So I will (presumably) be going to university somewhere by the end of this year, but since California schools are having a tough time due to the economy and such, I'm slightly concerned about admission cuts and whether that will affect me. I was planning on studying music primarily, since that is the subject that I am most interested in and would like to pursue in life. But since I have started doing home recordings for fun, recording/producing/mastering now seem very interesting subjects. My question is if anyone on MA has gone to a school for this field, and if there are any they can recommend (especially in the Western US)? Thanks!

I don't know how valuable a recording degree really is. If I were you, I'd find a fairly successful metal studio in your area and offer to intern.

The "problem" is that almost anyone can invest $2-3000 into their home studio and be able to produce pretty professional results, if they put in a decent amount of time and effort practicing and studying. So the real market for a high dollar studio with a high dollar engineer is very limited.

If it's something you enjoy then I'd say go for it, but you have a few options...

You can take classes at a university where you'll probably have teachers who have been around for a while and know what they're doing as well as access to some decent gear and equipment.

Your other option would be to find a one year tradeschool or certificate program. Depending on the school you could have the same experience as taking a college class, but since it's a school specifically for audio, all you would be doing is audio. Usually a tradeschool is anywhere from 6 months-2 years and you will come out with a certificate that says you basically know your shit (or you should know your shit).

- The pros of going to a college is that you have the option of having a major that isn't audio engineering.

Being an engineer is not a profitable profession, unless you're working in film or in a big studio (and those are either hard as hell to get to or completely fading out at this point given the economy and the state of the music business). You will be better off later if you focused on something you know you can make a living off of and do recording as a hobby or minor.

- The pros of choosing a tradeschool is that it's generally a shorter period of time and money spent then college. You can go through it, get a certificate and then if you want to go to college for something else you still have more then enough time.

I went to a tradeschool last year and was very happy with it. If was run by engineers who have been in the business professionally for anywhere from 5-30 years and some of them were the best teachers I've ever had inside a classroom.

I learned the basics and was able to go from there while gathering as much knowledge on my own about anything to do with the subject.

No regrets as of yet

As far as knowing about any schools on the west coast, I can't help you, but I know a few on the east coast.

As always, thanks for the advice. I want the experience and knowledge mostly to record my own stuff, since it should be quite some time before I'm ready to record other bands. I'm quite prepared to face the reality that home recording services may not be in very high demand, but I think I'll be able to develop a niche for recording death and black metal. In any case, I don't think I'll make a career out of it, but I'm idealistic. I'll keep a lookout for any internship opportunities, as well as the options Masked_Jackal mentioned. Also, I read web tutorials almost every day to learn some of the basics, but a live teacher is just about always better for every subject.