I took 2 semesters of audio school. The first thing my Professor said was "If you are serious about this, then you will learn more from talking and listening to your classmates than I could ever teach you." It was 100% true. Meeting people who made/produced completely different kinds of music than I was used to was the best thing that I could have ever done.

Another video idea: 13 skills outside the studio you should learn. Like soldering etc.

You giving the warning about the flamability of some foam treatments was awesome advice! Your advice may just save a life! Good for you!

"I bought a dual rec as a wedding present to myself" lmao

Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth my Grandfather told me " Poor people can't afford cheap things".

"please consider making a better product instead of suing someone for writing a bad review" Glenn is the best!

5:11 "So now they're off fucking somebody else's mixes!" I burst out laughing!

I "left" my Line6 Spider at a friend's house. When he sometimes mentions he doesn't know where it came from, I remain silent.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for mentioning the Station Nightclub Fire. I am a live sound guy and applied for a job at the Station the month before they burned down. Even when that happened i still had to tell people in the Rhode Island area not to use packing foam or egg cartons in their studio (especially when they were smokers. ) So many people just don't know. Even upholsterers.

First big amount I spent was on an acoustician and room treatment, never regretted it and my translation game went up like hell.

7:04 I can definitely vouch for the books thing. I played a show once in a tiny bookstore and it had the best acoustics of any room I've EVER played in! And this was no folk-y acoustic show either. It was a weird mixed bill with down-tuned Sabbath type stuff, sludgey shoegaze, a straight up punk band, and a lighter mid-2000's indie band.

Having a long haired metal head yelling at me really helps me focus on what is being said! Awesome!

Glenn, you are one of the most genuine producers on KZfaq, straight to the point, no bullshit. I have learned so much from you in such a short time! Keep up the badassery

I went to an audio school in germany, and I do not regret it. Learned a lot, improved myself, even got a job afterwards (live sound engineer), but the work conditions for live events are not easy, so I switch to IT and made music my hobby again.

trust me as someone with a BA, no one has ever asked me my school degree

One lesson I learned in audio school that stuck with me was when we were recording a voiceover for a sound-for-picture class. We had an isolation booth with some XLR pass-throughs on it, and I used a series of adapter cables to send a headphone feed into the booth. The student doing the voiceovers reported a buzz in the headphones and that they didn't sound good. I started troubleshooting which adapter had a problem. The instructor came over, disconnected the whole mess, tied it in a knot, and threw it in the trash. "These broken cables just cost you a bunch of money, because you're trying to make them work instead of recording. This is time you can't bill for. It cost you more money than it'd cost to just replace the cables." (Paraphrasing; it's been about 25 years now.) We eventually just ran a cable under the door instead of using the jacks on the booth.

Glen you are using the LINE 6 Spyder wrong, you need to have 6 of them, each mic'ed with a Blue Snowball and ran into each other in series. Then into a behringer interface

when you said don't be a "whiney suckhole" for some reason I broke out in uncontrollable laughter, do I need a professional?

I was already at a University for something else (which I currently have a career in), and the music school had a studio that you could only use if you were a Music Tech minor. So, I did the minor, and it was great. The studio was the best studio I've been able to actually use since, and I ended up making money because the school allowed us to do gig work in there, and would even pay us on behalf of music students who needed recordings done. It was a great deal, a resume builder if nothing else. With school, you really need to know your own case. It could be a great idea, could not be.

The thing about music-related school programs is that its 1+ years of - Being 100% invested in learning/improving (or else you waste your money) - Having the ability to ask teachers and students anything you want whenever you want - Meeting (potentially life-long) friends/colleagues who will mention your name in 5 years for a game-changing opportunity that they can't commit to It's all about the mindset that gets engraved in you. Whether or not its worth your money is up to you...

God when I started recording my own stuff, I was ping pingong using 2 cassette decks. The resources available now for home recording at good prices just kills me.

I went to recording school, and while I don’t regret doing it I feel like real world experience would have been more applicable. The good things I took away from my education had little to do with audio and more to do with people.

I've learned so much from more experienced guys being brutally honest and and properly shaming, less experienced guys into not doing dumb things. Thank you glenn and keep rocking! 🤘🤘

I love a brilliant and twitchy old semi burnout sound engineer genius like this guy. Brings me back to my best days learning from old school weirdos that knew some really profound things you'd never catch an into to in a college class ... unless your class was taught by one such person. Note: absolutely no offenses intended here. I meant every word in nostalgic love

10:17 If you can, stay away from cables with gold plugs. The idea is that gold is a better conductor and doesn't tarnish. Gold is great for connectors that will just stay plugged in all the time, but gold is soft and will wear off with a lot of plugging and unplugging. Quite often the metal underneath is exposed and will tarnish, which results in crappy connections.

I did my degree in music, I feel like college/uni courses in music or music production are worth it if you would do the course even if they didn't give you a piece of paper at the end of it. If you're learning enough and getting enough experience while you're there, that's the important part.

Hruumphhh! I have been a music product rep for 30+ years. Thanks for this video! There are a million choices out there and this video will help people make right ones. Keep up the good no BS work!

The best piece of advice ever 👍🏿 I bought in the 90’s a “Berhinger” effect unit, Jesuschrist what a nightmare

man your sledge hammer technique has room for improvement: should have flattened the U87 clone on the first blow. It's all in the aim..

I went to a specialized audio engineering and music technology school. I learned a lot, but couldn't finish because of the expense. Also the stress put on by peers and society at the time of you've gotta go to college right after highschool, you have your whole life ahead of you and you're barley an adult, you better have your shit together and figured out right this instant and go to college. This will determine the rest of your lifes work. Don't fuck it up! Good luck. Thanks Glen for the great content. I continue to learn a lot from your videos.

Thru the years of my on off guitar playing this guy always give the good advice .

I just recently discovered your channel and thoroughly enjoy the content! I also appreciate the no-bs approach to sharing your knowledge and experience with us. It has been enlightening and educational. Noticed a trend of Robotech t-shirts in your videos; grew up on the cartoon and still have my old table-top source books!

SO glad you mentioned "acoustic foam". Seems like every beginner gets sucked in by those (myself included, when I started). Stick to Rockwool & Owens Corning 703

4:58 OMFG I WAS NOT EXPECTING THAT 😂😂😂 I just spilled water all over my desk

Dude you’re hilarious and I’m grateful to see guys who genuinely want to help others save time and money. Great video 👏

I agree about the schools for the most part. I would add that some of the benefits I got were doing some projects in few commercial studios, using the analog gear, patch bays and all that. Also the mentors were there to answer and help with anything, and we could use two of the studios in the facility a lot. These are some of the things and experiences you can't get with online classes. Also (depends on where you are and what you want) I landed three jobs, each better than the former. One as a live sound engineer and two as tv broadcast sound engineer (national TV was one of those), and all of them I got because (well, other than my portfolio) employers were more inclined to give the job to someone with a diploma. I've also had institutions and companies reach out to me with a job offer... which is almost crazy in my country where people with even higher education than me can barely get a job as a waiter. That being said, what we learned were mostly technical stuff, no "tricks", no creative ideas to get a certain sound etc...

The BBE unit is a piece of live gear lmao. It's basically just an active EQ, once the mid range gets over a certain range it automatically boosts some highs to compensate. It also does some amplitude and frequency dependant phase compensation. If you're doing live shows and you can't afford a good DSP like a DBX DriveRack or another solution the BBE can help clean up your live sound a bit. But 50% of the time it makes things worse. It's an extremely environmentally sensitive effect, though we still like to have one around. You can also slam your drums through a BBE and get some really funky distorted drum sounds!

One of the most useful videos about audio recording I've ever seen. Plus mega points for the Skull Squadren t-shirt!

17:31 I got a 4-year Bachelor of Music: Technology; Sound Recording at a private university. The first year was actually phenomenal. We learned so much because we had a great instructor. Once we got to year 2, however, the remaining courses were all taught by the same classical engineer who had no experience or expertise for recording or mixing any genre that gets heard in the modern industry. Classes revolved around what this guy wanted to do, and courses were generically called Audio I, II, II, IV, etc. While we did plenty of editing, we spent WAY too much time on the physics of Electrical Engineering (the professor's background), and there was little or no focus on specific topics such as mic choice/placement for different instruments/situations, modern EQ/gate/compression techniques, putting together a mix in any genre, etc. etc. The saving grace at this school was: in addition to the Sound Recording track, ALL music majors (tech/sound recording included) were required to pass an instrumental audition and continue instrumental study as a "field" major; and the general music curriculum at this school was actually pretty badass. And it also included a non-music "core" curriculum. So while the Sound Recording track had its flaws (which I have heard have since been improved), I think I got a pretty well-rounded college education. But it was quite expensive and I don't work in audio full-time. I do way more work as a guitar player than an engineer ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

One thing that made a big difference was making sure i was using balanced trs cables for my monitors. For the longest time I was using guitar cables, it wasn’t until my friend gave me a set of mogami balanced trs 1/4th inch to xlr that my monitors really came to life.

I did a 3 year BSc Audio and Music Technology Degree. About 50% was studio recording. The lectures were very upfront that it would be unlikely any of us would work in the dream studio scenario. We even did a module which was record 3 songs at a £500 ($700) budget and 2 higher quality at a £1500 ($2100) budget, it really opened our eyes to how much renting studio time cost and how low your hourly rate would end up if you agree to a bad deal. We did modules on Electronics, Live sound and Acoustics which were very useful too for real life situations. With all that said it cost £9000 ($12500), was it worth it? I'd say it largely depends on your character, I was that mid range student that did well and enjoyed it but didn't take every opportunity that I could have. We had studio rooms with hundreds of thousands of pounds of gear that we could book to use everyday if we wanted. It only started getting limits towards the end of the semester. If I'd just spent hours learning the gear and in the process training my ears further I definitely would have got more out of the opportunity presented to me. My career? Live sound engineer for 2-3years, then realised I would rather protect my ears and work more social hours so went into programming and do audio as my hobby now. I don't regret my degree for the social aspect and further figuring out my life, but I couldn't argue it was necessary.

With regards to cables... in my personal opinion... buy a spool of decent quality cable and solder your own high quality XLRs to them. I've made a shit ton of these and they're basically the identical "quality" of Mogami, but cost half as much.

Me: Watching this on my Acer Nitro 5 that's been acting up lately *smiles and silently sheds a tear*

Hilarious, this man is the 'Lewis Black' of music gear.

Glad to see Vim Fuego getting a shout out. Haven't heard much from him lately, but I hear he's been communing with some rather interesting figures from recent rock history.

Everything I know about music and recording I've taught myself over the last 14 years. I didn't really have a choice and stumbled my way through it early on, but now a days its so much easier with just a little bit of research. That bookshelf thing will come in handy sometime down the line and I'll more into it when I get to that stage. This is honestly actually a very useful video for anyone looking to get started in making a home studio!

I did a year of audio tech college in like 2001. It was a good college though, and we got access to this guy as a tutor who was a proper gritty ex English rock circuit engineer. There was a studio with an mci desk in that had been used by led zeppelin among others. Apparently when they bought it for the college they cleaned out like half a pound of gear and resin from the fader strips. But I learnt a lot from the people I mixed with at college rather than the course per se. Definitely equipped me and a buddy with enough info to go set up our own home studio to record our band. That definitely taught me the most. And now your channel is sending out some real gems of advice that, even after years around this stuff, still surprise and learn me. Cheers Glenn from across the pond

You have some of the most entertaining as well as useful videos. Always manage to laugh out loud a little which is much needed these days

A big Hell Ya to Glenn’s Macross shirt

Man, I keep repeating myself lol, but this has become just about my favorite series on the channel. Been a follower since the Metalsucks days. Awesome stuff, as always! 🤘🤘

That feeling when you watch it on the Acer Laptop that is 6 Years old and never let you down!

"I donated them and now they are off fxcking up someone else's mixes" best thing I've ever heard!

7:00 as a bonus, read a few of the books from time to time, and you might learn something new!

Never realised how much weight Glenn had lost until I watched this vid, damm good job man!!

😂 dude 3:50. I am fkn stoked to have stumbled on this channel. I’m going to watch literally every video you have. I need this.

Didn't expect someone screaming at the camera in a beautiful studio to have more useful and non-condescending advice than 90% of the content I've seen on the topic. And all that well-organized, without a 40-minute rant about how cable shielding patterns vary their results based on trout population. Thank you so much!

Soft cover books, in a pinch, arent half bad as monitor pads either.

My time in audio school was absolutely essential. I think it really just depends on the college you went too.

Glen I absolutely love your latest videos! That's because I am willing to build a home studio and I find your advice invaluable! Thank you!

I like the bookshelf idea. It works, and it dual purposes to hold your (drumroll please) books, so you can get smarter. I ran into a problem getting two huge new displays for my studio, and I noticed I was getting some reflections behind me. I put the bookcase behind me opposite the desk . . . amazing. No reflections. Need Mogami gold cables? No. Buy bulk cable, Rean connectors, solder them yourself and you got Mogami gold cables at 1/4 the cost.

"For the love of Crom"? Bravo! Banging my spear on my shield.

When it comes to computers in the studio, make sure to switch your hard drives to SSD’s, the read/write speeds are so much faster, and boot time will be cut by a very long margin. Thinkpads are a good budget option for laptops. Most have pretty decent CPU’s in them and are very easy to upgrade.

I think you hit the nail on the head with the cable part. I’ve bought almost all big box store cables and have never regretted it. I’ve got one or two that’s been around for over 10 years. And if they mess up they will replace it for free. No need for the big price name brand cables that are all the same.

"cancelled by your classmates for blinking in an offensive manner"... a very loud genuine laugh escaped my cake hole and startled the whole house.

Very thankful I went to CU Denver and TOOK ADVANTAGE of the program. My grades were shit, but I can get around great in any studio I've been in so far, get solid drum tones, and above anything have a strong understanding of what I need to do to monetize audio outside of studio work.

Glenn should be sponsored by some elite shampoo company. his hair is so amazing. top notch....compliments from a bald guy.....

Number one hits home for me. I learned to record on my own from books and KZfaq videos when I was in middle and high school. I then went to a major university for recording. I found everything you said true. Limited use of the gear, limited experience and knowledge from teachers, and lessons that weren’t really catered to the types of things I wanted to work on. Oh and maybe one person I went to school with has a job in recording. I dropped out about halfway through because I felt like I wasn’t really learning anything new from the stuff I had learned from KZfaq and some books. The one class that really was great was my acoustics class where I learned about room design and the science of sound. Now I’m running my own studio, making money and have several albums under my belt. Recording school is more about networking. If you want that it’s great. Else wise dive in to your DAW and get going.

I got a BS in Audio Engineering Technology and while it was expensive I think the technical/theoretical knowledge is worth it. It has set me up to further my study in audio in a way I don’t think I could have done myself. Plus, just having a BS in literally anything is an important prerequisite regardless of the industry nowadays. If I gotta get a degree, might as well be in something I enjoy

Damn, this series is so good, so welcome, so appreciated! Thanks a ton, Glenn!

I use a maximizer in my bass rig. It makes the bass more deep and punchy, without it on it sounds like your ears are plugged. I don't really know what it does but it sounds pretty cool for me

The first time I have seen this channel and I gotta love someone who cuts through the crap.. Good Stuff!!!

9:07 i havent owned a mouse pad since the 00's, I'm about to order 30 . Thanks Glenn

I made the mistake of buying an Acer laptop in the early 2000's. That thing would get so hot that you couldn't even sit it in your lap.. Worked pretty well for a coffee cup warmer though . lmao

Hilariously, the opening ad to this video was for Full Sail... Hahahaha.

Great advice on the Acer . My older one had no issues . My new one although more powerful in all areas is a big problem .

For metal at least, in my opinion, I’ve been able to get a decent listenable mix out of Reaper and all free plugins. I guess my tip would be to learn on free stuff first. I still haven’t bought a plug-in.

College Courses - I remember reading "The Daily Adventures of Mixerman" back in early 2000s and he said in there that he felt audio courses were a waste of time because the jobs just weren't out there. Although a former work colleague of mine studied an Audio course at my former University and regular works at Rockfield Studios here in the UK! Keep up the great work!

I am in a surprised state of shock to see a young Glenn Fricker from back in the day, and comparing it to how he looks now... holy shit! That look of dissatisfaction has definitely remained the same. Honestly though no hate man, but definitely keep doing your thing.

When it comes to computers, I always build my own. A few months ago I was considering going to an audio engineering school but it looks a lot like it's better to just do it on my own.

You are so right about avoiding cheap mic stands. They are made with cheap, soft metal alloys whose threads strip easily.

15:18 *accepting my fate and preparing my patience while watching from my Acer laptop*

I attended SAE institute.. and tbh, that was a very positive experience

Yes. I have to hold my hands up to going down the rabbit hole of buying foam and cheap gear over many many years. But hey, it's a learning curve I guess.

My friend got an “audio recording degree” from a major Midwestern state university. It was half electrical engineering and half music school, with very limited time in a “recording studio.” It was a joke degree and to this day he can barely run a mixer. He will be the first to tell you as much.

In my experience, Even high-quality cables need to be re-soldered at some point just far less often. I still have a Mogami from 10 years ago, I've soldiered the plug back on about 2 times and it's one of my favorite cables to use

i7 cpu and 16GB memory was the best purchase.

I REALLY Appreciate YOU !! Glenn Fricker .

After watching a documentary about that fire I had nightmares for days. The stories that the survivors tell are terrifying.

Be careful Glenn ! There is a skull on your shirt, soon youtube will start making a case about that too.

I saw a lot of kids come into our venue with BBEs back in the mid 00s. Metalcore bands mostly, I have to say those guys often had extremely good tone, and they always attribute it to the bbe.

Thank you for all you do. Got my TAMA Iron Works Studio Telescoping Boom Mic Stand today it is awesome !

i will always appreciate the people willing to talk about what sucks, that's wtf i need way more in this giant sea of consumerism

1:40 thumbs up for great old photos of Glenn being so metal!

The Sonic Maximizer flips the phase of the midband. I build one my self, and don't use it anymore. Biggest waste fo money: Cheap power supplies.

Hey Glen thanks for the great info i am looking to upgrade my studio and recording skills and i just found your channel as a guitar player you speak my language i just want to say thanks have a great week 🎸

Glenn is right about Cheap cables. I had a hodgepodge of name brand cables, and they worked. Then I bought a few Mogami wires our of pure curiosity. Mogami cables are stupid expensive, but they are probably the best upgrade I've made to my studio. I replaced all my cables w/ Mogami Gold cables.

Holy crap I was gonna buy the Mackie monitors soon but whewwww Glenn saved me, gonna save up for some Cali probably 😆

7:55 because books are known to be fireproof

Berklee was one of the best times in my life so far; highly recommended.

Not throwing shade at Glenn, I 100% know that this isn't the norm, but shout out to Arapahoe Community College's actually awesome audio technician program. The program founder, my old guitar teacher and a long time friend of mine, went the extra mile to partner with a local studio for internship and general visiting opportunities, was always available for his students to tutor, set up small gigs with real musicians for live audio tech work experience (funniest moment was when some students had to learn the hard way to pay attention to any signals the musicians are trying to give you) and live recording opportunities for students to get involved in, always tries to involve his students in any live performances at the school, put countless hours into setting up a wide variety of recording equipment/set-ups for students to familiarize themselves with, and has just in general done a fantastic job making an audio tech program actually worth while. Again, totally understand this isn't the norm, but damn I hope someday it will be.