10 Things I Learned at an Audio Engineering School
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 28 авг 2024
- Should I go to an Audio Engineering School? Is Going to an Audio Engineering School worth it? If you're trying to figure out whether you should go to a school for audio engineering, here are 10 topics that were covered when I went to a music school.
10 topics:
1. Signal Flow
2. External Hardware
3. Using a mixing console
4. Recording techniques for various instruments
5. Mixing and Mastering
6. 5.1 Surround Sound
7. Analog vs. Digital Music
8. ADR and Foley
9. Live Sound
10. Acoustic Design
When I was researching what you learn at a music school and specifically the thing I was interested in, audio engineering, I wanted to find out the topics that were covered. I thought it would also be really helpful to hear it from a student who completed an audio engineering program. That's why I made this video :)
You'll cover a lot of topics at an engineering school. The 10 that I cover hear are fairly broad and probably some of the main topics you'll go over. Here's a quick synopsis of each topic:
1. Signal Flow: The path an audio signal takes from the sound source to the final output. Signal flow is very important in audio engineering and something my teachers drilled into us as future audio engineers.
2. External Hardware: Being able to have hands-on experience with external hardware in an audio engineering class is very helpful as you'll learn a lot about signal flow as well as the different tonalities different types of equipment have and how they affect the sound.
3. Using a mixing console: Those huge multi-channel mixing consoles you see in major recording studios are audio engineers' job to know and master. At an audio engineering school you'll learn how to work the board. It's all about signal flow :)
4. Recording techniques: An audio engineer should know different recording techniques for various instruments. Having the opportunity to test out different recording techniques in a well acoustified room and in a learning environment as opposed to a real world situation can be less stressful and more helpful.
5. Mixing and Mastering: Probably one of the big take aways when you complete an audio engineering program is knowing how to mix and master. Although you won't be a professional mix and mastering engineer when you graduate, you'll definitely know certain "rules", common tips and tricks and have first-hand knowledge and feedback of you mixes and masters.
6. 5.1 Surround Sound Mixing: I don't know if many audio engineering programs train students in 5.1 surround sound mixing, but I had the opportunity to learn this and it was an awesome experience. An audio engineering school may teach you how surround mixing is done since it's different and a little more complex than stereo mixing. If you want to potentially work in the film industry, see if the audio engineering program you're looking into teaches 5.1 mixing.
7. Analog vs. Digital Music: There are some key advantages and disadvantages with analog and digital music. At an audio engineering school, you'll learn the differences between analog and digital recording, techniques for each medium and the advantages and disadvantages.
8. ADR and Foley: ADR (automatic dialog replacement) and Foley are techniques used in the film industry on the audio side to have great final audio. An audio engineer needs to know how to record and set up ADR and foley sessions if you're planning on getting into the film industry.
9. Live Sound: Learning live sound in an audio engineering class is usually a big take away for many people. Live Sound is all about knowing how to set up for concerts and live performances. An audio engineering school is a great place to get your live sound chops up so you don't make as many mistakes in a real world situation. Better to learn in a safe learning environment rather than get grilled at a huge festival when the speakers don't work!
10. Acoustic Design: Acoustic design is extremely helpful to know especially when many people are building out home studios now. You'll go over different acoustic treatments and design ideas. The way you approach an acoustic design project is going to be different for every room that you do. Learning the concepts will make sure you can apply those concepts in any situation.
Audio school might not be worth it if you just want to be an artist, but for me, i want to open up my own studio, work on radio, work on movie soundtracks, maybe even start up my own radio station. i think there are lots of benefits besides the education you get, for example the connections you make there. i hope it will be worth it. thanks for the great video
With that attitude u will make it far I can tell brotha 💪 keep me updated if ur in school yet and if so how is it?
@@daparomusic Hello, thank you for your kind words and yes, it started and i am loving every bit of it. I am one of the most consistent students and might be at the top of the class currently. Missed only 2 classes in 4 months. I have learned so much not only from the production standpoint but recording and theoretical standpoint aswell, plus we get to use amazing analog gear that is really fun especially now that i am getting comfortable with it. In 2 hours im gonna head to a 6 hour session i booked and work on my project. Everything is great, the only downside is that i moved out of my country for this school and i dont have many friends and it can get kinda lonely, but apart from that, im loving it :)
@@jetbluesprite7134 that’s so cool to hear bro I’m looking to get involved in a engineering school after the summer the analog equipment is probably a blast to use. And you don’t need many friends right now ur honing in on ur craft and it will make you much more money and friends in the long run. Stay grinding brotha 💪
@@daparomusic thanks for the kind words bro, you got my support!
Imo it’s worth it either way. All depends on what you think you need in order to achieve ur goal. I’m a self taught artist for 4 years now, producing and recording. I’m going to college in the fall for audio engineering to benefit myself, I can learn lots from school and take away from that to apply to my own music. If I can professionally engineer and mix my own music, money saved and time saved. That’s my goal with school essentially, learn as much as I can, work as hard as I can and network.
SIGNAL FLOW! Probably the single most important concept of sound and audio engineering. That's why Pro-Tools is still industry standard. That's why DAWs like Cubase and Logic Pro remain so relevant even when FL and Ableton are so popular now with home studio producers. Pro-Tools, Cubase and Logic virtual consoles emulate analog signal flow which is still highly applicable in the professional world.
If you choose not to go to audio school, get a mentor who will teach you all the fundamentals. They make a world of difference. Make no mistake, formal education is critical for the basic understanding of any subject. But it doesn't not in a classroom setting.
Couldn't have said it better myself. Thank you for sharing your input 👌
"Pro-Tools, Cubase and Logic virtual consoles emulate analog signal flow which is still highly applicable in the professional world."
Utter rubbish. The do not emulate any signal flow, it is purely digital. And as DAWs, they route that signal exactly the same way as any other DAW does. It is just very handy way to manage signal flow, there really are not many ways you could even do it. It is a bit like you saying how there are queues in a grocery store and thus warehouse logistics emulate grocery stores.. when you can't really avoid queues in either one, that is just the most practical way to solve similar problems.
Also: Pro Tools is not an industry standard anymore. I see Reaper way more in daily life than PT, mostly because PT kind of sucks being overpriced and not offering anything unique anymore. It used to, i used AVID and then PT stuff for decades and it always kind of sucked. It used to be low latency heaven but the competition has caught up. And it never was really more stable either, you can make any DAW stable if you just never update anything and airgap it, freeze it in time and they will all work 24/7 for decades if you want. It used to be the only professional choice, it hasn't been for well over a decade now.
@squidcaps4308 FL studio doesn't route signals like most DAWs.
Matter of fact, it doesn't route them at all. You have to do it manually for every source.
Everything gets loaded into a channel rack with zero routing assignments.
The tracks in the Playlist also aren't automatically routed to the mixer channels.
It's about as far removed from hardware as you can get.
@@LuckyFlesh You mean to say... that a software that forces you to manually route everything is as far as can be from real hardware, that you have to manually route using physical cables instead of virtual ones? At least all decent DAWs route things for you, which is a MASSIVE timesaving not to mention the cost of having almost an infinite matrix. But if you have to route it yourself, then that is very much the closest you can get in virtual environment of what it is working with hardware.
@squidcaps4308 I'm not trying to argue, but FL is more than "decent".
Routing signals in FL studio isn't like plugging cables into hardware.
In other DAWs, you have tracks and each track has its own channel. That IS , as you said, analogous to hardware.
In FL, the sources and Playlist are independent. It's more work, but the trade off is more flexibility.
Excellent presentation, thank you.t
When I was coming up there were no schools, we built our own equipment because we couldn't afford 'real' equipment, etc.
I threaded my first tape machine in 1961, and it has been quite a journey.
Now I'm writing my own plugins, trying to keep up with you guys.
Once again, excellent presentation.
Got my film degree, ended up doing sound. Now im just trying to learn how to be a proper audio engineer
Nice, I think having both skill sets is really important now. I'm the opposite, graduated with an audio engineering degree and learning how to to edit/create video and graphics. Both are interesting in their own way.
Keep learning man 👌
Bro I just gotta lot of ppl around me who been rapping for years and I been writing their lyrics but I really really want to have the ability to do what audio engineers do. Should I go to college or a short course here and there and keep tryna get jobs in the industry
3:35 signal flow is the most important thing in all of life
I agree 👌🏼
thanks for checking out the video
I would add unity gain to signal flow, which links it to gain staging which is very, very important to have clear understanding of the signal flow and gain staging, and all of that is tied in with the concept of unity gain: that the input and output levels of each device in the signal flow are equal. You don't attenuate, you don't add gain, you keep them the same. It makes handling signal flow and gain staging so easy to handle, it makes your whole workflow more predictable. It ensure your signal quality is at highest possible, it makes sure each device is working in their nominal range, at signal levels that they were designed to.
In practice, when you tweak any effect, eq, compressor you keep an eye for input and output levels and constantly adjust them so that the signal is not boosted or attenuated. You raise the signal level to the optimum once in the preamp section and then you keep it as close to 1:1 ratio until the channel balance is set with a fader. It makes EVERYTHING so much easier. It also means that when we do break that rule, and there are reasons why we sometimes want to do that, those cases are exceptions to the rule and you will remember it better. If every single signal route is all over the place when it comes to gain staging you can never manage that chaos and will make tons of mistakes. And your noise and distortion levels will increase. Unity gain has the best signal quality possible, there are dozens of unity gain stages inside the hardware too. I was lucky to go to electronics before sound engineering, i had good grasp on complex signal flows but it was very important part for me too, to really get hands on experience how to do it right when it comes to audio. And the concept of unity gain applies in the digital world too.
BTW, audio engineering and sound engineering are not the same thing.. Some countries call sound engineers audio engineers, like in this video. The difference is actually simple: audio engineers design the hardware that sound engineers use..
This was nice video, i remember a lot what i did learn and the list was longer than i remembered. I started behind a sound console when i was 11, and went to school when i was 36, so i got few years of experience but i still got a lot out of it. It cemented my workflow, i was very unpredictable before but rock solid after. I had luck that i got into a good school too, it was intense but the quality of teaching, the foundations they laid, principles that were inserted in my spine that they became instinctual and intuitive... It also gave a lot of confidence, being able to make mistakes in a more closed system and then taking on bigger and bigger projects, applying all of that wisdom and it working every bloody time. I know what i can and can't do, and it doesn't scare me.
"You are just one more device in the chain, no more important than an EQ or a compressor. Your only job is to ensure that the message gets thru". It means don't get cocky, don't have any ego but just do your best so that whatever message you need to relay forward gets there. If it is music, you make decisions that ensure that the message in that music arrives at the listener in a way that they understand it, they "get it". Not your job to modify that message. We had a ton of sound production, since that was the name of the whole thing, sound engineering was big part of it but basically i should be able to produce anything that has sound, in any media, any event. I am not saying i can, but that was the goal.
Oh, and i got to do it all using TL Audio VTC... god damn that desk is beautiful, you can just keep pushing it and pushing it and it just sounded better and better. It does make the room quite hot but it is worth it.
Thank you very much for sharing your experience! I think it’ll give others a different perspective and insight into another person’s journey, which is amazing.
And that quote is awesome!
Bro thanks for making this helps a lot.
Thanks Bro, this video of yours has at least given me a way to flow towards audio.
I am getting a chance to enroll myself in a course which almost covers all the major items. this short course is of 12weeks.
once again thanks very much for building up my confidence.
I will be in touch with you for future reference.
Thank you for the video. This was really helpful 😃😃
Dope information Fam!!!🎧📈🔥
See I want to be an artist of my own one day, but I know that I want to be in the studio one way or another and I have a passion for recording and mixing. I’m the end, I feel like CRAS (my school) can teach me everything necessary to make that career for myself, wether I’m playing stadiums or recording the people who do
Can you make a video outlining the basics of each 10 topics even a 10 minute breakdown of the fundamentals will be helpful especially how to work the mixing board
Awesome and helpful video!!
Great detailed video! Thank you!!
Thank you for sharing brother. God bless you.
Great job and good luck!
This is sooo great 👍 thank you so much for all the information 😀
What were some things you searched and studied online before deciding to go to audio engineering school?
At first, I just focused on the things I was really interested in: music production, sound design and Ableton Live.
Before deciding to go, I looked up these concepts and studied A LOT (there’s probably a lot more but these I definitely remember):
1. Music production techniques (both analog and digital
2. Recording techniques
3. Microphones
4. Ableton tutorials (it was my DAW of choice)
5. Acoustics
6. Speakers/headphones
7. Music theory
8. Instruments and their uses in different genres
9. Synthesis (FM, Additive, Subtractive)
10. Audio Engineering
11. Mixing/Mastering (check out Dave Pensado on YT for some great mixing content)
I watched/read almost every RUclips tutorial and blog post I could find on how to use Ableton, music theory, production techniques and synthesis sound design. I was really into J Dilla, Pretty Lights, Skrillex at the time and I wanted to know how they made their sounds, so I looked up their production workflows and learned a lot from that.
After that I started searching for things that solved problems I was coming across. I now knew how to produce, but I needed some gear and engineering skills to take things to the next level. I started learning about interfaces from different companies, microphones, plug ins, speakers, headphones, acoustic gear.
At this point I had a very strong grasp on music production and engineering concepts, but I didn’t know where to go from there. I didn’t know what top level professional workflows looked like for music production or post production situations, why certain DAWs are preferred in certain recording/live/post production situations, the sonic differences between analog and digital gear, etc. I also just didn’t have access to a studio with a surround sound setup and external gear so I could mess around with and get experience using.
I would say starting out, just look up the things that interest you and things that help solve problems you’re finding as they come up. You don’t need to be an expert at first, just get a grasp on the concepts because you’ll keep expanding your knowledge as different scenarios come up.
Hope this helps.
My thing is I want to make music, and I have been trying to self teach for about 5 months now and I have learned a lot but when it comes to plugins I wanna know what does what. What does attack do and how do I use it, what is threshold and how do I use that, so I want to know what does what I don’t wanna be mindlessly turning knobs that I have no idea what they are for, does this catagory fall into music production or audio engineering???
This video helped a lot. I want to study audio engineer as well but I don’t know how to study for the entrance exam they do in the university’s. Do you have any tips on how to study the topics for entering the Uni ?
Great advice
Thanks and good luck to you. Why have you stopped making content ?
thanks 👍
No problem, thanks for checking out the video 👌🏼
Thanks bro
No problem 👍🏼 thanks for checking out the video
Lmao the breaking bones 🦴 line had me cracking up
What school did you go to? Im having problems trying to find the right school.
Hey, thanks for reaching out.
I went to two schools. The first was a local Recording and Audio Engineering program based in California. The second was the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.
I would highly recommend checking out Berklee, especially their online programs.
It’s definitely hard to choose the right school. There are a lot of options and the “right” one may just depend on your particular situation. The general audio education for the most part should be the same no matter where you go. There may be different perks like certain facilities for TV and film audio, recording studios for music, an internship program after graduating. There may be different focused degrees/certificates like Post Production Audio, Game Audio, TV and film sound, live sound, etc.
I think if you can find what part of the industry you’d like to be in, then finding a school that focuses on that may be a good idea.
I did a lot of research when looking for a school. I couldn’t afford anything crazy because I had to pay for it myself while living on my own. That’s why Berklee’s Online program worked for me. It was music focused and I got a Bachelor’s Degree which is what I wanted. But I work with a lot of people who have graduated from different schools like CRAS, Full Sail, community colleges, state schools and universities. We all ended up in the same places. If you have a passion for this stuff, you’ll be fine no matter where you go.
Hope this helps. If you ever have questions, reach out anytime. 👌
where did you go to audio school ?
what are the requirements for going to an audio school
None of this means shit in the real world. Being a good communicator does. Being thick skinned and physically, mentally and emotionally tough is massive. Being able to constantly problem solve while everyone in the room is staring at you is a biggie. I studied the theory for years but I know guys who simply have the right personality for it who’ve done well….
A comment that still sticks with me, and I think about it anytime I'm on the job, was from my professor "at the end of the day, we're all engineers. We all know how to do the job. The things that will make you successful are your extra qualities. A part of this job is customer service. Are you easy to work with? Are you personable? Do you know how to communicate effectively with people?"
I also think organization and planning skills are important. I think the qualities you pointed out are important as well.
I do think knowing the technical concepts are important though too. It would do nothing but help to know these things when you have a room full of people staring at you while you try to figure out a problem. Happened to me literally last night lol :)
Thanks for sharing your insight.
Thanks for the video! If you don't mind sharing what school did you attend?
Hey no problem! I went to American River College in California and took the Recording Arts Program. After that I graduated from the Berklee College of Music with a Music Business degree. Here's a link to the Recording Arts school if you're interested: wserver.arc.losrios.edu/~music/commercial.html
@@IntempusMusic How long were you in school for music?
@@panthepanther3012 What's up man. I was in school for music and engineering for 3 years. After that program, I did 2 more years at Berklee College of Music. 👍
@@IntempusMusic One more question: we’re those degrees associates or bachelors or a mix of both?
@@juh.leeuhh Hey! It was a mix of both. I have a mix of certificates, associate's and bachelor's. 👍
Having worked my whole life in the audio production-related industry, I can tell you there is a lot of misinformation in this video.
Many audio production companies (most in my experience) will not hire people who recently graduated from Music/Audio schools. This is because most for-profit audio schools don't correctly teach necessary basic audio concepts. Students also typically lack the hands-on experience to enable them to be effective. Electronic Engineering schools are better for learning audio engineering fundamentals.
Most audio production companies are looking for people who have experience in the field they get from doing live sound (for bands) or working as an intern.
Of course, this is a generalization as there are a few excellent audio programs at colleges today. But in general private for-profit audio programs tend to produce "graduates" with factually incorrect technical knowledge who do not understand how much they don't know.
Many of the incorrect or misleading statements in this video are examples of this problem.
what are some good audio engineering schools within colleges?
edit: curious because i am looking into university programs that do audio engineering
I am not sure what is misleading.... 😅 as he is just sharing his own experience and what he's learned..... it mostly sounds like what has help him in his career....
But can you point out what exactly is incorrect??? O.o
Interesting...
So I’m thinking of becoming a rapper when I’m older so what should I learn in college to be able to set it up and tune and everything else?
Deez 🥜
@@prod.strawberryswisher7593 YOO PAUSE BROO
Think of finding something way more stable and promising, try it when you have some capital and a back up plan, then likely fail at finding any major financial success with it, then keep it as a hobby if it makes you happy.
Please tell me what type maths and physics that need in sound engineering because I'm very very poor in maths and physics I'm going to join in sound engineering bachelor's degree program
Mayyy just teach u. Like how he added the disclaimer 34 way in
Any tips if you want to direct your career towards film sound or video game sound? Doing sfx design or ADR?
Yeah man definitely. This is from my experience so far.
For tv and film, focus on post production workflows. Pro Tools is the standard for tv and film post audio. Depending on which field you want to enter, there’s foley, Dialogue editing, ADR, sound design, dubbing workflows and more. There’s a lot of different positions for post production, learning the workflows will be very helpful and many jobs may have their own way of doing things.
This a great channel to start learning post production audio using Pro Tools: ruclips.net/channel/UCd7Uk1zyyxZOAR6aauKz68w
For game audio, learning audio middleware like Wwise and game engines like Unity and Unreal is a standard. Pro Tools, Reaper and Nuendo DAWs are industry standards for game audio and sound design. Wwise has great classes to learn Wwise for free on their website, I’m taking them now and they’re great. You can get a certification from the company for it if you’d like.
Demo reels which explain your work and/or process are common for both industries. These seem to be crucial for landing a job in the industry. I would say as you’re learning, create passion projects that show you know the softwares and workflows.
For example, I think this is a good demo reel for game audio: ruclips.net/video/YCfBWI-HdbQ/видео.html
Also, there’s a big push for immersive and interactive audio. Learning Dolby atmos and ambisonics audio is a great idea for both, but especially for game audio.
What to learn kind of depends on what you want to specialize in. If you’re like me, learn a little bit of all of it to figure what you want to do. If you ever want to know what you need to know for specific jobs, try looking up job openings for what you’re interested in on indeed, LinkedIn, etc. read the job descriptions and see what software and skills you need.
Hope this helps a bit 👍🏼
True having a degree makes hireable
What are some top music engineering schools
Yo where is the link for the school you went to???
Do you have any idea about good sound engineering course in Canada
did you get a degree for audio engineering ?
I follow you
This is very confused many of the words and concepts are no correct. Audio engineering, mixing engineering and acoustics are not correctly used in this video.
What school did you got too?
He didn’t reply cuz you used the wrong “to” 😊😂
Do you have I G
First off all, get the word engineer out of your mouth. What you have achieved is an understanding of the application of the gear and concepts that audio engineers designed to do your job as a end user audio technician. Stay in school, learn the trigonometry of waveforms, how to build circuits and consider their values and understand acoustic resonance and be able to communicate it scientifically, building the tools you have been exposed to.
A bachelor's degree in electrical engineering separates the wheat from the mixer and enthusiast. Kudos for your work that you have put in.
Ey
100 bucks he went to Full Sail lol