Hot Sole Music Inc. is a fully functioning commercial recording studio. But in addition to the commercial activities of the studio, Hot Sole personally trains carefully selected individuals who desire a career in the music industry as production personnel. The training program is called AEP. The AEP program is a totally unique, apprenticeship-style audio engineering training system unlike anything else! It is also the most affordable program in Canada.

The goal of the AEP program is to prepare the student to professionally assist a 1st Audio Engineer. The graduating AEP student very much understands the role of the 1st Engineer and the Producer and will also fully comprehend the hierarchy of his/her position as the assistant to these people. Although the program is specific to the training of the position of an Assistant or Second Engineer in a music production environment, the skills taught during the sessions are very much transferable to other job positions within the professional audio industry, inclusive of live sound and audio post-production.

The AEP program has a distinctly practical edge to it. It covers baseline amounts of theory necessary to understand important core concepts, but focuses primarily on the work ethic, session procedures and disciplines found in today’s professional production environment. The curriculum is delivered as if the engineers and producers could simply stop their professional production duties and devote a significant percentage of their attention to the student with explanations as to their actions, procedures and how the assistant audio engineer could assist the process more effectively. All of this taking place in a well appointed, professionally equipped commercial recording studio inclusive of a 72 input Soundcraft DC2000 series console, an Otari MX-80 2" analog 24 track, 24 tracks of ADAT’^®, RADAR^® and ProTools 7^® as well as a wide selection of processing, mics, amps, guitars, vintage keys and samplers. Traditionally education of this type is provided to class sizes in excess of 30 or more students, potentially broken down into smaller lab groups of 7 to 10 students. Hot Sole Music feels there are too many inadequately prepared people competing for positions within the recording industry. So to that end, a maximum of three students are taught at one time while participating in the AEP Program.

No other program anywhere in the world offers this type of accredited training in small intimate groups with a 3 to 1 student to teacher ratio. As a direct result of this extremely practical, hands-on type approach (students spend upwards of 70% of their training time directly with the equipment, not in theory classes) graduate AEP students enjoy a very high percentage of employment opportunities.

The interview process at the studio is very much a «reality check» to ensure that if a student enrolls in the program there are no reservations or expectations regarding the program after enrollment that are off base or misunderstood, especially in regards to job placements. The recording industry is very competitive and difficult to break into. Its not a place for people who aren’t prepared to do whatever it takes to excel at making it into the industry. It is clearly the headspace and attitude of the student that stands out as the single most important part of an applicants potential for success. Hot Sole attempts not to sell this program to a prospective student and to encourage the applicant to check out, investigate other programs, ask industry people and so on about how this type of training is viewed by them, which schools/programs the industry hires from and so on.

In years past, keen aspiring audio engineers would try to gain experience as an intern in a studio to learn the craft. This takes years and the truth of the matter is however, some sort of formal training in the recording arts is a necessity these days due to the complexities of the current modern day recording studio.

The AEP program is 240 hours of lecture time and 160 hours of practical lab time administered over five months, accredited with the Private Career Training Institutions Agency of B. C. and designated with the BC Student Services Branch. It is a genuinely unique alternative to similar programs offered anywhere else. The best of a commercial studio and college combined. Graduates must exceed a 90% grade point average to successfully complete the program, further evidence of the level of excellence the AEP program strives to achieve.

* A musical and/or electronics background would be an asset to enroll but is not required. A minimum of 19 years of age or high school graduation is required to enroll.