Scroller01.jpg
Scroller02.jpg
Scroller03.jpg

More About
Our Program

American River College can serve as a springboard to a rewarding career in audio recording or the music business by giving students the core skills needed to enter the entertainment industry. We'll help you explore your options, and put you on the path to success in the challenging and competitive commercial music industry.

Program Focus

Audio Recording

Learn how to operate mixing consoles, signal processors, digital audio workstations, explore microphone techniques, do remote recordings, and facilitate complete recording sessions in our two state-of-the-art recording studios.

Music Business

Explore the dynamics of the music industry through classes that address current practices and issues in music copyright law, publishing, entertainment, distribution, marketing, and promotions.

Live Sound Reinforcement

Hands-on classes teach sound system component operation, microphones, mixers, effects, power amplifiers, and speaker systems. Learn troubleshooting, sound checking, and mixing sound for live performance and touring.

Pro Tools Classes & Certifications

AVID Pro Tools is perhaps the most widely-used audio production software in the industry. You can take classes and even earn AVID Pro Tools Certification since American River College has been named an official AVID Learning Partner.

MIDI / Electronic Music Production

Learn the basics of electronic music production, and how to use music software such as Reason, Ableton Live, Finale, and more as tools to compose, sequence, and notate your own music.

Songwriting

Learn the process of crafting a song including instrumental and vocal arrangements in contemporary music. Practice the art of creating lyrics, formation of melodies and harmonies, popular music forms, and musical notation.

Featured
Copyright For Musicians Event: April 3rd, 6 p.m.
Copyright For Musicians Event: April 3rd, 6 p.m.
Spring 2025 Class Schedule Posted!
Spring 2025 Class Schedule Posted!
Berklee is With ARC!
Berklee is With ARC!

Follow Us On Social Media

So, ARC has FIVE studios now??? Yes! We are excited to offer yet another audio production space for students in our Commercial Music program. Unlike our other four studios, Studio E is our fully equipped production room dedicated for our students' p
Copyright For Musicians Event: April 3rd, 6 p.m. @ American River College ARC is hosting a Copyright For Musicians clinic with California Lawyers for the Arts on Thursday, April 3rd, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Attorney Carissa Bouwer will provide an overvi
ARC 2nd Level students tracking the Matt Hutchinson band in Studio A. All of our recording students get hands-on experience mic'ing, tracking, and mixing real bands and artists during the course of the semester. https://linktr.ee/arc_commercial_musi
ARC 2nd Level students tracking the Matt Hutchinson band in Studio A. All of our recording students get hands-on experience mic'ing, tracking, and mixing real bands and artists during the course of the semester. https://linktr.ee/arc_commercial_musi
If you're a student in the ARC Commercial Music Program, sometimes the gear you need for a mix is just down the hall, and around the corner in another control room. https://linktr.ee/arc_commercial_music https://www.facebook.com/arc.commercial.music
Our 362 advanced Mixing & Mastering students work on a group project in Studio A. In photo #1, students mix through our Neve Genesys analog console, while in photo #2, another student minds the analog outboard equipment. https://linktr.ee/arc_co
In addition to equipping our four studies with flavors of vintage and classic analog outboard gear, we're continuing to add the best in new recording equipment. Featured here (in light beige) are two of the new single-channel Soyuz Lakeside Class A p
We're continuing to update our live sound equipment across the board to modernize our approach to sound reinforcement curriculum. Shown here is the Allen & Heath Avantis 64-channel mixer with dual HD touchscreens and additional dLive signal proce
No Cowbells During Office Hours!!! All of our ARC Commercial Music Professors hold Office Hours for Students. Please refer to your syllabi for days and times. Shown here: Our fearless Program Director, Kirt Shearer, leads by example. He holds Offi
Week One of our Spring 2025 Semester for our 2nd Level Recording and Pro Tools Certification students. Photo 1: Jon Talbot explains our multi-studio files server setup to students so they can share files between all five of our studios. Recording st
Week One / Day Two of our Spring 2025 Semester, and our Mixing & Mastering students (MUSM 362) are diving into their first mix project in all four studios; shown here in Studio C. ARC's Studio C is our SSL console-equipped edit/mixing suite with
ARC Commercial Music Studio C has just been upgraded for 5.1 mixing, and is now our third control room featuring surround matrix capabilities and Barefoot Sound monitoring. https://linktr.ee/arc_commercial_music https://www.facebook.com/arc.commerci
ARC Level 3 (MUSM 351) & Advanced Recording (MUSM 361) Students totally "Neve-ing out" while recording their last live session of the semester with our in-house group "Trading Fours" in Studio A on our Neve console with outboa
ARC Advanced Recording (MUSM 360/361) Students record their last live session of the semester with another in-house student group, "The Great Other," in Studio A on the Neve console. https://linktr.ee/arc_commercial_music https://www.faceb
ARC Level 3 (MUSM 351) & Advanced Recording (MUSM 361) Students record their last live session of the semester with our in-house group "Trading Fours" to tape, using one of our #maramachines JH-24 2-inch 24-track machine. https://linkt
It's the last week before finals at ARC! Jon Talbot (photo 1) is working on inventory and packing away the mics for the semester (including new Soyuz and Neuman SDCs) while students busily work in our studios to complete their final projects (photos
Our Engineering Students are setting up mics to record our Holiday ARC Jazz Combo Showcase. https://linktr.ee/arc_commercial_music https://www.facebook.com/arc.commercial.music https://www.instagram.com/arc_commercial_music/ https://www.sacramentore