Help me make music technology education better for studio owners!

[The Byre]

1. I have just written an article on this subject, you can read it here - AudioMedia - April 2012

2. Survey Monkey seems to think that I need to join or sign up for something and that just ain't going to happen! If you want to ask questions, I suggest you either build a website, or simply ask them here.

3. In the UK, there are 4,500 MT graduates being launched onto the employment market every year and another 2,000 with MT as a large part of their studies (combined courses). There are 50 or 60 recording studios, 50 larger PA companies and about 100 A for V and gaming studios in the UK. Discuss . . .

[psycho_monkey]

Really good article Mr Byre - enjoyed that (nice to see contributions from at least one other GSer as well).

How unique do you think I am in that I got an offer from Surrey, got the grades and turned them down? I liked the facilities, but being much more into playing in bands (not classical) I found them really snooty....knowing what I do now, I might have made a different choice...still, hasn't turned out to bad.

I've yet to meet a bad Tonmeister/LIPA grad actually working in the industry, although a lot of Tonmeisters end up in the techier positions, not necessarily recording. I've met plenty of bad SAE/Alchemea/etc grads, although also some very good ones.

As for the original point - admirable, but yeah, I don't need surveymonkey in my life either....why not just put it online as a pdf and we can fill in answers and send to you?

[fakiekid]

Byre this is amazing!! EXACTLY what I've been looking for my literature review.

I'm sorry that Survey Monkey isn't right for you. I've got this in on Friday and that seems way more time consuming for users rather than a simple 8 Q's on one page. No matter, the article from Byre is brilliant!

On your point Byre,

obviously most of them are going into educating like I have done, (albeit fortunate enough to also work in a local studio with a high spec) be it in colleges, universities, local community centres or within their own studios!

After questioning some of my current A level learners, most of them are only undertaking the course for personal fulfilment. None have eyeballed a career working for someone else, they wish to be self employed post A levels, moving onto HE or just making their own music/product successful (with a small percentage having no interest at all). If these are the goals that they wish to attain, then more effort needs to be put into place for them to understand relative business essentials, like plans, models et al and practice these skills for real (becoming their own business). Not sat going through 'mix it like a record' for the last 6 weeks of the course (yes, a colleague is doing this.... IMO, not beneficial, but others may think differently.)

Enabling young people to be proactive and achieve a financially stable career is imo a key point of their music education.

Now, the curriculum that we follow has one assignment that let's them do this. ONE out of 16 units! I agree that the basics of studio etiquette and understanding compression/eq/how to make your beats sick in Ableton etc is of extreme importance but this highlights the fundamental flaw in what they themselves wish to achieve and what is being provided. Our economic climate has changed, so must our education, yet it is us, the educators, that must bare the forefront of this and be clever with assessments as the govt/awarding bodies are just not catering for either role (student and industry) right now.

[fakiekid]

Few points I'll raise after reading your article. Think they're good discussion pieces.

Firstly, an educational establishment, as a business, could not support the style of 'fewer numbers and graduates' without sufficient funding. Unfortunately some of us have to take exactly what we can get.

For instance, last year we had our level 2 course cut, which meant that our level 1 and level 3 courses suffered with A) our level 1 being incredibly oversubscribed, and B) some of our level 3 course learners not achieving as it is too high an academic level for them and retention figures dropped greatly (admittedly, people who will probably never get a job in the music industry). This has effected our second year of the level 3 course as now it will only run until Xmas. All staff involved with that year group will now loose wages as the course hours have dropped significantly.

And on another point, as I've already mentioned, a curriculum based around the needs of an industry and not a students personal goals would result in very little applicants. This would benefit the overcrowding, but would see a massive fall in access to music for young people.

Just being on a course of study for some students, in itself, is a massive achievement. Whether they actually take an education and become the next Dr Luke is another. So its unfair in some respects to deny young people of that experience.

I agree, we must look at this and change music technology education, yet, as a practitioner and educator, there is also another book of rules for which we have to endure.

[The Byre]

Originally Posted by fakiekid

Firstly, an educational establishment, as a business, could not support the style of 'fewer numbers and graduates' without sufficient funding. Unfortunately some of us have to take exactly what we can get.

If you go back to the article, you will read that I support the idea of the German system of three universities providing a profound education to Tonmeister and other needs covered by the two apprenticeships Mediengestalter Bild und Ton (media production assistant vision and sound) and Veranstaltungstechniker (event technician). These are three year conventional apprenticeships that have to be taken with a registered company and under the guidance of a master of that trade.

At the moment, there are 126 universities in the UK, churning out 4,500 graduates of MT each and every year and another 2,000 who do combined courses. It would be my suggestion that only two or three remain and all the rest are closed, to be replaced with either a university graduate courses, the equivalent of those German apprenticeships, but in line with the number of positions vacant, or better still, be replaced with genuine apprenticeships.

Originally Posted by fakiekid

And on another point, as I've already mentioned, a curriculum based around the needs of an industry and not a students personal goals would result in very little applicants. This would benefit the overcrowding, but would see a massive fall in access to music for young people.

Little applicants? Do you mean those working in the industry are shorter than most?

But anyway, in most courses, they are learning absolutely Jack Squat about music or technology. I speak to these kids and they can neither read a score, nor a circuit diagram. Most have no knowledge of music whatsoever - bridges, keys harmonies, progressions, modes and rhythms are a closed book to most. Almost all of them cannot solve the simplest of technical problems, digital, acoustic or analogue.

Originally Posted by fakiekid

Just being on a course of study for some students, in itself, is a massive achievement. Whether they actually take an education and become the next Dr Luke is another. So its unfair in some respects to deny young people of that experience.

What is unfair, is to pretend that attending the Wysuckie College for the Totally Dumb has any resemblance to a proper college education, even if they have the magic letters BA or BSc after their names. By getting 'pudding' degrees, they are being condemned to a life of shelf-stacking, whilst at the same time not one single university in the UK is education the equivalent of those two German apprenticeships.

Originally Posted by fakiekid

I agree, we must look at this and change music technology education, yet, as a practitioner and educator, there is also another book of rules for which we have to endure.

Other than manufacturing and software development, there is almost no music technology industry, so there is no need for an education in a field that does not exist! There are at least 5,000 technicians working in AV and multimedia, for which there is little or no education available, but they have to be able to do far, far more than just fiddle about with sound.

[fakiekid]

Originally Posted by The Byre

Little applicants? Do you mean those working in the industry are shorter than most?

No need to patronise, I'm not here to fight, just to discuss a topic.

Thanks for that.