Audio Engineering.

[Tbirdbassist]

I was thinking about taking a course in or minoring/majoring in this.

Before you say "OH NOES! GO TO SCHOOL FOR SOMETHING REAL, HURR!!!"

History and Psychology are my main focuses and what I definitely want to take courses in. However, I'm also interested in audio engineering. People say I have a good ear and I mixed two of my old bands songs. I know there's more to that, though.

I just wanted to know that the guys who know about this, or actually do it (I know there are a few of you here). What are the requirements? What should I know before hand? I know that having a basic understanding of frequencies and such is important, but there's obviously more.

Enlighten your frustrated, Highschool Senior, bass playing brother.

[lookjojoisplaid]

Well coming from someone who isn’t too much older than you now and was thinking about the same that when i was your age here is my advice. If you are gonna pursue Audio Engineering only do it because you want to record music for yourself not for anyone else or if you just want to become more knowledgeable for your own personal benefit and here is my reason. First is that advancements in good quality recording gear for the small time home recorder is shooting through the roof. Things like the firepod are eliminating the need for an engineer which mean less jobs for those trying to make it in the profession and leaving the only ones making money recording for bands like green day and shnai twain. Plus even if some university hands you over a degree right now good luck finding a job. I’ve heard from allot of people that try to get jobs in the field and they all tell me its not about the piece of paper that’s says you graduated it about how much experience you have

[Pacman]

If you're interested in engineering, focus on live work. You'll need a more than basic understanding of electricity, troubleshooting and fixing gear (soldering is an everyday skill - be good at it), and a host of other things. Also be prepared to work your tail off. The hardest working guy in my group has always been my engineer.

That being said, there's always work for a (good) sound engineer.

[lemur821]

As someone currently studying this, I wouldn't recommend it if you're mostly interested in it from a "making your art" point of view (aside from some dabbling, which could give you insight into the process). While there is a large amount of art to making a good product, there's also a huge amount of long tedious tweaking. If you want to make art, it's better to let someone else handle those bits so you can concentrate on doing your thing. To make good recordings you've got to treat it as a job. A buddy of mine switched out of the audio department here when he realized this very thing. It's about being the palette, not the painter, and that's not what he wanted to do.

On the other hand, if you like working with gear and getting your client the best audio you can with the sounds you have, then audio engineering can be very rewarding.

I think understanding this is the most important thing for a person considering studying audio. You'll learn all the technical mumbo-jumbo in class.

[Poop-Loops]

The technical mumbo jumbo is a big part of it. I know people who go or want to go into physics because the concept (understanding the universe) is fascinating, but they drop out because it turns out it's a LOT of math and tedious work, or they just can't hack the math and tedious work. You have to fully understand what you'll be getting yourself into. The journey is just as important as the destination. It doesn't matter if you love what you're doing if you hate how you're doing it.

[lemur821]

Originally Posted by Poop-Loops

The technical mumbo jumbo is a big part of it. I know people who go or want to go into physics because the concept (understanding the universe) is fascinating, but they drop out because it turns out it's a LOT of math and tedious work, or they just can't hack the math and tedious work. You have to fully understand what you'll be getting yourself into. The journey is just as important as the destination. It doesn't matter if you love what you're doing if you hate how you're doing it.

+1

I don't know if I was clear with my statement about the mumbo-jumbo. I just meant that you don't need to go out of your way to learn it beforehand to prepare -- they will be teaching it.

[Poop-Loops]

Oh no, of course not. There's always a course that is designed to be at your level, so even if you have to take a few extra ones to graduate, it's still possible.