Joining a Music Academy ?

[Trouble_Kid]

I read somewhere that most of the top/popular electronic music producers out there learnt how to produce music all by themselves. If its true then that's hilarious.

But what about someone who plans to achieve the same task by joining an academy like Dubspot or Point Blank or even a cheaper option of a local institute that teaches in a 1000 bucks.

What are your thoughts on this.
What does a self learner miss in comparison to the latter Or are Music Schools/Academy not worth shelling out your hard earned money on.

[astromech]

I read somewhere that most of the top/popular electronic music producers out there learnt how to produce music all by themselves. If its true then that's hilarious.

But what about someone who plans to achieve the same task by joining an academy like Dubspot or Point Blank or even a cheaper option of a local institute that teaches in a 1000 bucks.

What are your thoughts on this.
What does a self learner miss in comparison to the latter Or are Music Schools/Academy not worth shelling out your hard earned money on.

Learning a skill is as much about EXPERIENCE as it is about KNOWLEDGE. I've always thought that there are plenty of resources out there to learn what you need, and communities to help you improve, without spending a fortune on training courses. I'm sure that there is plenty that these places can teach you, but they can't give you the hours of practice, failure, and improvement that makes you gain expertise. I would also say that these schools could (in theory) open doors to contacts you will need in the industry, but it is still nothing compared to what hard work and networking can give you.

In the end, you need to work out what you hope to get out of spending that sort of money, and decide if it's worth it.

[Chael]

I read somewhere that most of the top/popular electronic music producers out there learnt how to produce music all by themselves. If its true then that's hilarious.

But what about someone who plans to achieve the same task by joining an academy like Dubspot or Point Blank or even a cheaper option of a local institute that teaches in a 1000 bucks.

What are your thoughts on this.
What does a self learner miss in comparison to the latter Or are Music Schools/Academy not worth shelling out your hard earned money on.

Music production is something I have dabbled in for years on and off but a few years ago I decided I wanted to kick it up a notch. As I had nobody to teach me I hit a point where it seemed like I was going no further with it, many hours of frustration and numerous unfinished 8 bar loop projects followed so I started looking at dubspot, sonic academy producer tech etc. I eventually bought some of the producer tech packages that filled the holes where I felt I needed improvement or just couldn't work it out on my own. 6 months later I got an EP released and felt a lot more confident in making and more importantly finishing projects. I by no means consider myself a pro or top producer but I learnt a lot from those courses and some of the techniques i discovered have made me listen to music in a different way (im constantly deconstructing music in my head as i listen in the car/club and has even made my djing skills sharper as a result) the fact that someone wanted to release my music gave me a huge confidence boost also.

I think you need to ask yourself a couple of questions - What sort of music do you want to make? What tools/choice of DAW do you have available to you? What is your current skill level? and where do you feel you need to improve?

[Patch]

Why is it hilarious?

[Trouble_Kid]

Why is it hilarious?

Hilarious because if the top guys can do it themselves. So can the rest. Without shelling out X amount of money.

[tilldrop]

Hilarious because if the top guys can do it themselves. So can the rest. Without shelling out X amount of money.

I think you are underestimating autodidacticism. Just because you can learn something yourself doesn't mean it's easy. You make it sound like "either pay money or not, but you can do it either way". That, however, is not true. Learning something on your own is very different. In most cases you can only learn by either getting shown how to do something, or because you failed at something and learned from it. When learning something on your own, you'll have those moments of failure many more times.

I don't think it is surprising at all that many of the best of just about any art or profession are autodidacts. It just show's that it requires a lot of work, which in it's core is, what autodidactism is: a lot of work.

On the other hand, even if you attend a school for pretty much anything, you'll still need to practice and learn yourself. However, you'll have a guiding hand, which can be helpful, but also introduces the risk to lowers the willingness for failures and therefore frustration.