Key Of Grey

Photo courtesy of davekellam

December 14th, 2008 – One of the reasons I started Key of Grey was to educate those who are interested in producing, engineering, or writing music, but don’t have a lot of background. It turns out that there are a lot of people interested in creating music, but aren’t sure where to start. With the improvements in music technology happening at an exponential rate, the barriers of creating music for the beginner, and even for seasoned veterans, are being lowered.

Still, one of the questions I get asked a lot is whether an aspiring engineer/producer needs to go to school. I’m sure that you can tell by the tone of this site, my ideas on the matter. But in this post, I will provide a more in-depth explanation as to why I believe that you needn’t necessarily go to music school.

First off, in the interest of full disclosure, I must tell you that I attended a well-regarded music school for production/engineering, earning an honours diploma for my time there. This is not to say that I’m an awesome engineer, or even a good student. In fact, I would say I’m adequate at the former and terrible at the latter. The reason I was there was because, being a musician and aspiring composer, I wanted to be able to take control of the whole creative process, of which I see engineering and producing as important parts.

After a lot of time and money, I completed my studies and went off to work in a professional studio. It was there that I affirmed my suspicions that my real learning would happen once I was out in the real world. Ultimately I realized that I could probably condense the useful bits of my schooling into two weeks. Quite simply, for the amount of technique and skill level I achieved, it wasn’t worth the money. This is not to say that the school was completely useless; after all, I got my first studio job based upon that diploma. Once I got my foot in the door, I was able to move to the next level.

This, of course, only matters if you want to work in a well-known studio with fabulous gear. If this is the case, you probably are going to be working for some established engineers and get to work with artists with money. You may even get to work for someone famous. However, I find that most of the people who are asking me questions, don’t really want to be in that situation. While we all dream of working with huge artists in nice studios, many of the people reading a site like this are interested in being in control, or are interested in what’s involved with producing themselves (and friends). Working for a big established studio means that you will be the low man on the totem pole and it may take a long time before you’re even allowed to clean nice gear, let alone mix the next Coldplay. You won’t learn quickly with this route. Engineering and producing great songs has everything to do with experience. You really just need to get out there and do it.

My suggestion is that if you want to be in control and do what you want to do, go for it. You can start writing and recording music with very little money. As you get clients, you can take that money and invest in more and better gear. Start small and work your way up. You’ll learn quickly and you’ll gain your own rep. If I had taken the tens of thousands I spent on schooling and had instead bought gear, I could have had a really nice set up. If you’re driven to learn, you can go as far as you want without school. There are so many resources out there now, whether it’s in books or websites like this one. If you want to learn so you can produce your own music, you can spend what you want and scale as you see fit. As your skill level increases, you can get better gear.

So is school a requirement for today’s audio engineer? The answer is not really. In the music industry, no one really cares what school you went to if you have the skills. If you want to produce music, you definitely don’t need schooling, you just need to market yourself properly and put out great songs. If you want to do your own stuff, you definitely don’t need to go to school; it’s a big waste for you. If you want to be a straight up engineer, some potential employers might want to see a diploma or degree before they consider you. But honestly, a good portfolio is what clients are most interested in. How you get one depends on how driven you are. Just keep in mind that many of the top producers or engineers never went to school, they learned by doing it.