Lucas Glenney-Tegtmeier
Studio Engineer / Instructor
Studio Engineering
Learn studio engineering hands-on in the same rooms and with the same gear used on countless hit records.
Learn hands-on, over 24 weeks, in rooms you’ve heard on countless records
At The Blackbird Academy, you will have 700+ hours in the classroom/recording lab and studios. Classes meet five days a week, 30-40 hours per week. Half of the program is spent in the studio, where groups of five students focus on pre-production, recording live musicians, overdubbing, and mixing. The other half of the program takes place in our classroom/recording lab – also a working recording studio – featuring an API console, two isolation booths, patch bay, individual Pro Tools HD stations, and three 65″ flat-screen TVs. When in the studio, it is always a maximum 5:1 student-to-teacher ratio. Every student:
- has their own workstation. The student Pro Tools rigs are driven by Universal Audio’s Apollo X interface, featuring every plugin in the UAD collection.
- has access to audio labs and equipment outside of regular hours, to work on assignments and/or practice recording and mixing.
- works alongside industry professionals and special guest mentors in the classroom and studio.
- benefits from on-site visits to studios, mastering houses, venues, equipment factories, and other audio-related businesses.
Here’s what you’ll be learning:
- Recording, Overdubbing, Editing & Mixing
- Signal Flow
- Troubleshooting
- Patchbay Layout & Operation
- API, Neve & SSL Console Operation
- Desktop Audio Workstation Production (ProTools. Logic)
- Microphone Placement & Comparisons
- Operation of Dangerous Music 2 Buss, Liaison, BAX EQ & Monitor ST
- Audio Processing Plugins
- Musical Instruments & Vocals
- Analog Signal Processing
- UAD – 2 Plugins
- Universal Audio Apollo Interface Operation
- Vocal Tuning
- Studio Monitoring & Room Design
- Acoustics
- Modern Music Production
- Careers & Entrepreneurship
- Audio for Film & Video Games
- The History of Recording
- Mastering & Manufacturing
- Studio Etiquette
- Fundamentals of Electronic Music
- Critical Listening
- Hearing & Psychoacoustics
100% Experiential-Based Learning
At The Blackbird Academy, we’re all about learning by doing. Our hands-on approach, based on the same mentor-driven philosophy that has produced generations of Grammy-winning engineers and producers, ensures you learn directly from industry pros. You learn from and have access to real professionals with lengthy credits: engineers, producers, artists, technicians, acousticians, and other audio pros currently working in the industry. By the time you graduate, you’ll be fully prepared for a career as an audio engineer, thanks to real-world training and invaluable mentorship.
As a student, your schedule alternates between the classroom and Blackbird Studio every two weeks.
In the Classroom, each student has an Apollo/Pro Tools system that can record from the room’s two iso booths through the API console/outboard equipment, as well as record directly. Expect a mix of sessions, demos, guest speakers, hands-on” and “ears-on” recording training, and site visits to some of the amazing studios around Nashville.
In the Studio, students work in groups of five in one of Blackbird’s many world-class rooms recording live musicians – giving you maximum hands-on time and contact with the musical talent, instructor, and guest engineers.
Upcoming start dates
| Date | Status | Action |
|---|---|---|
| January 6, 2026 | open | Enroll |
| July 6, 2026 | open | Enroll |
| September 28, 2026 | open | Enroll |
| January 4, 2027 | open | Enroll |
Meet your Instructors
Lucien Patten
Studio Engineer / Instructor
Jeremy Cottrell
Director of Studio Engineering & Instructor
What the studio engineering graduates say
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The best school I could have gone to for what I want to do. Amazing teachers who have real world experience and know exactly how to teach it to students. Would recommend to any aspiring audio engineers of any kind.
The Blackbird Academy was the best schooling experience I’ve ever had, period. Not only will you learn all the ‘book Knowledge’ required to be an audio engineer at the highest level, but you will also learn invaluable lessons about studio recording culture while forming relationships with industry pros in an ACTUAL professional recording studio. The Blackbird Academy is doing audio education the right way, and I’m so thankful that I went!
If you're considering enrolling at this school, it could be the best decision you'll ever make. It definitely was mine. Industry professionals are constantly popping in-and-out, utilizing and appreciating everything that Blackbird has to offer. The entire studio (from microphones to outboard gear to all of the studio rooms) is available for the Academy. This school is ‘the real-world experience.’ The Academy also provides tremendous support for their soon-to-be graduates and helps them land internship/work opportunities all over the globe!
The Blackbird Academy gives its students a natural fusion of new recording technology and the old and eternal recording techniques that have been used over the last 50+ years.
