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Music School? Is it Worth It?

Okay, So...I'm 23 years old, I've been producing Trap/Drill Hip hop beats, Reggaeton,Trance,And tech house for about 2 years and DJing for 6. I attended a Bachelor's Degree Program for Information Technology and didn't finish it due to the realization that everything I was learning is openly available online and through books that are much cheaper than the books reccomended for the coursework. So I dropped out and have been doing freelance I.T related stuff since then.

I'm thinking about going back to school, but for music production. My question is, is it worth the money I will be paying, or is it possible to reach the level of knowledge and skill that a music production graduate has without paying for a traditional education.

i dunno

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Originally posted by TranceElevation i dunno

Well, that was helpful...

imo i would finish you computer science degree and continue music production on the side. but what do i know.

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Originally posted by Floorfiller imo i would finish you computer science degree and continue music production on the side. but what do i know.

+1

Unless you really have the dedication to make it in the music business, I would keep advancing your career and learn music on the side.

If you get some momentum going you could always ditch your career for it then.

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Originally posted by Sushipunk Well, that was helpful...

uhm?

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Originally posted by Vida1003 I attended a Bachelor's Degree Program for Information Technology and didn't finish it due to the realization that everything I was learning is openly available online and through books that are much cheaper than the books reccomended for the coursework.

That applies even more so to music production. How many big name artists/musicians/DJs do you think actually went to music production school? The answer is almost none, particularly in the genres you're interested in.

quote:

Originally posted by Vida1003 I'm thinking about going back to school, but for music production. My question is, is it worth the money I will be paying, or is it possible to reach the level of knowledge and skill that a music production graduate has without paying for a traditional education.

A traditional education is much more likely to land you a paying job, which you'll need when you find that making music doesn't pay your bills. Most employers in career-based industries want to see a diploma. Telling a potential employer that Google educated you will put you at a huge disadvantage when the other people competing for that same job have diplomas, even though you may a perfectly qualified candidate.

So.....

quote:

Originally posted by Floorfiller imo i would finish you computer science degree and continue music production on the side. but what do i know.

I'd say that you know a lot.

Is this for your own productions, or do you want to work in the industry? If it's for your own productions, then no, not worth it. If you want a job in the industry, yes, totally worth it.

An education for producing trap? Surely this is a joke?

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Originally posted by Mr.Mystery An education for producing trap? Surely this is a joke?

He didn't specify if this was for his own music, or if he wanted to go Pro. But anyway, off to Trap school I go, weeeee!

went to music production school and all said it was worth every Penny.

My story is a bit weird but bear with me...

My missus one day got grief entering the UK as a foreigner without a visa so it came time to do something else. I'd been working all sorts of jobs, always with a technical basis but I loved DJ'ing, had been doing it for about about 5 years by that point. barely really knew my way around a DAW and back then, youtube didn't even exist.

We knew people in Miami and Toronto but Toronto was easier visa wise and the school I chose was less than half of what Full Sail was in miami (my other choice).

I went to the Harris Institute in downtown TO and the experience was fucking fantastic. I think I learned more in that one year than I ever did in any other educational establishment.

Firstly, it was oldschool teaching. We didn't even touch a DAW until 4 months in, it was all engineering and producing theory (14 subjects at once which covered everything from electronics to live sound to marketing and music industry leadership skills etc). 40 hours a week and then homework.

The nice thing was that the teachers were the real deal. My music industry teacher for instance had been the Head of A&R for Warner music then after that was the manager of the band Rush for 20 years. The guy that taught live sound was one of the biggest font of house engineers (still working) in toronto. The guy that taught us Publishing was the drummer from canadian band, Honeymoon suite.

Our synth teacher had no nasal septum. Hardcore.

It was fucking intense in terms of learning and the tests were pretty damn intense too, but the thing that was priceless was the pearls of wisdom, the little nuggets of info about the industry that only get from professionals who've been there and done it. also good introduction to the humor, jokes and need for a thick skin in a studio environment.

I actually skipped the very last part of the course. I had been working in a couple of clubs doing lighting and sound eingeering (as well as the backup DJ for when the resident wanted to disappear with a lady to the toilet) but wasn't working towards the end and money got tight.

The bit I missed was really the application of what we had learned over the past year (i.e. actually doing in protools/daw).

There's things that were drummed (scuse the pun) in to me at that school that let me get jobs later on, really simple but fundamental stuff like how to properly coil a cable, dow to mic a drum set in under a couple of mins, how to get a basic balance on faders, how to EQ a live room in less than 3 mins....

....these were all things that over the course of the next 10 years that got me jobs or at last a food in the door. I didn't really know pro tools at all well, but I had engineering theory down so well that I could figure out anything i needed to.

Bottom line is, i wouldn't have got to where I did without the school.

The only one thing I regret is that the school was in a city/country that I wasn;t going to work in; I came back to the UK and had to start from scratch with zero contacts. All of my fellow students who lived in T.O. had an instant springboard because of the contacts via the school, teachers, interships and networking we had to do.

Still, it was the best educational experience of my life and without it I wouldn't have ended up here in LA working on film scores.

Did it help the DJ'ing or producing career? Aside from theory and understanding? not a fucking lick.

Computer science isn't a bad field to be in, arguably one of the best actually. Here in NL the demand for IT professionals in just about any field is beyond imaginable.

I'm glad I made the opposite switch. There was a time I thought I might be cut out for a career in music, boy was I wrong . Plenty of time left to make music still .

To be honest, having a well paid technical job with relatively easy set hours is probably one of the best ways to launch a career in music.

you'll have time on the weekends and evenings, financial stability for your life and GAS, and can always have something to fall back on if you're not that1 in 100,000 that makes a lving from music.

Hard House Legend Tony De Vit was a computer programmer and quit when the DJ bookings eclipsed his work.

Diplo was an after school care teacher.

Pete Tong was a Jazz journalist.

Paul Van Dyk was a carpenter then broadcast engineer.

Kaskade was(is) a devout Mormon church missionary

quote:

Originally posted by Mr.Mystery An education for producing trap? Surely this is a joke?

I'm referring to Trap as in the style of hip hop,not EDM. It's not something I am really committed to but I have made a few beats for local rappers because it brings instant cash and isn't overwhelmingly time consuming.


Overall I'm finding that traditional education is rather worthless. In most programs you are going to school to work under someone. Even at a management level the executives of the business you work for are still your boss. In my country most a rather large percentage of college graduates are default on their student loan debt and unemployed. The people who run these businesses that we are going to school to work under for at most a 6 digit salary are self educated entrepeneurs. After interest is figured in to the equation the total costs of a four year education could easily startup a small business or if one is smart enough/ lucky enough. Invested into an up and coming franchise and yield great returns years down the line if the business expands and becomes successful.

if it is a private under 3 year program, no it isn't worth it.

You will be pretty much doing YouTube tutorials.

Production is new. It tends to take 10-20 years for things to be taught at an institution and the ones that jump on these trends are schools that prey on student loan market and the ignorance of their intended market. Most of their staff will be young which should make you wonder. People in music retire old. If you have a teacher that is under 50, he was never in the industry of never made a living.

For recording

Yes if it is a university that also has a music program so you will have people to record. But they will focus on actual recording ie mic placement and stuff you can't learn or experiment with anywhere else. The tonemeister program is probsbly the best one. They take about 5 people a year and you need an undergrad in music or actual industry experience.

It's really up to you. Music is never a financial investment if you look at the numbers out of the best schools let alone those shitty full sail clones. You either go because you feell you aren't getting something and to you , the opportunity to learn is worth the money.

I agree with Clooney...at the same time,and please correct me if I am wrong about this,however.
It is my opinion that the best production in today's music is based on the knowledge of the software. The ones who make really phat strong big room sounds know their software inside and out.
Granted, theory can teach you structure and you can gain alot from knowing composition and arrangement. However, nothing can teach you groove or soul. You either have it or you dont.
All in all it comes back full circle to production,which imho is 80%.
If you were looking for instructional guidance why not look into a DAW certification course?

you can learn anything. Some people are more adept. Groove isn't a mystery. Yiu can learn what it is and what it isn't. The problem with this generation is that unlike the previous one , they are missing about 10 years of music education because playing an instrument was just something people did.

Certifstion is a joke. It says you have probsbly read the manual and know the knowledge contained in said manual.

Now kids watch people play games on YouTube.

A lot people just have terrible taste, you cant teach that shit.

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