DHI Student Life: Interview with Trae Rudd
We sat down with current student, Trae Rudd to ask a few questions about his Dark Horse Institute experience so far.
What’s it like to be a student at Dark Horse Institute?
Trae: It’s like a big ball of fun every day! (laughs) I love that recording concepts and skills are slowly added on throughout the program from beginning to end. I can honestly say we apply that knowledge on a daily basis.
What kinds of skills or techniques are you applying?
Trae: Things like troubleshooting. Having to figure out for ourselves what’s making a crackling noise, or if there’s a bad mic cable. Artists come in to the studio and don’t want to have to worry about anything. And on top of that, as the engineer, you can’t look like you’re freaking out…even if you really are!
How new to recording were you when you started school?
Trae: I had recorded my own music before, but hadn’t ever used Pro Tools or done any computer editing.
Do you feel like not having that experience affected you?
Trae: Not at all. The instructors at DHI take a lot of care to teach the material in such a way that makes it easy to learn. I’ve come to feel completely confident using Pro Tools and other recording techniques. Before DHI, I would’ve spent a lot of time re-recording things instead of knowing that I have the ability to fix or correct issues without making it sound fake.
What made you choose Dark Horse Institute?
Trae: The people. As soon as I met everyone here, I knew that I was in the right place. But more than that, the fact that my learning environment is a recording studio gave me a lot of reassurance that I would get everything I need out of this training. I could hardly believe it wouldn’t take 6 months just to get into the studio!
You’re about to start an internship with a live sound company right? How did you make that happen?
Trae: It’s all about confidence. Once I experienced what it is like to have things go wrong in the studio, and was able actually troubleshoot those things correctly, I felt confident enough to start reaching out to companies. For me, this is my career. I didn’t want to wait it out until I had finished school to even think about my game plan. I guess you could say I’m pretty invested in working in the music industry for a living!
What advice to you have for people thinking about a career in recording?
Trae: If you don’t take any chances in life, you won’t do anything special. We are all working hard to find our dream jobs, but if you don’t expose yourself to how things actually are in the music industry, you won’t be successful. Dark Horse immediately puts you in the thick of it and exposes you to the reality of what it’s like to work as an engineer.
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