I want to learn digital audio prod. Should I go to analog or digital school?

J

Jermainne

New member
I want to learn digital audio production but the only school that I want to attend (SAE NYC) teaches (from what I understand) analog with less of an emphasis on digital audio production. To attend the school that I really want to attend (Dubspot NYC, which teaches strictly electronic music production) I have to pay like $10,000 (that I don't have) cash ( I can't take out a student loan like I would be able to do at SAE). I want to learn digital audio production because, from what I research, most of today's music is digital, digital is good, it is more affordable and I guess I just think it's cool. My question is this, if I attend SAE, would the little bit of information that they will teach me about digital audio production be enough for me to learn digital audio production or at least, on my own time maybe, further my knowledge about digital audio production? Or should I just save up money to attend Dubspot? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated, thank you :)?
 
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Only go to dubspot if you like it. There's many youtube vids of them to check out way before making that decision. But in my honest opinion learning:

Music theory from anywhere
sound design from anywhere
in general just as much as possible about anything in the hobby you can anytime at all times when you have the time.



A general course is a more organized way of learning compared to searching for the same scattered information though.
 
Thank you. "A general course is a more organized way of learning compared to searching for the same scattered information though". I am not sure I understand what this means though :).
 
Thank you :). "A general course is a more organized way of learning compared to searching for the same scattered information though". I am not sure I understand what you mean by this though :).
 
Never took general courses myself but I assume those are more organized than the usual.


That's a benefit from that type of learning but in general I'd still suggest learning as much as possible before something like that.


Digital software usually is just learned in training videos online made by the company themselves is the assumption I have on why analogue is the dominant course from your first post.


This type of stuff will take a while to get comfortable in which is why I advise such a thing to begin with. This is a very deep hobby to get into so it'd be best to lookup as much info as possible before deciding on anything.
 
Are you trying to make music, in the sense of a producer (this would be digital, as taught by Dubspot)? Or, are you looking for a career as a studio engineer (this would be analog, as taught by SAE)? Guessing you want to make electronic music, so SAE wouldn't be your choice. My best advice would be for you to spend a little more time learning the basics of what you're asking about before committing to a school.

Dubspot has a good rep, but there's some things you need to consider. If you're trying to become a producer, the applicable course is the EMP master program. It will cover the fundamentals, but it also locks you in to Ableton as your DAW, and Native Instruments as your source of synths, samplers, etc (nothing wrong with that, btw - both are excellent products). So, you're looking at 10K for the course, and another $2000 for Ableton and Komplete. You will also not receive any musical instrument training, although you will get basic music theory. So, after a $12,000 investment (plus computer, audio interface, etc), you will still not be in a position to make a living - no music business training, nothing about marketing, legal issues, or hell, even music composition. 12K to make music in your bedroom for friends is cool if you have the cash, but it sounds like you don't.

Not trying to discourage you, just trying to make you aware of all options. There are many good cheap or free music theory tutorials (here's one) online, and you can download a demo of Ableton to play with. Also, there's an excellent free online course from Berklee College of Music called "Introduction to Music Production" - next session starts tomorrow.

Once you become familiar with some fundamentals, you will be in a much better position to decide how you wish to pursue your education. Hope this helps.
 
Do you think that attending school at SAE will teach me music business and marketing and stuff? SAE also touches on digital audio production I think.
 
I'll tell you what I'm doing. Instead of going to school, I'm hiring a personal teacher. Ends up being cheaper with a much more personalized experience and you're not locked into anything.
 
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