The Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences (CRAS; www.cras.edu), the premier institution for audio engineering education, has formed a partnership with ReMasterMedia, an audio technology company creating online mastering and noise reduction web applications and plugins. CRAS is ReMasterMedia’s first education partnership, and CRAS students are involved on many different levels.
“We wanted to align with an institution that would provide us with honest, knowledgeable feedback on our RMPro plugin and our future products,” explained Andrew Knox, CEO/Founder of ReMasterMedia, LLC. “We felt it would be great to get these insights from students that are actively learning about audio engineering and production. CRAS is an amazing school preparing their students to accomplish their dreams. ReMasterMedia is proud to be a CRAS partner as well as integral part of their students’ journey in audio production.”
Each student will receive a free license to ReMasterMedia’s products while they are attending the CRAS program. In exchange, they will give ReMasterMedia feedback and have the option to create content promoting the plugin which can be shared with ReMasterMedia's growing community. ReMasterMedia is developing an internship program with CRAS, as well.
“This partnership is a win-win-win for all involved,” said Kirt Hamm, CRAS administrator. “We already had our students working with ReMasterMedia’s products, and they have provided some terrific feedback. We are looking forward to a long a fruitful relationship with ReMasterMedia.”
CRAS student Asiamarie Domingo said, overall, ReMasterMedia is a really fun plugin. “It’s simple to use and good for users for all levels.”
After demoing the plug-in on various styles of music, sound FX and dialogue, CRAS student Edward Duron added, "It makes the vocals sound clearer, the bass sound fuller, the sound effects sound clear and distinguishable, the vocals sound crisper, and it gives the guitar character.”
After working as a music supervisor/producer in the music production industry for more than 20 years, Knox was aware that there are a lot of great tracks out there created by very talented composers and producers. However, many tracks lacked the final professional polish that the mastering process can provide.
“Mastering is a hidden art and in this digital age, an important step to creating Broadcast Ready mixes,” Knox explained. “The average producer doesn’t really know about mastering, so we wanted to create a simple but powerful way to take mixes to the next level specifically for digital media. Education is key. I teamed up with engineer and mastering legend Tony Bongiovi’s company, Bongiovi Acoustic Labs, and through our partnership we’ve been able to create amazing audio technologies that are now helping artists all over the world.”
RMPro is the first of three plugins ReMasterMedia will be releasing. Next will be its AI Noise Reduction plugin (RMPro NR) and then its spatial audio plugin RMProV3D.
“CRAS is an incredibly diverse institution,” Knox concluded. “The award-winning talent that is pouring out of the various programs speaks highly of the instructors and the programs they offer. No matter what audio field you choose to enter, CRAS gives students the foundation to move on to a focused field or extensive training to get a job immediately after finishing one of their programs. With ReMasterMedia, CRAS students will be working with a truly powerful, and unique technology. Understanding mastering by using the RMPro will help them see that in this day and age, mixing loud is now replaced by mixing smart. With the help of the RMPro plugin, students will learn to take control of their mixes no matter what platform they put their music on. The science behind mixing smart is why one track sounds great on YouTube, and why another falls flat. RMPro is a tool CRAS students will use to create mixes that will stand out on the platforms not because they are loud, but because they are more immersive. That’s the new standard.”
CRAS structured programs and highly qualified teaching staff provide a professional and supportive atmosphere, which is complemented by its small class sizes allowing for individual instruction and assistance for students in engineering audio recordings. CRAS has been providing quality vocational training in audio recording for more than three decades. The curriculum and equipment are constantly being updated to keep pace with the rapid advancements in the music and sound recording industries. CRAS’ course offerings and subject matter have always centered around the skills and knowledge necessary for students’ success in the audio recording industries.
The 11-month program is designed to allow every student access to learn and train in all of the Conservatory’s studios which are comprised with state-of-the-art audio recording and mixing gear, the same equipment used in today’s finest studios and remote broadcast facilities, including Pro Tools 12, API Legacy consoles, SSL AWS consoles, Studer Vista consoles, and much more. All students must complete a 280-hour industry internship to graduate from the Master Recording Program II that may ultimately lead to industry employment.
For more information on the Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences, please visit www.cras.edu.
