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?
