JAM: December 2006 / January 2007 Issue: Feature Story

Bill Crain: Training Tommorrow's Enginners

Ask someone to give examples of jazz education and I’m guessing there will be examples of musical instrument instruction, music theory, vocal instruction, ensembles, composer workshops, jazz history classes, master classes, and clinics. Bill Crain, owner of BRC Audio Productions, will include Audio Recording Engineering to the list.

Of course! Where would we be without future recording engineers?

Crain’s program is part of a larger certificate program given at Johnson County Community College. “It’s comprehensive,” says Crain. “The students have to take theory classes, classes in
music listening, and take classical piano for a year. Taking a musical instrument class means they have to interact with a music teacher for a year. It is essential for the student to be able to communicate with musicians. They also take a class in Studio
Business. The training is technical and hands-on.”

The program is not strictly jazz. “They are exposed to all kinds of music: country, jazz, classical, rock, large and small groups. Musicians playing different styles all talk about music differently.”

Overall, the program spans six semesters. Each student will do a minimum of twenty-five or thirty recording sessions before they are done with the program. They’ll spend a thousand hours in the
studio, too, in addition to class work.

There have been some super jazz recording opportunities. The students were around to watch the on-location Boulevard Big Band recording earlier this year. “And this summer, we did five remote recordings over a seven-day period, at the Blue Room and Jardine’s. We recorded Bowdog, Ida McBeth, the Westport Art Ensemble, the Sons of Brasil, and Danny Embrey. If the artists want, they can purchase the recording, at much less than what it would normally cost. But there is no obligation.”

“Our goal is for the students to be job ready when they are done here. Not intern ready! They are ready to work as engineers. The last class they take is Portfolio Review. The portfolios are examined by a panel of local engineers.”

Forty students are currently enrolled in the program; fifty are expected by spring. The first graduate should finish this semester.

One drawback is that the students take over the studio, which is located in the River Market area. But that changes in January, when the studio moves to a much larger facility in Kansas City, Kansas. “We’ll have five times the space there,” Crain says.
“We’ll be able to handle more students and be doing professional recordings simultaneously.”

Kansas City boasts several excellent studios. It’s good to know that Bill Crain is making sure that we’ll have the talented professionals that are needed to perpetuate the great-sounding recordings that these studios produce year after year.