Recording Schools

[Evan Hoyles]

I've been thinking about going to school for audio engineering for a while now but have no idea as to which schools are legit. What schools do you think offer the best programs, and would give me the best chance of getting a job in the industry. Thanks

 

[raybrochill]

Honestly, your money would be better spent on gear and a few choice books. Most schools don't teach you anything you can't learn on this forum. As far as education helping you get a job... No one cares. If your work is good, you'll get business and do well. If you're dead set on going.. Where are you located?

 

[Dalinkwent48@aim.com]

IMO you're just gonna be wasting money. All you are really paying for is networking which you can do for free on your own. Yeah you can get some valuable tips but you can get the same tips from researching on your own. If you really wanna be going to school then your best bet is to get a degree in something that will hold its weight when you get out. Incase AE doesn't work out for you then you will still have something to fall back on.

 

[GarethSE]

don't do it, because saying "Im a full sail graduate" has an overpowering aire of douchebag entitlement to it and everyone will call you a faggot behind your back >:}

 

[ze kink]

Ah, the joys of free education

 

[Line666]

Even if its free I wouldn't waste my time (again).

 

[egan.]

What schools do you think offer the best programs, and would give me the best chance of getting a job in the industry.

Berklee....maybe. That is the only school with a legit and usable network of grads that I can think of. Honestly though, get a degree in something that actually pays money and isn't in decline and study the engineering on the side. There are many good 4 year colleges with recording arts programs where you could take some classes w/o putting all of your eggs in a basket that is on fire and being dropped from a plane.

 

[guitarguru777]

don't do it, because saying "Im a full sail graduate" has an overpowering aire of douchebag entitlement to it and everyone will call you a faggot behind your back >:}

+100000000000000000000000

unfortunately I am a graduate, and you see how much my mixes suck!

HHAHAHAHAHAHAH

 

[muckypup1]

don't do it, because saying "Im a full sail graduate" has an overpowering aire of douchebag entitlement to it and everyone will call you a faggot behind your back >:}

+1, I nearly wasted the last two years doing a course like that, but my parents forced and bribed me into doing a normal gcses instead

Even if its free I wouldn't waste my time (again).

I thought that you were doing a course in sound production?

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

Unless you're in a situation like me where education is pretty much free, don't waste your time. You get to know cool people, learn some really useful stuff (depends on the school, though) and get to use some great equipment, but most of the time you're just huffing your own farts and no-one gives a fuck about a degree in audio engineering, anyway.

 

[Line666]

I thought that you were doing a course in sound production?

Yeah, I finished and it sucked, the people were stupid and the lecturers were stupid and lazy.

I walked out of dipshit college central with a B and two years of thoroughly wasted time. Trying not to get obnoxious but how I ended up with a B considering the quality standard is a mystery to me, I got accused of plagiarism because as a lecturer put it "students don't write like this" and at the end of the year I turned in some of the best mixes that probably came out of that shit hole (not great by this forums standard but a bonafide piece of brilliance between shitty untuned guitar and drum recordings with peavey bandits and fucking broken drumkits).

I was doing stuff the other students couldn't even accept was right, no I was cheating with my autotune, drum editing and fake computer amps, fixing terrible sessions and saving bands bacon. Every time I did a session some fuckface would walk in and openly start asking me questions about what I was doing, notable entries include "why are you recording guitars in the control room" and "why are you using a DI box on the guitars" - I kid you fucking not. I wanted to knife someone in there and there were a few occassions where I used the C word liberally just because I couldn't fucking deal with the stupid anymore.

So two years later and from what I realistically can gather my grade was based on whether they liked me or not, and me being me I guess that was a resounding meh. Academically untouchable except when academia is a fucking popularity contest.

/rant.

 

[muckypup1]

Yeah, I finished and it sucked, the people were stupid and the lecturers were stupid and lazy.

I walked out of dipshit college central with a B and two years of thoroughly wasted time. Trying not to get obnoxious but how I ended up with a B considering the quality standard is a mystery to me, I got accused of plagiarism because as a lecturer put it "students don't write like this" and at the end of the year I turned in some of the best mixes that probably came out of that shit hole (not great by this forums standard but a bonafide piece of brilliance between shitty untuned guitar and drum recordings with peavey bandits and fucking broken drumkits).

I was doing stuff the other students couldn't even accept was right, no I was cheating with my autotune, drum editing and fake computer amps, fixing terrible sessions and saving bands bacon. Every time I did a session some fuckface would walk in and openly start asking me questions about what I was doing, notable entries include "why are you recording guitars in the control room" and "why are you using a DI box on the guitars" - I kid you fucking not. I wanted to knife someone in there and there were a few occassions where I used the C word liberally just because I couldn't fucking deal with the stupid anymore.

So two years later and from what I realistically can gather my grade was based on whether they liked me or not, and me being me I guess that was a resounding meh. Academically untouchable except when academia is a fucking popularity contest.

/rant.

Sounds like I made the right choice to not go to a recording school haha

 

[Josh Burgess]

+100000000000000000000000

unfortunately I am a graduate, and you see how much my mixes suck!

HHAHAHAHAHAHAH

you seriously went to full sail?

 

[Dalinkwent48@aim.com]

I almost went to FS right out of highschool but couldnt afford it, Then I got accepted into five towns in long island and couldnt afford that one either...If i hadnt come across this forum though I honestly probably still would have been trying to go to school for it.

Sneap forum > Any audio class

 

[LydonB]

Honestly though, get a degree in something that actually pays money and isn't in decline and study the engineering on the side. There are many good 4 year colleges with recording arts programs where you could take some classes w/o putting all of your eggs in a basket that is on fire and being dropped from a plane.

What Egan said.

I got a degree in music production and I would say get a degree in an area where you can definitely get a job after graduation. Keep audio as a side gig and if you become so popular that you need to do it full time, that is even better. If the school you go to has a recording program, you should absolutely be able to take some of those courses too.

 

[ahjteam]

well, I gotta agree what Antti and Jarkko said; IF you are in the lucky situation as us and have free education, definately go for it. It has improved my mixing capabilities by a long shot, even tho I had been mixing on my own for several years before I got in to the school. Also one important thing about the school is NETWORKING with possible future professionals of the industry, like for example even tho because of the amount of badd apples from Full Fail they might have bad reputation among the professional studios, but for example there are some oscar and grammy award winners among the graduates.

 

[Sinister Mephisto]

I went to Berklee for audio engineering and don't regret it at all. Anyone who thinks they can learn everything they can learn from a 4 year degree from the internet has their head up their ass. That said, I didn't have to go into debt to attend and if I had, I think it would have been a mistake. Only go if you can afford to. It's not like you're necessarily going to make a ton of money doing this.

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

I went to Berklee for audio engineering and don't regret it at all. Anyone who thinks they can learn everything they can learn from a 4 year degree from the internet has their head up their ass. That said, I didn't have to go into debt to attend and if I had, I think it would have been a mistake. Only go if you can afford to. It's not like you're necessarily going to make a ton of money doing this.

What comes to audio engineering, there's lots of stuff you can't learn without reading quite a bit, and there's lots of stuff you can't learn without getting hands-on experience, but there's absolutely nothing you can't learn if you don't get a degree.

 

[_Brutalism_]

This is my take on it:

When I was 17 I travelled to London, England to do a 2 month course (it was the only thing I could afford, both time and money-wise) at Alchemea College of Audio Engineering in Islington. Let me tell you, it was an experience of a fucking lifetime. Enjoyed it and learnt a lot! However, a substantial part of the learning was done by me (through experimentation and research to delve into what was being taught) not by the teachers directly ( who only had time to brush over topics and never get into enough detail). One setback is that your lecturers are most likely professionals in the business, but that doesn't mean they're good at teaching. It's a different ball-game entirely. Therefore, it's up to you to do your own research. I learnt a lot because I had the gear available and the assistance at my fingertips, but the enthusiasm has to come from you.

My conclusion is this:

Whilst I did learn many things I would have found difficult to learn off the internet or books (at times I was like: WOAH so THAT's how it's done!), I learnt a shitload off these forums too that weren't even mentioned there!

So it's a mixed bag really. If you CAN attend such a college without much strain on your life (money, priorities, etc), then go for it man, if the school is good it will be a fantastic experience being around your dreams!

However, if it will require extraneous effort which might be damaging to you or risky in some way, books, the internet and forums like these will suffice nicely, and it would be best spending the money on awesome gear

(Of course, this won't mean much coming from me as I contributed virtually nothing to the forum yet; but I'm working on it )

 

[Loren Littlejohn]

Recording school is a waste of time, and the studio where I interned won't take full sail grads because they plain fucking suck while at the same time knowing everything (their words not mine).