Ivan's right, I did attend the Operator's and Technician's courses last year.
Perhaps it is best to say that the SAC courses are more "what and why" courses than they are "how to" courses (and I actually wrote this before looking at the article Mike referenced
). They focus more on the science behind the art.
Pat's approach is to try to give you the basic science and math so that you have a better understanding of what it is that is really happening. If you are not a technical person, don't let the science and math aspect scare you, the information is presented in a manner that ties the tech to practical examples that help greatly in understanding. Pat is not going to try to teach how to get a good mix or how you should set processors, but you will get a very good introduction into what is happening in a mix and what the processors are doing to the signal. So he won't be telling you how to set the delay as much as why you would use delay and what it is doing. Of course, every class is a little different and sometimes breaks and lunches get off onto totally different subjects.
The Operator's course starts with getting a basic understanding of the decibel and frequency and covers things such as the difference between peak and RMS/VU metering. Then it goes into the physical system, discussing the various components, how they connect, including some time on interfacing, DIs, etc. It then does get into the mixer, following the signal flow through the mixer and looking at what the various controls do and how they interact. There is quite a bit on gain structure, especially as it relates to the mixer. There are brief discussions on what mute groups, VCAs, matrix mixes, etc. are and how they work. The next 'section' addresses signal processing, mics and mic techniques. The last part covers speaker systems, including portable systems, and some feedback and hum/buzz troubleshooting.
The Technician course is similar, but a little more technical and detailed. It focuses more on the system and the interaction with the environment than on the mixer and user effects. For example, it goes into greater detail on crossovers and system limiting rather than on the 'artistic' processing employed by an operator.
Put simply, these are great courses to help you get a firm basis of the science behind mixing, but they are not "how to get a good mix" courses.
Ivan - see you in SLC next week!
Edit: As far as the cost, I believe attending a class gets you a membership in SAC for a year, inclduing the SAC listserve, which is a great resource. You also get a CD with all sorts of useful spreadsheets, audio clips, etc.
