Student Looking to Go into Recording Engineering Program

[masterofpuppets222]

Hi, I've been thinking about going to college to do Recording Engineering. Specifically I was thinking about doing a 2 Year, 6 Semester program in Professional Sound/Audio Production Major at Metal Works Institute in Mississauga, Ontario. Now, I've gone to their open house, seen their studios and such and it looks fantastic. I understand Metal Works Studios is world renown and I want nothing else but to go to college here, it would be an absolute dream come true. The tuition prices however are incredibly steep so I decided to do some research first. So I was wondering, what do you lot all think about this place? Is it worth my money and time? I really appreciate any input, especially from people who have actual experience with the place.

Thanks a whole bunch, and I look forward to your replies!

 

[Glenn Fricker]

Save your money, buy gear, learn on your own.

Ask MW how many students they've placed into full time studio jobs in the last 10 years.

BTW, just what are they asking for in tuition?

 

[Machinated]

I agree with Oz - build a name for yourself and build a contact base. I'm at university (going into final year), and I do recording work during holidays. From building a name up for myself, I have CD's produced by me in shops all over the country, bigger stuff on the horizon and a waiting list that is almost impossible to fulfill; I'm pretty sure you can't get anything like that any time soon after spending all that time and money at a recording school.

That said, if you really want to attend the school and use that gear then go for it.However, I think with this kind of stuff you will learn much more by going out and doing it by yourself. I think you have to learn how to deal with things in situations you can't see coming, as well as taking care of planning and the business side of things.

 

[felipe-x]

the hard part is to find the bands, thats so damn hard... !! cause everybody you ask, own a studio or good interfaces to record on their house.. .

but when you do good job the bands will be at your feet all year..

 

[Chryst Krispies]

There's been a few threads on this stuff, and it's always a mixed bag. Search around the forum and try to make a decision based on what you REALLY want, don't just jump into it. It's something that you have to really think about being all the time and money and futureness involved.

 

[Loren Littlejohn]

It depends on the money for me personally. I'm going to a community college so tuition is not that much. I can't see dropping more than $6-7k a year on this type of degree. Even that is high.

2 years of school, when I am done I will be $6k in the hole. Some of that $6k went towards gear though.

 

[colonel kurtz]

yea man, i would look around for a smaller/cheaper school to go to at least learn the fundamentals...use that as a foundation, then spread out on your own from there

the program i went through only cost $54/semester + books for 4 semesters, but i didn't take the 4th since i moved away...but it was still well worth the little bit of money and the time to learn from an industry pro and get my hands on some world-class gear

 

[[UEAK]Clowd]

Don't do it.

I was going to go to "recording school"... I applied and got accepted and blah blah, but then I thought about it. 24 thousand a year for four years.... or build my own semi-pro studio for ~10 grand, and learn for free?

Easy choice.

I know some kids that went to that same school and I am lightyears ahead of them in production(and wallet size...)... and I'm not that great yet. I've only been doing it for 2 years or so. I just recently have gotten to the point where I can charge $35/hour. That's not that much when it's your only job. I can't imagine what it would be like to owe 100k and be doing this.

It would be interesting to do some math and figure out how many professional studios there are vrs. how many students come out of those schools per year... I just don't think the jobs are there. I bet most of those kids either end up homeless or doing live sound at bars or some shit.

 

[colonel kurtz]

thing is, even if you DO get a job out of one of those schools, it isn't going to pay shit...at least not enough to pay the bills

i know of a guy who went to the LARW - cost him around $15k for a year - and he got a job at a commercial studio right after. fast-forward a few years later, and he's credited as an assistant on 2 multiplatinum albums and has a grammy, and he's still making $10/hr, living in LA, and trying to pay off student loans.

 

[JBroll]

Coming from the perspective of a grad student dealing with school and jobs, I'd say to get a real degree like EE or physics that would have potential inside and outside AE. I wouldn't hire someone based on a piece of paper saying they sat through AE school.

Jeff

 

[if6was9]

There's 3 big reasons to go to college studying this.
-access to great gear that you just wouldn't be able to use even 4-5 years down the line on your own.
- You learn how the stuff works- signal chains, whats actually in amplifiers, how different types of mics work etc...
- Contacts- the people in your course with you could be some of the most important people you'll meet.

On the other side, you could use the money that you spent on college on gear, if your dedicated you can learn the tech stuff yourself through books, the internet and such. You mightn't click with anyone i your course and end up not ever doing anything with any of them.

What i'd suggest doing is to do the course but get your own gear together on the side and work alot with that also. This way you get your fundamentals down and have stuff to practise with and learn on your own, It doesn't have to be great gear- a presonus firepod, a cheap drum mic set and a few Sm57's can go a long way.
One thing to remember with this stuff too is that you might have fantastic gear to use in your time in college, but unless you start right away getting your own rig together, when you leave college you'll be starting from scratch. I've been working on building my own rig slowly as I've been going through college so I'll be able to keep working when I leave- this hasn't dawned on my friends yet who've got no gear of their own.

Also in my experience, these colleges show you how stuff works, they don't show you how to make stuff sound good

 

[Chryst Krispies]

I just don't think the jobs are there. I bet most of those kids either end up homeless or doing live sound at bars or some shit.

Totally agree..
You don't want this to happen to you.

 

[Limak]

I'd say if you want a degree and learn something about AE from the ,,inside,, you should do as JBroll said. In my country almost every University of Technology that has EE includes some acoustics/audio engineering courses in their programme(associated with certain specialities/additional courses). After that you could be not only audio engineer as a dude who does mixing for bands but Engineer with a big E - that means you could work for companies making audio gear - making circuits for amps or any other audio gear or making your own brand etc etc all these kind of stuff you can get a job and earn money with.
OR if you don't feel need for making a degree just buy some gear for that cash.

 

[pifos_2]

Coming from the perspective of a grad student dealing with school and jobs, I'd say to get a real degree like EE or physics that would have potential inside and outside AE. I wouldn't hire someone based on a piece of paper saying they sat through AE school.

Jeff

I agree. Computer science, Graphic Design, Web developper,...

That could really help to make it in the buisness.
Imagine producing a band and designing their artwork and website...

 

[Machinated]

Im studying mech eng.....hate it, but its a lot more impressive on a CV than music production courses.

 

[ArtGarceau]

Coming from the perspective of a grad student dealing with school and jobs, I'd say to get a real degree like EE or physics that would have potential inside and outside AE. I wouldn't hire someone based on a piece of paper saying they sat through AE school.

Jeff

I agree. There are thousands of kids coming out of Full Sail, SAE, and the other "engineering" schools that won't get jobs in this business. The studio business is highly competitive, and very clique-y. It's not always what you know, but who you know. Most studio owners would rather higher a cool kid that has a good vibe to him than just any AE school grad.

If you were to get an electrical engineering degree not only would you be a huge asset to any recording studio, but you could get a high paying day job and record in your free time working on only the jobs that you want to work on.

I work in other parts of the music industry by day. In the time I'm not at my 9 to 5 I work as an independent at a local studio, and run my mastering company. I could do the recording/mastering stuff full-time again, but I'd rather not worry about a steady income stream and only take on projects that truly interest me.

Just some thoughts...

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

The tuition fees you guys have to pay sound pretty incredible to me, since education is free over here. I'm attending a sound production/audio engineering school in January for three years, but if it would cost me such sums, I wouldn't even consider it. Yeah, you get to work and learn some really great gear (ProTools HD rigs, TL Audio's top line consoles, good sounding rooms etc. in my case) and you get some very useful contacts there, but just to think of what you could do with - say - 40 grand... Your own HD rig, for example

 

[AudioGeekZine]

I went there Jan 2006 back when it was only a 1 year course and only 30 students to a class, not 90+ like now.
Tuition was only $19,000 then, I'm sure that only about half what you're thinking of spending.

The truth is not many graduates have done much since, from my class 1 guy is an engineer at MW studios now (which is not a fun place to work) and 1 girl from the year before now works for Digidesign.

It is a good school, but it really depends on what you want to get out of it. Are you going to learn how to mix on an SSL console from home online? No, but do you really need to know how to, probably not. Personally I loved the time spent figuring out the console.

I wouldn't say Metalworks is world renown, they like to say it.

PS, I worked full time through school and after and I still owe $12,000

 

[Zombietakeover]

This dude makes great sense

I agree. There are thousands of kids coming out of Full Sail, SAE, and the other "engineering" schools that won't get jobs in this business. The studio business is highly competitive, and very clique-y. It's not always what you know, but who you know. Most studio owners would rather higher a cool kid that has a good vibe to him than just any AE school grad.

If you were to get an electrical engineering degree not only would you be a huge asset to any recording studio, but you could get a high paying day job and record in your free time working on only the jobs that you want to work on.

I work in other parts of the music industry by day. In the time I'm not at my 9 to 5 I work as an independent at a local studio, and run my mastering company. I could do the recording/mastering stuff full-time again, but I'd rather not worry about a steady income stream and only take on projects that truly interest me.

Just some thoughts...

 

[ArtGarceau]

This dude makes great sense

Thank you.