audio interface: NI Komplete Audio 6

studio monitors: LSR305

MIDI controller: Korg Taktile49

Converting our currency to USD i've spent close to $1000 on gear already. If i include my computer in the equation that's almost $2000. I've converted my bedroom into a studio and I rented a different room to actually sleep on.

 

Worries...and stuff

Anyway, i found a lot of stuff. Including that Cakewalk Sonar is not up there in the Top 5 list of best and/or most used DAWs in the world for a long time already. Even though it looks like the community is big, this is really disheartening because the future and potential could be bleak for me. I imagine in the future while speaking to a potential client, the conversation might be like:

 

• p.client: What DAW are you using?
• me: SONAR
• p.client: Oh, not Pro Tools or [insert other top 5 DAW here]?
• me: nO. But it doesn't really matte...[cutoff]
• p.client: Okay, uhh...see you around.
• me: [go mope into the corner and grow some mushrooms]

 

 

But I'm over it now, all this worrying just won't get me anywhere so i'll just study this DAW as hard as i can. But i won't lie, I'm still worried.

So while imagining all these, buying all these gear, dedicating around 8 hours studying almost everyday, i then realized - I want to do a career flip.

I'm a software engineer close to 10 years now, specifically web based technologies. And i feel like the music industry beckons. I've looked into it and i think the best way to flip a career is to execute this 2-3 year transition plan depending on number of clients and my financial landscape. Because i still have to bring food to the table, right? :P

On to the problem. In my research, i found out that people go to school for this. There is a curriculum they follow so when they graduate, they know their sh!t and they can do what they want. But i can't afford to go to a physical school anymore, i have my responsibilities to my family. You know, the usual - pay my own apartments' bills, help mom pay her bills, help pay for my little brothers' tuition fee, etc.

 

What I've tried

Which brings me to mention where I'm from. Philippines. I've looked into online schools and teachers and i couldn't afford those at all. It's too expensive and some even require me to be at a specific country in order to attend this online school - this one is crazy illogical, really. So by process of elimination, i can only afford to gain knowledge through free online video and written tutorials, blog posts, articles, etc.

The big problem is, there are bits and pieces of knowledge/tips/tricks/secrets here and there all over the internet. If i continue like this, i know i either:

1. won't get anywhere or
2. will get somewhere that took a reeeeeeally really long time but still with subpar knowledge.

and i can't have that.

Most tutorials i see for my DAW will just show what a feature is and what it does but that's it.

I've tried inquiring local recording studios here if they are willing to accept interns but got no luck. It's either they don't accept interns yet (teenage students who are still in school) or just that they don't accept interns in my case (people who already graduated from school) because and i quote: "...usual lessons and training of sound engineering are paid for.". Some studios just plainly ignored without a reply.

I've tried to look for a sound engineering curriculum so i could just look up those topics on my own but it seems that these are very well hidden even from the uberpowerful google! lol

 

Final Question

Could someone put me in the right direction? Maybe a proper starting point? It could also be a list of things i need to learn step by step. Or is there no way around this but to absorb these scattered knowledge and piece them together one by one by yourself?

 

If you've read everything up to this point, Thank you for your time!

Self Education - its actually the thing that will benefit you most.
 
Are you unhappy with what you currently do as a software engineer?
 
What will transitioning into a new field give you that you did not have before?
 
Are you aware that Cakewalk recently put out an email that they are looking for a software engineer.. amond other positions.
 
Amalgamating music, audio, and computer trickery could be a very strategic move.  I suggest following your feelings luke (skywalker).  
 
As far as software choice - I believe you made a great choice with Sonar.  I have used other DAWs, and feel that Sonar is equal or superior in every possible way.  The "top 5 DAWS" is sort of like early 2000s leftover thinking.  Pro Tools is very widely used simply because it "Was" widely used.   I chose Sonar over a decade ago because I, like yourself, did not wish to get wrapped up in the whole apple thing.
 
As far as where to go, do you play an instrument?  What are your actual interests musically?

I think if you took a poll, SONAR is in the top 5 in the Philippines, for whatever that's worth. Granted, the top studios in Manila are mostly Logic or Pro Tools shops, but if you're concerned that potential clients may not respect your tools, you can always get a copy of Pro Tools and install it on an old computer. It could actually come in handy if you need to import a PT project from another studio. But the client needn't know what you really use day-to-day, most don't care anyway, and most wouldn't know the difference if you pointed to SONAR and told them it was Pro Tools.
 
If you're a bit flipper by trade, you'll take to audio engineering like a duck to water. And the technical side of it is the same regardless of which software you choose to use.

bitflipper
 
if you're concerned that potential clients may not respect your tools, you can always get a copy of Pro Tools and install it on an old computer

I was recording in a big name Pro Tools studio in England about 10 years ago and got into a discussion with the engineers about recording platforms.  They took great pride in insulting Cakewalk.  Usually it is all in fun but, that British accent made the insults sound so sophisticated it was hard to mount an effective defense.

quantumeffect
 
  Usually it is all in fun but, that British accent made the insults sound so sophisticated it was hard to mount an effective defense.

The best defense is a good offense......you should've let them hear a project you did in Sonar.
 
 
To the OP, I'm not sure if you already have this or even be what you're looking for, but Scott Garrigus has written some excellent books on Sonar: Sonar X3 Power (I believe this is the last one which still applies).
 
 https://www.amazon.com/SONAR-X3-Power-Comprehensive-Guide/dp/1305090195 
(there may be other sites that offer it for cheaper....)

The problem with learning audio engineering is not primarily gaining facility with a particular DAW, but rather the extensive experience needed to train your "ear" to recognize what works, and the even more considerable experience with the different kinds of processes so that you will be able to tell what will likely work before you hear it. Those are the skills that you need to master and it will probably take at least several years to get there with regular practice. Most skill mastery requires in the area of 10,000 hours of practice, which a professional audio engineer working eight hours a day, fifty weeks a year will acquire in about five years. The intellectual mastery of concepts like digital signal processing or mathematics will not provide you with the skillset you need by itself anymore than understanding how a violin is built will make you a violinist. Attending a four year college level course in audio engineering, would be primarily useful for the considerable mass practice it might entail, and the credential you might need to be taken seriously by someone hiring you as an intern or starting engineer. Those people are mostly going to be reluctant to spend time and money on an unknown. The courses that offer you a few weeks of training will not provide anything more than access to a skilled (maybe) trainer to give you some feedback and a basic overview. If you are doing freelance work, then the issue is quality and to a lesser extent speed and facility with the process. If you cannot create a decent track at all, or if it takes you dozens of hours to produce a professional quality track, you will not be able to afford to take work at prices competitive with other professionals.
 
In any event, if you have the time and motivation you can use Sonar to hone the skills, after which you could probably switch to any other DAW and achieve good facility in a matter of weeks, not years.

quantumeffect

bitflipper
 
if you're concerned that potential clients may not respect your tools, you can always get a copy of Pro Tools and install it on an old computer

I was recording in a big name Pro Tools studio in England about 10 years ago and got into a discussion with the engineers about recording platforms.  They took great pride in insulting Cakewalk.  Usually it is all in fun but, that British accent made the insults sound so sophisticated it was hard to mount an effective defense.

Around that time or a bit longer ago I was told by a one-man-band studio owner/sole engineer that he decided to use Pro Tools not Sonar because "people say Sonar does <spit> MIDI and I only record real musicians".

His new studio business failed, by the way.

A monthly subscription to Groove3 will probably give you an excellent grounding in the basics of Sonar, recording and mixing if you really put the time in. Watch out for one of their regular deals - I think it's usually $15/month but I got on board for $10/month. 

I would also add read books by Mike Senior and Bobby Owinski.  Both know their stuff in spades.  You'll learn volumes from them.