Marc,

> Advanced, hands on training classes ... would be very intresting ... However I don't want or need to spend a year at Full Sail or SAE. <

Here's a thought: Buy a half-day or two in a pro recording studio with a pro engineer who's work you admire. Bring in one of your recent projects to remix, but with the understanding that you want to be able to ask questions and learn from the experience.

I did this recently with a classical music mastering engineer to learn how to improve an orchestra recording I made in my home studio piece by piece on separate tracks. It was a very worthwhile experience and I learned an awful lot. Best coupla hundred bucks I've spent in a long time.

--Ethan

And if TLA happens to be the engineer he admires most, should we expect him to say 'That was the best $10,000 I ever spent?'

Mixerman

Originally posted by Mixerman:
And if TLA happens to be the engineer he admires most, should we expect him to say 'That was the best $10,000 I ever spent?'

Mixerman
If TLA is the engineer he amires most, I'd call that the WORST money ever spent. Anyone can overcompress.

Originally posted by Bear's Gone Fission:

Sure, but not everyone can get an army of sports cars for overcompressing.Bear
I'd rather NOT overcompress, and do world class mixes & have an army of cool gear.
I'd suggest going to the record store & buying a couple huge stacks of cd's. I went to Full Sail, and I guess it was pretty cool. But, listening to CD's and trying to emulate what my favorite engineer's did taught me much more than full sail did.
I went the runner/assistant/engineer route, and did it at a 5-room studio. I got to work with a ton of GREAT engineers, and some not so good. Even most of the lesser engineers had 1 cool thing they did. If you learn 1 trick from every engineer you assist for, by the time you're ready, you'll have plenty of tricks up your sleeve.

Bear's didn't mention it, but here in Austin, you can get an Associate's Degree from Austin Community College in Professional Music Management that includes some great courses in studio recording. The courses can also be taken by just plain folks (as opposed to folks trying for the degree) and don't cost that much. Food for thought. :cool:

I think I have some stuff coming up around the end of July...if you'd like to schlepp up and be 'coffee bitch' for a couple of days, I'm sure we can arrange it. It's just some demos for some local friends, so I doubt they'll mind [I'll of course have to ask them first], and if you turn into a loud mouthed asshole, you will be sent home [but that happens to any assistant with a big mouth].

Don't know if that's what you had in mind...but we've been known to do 'an album' in a weekend...which is kind of a 'break neck pace'...and I think you might be able to gain an interesting perspective on things. Give a shout [privately] if you'd like to give it a go...and we'll have to work out some kind of 'schooling fee' :D :D

Thanks Fletcher. I sent you a note through your work e-mail.
Marc McManeus
marc@soundpostaudio.com