PRG at CRAS 2014

CRAS grads Adam Parrish and Jesika Graf brought some great gear out last week to the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences. The Production Resource Group is the largest live sound re-enforcement provider in the world. PRG’s Operations Manager, Adam Parrish and his assistant Jesika Graf partnered together with our AES student chapter to create an unforgettable experience for the Conservatory students.

They rolled in with over one million dollars worth of audio, video and lighting equipment. They were there to oversee volunteers from our current student body load in all this gear, set it up, and run a live show which included the band Sol Ride, radio personality Kevin Gassman, and various student talent performances.

This year we are welcoming our grads Adam Parrish and Jesika Graf back. They decided to load up a couple of moving trucks and bring us tons of gear for the students to check out! They packed up over $1 million dollars worth of audio, video and lighting gear, hauled it across the desert and last night had a grip of our students unload it all. Even with the copious amount of space we have in the Live Sound room at our Gilbert campus, the room does seem a little crowded now!

Last night was just the unloading of the truck, and we have many more events to come this week, including tonight’s setup, a walk-through of the design and programming of all of this gear, which mirrors what audio engineers may find out at a commercial business gig. Later this week after the PA has been aligned and calibrated, all the lighting and video configured, we will spend all day on Saturday running a live show.

The best part of all of this is that our students are the ones who are setting up everything! With a little guidance from Adam and Jesika, our students will volunteer to help with every single stage of this task.

As the week progresses we will be putting more posts up about this awesome event, which so far has had a great turnout. This has been quite a busy month for CRAS students! Between tours to the Musical Instrument Museum, the Tempe Guitar Show, tour of a couple studios in town, the Internship Bootcamp, the McDowell Mountain Music Festival and now this, there is a seemingly never-ending supply of events that students can be part of, and we are glad to be able to offer such a wide variety of music related events to our student body!

I threw together a quick time-lapse video of the load in from last night. It’s crazy how much work goes into setting up for a show!

From start to finish, this epic production was full of education, inspiration and a passion for what we love to do. Everyone left with a better understanding of how a large production is formed, the importance of efficiency, punctuality and safety in a live sound environment.

The entire event had a great turnout! Tons of students came in and helped set everything up and run the shows. This is exactly what the school is here to do – give students real world experience doing what they love – working with audio! The school is open 24 hours a day for this exact reason, and this is also why we have the hands-on teaching mentality. You can spend four hours a day in class, and then outside of class time put what you learned to the test actually running a live show, recording sessions, or just being part of the crew!

Here is a quick time lapse video that encapsulates the vibe from the week-long experience!