Yasine
On a day to day basis, how does a Civil Engineer vary from being a Music Engineer?
I am a high school senior. I have always had a passion for Civil Engineer and want to pursue it in college. I recently researched about what Civil and Music Engineers do overall. I also talked to an admissions counselor about pursuing these two careers and received awesome advice about how to go about these two majors. But I am still a little on unsure of which one to actually put time into in college because I love both Civil and Music Engineering. I would appreciate if anyone could help me specifically on a day to day for Civil and Music Engineer and which one should I focus on the most. #civil-engineer #music-engineer
3 answers
Charlie Post
Charlie’s Answer
Hi Yasine,
That's a tough one! As an audio engineer who has been at it for a long time, I look back and am glad I 'came up' when I did. Though the music industry is constantly morphing to fit society, it is also becoming harder and harder to find success. I have a difficult time recommending a music career over one that has the promise of jobs!
Still I don't want to dissuade you from looking into audio engineering. If you really want to do it, there isn't any reason you shouldn't try. I love my career and cannot imagine having taken another path in my life. How about you? Do you want to record music? There are lots of engineers who work with dialogue, TV, film, etc. If you want to record music, get a strong education in music. Learning to play an instrument will make you a better engineer, and enable you to communicate with other musicians.
You're already a senior, so do you already have college lined up? Last I checked, there weren't many options for four-year music engineering programs, certainly not as many as civil engineering. I would stick to universities that have smaller class sizes (mine maxed out at 12 students per class year!) and plenty of studio time to learn and hone your skills. Find a school that has graduates working in their field. Can you find a school that has both civil and music engineering programs? Probably, but will it be good for both? That seems unlikely unless it's NYU.
Although I can give you advice on a career in audio engineering, I can't help you decide what to do. You'll have to do more research (CareerVillage is a good start) and follow your heart. Good luck.
-Charlie
I really have to thank you for this advice because you explaining your experience has really helped me to really think about which career is more important.
Yasine
Troy Meyer
Troy’s Answer
Yasine:
This link will give you an idea of the Civil Engineering career fields that are possible. http://www.asce.org/uploadedFiles/Education_and_Careers/Careers/Content_Pieces/career-path-brochure.pdf
I think Civil Engineering would be much different from Music Engineering. Civil is more about math, physics and design, and I think Music would be more artistic in nature. So if you want to pick one over the other, you might ask yourself how important the artistic part is to you (working in an industry with music artists) versus working in the Civil industry which is more design and construction related.
Enjoy the Journey!
Troy
Thank you so much for the link and advice.
Yasine
Kevin McCluskey
Kevin’s Answer
Hi,
Perhaps what you're asking is this:
Should I pursue Civil Engineering, which I love, and enter into a field with more job security*
Or, should I study Music Production and Engineering, and enter into a field (the music business) which is in complete chaos?
It seems to me that you don't truly know what being a "Music Engineer" is because, for one thing, no one in the business refers to this job by this title.
I suggest you visit: https://www.berklee.edu/mpe/major and do some research on this career.
Also, go here: https://www.berklee.edu/mpe/application-faq
Also, you might try an online course: https://welcome.online.berklee.edu/berklee-music-production-video-b.html?pid=6174&c3api=2837,86671773764,music%20production%20schools%20online&gclid=CjwKEAjw55K4BRC53L6x9pyDzl4SJAD_21V169hPnidSb68hI0jqujb5xR1OJHdFbxe1RTKj292pLBoCP1jw_wcB
This would give you a taste for the process but not lock you into a career path.