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Ever Cruz:
Happy New Year!
I don't know if this is a dumb question or if this is the place i should be asking the question...
A LITTLE BACKGROUND:
I'm a 21 year old from Houston, TX and recently became the leader of the audio & Production team of my church. My church is a 19 year old Hispanic church with about 250 people attending every Sunday and to be completely honest we have never had any professional help when it comes to our audio or production. Our Pastor (who's also my father) hasn't put too much thought into it because 1. he doesn't know who or where to ask (i'm sort of in the same boat) 2. doesn't think it's a big deal and has put his focus on other things other than upgrading our audio and production systems. I don't put any blame on my pastor because I understand that keeping the lights on is more important.
This past summer I dedicated myself to making upgrades to our audio equipment by replacing old cables, adding a digital board, adding a digital snake, replacing our projector and projector screen. But I feel like i'm lacking technical knowledge on things like speakers and whatnot but found I actually love doing it and have wondered about careers in the audio and production world. I don't see myself abandoning my church for a bigger church because of both my roots within my church and desire to see it flourish more.
Q: Does pursuing a degree or certification in Audio & Production lead to a stable career with good pay and is pursuing a degree or certification even worth it?
If you read that whole thing thank you.
If you have any personal advice or stories feel free to comment, anything helps.
Thanks & God Bless
brian maddox:
--- Quote from: Ever Cruz on January 02, 2020, 06:10:39 PM ---Happy New Year!
I don't know if this is a dumb question or if this is the place i should be asking the question...
A LITTLE BACKGROUND:
I'm a 21 year old from Houston, TX and recently became the leader of the audio & Production team of my church. My church is a 19 year old Hispanic church with about 250 people attending every Sunday and to be completely honest we have never had any professional help when it comes to our audio or production. Our Pastor (who's also my father) hasn't put too much thought into it because 1. he doesn't know who or where to ask (i'm sort of in the same boat) 2. doesn't think it's a big deal and has put his focus on other things other than upgrading our audio and production systems. I don't put any blame on my pastor because I understand that keeping the lights on is more important.
This past summer I dedicated myself to making upgrades to our audio equipment by replacing old cables, adding a digital board, adding a digital snake, replacing our projector and projector screen. But I feel like i'm lacking technical knowledge on things like speakers and whatnot but found I actually love doing it and have wondered about careers in the audio and production world. I don't see myself abandoning my church for a bigger church because of both my roots within my church and desire to see it flourish more.
Q: Does pursuing a degree or certification in Audio & Production lead to a stable career with good pay and is pursuing a degree or certification even worth it?
If you read that whole thing thank you.
If you have any personal advice or stories feel free to comment, anything helps.
Thanks & God Bless
--- End quote ---
Hey Ever -
So, i'm a self-taught 54 years old audio guy that has made my living doing this for about 30 years or so. I've also been very involved in the Church Production Community for most of that time as well.
When i was coming up, there were NO educational tracks to get into this business, so i learned what i could on my own and hustled a lot and i've done pretty well. That being said, the first decade of so was GRUELING and it's still a tough tough business to make a good living in.
In the last 15-20 years there have been a number of degree programs sprouting up all over the country. Some are good, but most are for-profit businesses that will take your college loan money and teach you only a small portion of the things you will actually need to know to make a living in this business. IME, every person i have seen that went through one of these programs and succeeded would have still succeeded if they had simply hustled and learned on the job. In most cases they likely would have gotten farther faster. I've also seen a number of people so saddled with college loan debt that they lacked the flexibility to get the entry level positions that they were actually qualified for so they ended up in other lines of work.
Am i saying you should NOT go to any of the available degree or certification programs? No. Although i will say that if you have to take on thousands of dollars in student loans to you should absolutely NOT do it. The burden of debt early in your career will hamper you in ways that cannot be overestimated and should be avoided at all costs.
Bottom line: Audio & Production are still very young career fields and there just isn't an established guaranteed path to success in it yet. It's not like being a lawyer or accountant where as long as you go to school and get the required degrees you're going to be able to find work in that field. It's also a difficult place to make a living in. Everyone wants to play with expensive sound systems and mix music and hang out with talented famous people and do cool work. Which means you're competing with a LOT of people and that means it's HARD.
I'll close with an encouragement. There are a LOT of ways to make a living in this field that are not readily apparent and that often offer far more stable career paths. Corporate A/V, Equipment design, System Design and installation, just to name a few. Personally, I started in the biz doing lots of music production, but now I make my living doing audio for corporate events. It's not as exciting as touring with Taylor Swift, but it pays the bills and i'm still learning and being challenged and that's what it's all about.
Mike Caldwell:
For the immediate short term I would look at bringing in a real audio pro (not the guy who runs sound at the corner bar for free beer) to go over your system all the while going over with you the how and why things are connected in certain ways, what all the mixer functions are and how to use them and when not to use them.
Have them come out on rehearsal night and a service or two.
Consider it a system check up and a learning experience all in one.
Caleb Dueck:
--- Quote from: Mike Caldwell on January 02, 2020, 07:55:56 PM ---For the immediate short term I would look at bringing in a real audio pro (not the guy who runs sound at the corner bar for free beer) to go over your system all the while going over with you the how and why things are connected in certain ways, what all the mixer functions are and how to use them and when not to use them.
Have them come out on rehearsal night and a service or two.
Consider it a system check up and a learning experience all in one.
--- End quote ---
Big second to this, as long as it's a company that specializes in larger church systems. The money you'll save from not buying the wrong gear before buying the correct type - will way more than make up for the cost.
As long as they have experienced people, say previous life as a large church tech director and extensive experience mixing - schedule a day for them to bring a multi-track recording and teach you the basics of, well, everything. Take great notes, and do it again the next month, and the next. Three sessions of this, if by an excellent teacher, will put you ahead of a year of college - and allow a couple others to sit in. All for significantly lower cost.
Dave Pluke:
--- Quote from: Ever Cruz on January 02, 2020, 06:10:39 PM ---
Q: Does pursuing a degree or certification in Audio & Production lead to a stable career with good pay and is pursuing a degree or certification even worth it?
--- End quote ---
It could... It might... Stable career? Odds are against that, in this Industry and most others nowadays (sigh).
There are no guarantees in this world, but a degree could increase your chances of success; not only in filling in gaps in knowledge and exposure to multiple systems, but in getting a foot in the door. Programs that have solid reputations usually have graduates recruited by employers.
That said, a degree shouldn't cost an arm OR a leg. Search for Community/Technical Colleges in your vicinity. If you'd consider a school in North Carolina, I have a great recommendation for you.
As to your Church's immediate needs, agreed, consult a Professional to get a long-term plan established.
Dave
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