<p>wow thanks! I’ll definitely apply there too!</p>
<p>cebula- with regard to your parents’ concern about your major, especially their concern that you have a broad education that teaches you to learn, I’d suggest you sit down with them and go over the required coursework at some of these schools. It might help you narrow down schools that are the best fit for you and it might help them see the breadth and challenge of coursework that is required. (music, math, physics, computer scince, writing, general education requirements) It is best if you and your parents are in agreement sooner, rather than later. You will find that your senior year is very busy with applications, and in your case, portfolios, auditions or interviews. Many music schools and many California schools have early deadlines (11/30 or 12/1)</p>
<p>When my S applied for sound design we had simlilar concerns that he was focusing on too narrow of an area of study so soon. Parents worry that a child might change their mind during or after their bachelor’s degree and not be prepared for a different area of study or work. We are no longer concerned about his choice of majors. During high school, our S sometimes said he wanted to be a lawyer. (He certainly wore us down with arguments!) In his course work for theatre sound design, he has done a lot of reading and writing. He has worked under tight deadlines with multiple projects going on at a time. Often last minute changes need to be made before a production. He works with a design team and director and has to be responsive to them, but also has to take leadership over his part of the production. He has meetings with the design team and faculty that require him to do oral presentations, and also to present his work in a written format. He has put togehter well-organized, thorough notebooks that include documents such as schedules, budgets, script analysis, equipment lists and plots. There is no room for mediocre work because your final work product is on public display. Because he was in a new program, he had to speak up for what he felt he wanted and needed and learned to be a pretty good advocate for himself. All of these skills are going to help him as a sound designer, but would also be great skills to have if one wanted to be a trial attorney. This is just one example of how skills can transfer. </p>
<p>Look at programs with your parents and see which ones might best help you achieve your goals as a video game sound designer and also give you the skills and background you would need if you decided to later pursue a different career or course of study.
Good luck!</p>
<p>HI there. I seemed to have missed out on this thread earlier. I will give you the bare bones of my input on this and you can PM me if you want more.</p>
<p>My son was looking for something very similar to you, and wanted an emphasis that was learning-to-learn, as your parents suggest, rather than a vocational “how to use pro tools” type of program. He is also very interested in composing, sequencing etc. for videogame and film. He ended up selecting (and being selected for) the University of Michigan School of Music, Performing Arts Tech BFA in Music with multimedia. Same degree is available as a BMUS for Music Tech or a full Engineering degree for acoustical engineering and recording engineering. Eg. some of grads go to Bose. Other grads compose, produce, design or tech direct in video games and film. Others pursue performing careers of a contemporary nature (eg. My Dear Disco, if you’re into indie- alternative, is an example where I think half the band are grads from that program.)
In the curriculum, in addition to music theory, musicology, traditional composition and performance or ensemble studios there is also electronic composition, recording classes, acoustics, advanced reinforcement, computer programming, graphic manipulation, film editing, film scoring etc. </p>
<p>When he was applying, he was also interested also in Jacob’s at Indiana (great for recording, not as much emphasis on composition IMHO) NYU (Clive Davis) and Miami Frost (engineering). He loves jazz and classical pretty much equally, with experience in both, but more of a contemporary/indie bent to much of his own composition.</p>
<p>Umich also has a chapter of AES and is a well-regarded program on the engineering side as well. For more info, visit [UM</a> School of Music, Theatre & Dance](<a href=“http://music.umich.edu%5DUM”>http://music.umich.edu) and look under Performing Arts Technology.</p>
<p>Best wishes in your search!</p>
<p>thanks. I think that looking at what the curriculum offers will definitely help my parents and I narrow it down, as well as show what else I will be learning there. I’ve had some interest in composing, but I have never composed before nor do I really know where to start. So I may go to a college that does not have that emphasis, or a college that is much more introductory in its approach towards composition.</p>
<p>Cebula, you didn’t say what grade you’re in now. Just so you know, many of the “recording arts” programs that we’ve referred to expect you to submit a portfolio of your work that includes original music that you created, played and tracked. While that is different than the requirements of a traditional composition program, some programs, like UMich, will ask for the inclusion of scores and in the case of UMich, an electronic instrumentation of a Bach fugue. In the case of scores, you might want to invest in a music notation software program which will assist your efforts (eg. student versions of Finale or Seibelius.)</p>
<p>As I recall, the portfolio requirements for Indiana-Jacobs (an excellent RA program) weren’t quite as stringent, but other accepted students were certainly creating their own music in one form or another and we had the sense that their portfolios included such compositions. Clive Davis also asks for originally produced music, if I recall correctly (at least I know my son provided it.)</p>
<p>While indeed it is possible to engage in sound design and straight recording in the game industry, you might also wish to consider that there is a considerable amount of composition involved and that since the sheer number of staff in the audio/sound/music department is a mere fraction of the rest of the staff, having a full slate of capabilities is very useful and makes you more employable (as does a command of C++ programming). So, if you have a few years yet, you might want to try your hand at a bit of composing as well. One great way to start is to look for competitions – nothing motivates like a deadline (it was how my son created his first true composition in high school.) Good luck in your search!</p>
<p>My S is going to major in Audio Engineering at Greenville College in Illinois. We are from CA, and after much research thought the best program in all around sound education in CA was Cal State Dominguez Hills. If you really want to stay in CA, they would be good to consider. But we did find that the better schools were outside CA. We were worried that CSUDH might not be committed to continuing their program with all the budget constraints of the state, but they just refurbished their recording studio and spent 90K on their board. We took that to mean that they are committed to continuing.</p>
<p>They have good collaborative assignments that students of different majors work on. Here’s the link: [College</a> of Arts and Humanities](<a href=“http://cah.csudh.edu/digitalmedia/]College”>http://cah.csudh.edu/digitalmedia/)</p>
<p>Outside of CA, we liked Texas State, San Marcos, University of Michigan, Indiana University and Greenville. We also liked Miami, but felt that it might be too much a reach in both academics and finances. We looked more seriously at programs that didn’t need auditions (exception Texas State) because it had been awhile since my son had instruction in piano. My son’s biggest criteria for schools was whether they started you in your sound classes from your freshman year. (CSUDH doesn’t do this, but he could commute to school, so very affordable - why it made list.)</p>
<p>The links that violadad gave out were wonderful for us, I hope they are for you too. My son ended up picking Greenville because they had 5 recording studios to do homework in and are a small school, so you end up with lots of studio time. He loved the environment when he visited. It is a Christian school, but that was only a selling point after he saw the program there. I was impressed that they were not requiring a certain laptop for the major, since the homework needs to be done in the studio. The professor said that he could only edit one track on a laptop, and his assignments would require surround sound, etc. He showed us an assignment that my S was so excited to be able to do when he gets there. We sat in a lecture and my S understood it, but I only partially did.</p>
<p>Best of Luck to you :)</p>
<p>Hey Cebula, something just occurred to me. Sounds like you’re being smart about wanting to stay in CA to avoid racking up undergrad debt. Some students in my son’s program have been talking about UC Irvine’s new MFA in sound design and in what they call Interactive Arts that includes music/sound and multimedia, and I know of one who attends there.
Maybe you should call them to see what they offer undergrad and get advice re: what schools they accept kids from for the masters program. I think they also have video game design courses there and an actual degree designed for the videogame industry. Start by visiting [University</a> of California, Irvine](<a href=“http://www.uci.edu%5DUniversity”>http://www.uci.edu) . Good luck in your search!</p>
<p>I’m actually already in my junior year. I was thinking about purchasing a program for sound design but didn’t know where to start. I just got a hand recorder for Christmas and plan go foley recording soon. Which music notation software programs do you recommend for beginners? My music theory is pretty strong, but I’ve only ever notated jazz chord progressions before in a music notebook. I’m going to narrow my college list down some and see what each college looks for in particular- while I do want to explore composition, I still want the emphasis to be music technology (as it stands I have no idea how to create an electronic instrumentation of a Bach fugue and I’m not sure which program to use to begin). My older sister is actually studying computer programming at UCI and intends to specialize in their new video game course next year. I’m not very impressed with their music program though. But I will definitely look into what they have to offer as far as sound design. I’m still on the fence about staying in CA because of the affordability, but it does seem that many of the best schools are located out-of-state.</p>
<p>There are basically three different types of music software you seem to be talking about.</p>
<p>The first records and edits sound waves that are captured by a microphone or pickup. An example of this type is the freeware program Audacity, which will be plenty powerful enough for a beginner.</p>
<p>The second type is called a sequencer and allows you to program your computer to capture, edit and play back data that it collects from an electric keyboard or other MIDI-capable instrument. The playback functions may use sounds produced by the computer, sounds produced by an external instrument or synthesizer, or a combination of all of these. Some sequencers may also have some audio recording and editing features that allow you to combine recorded audio with programmed computer-generated sequences, but are usually not as strong in the audio editing realm as programs specifically designed for that. One commercial version of a sequencer is Cakewalk Pro. A decent free program that would allow you to get your feet wet is Quartz AudioMaster.</p>
<p>The third type is music notation software, which allows you to create, edit and print sheet music. Examples are Finale and Sibelius. Finale comes in several different versions, with increasing price and capability. They offer a 30-day free trial of many of their products and their academic discount prices are pretty good. There are a few freeware music notation programs, but I have not yet found one that I would recommend.</p>
<p><a href=“as%20it%20stands%20I%20have%20no%20idea%20how%20to%20create%20an%20electronic%20instrumentation%20of%20a%20Bach%20fugue%20and%20I’m%20not%20sure%20which%20program%20to%20use%20to%20begin”>quote</a>.
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<p>At the freshman level, most programs don’t care what software you’ve used (yet) so for portfolio work they’ll even take loop-based stuff you create in programs such as garage band. (However, warning, arranging a bach fugue in garage band is kind of painstaking without a keyboard interface!) But if you want to work in the programs you are MOST likely to work in at school (in terms of sequencing) my son, who is a sophomore, works almost exclusively in protools when in studio or logic when working on his own (mac based and composition) work. Each of those programs have entry level/beginner versions available. In the case of protools, it’s usually packaged with a capture device (eg. Mbox). Protools has historically been the professional standard, but Logic lovers (including my son) will tell you that for independent work, for scoring, etc. logic has come a long way and is increasingly used.</p>
<p>For scoring software, there is or was a cheap version of finale that my son fooled around with in HS called Print Music. That got him through to an extent, but wasn’t terribly robust.</p>
<p>One thing that really helped my son was to take a private summer “studio” with a well-versed sound guy/professional engineer in our city who was the instructor at our local college, which had a recording arts program. He learned a lot there. If you don’t have a music tech class in your HS (my son didn’t), see if a local cc has programs. If you took a summer course, you could use that time to prepare a portfolio of your work.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Great advice to take a summer class or private lessons or even both. Not only will that help you create a portfolio but that instructor would also make a great college reference.</p>
<p>I’ll look up the programs. I’m not sure if any classes are offered at the cc over the summer, but I’m definitely signing up for a class for the fall semester. I also plan to look into private lessons, and getting some of those programs. Thanks!</p>
<p>I know the NYU has a summer high school program but its a little bit on the expensive side- do you guys know any other ones that are cheaper? I might also contact the teacher(s) for the class I want to sign up for in the fall (digital multi-track music recording) but there are other classes too: digital special effects, and radio production)</p>