education in recording

[pvassil3]

Who here has had schooling for recording if so where, did it help, and was it worth it? im heading to full sail in about two weeks and i was wondering if i should further my education after my associates degree or just jump into the field and work my ass off.

[jca83]

there's like 8 million threads about this, but i'll bite.

I go to MTSU. it rocks. i would be a total recording retard without it. now i'm only a slight recording retard.

study hard, get involved, DO DO DO. it's all about how much you're working, what you do, etc.

i help out on other's sessions, invite tons of people to mine, i am involved in the student chapters of AES and SMPTE, help with professor's sessions, help with special events, etc. do as MUCH as possible. it helps a lot. i promise. you'll learn so much, make tons of friends, and actually have work to do when you're ready to leave.

i scored an internship because of my involvement with the faculty and student orgs on campus. it's worth it, if you push yourself and do well in classes, and get involved.

[@?,*???&?]

All the distractions will be the same regardless of where you go to school. I didn't go to school to do this, but I did spend a zillion hours in broadcast facilities from age 15 to 23 doing absolutely any work I could. Lots of great training in that domain. Much of it related to multi-track recording. The problem with school- especially one with a short program like Full Sail, is that it is too short. In a major facility, there's usually alot of troubleshooting that goes on to determine what piece of gear is the weak link in the chain or why the signal flow is screwed up or where that 'click' is coming from. There is also alot of comparative listening. Does one prefer 'a' or 'b'? As stated in the previous post, get involved and stay involved. Pay attention even to the most mundane repetitious task and be prepared to take over if necessary. I have worked with assistant engineers in the past that don't stay in the control room (their domain to master) and that aren't ready to 'do the punch' if I have to take a phone call. You should be almost more eager to be the engineer on the session than the engineer. That will always get you work in the future and will gurantee that you become the commodity. Mostly though, be prepared to spent long hours doing what you are setting out to do. When you are in school, you should make 12 hours of your day about recording, engineering and music as that will be your typical workday once you graduate and become a runner at a big facility. 2 years after getting that job, you'll become an assistant because you'll have a tangible knowledge or you'll have befriended a regular client. Then you can count on 4-5 years assisting at the steady going rate of $10 per hour at which point, you could likely become freelance engineer.

[Professor]

I went to school as a part timer in a graduate program for recording (after an undergrad program in music performance) but I'll echo the theme here of experience being key.
I had learned about recording as an undergrad by working as a student recording tech for recital recordings, etc. and also by reading as much as I could on the subject and starting my own collection of recording gear to do small location recording projects. When I started on the grad program (oh, University of Colorado at Denver) I signed on right away to be a 'lab monitor' for two nights a week which was basically the job of checking out gear to the other students for their sessions, answering questions or helping through problems, and locking the doors after they left. The experience I had as a lab monitor was kind of like learning the studios in fast-forward because I had to answer the questions for the other folks, or get them through their difficulties in dealing with all the different consoles, recorders, etc. I was also able to sit in on sessions and see what was being done by everyone else, and ocassionally get involved either through suggestions or actually assisting on their sessions.
Between all of the assistance, and my own projects at the school, and the classes, and the reading, and my own 'side-business' of location recording, I learned an awful lot in a very short span of time. There were other things that contributed, like the day-jobs installing high-end home theater systems, or selling pro audio equipment, and other projects, but the education or rather the experience within the framework of the education has definitely been a centerpiece.
In the end, the degree will get you through the door but the knowledge and experience and character will get you the job. And that's not just for recording because the same holds true for any career you can imagine.

-Jeremy

[Ronan]

Who here has had schooling for recording if so where, did it help, and was it worth it? im heading to full sail in about two weeks and i was wondering if i should further my education after my associates degree or just jump into the field and work my ass off.

I actually studied a little bit at Berklee a long while back. The best things I learned were actaully the music education aspect (arranging etc). Good luck at Full Sail. You are about to lay out a ton of cash, so take is seriously. Jeff's comments were great. You really need to live recording while you are there. Work and study 15-20 hours a day 6 or 7 days a week. At these kinds of schools, the most important expereiences you get there will be outside the class room. Make freinds with some other folks there that are insanely obsessed about recording and hang out with them. Live, eat, breath recording. You will be fighting with other folks for studio time, one way to get extra experience is to ask your buddies if you can sit in with them. Wrap cables for your buddies or sit in the corner. Just get in the studio and find ways to live there.

Your Full Sail degree will not mean much to any one in the real world, nor will any degree you get after that unless you study something like electical engineering. Get yourself in the real world as fast as possible.

When you get into the real world of trying to make a living in music recording (about as safe a bet as trying to make a living in pro baseball), the things that will matter most are your people skills, dumb luck to be attatched to projects that sell well, and your ability to get people to trust you with their music. I sound like an alarmist, but its really true that you need to be prepared to put everything else in your life on the back burner to have a career in music recording. Best of luck with the adventure.

[Brian]

Didn't ya just know I would have to chime in here. The other guys who've chimed in will vouch for me, I'm a total BORE.
I'm old, I'm mean. That said, I didn't got too school for this but scored an INVALUABLE INTERNSHIP at a full blown facility owned by instructors of the audio program in the BEST school in Manhattan, and artists. Work And Intern. Many of the interns that were there when I went were audio school grads from ALL the audio schoools AIR, ART, CMA, Full Sail, Caribou Ranch, all of them. Don't fall into the trap they did. GO TO SCHOOL don't cop an attitude at an internship unless you've thought about it for at least 3 days after you've been TOLD to do something. Don't do ANYTHING half ass. Ask WHY WHY WHY and learn some electronics for cryin out loud, You'll be glad you did. If yoyu kick ass, this can be one of the least rewarding careers as far as notariety and one of the most as far as doing what you love. You'll know when you're good, you'll have gigs pop outta thin air and be busier than shit all the time.(and meet lotsa famous and or sexy people).

[Brian]

and out comes my BORE, I just read Ronan's post. What he says is true!
Live this if you're any good when you get out.:
Luck is when prep meets opportunity.
You do the prep, Why not put yourself in position to get the opportunity. Don't be weird about it , but, be there. You'll get better odds than baseball and better gigs. Stick to your guns about timing and you won't have to put everything else on hold either.

Stop laughing, Ronan!

[Professor]

Forgive me if this starts to sound just a bit parental but...

Live, eat, breath recording.

You will note that he didn't say "smoke, snort and drink recording".
Leave the partying to musicians and to the guys who want to work at coffee shops when they finish school. Stay serious about what you want and feel the thrilling high of a perfect edit or a vocal that jumps out of the speakers or curls up in your lap. It will become addictive and it won't even leave a hang-over (most of the time).
Don't get me wrong, you should enjoy your time at school, make friends, visit the beach, go to Disneyworld and everything but just remember that every night that is spent staring at the meaningful swirls of light radiating from the bottom of the toilet, or passed out on a random floor, is a night that someone else is spending in the studio becoming more intimately familiar with the sonic wonders of the Neumann U-47 and in the highly competitive world that is pro recording one of these activities is infinitely more valuable after graduation.

Again, sorry if that was too parental - but you asked for advice.

-Jeremy

[Brian]

I second that emotion! Here Here! No fuckin up! It's a career killer.