A Musician and Love for Music Production Led Cody Heimann to CRAS; Little Did He Know RF Coordination in Live Sound Would Be His Career
Gilbert, Ariz., Nov. 19, 2024 – Cody Heimann grew up in North Dakota with a love of music, and was so good at it that he was offered a percussive arts scholarship. However, he turned it down as he wanted to be in the trenches of the creative aspects of all things music. That path led him down yet another road he was not expecting to follow. Nonetheless, he traveled it, and is now a successful RF Applications Engineer with Sound Devices in Reedsburg, Wisconsin.
“As a kid, I was always a huge music fan as well as a musician,” explained Heimann, “Playing music was fun and a passion of mine, but it was hard to see the potential of making a living doing that in a creative and challenging environment where I grew up.”
Hence, Heimann began his search and found Tempe/Gilbert Arizona-based The Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences (CRAS) when he was finishing up high school.
“I had two uncles that lived in Phoenix, and the accolades and credentials of CRAS’ program drove me to that being the right decision,” Heimann continued. “I also loved the rock and roll vibe of the place. It breathed creativity and not academics. It felt like I fit in as soon as I came down for a visit.”
RF Applications Engineering is more of a niche career, and upon entering the CRAS program, Heimann had his sights set on a career in Los Angeles working on large movie scores.
“Well, the joke was on me because little did I know live sound is what would become my career,” Heimann admits. “Not knowing that I wanted to do live sound before CRAS and being exposed to it while I was there completely ignited a fire I did not know that I had.”
According to Heimann, during a live sound class at CRAS, he introduced himself to a CRAS graduate who had stopped by to visit as their tour was traveling through Phoenix. “We got to talking about the industry similarities between Nashville and L.A. and he mentioned that he needed some help on his next tour,” Heimann explained. “Long story short, he eventually became my best friend and road brother. We became roommates and he got me my first tour gig…Barney the Dinosaur! I fell in love with live sound and started my touring days from there.”
Heimann landed his first internship upon graduating CRAS in 2006 at Omni Sound Studios in Nashville. “Changing out the coffee on the hour, every hour for the graveyard shift within the studios is how I started,” Heimann said. “Not long after that I started interning at the world renowned Tracking Room Studios, and within a year became a house engineer. It was an amazing experience because I got the opportunity to produce a few records out of there, as well.”
From there, his career took off as his resume now includes nearly 20 years of concert production in almost all positions in audio, including stage manager, production manager, monitor engineer, FOH engineer, system tech, and RF. The last 10 years have been strictly RF as an RF tech or large-scale RF coordinator.
Then how did Heimann get started in the world of RF?
“One day I was setting up as a patch technician for the Memphis in May festival and I was tasked with setting up the RF as not many knew how to handle the amount of RF that was required for that festival,” he explained. “I was also the one that didn’t know how to handle that amount of RF, and wanting to learn, I accepted the challenge. Well, that challenge got the best of me and it was an absolute failure of a show! From that day on, I told myself that I would never let RF beat me and I wanted to know how and why it worked. It’s kept me busy thereafter.”
Since then, Heimann has been the master RF coordinator for shows and events including New Years Eve in Times Square, The Dreamforce Convention and supporting RF at events such as Coachella, CMT Music Awards, and many more. These shows would sometimes exceed more than 1,000 frequencies and required the knowledge and composure of a long tenure in live sound.
“Now, at Sound Devices, I get to take my career a step further and help design and support the manufacturing of the next generation of wireless products for all to use,” Heimann said. “It really is my dream job. The team and leadership that I get to work with is absolutely amazing and I get to have a part in our RF products design, features, and work flows, so I’m getting to help design the products I always wish I had in the field. Working with a company that is as passionate about the end product as I am is what I love so much about Sound Devices. Our products are constantly being updated and upgraded with user requests and features. There is no such thing as stagnant or done at this company because we’re always making sure our products work for the end user…not the other way around.”
RF is not an easy industry to get into, and it’s not an easy industry to navigate in any way. “It really does take sacrifice and exposure so you can be around for those right place / right time moments,” Heimann said. “Never be afraid to learn no matter where you are in your journey, even if it’s in another discipline of production. We’re all a team for one common goal, and that’s what matters.”
Heimann added that he believes that there are many opportunities in the RF field, and students should therefore learn as much as they can about RF. “RF never has enough techs that truly understand what they’re doing and how they’re doing it,” he admitted. “It is more exciting than ever to be involved in RF as well with the technology shifts we’re seeing…and the job isn’t going away anytime soon.”
Surrounding himself with everything he could at CRAS was key, Heimann stressed. “I lived at that place morning, noon, and night. It taught me hard work and dedication to the craft. There are so many techs out there that this fundamental lesson was paramount to success, and I owe that to CRAS for providing that in such a creative and realistic environment.”
Heimann’s advice to CRAS students? “Take chances. One of my first extremely large RF gigs was by way of reaching out to an RF company on social media. It was just the right time and the right place and that introduced me to the best RF talents in the industry. I truly believe that gig propelled me to the level that I’m in now because I was able to make friends and work with the best in the business. All from a random Facebook message.”
Heimann concluded that CRAS’ incredible “real-life” simulation while in an educational setting has had an enormous impact. “Everything CRAS told me and showed me that would happen out in the field, did. Besides the education learned from CRAS, which is all relevant and incredibly high level, you need to make connections everywhere you can. I owe my entire career to attending CRAS.”
# # #
About The Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences
The Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences is composed of two nearby campuses in Gilbert and Tempe, Ariz. A CRAS education includes broadcast audio, live sound, film and TV audio, music, and video game audio, all taught by award-winning instructors who have all excelled in their individual fields, including sound reinforcement, audio recording and production, digital recording, troubleshooting/maintenance, and music business.
CRAS structured programs and highly qualified teaching staff provide a professional and supportive atmosphere, which is complemented by its small class sizes allowing for individual instruction and assistance for students in engineering audio recordings. CRAS has been providing quality vocational training in audio recording for more than three decades. The curriculum and equipment are constantly being updated to keep pace with the rapid advancements in the music and sound recording industries. CRAS’ course offerings and subject matter have always centered around the skills and knowledge necessary for students’ success in the audio recording industries.
The 11-month program is designed to allow every student access to learn and train in all of the Conservatory’s studios which are comprised with state-of-the-art audio recording and mixing gear, the same equipment used in today’s finest studios and remote broadcast facilities, including Pro Tools 12, API Legacy consoles, SSL AWS consoles, Studer Vista consoles, and much more. All students must complete a 280-hour industry internship to graduate from the Master Recording Program II that may ultimately lead to industry employment.
For more information on the Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences, please visit www.cras.edu, contact Kirt Hamm, administrator, at 1-800-562-6383, or email to info@cras.edu.
-30-
