How to Select the Best Sound Engineering College?

Considering you have made up your mind that you do want to make a  career in sound engineering then your first step will be to select the course you wish to pursue. There are 2 types of courses available: Diploma in sound engineering are 1 year that focus on Music Production, Studio recording, Post Production, Live Sound, etc.

The degree in sound engineering or sound engineering can be a specialization subject in a media degree course.  Diplomas are ideal for students who have completed graduation or in their final year of graduation. These diplomas are generally offered by private institutes. Degree courses are ideal for students who have completed their 12th, or in 1st year of some other program that they are not interested in. Degree courses cannot be provided by private institute and have to be provided by some university.

Now that you have what course you need to pursue, you need to search for one of the best sound engineering colleges in India (if you want to pursue if from India). Honestly there are so many audio engineering colleges in the world to choose from it may become difficult to select a college. We have put down a checklist that will help you ask the right question, analyze & finally choose the right one.  Below are few of the most important points:

Curriculum

This is the most important aspect for any course. What are they going to teach you in the span of the course. Is it a balanced course or are they teaching you music production more than sound design, or vice-versa. A good curriculum is where all the aspects of Sound engineering, Music Production, Post production, Live Sound, etc. is covered with equal importance. Another thing you need to understand is that this course cannot be a theoretical course. It should have a good mix of theory & practical.

 Certifications

What kind of certification are they offering? Is it from an university or private? Are they any other certifications included in the course like Pro tools certifications by AVID or Logic Pro X certifications by Apple, etc.

Infrastructure

This is yet another major deciding factor.  If you want to become a successful sound engineer or music producer you need a lot of studio time and production time. An institute should have dedicated studios for student work and ample of music production workstations with latest software’s like Pro Tools, Logic Pro X, Ableton Live, Nuendo, etc. They should also be paired with MIDI keyboards and an interface. Also ask what is the policy to work on these systems as a student. When do you get exposure to these systems? Some institutes allow students to use the infrastructure from day 1 where as some don’t.

Faculties

They are the backbone of the training system. In order to select the best Sound engineering school you need to know the teacher. An ideal institute will have a mix of sound engineering & music production faculties. They should also have regular visiting faculties from the industry. You should also check what types of workshops are conducted and how often.

 Internships & Placements

Before taking the final jump in selecting the college please make sure to check their placement records and placement policy. Also do they have an active alumni network?