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Going to school for sound engineering?
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| nrjizer |
I figured I'd toss this question up in here. I've been weighing my college options lately, and I've been considering majoring in something like sound engineering/music production, for two reasons basically:
First, I currently DJ and really want to start producing more. The problem is, I have neither the time nor patience to teach myself, nor the money or resources to get my hands on some serious equipment. I play around with Reason and have made some cool little experiments, so I have a fairly solid understanding of track structure/formation, but that's about it.
Second, I think it would be a great day job. Even if my music and spinning sucks and I can't make it that way, I think working in a studio as an engineer for others would be a damn cool way to make a living.
But I don't really know a lot about these kind of things. Is this even feasable? Is there any demand for studio engineers at all? Would I be scraping by on peanuts each month? Would I be getting a good grasp of the equipment and how to use it to make my own creations? Is this just a pipedream?
If you have any knowledge on this sort of thing... your opinion would be much appreciated. Oh yeah, if you know any colleges around the US that offer a program like that, let me know. |
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| matpocx |
bro skip, i went to
five towns in ny
look it up its a joke
ull end up working in sam ash
heres the deal record comanies are not firing and most ppl have mohe studios |
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| Miss Bliss |
| I went to SAE... If you think your gonna learned to producer your thinking wrong... You learn how to be a engineer..... I gotta admit i learned a load about mic placement and EQing and how to use large consoles and post production but nothing for production. But i have made a lot of connections... |
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| josh |
| quote: | Originally posted by Miss Bliss
I went to SAE... If you think your gonna learned to producer your thinking wrong... You learn how to be a engineer..... I gotta admit i learned a load about mic placement and EQing and how to use large consoles and post production but nothing for production. |
Thats true. I Grad from SAE as well.
Btw, what u learn is to mix the song and mix technique. Nothing regarding on how u gonna produce a music. Thats all. Yes they teach Midi, Mastering mixing. But to mention on how to start up to produce Trance, nah.. its never shown on SAE>:) |
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| Resequenced |
SAE in New York City has a program in Electronic Music Production where you're required to experiment with stuff in Trance, Hip Hop, Jungle, etc. and then you DJ them behind the decks and stuff.
However, this is only an enrichment course to get a better understanding of the gear and the techniques required to accomplish your production goals. It's not an actual degree.. |
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| fr0st |
| quote: | Originally posted by Miss Bliss
I went to SAE... If you think your gonna learned to producer your thinking wrong... You learn how to be a engineer..... I gotta admit i learned a load about mic placement and EQing and how to use large consoles and post production but nothing for production. But i have made a lot of connections... |
this is me btw.... |
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| nrjizer |
Well, here's what I found that's making me wonder ( LINK ). I can always just take other courses along the side, or even change major if I feel like it.
I don't expect to come out of there knowing how to churn out records. Like I said, I already have a solid understanding of dance music and how it's supposed to sound. What I lack is a good understanding of the tools (the software and hardware), as well as the time, patience, and money to teach them to myself. That's what I'm after.
What I'd really love more than anything is to make a living by producing/spinning. Of course, so would everyone else on this forum. I'm not going to place my financal future on it though. The idea behind something like this though is that I could get a day job working in a studio as an engineer (like Charlie May and Nick Muir and those guys do... maybe not for an A list DJ of course). That's the idea. I'm wondering if that's feasable at all. |
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| nrjizer |
| And the other thing is, I think it would be a great way to get together with some people to collaborate! |
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| No Left Turn |
I agree with Miss Bliss. I currently attend Ex'pression in California, and the Sound Arts program teaches you how to engineer songs by giving you hands on experience with industry standard tools. So in that aspect, you'll really learn how to do what other people want you to.
As far as learning how to make your own music, that's more something you'd find at a 4year college or a Music School through Music Theory and Composition courses. |
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| Derivative |
i dunno about in the states but over here, you have broadly two options, acoustical engineering (which is practically straight up maths, resonance through various materials, spectra analysis etc) and theres pure music which requires a proficiency in a particular instrument, a solid foundation in music theory, ability to sight read and perform solo and with others. this is the same but more so at university level. in southampton uni they offer various multi discipline courses that offer a combination of units from performance through to management and engineering or you can specialise in a particular field, the engineering or performance side for a single honours degree. i opted out of doing music for a degree because
1) i suck at math. i suck at physics and i didnt meet the entry requirements in maths to do any of the engineering based units.
2) im a self taught guitarist of 8 years. consequently i have huge gaps in my knowledge of music theory where i just improvised my way through it. also, my sight reading is poor. aside from these reasons the idea of studying music as a discipline grounded in theory didnt strike me as particularly exciting. i knew id have to play go through scales and modes and harmonics all over again and all of this is tedious as ing hell. id have to transcribe other people's work, write compositions based upon strict aspects of theory. etc. which led me to the ultimate conclusion that...
3) if you study something because you have to, not because you want to then you will invariably come to hate it. i eventually did this with my english degree. especially by the end when the exams and theoretical side of it all starts hitting you in waves.
ultimately its your choice what you want to do, but dont do it cuz you like the idea of the job opportunities at the end of it. or because you wanna be 'something' by the end of it. you have to really ing love doing it to see it through to any kind of proffessional outcome. it just so happened i hated maths. and i hated learning theory. if you like that stuff, a music + audio engineering major and then a degree will probably be for you. |
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| nrjizer |
Well, this is the course that caught my eye:
http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Music/computer.html
and
http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Mu...p_research.html
That looks like everything I want. Lots of hands on studio experience + music theory and some other misc stuff.
I'm not just doing this to get a day job. I WANT to learn studio gear and I WANT to learn music theory, because I have every desire and intention of producing my own tracks - I just have no time, energy, or money to teach myself. Not only does this give me the experience with the tools that I want, it also gives me a degree which can give me a day job as an engineer - something I'd be interested in even if my own tracks suck. |
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| Derivative |
| sounds like you've made up your mind then. |
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