Pro Tools Education in Phoenix, Arizona

[mattjew24]

The Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences is located in Tempe and Gilbert. I went and loved it and learned a lot. Especially about Pro Tools...Phil Nichols is a complete wiz and master of the billionth level on Pro Tools.

[XxFeendogxX]

I went to the conservatory as well. One of the best learning experiences of my life. I am very proficient in pro tools because I went to that school. They thought us pretty much how to run it without using the mouse.

[LawMan2012]

Thanks for the input guys. I should have mentioned that I work about 60 hours a week, so enrolling in the conservatory is not an option. I've decided just to learn it using books and working on it at home. Thanks!

[TNA]

I don't know which community college you went to but I would recommend going to SCC. They have a really great recording program (at least I thought so). I took studio 1 and studio 2 there and would like to take their DAW class later on as well. The teachers were very helpful and knowledgeable and they actually have a good recording setup for you to learn on.

[Pedantic Sound]

Youtube. Seriously, I've learned more from youtube tutorials than I would have ever thought.

[mattjew24]

I think I've learned the most from experience. Recording friends at school ( CRAS ) and my own stuff as well as many others. Now I work downtown Nashville running sound for bands. I am gaining a lot of live sound experience

[TNA]

Originally Posted by mattjew24

I think I've learned the most from experience. Recording friends at school ( CRAS ) and my own stuff as well as many others. Now I work downtown Nashville running sound for bands. I am gaining a lot of live sound experience

That's interesting that you speak so highly of the CRAS. I took some classes at Scottsdale Community, and the teachers there absolutely hate CRAS. They said that most of the students don't know what they are doing and don't get taught the proper way to work in a studio. One of my teachers who owns his own studio said that he doesn't even consider them when they ask to intern for him. I actually got to do a session for a few hours there with my band. I was kind of in shock at some common things that the student recording me was unaware of. He sent me a mix of one song later and it was terrible and told him to just go ahead and send me the rest of the tracks and I could mix them myself. I've heard that many of the students don't go on to do much after graduating, even though the school claims that they hook you up with really good internships. But that's just what I've heard. IMO for the price it is not worth it. I felt like I knew just as much in my two classes at SCC, as the guy at CRAS who was recording us did 5 months in. The campus is really nice though ( as it should be from the cost of tuition). How hard was it for you to get employment after you graduated? Did the school help you?

[XxFeendogxX]

Yeah it helped. Trade schools like yo bash on other trade schools. It's just what they do.... I moved to l.a. And interned for 3 days before I got hired. Then I became a runner, than an assistant and after 2 years I was engineering. It's all about your drive and what you make of it. Most kids that go to that school are just aspiring musicians who think that their education will help their ''artist career''. They are the ones that do not end up doing much. I learned so much there and the teachers are awesome. They have platinum and gold records. You might want to ask yourself why your learning from a guy that works at a community college, rather than a school that's credit list can be found in mix magazine and have Grammy award winning students. The guy that recorded your band was a student..... That's his time to make mistakes and learn. Some people have years of experience before going to school for audio engineering. Others have none. Your teacher is probably jealous because they turned him down for a job or something. In this industry you come across a lot of know it alls. Don't believe everything you hear.

[TNA]

Originally Posted by XxFeendogxX

Yeah it helped. Trade schools like yo bash on other trade schools. It's just what they do.... I moved to l.a. And interned for 3 days before I got hired. Then I became a runner, than an assistant and after 2 years I was engineering. It's all about your drive and what you make of it. Most kids that go to that school are just aspiring musicians who think that their education will help their ''artist career''. They are the ones that do not end up doing much. I learned so much there and the teachers are awesome. They have platinum and gold records. You might want to ask yourself why your learning from a guy that works at a community college, rather than a school that's credit list can be found in mix magazine and have Grammy award winning students. The guy that recorded your band was a student..... That's his time to make mistakes and learn. Some people have years of experience before going to school for audio engineering. Others have none. Your teacher is probably jealous because they turned him down for a job or something. In this industry you come across a lot of know it alls. Don't believe everything you hear.

I definitely agree with the whole "you get out what you put in" statement. Which is what I hear from a lot of people who went there. Still though, I believe you are paying for the name recognition. I was shocked when I attended SCC, I just decided to take a recording class for fun. But the amount of gear they have there, and let you use is insane. It was weird that they did not let the students at the conservatory use ribbon mics at all, and they only let them use higher end mics if they had a 4.0 GPA. That really sucks IMO, and aren't you missing out learning to use those mics?

I have a ton of respect for my teachers at SCC. For simply having a small studio in Tucson, the guy has recorded some very well known artists (can't remember any right now). I'm sure a lot of his badmouthing was probably out of bitterness. But I do know that I believe I learned just as much, if not more, than the conservatory students at a fraction of the cost.

[XxFeendogxX]

That may be the case. You may have learned a lot for a fraction of the cost. SCC has a toft console and a control 24. You have to understand that those consoles are great but the reason we paid more for our educations is because we were able to learn in SSL consoles and Neves. Most of which you will find in major studios. I could buy a toft for 10,000 and open my own non accredited charter school if I wanted to. I'm not trying to argue about what school is better, just trying to point out that just because one person makes a mistake does not mean the school is bad. Recording and mixing is an artform which takes time and effort to master. Besides. Scc is only 3,000 cheaper according to their website.

[mattjew24]

Originally Posted by TNA

That's interesting that you speak so highly of the CRAS. I took some classes at Scottsdale Community, and the teachers there absolutely hate CRAS. They said that most of the students don't know what they are doing and don't get taught the proper way to work in a studio. One of my teachers who owns his own studio said that he doesn't even consider them when they ask to intern for him. I actually got to do a session for a few hours there with my band. I was kind of in shock at some common things that the student recording me was unaware of. He sent me a mix of one song later and it was terrible and told him to just go ahead and send me the rest of the tracks and I could mix them myself. I've heard that many of the students don't go on to do much after graduating, even though the school claims that they hook you up with really good internships. But that's just what I've heard. IMO for the price it is not worth it. I felt like I knew just as much in my two classes at SCC, as the guy at CRAS who was recording us did 5 months in. The campus is really nice though ( as it should be from the cost of tuition). How hard was it for you to get employment after you graduated? Did the school help you?

Yes I loved CRAS and learned a lot. I feel I know more than people who attend "classes" at a community school but it may just be pride. It's true that teachers at these schools love to bash other schools. Doesn't mean a thing.

Because of CRAS, I moved to Nashville and immediately interned for 6 months with Sony. Now I work downtown on 2nd avenue running a decent JBL system.

I'm not mad that your teacher said all these things. I'm already learning that the teachers at CRAS do the same thing. They're all experienced but I think I'm catching up

I'll say this, I knew a lot of ******** "Producer" kids at CRAS who don't pay attention and just smoke pot all day. I'm sorry your session at CRAS sucked...my project sessions were all fantastic