Help....

[TomFoolery]

I don't know if any of you can steer me in the right direction but any advice would be grand. I want to get into the technical side of the music industry. I ideally want to do sound equipment repairs/maintenance. Problem is that i have next to no experiance in the field and have no idea how to start going about getting any sort of career on the go. I've been training as a goldsmith for the past year or so and have developed dexterity and such (not sure if thats gonna help at all). I have come to realise that i don't want to be a jeweller for the rest of my life and want to get more involved in the subject that i love and have revolved most of my life around, MUSIC. I want to get into all the fields such as professional sound engineering and production. i already have a few years experiance as a dj and have played musical instruments semi-professionally in the past, so i have a vague knowledge of the industry. i need to be pointed in the right direction. please help.......

[rhythmtech]

my advice would be to finish your current training as a goldsmith first.

the music industry is extremly hard to get into and any sort of formal training to fall beck on is a godsend incase things dont work out.

after that i'd say to do a good sound engineering course (and by good i mean really good - research the courses and find one thats suited to audio engineering specifically - there's a lot of crap courses out there that will stick you infront of a copy of reason all day long!!) OR some sort of electronics qualification.

the chances of getting work out of it are slim but it will give you the electronics training and it shows you're making an investment in a career choice.

after that its time to start sending out cv's - send them to all the audio repair shops, instrument manufacturers and studios that you know (bigger studios will sometimes employ repair guys to keep things running). experience in computers/networking will also help.

basically do anything you can to make yourself attractive to perspective employers and make sure that its what you really want to do.

good luck!

[TomFoolery]

Thanks very much for the advice. thats pretty much what i thought. i'm just a bit sick of my current job and i'm desperate to get out of it and more involved in the music industry. but i am aware of how hard it is to actually make it. i was thinking about doing some free work for a retail/maintenance company just to get some experiance and contacts, whilst carrying on with my current job. but i'm not sure how beneficial it would be.

[rhythmtech]

the way i see it, your current job is your gateway to studying audio - courses generally run in the price range of €2000 app euro a year and you'll need to do 3 years for a higher diploma or degree.. anything less wont have the time frame to properly teach you.

also look at class sizes - not much point doing a course with 30 in a class. look at adult courses, they generally have less in them and run in the evenings but still have the same qualification at the end.

the qualification that would most suit you would probably be "city & guilds - higher diploma in sound engineering & recording" - this is the one im doing alongside pro-tools 101, 202 & 303.

this is the time to A. start saving for the best possible course you can find & B. start teaching yourself as best you can.

there are a lot ot tutorials & help available around the web

ask in the production forum here - a lot of us a producers releasing on various labels - also try http://www.gearslutz.com/board/ <- gearslutz is an amazing resource for learning and theres a comprehensive section on the area you want to get into.

[TomFoolery]

thanks again for the advice mate i'll check out that site.

[DannyBlack]

+1 some sound advice there. I agree with Baz that don't give up the goldsmith thing just in case. It is always incredibly wise to always ALWAYS have a back up plan.
You sound pretty dedicated to your cause so I say go for it, do your research and you can't go far wrong.

I wish you all the best mate, let us know how you get on.

[TomFoolery]

thanks for the support lads