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Music School? Is it Worth It?
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| Vida1003 |
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. |
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| Sushipunk |
| quote: | Originally posted by TranceElevation
i dunno |
Well, that was helpful... |
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| Floorfiller |
| imo i would finish you computer science degree and continue music production on the side. but what do i know. |
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| djnitride |
| 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. |
+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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| TranceElevation |
| quote: | Originally posted by Sushipunk
Well, that was helpful... |
uhm? |
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| cryophonik |
| quote: | 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. :) |
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| zodiac9 |
| 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. |
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| Mr.Mystery |
| An education for producing trap? Surely this is a joke? |
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| zodiac9 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Mr.Mystery
An education for producing trap? Surely this is a joke? |
:stongue::stongue::stongue::stongue::stongue:
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! |
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| DJ RANN |
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 ing 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 ing 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 ing lick. |
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| Storyteller |
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 ;). |
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