music schools

fakejosh · Joined: May 15, 2005 Posts: 5 Location: ithaca, ny

hey guys, im thinking of applying to the Musician's Institute out in hollywood, primarily for their recording program, but possibly guitar, anybody here know some good info about it?

seraph · Posted: Mon May 16, 2005 2:38 am Post subject:

Hi fakejosh
I don't know much about the Musician's Institute besides the fact that in the 80's it used to be called MIT (Musician's Institute of Technology) before being sued by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Anyway welcome to electro-music.com Very Happy

mosc · Posted: Mon May 16, 2005 8:10 am Post subject:

Hi, and

I too know nothing about this school, but living in Hollywood would be education enough.

Kassen · Posted: Mon May 16, 2005 12:11 pm Post subject:

elektro80 · Posted: Mon May 16, 2005 12:16 pm Post subject:

Mosc is right. I have spent some time in Hollywood too. Shocked

Kassen · Posted: Mon May 16, 2005 12:29 pm Post subject:

fakejosh · Joined: May 15, 2005 Posts: 5 Location: ithaca, ny

hmm well if you guys have a minute, check out the site, www.mi.edu ...i'd love to hear your initial thoughts about the place.. thanks for your help!

mosc · Posted: Tue May 17, 2005 9:16 am Post subject:

The link provides good information. What exactly are you looking to get out of this education? You don't need a certificate to be a guitarist or other musician; you need to be able to play. The best thing, IMHO, about going to a school like this is meeting people and making contacts. That's why I thought Hollywood was a good location.

I think the best school of this type is the Berklee School of Music in Boston. You should scope that out too. It is the standard by which all of the others must be compared.

I notice MI doesn't have composing or arranging programs. That seems to be a deficiency.

No matter, my experience with these professional trade schools is that they won't teach you everything you need to know to be successful, but they give you a fast start on your career. You still have to have talent and determination.

seraph · Posted: Tue May 17, 2005 1:28 pm Post subject:

mosc · Posted: Tue May 17, 2005 7:06 pm Post subject:

Carlo, sorry I got the name wrong. Embarassed

seraph · Posted: Tue May 17, 2005 11:05 pm Post subject:

I forgive you Very Happy

fakejosh · Joined: May 15, 2005 Posts: 5 Location: ithaca, ny

hey guys, just checkin in, have any of ya had a chance to check out the programs on the MI website (www.mi.edu if u don't know), let me know what you think if you get a minute, t hanks!

mosc · Posted: Sun May 22, 2005 7:33 pm Post subject:

Thought I commented about this about 5 messages back up this topic. The course list looks somewhat limited, but if it is targeted at what you are interested in studying, then that should not be a problem for you.

fakejosh · Joined: May 15, 2005 Posts: 5 Location: ithaca, ny

what do you find limited about the classes?

Kassen · Posted: Mon May 23, 2005 6:14 am Post subject:

I had a look at the recording engineer´s cource and it made me clensh my teeth. It seems to spend as much time on the structure of a Neve desk as it does on such "life long quest" topics as acoustics and digital editing.

I´m personally of the opinion that you couldn´t learn digital editing, accoustics or such topics if you´d spend the full 6 months on just one of those and on the other hand; if you can´t tell how some speciffic desk works by looking at it for half a minute or so then there´s little hope anyway.

I think it´s best to teach yourself.

elektro80 · Posted: Mon May 23, 2005 6:21 am Post subject:

A school might be smart, and yes.. it is not possibly to learn it all overnight. It is cool to be able to get your hands on some gear though.

I tend to agree with Kassen, but it might help a lot to take some lessons. Some of the really dirty stuff is nasty . You really might want to learn the basics at a school. And you will have to learn a lot on your own too.

mosc · Posted: Mon May 23, 2005 9:15 am Post subject:

fakejosh · Joined: May 15, 2005 Posts: 5 Location: ithaca, ny

yeah, that seems to be one of the major points a lot of people have to say about MI, that you do have opportunities to make a lot of great contacts, so i suppose that is pretty important huh

Oskar · Joined: Jul 29, 2004 Posts: 1751 Location: Norway

I don't know much about that school, but if it's anything to do with the Guitar Institute of Technology, I have my doubts, to be honest. The guys I know who have studied there, tend to be of the "shred" school - frightening technique and not very much to say. They are terribly aware of the minutiae of their craft, but have little or no idea of what makes good music. If the same kind of method is applied to this course, then I think any student will end up with a detailed knowledge of the ins and outs of various desks, black boxes and applications , but l don't think you'll learn anything that makes you desirable as an engineer - musical knowledge, critical listening, psychology and so forth.

mosc · Posted: Mon May 30, 2005 10:45 am Post subject:

Oskar, I don't doubt the validity of your observations, but this could be said for virtually any school or education. The school isn't going to make a person a good musician, sensitive or creative - that must already be there ready for development. It is a place to quickly learn skills and to get background. For the right person, this will be a big benifit and give them a big jump-start. For some, it will accomplish very little and may even be frustrating.

GovernorSilver · Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2005 12:12 pm Post subject:

I have two friends, one a graduate of Berklee College of Music (probably the best "vocational" music school, I agree), the other a graduate of California Institute of the Arts (aka Cal Arts).

The Cal Arts guy's comment made me laugh: Go to Berklee if you want to be a professional. Go to Cal Arts if you want to be an artist. Thus implying you're more likely to be an original, an innovator, a trendsetter, etc. if you go to his school. Wink

Cal Arts is in that same, glamorous Los Angeles area as the MI schools (GIT, KIT, etc.). The difference, from what I heard, is that Cal Arts tends to have a far higher percentage of beautiful young women. Wink

On the other hand, my Berklee grad friend is the one with lots of music contacts, tours every year, etc. He's not making rock star money like Britney Spears but he's got a comfortable living doing what he loves.

GovernorSilver · Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2005 12:15 pm Post subject:

seraph · Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2005 1:35 pm Post subject:

GovernorSilver · Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2005 2:49 pm Post subject: