How many went to school?

[ayo4yayo]

Anyone have a degree in music recording/engineering? I was thinking about taking a couple of classes on these. I know most of yall just figure everything out on your own but I want to make a career out of this. Not just make beats but maybe an audio engineer. any thoughts?

I found this brochure.

http://www.cel.sfsu.edu/brochures/fall07/music.pdf

 

[GHP]

lol don't get me started

 

[DJ_JG]

^ What do you mean?

I'm interested in this too. I have about 2 years hands on experience, but that was only once a week. The last 6 months of those 2 years are when I really started recording artists a lot.

I'm bout to take Pro Tools 101 during the summer at State so I have at least a lil certification.

 

[GHP]

I am an audio school graduate, I spent 14 grand and all i got was a lousy t-shirt. I was supposed to get internship placement from the school, that shit never happened. Had bills had to get a real job after waiting by the phone for 2 months for the schools internship department to place me somewhere in which they never delivered. Those schools are pretty much in business to churn out free labor to NY LA and Nashville studios. These schools will tell you anything you want to hear to get you in then the harsh reality sets in when you start attending classes. By no means was I a burn out I got out of my school with a 3.5 GPA and had perfect attendance, I was fucked.

The pro tools certifications aren't anything special you would walk out with the same knowledge of that program if you bought the shit from guitar center and you got the free training they offer. Out of the people in my class after 3 years only a handful of them are still in the industry and they aren't big time or anything. I know one guy who landed a job at Apple because he got a logic certification he probably ended up better than anyone else i know that went there while I was there, that cert was probably the toughest one to obtain there and it was volentary. Most of them including myself couldnt afford to be a studio slave and had to get a real job, its a harsh reality.

I'm just saying from an educational investment standpoint it is a really bad idea, I wish I spent all that student loan money on a real degree i can use in the real world. If the shit don't pan out no one will take whatever degree or certificate you obtained seriously. It is a big gamble if you decide to persue that path, you basically spend all that money and bust your ass to maybe get an unpaid internship MAYBE. The people who do make it are the folks who really really want it more than life itself and are willing to sacrifice everything in life to make it happen and still only about one out of 100 of those guys make it past their first couple of years. it is a real big risk.

Honestly If you are serious I'd spend the money you would have spent on school on gear and books considering you are gonna spend anywhere between 15-80 thousand dollars on this type of education. My homie spent way less going to SJSU for 4 years than my one year at cras and hes making over 100 grand a year. You do the math. I'm currently going back to school going after a real degree that i should have done in the first place.

 

[BOOBOO619]

I am an audio school graduate, I spent 14 grand and all i got was a lousy t-shirt. I was supposed to get internship placement from the school, that shit never happened. Had bills had to get a real job after waiting by the phone for 2 months for the schools internship department to place me somewhere in which they never delivered. Those schools are pretty much in business to churn out free labor to NY LA and Nashville studios. These schools will tell you anything you want to hear to get you in then the harsh reality sets in when you start attending classes. By no means was I a burn out I got out of my school with a 3.5 GPA and had perfect attendance, I was fucked.

The pro tools certifications aren't anything special you would walk out with the same knowledge of that program if you bought the shit from guitar center and you got the free training they offer. Out of the people in my class after 3 years only a handful of them are still in the industry and they aren't big time or anything. I know one guy who landed a job at Apple because he got a logic certification he probably ended up better than anyone else i know that went there while I was there, that cert was probably the toughest one to obtain there and it was volentary. Most of them including myself couldnt afford to be a studio slave and had to get a real job, its a harsh reality.

I'm just saying from an educational investment standpoint it is a really bad idea, I wish I spent all that student loan money on a real degree i can use in the real world. If the shit don't pan out no one will take whatever degree or certificate you obtained seriously. It is a big gamble if you decide to persue that path, you basically spend all that money and bust your ass to maybe get an unpaid internship MAYBE. The people who do make it are the folks who really really want it more than life itself and are willing to sacrifice everything in life to make it happen and still only about one out of 100 of those guys make it past their first couple of years. it is a real big risk.

Honestly If you are serious I'd spend the money you would have spent on school on gear and books considering you are gonna spend anywhere between 15-80 thousand dollars on this type of education. My homie spent way less going to SJSU for 4 years than my one year at cras and hes making over 100 grand a year. You do the math. I'm currently going back to school going after a real degree that i should have done in the first place.

Sounds fucked up man. But yeah I understand. I think the whole music industry is just more about who you know. There's just too much competition in that field and money involved to allow your average Joe succeed. I think as a engineer you just got to make a name for yourself, just as producers make a name for themselves. You have to build up that reputation. I'm sure every top rapper, band, knows which engineer to go to already. They sure as hell ain't going to go to you, me or any other person on this site for engineering if we haven't already worked on a successful album. Like you said, I think you honestly have to LIVE the life of music, live in big entertainment cities like LA/NY, and network like crazy. You have to be a nosey fuck and be out there with the artists.


I dunno, I probably would try to land a job working the audio for news stations, sport events and such if my intention was to pursue audio engineering. Seems more realistic than the music industry. Being a Foley artist seems cool as well.

 

[Mr. Samos]

Like Jayda said, I would go to school for something else. You can always apply for internship/slave part time at every local studio in your area. I'm sure someone will pick you up if you really have the drive and the desire to work your way up from the bottom, that's better than any audio production/recording education you can get in any school. And while doing that part time, you can go to school for something else!

Either way, if you want to pursue music, you should always have something to fall back on.

 

[GHP]

like I said you have to be willing to make some sacrifices that more often than not will outweigh the odds of success. It is a fact that most people who are in the industry didnt get where they are now because they went to audio engineering school, they had the resources to start at the bottom be a studio slave for however long it took them to pay their dues to finally make it behind the console or if they sucked at that the studio manager died and they landed that job. If you have the ability to work for 40-60 hours a week for nothing you might have a chance and thats a big might.

 

[siccness-user]

yup, just tell your local studio you will work there for free(as an assistant) in exchange of learning how they work

they say that with the increase of home software, audio engineers are less in demand

i took a season class, if you ask me... they teach you a whole bunch of stuff that youll never use, just some overkill

imo

 

[3VID3NC3]

Yeah I definetly wouldn't pay big $ to go an audio/recording arts school unless you plan on living in LA or NY and have interests in other fields of audio engineering aside from just music.


I went to the Los Medanos JC in pittsburg and got my RA certificate.. I dont regret it at all even tho I dont have a job in sound or engineering and I had to commute everyday to get there. It wasn't expensive and I learned alot. After doing an internship at a local recording studio for a couple weeks I came to the conclussion theres no way I would ever want to be hired there or probally many other recording studios across the country. Just wasn't feelin the vibe of the place and how people were being treated. Alot of internships can be pretty fuckin abusive and like jayda said, you gotta really want it more than life to do it and even then, theres no gaurantee anything positive will come out of it. Just didn't seem worth it to me.

 

[3VID3NC3]

yup, just tell your local studio you will work there for free(as an assistant) in exchange of learning how they work

That can be a bigger commitment then it seems tho...
Workin 12-16 hr days without any days off for weeks straight and without any pay is no joke and brutal. Especially when you gotta worry about gas and meals too.

Also I dont think anywhere would hire someone as an "assistant" right away. You would be more of an intern aka the owner/managers slave.

 

[siccness-user]

That can be a bigger commitment then it seems tho...
Workin 12-16 hr days without any days off for weeks straight and without any pay is no joke and brutal. Especially when you gotta worry about gas and meals too.

Also I dont think anywhere would hire someone as an "assistant" right away. You would be more of an intern aka the owner/managers slave.

yeah, i only worked there for about 2 hours every other day,

i actually quit after 2 months cause the slaving pissed me off, but i got to take a closer look on how people record, and recorded a few people myself

it was a good intro to the whole recording thing

 

[3VID3NC3]

yeah, i only worked there for about 2 hours every other day,

i actually quit after 2 months cause the slaving pissed me off, but i got to take a closer look on how people record, and recorded a few people myself

it was a good intro to the whole recording thing

2 hrs is nothing...seems like a pretty good deal if your in the lab while the recording was going on.

I wasn't even in the studio a whole lot when there was recording going on while I was an intern and I was practically living there with the hours I was pullin..shit was a joke.

 

[Mr. Samos]

That can be a bigger commitment then it seems tho...
Workin 12-16 hr days without any days off for weeks straight and without any pay is no joke and brutal. Especially when you gotta worry about gas and meals too.

Also I dont think anywhere would hire someone as an "assistant" right away. You would be more of an intern aka the owner/managers slave.

Ok dude who said 12-16 hour days without any days off for weeks without pay? That's just being fucking stupid!

I did not recommend anything even relatively close to this I simply stated part time, which is no more than 4 hours a day, a few times times a week. You don't need much more than that to learn. People will respect the fact that your going to college/university and I would imagine if he is going to school for something else, to fall back on, he will have to have a real job also, so part time, a few times a week is all one would be able to afford in that type of situation.

I mean we are talking about an internship at a recording studio, not a fucking big corporate multi-billion dollar law firm. Don't break your balls over it!

 

[3VID3NC3]

Ok dude who said 12-16 hour days without any days off for weeks without pay? That's just being fucking stupid!

Prairie Sun Recordings..

Also I never said you recommended it...Im simply stating thats the way it is at some recording studios and thats what I have been through in my experiece...If I would've known of any other local studios that were willing to except 4 hrs of work for a few days a week I would've much rather done that, but from what I've heard alot of other studios can be abusive aswell.

 

[DJ_JG]

Damn, sorry to hear bout that jayda. Keep pushin tho, not everyone starts off successful. I understand you gotta start off at the bottom.

I probably know most of the stuff in Pro Tools 101 after 2 years. But who knows, I might make some connections, or the certificate might help me somewhere down the road.

When you say real degree, what kind of degree do you think is helpful? Are any of the music business or music degrees worth it?

 

[MALKI]

my friend who i known for a long time graduated from expressions college and now is an enginner at 17 hertz. i think he paid about 70 grand though. after he graduated he had to intern there for 3-4 months no pay but now he hired and he do almost every session up there. but he likes the studio so much he practically lives there he damn near eat sleep and shit engineering. personally i couldnt do it i got other shit to do than record other people for 25 bucks an hour.

 

[GHP]

Music Business degrees would be considered a clown college degree too I'd advise against that too. We had a music business class and I got an A in it. Most people involved in music business in the industry are lawyers that are skilled in copyright law.

When I say real degree I mean go to college and get a business degree or something, your chances at success are much better. Right now my master plan is to get my degree in global busines, get myself a better paying job and piece by piece get myself my own gear and take it as something I do for my own enjoyment and if the money comes it it will be an added bonus. My priorities have shifted, I'm in the process of buying a house and thats gonna tap me and recording gear will have to come later.

 

[MALKI]

^nah blood u could make it with the degree you got but i can definetly see you dont have the state of mind required. you have a very negative view about the education you recieved which is going to instantly hold you back. you went back on your first plan for the reason i do not know why. always stick with what you believe in and do not go back on your plan - dont give up. you gotta be a go getter.

like i said my patna he makin 25 an hour right now but he got everybody and they mama on his resume now i mean dude done recorded for everyone in the bay not to mention aaron cartor (lol), bun b, e-40 etc. after a few years of "paying dues" its going to be nothing to step it up to some major engineering deal or his own type of studio. see he got that drive he WANTS to be in the studio and really doesn't give a shit thats gonna take him places

 

[MALKI]

not tryin to hate but, $25 an hour is pretty weak for having a college degree. i make more than that now (i just turned 24) and have no degree. plus i'm pretty sure the folks at 17 Hertz don't get booked for 40 hours a week. that's pretty rough considering the client list that they have (btw, i heard E-40 only ever went there once). having a positive attitude is fine, but you gotta be real about it sometime. you don't go into any career hoping to be broke, especially the music industry- especially when recording platinum artists keeps you broke. You gotta follow your dreams, but put it in perspective. nothing is promised and you have a lot to lose by committing that much time and money to such an uncertain future.

well i feel u on that thats why i aint doing it myself lol. but as far as my patna goes he defiently gets more than 40 hours a week i mean he probobly spends almost every hour of the day from sun up to sun down in that motha fucka. smokes hella weed. slaps all the new shit (tear gas, i done heard some slaps off it - bananas) makin his money, and trust me he pretty good at engineering and i can see him doing it way bigger. if u think about it he is paying his dues right now only 22 like me so in a few years he will move onto bigger and better things. even though he only get 25 an hour he get to live at dude house who own the studio for free so thats an added bonus. and he get 150 to mix a song i forgot and that only take him 2 hours so thats 75 an hour to mix it aint bad if its what you like to do. and aint nothing in life promised id rather do what i like to do than be a scared little pussy doing some shit that i dont want to do cuz i was scared to do some real shit.

 

[inasense206]

get a degree in business... then take classes that you would need so you can run a studio (engineering, mixing, mastering... whol 9 yards) and start your own shit.. i know a dude that went to school at the art institute for it... and i dont think hes doin anything right now...