2.2 - Are audio schools worth the money? Which schools are best?
Description
This article is from the Audio Professional FAQ, by with numerous contributions by Gabe M. Wiener others.
2.2 - Are audio schools worth the money? Which schools are best?
An audio school will teach you the basics of the audio business,
but just like any technical school, what they teach you may not be
worth what you pay.
There are several schools of thought:
1. Audio schools are great, you get trained on the gear that is used
by top studios and costs millions of dollars, you get taught by pros
in the field and you have job placement assistance after you graduate.
2. Going to an audio school is like wanting to learn aviation,
and when you start flight school they teach you a 747. In the
real world, you are probably not going to have 96 channel automated
consoles on your first job. You are not going to mix your first
live gig on a 48-channel 100,000 watt stadium PA rig. Better to
start off on real world equipment and work your way up to the
top-of-the-line stuff. Most recording studios are 24-track analog
or less and most PA systems are 16 channel, 3,000 watts or less.
Don't buy education for something you will never get to use after
you leave the school.
3. Audio Schools are a waste of money. Instead of spending $18,000
for a course and having nothing to show for it but a technical
certificate (which everyone knows is no help at all getting a job),
you would be better off spending the 18 grand on books and gear and
learning by trial and error, or saving the 18 grand altogether and
learning first from reading, and later from apprenticing.
[jsaurman@cftnet.com (Jim Saurman)]
Jim summarizes the opinions pretty well. Recognize that an altogether
different option is to attend a full four-year college program. Many
colleges and universities offer such programs. Examples include
Peabody Conservatory, Cleveland Institute of Music, McGill University,
New York University, University of Miami at Coral Gables, and the
University of Massachusetts at Lowell. Without fail, graduates from
these sorts of programs earn far more respect than graduates of any
technical school. [Gabe]
Continue to:
My Books
