Career crisis. Please help my sorry ass.

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MichaelAlan
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Career crisis. Please help my sorry ass.

Post by MichaelAlan » Wed Jan 04, 2012 7:04 pm

Hey guys... long time no post... I was hoping you guys had some advise for me, here goes: I've always been just like you guys; I love making, recording and listening to music constantly. Some of it has been posted here over the years... I even tried to make a band work for the first 5 years of my adult life. On new years I made a bad decision that promises to end my career which has never suited me (paramedic) and which I really only chose to please a girl I am no longer with (speaking of bad decisions...). I am 29. I have been looking at it as a way to start over and really do something I enjoy. My job was always just something I did for money (very little) and instead of bumming out and wallowing, I'm trying to be positive and think of it as a clean slate...sorta. Anyway, my question is: is there any real validity to college programs concerning music production and recording? Not community college but something like AI or another trade school? This could be the lamest thing ever but I ran across something called Recording Connection which seems to be an agency of sorts that hooks you up with apprenticeships in recording studios. My buddy went to AI as a web designer and is in Seattle doing great so I was first attracted to their audio production program. I'm sure first instinct for many of you is to say run the other way and leave music and recording as a hobby. But I refuse to do something anymore that I don't like just for money and I really am not good at a damn thing else. I'm a musician bum and that's about all I really got goin for me. AAAAAAAAnd....Go.



Mike



edit: i didn't know where else to put this.... move if nesessary....
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Post by standup » Wed Jan 04, 2012 7:25 pm

What is AI?

I don't really have good advice for you. I've been playing and recording stuff forever, but never did recording for pay. Then I got layed off, and I've been doing freelance graphic design (which is the same profession I was layed off ... from? In?). Anyway, that results in paying the bills just barely and a lot of free time. So I started putting an ad on Criagslist for recording services. Since then I've been doing 10 hours a month or something recording people. Pays groceries and gas, maybe. But I'm meeting good people and doing good stuff.

Hope that info helps in some way. Instead of a degree or certificate, you could just start putting the word out that you record audio.

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wesley.wittich
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Post by wesley.wittich » Wed Jan 04, 2012 7:28 pm

Forget school. Seriously.

If you really enjoy music, music production, recording, etc. and are self-motivated, then most schools have nothing to offer you but debt. I'm going to Belmont University right now for audio, and while I've had some great opportunities, 90% of everything I've learned has been outside of class. I've learned more from this message board than from my audio classes. I've spent a lot of time just dicking around in the studio, trying stuff with friends, setting up tons of mics and flipping through them. Ultimately, I'm here because I want/need (depending on how you look at it) a piece of paper that says I can jump through hoops for 4 years. Yea, I got some good out of those four years too, but if you aren't looking for the whole 'degree' thing, there are much better, more efficient, cheaper ways to learn.

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MichaelAlan
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Post by MichaelAlan » Wed Jan 04, 2012 8:35 pm

So far, so good. And kind of what I expected. I know it's been brought up before over the last 7 years here. I def. dont need a degree or anything, I'm just sick of doing shit I don't care for just to pay bills on stuff I dont need and living a life someone else was hoping I would lead... 1/3 life crisis I guess?
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Post by drumsound » Thu Jan 05, 2012 12:10 am

Can you deal with touring? It just seems like playing, or mixing front of house or monitors, is a more lucrative venture, with less money invested.

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Post by wren » Thu Jan 05, 2012 3:46 am

I almost finished writing a fairly long post, then realized it might not be that helpful without knowing whether or not you're looking purely at studio jobs or whether you're hoping to somehow make a living doing sound, however that may manifest itself.

But the short, less-involved version goes like this: I will give a +1 to Tony's post - touring is where the money is. And I'll take it a step further and say: if you're looking to make some kind of living right out of the gate, music is probably not where the money is either (this depends somewhat on where you live, though).
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Post by farview » Thu Jan 05, 2012 7:32 am

I've had some dealings with Recording Connection, as a studio owner that was sent interns. I'm not a big fan. Your 'education' will depend entirely on the studio that they get you into. The guy(s) at the studio become your teachers and give you your tests, so you are at the mercy of how busy they are. They teach out of a book that every recordist should have (and for some reason I can't think of right now).

It's really a waste of time, unless they happen to get you into a really big studio and you happen to be a rock star engineer in the first place. But the only thing you would be buying is a networking opportunity, not an audio education.

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Post by Nick Sevilla » Thu Jan 05, 2012 8:20 am

1.- Don't Quit Your Day Job.

2.- Don't buy new gear you do not need.

3.- Figure out Exactly what it is you want to do in this career field.

4.- Stay away from the recording schools. They are a waste of money for someone like you, who has some idea of which button is the record, and which the play.

Cheers
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MichaelAlan
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Post by MichaelAlan » Thu Jan 05, 2012 1:44 pm

Drumsound: I can deal with touring, I got nothing holding me here in SoCal anymore sooo... good suggestion.
Standup: As far as AI, it's a trade school I guess but you actually graduate with a real bachelors degree in science.
Farview: Thanks man, all I needed to hear. It sounded like BS anyway.
Nick: 1. Dont have a day job anymore.
2. agreed.
3. That's the hard part I guess....
4. I hear ya.


5. Thank you guys for the advise.... soaking it all in...lettin' it marinade....
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Post by dsw » Thu Jan 05, 2012 3:46 pm

Studio work is not the kind of thing you can just start doing at the level where you make a living (with school or without school.) If you are a complete newbie and you hate learning from you tube video's, books, or watching friends over their shoulder, then school might have some value, but it won't get you a job and if it did that job will not pay a living wage.

Them what makes a living in a studio owns a studio and took many moons to build up their clientele and reputation to get to the point where they are making a living. Many have a partner with a good job or work part-time or even full time themselves at another profession.

Consider how fun it is to record music. Now consider how many other people want to record for a living. Now consider how relatively cheap it is to records these days. Recording is very competitive and rarely lucrative. There are exceptions to every rule of course, but if I was you I'd skip school and find a job.
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Post by kslight » Thu Jan 05, 2012 4:22 pm

I wouldn't suggest spending the money on recording school, or expect to land a career when said recording school was complete...speaking from experience.

Maybe what you need to do is try to network yourself with local studio owners and see if you can get in anywhere. Buddy up with the live sound guys too. Since you quit your day job you have the un-enviable opportunity of being able to work whatever random potentially shitty hours you can get for less money than you'd like (that you'd normally not be able to do if you had to hold down a day job).

Maybe that's not the answer you're looking for, but if you want a recording job that seems like the best way to go about doing it if you are not currently independently wealthy.

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Post by honkyjonk » Thu Jan 05, 2012 4:54 pm

You just need to move to where the music is. But, it sounds like you're already close to LA. The only thing recording schools are good for is networking (if we're using dot com terminology) But, that is, after all, pretty important in regards to getting paid.

There's some things that almost always work fairly well, like LA2A's on vocals or something, but those pieces of gear are so valued because of that fact that you generally only learn that shit after being in places that have them.

Most things, ime, are very relative to circumstance. A different room means so much to everything involved, that depending on where you're recording, it could negate tons of shit that you may have learned as proper procedure, blah blah blah.

The only thing you have to be prepared for is to somehow be a badass when the right person/band is around. There's a lot of people who are professionals who just happened to be in the right spot at the right time, and cock sure enough to actually pull something off.

Just be where the music is, go to shows, offer to record shit for free, try to figure out how to make shit good regardless of the room it's recorded in, make connections. I don't know. That's my advice.

Unless you're the one making the music. Then, just try to make a masterpiece. Bury yourself away if you have to. Blow everybody off until it's done. And then shove it down the right asshole's throat.
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honkyjonk
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Post by honkyjonk » Thu Jan 05, 2012 4:57 pm

Let me add to that last post by mentioning that if the world really is ending on Dec. 21st, and you want to have a good time, fuck around with some recording geek buddies, smoke a bunch of weed, then recording school IS where it's at! RAWK ON brother!
Stilgar, we've got wormsign the likes of which God has never seen!

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MichaelAlan
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Post by MichaelAlan » Thu Jan 05, 2012 6:03 pm

honkyjonk wrote:Let me add to that last post by mentioning that if the world really is ending on Dec. 21st, and you want to have a good time, fuck around with some recording geek buddies, smoke a bunch of weed, then recording school IS where it's at! RAWK ON brother!

Right on man, good advise...! You crack me up! Seriously though good advise guys thank you.
All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet...

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RodC
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Post by RodC » Fri Jan 06, 2012 8:50 am

Go to school for something that guarantees good money, if you want some security and stability.

Continue to persue your music, you will have time for both.

Too many ppl are going to be shitting themselves when they hit 65 - 70 and they have nothing.

Sucks I know you dont want to hear it, and I guess it depends on how much you are willing to sacriafice now or later.
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