Audio Engineering / Beat Production School - Northern California

Indigital Institute of Recording Arts, Santa Cruz:
Situated in Santa Cruz CA, Indigital Institute of Recording Arts (IIRA) is designed to give students the essential knowledge for building a career in today's music industry. Our 18-month Audio Engineering and Beat Production Certification gives you the skills you need, without the enormous tuition costs of some recording schools. Santa Cruz is situated approximately 30 miles south of San Jose and 75 miles south of San Francisco.

Audio Engineering and Beat Production Certification:
Each class provides immediate hands-on training in real professional studios, student labs, class interaction studies, and apprenticeships during actual paid recording sessions. The IIRA is your recording industry connection to place yourself in today's music industry.

- 18 month full Certification program
- Combines the curriculum of the Recording Engineering, Mixing, and Beat Production (6 months each)
- Each component can be taken as individual 6 month course

Recording Engineering Modules:
- Acoustic Environment and Treatment                                   
- Analog tape and digital audio recorders (DAWs)
- Digital sampling (Pro tools), MIDI, V.I.'S, and different lossy and lossless formats
- Dynamics Processing and Industry Standard devices (compression/limiting/gating) 
- Fundamentals of Hearing                         
- Fundamentals of Sound Part
- Fundamentals of Sound Part 2                                           
- Microphone placement  
- Pre Amps and Industry Standard devices (Solid state,Tube, Class A, Transistor)      
- Understanding EQ and Industry Standard devices (graphic,parametric)
- Understanding Microphones and Industry Standard devices            
- Understanding the Mix Console - Patch Bay - Signal Path

Mixing Modules:
- Introduction to Mixing
- Advanced Panoramic Placement   
- Advanced Techniques of Time Domain and Modulation Effects (Chorus, flanger, phaser, etc.)
- Advanced Understanding and Techniques of Delay
- Advanced Understanding Techniques and of Reverberation
- Automation and Mix Review
- Dynamics Techniques Part 1
- Dynamics Techniques Part 2
- EQ Techniques Part 1
- EQ Techniques Part 2
- Pitching Techniques using Melodyne and Auto-tune
- Re-amping, Inserts/Sends and Returns
- Saturation/Harmonic Distortion

Beat Production Modules:
- Ableton Live Training 210
- Fundamentals of Music Theory
- Hardware Controllers and Finger Drumming
- Producing a Vocalist and Understanding Song Structure
- Sound Design and Popular Techniques
- Understanding Ableton Live 101
- Understanding Ableton Live 201
- Understanding MIDI Sequencing and Editing Techniques
- Understanding Popular Audio Effecst Part 1
- Understanding Popular Audio Effects Part 2
- Understanding Popular Audio Effects Part 3
- Understanding Samplers
- Understanding Synthesis