The Badderer Posted November 13, 2014 Share Posted November 13, 2014 Hi BC people. I thought i would turn to you guys for recommendations based on my situation. I have a 10 year old degree in music and I understand the music tech world has moved on about 50,000 parsecs since then. I have been moving back into the world of making my own music for about 6 months and have reached a point where i want to make a bit more time for it in my life and could probably make 1 day a week spare to study. I am currently using Ableton + MainStage 3 but would also be happy working with Logic or if needs be Pro Tools. At the same time as doing my own stuff at home, I also help with a church youth project / band helping them to make music and have taught a couple of people bass. This is reaching the point where it needs to advance in terms of music kit and my skill to use it. We need to start putting the drums in a drum cage with mics and running in ear monitors with a midi controlled click to allow us to use ableton tracks live / push midi controller / MainStage 3. It would also be good for me to develop general sound engineer stuff so i can consider different options for working in the industry in the future. I thought it was good to give you guys a general run down of where i'm at and what i'm wanting to do as that will rule out certain courses and directions. I'm looking at doing anything from 1-5 day mega crash courses to 6 month - 1 year part time courses with evening study as an option. Any recommendations and advice for what to steer clear from would be appreciated as I have seen some really great options and some that look like a company just in it to put you through a slap dash course and take your money and you come out the other side none the wiser. Thanking the BC community in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TorturedSaints Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 I can't really help much with recommendations, apart from audio courses that have been offered by free online Coursera and FutureLearn MOOCs. However, the Sound on Sound forums are always good for (sometimes harsh, but fair) opinions. For example, this thread [url="http://www.soundonsound.com/forum/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=1111782&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=365&fpart=1#1111782"]http://www.soundonsound.com/forum/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=1111782&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=365&fpart=1#1111782[/url] encompasses a wide range of opinions about courses for someone to get about someone to get work in the industry. I think with some internet research (youtube), a subscription to a decent Magazine (SOS or Computer Music or similar), a couple of good text books, and with your Music degree background you would be well placed for your own stuff and Church youth project. IMO there is no substitute for doing. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 I did that Audio Masterclass on-line thing and found it useful for my purposes which were very general. I learned some stuff I could use and have a whole bunch of reference materials I can go back to etc but I do hold the view that the the best way to learn is to be doing and having up-to-date gear (software, vsts, decent microphones etc), working with that gear and keeping a watching brief on developments via the magazines and forums referred to above wiill cover a lot of bases. I guess the first question is what is it you actually want to do with the learning? If it's personal stuff, you can go the informal route. If it's professional ambitions that drive you,you may need to find something more formal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Badderer Posted November 24, 2014 Author Share Posted November 24, 2014 really useful information. am reading some things with interest. confirmed a few things i'd been thinking, changed how i was thinking about others Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TorturedSaints Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 To put my remarks in context, I was considering doing a SAE Institute course. They have lots of glossy brochures, big consoles etc etc, but seem to churn out graduates for which there's not much market - I've seen these guys come and go at setting up local studios and then going bust before the next one comes along. I was looking at it in terms of doing a conversion of a barn as a dedicated studio/rehearsal facility and then becoming the in-house engineer. I quickly ran the figures on return on investment etc and decided to keep music a hobby. Bilbo's advice is good, although I wouldn't necessarily say that up-to-date equipment is really necessary, IMO a lot of it is about being able to listen to what you are recording/producing and knowing how to change that. With a Music degree, I would say that you are a fair way there on that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Badderer Posted November 26, 2014 Author Share Posted November 26, 2014 cheers Ralph. I had also looked at their site along with a few others and it seemed very sort of musical professional-ish but something didn't sit quite right with me and i have to concur that i generated the same opinion that it seemed to be a well put together course but to what end after the course. I think i'm erring towards just making time and using my own understanding / the awesome forums on S.O.S. and Gearslutz and piecing together solutions to problems as I find the problems. I think i'll learn far more by just doing than I will from doing a long drawn out degree / diploma thing. I think i might do a couple of day courses on Ableton when i think my basic understanding is good enough to enable me to get the most out of a couple of the more advanced courses. My thoughts about courses are now thinking about whether i should look at either electronics / acoustics in the future but i'll let the path my music takes determine if either of those are a good idea. Interestingly part of the thing we're looking into with the youth music project is whether we build a recording / practice room in the church grounds and set it up for making music. Because we don't have to buy the land, we're only looking at the building cost of the building itself and trying to find the best way to doing that.... but it's one for a few years into the future. i need to get my head round all sorts of things before then and that's where i might need some acoustics training. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero9 Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 Money is better invested in gear rather than audio engineering courses imo. As already stated, the best way to learn is to spend time actually doing it. There is plenty of free information available on building studios, and there are some really good threads on Basschat about this. You don't need an acoustics degree or to necessarily study acoustic to build a good studio. I would start with textbooks on the subject before embarking on a course, unless you really need a qualification or certificate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TorturedSaints Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 As zero9 says, best way to learn is to do it, like most things in life. Regarding room acoustics, there's a regular column in Sound on Sound (or has been in the recent past) called "Studio SOS" where home/community/musician studios get a sonic makeover. It doesn't appear to be rocket science unless you have a very strange room. There's also a small cheap book called "Home Studio Design" or similar (I can't lay my hands on it right now) that will give you some ideas. Because it's a Church/Youth project, I suspect that the SOS Studio Design/Acoustics forum would be helpful. I think the top tip I've gleaned from those sources is don't make it a square or cube room, and it will work out ok! If you're sourcing equipment for a youth project, you probably don't want to go for high end equipment, so I would suggest having a look at some of the Studiospares own brand equipment in the Studiospares.co.uk catalogue, cheap enough for supervisors not to be too obsessive over damage/loss, but which produce reasonable results by most accounts. Anyway, good luck with it all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Badderer Posted November 26, 2014 Author Share Posted November 26, 2014 cheers guys thanks for the input. nice to be encouraged in the direction i had kind of come full circle to. i think i just need to put more of my own personal time into it and just research my problems as i come across them. fortunately i've already invested in some fairly decent gear as I never get cheap starter gear as you realised after 6 months that it's complete crap and have to buy a whole new load of stuff to upgrade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Badderer Posted December 8, 2014 Author Share Posted December 8, 2014 As God would have it, I may have the chance coming up to convert part of an old church into a recording studio / practice room.... needless to say I am fairly excited that this might be exactly what I need to get my teeth into. So much to research and plan, but could be great. Found lots of great info here.... http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/index.php Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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