At Northeastern, Connor is a freelancing audio engineer with several internships in the music industry.
Roadmap.
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"Master your craft. Whether you are a musician, songwriter, producer, engineer, or any other type of creator, make sure that you put in the work to make your craft unique and professional."
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This is one of my cover art for one of the songs I created!
MILESTONES
My career roadmap has been somewhat defined.
Music has been a part of my life since I was very young, whether that was listening to the cd’s or playing instruments like piano and drums.
I learned about music production and started making beats / electronic music during freshman year of high school.
Second semester sophomore year, I decided to choose my passion as a career and take Sound Arts classes at COC in pursuit of the Sound Arts AA.
I got an internship with Chris Collier, a professional audio engineer that lived in Santa Clarita. He works with rock and metal, and introduced me to the world of audio engineering.
When applying to universities, I chose schools based on their Music Technology / Music Production programs.
After hearing back from all the colleges I applied to, I chose to attend Northeastern University in Boston, MA for their Music Industry program where I would focus on recording and music production, as well as getting more well rounded education about the industry.
In June of 2018, after 2 years of hard work during junior and senior year, I received my Sound Arts AA, Social Science AA and high school diploma.
I started my time at Northeastern University in September of 2018, and since then, I have started a freelance audio engineering business, internship at Cybersound Studios, and will be graduating in 2021.
EXPERIENCE
Here are my extracurriculars relevant to this pathway
DURING MY HIGH SCHOOL CAREER
Music Production - Produced hip hop and electronic instrumentals in FL Studio and Logic Pro X.
Drum Lessons - Played drums throughout highschool.
Internship with Chris Collier - Interned for audio engineer Chris Collier.
DURING MY COLLEGE CAREER
Freelance Audio Engineering - Recording, Mixing, and Mastering local Boston and Northeastern artists that make pop, rnb, and hip hop.
Internship at Cybersound Studios in Boston, MA - Major recording studio in Boston that specializes in vocal recording.
Grammy U - Program run by the Recording Academy for college students in the music industry that gives networking opportunity events and artists meet and greets.
CAREER
What I'm currently doing/hope to do
Currently, I am an undergraduate student going into my third and last year at Northeastern University majoring in Music Industry. In class, I learn about the music industry, history of music, and most important, audio engineering and music production. In the fall, I will be on co-op, a 4-6 month full time job in your desired field that the university helps you find. My co-op will be at a recording studio on campus. Outside of the classroom, I have been doing freelance audio engineering work since my second semester at Northeastern, and I plan to continue this business until graduation. After graduation, I will either get a job as a recording engineer at a studio, or continue freelance audio engineering.
ADVICE
How to maximize my time in high school?
Advice #1: Pursue your passion. If you are going into the music industry and you are passionate about music, know that you will be making the best choice of your life. There are so many sections of the industry, more than you could ever imagine, so don’t worry about experience or job security right now. If you put in the work, you will be successful.
Advice #2: Master your craft. Whether you are a musician, songwriter, producer, engineer, or any other type of creator, make sure that you put in the work to make your craft unique and professional.
Advice #3: Make connections. Try to meet as many creators, artists, and professionals as you can. Collaboration is so important in the industry on the creative and business side, so getting to know as many people as you can is extremely important.
Advice #4: Music as a major. If you want a career in music, treat it like any other career. If you treat music as a hobby, it will be a hobby (unless you get extremely lucky). Like any other career, you need to learn, gain experience, make connections and more, both inside and outside of school. If you are splitting your time between one career path in school, and music when you have time, you will be behind all the other students that are focused on music. Obviously, you might not be in control of what your major is (parents, relatives, etc), but unless there are drastic consequences, my advice is to choose music as your major.
