I was actually discussing this with a percussion major at our school who is interested in audio engineering. The market is saturated with people who have graduated from Berklee or e'xpression and are recording rappers for free in their basements trying to "build a portfolio" so they can start doing real work. I don't know where someone graduating from a more traditional university fits into this, but right now the people making waves are the people who are self-taught and driven.

"...the field of audio engineering has reached a point where schools, certification, etc. aren't worth nearly as much as they used to be in a shrinking industry. People care about your skills, not your pedigree. "

^THIS

whatever you do, don't waste your time on any sort of BFA program.

No problem! U of M really does have a lot of amazing opportunities, so you should check it out. And I hope you didn't think I was trying to dissuade you from your passions for the sake of career options, that wasn't my intent; I'm just saying keep an open mind. Four years ago, I was CONVINCED I wanted to go into audio engineering. Two major changes later, I'm now studying American Culture with a concentration in Musicology and minoring in Japanese Language, and I still manage to spend hours every week in Logic Pro. Passions shift and take new forms, and I guarantee you you're going to find out you love something in college that you didn't before you got there.

Thank you!  Interesting take from  you.  To me, I'm just itching to focus 100% on music and technology.  Although it would be "safer" to major in something else, I don't think I'd learn as much about what I'm really passionate about.  And I'm not expecting it to instantly launch me into the industry either.  I will continue to cultivate my skills and if a pedigree can help, then I'm all for it!  I'm also in WI and your Bachelor of Science in Sound Engineering looks very nice!  Thanks for taking the time to write a reply.

As a current college student who was in your shoes a few years ago, I'm going to echo some of the sentiments here and say that if you're passionate about music and musical engineering, chase those endeavors in your free time, perhaps taking a few classes to compliment your self-education, and don't limit yourself to schools with such specific programs and work hard to get into a very GOOD school, because odds are you'll be changing your mind about what you wanna do... Trust me, you'll be much happier at a great school than a great "musical engineering" school. Half of college is the experience, after all!

Just as an example, I'm currently a Sophomore at the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor. And, in all honesty, it's a school I don't think anyone can go wrong with. Look at the numbers, after all. Not to mention the fact that, for your interests, Michigan's engineering program and music school are among the best in the country, if not the world. I've also had aspirations of going into music for years, but the field of audio engineering has reached a point where schools, certification, etc. aren't worth nearly as much as they used to be in a shrinking industry. People care about your skills, not your pedigree.

I guess my overarching point with all this babbling is this: If you feel that you need formal education to make you good enough at what you want to do to get a job in it, then by all means do so. However, in the unstable modern world we live in, I'd recommend you supplement your love of music with a minor of some sort, and major in something else you're interested in that complements those abilities (for example, electrical engineering or computer science). You'll have a way easier time finding a job, and ultimately, keeping a job in the field you wanna work in.

Sorry for the long-winded reply, but I hope this helps!

Interesting.  Admittedly jumping straight in like that scares me, and if education could help my chances then I'm all for it.  I'd like to find a place that does prove to be useful.

Also: My sister is a piano performance major, I've been picking up bits and pieces over the years,  I'm going to take lessons junior and senior year too.

On the other end of the spectrum, I've been at Belmont for two and a half years. I've had maybe one useful class (sound reinforcement) and the rest has not been very useful... Long story short, I just dropped out to take on music full time. It really all depends what you are looking to do and if you need that fancy piece of paper to do it.

I think the reason why piano is the main "theory" instrument is because it's very visual. Sure, guitar is, but it's less easily understandable to anyone as piano would be. C is next do D, as E is next to F and so on. It's just very easy to show people things on the piano. I don't think schools want to just force you to learn a certain instrument, and they're not doing that either. They just want to teach you enough to get it.

I think the point that may be missed here is that there are more great musicians that never attended a university to learn about music than there are that people that go to music school, by far. No, you don't have to know how to play piano to understand theory and composition, but if you're paying $100k for four consecutive years of school, the university has to make sure you can't just test out of all the classes in your major and graduate, right?  There must be 8 semesters worth of material and it must teach ... something.

I agree that basic piano understanding can be more or less useful depending on your goals. What really bugs me is the idea that not requiring it is doing you a disservice. I think that grown, thinking people should be allowed some more flexibility. If you are a great guitar player with an excellent sense of harmony aspiring to compose for guitar, the piano courses may simply be a waste of time in attaining that goal.

EDIT: To clarify, I think that picking up a second instrument can be extremely useful, but it shouldn't necessarily be piano.

Virtually every music major is going to have some piano proficiency. I mean, sure, you don't HAVE to learn it, but it will make things a lot easier. Piano is the standard interface for a huge amount of instruments and music-making tools.

I'm stepping out of this argument. You're welcome to claim victory if you want. My opinion is based on my personal experiences as a technician trained in basic keyboard, and my experiences as a University staff member. I cannot transfer those experiences to you.

I'll assume that this is a contrived of saying that it's useful in acquiring a good sense of pitch. Piano playing has what to do with this? Couldn't you do this with many other instruments? I think fretless string instruments are superior in this regard.

How about taking courses in music theory, or, again, whatever instrument you prefer? Even if I positively need to show a chord or two to a keyboard player, it's no big deal without specifically taking a piano course.

"Sequence digital parts by ear?" You mean, like, putting notes in a piano roll according to what you have in mind? Yes, you totally need to know how to play piano to do that, because the kind of layout where notes are layed out linearly in a bunch of rows from low to high wouldn't really make sense to any other musician...

While this might be true, I don't really see how it supports what you said.

UCSC has some interesting classes.

Nothing's stopping you from taking a trade class at an alternate school for a semester or over a summer...