Who went to school for recording? Who hometaught themselves?

[chewbacaface]

I've been considering taking some online courses from FullSail or BerkleeMusic but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

I started recording on fourtrack machines when I was about 14 and have been hammering away ever since. I am primarily a musician and have been in lessons of some form since I was about five. I got into recording because I was tired of losing song ideas. Now, it is as much as hobby as playing music is. I should have gone to school for it and my parents were even willing to pay for it but when I was 18 I liked playing in bands more and didn't want to give it up. I wish I had.

For me, playing with equipment is the best way to learn. Most musicians are fairly hands on when it comes to learning and theory can only do so much. That said...

These have been my best resource while learning to record.

http://www.amazon.com/Recording-Eng...1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1266446340&sr=8-1-spell

http://www.amazon.com/Mixing-Engine...2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1266446340&sr=8-2-spell

http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Eng...3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1266446340&sr=8-3-spell

I find they are very easy to reference when I come across something I can't get right.

 

[Fuzzhead]

I was "self-taught" (which of course usually means someone or something is still teaching you anyway, in some form) during my last few years of high school and my first two years at Community College, then I learned that a local private University had an Audio Production program, and I hopped on board and I've never looked back.

Of course learning something at a school doesn't fully prepare you for the real world, and any college professor worth his/her salt will tell you that. But in just the semester and a half that I've been in this program, I've learned so many new things both on and off the curriculum that I wouldn't have had access to otherwise. I have no doubt that these experiences will help me once I graduate and go out into the real world.

Besides, I felt the need to have a Bachelor's degree in something, and it was this or music. And hell if I have the chops or the patience to become a disappointed music major.

 

[davidb63]

I started out recording on my fathers 4 track Teac real to real back in 1978. Recorded me and my high school band mates and some others. Loads of fun remembering those days!

 

[Cajun]

I chose "taught myself" but really I've learned it in bits and pieces over the years playing bass or singing with various bands and working on CDs... so I've gotten various lessons from different engineers and producers, but I put it all together myself.

 

[EV 676]

My dad brought home his first tape recorder when I was 9 years old. That was early 1961.

That was all it took for the bug to bite me. By high school I owned a pair of AKG dynamic mics and had a Tandberg reel to reel. I recorded stuff all over the community with those two mics and quarter track recorder.

I was a radio TV major in college and I naturally gravitated to audio production. I had a course at the time called "The Physics of Music" which opened my ears so to speak.

I have a 35+ year career in broadcasting and today do audio post for TV.
There were some worthwhile stops along the way, and a couple of weird detours.

I'm no expert, I still make mistakes, my hearing is not what it once was.

But give me something to record and I'll have a blast doing it.

 

[WavePro]

I think that the best way to learn, is hands on. I think school is a great starting point if you dont have any experience at all. But if you wanna learn to mix, track, and master i belive the only way is to do it, do it and then do it some more.