School/career advice needed

[MahaAtTheVishnu]

So at my school, I'm a recording major, but we have to have an instrument focus. I've been doing guitar, and I'm an okay rock guitar player, but far from being a studio or jazz player (I would have to do jazz guitar, only option)... I just found out that I have the chance to switch to a synth emphasis, which focuses more on constructing sounds than on actually playing things...

 

Which one would benefit me more in the long run? Would being able to actually play an instrument really well make be better at recording, or should I focus on sound synthsis?

 

It makes more sense to do synth, and I would like it more - the whole reason I got into playing guitar is because I like playing with effects... but I have no experience really, and some of you guys have been doing this for a long time, so thought I'd ask..

[Booya Tribe]

It sounds to me like you fit in more with synthesis. In my opinion, understanding synthesis and the construction of sounds helps a lot with recording.

 

It also depends on where you go with the recording thing. What I mentioned above is helpful as an engineer, but maybe not so much as a producer who helps a band with song writing, arrangement, etc. For that, you may want to study more about music theory. IMO, however, you can always learn that yourself as well, and even learn a lot by just listening to music closely. That is just my opinion though, as that is the route I have taken - I went more the engineer route than the producer route.

 

When I went to school, I was in a similar situation as you. I actually went for composition, but actually because I was interested in recording, and it was through composition that I could get into the studio under the guises of "composition and technology." Most of my recording classes were "digital audio" classes that had a huge emphasis on the structure of audio signals, how audio hardware worked, harmonic overtone structure, how digital sampling works on the micro level, signal routing, etc... It was really very technical and most of the music students were totally lost. We started in analog (modular synths and all) and moved to digital. The instructor was a composer, but also very technical, so for me, it was perfect and I learned a ton of stuff which still helps me a lot.

 

I also got private composition lessons, and the instructor was very supportive of my interest in synthesis and digital audio, so I was able to cater my composition emphasis further towards that.

 

Anyway, sorry, didn't mean to tell you my life story. To boil it down, I think that in essence, if you really study synthesis down to the very basics of what sound is made up of (and not just how to make a sound on a synthesizer), that will teach you a ton about recording and and the different qualities of the sounds/instruments you are recording.

[MahaAtTheVishnu]

They start w/ analog synths here too... it sounds like a good plan to me, thanks for advice!

[chevybusa]

First off, props for the name!!! The Mahavishnu Orchestra's first few albums, are, in my opinion, one of the pinnacles of musical achievement! Anyways, I concur with Booya Tribe, if in the long run you want to focus on recording, it seems like this will serve you better down the road...

[danosongs]

Play bass - you will always find work and its easy to play.

[soundwave106]

Synth players are hard to find too. There's less demand for keys in bands, but there's so few keys players out there you can find work if you want.

 

But yeah, most pop bands need bass and drums, and they both can be tougher to find. Guitarists are everywhere it seems. :/

 

I would say synthesizers are the better choice for a recording focus career, as both synths and recordings dive into technology.