To study or not to study sound design, that is the question...of this blog post (Part 1)
Following Greg Lester’s video on whether to study sound design formally, I thought I’d offer my own insights, as I’m on an MA Sound Design for Video Games degree. Perhaps others will find my experiences helpful, when deciding whether to take a similar route.
The case for studying sound design
For me, studying was the right entry point into a sound design career. I felt like I needed to throw myself into a big commitment, which I’d then have to live up to, if I was to line myself up for opportunities in the field. Moreover, I needed structure and wanted the support of a course team. Back then, I was out of practice with using a DAW, didn’t have much equipment, had no connections in the industry, and lacked the free time to piece together (in thought and action) what a non-study route to audio design might look like.
The benefits of good and early feedback
A huge part of me studying was to be able to get feedback on my work from professionals. Happily, my course provided just this. I can book a tutorial whenever I need one and benefit from extensive written feedback for my assignments. It strikes me: if you don’t study, where can you find that kind of regular feedback? Perhaps experienced people in the industry would give over their time to look at your work. But then how do you build these connections? I’m sure people accomplish this, I just didn’t know how.
Whilst there are fantastic resources like Power Up Audio’s ‘Reel Talk’, the benefit of the course was that I could get advice on my work at an earlier stage than ‘Reel Talk’ allows for. This early and intensive input sped up my learning massively and kept me motivated to improve. Submitting early versions of work, at a time when I was less well developed as a sound designer, relates to another advantage studying had for me: providing me with a safe space where I could build confidence.
If I produced subpar work, or even failed an assignment (as I did early on) this was considered an OK part of the learning process. It helped having an encouraging tutor who would praise my work, whilst also providing constructive feedback. Showing your work can feel nerve-wracking and exposing. Through the feedback mechanisms of the course, I became able to take feedback in my stride. Being less self-conscious and fearful of feedback turned out to be very important. It led me to extending the group of people I felt able to show my work to; gaining different perspectives whilst expanding my network.
The usefulness of practical assignments
Another strength of course is the assignments. At MA level, the assignments have been challenging, varied, specialised and focused on things I wanted to learn around sound design and implementation. By taking responsibility for my own learning, I’ve also developed my own ways of working effectively: such as optimising my research, planning, and priority setting skills. I am now better at figuring out the scope of a project, limiting time spent on a single task and setting milestones. These transferable skills are something I hope will be helpful when working in games.
Research and reflection (not just ‘theory’)
Initially, I disliked the idea of having to write essays, seeing them as time taken away from learning sound design. When I picked a topic I was really inspired by, however, I found it really rewarding. For my final essay, I wrote about audio in ‘Celeste’. I totally immersed myself in the research, got hooked on the game and equally obsessed over its audio functions. I was able to read about new ideas and bring them together in my own mind, from which came new thoughts I could then apply to my own practical work. On a day to day level, writing about game audio has helped me to have more interesting conversations with others interested in the subject.
My next blog post will be Part 2: The case against studying sound design
