Audio Engineering and Schooling (Please give opinions.)

Yeah I'm studying ee in the poorest state in mexico but I am living of my tiny recording studio with nearly all beringher equipment and mics and I'm the only decent mixer in the state so every metal and rock band is wanting to record with me... there's a big studio here and a lot of guys who went to university for that but they suck . I win hahahahahaha
 
I'm only in for 7k debt - living costs not student loans but to be honest I couldn't get a job out of my audio technology honours degree for love nor money. I learnt nothing and pissed 4 years up the wall with no backup plan.

The sole good thing about this game is that so many people are terrible engineers and don't understand the rigors of sound and how it actually works; you can count on nearly all the mid level guys being lazy, unobservant, inefficient or just plain inconsistent and if you're not stupid you should be able to step up to the plate swinging straight off the bat. The bad thing is that there is so little jobs going for this that you're essentially fighting for one of two or three decent paying spots in your country/state or whatever.

The only thing to be said for not having a backup plan is that it sure as hell does give you the kick up the arse to make the main plan work, the bad thing is that if that doesn't then you are well and truly fucked. Take from that what you will, I think Pharmacology is a smart choice.
 
About four years ago I went for two semesters before I realized I wanted to be on the other side of the glass (the one playing, not recording). Didn't record anything the first semester, just learned about signal flow, terminology, and how to set everything up. Got to record a band during the second semester with a partner. We had decent gear but the mixing room wasn't even treated properly, so everyone's mix in that class was way too bass heavy. In hindsight, I think it's messed up they even teach the class without any regards to make sure the room is treated. The two of us ended up with the most time that semester since we signed up early, so we ended up with 10-12 hours of studio time in total (we had to give some time up for another group because they waited until the last minute to book studio time). I'm not sure if that's good or bad for a small community college with 12 students in our class. That's about the time pro's spend in the studio a day, so I figured out really quick this was going to be hard to get good at if I couldn't do at home what I could do at the school. We had a Daking console at school and I had Cubase at home with no mics and shitty power, lol. I also knew someone close by through some friends that had been doing this for years (006) who didn't go to school for it, so if I ever wanted to change my mind and get into this like a pro would, I damn sure won't be going to school for it again. Save that money and buy some decent equipment and learn through trial and error and this board. In fact, I learned more about what I wanted to do with recording by reading through this place for 3-6 months than I did two semesters at a college, and I'm not the type to just shut down completely when something hard is thrown at me. All in all it worked out great for me because I got into a four year university on scholarship for classical guitar performance which will be my career and I can record my own stuff on the side and have fun. Some of the stuff I've read on here like the "dumbest things clients have said to you" threads, etc., makes my day and helps me realize I made the right decision.

For those who are over $20k in debt, I don't understand that. I know people deeper in it but since it's such a touchy subject for them, I don't talk about it. Forgive my ignorance, but in this field, wouldn't it be wiser to just take out a loan and use that to pay for equipment and your business? When I read that people are 20, 40, 80, 100+k in debt, I tend to wonder... what were they thinking?
 
Disclaimer: I'm an educator in Higher Education.

If you can find an internship at a good studio then that is a good way to learn, especially as you'll make contacts while earning a bit of money.

I completely agree with Cory - try out some sessions at a studio. Find out if it's for you. This industry is hard to make money, and harder to keep making money.

1st post here. I have a degree from Madison Media Institute in Recording Engineering. You will most likely end up selling music gear at your favorite retail music store chain. The only guys I know that it help were ones that got an internship right after. I would save the 10 grand and ask a studio if you can intern.

Or do what I did and open your own studio. =)

edit: P.S. I work full time in I.T. ^^^^
 
It's a complete scam. There's a recording school in Plymouth and the only people who come out knowing a fucking thing are the people that learn in their own time. If you're good, really good, and you know lots of musicians, industry people and ingratiate yourself in the right circles, you can make good money doing this. Otherwise, it's a hobby and you should treat it like one.
 
I just started a degree programme in Pop/Jazz music as a Music Producer/Technologist in the leading university of applied sciences in my country, and since day one they've been almost begging us to finish our school so they can get funding for their programme. (In my country schools are free for students and funded by the government according to their success). Apparently the problem has been that students' work and projects have got in the way of their tuition leading them to drop out of school.

I've been puzzled by this since usually people say that their AE degrees didn't do shit for their careers. I've been wondering if my school's students success stems from the fact that they also teach professional musicians, songwriters and even music teachers in the same school thus providing opportunities for networking between all these creative people and creating job opportunities for everyone.

Anyway, I'm still not sure if I made the right call by taking on this education. It's still too early to tell.