Recording Workshop is situated in the heart of Southern California’s studio community, the center of rock, pop, urban and other music genres, as well as ground zero for the world’s audio post-production industry. And Los Angeles Recording Workshop’s curriculum reflects its serendipitous site, with a tightly focused, intensive program: a 1,200-hour Recording Engineer Certificate Program. The approximately 600 students who enroll each year (class cycles begin every five weeks) earn fully accredited Communications Technologies certifications.

Founded in 1985, Los Angeles Recording Workshop is housed in a 12,000-square-foot, 14-studio facility that features an extensive array of state-of-the-art audio equipment. Fourteen different audio mixing consoles—SSL 4000 G Plus, Neve VR, and Sony Oxford large-frame consoles, five Sony DMX-R100 consoles, a 6-console Mixlab—17 analog and digital 24-track multitracks and three separate four-station Pro Tools labs make Los Angeles Recording Workshop one of the best-equipped recording schools on the planet.

“One important point to make about Los Angeles Recording Workshop’s choice of technology platforms is that, since we’re based in Los Angeles, we know which consoles, editing systems and media technologies are most widely used throughout the industry,” explains school director Christopher Knight. “That’s why our 1,200-hour program includes over 260 hours of Pro Tools training alone.”

In addition to scheduled classes, students sign up for additional hands-on practice time on all equipment. Another key point is that Los Angeles Recording Workshop is the only recording education facility in Southern California to offer students housing options; students share two-bedroom units at $90 per week. “It’s no small thing to move to a major city like Los Angeles, especially on a temporary basis,” Knight says. “By offering affordable housing, students can concentrate on their studies, not on finding an apartment.”

The Los Angeles Recording Workshop’s academic program is intense, no doubt, but its student services is just as in-depth. Student services offers job placement and internship placement services, resume writing and critiquing, and knowledgeable counselors whose industry experience is shared in and out of the classroom.

And, Knight points out, Los Angeles Recording Workshop graduates are entitled to lifetime help with their careers, including password access to a constantly updated job bank on the school’s Website. As a result, graduates have been employed by every major Southern California music and audio post facility, and many continue to work at top-tier facilities throughout the world. One graduate, Trina Shoemaker, even won the Grammy Award for Best Engineered Recording for her work on Sheryl Crow’s The Globe Sessions.

“We’ve purposely maintained a tight focus on our core curriculum,” says Knight. “That’s enabled us to offer an intense but thorough program, one which gets the knowledge to the student and the student into the real world.” •