I studied the basics of Carnatic (South Indian classical) vocal music
in India for an year. Now I am studying Western classical music theory
in Cyprus.
I am a software engineer by profession and becuase of this I dont get
enough time to practise and progress in music.
Could someone suggest me what steps I can take to improve my career in
music? I need to start working in music industry so that I can learn my
livelihood as well as learn with the help of music.
Could someone suggest me which courses and diplomas in which
universities guarantee me a job in the music industry?
By jobs in the music industry, I mean as a sound engineer or a music
programmer.
pardhu wrote:
> Hi
> > I studied the basics of Carnatic (South Indian classical) vocal music
> in India for an year. Now I am studying Western classical music theory
> in Cyprus.
> > I am a software engineer by profession and becuase of this I dont get
> enough time to practise and progress in music.
> > Could someone suggest me what steps I can take to improve my career in
> music? I need to start working in music industry so that I can learn my
> livelihood as well as learn with the help of music.
> > Could someone suggest me which courses and diplomas in which
> universities guarantee me a job in the music industry?
> > By jobs in the music industry, I mean as a sound engineer or a music
> programmer.
> > Many Many Thanks for your help
> Pardha
>
the only guarantee in life I am aware of is death
there are thousands of sound companies and recording studios around the world
go out to events and meet them
as far as studio work goes I have no idea what path you would take
myself i would start independent recording and make a name for myself
perhaps you get noticed or perhaps you decide to work for yourself
when I hire people formal education is not really a issue as I look for the internal drive and desire to be part, any part, of the exciting world of audio
pardhu wrote:
> Hi
> > I studied the basics of Carnatic (South Indian classical) vocal music
> in India for an year. Now I am studying Western classical music theory
> in Cyprus.
> > I am a software engineer by profession and becuase of this I dont get
> enough time to practise and progress in music.
> > Could someone suggest me what steps I can take to improve my career in
> music? I need to start working in music industry so that I can learn my
> livelihood as well as learn with the help of music.
> > Could someone suggest me which courses and diplomas in which
> universities guarantee me a job in the music industry?
> > By jobs in the music industry, I mean as a sound engineer or a music
> programmer.
> > Many Many Thanks for your help
> Pardha
>
To become a recording engineer, you'll want to attend an accredited school dedicated to that
discipline, one that has a good reputation. Europe surely has a number of good schools for this, but
I couldn't tell you which ones.
The reason is simple: you have to learn about the consoles you'll be working on, you have to learn
about how sounds relate to one another from a technical perspective, you have to learn how to create
a good mix, which involves a number of factors that take time to learn (in the real world of "just
do it" or in the scholastic environment where you not only do it, but have teachers there to help
accelerate the process of learning).
In the US, the "tradition" of getting into a studio as an employee, eventually getting behind the
console, has had a rather romantic veneer put on it. Many engineers got their start as janitors at a
studio. This was (and may still be) one of the standard ways of getting inside the "system". All the
engineers know why you're there and one day one of them will tap you to come in and help with a
session, first as a gofer, a person who just does the little stuff. Then you get to do more
important things, mic placement and such, until eventually you get into the control booth and move
into "second" engineer. After you have demonstrated your competence, you will soon get to be "first"
engineer on a less important session to see if you can handle it. If you get tapped, they think you
can. Then it's up to you to prove you deserve to sit as "first" engineer.
It still happens this way sometimes. But the main thing is that you have to start learning about
being a sound engineer. The music programming can be learned at one of the schools as well, seeing
as how computers are becoming so integral to the process of a recording session.
Get into the right school and learn everything you can. Be humble and listen. Get a job at a studio,
even if it means pushing a broom. Be humble and learn. You will achieve your goal if you are patient.
"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic
hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs.
There's also a negative side. "
Hunter S. Thompson
play on <playonAT@comcast.net> wrote:
>On 2 Mar 2005 08:21:18 -0800, "pardhu" <pardhu@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>Could someone suggest me which courses and diplomas in which
>>universities guarantee me a job in the music industry?
>
>Unless you are perhaps in the field of music education, I don't think
>a music degree will guarantee you anything.
Not a day goes by that I don't get a fax or a phone call or an unsolicited
e-mail from someone who just graduated from some recording school or another
and is looking for an internship. This is NOT A GOOD SIGN for anyone who
would want to break into the business that route.
I started in the business through routes that haven't existed for years. If
I were a young kid looking at the industry, I would run away as fast as my
legs would carry me.
--scott
-- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
Right now, I am staying in Cyprus. I came to know that the situation in
music industry in USA is very tough because of the excessive number of
people aspiring for jobs than the jobs themselves.
But, it is not really the case in India! In India, the younger
generation has a craze for software and management. We find relatively
very very less people who prefer to go into music industry. In view of
this, I am pretty much confident that with a very good degree from a
standard Western university in audio engineering and good amount of
practical experience in Western studios, I should be able to make a
decent job in India.
"pardhu" <pardhu@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1109834388.102942.233950@l41g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
> Thanks Geoff, Thanks Scott for your response!
>
> Right now, I am staying in Cyprus. I came to know that the situation in
> music industry in USA is very tough because of the excessive number of
> people aspiring for jobs than the jobs themselves.
>
> But, it is not really the case in India! In India, the younger
> generation has a craze for software and management. We find relatively
> very very less people who prefer to go into music industry. In view of
> this, I am pretty much confident that with a very good degree from a
> standard Western university in audio engineering and good amount of
> practical experience in Western studios, I should be able to make a
> decent job in India.
>
> Thanks again for your kind help
> Pardha
Look for the nearest S.A.E. college, then. It doesn't get more standard than
that.
Consider spending a year in New York and attending the Institute for
Audio Research. It's a well established institution that will give you
a good foundation in audio engineering. They will get you your first
internship and in most cases an entry level job. Sampling the business
and creative environment in NYC would be a very valuable experience as
well.
Going back to India, you'll be a big fish in a small sea.
If you're living in Cypress, which I understand is
one of the greatest place to live, why would you want to move to a big
nasty city?
If that is your dream, I would consider maybe UCLA or another Southern
California
college with a great audio dept. I am sure they are well connected to
the Hollywood film industry. A movie sound person, editing, recording,
mixing for film is a viable career in India.. I would imagine since
India has the world's second biggest movie industry.
Who knows you might even hit it big in Hollywood instead of Bollywood
or whatever they call it there. Good luck.
Thanks so much db....Thanks everyone for your nice and encouraging
words....
Could you tell me something about the academic front in Classical Music
Theory? Is the situation better?
I am doing quite well in Western Classical Music Theory. Can I aspire
for
some scholarship for doing further studies in Music Theory and hope for
a teacher's job in a music university later?
Right now, I would be giving my exams for 8th grade in the Royal School
of Music (ABRSM), London. Can a good score in this exam fetch me an
admission for further studies into Music theory and Compostion (MS and
later may be PhD) with a scholarship or some kind of research
assistantship in a
University of US or Europe?
And how far would a degree (MS or PhD in Music) help me getting a
teacher's job in the music unievrsites/schools?
Thanks a million for your kindness in guiding me... Pardha
> Going back to India, you'll be a big fish in a small sea.
> > A_C
A_C, I wouldn't call India a "small sea." A billion people and a very large entertainment industry say otherwise. (If expressed in dollars, the Indian entertainment industry may not seem so large because of the lousy exchange rate.) Anyhow, his career chances in the US are not exactly promising these days. And they're probably not handing out US visas in any great quantity to Indian recording engineers, either!
