school vs learning on your own

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bass-sickz

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A studio engineer once told me u dont really have to go to school to learn how to engineer and design sound but that same engineer didnt wanna spread no game... so my question is what do you all think of school vs learing and reading up on stuff your self
 
Reading and learning on your own wont be enough, you can learn a lot on your own but there are some things that should be taught, besides schools (good ones neways) teach you on "industry standard" equipment so when (and if) you get hired in a commercial studio you know what to expect, because you may not have the high end equipment to learn on.
 
I'm more of the trial and failure kinda guy. Now, it's important to state that I'm no Hans Zimmer or John Williams, nor am I the Einstein of sound. But I feel that I rank above the average so called "producer" out there. No bragging intended. I have come to that conclusion when I see what "schooled" people posess, in terms of knowledge. I have found myself in situation where I have been a source of knowledge for them several times. Other times they just don't understand what I'm talking about when I talk about compressors and enhancers...
Practical knowledge owns theory any day, but it's always good to have a solid foundation to work with. I don't advise against schooling, I just don't think it's a must. Let your work speak for you instead. It takes time though, time and a platinum membership of patience.
 
i agree schooling isnt a must but it would help ALOT, but not unless you LEARN something.
 
I applied to Emerson College for audio production. I mean I'm going to college either way might as well do something I love.
 
I always use the writing analogy. You don't have to be a grammar whiz to be a successful author, but you need to understand the essentials of language in order write. Same thing applies to music, which is like a third language to me.
 
Even if you do go to school, you have to keep teaching yourself and reading and experimenting on your own to get a strong grasp of concepts taught (or not taught).
 
School was never for me, maybe it was due to the kind of the schools I went to (not nice places), or due to me being dyslexic.

But I have always found teaching myself was a lot more successful. From HTML & CSS to building computers and now music I'm all self taught.

What environment do you succeed in? what's right for you.
 
school may teach u things that u may not pick up on ur own, but spending that type of money on an audio education is ridiculus. the one bad thing about teaching urself is if u have questions u have no one to ask...unless u know ppl thats willing to help u out.
 
going to school and teaching your self at the same time, putting in practice what you have learn at school and applying to it your own techniques mix all that up is always good to experiment but the #1 thing is don't let nobody tell you what to do and how to do it and never back down to your believes.
 
I know school will knock the s*** out of ya wallet thats why im in a delima but basicly you all are saying it can be done by yourself if you stay focus and know the right people.... so can any of you recommend books on sound design and audio engineering and other stuff that can come in handy
 
one thing i have to say is the only way to get quality audio production education is to spend a lot on it, i found this out, i looked at colleges locally and they're courses in audio production were geared towards music theory and music education, i talked to a student who went to ball state for recording arts (they just got an icon console, pro tools hd, etc...) and the best job they landed him outta college was guitar center and he got a bachelors......

i'm going to attend IADT in july and lets just say they job placements are ALOT more noteable than gc. But really if you dont apply yourself and be dedicated being in school or not wont mean a thing, and you cant teach that.
 
Didn't read the whole thread, but everyone I've ever had an arguement about this with, later go to school, come back home, and tell me I'm right.

Learn before you go. Know before you go from experience. Don't go to school to learn music, go for the certificates and documents that say you know what you do.

Those schools aren't hands on enough to teach you anything you couldn't learn on your own by investing that "school money" in a homesetup or some studiotime and playing with knobs until you get it.

Once you get it, it's worth getting the proper paperwork so people don't just have your word to go by that you know what your doing.
 
different things work for different people.......i found myself in a couple of colleges and misserable, because i have always found school boring......but after taking a year to learn and do my own thing, i realized that some things cannot be self taught, particularly the networking aspect, which alone makes the school i go to now worth it........imagine walking into to register and seeing a class called hip-hop beat making, sitting in it, and having glc, naledge, and a bunch of others giving you there cell numbers in your first semester.......and just being around more people with the same focus as you does so much for your ability to understand what you need to learn, and where you excell.......i could go on, but
 
I learnt a lot doing my degree, mainly theory but it enabled me to understand many concepts and industry standard ways of operating but I got no practicle tuition on mixing. Practice and experimentation teaches you loads. Many producers are tight with sharing informnation. That sucks but its understandable cos its their tools of the trade.
 
see but wats not understood right now is this...it would be best to have both..but at the end of the day you graduate from school with a degree in your hand...this is a certifaction that you know what the f*ck you are talking about when your lookin for jobs in the music industry..you gotta start somwhere..so why no have all the knowledge you can get?
 
Vantage_West said:
i find that people who learn there own way seem to improve far faster in the industry than school taut peeps.
Click to expand...

this is true because i never went to skool, and i can play songs like stevie wonder, I think teaching yourself is the best way, because you leanr more of your own style, intead of playing how a paper wants you to..................
 
school is the way to go, you can learn a lot of stuff on your own but school fills in the holes. Sometimes they open your eyes to things you never knew were there. I went to a school and learned how to produce and engineer and I had been doing it for about a year before and they shun so much light on what I was doing and opened up new doors and answered the all great question "WHY". So I'd say hit the books buddy.
 
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