What Is the Best Way to Learn to Record Music?

November 18, 2011

Perhaps you are dreaming of a career as a music producer or audio engineer, and you are wondering: what is the best way to learn to record music? Many people assume that, as is the case with many professions, the best way to learn these skills is simply to go to a college or trade school; but time has shown that this is not necessarily the best way when it comes to learning audio engineering and music recording.

There is nothing inherently wrong with traditional forms of education; college is certainly a priority if you’re trying to become a lawyer or doctor, for example. But classroom study is not suited to every trade or skill set—and this seems to be especially true when it comes to learning to record music.

Why is traditional education not as effective when it comes to the music industry? It isn’t necessarily in what is being taught, but how and where it is being taught. You see, the whole basis for traditional schooling is that it brings students away from the real world and educates them in isolated classrooms. The problem is, the music industry is based almost entirely on connections and real-life experience. When you bring a student into isolation to teach him/her to record music, you are essentially weakening that student’s chances for getting a job afterward. A classroom or studio simulation cannot give the student real-world experience—and a student certainly can’t make industry connections in that environment.

Here’s a little industry secret: the music industry itself does not place a lot of trust in traditional recording schools, for the very reasons mentioned above. Most industry pros believe the best way to learn to record music is to learn it from a working professional inside a real recording studio. In effect, this is an echo of the ancient practice of apprenticeship, in which tradesmen would pass their knowledge on to apprentices through one-on-one, hands-on training. There are many successful audio engineers and music producers who learned in this manner. This learning style works because it helps new engineers get the real-world experience they need, while keeping them connected to the music business itself. Thus, once they are trained, it is much easier for them to find work.

There is now a learning method called the mentor-apprentice approach that is actually combining the best of structured education and in-studio apprenticeship. A school using this approach will train its students by placing them inside real recording studios, where they receive one-on-one instruction from a working audio engineer or music producer using a structured curriculum provided by the school. This learning approach costs far less than most traditional schools charge, and it keeps students connected to the music industry rather than isolating them.

Traditional education is fine for many professions, but when it comes to the music business, in-studio training is definitely the best way to learn to record music.