I'm a junior in high school, and really need to get on the ball as far as college is concerned. One of my intrests is sound. Not just sound as in music, but the more technical aspects of it as well.

I'd like to learn about differant careers and courses that you can get into that involve sound/acoustics. I'm not sure if acoustics is even the right word to be using... I want something that involves music, but all I can think of as a job is the guy behind the huge mixing board in a club - I'm sure there's more than that.

Some of you seem to have a lot of experiance with this kind of thing, so any help would be appriciated.

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Be an experimental psychologist specialising in auditory perception. You can run numerous experiments finding out how the ear works. That way you will know the elements of sound that change our perception of it.


and if you don't want to spend at least 8-11 years after high school in college, eh, I have no clue. hehe.

but it is a huge step to get started now and identify what your interest are and work with them. Of course expect your interests to change, I went into college all pumped about drafting on cad, now I am in grad school for psychology (not perception though).

have fun

I graduated a sound technician not so long ago, and now I continuing studies as sound engineer at SAE.

My sound technician studies were pretty general, but none the less very thorough. It was more aimed at cinema and television, but a general rule of thumb in this business is, if you're interested in a sound career, you really shouldn't be the guy that simply goes to school, follows the lessons, and returns home normally. Doing sound is a way of life. You should be busy with your stuff even after school (and it is said a lot, that you can kiss your social life goodbye, I can do nothing else but agree).

But sound is a very large term. There are lots of branches which are pretty different. You can do studio work (as in recording/mixing/mastering music, radio technician), live PA (front of house or monitor mixing at live events), cinema work (recording on location with boom, postproduction), television work (ENG, mixing in multicam jobs, ...), accoustic research (for building accoustically enhanced rooms). All those require another approach, but most audio schools teach the basics in it.

Right now, I'm doing SAE, and I'm a little disappointed. The SAE has a very good reputation worldwide (but is very expensive). But I already studied for 3 full years (and graduated), but I thought my level was still insufficient, so I decided attending SAE. Now it seems I'll get bored for the next 5-6 months because my level is that high I already know most of it.
SAE is a recommended option if :
1) you have the money for it
2) if you have some bases in audio (I would say, like most dj/producers on this forum), but not too much, or you'll waste time. They start off with the very basics, and vulgarise a lot. Then it gradually gets deeper and deeper. SAE is more aimed at the music industry though. www.sae.edu is the official website where you can find more info.

But if you go for the audio engineer program, some of the topics you see are : room accoustics, midi, recording, mixing, surround sound, sampling, mastering, live mixing, ...

You should ask yourself what your main interest is. You said music, but there are many aspects even in that subbranch.
Do you see yourself more in studio or live applications? And even then the choices are many.

In music studio's, you have mainly 3 big departments : recording (setting up the mics, levels, doing overdubs etc), mixing (balancing the instruments, adding effects, ...) and mastering ("polishing the whole", making everything sound as good as possible, and sadly the last years : making it as loud as possible).
In live you have 2 big deparments as sound technician : front of house (mixing for the crowd) and monitor mixing (setting up the levels for the players monitoring). Of course you have rigging and stuff like that, but let's keep it simple for now shall we.

Whatever you choose, be aware that going for a sound career will involve a serious investment of your part, both monetary as for efforts. Like I said, sound is a way of life, it's definately not a 9 to 5 job. If you really wanna make it in the business, be prepared to work some loooooong and hard days.

If you have further questions, feel free to ask.

quote:

graduated a sound technician not so long ago, and now I continuing studies as sound engineer at SAE.

Snap

i did my Ba honours in recording arts degree at SAE london...

Bunch of arse..(i got full funding from my govt for the degree by the way)

i learnt more in my 2 year couse and working in the industry for real before i went to london.

Anyway- im a professional dj now- and the djing world is arguably harder to get into- either way its still an arse

Freak and Thy, Im very interested in attending the SAE in London, but since London is such an expensive city, I would probably have to work while attending school fulltime for the BA Hons. Recording Arts.

how many hours a week are you in school? did you find time to have a part time job, while still having adequate time for school and a lot of parties?

thanks

also, I was looking at all the schools and came across the World Headquarters Byron Bay one... man that place is impressive, they just recieved their order of 30 Mac G5's, amazing.

Anyway, my question is, how does the London SAE location compare to other SAE locations around the world, especially Byron Bay and Sydney.

thanks

byron bay facilities

if u are looking at london skools for music recording, check:

University of Surrey (one of the few schools that are Tonmeister-certified...very prestigious for music recording)
NESCOT (can't remember if they have it)
York University (also tonmeister if i am correct)
Leeds College of Music

or just run a google search for UK universities...

I'm a senior in Music Technology @ New York University...very pricey but a good education. if you have any questions, feel free to pm.

u might wanna check Full Sail or McGill University also for non-UK schools.

these are all more well-known programs within the industry if you want the backing of a name to go w/ ur degree.

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a few of my friends have graduated from SAE here in nashville TN, one of them is a server at restraunt, and the others are enginers at the major studios arond here, its all about who know really is what im finding, and how much dedication you want to put into it, you really do get what you put in, in this business usually. But anyways, I'm thinking of going to full sail this spring.. anyone else here been there? If so would you reccomend it, and was it worth the huge price? Everyone from full sail i've talked too has good jobs so that makes it a little more enticing....

2slow

I've been away, so sorry I couldn't thank you all sooner for your replies

I have a question or two about SAE though. I as looking into the New York school, but I must say it confused me. The audio course is 900 hours long, but what do you actually get when you complete the course ? Is SAE a school you go to in order to start, or is it more of an after college school ? Also, if anyone happens to know of other good schools/colleges in the north east (USA), let me know.

Thanks again for your replies, you don't know how much your helping this rather confused 16 year old.

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You may want to check out FullSail. It's a college in Florida dedicated to all recording arts - audio, video, and more. I've heard good things about them - check out http://www.fullsail.com for more information.

i would highly recomend FullSail, i hear it is one of the best places in the country to study audio production. I have a friend who graduated from there 2 years ago, he now works in a major studio making up tracks all day, and getting paid like $80-90 Gs a year.

I am planning on goin there within the next year, Ive looked into it a little bit and its a 14 month program and tuition is like $35,000 for the year.

still waiting for thy's and freak's answers

ill give you my answer (and my opinion)- but you might not like it....

SAE is a crock - certainly the degree course in london is.
I learnt far far more from my previous course (which was supposed to be at a lesser level than a degree) prior to going to SAE.
The neve and SSL stuff is good- not that you can get to use it much- as it is so busy and competed for. The tape editing and digital editing is not really up to much- nothing a competent person with a computer or a reel to reel and a copy of sound on sound or future music wouldnt know.
The copywrite module was the most useful thing i did there and the lecturer was fantastic.
They seem to promote a very set way of doing things in some respects- despite claiming to encourage creativity 'on all levels'

All my personal opinion- so much was promised and it was a bnig big let down.
Others i know got on well there and got jobs as tea boys afterwards

It may have changed a bit tho- i left several years ago- i was in one of the first years of the degree there and it was still being tidied up etc


youd be better of trying to get a job as a tea boy/junior tape op/night recptionist or something in a studio and working your way up...
even with a degree you will still have to start at the bottom as a tea boy or something in a studio.

Spend the cash on some eqpt and living while you work your way up from tea boy to engineeer IMHO. If it had been my own money(i was lucky enough to get the govt. to pay for it) i would have left very soon after starting methinks- in fact 5 people left within 2 or 3 months if i recall correctly.

the whole business is built on the buddy system and who you know- rather than what you know. Harsh but true. (same as the djing world as i have found out)


just my 2 euros worth- make of it what you will.