"School"?

[Steenamaroo]

You need to research the job opportunities before you waste your money on this education. Do job shadowing to see what the actual job entails.

I think this is very important.

I don't know if you've shopped around but try to get an internship somewhere. I understand this will be different depending on where you live, but the closest I got here was a very very long waiting list!

Getting unpaid voluntary work is extremely competitive, so what does that tell you about real work?!

I'd recommend education to someone who thinks they can get the foot in the door, but wants to improve their knowledge and skills.

Other than that, I really wouldn't.

I did a Music Production degree last year, and the opening lecture (no joke) was pretty much "If you're expecting to get a job out of this, you may as well just leave now"

Also, the course wasn't much of a learning curve, but more of an opportunity to prove what you already know.
Ok, sure, the tutors are there and you can ask what you want, but I dread to think what grade I would have got if I'd gone in with less experience.

Like I say, It'll vary in different places, but that's my experience.

 

[grimtraveller]

I did a Music Production degree last year, and the opening lecture (no joke) was pretty much "If you're expecting to get a job out of this, you may as well just leave now"

I hate it when some make the generalization that "people are stupid" because I think we're worth more than that. But when I hear stuff like Steen's lecturer's quote, it's hard to argue !
Like I said earlier, when push comes to shove, none of us can be sure what will happen tomorrow. We can project, we can predict, but we don't know. Onye ma echi ?*



*Who knows tomorrow ?

 

[Steenamaroo]

I hate it when some make the generalization that "people are stupid" because I think we're worth more than that. But when I hear stuff like Steen's lecturer's quote, it's hard to argue !
[/SIZE]

He wasn't saying anyone's stupid man, he was just saying that the jobs don't exist; At least, not in great numbers.

Maybe I've misunderstood you?

 

[grimtraveller]

I wasn't saying that he was saying anyone's stupid. To tell people aspiring to learn that 'jobs don't exist' is, in my view at best irresponsible. Others would say that it's stupid. And some of those would argue that "well, people are stupid anyway". And when they give examples, it's hard to argue {that bit was tongue in cheek because I would argue}.No one can tell you 'don't bother doing this ~ there's no jobs out there'. It may be a tiny planet but it's a pretty big world. People do move about in search of work that utilizes skills they have acquired along the way. I sometimes get irritable when people pronounce with finality something that, if you actually examine it, they have no control over or take the small picture and transpose it into the big picture.

 

[Steenamaroo]

Yeah, that's true enough. It's a pretty narrow-minded view to just blanket statement like that, but i take his point; The industry certainly isn't what it used to be.

I sure as fook don't have a job!

 

[misterlong]

it strikes me that there are:
more and more "music tech" courses on the market.
Less and Less actual commercial recording studios.
More and more people are doing it in their bedrooms/project studios (no euphemism intended)
Almost all commercial studios (definitely the smaller ones) are run and engineered by their owners, so no job opportunities.

The guys I know who are still making money out of what is essentially studio engineering stuff, have stuck with certain clients who will employ them, or set up a facility themselves, populated by clients who want to work with them/have worked with them historically. The number of studio engineers employed by the BBC? I have no idea, but not many and that job is so sweet that if they are a lifer on the payroll, they have to literally die before they budge over.

Also they are doing live sound on the road and probably tour managing and driving the bus for the same gig.

If you are gonna go back to college to study audio engineering do it cos you wanna learn it, not expecting a job. Also don't think you are gonna leave and be competent to walk straight into a head engineers job at abbey road. These things take years and years of PRACTICE. Internships or apprenticeships in engineering in my opinion probably work better.

I am a session musician. I have learned enough about engineering over my 20 years working in studios to be able to record well, and mix OK. Asking questions, working with people who know what they are doing and basically doing it day in and day out. I set up a small project studio in 1996 and learned even more. Did some commercial work. Learned more. Studio grew, learned more. Acumulated a bit of equipment and learned how to use that.

Now I can (if the session and live work is lean which it can be, otherwise i would not be on here conversing with you good folks) happily record and mix full live bands.

I dunno, i just guess that cynically speaking, a lot of the courses offered by some colleges and studios have little more to show you or offer you than you can get from logic on your PC and a few youtube videos.

Having said that I am massively cynical, having worked in 2 large (will remain nameless) recording studios, with educational 'arms' with large Neve type studios (essentially paid for by educational money) which the students would never get to use.

It also strikes me that a lot of these courses cater to people who believe that after a part time 6 month course, and learning how to use a sampler, they are then fully fledged 'musicians' or 'hip hop producers'. All these things take a lot of time and effort. Don't ever give up on your dreams, but be prepared to work really hard for them.


Don't know if I have told you anything here or not. but there, I did something!!

long

 

[Steenamaroo]

If you are gonna go back to college to study audio engineering do it cos you wanna learn it, not expecting a job.

Our survey said..................

Top answer!

 

[Lt. Bob]

I know people that have gone thru fullsail and none of them have jobs making much money in the industry and they all tell the same story .... no jobs available. In fact .... three of them ended up just building their own studios and we all know how hard it is to make significant maney at that.

Having said that ..... we only go 'round once in life and then we're dead as a can of figs so you should do what makes you happy.
BUT you need to realize it could very well mean you end up poor.
I've always wanted to play music and never wanted to do anything else so I've played for my living for 40+ years.
I'm happy and have gotten very good on my axes but I am indeed poor.
I didn't care about that at all when I was young. It is a bit more important now that I'm down to Life #9 but I still wouldn't have changed anything.

 

[ghostred7]

I'm all about personal experience > school b/c that's exactly what happened for me.

I was in the Army as a recon specialist...so I was destined for law enforcement, security, etc. AKA...nothing I wanted to do. When I redeployed back from Haiti, I got a PC and built another. From there I got on that new thing called the "World Wide Web" and started reading forums, documentation sites, etc about Linux. *I* was my own school with a lot of resources (internet/forums/BBS/etc). Very soon after (6mos?) I was able to host my own domain including DNS, emails, spam prevention, etc being 100% self-taught w/ the assistance of online resources. This ultimately landed me a job in telecomm and now I make a damn good living (even if my ex gets part of it LOL) off of something I did myself and for a LOT less money than a formal school with better training (hands-on).

You can achieve whatever you want with drive. If you truly WANT to do something and make something out of it, you can. As for money in the music industry....what I've seen amongst local peers is that they run live audio business for bands (rent them + PA out) and network through those avenues: "Hey....when you guys are ready to record, I have my own studio and will cut you a deal since I know you." Give them a quality product, they tell friends. Bands open for other bands, etc. Hell, where we practice, there's probably 100 bands in this building (Avatar Studios, Atlanta, GA).

 

[witzendoz]

Try to study at a government run institution, don't be afraid to look outside the box when it comes to audio.

For example, everyone wants to work in a studio as an engineer. Try these other audio options:

Live sound engineer, front of house or monitors
Wireless systems engineer, I met one once during a set up for a large concert that traveled the world as a specialist, she was doing large opera productions.
Theatre sound engineer
TV or Radio sound engineer, studio or live broadcast
Movie sound engineer
Venue house engineer, not music venue but sports or lecture etc.
Systems engineer, a system engineer is the tech that gets large production up and running and fixes problems

Cheers

Alan.

 

[Beat Poet]

I did a Music Production degree last year, and the opening lecture (no joke) was pretty much "If you're expecting to get a job out of this, you may as well just leave now"

Within a couple of days at music college, I think one of the tutors said to the whole class, "based on the averages, only one of you will make it in music". We started with about forty students and were down to twenty within two weeks. Only five finished the course and even less actually passed (I was one who did). To the best of my knowledge, eight years after finishing, I think I'm the only one who's still active as a musician.