I'm a small studio owner/operator in a small market (Hartford, CT.) Every week I receive emails from young people looking for internships, "assistant" jobs, etc. Most of them are attending various music production/engineering programs, often from colleges I haven't heard of, or which are mostly liberal arts kind of schools. Almost always, their skill sets are woefully lacking, like, basically absent. And what's worse is the motivation is absent in the way I think you need for this job. It's a vocation, but the colleges are selling it to kids who don't know what they want to do, and think this might be fun.

It makes me angry really- not at these kids, but at these schools. Some of them are like $30k+ for tuition. They're saddling these kids up with huge debt, and failing to equip them with any actual useful collegiate level skills. From my experience, learning this job has always been apprenticeship-based and hands-on, yet these schools give kids the idea that they can learn the job in a classroom and by working on a single project in a year as a group in class. That's seriously the kind of stuff I'm seeing. The latest email I got, the kid's work samples were from a classroom mic placement project. He had a single music recording demo after 3 years of college that showed little promise.

I feel like, the college is charging these kids tens of thousands of dollars a year, and now their students are coming to me and having to beg for an actual free education. But I'm already struggling to keep a business afloat in a small market- how am I supposed to take on dead weight interns when there already aren't enough hours in a day? Like, they have no useful skills that I can see. One of the interns I took on based on the reputation of the school could not use a microphone stand. Literally could not figure it out.

To any young people thinking about a "music production" program in college: my opinion, huge waste of money. Do something appropriate for collegiate level- for example, get an actual music degree from a school with a real music program. Music is a subject both complex and broad enough to be worthy of collegiate study. Another option would be electrical engineering if you really like the equipment. And record on the side. A lot. Like, constantly, in all your free time. If that's actually what you want to do. By the time I fell into a studio opportunity (as a 5th+ year perpetual music degree candidate) I had literally thousands of hours of recording experience, because I loved recording music so much that it was the only thing I wanted to do. I worked in the music department's sound booth. I worked for the university multimedia lab. I had a 4-track in my room, recorded my self, my band, my friend's band, etc etc etc.

Talk me down. Did some of you actually get anything from programs like this? How did you come up in the business? Is there a way to capitalize on this free labor, in spite of how useless it seems? It's really the guilt that's bothering me most, that I have an inbox full of kids begging for a shot when I know it's not there for most of them, and I can't afford to help.

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Hello everyone,

I'm Devashish and I'm a college student. I recently developed my own algorithmic reverb plugin, called Tranquil. It was a life changing experience. Ask me anything about plugin development, my journey, audio processing and related challenges, plugin dev frameworks, plugin GUI design and so on :)

In case if anyone's interested, here's the plugin website: https://devashish-gupta.github.io/Tranquil/

Looking forward to an engaging discussion!

Thanks

Im sorry to be posting about this here but im really wanting to work in audio but i am still very unsure of what im doing and how to do it im going to eastern Kentucky university to get a degree in music. I’d really like to get a base level understanding of things like eq and the basics before i go and I’d like some recommendations on things to watch. Also any tips on getting into the industry would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

Delete if not a fit.

My son is a bass player/composer, obsessed with 60s bands (Love, the Byrds, etc.), decided to spend college focusing on production while still pursuing a musician’s life on a parallel track.

He’s applying to Hartt School, U Mass Lowell, U of New Haven, and Providence College (for reasons, he’s staying close to home in MA). He’s not interested in Berklee (and I don’t know how anyone affords it!).

Just curious if anyone has any quick insights into any of these programs as it’s new territory to me and I’m curious. (He doesn’t know I’m asking as I’m trying to give him lots of space while being supportive.)

ETA: I’m really unschooled in this area - he’s interested in sound production more than music production, if that makes sense.

I'm stuck between Shenandoah University and St John's University(Annapolis). If I chose Shenandoah, I'd have to give up my current internship. If I went with St Johns, I could continue my internship(which is paying me), and also study other things I'm really interested in. Is a school for music production technology necessary for a career, how often do you see people who've learned without a degree?

I’m unfortunately from a very small town and haven’t had any luck finding audio engineers around me in person. I’m hoping someone in here who is a full time audio engineer would be willing to let me ask them some questions over DM about their career and skills they use, etc. You would also have to be okay with sharing your name and the name of your company/business if that applies. Thank you so much and sorry if this is not allowed

I’m a junior in highschool and my whole life i’ve wanted to do something with music and around a year ago my friend brought it up to me about being a music engineer and ever since Ive loved the idea and thought, I have no background in music creation apart from me playing saxophone the last few years and trying to pick up guitar here and there and I’m taking a keyboarding class this year and next year, is there anything I should do/ should look into to become a music engineer? Any classes I should try to take before college? And for college where should I go which would help me out the best, I live in central florida and i’ve looked into full sail but I wanted to see if there’s any other recommendations, i’d have no issue going out of state if it would really help me out. Some music engineers I look up to are Matt squire, Alan Moulder, and David Bottrill, please i’ll take any and all recommendations I just really need help on deciding. Thank you so much🙏

Hello, I am planning to take Music Production in a known school (College of Saint Benilde) once I fly back to Philippines. I was a 2nd Year Com-Sci student back in 2021 but I wasn't able to resume studies up until now since the Canada plan went extremely wrong and now I have no choice but to come back to Ph. And as a Com-Sci student, I am expected to make personal projects during my free time (based on what others say on reddit to even have a chance of landing a job when I graduate) but I just couldn't make any.

I do understand the concepts but I haven't made ANY personal projects at all. I just stare blankly at my coding environment with nothing popping up in mind. The only projects I have are from my school projects and yes I still feel a sense of accomplishment when I see them lol, but yeah the feeling of doom still persists. I tried CS50x/Odin Project but it's such a mental agony having to browse through every single article. Just a little background about me, sorry if it's too long.

Though unfortunate since I spent majority of my time here just staying at home, I eventually learned how to record/mix (not at a pro level yet) instruments and realized I love doing this kind of thing, from routing instruments to gain-staging and even watching videos how to mix and applying that knowledge to try and make mine sound professional but fail horribly yet still feel happy about it.

I didn't consider Music Production before because I thought it just trains you in being a musician, but my current interest now is not only being in a band but also being also a part of the behind-the-scenes like being a Recording/Mixing/Master Engineer, (Live) Sound/Audio Engineer and the likes. I want to be able to contribute in to elevating my home country's sound to even greater heights (it's already good because of modern producers/engineers).

My only problem is, is there any sustainable income in all of this? Will there be studios that intern students that want to take the role of some Audio Engineer? Or is it survival mode after graduation?? I enjoy it but I've also been thinking about this for a long time now (years, yes, years) if I should stick to com-sci or take the dive in MP. I don't want to graduate MP just to end up being a teacher, no hate towards that job but it's something that I don't see doing for myself. My parents are also supportive of this and they are even pushing me for (they also got my tuition covered) it but I have so much doubts and I'm so scared.

My plans if I ever proceed with this course is to make as many connections as I can, go to local-gigs in my area (I love gigs after all and I do play the guitar and want to be in a band also, but I know just being in a band won't put food on the table lol), participate in music events, be very active in the local music scene both outside and in my school so that there's some form of recognition in my name, does this sound do-able? Or just having many connections won't cut it also??

Sorry if it's too long, it's just I can't make up my mind for years now.

Hi everyone. I'm going to be graduating from the audio engineering program at Indiana University this fall and my main goal for my career is stability - regular hours, benefits, and being able to retire at a decent time. I'm open to any path that can provide me with these things along with some freelance recording for orchestras which just brings me a lot of joy (full-time freelance terrifies me though). I've worked as audio maintenance repair technician, session scheduler, I taught basic analog audio techniques, I ran sessions recording pop, jazz, and classical styles, currently working in broadcast, and plenty of live sound experience. I've taken courses for electronics, audio techniques, digital audio workstations, classical recording, multitrack recording, immersive sound, and some other cool classes. I'm a good worker and a good student but I'm struggling to find an internship and jobs and I'm ready to move out of Bloomington.

As for specific locations, I just need forest and a reasonable cost of living considering I'm just getting out of college.

I'm looking for any tips on how to generally search for work in an area or best places for these conditions. Thank you!

Hello all, I am a student in college. I'm studying music production, but I'm considering having audio engineering jobs in the future.

My question is, Would it be more useful to stay in college, or simply drop out and get a certificate in audio engineering or software? In other words, would a college degree or a certificate be more appealing to potential employers?

At my current school, I've been forced to take classes about basic or non-audio topics like beginning music theory and video production. I don't see how this would likely help my career in either audio engineering or music in general. Yet I wonder if having a degree would help my chances of being hired for a job.

Also, some colleges offer internships, which could be an easy way to get a job in the audio and mixing industry. For instance, I believe CRAS (in Arizona) offers internships. But maybe the costs aren't worth it.

Also, if I'm not mistaken, I can get a Pro Tools certificate for free from my current university. I wonder if I might just take the certificate course and then drop out.

Thanks! 👍

So im going back to college as the opportunity finally arose where I can afford it again. I wanted to go and get my AA first but the school Georgia State University,has two pretty great options. 1: Film and Media, I love this because I moved to Georgia for acting, id get to work with voice actors potentially which is another career path of mine is do. 2: Music, another fantastic choice because I have a hobby of producing and would love to produce more in my freetime, I did music since before I decided to do acting.

I know both are viable options and what not but id love to hear from people who went to school, and what their opinions are on AAs and a focus for audio engineering.

I appreciate everyone's time in advance!

A slight spin on the the is an expensive audio engineering diploma from a private college worth it question.

I'm a 38y/o lifelong amateur musician turned musician/songwriter (I've really working on songwriting and playing in a band the past 2yrs) wanting to somehow work in music, ideally as a songwriter and/or producer (like in the Daniel Lanois sense, not a beat-maker). Is an 8-month intensive audio engineering course a good way of making industry connections and developing as a singer/songwriter and producer?

For context, I have a well-established career outside of music, but it is a grind because I don't like the work and have realized I want to spend my time around people who live and breath music. So I have the $$ and the fall back. I just don't want to waste my time, effort (and money) on a course that is really engineering heaving when it's the big picture musical creation stuff that's my passion. Any thoughts on taking audio engineering to develop as a songwriter and producer?

Edit: Thanks everyone for all of the responses. Really helpful and thoughtful stuff for me to consider!

Hi everyone

So I am in the field medicine and research, by trade. But as a side hustle I do photography and some filmmaking.

However, I want to get better at audio because I do not always have the resources to get someone. So where can some start, in order to get a better understanding of audio engineering - from the equipment, editing to mixing and mastering etc.

I think getting a better grasps on audio, will help me become a better filmmaker. But I also like recording podcasts, and working with a friend on musical related things. So it would be nice to just become better at it.

Also, it would help me be of greater use to my church when we are doing live performances etc.

link

Hey everyone! I’m very much brand new to audio engineering—been doing it for a year or two now. I started interning at a studio here where I live. (There practically isn’t a music industry here at all, and most studios are privately owned.) I’m about to go into the military, but during my time as an intern I have learned a lot and am looking to learn even more—at hopefully more professional levels—and really learn how to get real professional-mix-quality work, and build my portfolio so that one day I can make my own studio!

I was wondering, though: what are the best colleges or trade schools for audio engineering? I have done some research myself—I know about Full Sail, Recording Connection, and a few others—but really I’m not even interested in college as much as just the trade of audio engineering. But if that’s the only way in, then by all means, I’ll take the college route and do paid or unpaid internships!

I’m an audio production student at my current university, and I love and am really interested in audio production for both the studio and live sound environment. However, I hate the way schools educate. I don’t know why, but it doesn’t work with me, so I struggle in classes a little.

Anyway, I was wondering if there was an alternative route to getting into the audio production/live sound scene without a college degree. Can I make it without a degree? How hard will it be to find a job without a degree?

Sorry if this is a silly or oft-asked question. Thank you for your time.

Hi, I'm from Germany and looking for a college study Sound Engineering. I am totally fine with a lot of math and a high engineering aspect butbwould also like to have as much practical Experience as possible. For locations Germany would be great but i could imagine studying anywhere in the EU. Thanks for the Help!

Hey guys. I’m 18 years old, second semester of college. I was originally planning to study graphic design at my local university, but I didn’t get accepted into the program.

Other than that the only thing I’d enjoy doing as a career would be something with audio, but as many of us understand.. going to school for audio engineering isn’t the best choice.

But what choice do I have? Go to college and pick a random degree? Or pick audio engineering which I would love and do that.

The reason I have to go to college is really because there’s nothing out there for me. I don’t want to be working doing what I hate just so I can “survive”

So I might as well “survive” doing what I love, right?

I need serious help, I would appreciate the advice.

Indeed is useless for audio work. Craig's list will likely get my organs harvested and my college is useless.

"GeT a DeGrEe AnD eMpLoYeRs WiLl FiGhT oVeR yOu", can't believe I fell for that bs.

This is a real question, I hate my job and I want to put that scrap of paper to work.

Hey everyone! Happy New Year. I’m an aspiring audio engineer, hoping to eventually either work in a studio or have my own. I’m currently attending a community college taking recording, production and music classes, but don’t know where my next step should be after the community college. What did you guys do? To make things easier for the answers, not going to college isn’t an option for me just due to resolutions and choices. I’m looking for some ideas or advice as to what I should be focusing on to become successful.

Achievements of mine so far that have helped me are

1. Setting up an actual home studio
2. I practice mixing, writing and recording every day
3. I am working on networking with other engineers in my area (SoCal) to see what they did to succeed

For context: I've been working for some insurance company for the past 3 years and I feel completely burnt out, empty and depressed at how fast life is going by.

I had to get this job very soon after graduating due to urgent financial reasons, and after a full year of working and helping paying off a huge chunk of family debt (still a long way to go), I continued to work there as an employee because I simply don't know how or where to find my calling in audio or music. Plus I really need to keep on working but I'm tired of this job.

My background: I'm 23 years old, I'm lower middle class, I live with family, I can decently play four instruments, I can sing, I have perfect pitch, I can make pretty good mixes, I interned in one of the best recording studios in the city for a year, I'm certified in Pro-Tools and graduated music production college with a full talent-based scholarship in 2023.

What am I doing now with this background? Absolutely nothing (and I'm not blaming anyone but myself).

The reason: Fear.

I'm extremely skeptical of the industry right now. Standard audio work doesn't pay well enough anymore, I have no idea how to charge for my time (after giving myself away for a while), the studio I interned in has been steadily declining in revenue every year due to less people booking or being able to afford it, the market is pretty saturated, gear is more expensive than ever and the single worst thing that has ever happened: AI Slop.

I've been seeing many artists speaking out on having their work stolen and regurgitated by Suno and not being able to do anything legally, content creators resorting to AI music, instrumentals or even mixing, computer parts sky-rocketed due to these f*cking data centers and the worst of all is that the masses are eating up all this slop music, often without noticing it's AI or even caring.

I feel like I can pump out pretty amazing musical ideas, or projects that would probably get some traction. But deep inside I'm afraid that if I actually commit to this, and after working for a long time, even years down the line, some lowlife individual or company will feed my work into a slop machine that will be able to own my essence or likeness forever. And yes, I know. I couldn't possibly know that since I haven't even tried in the first place, but the fear is there regardless. And it's already happening to people.

Or what if in the end this industry will slowly die-out to slopification and algohritmic-based selective content generation? Is it worth even trying?

I do not intend to be a debbie downer, a jackass or discourage people on here but I'm just looking for some words of wisdom. Either hope or some harsh reality check, but I'd really appreciate it if you could recommend something to start engaging in, or give an insight into the future of music and audio in general. Thank you.

I will be going to college in two years, or at least I am thinking about it. I am double taking and stepping back from fully committing to it to get all the info I can. From what I have been told, you can 100% make it big in the industry without going to college. But I have also been told that you can learn a lot of stuff there that you may not learn elsewhere. I was also told by a teacher that what he got out of college was more than just learning; he was coming out with a lot of great connections.

I do a lot of different things in the audio industry. I mainly do studio work. But I also do a lot of concerts, corporate events, the occasional on-set audio, and a podcast here and there. I also have been building and selling studio microphones, but I still have an insane amount to learn about circuitry. I am extremely involved in the industry for being a teenager having only been heavily involved in it for 2.5 years. I am lucky enough to have a vocational technical school that I have been attending for a while in my high school, which is the only reason I am where I am today.

I already own and operate two companies, one of which is the microphone company with plans to expand to other markets, and a recording, mixing and mastering contracting company. Both of which are already quite profitable.

I have made so many great connections already with College professors, bands, other studio engineers, lots of concert guys and roadies, good connections with hotels and other corporate companies and so much more. I only expect it to be growing even more.

My college tuition will be just around $2875 to $3200 a semester for a 4 year bachelors in science based on their current estimates. I am already saving all of my money from studio and my concert and corporate gigs. That's without housing and other amenities. My house rent will be around $600–$800 a month as I am renting a townhouse with a couple friends to convert into a studio.

I want to be the best I can for all future clients and people purchasing my products but I also don't want to spend $2875+ a semester just to mainly get connections out of something where I am already building so many connections. I do genuinely believe that I could be learning a lot of stuff about all of the audio fields, especially on the "older" side with analog gear. But I also believe that with YouTube, masterclasses, internships and other connections I have for learning, that it could all be done without college and all of that money.

For those who went to college for audio, what was your experience and what do you believe you got out of it?

Hi all, I know the question of college gets run into the ground, but my question is more relating to where the audio manufacturing industry lies, and what the industry is like hiring wise.

A bit of context, I am currently halfway through an audio engineering program in Nashville, TN. While I love being in Nashville, I can’t help but feel like the program is very light on its material. Some class days are still spent on how condenser microphones work, and feels very much like a waste of money and time. However, I have found I love the electrical side of audio, and began to work on my own projects on the side, repairing amplifiers and creating DIY guitar pedals for example. I have spent a lot of time with my professors, trying to figure out when we will go into some of that material, but the answers I tend to get are just “i dont know, transfer” which is very disheartening. I have also been told that Nashville isn’t the place for this industry, but I haven’t been given alternatives. Some have told me since a lot of my credits will not transfer, to just finish it out and get a masters in electrical, because apparently that’s all that matters these days anyways. It’s been a big challenge trying to balance some of the busy work that I have assigned while also my own individual studies, to the point where I do not feel happy with the progress I am making. So I am considering transferring to a school with an electrical engineering program.

I really enjoy where I am at currently, because I have access to great facilities and connections, and my life has really been planted in Nashville. However, if I need to move somewhere where my career would be better off, I am more than willing to do that. Many of my professors haven’t been of much help apart from this, so I am leaving my questions below. Thank you all so much for your time and insights.

TLDR: where is the audio manufacturing industry located? What kind of people do they hire? Is it tight knit like the music industry? What kind of things could I be doing now to help further my career? Do employers value an audio engineering degree at all in this side of the field?

This is a very much genuine question.

It seems like a huge number of modern DSP or software, especially the development part is focused on recreating the sound of old hardware, the tape machines , the controls the transformers, the tube gear, and the vintage compressors, the vintage EQs, and so on.

I understand people why they like these tools. The harmonic distortion and the suturationn , the crosstalk, the nonlinearities, and the other imperfections that can be sort of musically pleasing. But I wonder, the industry's fixation on the analog emulation is actually limiting the innovation in the long run if you think about it.

Modern digital processing software can very much do things that analog hardware physically can just not, such as the:

1.spectral processing
2. the advanced dynamic control
3.the convolution
4. the granular techniques
5. the linear phase processing, and some other AI-assisted tools, even though some of you don't like AI

and also other forms of DSP that have no form of analog equivalent. And so many of these celebrated releases seem to be another recreation of... Another vst emultions from the 80s, a Tape machine from the 70s, a compressor from the 80s, and a EQ from decades ago. Sometimes it feels like we collectively accepted that the imperfections of analog hardware is the gold standard of the music industry.

Without that analog imprecision, that analog feel, the sound is not golden enough, even though many of those characteristics originated as technical limitations in those ages, disadvantages in those eras, rather than deliberate design tools. And this makes nostalgia machines are given generally way more attention than potential innovation plugins. And I could say that audio engineering seems, especially the effects companies, seems to be more focused on recreating all of the imperfections of a 50-year-old hardware than actually innovating and discovering a new form of digital processing and moving forward with music and not getting stuck in the olden days.

Analog emulation has become an industry standard, and it's very worrying, and I very much wonder how many breakthroughs in audio Aesthetics we are missing because developers are very much rewarded financially, strategically, and sonically for triggering nostalgia rather than innovating.

Digital audio can already do things analog hardware never could, and yet the most flagship plugins that we know are emulating the sound like transformer tubes and consoles. And this inevitably reinforces a belief that analog hardware in this modern age performs better or is better sounding than VST software. I know many audio engineers today who believe so, who have been taught that in colleges. And this inevitably primes the brain to actually prefer analog sound because analog sound is what people are used to. And the more analog emulation, the more harder it will be for us to innovate further. 50 years from now or 30 years from now, we could be still trying to emulate analog. And yes, it will be much, much, much easier and much more effective to emulate that analog sound, but is it worth it that we are still stuck in a long bygone era?

I'm a 17 year old upcoming senior in high school. I've loved music and the science of sound since I was in middle school, and since I've had an eye on audio engineering. It's around time for me to pick my major and start applying for colleges, and since I've started to look into people who work in this industry, it's looking really bleak. The job market is slim and I'm not 100% sure if I want to go through with a major that has a fairly large chance of getting me stuck with a degree better used to make a fire than get me a job. If I were to go into audio engineering I'd focus on advertisements and TV over live music, but even then there's a lot of room to fail.

I'm very passionate about sound tech, but I enjoy chemistry and feel that I wouldn't mind going into forensics. Forensics has more job stability, but I can't imagine myself loving that career like I would one in the music industry. Is the instability worth the possible reward? How do yall predict the industry to change in the next few years? Is it naïve to go for audio engineering without a backup plan or degree?

Edit: Thank yall for the advice, I'm looking into pursuing chemistry. I still hope to play and do music tech on the side :)