stalefish, I went through the Institute of Audio Research in NYC some years back. It started out as an AES sponsored workshop and decided to get state accreditation. It's more technology than production oriented. I'm aware of a four year program in Miami, a state university I'm thinking. Belmont Universtiy here in Nashville has a Bachelor's program (and they bought the local branch of Ocean Way Studios a few years ago). You can tailor the curriculum to be more business or production oriented. I know there are tons of Belmont grads working in this town.

Hey, I’m glad to see this post. Interested to hear everyone's opinions. Here is mine. I went to a school called Full Sail back in 2000. I have some mixed feelings about this place but here’s the simplified version. If you can see through all the hype then it's a great place to learn the technology and make connections.

They defiantly cover more then you need to know to get started as an engineer. All the different aspects of acoustics and engineering are covered. You graduate after 13 months with an associates and the placement department is very good. The instructors are top notch. There are also many guest lecturers. Everything is hands on, even the lectures.

It's a very intense place to be. You’re in class all hours of the day and night. You have no free time and you only hang out with people that go to the school, this may or may not be a good thing. The school has a lot of the "best" technology and small class size. You have lecture with the entire class and labs (studio time) with only four or five people. I wouldn't attend if you’re young (under 21), it's a little overwhelming which makes it hard to focus on what's really important. I should mention there are no dorms so you have to get your own place. Also don't attend thinking this is anything like college, it's very different, it's exactly like going to work.

Over all I would recommend it as a good foundation. The associate is all technical, so if you want to know more about the business then you have the option of spending another 9 months for a bachelors in "Entertainment Business". I graduated years ago but I'm actually heading back in June to do that.

It will be interesting to see how much the place has changed. When I attended it was very small, now I hear it’s grown allot. They upgrade the equipment regularly so I can’t wait to see what they have now. I hope it’s still as good as it used to be.

If you want to know more specifics just ask or drop me an email at michaelkruger@earthlink.net

Regards,

-mike

I enjoyed going to Full Sail. Lots of fond memories. They definatly teach you a lot there. I would put NO faith in their job placement, all schools of any kind will blow smoke up your ass about job placement, exspecially this one. Aside from that, I enjoyed it and I got a lot out of it. I think it costs too much tho, WAY too much. Also, instead of having all those expensive consoles, I think time would have been better spent dealing with mic placement and mic selection. If I had it all to do again, I would most likely go to ARDI, also in Orlando.(the smartest guy I know went there; he said its much more hands on, and he also used to teach at Full Sail)

YEAH! your right, they could have spent more time on microphone placement. I never took advantage of their job placment department, so I should retract what I said earlier about it.

Anyway, like I said it's a good foundation. You shouldn't go to any school thinking your getting the best education. I know that sounds wierd but really I think people expect too much. I think of Full Sail as a baby step toward becoming a good engineer. It served its purpose.

I am attending SUNY Purchase which is well recognizrd for there studio production, studio compisiton, and jazz programs. Learned and still learning alot from my program (studio production), and the faculty is great. Also I think people expect to much out of these schools, its really about the effort you put into the program and the knowledge you have rather than the degree.

I have a friend who's in a SUNY school right now, up in Fredonia. He's not in the studio production major but iv'e talked with some of his friends and they seem to like it. I always hear good things about SUNY music programs.

hee hee - Fullsail is actually one of the top on my list :)

there's this other one in London called Alcehmea ... anyone go there? is this board American btw?

Hi there, Paladyne -

Would you by any chance have the url or email address for ARDI where one could request/see information?

Best,

Marcus

Not to be a smarta$$, but I always thought the best school was the school of hard knocks and experience...

No teacher or cirriculum can replace just doing it...getting an idea on technicals (line vs instrument levels, rudimentary understanding of sampling, etc) can be accomplished through a great deal of personal study, asking, interning, etc...THEN decide if academic or real world is the better way for you to learn.

My opinion, anyway.

thanks for your opinion .. but i just wanted to find out where to get respected paper qualifications :p:

Hello All -

Here are some links - I've been taking a look at them since I read the thread earlier today:

ARTI

[="http://www.fullsail.com"]Full Sail[/]="http://www.fullsail…"]Full Sail[/]
(rather pricey : ), but def. looks trendy )

[[url=http://="http://www.audiosch…"]Institute of Audio Research (IAR)[/]="http://www.audiosch…"]Institute of Audio Research (IAR)[/]

I think these were the main ones mentioned in the thread.

Best,

Marcus

I'm also a Full Sail alumni as of August 2003. IF you want to KNOW all the technical information, be prepared to put your face against the grindstone and bust your balls studying. The classes are a month long each(or somtimes two), and give you a LOT of information.

If you think you'll be tempted to party, you'll find yourself slipping in the classes fast... for some reason, about a quarter of the people who now go to Full Sail havn't got their mind on their buisiness... after six months, though, you should have those not as serious weeded out.

You will learn a large amount... and you'll have some hands-on time as well... but if you're just starting into the industry(as I am), it won't be enough. Having a small Pro Tools rig at home will help out a lot, too.

Since I graduated, I know that MIDI now offers certification in either Logic or Reason(can't remember which), and you can also try for Pro Tools Certification (Operator level). If you go for the PT Certification, study HELLA HARD in Workstations and Ace it for some breathing room. If you don't like technical stuff, Advanced Workstations will bore you(thankfully, I found it to be one of the most enjoyable classes because of that reason). Post and Session are pretty hard, too; the latter morso than the former.

It was the hardest year of my life... and I'd love to be able to repeat it. Since I've graduated, however, I can do that for free... another perq... as long as I have the living expenses required. Rent for my one bedroom apartment a mile from the campus(the closest apartments) was $650/Month. If you have a car, only use it for grocery runs, as parking is the number one reason people are late, and four tardies make you loose four hours... and you shouldn't miss any class if at all possible. Each class is different, and nearly every lab is important, as well.

I highly recommend the experience if you really want to know how to do things...
but how to do them well is something completly different.

Oh, and placement... Placement is basically for graduates who have gotten a bit of experience under their belt and want to transfer to another area of the country. It's not a Joke, but it is not a selling point of the school. It's the knowledgeable staff that does that. I felt quite welcome there, and very few of the staff had any form of that 'sleazy' feeling that some people have commented about on wbsites like 'fullsailsucks.com'

Peabody in Baltimore has a very good recording engineer program. Indiana University has a very good recording program, Ohio University in Athens, Ohio has a very good recording engineering program. Middle Tennessee State University at Murfreesboro, TN have a very good recording program as does Belmont in Nashville. The mix directory and the AES educational directory have a lot of information in them about audio schools. Most of the universities are 4 year degree granting. If you want to go the 6 week wonder schools ( an I assume you don't) there are a lot of them listed as well.

I guess it depends on what you want to use the degree for. A college degree is always a way to open doors even if you chose not to go into audio when you are done with the program. If you have a specialized degree you might find that you have limited options.

Hope this helps.

For what it's worth, when it's slow here in the studio, I go to the recording institute of Detroits online course just to brush up and keep on my toes. They have an online course thats FREE. There are I think 9 lessons that you do. and you get graded right away. There are many audio examples too. You then E-mail the results back to them, then they send you the next lesson. True, it's not hands-on, but it's a great refresher course. If, after taking the course you pay them a small fee, they will send you a sheepskin as certified for your wall. Personally I didn't care about the certificate, I just wanted the education / brush-up. As a free subscriber, you have access to the magazine as well as several other perks such as tips, archives, articals, and more. Heres the site addr.
http://www.recordingeq.com