Audio Engineering and Design

M

Masd775

New member
I had a few questions for some of those professionals out there:

For starters, those of you who have graduated from an audio engineering or design program, was it worth it? Who would you recommend it to? Who wouldn't you recommend it to? Also, what are you doing now in terms of music? I've been told by people who were in school that it was possible to learn all of the schools teachings through the internet. Often times those same people are working jobs in a different field.

For the people who are interested in producing better music are there any books, programs, videos, tutorials out there that you would recommend. Maybe deadmau5's master class? Perhaps paying for private lessons or specific courses can save money and time? Or maybe the majority of that isn't really necessary?
 
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Of all the engineers, producers generally people dabbling with sound, I think there's maybe one guy that went to school - and that's for film sound, to get access to the equipment. But I don't see anything wrong with schools in general, because learning from the internet can be very fragmented and seeing where to start can be really hard, in the sense that I've seen a lot of people who are talking about intricate synthesis concepts but don't understand the fundamental basics of audio. Structure and foundation is good; you get to learn from the ground up, rather than picking up bits and pieces from here and there.

Never been to an audio school myself, although I've had a bunch of music lessons in my teenage years.
 
You can learn a lot from the internet if you put the time and effort into researching and practicing etc. But going to a school isn't a waste of time or money even though you can easily learn in your own time. I'm currently finishing my last year at university doing music technology and it's helped me to learn a lot about the music industry. You learn all aspects of the industry whether its the history, marketing, labels, music composition, mixing & mastering or how audio signals are generated and many more. The main thing is getting a nice contact list of industry professionals which you can keep in contact with after you graduate.
 
Im currently at Full Saul, haven't graduated yet but halfway through and so far I would say its worth it. Two reasons:

1. Networking - You meet SO many people in different fields, film production, graphic design, choreography, everything. And thats just the students, the teachers and staff have so many more connections, its crazy.

2. You learn shit that you wouldn't even think to google or learn on your own. For example, I had a whole entire class on midi and how it works (etc transfer rate, various wiring methods, midi beat clocks etc) and it'll make you look at midi in a whole different way than just a keyboard or some electronic instrument. Plus Imo its better to learn from people who've been through the same, or similar experiences as you.

3. Prepares you for the professional world. Although I love FL Studio and it will probably always be my primary DAW, at school they teach me Pro Tools & Logic & Abelton & a shit ton of other programs to prepare you for any setup. They also teach you how to write up your own contracts and the proper way to license and sell your music. All the legalities of the business.

I would recommend it to anyone who is serious and really wants to make a career out of music, film, whatever.
 
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School is what you make of it. MDK's experience ^^^^ is not atypical, _BUT_ you have to know whether you are the kind of student that is best served by a traditional program, and you have to be realistic regarding the fact that music, the arts, and the creative support services always have an over-abundance of applicants as compared to available paid work opportunities. You can learn most of what you need to know out of school, and, given unlimited time, you can learn pretty much everything through experience. But when do you want to be ready? Now (asap), or 30 years from now? And what about those connections Mario mentioned? It's great to have abilities and knowledge, but even better to pair skills with connections that can get you closer to where you want to be. Of course, schools are expensive, and not suited to everyone's temperament or learning style, so ymmv...
 
Tutorials can help or not, I advice you to looking for a course, not online course. What you want to learn? How to make an instrumental? Piano + musical theory courses. How to produce people? Musical production. Mixing and mastering? Mixing and mastering courses... It's worth to do one or more courses, it's your curriculum as a musician/producer/mixing and mastering engineer.
 
I would like to produce at the highest level (no understatement). I guess to me at least that isn't possible unless you've finished some type of degree program. I've played instruments since I was very young. I understand music theory very well. I've been producing for about two years but I've been making music for a very long time. The biggest problem for me is mixing, which has become part of the production process with the accessibility of necessary modern day tools if I'm correct. I'm not sure I have the money for school but I guess it's something I should start saving up for. Thanks for all of the help.
 
There are now places like Berklee Online, where you can distance-learn one course at a time with a really good curriculum. Might be something worth looking into.
 
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