Online/at-home audio recording classes: worthwhile?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mr. Moon
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Mr. Moon

Mr. Moon

Force of Naked
Long story short (I hope...):

I have set up a small home studio and would like to get some background education to help with my recording technique and abilities. I have checked out the area technical colleges, universities, and private audio recording schools, but they are all too expensive and my full-time job would keep me from being able to attend any more than on a part-time basis. I do not have the 5 million dollars it would take to purchase all the books I would need from Amazon.com, and I'm also looking for the structure of a lesson plan to help guide me in my studies.

Are there any worthwhile online or "at-home" educational programs that would adequately provide the background information that I am looking for? Or, as I fear, are they not worth the money. Either of these kinds of programs would work for me, as I have free time at work to study, but I have to be in my office a certain number of hours per day, and my workplace will not cover the costs of this kind of trading because it is not directly related to my job duties.

Anyone have experience with the Audio Institute of America (AIA): www.audioinstitute.com? I found their ad in "Mix" magazine. I have tried to find complaints filed against them, etc., online, and so far I have not been able to find any negative feedback regarding them. Anyone have experience with the Recording Institute of Detroit (www.alexandermagazine.com)?

Again, I'm just looking for a decent overall background education, not specific information on different consoles, etc., that would really require "hands-on" training. Any info/advice would be appreciated.

-mr moon
 
I am sure that I have a link to some video tutorials in my favorites.

I will find them for you in a few minutes. However, in the meantime..... you can do some reading here...

http://www.studiocovers.com/

peace...

spin
 
What's wrong with the info here? It's free and ready when you want it. If you feel better paying you can donate by PayPal ;)
 
TexRoadkill said:
What's wrong with the info here? It's free and ready when you want it. If you feel better paying you can donate by PayPal ;)
Click to expand...

I agree with TexRoadkill.

spin
 
Wow! Great responses!!

First off, I did NOT mean to offend anyone, especially those who post info here... I have gained so much knowledge since I started perusing the forum here, far too much to believe.... What I'm looking for is more of the theoretical background and educational structure that a curriculum class can give me, as there's all this info floating around out there and I have a hard time tying it all together.

Here's where I'm at now.... There is a sh1tload of info posted here and at other sites, but where do I begin, and how is it all related? I have tried to sift through the vast storehouse of info that's out there (especially at studiocovers.com), but because I have no idea of how it relates to one another on a basic level, or what concepts I need master to be able to understand another concept, I get lost. For example, how can I really understand the concept of compression, when I don't know what a compressor does to a sound wave, and how the sound wave interacts with other sound waves, how a normal sound wave behaves when not compressed, etc., and so on.. Every advanced concept is based on an understanding of certain basic concepts and principles, which I don't feel like I have a good enough grasp of. What are all the "basic" concepts that I need before I can move on to more "advanced" concepts? See what I mean? This is the kind of structured guidance I think a class could give me.

Due to the online info at studiocovers and these message boards, I can use different effects and make things work. That's all good, but I want to dig deeper and find out the reasons why things work the way they do, so I know how to create the best sound I can based on my own knowledge of how things work, rather than because I've been told by this article not to do this and this at the same time...

I'm probably making no sense, and maybe sounding like a snotty-nosed kid with too many questions, but I want to know the details of how and why elements of sound work (or don't) well together within a song, rather than just knowing what not to do because that's what I've been told to do or not to do.

Brain hurts... must stop now...

-mr moon
 
Mr. Moon said:

Anyone have experience with the Recording Institute of Detroit (www.alexandermagazine.com)?
Click to expand...
I was involved in a thread recently where there were complaints about RID, use the search function to find it.

This place is a great place to go when your learning, if you have a PC where you are recording and have a question, just login and use the search button and you will find more than enough info to learn and mold your own opinions. You might even be able to hook up in person with people in your area.
I have a set of books that have CD's with them on alot of the basics, you can find them over at Artistpro.com, the Author is Bill Gibson and the books are very well laid out. But this place is free and offers other options more suited to homerecordists.

SoMm
 
My suggestion would be to first pick up a book on basic recording. Don't dive head first into the details, but rather get a broad idea of the process of getting a song from the composition stage to fully produced. Once you understand the basic chain of events, then I would go to the mike forum on this bbs and read the massive Harvey Gerst thread on microphones. There is some great technical info there that will help you understand how soundwaves get captured in a microphone. Then I would test the basic knowledge you have learned on a demo song. I really feel you won't grasp the fine details of recording without testing some of the theories on your own..

Just my 4 tuppence thruppence.

Cy
 
Cyrokk said:
Then I would test the basic knowledge you have learned on a demo song.
Cy
Click to expand...

Hi Cy,

Check out my tune "War13" here:
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/9/mrmoonmusic.htm

(I would not have posted this link here, but for some reason my signature doesn't work...)

...Which was recorded, etc., with the knowledge I have gleaned off the posts here and elsewhere. I have to admit that the final mix was done by Walt Collins out of his own good will to help me understand how to go about mixing... He gave me the final project files to use as templates to figure out his techniques to get everything to sit in the mix, etc....

I have posted this version of War13, as well as earlier ones, in the mp3 mixing clinic, and I've received some excellent feedback. ...Not praise, but good honest feedback on how to get things to sit properly in the mix, especially bass and drums, jakeowa has been instrumental (pun intended) in my learning process, as he's supplied some of the most in-depth feedback to date.

My latest demo "Charity" is also posted at the above site, but this tune is in super-rough-demo mode..., it has not even been mixed, per se, and has no effects on it whatsoever. People seem to dig it, and some folks in the mp3 mixing clinic like it even more than War13... It's my first attempt at mic-ing my accoustic and recording, total production time, including recording tracks, of under 1.5 hours!

My point is, I have been learning how to do stuff, but I'm lacking in the theoretical "why's" behind what I'm doing. I was hoping that a structured course might help. I'm beginning to think it may not....

Thanks for the help!

-mr moon
 
Nice job! It couldve been the mp3 quality or the fact that I listened to it through a pc, but I couldnt hear the impact of the snare drum at all. Otherwise it's quite good. I'm glad you kept the guitars in the midrange (I don't like the typical scooped mid sound in metal. It grates on my ears very quickly)

I was coming from my perspective of how hard it is to grasp theory without putting it into practice immediately after learning it. For example, nothing I learned in college was meaningful until I was out there practicing in my field of study (I'm a CPA). But in your case it seems you are at that point of studying where you ask yourself "why did that happen" and you are naturally inquisitive and thus ready to completely understand the science of sound.

Awhile back someone mentioned a very in-depth industry book that although was a bit pricey, came with cd's with a/b tests and such to really hone in on your skills. I thought Blue Bear recommended it, but I couldnt find it searching the bbs.

I did find this though:

http://www.musicbooksplus.com/books/mx008.htm

Cy
 
Moon, I think taking courses on-line and reading books is very worthwhile. It could be looked at like taking a nutritional supplement to go along with your diet.

Nothing else can compare with an apprenticeship with seasoned pro's where you're directly interacting with them, working on projects together.
A while back when I was considering this, the pro's at www.gearslutz.com were extremely helpful and knowledgeable.
The moderators at www.prosoundwebsound.com are also a fine source of knowledge. (That includes "our own" Harvey, and Fletcher, who has just started to post on this BBS)

Best of luck in your pursuit of excellence!

Chris
 
Ed (sonusman) has a slew of fairly informative articles and threads laying around here somewhere. I haven't seen them for a while, but I recall thinking that he did a good job of going into some of the why's and wherefor's.

Anybody know where to find them?

Interesting thread, though. I'm actually making a little money on my technical knowledge, mixing, and producing skills and...

Apart from being around the stuff for 15 years or so, I learned almost ALL of the technical knowhow I have (whatever that's worth) from lurking here for a few years then becoming an active poster.

Seems odd to me now, thinking about it, but it must be true. I've read only basic books years ago and had no formal training. Pretty much just reading the manuals that came with my stuff (and other manuals that I downloaded. The Ozone mastering plugin manual has some good stuff in it!) and combing through this and other sites on the net.

On the other hand, a friend of mine went through Full Sail and learned a ton of stuff there about how, as he put it, to do things "right." Afterwards he worked in several studios and eventually started his own. He told me many times that he never had more fun or felt more creative than when he and I were cobbling together cheap equipment and making it WORK better than it should have. He told me they teach you a lot of formulaic ways of doing things there.

But that is definately second hand knowledge coming from me, and from him times when the biz was discouraging him. My guess is some well placed call and emails to the various programs availible will give you some insight as to what they will offer you.

Other than that, you're already on the right track" trying stuff out and seeing how it all works.

Post mixes in the Clinic, too. Its a good forum for the tech details of mixing.

Take care,
Chris
 
Thanks everyone for all the info and feedback!!

I guess I'm just one of those people who learns best and thrives with various learning methods... It's easier for me to absorb some kinds of information, especially the really detailed technical stuff, when there's some structure. Otherwise, I get a bit lost, as I'm more of a "gist" thinker, not being one who is too detail-oriented. When technical/detailed information is presented to me in a structured layout, I can "connect the dots" and associate differing concepts with one another, whereas it's almost impossible for me to do this if I've got all the technical data/info in front of me without any form. It's probably some sort of dain bramage from all those years of sniffing glue.... :)

Oh yeah..., Chris (Shaeffer), in a previous post by me in this thread, I did disclose that I *do* post mixes to the clinic, and it has been an un-paralleled source of assistance. If you scroll up a few messages, you'll find the link to my Soundclick site where I have a couple of tunes posted, as well as some info about them.... (If you'd like, please give the tunes a listen and let me know what you think....)

Again, thanks for all the help, links, advice, & etc. Let me know if I can ever return the favor!

-mr moon
 
Update

FYI: I have found a great "free* online resource via one of the links suggested by Son Of Mixerman, which is a number of course topics based on the "Audio Pro Home Recording Course" series by Bill Gibson. All you have to do is register, and you can log in for free and access all the lessons... Looks like great stuff!

Here's the link: http://www.artistpro.com/CourseList.cfm

Please feel free to post any additional links to good resources that may help out. I'm still looking for a well-structured program and/or book that will go over what I need to know in a clear concise manner.

Thanks!

-mr moon
 
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