Ask a music scene micro celebrity

[evasive04]

wow, it's my first post

1. What is the best way to get into the recording industry?(If you were just starting out would you go to school, or just try to find an internship)

2. Do you find schools like full sail a waste of money?

3. How is your hearing?

[billygrippo]

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2. Do you find schools like full sail a waste of money?



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i went to ex'pression: center for new media

while the school was awsome and i leanred tons and got some experience, i dont work in the field. most of my classmates do however. if you have the money id go for it but its certainly not necessary.

[electrical]

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1. What is the best way to get into the recording industry?(If you were just starting out would you go to school, or just try to find an internship)

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It's super cheap to buy recording equipment and start experimenting. It's super expensive to go to a recording trade school. I always recommend getting started as an amateur to see if you enjoy the process before you get into any more serious enterprise. Every town has bands that need demos recorded, so there are plenty of opportunities to experiment with no pressure and no expectations.

"Getting into the industry" is just about impossible. There are no jobs. I mean none, like zero none. Since the advent of cheap recording software, many traditional studio clients (ad agencies, film and tv productions, jingle writers and commercial music publishers) have been able to do most of their own recording in-house. Having lost much of their client base, the big institutional studios have cut their staff to the bare minimum to keep costs low, and most engineers have gone freelance. Studios that used to have dozens of in-house engineers now have only a couple.

Newer, smaller studios that cater to rock bands are usually owner-operated, sometimes by a partnership of a very few people, all of whom have some vested interest in the studio. If you are going to be a recording engineer for a living, you are either going to be freelance, or you are going to build a studio and work there.

There are audio-related jobs, in PA design and installation, touring and live sound, church, auditorium and architectural acoustics, acoustical testing and certification, broadcast engineering, etc, but there basically are no open-call staff positions for recording engineers any more.

If you are considering going into a recording program, I would strongly recommend going to a normal accredited university with a concentration in engineering, acoustics or music. Some schools offer a Tonmeister-equivalent recording program (UMass Lowell and University of Iowa used to, I don't know who does now). The for-profit trade schools (Full Sail, Recording Arts, SAE, etc) are operated as businesses where their clients are the students and the product they sell is a diploma. A degree from an accredited university carries more weight in the real world and can even get you involved in interesting graduate-level work.
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3. How is your hearing?

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Good enough, apparently.

[ReallyBadReverb]

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If you are considering going into a recording program, I would strongly recommend going to a normal accredited university with a concentration in engineering, acoustics or music. Some schools offer a Tonmeister-equivalent recording program (UMass Lowell and University of Iowa used to, I don't know who does now).

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I went to UMass Lowell as a music education major and they still offer a sound recording degree in the music department (most of my friends were in this major...and as a result, many people thought I was too). It is actually a music performance degree with an emphasis with in sound recording technology. You can also pursue SRT as a minor paired with electrical engineering or computer science. It is probably one of the few schools still actively teaching the art of analog recording. There are several projects which require students to cut and edit tape. Their senior studio is equipped with a 2" machine and all sorts of other neat equipment. They do also have digital equipment seeing as they are preparing people for a career that may include this technology.

UML also has a radio station, WUML, that despite taking a beating from the school's administration is still a great way to meet new people, hear cool music and practice your craft. Bob Weston's Live from the Fallout Shelter is still on the air on Monday nights.

Many of my friends have gone on to careers in the audio industry including post-production work (which earned one of them an Emmy), mastering and General Assistant at Avatar Studios in NYC.

I agree with Steve. Go for the university education. I have a few friends that went to NE Institute of the Arts (a 2 year trade style school) that I am positive did not get anywhere near the same experience as my friends at UML.

I am a poker idiot and therefore cannot ask any questions appropriate for this forum. Maybe when I get some courage later I'll post some sort of musical or recording related question. Or maybe I'll just ask what your favorite brand of peanut butter is...

[rhythm_spelldit]

Would-Be Recording Engineer Student: please follow the aforementioned advice and invest in a baccalaureate or associate’s degree from an accredited college. And make sure that the core liberal arts curriculum includes at least one English course, remedial if necessary.

Such vocational/academic preparation will ultimately enrich your intellectual life, trust me. And just as importantly, it may save you from, say, misspelling the phrase “one thousand hertz” into a studio log book. Because you’ll never live it down. You’ll be history – literally . . .