LIPA Sound Technology

[Siam]

check out point blank if you'r coming to london. i went there on reccomendation from a producer mate of mine and dont regret it at all.

if you can afford to, why not spend less time and effort on learning the technical side of production from someone who has perfected their technique over many years of experience (safe in the knowledge that you are using the tools to their maximum capacity and not picking up bad habits). then you can use the time and energy saved, on experimenting with the musical possibilities that the tool in question allows... after all, it’s the creative side of producing that attracts us (well me anyway), the rest is essentially a means to this end.

[Mash]

Well people say, it's who you know not what you know in this business

Who you know and what you've done!

Mash

[Nathy]

Does this mean im out if im going to Wrexham Uni to study Studio Recording and Performance Tech?

xx

[Mash]

Does this mean im out if im going to Wrexham Uni to study Studio Recording and Performance Tech?

xx

The main reason for music tech uni imo is for fun, meeting lots of great like-minded people, and to cover a few aspects of music tech you might not have done otherwise. If you're serious about making some kind of career out of this you'll be wanting to do something alongside a course to build up your showreel/experience and to use your time to try to work out where/how you might be able to do something that satisfies the music tech geek in you and can pay the rent...

Mash

[Nathy]

When I read the first line, 'Music Tech is just for fun', I was expecting to be ripped to shreads about how there is no work in music. Therefore I thank you for not doing so. For the past 5 years Ive been gaining experience with all aspects of audio, from backstage of theatre productions in High school, to get experience at gigs as sound engineers, lighting (Not very much Audio, but its always good to know) and even a couple of days in BBC Radio Wales. My plan is to work with Radio and / or Theatre sound. Ive learnt that theres a 8/10 chance of not making it with a studio.

Cheers again.
Nathy xxx

[IvanSC]

Does this mean im out if im going to Wrexham Uni to study Studio Recording and Performance Tech?

xx

Only if you don`t take the opportunity to visit Kingsley and his brother while you are that near to Rockfield.

Just walking around the place and talking to Otto the Engineer (prolly retired by now) was an education for me.
That place in the seventies was probably the most "if it works, it works " place I ever worked in.
Wonderful.
And the food!
And the chefettes!

[Chris Poulter]

It sounds as though you are already making a living from music, correct me if I am wrong.

If this is the case, then STAY WHERE YOU ARE! Coming to England to study would be putting one step forward, ten steps backwards. There are no short cuts in this industry, just lucky breaks - and (imo) you're much better off staying there and slowly building up your skills, clientbase and business.

It's astounding to see what people have given up to come to pursue a career in England. When I used to work at a major studio in London, we'd have several CV's a week from people having moved in from abroad, often from working as chief engineers in big studios there, and often with engineering (or even production!) credits with famous artists. And yet they were more often than not offering their services for free, even if it was just for making tea....

In England, there are literally handfulls of jobs left in studios, and tens of thousands of people who would like them. As you're making a living from music at the moment, that would imply that either its not quite so bad where you are, or that you've managed to distinguish yourself from the crowd with your skills. Either way, please trust me when I say - the grass is not always greener!

[diogodasilva]

It sounds as though you are already making a living from music, correct me if I am wrong.

If this is the case, then STAY WHERE YOU ARE! Coming to England to study would be putting one step forward, ten steps backwards. There are no short cuts in this industry, just lucky breaks - and (imo) you're much better off staying there and slowly building up your skills, clientbase and business.

It's astounding to see what people have given up to come to pursue a career in England. When I used to work at a major studio in London, we'd have several CV's a week from people having moved in from abroad, often from working as chief engineers in big studios there, and often with engineering (or even production!) credits with famous artists. And yet they were more often than not offering their services for free, even if it was just for making tea....

In England, there are literally handfulls of jobs left in studios, and tens of thousands of people who would like them. As you're making a living from music at the moment, that would imply that either its not quite so bad where you are, or that you've managed to distinguish yourself from the crowd with your skills. Either way, please trust me when I say - the grass is not always greener!

Thanks for the update!

I don't really want to pursue a career in England to be honest. Of course you never know how things will work out but it is not my real plan.
The only reason I feel the need to study this field in depth is for personal satisfaction first and professional expertise also... The plan is to go for new markets.. new ideas... the problem is we've got no good audio education provider here in Brazil. Thats the reason I want to go to LIPA, their prospect looks awesome to me. And they are respected also...

Later.. when I finish the program.. who knows.. maybe I head back to Brazil where the movie industry is getting hotter than ever before.. and there will be lack of good professionals.. also audio for games is one interesting field.. I was in the AES conference last month.. was really exiting to get to know a little more about this field.. sounds very promising..

there are so many possibilities, working on a big rec studio maybe is on the bottom of my list.

By the way.. I went to England to take the test and interview at LIPA...
now waiting for the results...
hoping for the best!

[AlexBaron]

Hi Diogodasilva,

I did the LIPA course and graduated four years back. You're right, it's a great course, you work with and meet some great / well respected people (Mr McCartney has a lot of friends...). No one is under any illusion it will get you a job by default.. I'd even go as far to say I learnt more in the way of my 'job' in the coming months/years after graduating. But I think going to a good course like that makes you push your working standards / practices through the roof. After three years at LIPA I had completely changed everything about my working practice for the better... which I am indebted to, every single working day. Other friends of mine in similar music technology courses around the UK came out of further education three years later, many thousands in debt, with some recordings of some songs we had written when we were 16. Then went on the dole.

Contrary to popular belief, working in one of the few profitable studios in the UK is not the ONLY thing a graduate is able to do these days

So it depends how you want to spend you money. No offense to the SAE guy on here, but I'd rather spend 9 grand on a mac pro, 003, some dpa 4090's, a Neve 1073 DPD, a liquid mix and a load of ace software and then spend a year learning how to use it... AND I don't have to exchange it for a bit of paper at the end..

[nigeltufnelfan]

Hi

I know this is a really old thread but I'm thinking of applying for this course and I thought this would be the best place to ask.

I'm a 25 year old musician from India and I've been making a living off music for the past 6 years. The last couple of years have been quite slow for my band and even though we're about to release our 2nd album soon, I'm starting to think about the long term feasibility of just playing music for rest of my life.

I'm seriously considering going for this course but I'm a little confused about how useful it'll be in the long run. Like many others have mentioned, audio engineering seems like something great engineers have rarely done a course for and its hands-on experience along with a brilliant set of ears that really count. I've got a decent amount of experience in recording since I've DIY'd both the albums from my band and I've also done a bit of work with other musicians too. I'm not sure if i have great ears for mixing since I haven't done too much of it. But I think my idea of capturing source sound using the right tools is pretty decent as of now. With experience I can only hope it'll get better.
Anyway, I dropped out of Electrical Engineering at the age of 19 when I was given an opportunity to do music full-time. I just couldn't resist it back then and just went for it. I guess I should have been a little wiser and completed my degree. Anyway, without sounding too much like Captain Hindsight, I'm thinking whether it's a better idea for me to go and do a course in Electrical Engineering while learning audio engineering on my own. I'm looking for some long term stability but I also want to be with music. The band situation is just too volatile and I don't want to be in this state 10 years from now.
So basically my question is, should I do Sound technology from Lipa? Will it give me a wide enough skill-set to sustain myself? Or should I go back to college and do a course in Electrical engineering. I'm pretty sure the work I'll do with circuits, DSP etc. would be useful in an audio engineering field also.

Thanks for reading. I know its a long post

[James Perrett]

Or should I go back to college and do a course in Electrical engineering. I'm pretty sure the work I'll do with circuits, DSP etc. would be useful in an audio engineering field also.

From personal experience I would say that a course in electronics or signal processing won't be wasted - even if the music business is no longer viable, there will still be other businesses looking for these skills.

[Hugh Robjohns]

I'm with James. A good electronics qualification will get you jobs easily, and the underpinning science is transferrable to audio engineering.

LIPA is widely recognised as one of the best if that's the route you want to go down, and you would stand a far better chance of finding employment in the audio professional with a LIPA qualification than that of most other audio colleges.

However, my recommendation would be to complete the electronics degree to provide your main source of income and keep the music as a sideline/hobby. With any luck you'll be able to work for an audio manufacturer for the best of both worlds!

For the record, I am an electronics graduate who moved into audio afterwards and have no regrets at doing I that way around!

H