cjacek said:
Thank you for sharing a most welcome experience with us. The main reason I asked the question is because I know quite a few individuals (myself included) who are struggling through all of this (life thing I meant 
) and making so many errors and wouldn't it be nice if someone came along and helped some of us young kids out ? I guess I'm talking about a "mentor". I think todays youth is very much in great need of someone from whom they can learn and it's always good to learn from someone who has some experience behind him .. whether it be in recording or in life. I mean, if I weren't reading this board and asking questions then I'd know less than half of what I know about recording. Same goes for other things like school and such. So I'd really wanna know: Your experience has been in the recording field that the studios that you worked at did not hire recording school grads but rather college grads who either majored or minored in music and had other practical skills such as business degrees, accounting, technical skills etc. Ok, it's good to know how it is in real life application 'cause some recording schools and some popular ones like recording connection (I think that's the name) say that most studios are NOT interested in hireing college grads but only hire people who have experience as a recording engineer and so that's their reason for putting up people at studios to be trained "hands on" and then they say the studio most likely will hire you cause you were trained there and you'll have experience to be hired in any other place. Are these
people full of crap, selling you an idea that doesn't hold water in the real world ? So why do people go to audio engineering schools ? What's the main reason ? And lastly, why should one go to one of these schools in your opinion ? Also, do you think these "hands on" training institutes or schools, whether it be in computers or otherwise, hold any benefits ? Thank you.
Daniel
I guess I should clarify that hands on does matter.. just not to the extent that it will get you in the door every time. I mean, obviously you assume someone knows their way around a mixer, knows what a compressor is, all the different fx boxes, etc., if they're being considered for the job. I also left out that a lot of colleges have recording tracts or at least some courses in their music schools.
I really don't have much of an opinion about going to recording schools now days. Mainly because the job market just isn't there to support the tons of grads that pop out every year. We hired 3 from the LA Recording Workshop and they all knew pro-tools, SSL's, Euphonix, high end gear blah blah blah, but they just didn't work out. A lot of it has to do with the high cost of those schools and grads really can't afford to pay off their loans, intern for next to nothing, and still have a life. Of the 5 people I know who have gone to recording schools, only 1 has been able to stick. He went to Full Sail in FL, but he's also a workoholic. He told us he got an edge because he did landscaping grunt work around the building. Here's an article he wrote a few years ago.
http://www.recordingwebsite.com/articles/industry.html Another edge he had was that he was a bio-engineer or something and saved for a few years so that he would have something to live on. It was pretty cool seeing him go from home hobbyist to quitting a bio-tech career and diving in head first.
I guess I should also preface that I was damn lucky to get into the biz. I started out working grave yards at a multimedia company doing tape duplication to pay for college. I worked my way into QA where I really developed an ear. Hell, at one point I could identify which tape dupe machine was which by listening to cassette samples! Anywho, I jumped on a chance to apply for a job "upstairs" in the studios working in mastering doing the swing shift. I got laid off from there and landed a job doing video mastering as well as audio and cd pre-mastering at our competitor. Worked there for 7 years til we got bought out by a competitor and I got laid off. They called me back to work pt for a while, but it was bullshit.. they were clueless and ended up selling all off my equipment. Anywho, now I'm back to square one. Ironically, I have very little experience tracking and mixing experience out of all of that!
My opinion on any trade specifc school is kind of varied. The company I work for now specifically does marketing research for those types of schoools.. culinary, technical, nursing, design, aeronautics, massage therapy, etc. In fact, Full Sail is a prospective client. Anywho, I think it all depends on the individual and what your life goals are..not necesarilly your immediate goals. A recording certificate might get you a studio gig and if you're good plus lucky, you might last a full career. A college degree just goes so much further. I also look at it from the stand-point that you can can go to school anytime in your life, but there is really only a narrow window when you can really do the college thing and find out what you want and make mistakes and change your mind a hundred times without taking in consideration a wife and kids, etc. sorry for the novel.. doh...
