Pursuing a career in music and entertainment is definitely something exciting. With the growth of all the technology today, the music being produced in the industry is something completely different from the days of old. Now everything is fresher, of higher quality, and is always aimed to be better than the last creation. Because of this, professions in this field require the most skill from any individual working as an audio engineer or in sound production, and choosing the school to get the education from is no joke. This guide provides you with insight on the top music production schools and audio recording schools around the country to further help you with that critical, life altering decision.

Nowadays, music and sound production is already a recognized field. There are tons of career opportunities for those who are naturally interested and inclined to creating and engineering music whether it be for musicians in their albums, scores in a movie, or the soundtrack of a commercial. In this profession, it is all about creating something that can outdo the others before it and that all boils down to skill. But how exactly does one gain all that needed skill and training? The answer is: the education you receive.

So what exactly are those schools that are note-worthy? Here is a few of the top music production schools open today:

1. Institute of Production and Recording
The Institute of Production and Recording started in 2002 with four founders: Terry Mhyre, Jack Robinson, Lance Sabin, and Tom Tucker, Sr. There are two core programs in the school, namely the following: Associate in Applied Science Degree Program for Music and Entertainment Business and the Associate in Applied Science Degree Program in Audio Production and Engineering. IPR also offers certification courses and programs in Digidesign which are designed to build proficiency in using Pro Tools System, and an Apple Logic Pro Certification Training to get proficient in Logic Pro.

2. Musicians Institute
The institution is a music production school that offers students programs that can help build careers in the professional recording industry. MI incorporates its comprehensive, in-depth education with state of the art labs and studios. Aside from audio and music production, they also tackle post production in film and television. Studios at MI are updated, state of the art and use equipment such as Neve, SSL, DigiDesign, and Neumann.

3. The Los Angeles Recording School
The Los Angeles Recording School began in 1985 and was at first a job training school for recording engineers. The school aims to provide its students with the best training and education on today’s industry’s constantly changing equipment and techniques through a faculty of experienced engineers and music industry professionals. The LARS program concentrates on music production, digital recording, and audio post-production for film and television. The school also allows students to attend on either a full time or part time basis, with an average of 25 or 19 hours each week, respectively.

4. Columbia Academy
Since 1967, Columbia Academy has been providing high quality education to students considering a career in the music and entertainment industry. Columbia Academy provides courses that train students in the fields of broadcasting arts, music recording, sound design, post production audio, and video and film production. The school facilities include 3 recording studios to accommodate the courses’ hand on training and practical applications. In the Columbia Academy program, students may choose between two streams, whichever suits them best – either music recording or post production for film and television. The Recording and Sound Design Program runs for 11 months (44 weeks), with supervision from instructors who have earned years of experience in sound design. The program is comprised of four modules that are made up of 80 hours of combined classroom theories, practical instruction, and supervised hand on lab/studio time. Classes run 5 times a week, 4 hours a day.

Choosing who to provide you with the best education for your future career is no easy task, especially with all the audio production schools to choose from nowadays. For the serious student looking to pursue a career as a music or audio engineer, or any track in sound production, the most important thing is to find a school that offers a comprehensive curriculum and extensive training to get you experienced in all aspects of music production. And in this constantly evolving field, it is crucial to look amongst all the audio engineering schools for an institution with programs that can keep up with the changing times.

The task of choosing your music producing school is no joke. It’s an important decision that will greatly affect your future career. Read up, ask questions, call offices and make the decision that’s right for you.

Steve Vai was born to Johnny and Theresa Vai, and his life, like that of many of the famous, began in his teens when he revered guitarists such as Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin. Or that is what you read, but it really started when he was twelve and he informed his dad that the accordion was not for him, and that his future lay with the guitar: which is just as well since Steve Vai, accordionist, does not have the same ring.

One his parents realized that this was not just an adolescent phase, born of puberty and a desire to impress the girls; they purchased him a real instrument and sent him off to the Boston Barklee School of Music. When he was nineteen, he wrote his own music and recorded a piece he named Flax-Able in a home studio. Although he wrote it as an experiment so that he could learn more about recording studios, and recording methods, it was so good that it was released and sold a quarter of a million copies on the Relativity label.

What is amazing is that this recording sold itself, with no promotion whatsoever, and a star was born. After impressing Frank Zappa with a transcription of one of Zappa’s pieces, Black Rock, he was invited into Zappa’s band, and toured the world, being given the nickname ‘Stunt Guitarist’. Although this was a great opportunity for a young guitarist, Vai slipped into a period of depression for about eighteen months, until he decided that it had to stop. He read a book titled ‘The Magic in Your Mind’, and something in it connected with him.

He quit smoking, and became a vegetarian, and from then on his life was on an upward spiral. He recorded several albums with Zappa, and then joined a band called Alcatrazz, fronted by Graham Bonnett, formerly of Rainbow. At that time Van Halen was very popular, and when Dave Lee Roth left Van Halen to start up his own solo band, his friend bassist Billy Sheehan, who he was later to team up with, invited him to audition for the guitar job, which he eventually landed.

He amazed fans with his reproduction of some of Eddie Van Halen’s best solos, and he went on to record ‘Eat Em and Smile’ one of the most successful hard rock releases of 1986. That brought Steve Vai guitar stardom in all the guitar magazines, and he was suddenly one of the hottest guitar players around. He continued until 1988, when his friend Sheehan left the band, and Steve quickly followed, accepting an invite to join UK band Whitesnake, a band in the same mould as Van Halen and Alcatrazz that had success with a combination of metal and pop. He got his chance because lead guitarist Adrian Vandenberg broke an wrist skateboarding.

His only album with Whitesnake was ‘Slip of the Tongue’, recorded in 1989, and just before this he had recorded his third solo album, ‘Passion & Warfare’. This album displayed every one of Steve’s talents, showing both the spiritual and hard rock side, both of his playing and his nature. His 1991 Grammy award was a highlight in his career which had been well earned.

He left Whitesnake and formed his own band, VAI, after a period of inactivity. When their first and only album, ‘Sex & Religion’ flopped, Steve went back to instrumental and solo work such as the all instrumental ‘Alien Love Secrets’ in 1995, and ‘Fire Garden’ in 1996. He continued in this vein until the end of the 1990s, although he toured for a while with his friend Joe Satriani on the G3 tours which he continues to do.

Steve Vai’s music has appeared in several movies, including Crossroads, Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey and Ghosts of Mars. He now focuses on instrumentals such as the Secret Jewel Box, a ten disc box set that covers his entire career.

He now owns a recording and publishing company and keeps bees with his wife Pia and his two children. He sells his honey for his charity every year from his website, and believe me, that sure is popular honey, and he has launched his own guitar, the Ibanez JEM with his own unique design.

Steve Vai is one of the guitar greats and still stands up there in anybody’s top 10 guitarists of all time, along with Clapton, Hendrix, Satriani and Peter Green, and he always shall do. He might never have received the same degree of fame and exposure as Hendrix or Clapton, but he was up there beside them in his ability as a player, and that is what matters.

That he was unable to truly contribute to the music of others due to the constraints of the heavy metal and pop music of the age indicates that he was an artist and mystic with too much vision to conform as the others did. This is why he had few options but to revert to solo performances where he could show his true ability without conforming, which is a mark of a great musician.

Read Steve Vai Rock Star and Mystic and other articles on iMasterGuitar.com.

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MP3 is short for MPEG Audio Layer III, which is a standard for audio compression, making music files smaller with the same type of sound quality they had in their bigger files (The History of MP3). Although Apple did not invent the MP3 player, its line called iPods, helped soar the MP3 to unprecedented popularity (What is an MP3 Player?). All the music can be stored on one device, which one downloads on to, making it portable and easily accessible. The user of the device can create song playlists tailored to their likes and wants. One can access files off the internet, either free or at a small fee, or could copy songs off their favorite CD’s, to put on the MP3 player and listen to.

When Shawn Fanning started Napster in 2000, the online music base where downloading music was free, music moguls were scared that their industry and business would be ruined. CD sales, however, actually increased by 6 percent in the beginning of 2000 (Rage Against the Machines). Since Napster was founded, it has been reformatted to where the user now has to pay a fee and can then download music. Napster is not a free service anymore. Since these technological developments and advancements were making headway in the music world, this meant that profits would inevitably decrease for these music moguls who had already been in the business for more than sixty years. Technology made listening to music extremely easy (Rage Against the Machines). There have always been new forms of music emerging, new enemies that the competition or the already established companies had to deal with. It was a never-ending cycle and battle.

In the 1920’s and 30’s the radio was seen as the foe. Record companies and musicians’ unions would wage war with the radio stations that played recorded music instead of featuring the live performances (Rage Against the Machines). In 1963 Philips presented the audio cassette tape, which in turn pivoted the rage and anger towards that market, instead of the radio (Rage Against the Machines). History repeats itself and with each new technology in the music world, the anger is directed towards the new implemented idea or product. These feelings by the various companies are inescapable.

Audio technology is forever improving its quality and technologies accessible to their clientele. In the early 19th century, the phonograph, invented by Thomas Edison, and the Gramophone, by Emile Berliner, were massive and bulky (MP3 Developments). Through the decades the music players changed, creating the small, compact image of today’s standards. The very first successful recording device was developed in 1855, but that didn’t really catch on to the mainstream audience until Edison’s phonograph in 1877 (MP3 Developments). “Long players,” more commonly known as LPs, came in 1947 with a face pace of 33 1/3 revolutions per minute, upping the ante for their predecessors MP3 Developments).

James Clerk Maxwell developed the theoretical basis for the propagation of electromagnetic waves in 1873, which paved the way for the radio to flourish. The radio was basically used for the military during World War I. When RCA, or the Radio Corporation of America, obtained the Victor Talking Machine Company in 1929, music as known presently, was initiated (MP3 Developments). The radio brought musical enjoyment to the masses. One could be sitting at home, in the car or at a public place, and could tune in to the station or programming that they wanted to listen to. This technology brought forth the idea of mobility.

The 8-track, invented by William Powell, came in the early 1960’s. Music was masked by horrible sound quality because of misalignments in the tape and tape heads, which caused bleeds of other songs on the tape (MP3 Developments). There was only forty minutes of music on the whole 8-track.

The average cassette tape did not reach homes until the late 1970’s, but were previously used in recording studios since the 1950’s (MP3 Developments). Cassettes were smaller than the 8-track, and had a higher sound quality. In 1979, Sony debuted the Walkman, which made cassette sales increase substantially in the 1980’s. The compact disc, otherwise known as the CD, succeeded the cassette tape, in the late 1980’s. The CD’s used a digital storing system (MP3 Developments). The MP3, which will later be discussed, increased CD storage capabilities by ten times, not reducing the sound quality at all (MP3 Developments).

Fraunhofer-Gesellshaft, a German company, developed the MP3 technology (The History of MP3). Bernhard Grill, Karl Heinz-Brandenburg, Thomas Sporer, Bernd Kurten, and Ernst Eberlein were all inventors named on the MP3 patent (The History of MP3). The MP3 was invented in 1989 in Erlangen, Germany (MP3 Developments). Frauenhofer, in the early 1990’s developed the first MP3 player; however, that was an unsuccessful attempt (The History of MP3). In 1997, Tomislav Uzelac of Advanced Multimedia Products invented the AMP MP3 Playback Engine, which became the first actual MP3 player (History of MP3).

In recent developments there are disputes of tangled origins within the MP3 technology invention. Microsoft, among other companies, has been paying Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits, for their licensing of MP3 audio format (Patent Fights). There are a number of companies who worked on developing the MP3 player for almost twenty years, who now should be paid for legalities. Thomson, Royal Philips Electronics and AT&T, have laid patent claims on the MP3 technology, which have ensued a substantial number of lawsuits, and occasionally seizures of music players by some customs authorities (Patent Fights). Alcatel-Lucent, part of Bell Labs and AT&T, says they were the “main creative engine behind what went on to become the MP3 standard,” (Patent Fights). To make matters worse, the MP3 patent right saga continues, with many companies stepping forward saying that they had a hand in the development and execution of the MP3 technology.

The MP3 relates to a vast amount of technologies currently available. Many cell phone makers have added built in MP3 players to their cell phones. A person can purchase one product but obtain two great features on it; the cell phone and the MP3 player. This lets the consumer only be obligated to carry one piece of equipment rather than two. In 2005, Apple’s iPod and Motorola’s Razr V3 combined these two technologies, providing a communication synergy that was unheard of in previous times (Digital World Insider). These phones equipped with MP3 player capabilities revolutionized the cell phone industry, providing wireless connection to the World Wide Web to access downloadable songs and music videos, as in the V-Cast phone, currently on the market. Memory Stick Duo Pro cards, can be inserted into the phone to download one’s CD’s to their phone as well.

There are numerous adjustments being made to MP3 players daily. Some MP3 players are now being released to the public that have Bluetooth capabilities. Bluetooth means that it is a form of wireless communication, depending on what is being referred to as the context of the subject. The Insignia 4-Gigabyte Player can broadcast MP 3 music and video soundtracks all to a pair of headphones, connected by no wires (An MP3 Player with Bluetooth). This new player can hold up to 1,000 songs, and 14 movies, and also has an FM tuner with 20 preset channels (An MP3 Player with Bluetooth).

Around thirty million Americans have hearing loss and 1/3 of them have noise-induced hearing loss (Hearing Loss). If a sound is over ninety decibels at a prolonged exposure, creates some kind of hearing loss. Most portable music players produce sounds up to 120 decibels (Hearing Loss). One does not feel hearing loss, in fact it takes years to see a difference and be diagnosed with permanent loss of hearing.

In ear earphones are the worst earphones to have. One study showed that they increase the decibel level between 7 to 9. Earphones that sit over the ear usually have lower decibel range, being a tad safer for the ear (Hearing Loss). There is not much risk to listening to music if the player is at a level where one can still carry on a normal conversation. At risk people include those that keep their MP3 player head phones set 60% higher than the maximum level, if one can’t hear conversations going on around them, if those near can hear the music and if one is shouting instead of talking to those nearby (Hearing Loss).

One benefit of the MP3 player has been how the device aids in exercising. Since the MP3 player is portable, lightweight and easily accessible, it’s the perfect companion to those who like to exercise and burn calories. Often people listen to music to workout because it helps them keep pace and motivates them. The tempo of the song can also help speed up the person’s workout or get the person ready for the cool down based on the songs pacing, like a slower song verse a fast pace one.

MP3 players are currently all the rage. From its predecessors the MP3 player technology has taken the way everyone listens to music to new heights. Its versatility, mobility and accessibility help in making the popularity of this device soar.

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