engineer career question

[hollo321]

hey guys im currently just making music but am starting to think of the long future of "settling down" and maybe doing some professional movie post-production or audio engineering. Now ive been debating this for a while and thought who better to ask than u guys who probably know somewhat how the industries works because i have no idea. My question is do i need to go to study in a sound college and get a degree like at SAE, full sail... or is the degree useless in the industries and its all about connections? i know that if i go i will learn lots of things i already know and spend 3-4 years getting the degree, and all the stuff i don't know i can probably read in books n learn on my own and save like 20, 30 thousand dollars in the process . So do these degrees have real value in the real world or should i save my time n money? thnxs

[garyb]

information, experience, education, and knowledge always helps. you also need someone on the inside to help you out. you need to start knocking on doors and doing whatever it takes to make yourself useful(polishing cars, doing errands, cleaning ashtrays, etc.) to get a chance to show your stuff. basically, you get into the industry by getting into the industry. there are limited openings and a lot of people who might want to fill them, personal relationships still work best in that kind of situation.

anything you can do to be more worthy and involved in the business is worth doing, even if there is no immediate benefit, if you want to acheive the bigger goal. good luck, it's kinda like getting a job in sports or as a musician. few make a living at it, and even fewer get to the big stage.

[dawman]

Excellent advice.......
I always enjoyed being the assistant to the assistant...

[tgstgs]

you had to study a long time to get an engineer ( 5years at least);
with an engineer you were able to get a job as sound engineer starting to carry cables and mics;
that was in the old days!!

nowadays everyone able to hold a mic and press record on a mp3recorder could call himself an audio or sound engineer;

i would say save your money and invest in equipment and connections;

if you have no connections at all maybe the tousands of dollar for a sound college are an invest for connections;
depending on the college of course;


good luck vibes

[hollo321]

thanks u guys saved me from making a very big n expensive mistake

[netguyjoel]

I know guys who dropped 20K for a year at Full Sail, to get a job for $8.00/hr running cable....if you can even get that! That requires connections too!

[garyb]

that's right, but whether you go to a school or not, you still need the knowledge. you better at least hit the library for the next few months/year....

[netguyjoel]

I don't want to discourage anyone from chasing their dreams and desires...some are just more difficult without without a little education, talent & luck. These are words I live by...anything can be done, if you want it bad enough....

"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race"

Calvin Coolidge
30th President of the USA

[siriusbliss]

I say learn as much on your own as possible (nowadays), read a lot, learn how to do things at your home studio (where you spend the tuition money on good gear and room), and work with musicians from various genres to get experience engineering different styles and approaches to producing music. Or go ahead and get a job mopping floors at a nearby 'real' studio that actually has clients, and then eventually get some hands-on experience after hours (when you SHOULD be cleaning toilets).

Yup, gotta have connections - especially if people find out that you're GOOD, then that obviously helps as well.

There are plenty of engineers and artists that started out doing grunt work - among them Trent Reznor (NIN) and even Prince.

Good luck,

Greg

[tgstgs]

_

after reading other post dont get me wrong!!

!!!knowledge is the base of good work!!!

whereever you get knowledge from;

and dont ever stop learning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

good vibes

[yayajohn]

Go into an unrelated career that makes buttloads of money.
Buy as much scope and recording gear that your wife allows.....then buy some more
Start your own recording studio.
Hire a recording engineer and tell him to teach you everything he knows.....or he's fired!
When you know everything he knows then fire him.
Quit your day job.

[netguyjoel]