talk me out of it

[JLo]

quick, someone talk me out of going back to school to major in acoustical engineering.

 

 

 

I have a degree (B.A.) in music, with my main instruments being tuba and euphonium. I have an emphasis in theory, and would like to go to grad school for music theory eventualy, if nothing else pans out.

 

I recently designed the sound system for the church I am Music director at and had a blast. I went so far as to make mock up draings and plans for speaker placement and realized thatthe design of the rom is going to take like 35-50% absorbtion to solve some of the acoustical problems with it.

 

I am most interested in acoustics, as in reverb, sympathetic resonances, overtones and acoustical feedback. I would love to design rooms (auditoriums, churches, etc) and sound systems for such rooms - be it commercial, religous, musical, or whatever. Stuff like OSHA and industrial really doesn't interest me, but that's probably because I know little about it.

 

I could do this the rest of my life, and would love to know the theory, CAD and equations type stuff behind it all.

 

Money really isn't an issue, becuase I have it covered with Pell grants and other sources from family members etc.

 

 

So somebody talk me out of it... or convince me its a good idea.

[Phil O'Keefe]

How are your math skills?

[Prog]

JLo, it's a great opportunity for women.

[JLo]

Originally posted by Phil O'Keefe How are your math skills?

 

I knew I forgot to mention something in the original post

 

my math is OK. I avoided it somewhat in college so that I could concentrate more on music, church and work. I did pretty well in High school in trig/ precalc, but never went all the way to calc (music was FAR too important for me)

 

I have a good friend who is a math major (future physicist probably) who will help me out.

 

Math always has come pretty easy for me, I'm just mostly afraid that I am a bit out of practice at it, and that will cause me the headaches.

 

 

 

 

BTW - my computer skills are OK, though my CAD experience is VERY, VERY small

[JLo]

 

Originally posted by paostby JLo, it's a great opportunity for women.

 

 

 

as in - a good field for women to get into (and not so much men), or a field to get into if you want women??

[Perfessor]

Pretend it's a tuba.

[Tedster]

Heck, I'll never talk someone out of bettering themselves.

 

Do it! Math is doable. You can do it. There'll be a lot of it, but don't be afraid to get a tutor if you have problems.

 

Another thing that will help...instead of doing your homework by yourself...get a study group together. Buy the "solutions manuals" for your Calc and Physics courses, so you can follow the logic in solving the problems.

 

You'll do fine...and keep us posted!!!

 

KICK ASS, GIRL!!!

[D Charles]

Acoustics math is more like Physics; like plugging measurements into formulas and such. Much easier than calculus.

 

Only advice I could give would be to research the job market first. Doesn't exactly seem like a field that's very wide open.

 

Have you considered driving the big rigs?

[phaeton]

Yeah really... why should we talk you out of this? Sounds like it's the right thing for you to do.

[Ed A.]

If you want to design rooms, then you'll probably need architectural training in addition to training in acoustics.

Unfortunately, architecture is one of the worst paying professions for all the investment you'll need to put into it. Same is true for many scientific and engineering professions.

 

I looked into the possibility of becoming an architect but I found I would need at least three additional years of college (I already have a B.S. degree), full time. There are no part-time architectural schools anywhere that I know of. I'd also end up owing $50,000+ for this, and have to be a low-paid apprentice for an additional three years before I can even take the licensing test. I'd imagine that the career you mentioned would require something similar.